[kiwipen]

TBD.
I will not be hosting this one.

[OriGalaxii]

Line work by NaCl
Colouring by OriGalaxii

Storkatten, often shortened to Storkies, are a magical breed of fantasy felines. Descended from Freya's own mythical mounts, Storkies are chock-full of magic and potential. They're quite powerful and loyal companions. While some may choose to live in colonies out in the wild, others may choose the companionship of humans. Many Storkies also possess magical abilities, though require the usage of runes to unlock them.

Welcome to Storkatten #900! This was a collaboration between me, and Winter (NaCl)!
We’re 100 away now from the big 1000! I hope you all are excited,,

This storkie has a pretty interesting magic combo, so your prompt is to tell us, how do they control their seemingly conflicting powers?

This is a limited impress-me contest! You have a limit of 2000 words AND/OR 2 Art pieces.

This competition will end on December 16th, at 11:59 pm EST

Form for the Winner;


Code: Select all

[b]Username;[/b]
[b]Storkie Name;[/b]
[b]Nicknames;[/b] (optional)
[b]Coat Description:[/b] Mint Vine Tabby/Black Thorn Tabby with Pangare
[b]Gender:[/b] M/F/Custom
[b]Born Magic Type;[/b] Poison/Healing
[b]Additional Magic #1[/b] leave blank
[b]Additional Magic #2[/b] #2; leave blank

[NR] custom lined, expression edit, eye shape edit, expressive ear edit, Hair, Unnatural Coat Colour, Unnatural Markings
[LIM] longer fur, fangs
[LEG] wings, extra tail, tail type alteration (longer), Chimersim, Heterochromia

[b]Parents:[/b]
Founder | Founder

[b]Children:[/b]
-- [url]Partner[/url]
-- [url]Child1[/url]
-- [url]Child2[/url]
-- [url]Child3[/url]

[strawberrymwilk]

mark.,,,,

[DrBubby]

Mark!

[rem sleep]

How do they control their seemingly conflicting powers?

Utopia was always an odd kit. Some say it was from the moment he opened his mismatched eyes that he was odd. Others think it was from the very moment his parents fell in love and the notion of having kits crossed their mind. Regardless of the origin point, Utopia was an odd kit, born into a group of odd cats who, even still, managed to find ways to find Utopia strange even amongst fellow strangers.

In the first place, he had two magics, which was already strange. Stranger still was that the two he'd been gifted were poison, like his father, and healing, like his bother. Neither cat knew quite how to raise a kit who had both gifts they had to offer, and from a young age Utopia's magic was always causing problems. Whether he accidentally gave other kits poison ivy or healed prey he meant to catch, Utopia's magic ran more amok than he did in his kithood. Other cats weren't afraid of him for his volatile power, though-- his strangeness did not necessarily make him an outcast. In fact, other cats were quite fond of their clan's new magical boon-- they only viewed him as a pitiable child who needed a paw or two on learning how to handle their magic-- so learn he did.

Utopia studied under both of his parents, but no matter what they tried, it never quite worked. Try and try as he might, Utopia's magic continued to flare-- and his parents' gentle guidance could not to much to abate this reality. He gained little bits of control, but he'd been taking their lessons for many, many moons-- and improvement was slow, if it existed at all. His parents grew more and more concerned by the day.

A little kits unstable magic could do harmless things-- like poison ivy irritations or a rat getting away from the dinner table-- but as Utopia grew... so too was their magic bound to grow with them, and his parents didn't know what such an atypical and gifted kit would be capable of when he grew into himself and his potential. It was for these reasons that they worried so-- these reasons compelled them to stay close to their son in these trying times, to provide everything they could in the way of magic teachings in hopes of saving Utopia from the inevitably complications of living as a host of wild magic.

They looked everywhere for solutions-- asking scholars from distant regions and mages from far and wide, about what they could do for their son, who's magics seemed to be unstable.

"Well," said one scholar from the mountains, "It's only sensible his magics misfire, they oppose and contradict one another, so it simply can't be helped."

"So," said a scholar from the rivers, "I'm unsure if his magics will ever calm. Like persistent tides, they will push against one another forever. Perhaps it's best he abandons the study of magic altogether... lest his magical powers grow even more vast and strong, and the instability becomes only more dangerous because of it."

"I feel," said a scholar from the forest, "That he must pick a side-- one or the other-- one magic to own as his and refine. Perhaps by picking one, he can tip the metaphorical scales that are trying to balance within him-- maybe that will finally stop these magic bursts. He only needs to decide for himself what magic is his to hold."

