=

Earlier...

=

Daire pouted.

He experimented with dozens of ways to cast magic.

He tried traditional cultivation methods. Absorbing mana through his pores and channeling them through meridians, attempting to create a core in his naval, which was impossible because he couldn't sense energy to begin with.

Daire tried writing symbols, drawing spell circles, and reciting lengthy incantations. All to no avail.

Attempting the Potter way of magic with a stick as a wand, he cursed himself for not studying how magic worked in that universe. Not being a fan, he didn't care to study it.

Next, it was natural magics.

Daire tried feeling the fire in his veins, treating magic more like pyrokinesis. To his utter shock, it was working. Something bubbled up within him...

It was gas.

Retreating inside his mind, he tried to awaken his subconscious superpowers.

Daire devloped a migraine.

Witchcraft required too many components. Summoning magic was similar. Daire couldn't squeeze out diamonds, and there wasn't a copper wire store nearby. Developing a telepathic link with animals was also a failure. Light stared at him like Light didn't want to deal with this shit.

Daire tried jumping, double jumping, doing flips and somersaults, thinking it could be magic was be related to movements.

Light turned around, staring at anything except the crazed human.

On a side note... Daire was surprised at how docile the two canines were. He felt less like alpha and more like a runt they adopted out of pity. Night, the female wolf, was more friendly to him, bringing him a couple more rabbits, which he practiced skinning.

He failed.

Light wanted nothing to do with him, fully committed to bunny genocide.

Hopefully, their souls won't rise from their shallow graves.

Back to magic... Daire started grabbing the dirt, building mud sculptures, and trying to animate them. He splashed the water in the pond and tried to control the ripples. He guessed whistling could be the key to controlling air!

When he could only see outside due to moonlight, he had tried using hand gestures and foot movements to tell the earth to "rise" or "flow". When he gave up on stomping the ground, Violet was retreating to Willow.

Sighing, Daire looked up at the night sky for the first time... Scared shitless.

It was bright.

It was brilliant.

The moon was huge. Much larger than Earth's. Like a giant beholder backdropped by countless twinkling eyes.

Purples, Blues, Greens, and Reds painted the black landscape, leaving almost no room for its original canvas to be seen. The radiant white, yellow, and blue stars flickered back and forth, communicating through morse code.

It was Fucking TERRIFYING!

If it was a picture, a painting, or if Daire saw it through a window, he would be mesmerized and try to burn this magnificent view into his memory. Instead, he was on the ground, crawling towards his hut with his face in the dirt. He was murmuring softly but swiftly.

"I don't want to fall into the sky. I don't want to fall into the sky. I'm not a balloon. If I go up, I won't come back down. Don't jump, just crawl. Earth is safe. Dirt is your friend. I love mother Earth. She is kind. She is true. Please don't let me go-ho-oh!

Daire hid in his shitty hovel now. Still muttering. Paralyzed for quite a while. Only dark clouds created an overcast did he shuffle out, too on edge to sleep. He'd always been more of a night owl anyway.

Deciding to be productive with his energy, he struck another pose.

Since all his other magic ideas failed, he replicated a famous scene from an old show he watched as a child.

Putting his hands together.

"Kame... Kame... H-"

*Flash*

"Hah?"

*CRRAACK*

=

An enormous lightning bolt struck Willow.

Daire stumbled and almost ran back to his hovel before realized that Violet was in that tree!

As if the lightning was a cue, a downpour occurred, going from zero to a hundred in a second. Rain was flying sideways, pelting his face, stinging like bees. His clothes were already drenched, heavy, and weighing him down, but he continued to slosh in his shoes. Running towards Willow.

*Squish-Squish-Squish-Squish*

His wet footsteps likely couldn't be heard over the downpour, but he was very conscious of it and it bothered him on a deep level.

Daire managed to reach the tree quickly. Night and Light huddled together underneath, staying mostly dry as Willow blocked most of the rain. The noise difference inside the circumference of Willow's leaves was profound.

Repressing his urge to call out Violet's name, he tried climbing the tree.

