lesson attempt

[23:51] Miran ascends to the mountain cave yet again, an almost daily ritual since his brief lesson. He sits, back to the strange tree that had drawn his interest since he first arrived in Theria, and just... waits.

As he has in the days before, his eyes remain closed as he simply listened out- the echoing sound of the mountain winds blowing outside as his only company.

He searches, in this howl, for the voice he was told to find- the sound of the spirits, their words, their demands.

As with the days prior, he hears nothing. The incomprehensible gust blows as ever, and he pries no meaning from the noise within.

It was there, he knew it- Cameo was bound to the spirit of winter, where else would it's voice speak louder and truer than here? Atop one of the largest mountains in Esshar, surrounded by ice, snow and freezing wind?

His breathing grows quickened for a moment, a shred of anger welling below. He couldn't just search so far, do so much, and end here- unable to hear the very powers he sought to commune with. They were all around, everywhere, he knew that much but...

He should've asked more questions. Should've searched more, asked more moonfallers about their beliefs- he'd spent his life looking for things, gathering information and listening for the call of monsters and Daemon alike, following their every move and coming to understand them in intimate detail- why had he failed to do the same with the spirits?

He reaches out with his mana, not in a focused way, but an almost desperate scattershot- the tree behind him, the few fragments of foliage that dotted the therian landscape. Straining himself, he could even feel his own tendely cared for shrubbery at the edge of his perception.

He could feel it, but not hear it. Not *be* it.

From outside the cave mouth, a familiar chirp takes his attention- a frospup, beady eyes set on the exposed blue mercury within the cavern. Miran sighs, the creatures are rarely seen alone, particularly when feeding. His meditation interrupted, and a distraction arriving, he simply gets up and leaves.

There would be more time, later.
(Miran Tsuchai