These answers did not satisfy his parents, who knew their son quite well by now. Their son was an inspiring young kit, naive and optimistic, full of wonder for all things-- particularly plants. He would talk with them for hours upon end about the wonderful mysteries of plants, both herbal remedies used by their medicine cats and poisonous plants they were warned about by poison mages like his father. He saw the beauty in both types of plant-- though they both were at odds-- and his parents knew that this mindset of unconditional wonder and acceptance would, undoubtedly, extend to his magic as well. Utopia was a kind and gentle kit-- one who wanted to understand and appreciate everything-- to ask him to pick one magic or the other was to ask him to abandon this part of himself that was, by nature, himself.

So they put off asking him if he would choose. They did not know that it would be necessary, and they thought asking would do more harm than good. They knew their magic as close to themselves-- a facet of their identity they couldn't exist without-- and their clan held much the same philosophy... to ask a cat from this group to smother or ignore their magic at all was to make an affront to their person-- to threaten a part of self. Utopia's parents thought this even more true in the specific case of their son, who was so balanced an individual that it made sense he would mediate rather than smother his magical tendencies...

So his lessons continued, and no progress was made. Rumors started to spread around the clan about the words the scholars had said-- and whether they knew it or not, those around Utopia started to wonder whether he would choose. Which would he be-- healing or poison-- since surely it had been seen he couldn't be both? But whenever someone asked the odd kit, purely hypothetically of course, if ever he would choose-- he'd dodge the question entirely, saying he'd simply find a way to hold both and do so safely. The other cats thought but did not say that surely if such a thing was possible, he'd have done it by now. But they bit their tongues, because he was their friend, and because he was so sweet and kind that no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news to him.

But the moons kept passing, and Utopia the odd kit became Utopia the budding apprentice, whose magic was slowly growing with him, whose accidental bursts of power were starting to be more troublesome... He. had begun drawing the attention of the leader of their group, who, while they would've preferred keeping him, was starting to worry if he might not be too volatile to house in their clan for fear of the other cat's safety. The tension was only continuing to grow. The unease spreading despite Utopia's convincing smile and reassurances that if he just kept trying things would be alright. Slowly, but surely, tension mounted in this way, and friends became wary, then distant, then afraid. Utopia's parents became tense, then protective, then alert...

Pervasive in the air was the feeling that something had to happen-- and happen it did. On the night of the heaviest rain, the leader of the clan mounted up for confrontation. The clan could not live in perpetual fear of what Utopia would become-- and they were sure he would become it. He had years to practice, to find a balance, to choose-- to find some way to resolve the conflict of his magics that caused neither one to be stable-- but he hadn't. Despite his good wishes and intentions, he hadn't-- and the leader didn't want to be there when the next outburst of Utopia's magic happened-- because the next time could always be the time when someone was finally hurt in a way they couldn't mend.

So he came to their step and entered their den, feeling his heart as heavy as his rain-soaked pelt as he went in to banish them, leaving the clan expectant, vigilant, behind him-- in case, always in case.

But when he entered the den to banish the odd kit-- he found no kit, nor parents present-- but an empty den. Their things were gone, and they along with them had gone, leaving nothing behind.

Elsewhere, Utopia was following his parents as they flew. He didn't know where they were going just yet-- they hadn't said. All he knew was that he needed to go, because they had said so. He didn't know yet that they wouldn't be coming back-- that his attempts to deal with his unbalanced magic had cost them their first home and their chosen family. He couldn't understand it just yet. But they fled, with the heavy rain on their heels. They ran as far as they could.

And they lived like that for some while, moving with the seasons, always seeking shelter and knowledge to help resolve the magical problem that had gotten them into this mess. They had a goal, shaky though it was, to get Utopia to the Paragon of Arcane Magic-- a specialist who would surely know what to do to balance the magics their son had been given. And as they went, Utopia came along, always smiling, always warm and kind-- finding time to marvel at odd bugs or new plants, pointing out landmarks and rare specimens of wildlife to them. Bringing them smiles in uncertain times, he more than pulled the team along as they proceeded in their quest, though his recklessness sometimes ended him up with his mother's healing magic mending his scraped paws and ankles.

It was many moons before they found the Arcane Paragon's abode-- a place of mystery and legend that seemed too lofty to really exist but too tantalizing not to search for-- and longer still to traverse the bog it was nestled within so they could approach its doorstep. His parents knocked on the door and waited, waited, waited-- until finally someone came, and then they pled like their lives depended on it for an answer to Utopia's woes.