There weren't any low branches, and Daire never climbed a tree before, being deathly afraid of heights.

He would conquer his fear tonight.

Daire splatted into Willow, arms and legs extended.

The old bark seemed to groan.

Daire didn't hear anything as he bear-hugged and scooted his butt up the trunk like a fat caterpillar.

It was unsightly, but it was actually working.

He made it about ten feet up to where Violet's home was. Several Violet sized books hung around the branches, safe from the storm. Looking inside what could have been a squirrel hole on Earth, Daire glimpsed Violet lying down on a pile of leaves, either unconscious or sleeping.

Daire wasn't sure if there was a difference in this situation.

What did catch his attention was that Violet was glowing! Not like the pretty kind of glowing, but actually shining. Bluish-purple sparks flowed around her in an orchestrated dance.

She turned over, facing Daire.

Drooling.

"Mmmm... That pasta's spicy..."

"..."

=

Violet groaned. Then her stomach followed suit. She was having a strange dream of a man with bright yellow hair. It stood up straight, like raw spaghetti. Then the man put his hands together and fired a beam made of pasta sauce.

Waking up, she didn't understand the meaning of her dream, but she chalked it up to the cravings she got when exhausting her mana.

A strange new scent wafted into her humble abode, causing her head to rise. It was a pleasant aroma that called out to her, whispering sweet words. Rising like a zombie, Violet was urged out of her recess nose-first.

=

The downpour didn't last long.

Daire had fallen asleep next to the wolves after making sure Violet was safe. He didn't dream of a strange, yellow-haired pasta man. Or at all, for that matter...

No. He slept a handful of hours and then rose with the morning sun.

He didn't make any progress yesterday despite spending so many hours trying to learn magic. Daire couldn't think of any other ways to awaken it, and his hunger was getting in the way. Going hungry the first day and burning his food on the second put a damper on his mood. A third day would cripple his training.

Standing up and dusting himself off, he felt his clothes stick to him. Daire was also sure his hair needed attention, but his hunger won out.

*Squish-Squish-Squish-Squish*

Waddling like a penguin, he moved back to his camp. Daire found his spears, but his "arrows" were completely gone. His other belongings buried safely under a collapsed hovel...

*Sigh*

Turning, he walked over to a grey rabbit whose fur was matted to its skin. It was casually gnawing on some grass.

Gripping his weapon, again, the bunny didn't move.

Daire was trying to decide if he should practice throwing the spear since it wasn't really a moving target but ruled against that approach. Throwing it would be distancing himself from killing. He needed to do this up close and get used to it. It was purely for sustenance. It wasn't like he was torturing the thing. He wouldn't be insane for killing it and eating it. It would be insane if he didn't!

Rearing back and thrusting before he could back out, the tip of his makeshift spear cut through the rabbit. The weapon pinned the creature to the ground. But it was still alive! Squirming, choosing now of all times to squeak and flail in distress. Fighting to survive!

Daire panicked.

I should have aimed for the head. It's in pain. I need to kill it quickly.

Taking out his pocket knife, Daire thrust the pointed end into the rabbit.

Daire stabbed it in the chest, making it squeal more.

Terrified.

He stabbed it again and again and again and again.

Daire heard someone screaming in the distance. He thought the rain came back.

Then it was his tears blocking his vision. His voice; the one screaming.

=

The trees around the clearing swayed in the wind. Rays of sunlight reflected off dewdrops on the grass. A glare from the edged steel reflected into Darie's eyes. Waking him from his trance.

He removed the spear emotionlessly and started to clean his kill. He skinned it methodically, causing almost no damage. Since it was already ruined, it didn't matter.

Mechanically, he hooked the meat up and let any remaining blood drain.

Lost in a place between here and there.

He checked his app absently, not even registering the ads.

Looking around the edge of the woods dully, he foraged for mushrooms, berries, and nuts. Trying to find seasoning.