The Arcane Paragon sighed, and rolled their eyes behind their spectacles. They grudgingly offered the parents a deal-- that they would take in Utopia, under the pretense that he would help them with their tasks and be their apprentice. The Paragon could not provide for the whole family, though they could visit if they chose, and this would be their arrangement. Utopia went to protest-- because the only constant he had was his family, and they were the pillars keeping him upright in the same unsteady times he had supported them through-- but he knew he didn't have much choice in them going. He made them promise to visit every year before the night of the heavy rain, and they agreed.

This began the era of Utopia's life where he lived with the Arcane Paragon, who gave him odd lessons he'd never had before, and who was the first to explain magic in a way that made sense to Utopia. He began learning from the paragon-- and through them began to understand that he could practice both, though there was an art to doing so. That he would have to partake in a rare art lost to time-- the active learning of two magics at once. Ordinarily, the paragon said, storkies only learned one magic at a time-- but that in Utopia's case, learning only one magic would upset the delicate balance his magics had and would cause the unstable flares to manifest worse than before. The paragon explained that his parent's good efforts to help him may have been upsetting the balance too, though they didn't mean it, because they simply were not careful enough to monitor the balance between magic types.

While some of the paragon's lofty rambling went over Utopia's head, some of it made life make a lot more sense.

Today, Utopia is still finding a way to control his two seemingly contradicting magics. He's working together now with the arcane paragon to move forward correctly, not advancing one magic above the other to maintain balance, so that he needn't pick one, the other, or none at all. So that he can be the cat he was born to be, the son of his parents' magics and hearts. It is, however, still a work in progress.

[ 2000 / 2000 words ]

[dragoness129]

( I read the prompt as no more than the story word count and two images. Please let me know if this is not correct. I love this Storkie so much [even though my art skills are not the greatest]! )
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Keeping a calm, concentrated focus is key in this Storkie being able to control both of these powers. They can strike out with either a poisonous vine to defend themselves against any enemy. If someone is in need of healing, they focus their healing vine to channel their restorative energy into them. This Storkie is what the yin and yan symbol is - Needing to keep both halves balanced and only together can it be whole. They keep a strong mental command over both sides so that either magic will not war within their own body.

They start their days with meditation, keeping their head clear and their mind strong. They do their best to be appathetic, as their emotions play a strong role in their powers surging to the surface. When they they become overwhelmed with anger or fear, the poison side tends to lash out. When they are sad or in pain - either emotional or physical, their healing side rushes to aid. Depending on the situation, it can be good for this Storkie to embrace their emotions and allow the magic to lead them. Though it can be a slippery slope. They do not want to poison someone they love to the point of their healing being unsucessful.

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[Eevee55]

This Storkie has never really considered their powers to be conflicting. In fact, they see them more as a reflection of a natural part of life; the cycle of being hurt and healing. They have always thought that neither poison nor healing would really have much purpose without the other. After all, what purpose would healing have if nobody ever got hurt in the first place? And without healing, no one would ever recover from being hurt, and soon there would be no one left for the poison to harm. As strange as it might seem to anyone else, this Storkie sees their two powers as being intertwined.

They also see both their powers' value and importance. Their poison is a warning; letting anyone who might try to attack them know that they are not going down without a fight. Their ability to heal shows their willingness to aid others; they are always happy to help someone who needs it. While they might prefer to heal and assist, they are nonetheless willing to use their poison in defense of themself or others.

Because they see and respect the importance of both their powers, they have never particularly struggled with controlling the balance between them. That is not to say they have never had difficulty controlling them, though; when they were first learning to control their powers, it took quite a while for them to get used to using them. Their healing magic is very connected to their emotions, while their poison magic is tied to their instincts. Therefore, what helped them with learning to use one didn't necessarily help at all with learning to use the other, which was rather confusing for them as a young Storkie. Nonetheless, once they understood the differences, they were able to become quite skilled with both magics.

Overall, they appreciate both their abilities, and couldn't imagine trying to use only one while neglecting the other. While they can understand why some might be wary of the potential danger of their poison magic, they are very careful to ensure there are no accidents involving it. And they always try to help others see what they do- the value of both their powers, both individually and together.

[xem]

Mods have chosen to judge this competition, congratulations rem sleep!

How do they control their seemingly conflicting powers?
-snip-

[rem sleep]

oh thank you so much!!!
i love utopia sm q//q <3 <3