Somewhere in the middle of the lengthy process, he came back to himself, returning to the present. Awake. He was now actively choosing what he picked. Able to realize he picked a few poisonous mushrooms and berries by mistake. Throwing those out, he happened upon wild garlic purely by chance; it looked nothing like he thought it would. It was miniscule. But Daire was positive it was garlic. He had checked his app a dozen times,

About an hour later returned to camp with ample ingredients and a decent amount of kindling.

Violet still hadn't woken up despite the sun being back in place.

Organizing the campfire. Stacking the logs. Grabbing the meat. Swatting away flies, Daire adamantly ignored the puddle of blood at his feet. Using his pocket knife as a kitchen knife, he did his best to cut the meat into sizable chunks.

Realizing he needed to cook for Violet, he cut tiny cubes as portion sizes.

Whittling away a few sticks to use as skewers. Cleaning them off in the pond the best he could. Skewering the chunks of meat, mushrooms, and berries.

Realizing he zoned out again, Daire whittled a small twig, which was more like a toothpick. Daire designated it as Violet's and got on with the work.

Lighting the fire with flint found nearby, Daire didn't set the skewers up to rotate like yesterday, instead choosing to twirl them by hand, sprinkling a little garlic on during the process. Proud that he managed to cook it evenly enough to be edible. Daire set his two portions aside to cool.

The burning logs held up as Daire tentatively held Violet's kebab over the fire. He was constantly wary of stray sparks attempting to light the toothpick on fire.

Daire managed it. Cooking it evenly. Except for maybe that mushroom on the end...

It likely also had a lot of garlic for the portion size.

I hope Violet likes garlic.

Daire set Violet's "nature kebab" down.

His own food cooled enough. Grabbing it by both ends, he paused his intake.

Violet was visible in his periphery, somehow silently appeared near her meal. She practically inhaled the steaming hot portion. Gorging herself like a starving wolf.

Seeing her so entranced, he decided to take a bit of his own meal.

Hummed with satisfaction, he gave it a solid C.

The meat was gamey and dry. There was a faint metallic taste that was quickly overpowered by way too much garlic. Fortunately, the berries were sweet and juicy. The mushrooms were crunchy... the consistency was that of grilled peppers. The nuts he had stuck onto the stick haphazardly weren't salted and were basically just a crunch factor.

Altogether, it was a wild experience that left him emotionally confused.

Daire was smiling, though. His first kebab vanishing.

Glancing over at Violet to see her rubbing her stomach with a forlorn expression, licking the juice and spice left on her toothpick, Daire sympathized.

Didn't she say she'd never eaten before?

She had finished her meal much faster than he did despite the similar portion-to-body ratio.

Daire could tell she hadn't eaten her fill, so he thought of a solution.

He slid off half of the contents of the skewer into his mouth, laying the other half in front of Violet.

=

Violet sat down before a Violet-sized feast.

She was already devouring the food before she was conscious of it.

It's delicious! It is Magical!

This mixture of meat, sweet berries, hard nuts, and chewy mushrooms all topped with some sort of spice that was blowing her mind and exploding her tastebuds.

Violet ascended to a higher plane. Figuratively.

Her nose didn't steer her wrong.

It was all over too soon. Before she knew it, her feast transformed into a single smooth stick. Violet was licking the stick absently while rubbing her stomach, wishing more food would appear in front of her... and it did.

An enormous Kebab, easily four times the size of her own meal, was presented directly in front of her. She looked up for the first time.

Daire sat next to her with a goofy grin, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk, giving a thumbs up.

Violet's eyes sparkled, worried she might start crying tears of joy. Her bottom lip quivered as she looked back to the giant meal before her.

Unrestrained, Violet munched.

=

It took only several minutes to finish. Somehow eating the entire thing, nearly six times her entire body weight, only to let out a tiny burp of contentment. Falling on her back, appeased.

She wiggled her wings out from behind her back and sighed. Stomach bulging, arms stretched out to her sides, she looked up to Daire, who was poking the fire out. Noticing her gaze, he glanced down.

Violet smirked and thrust her arm up. Thumb raised to the sky!

Daire smiled. Returning the gesture.