Kaara swung herself back and forth by her tail, and in a feat of acrobatics, hoisted herself back atop the branch.

She grabbed the bushel of Ingen fruits with her tail and peaked over the edge. She closed her eyes, outstretching her hand. She imagined the ground. Soft, muddy, and dark with water. She envisioned how that water had seeped underneath. Where did it go? It had to still be down there somewhere. If it all came out at once, then she’d be able to meet the water earlier.

Despite the very obvious dangers, this was a fantastic idea in Kaara’s head.

Fwwoosshh!

A magical geyser erupted from the ground below, high above the smaller trees. Kaara knew she could make it bigger. She knew she could make it down with the next one if she got a running start and jumped.

She focused again. She needed to make it pop out. To build up the pressure until it all rushed from a single point

Fwwoosshh!!!

Even larger than before! Kaara ran as fast as she could. She imagined a small geyser beneath her feet, springing herself off the branch with her magic and hurtling through the air.

But there was one problem.

She’d jumped too late and the water was already falling.

Kaara panicked and imagined that the water was now a suspended series of ponds which she proceeded to belly flop through one by one.

CRASH! CRASH! SPLASH!

Her descent might’ve slowed down, but she was so disoriented and stunned from the impacts that her magic fizzled out. The ground was coming to her and fast!

She imagined the geyser one last time. Right beneath her, as big as she could make it. She felt her very soul strain to summon such magic.

It erupted once more, crashing into Kaara, but not in the way she expected. It hurt. The water was under so much pressure it was hot, and even if it broke her fall on its way up, it still had to come down.

In one last attempt, hoping she’d done enough, Kaara imagined a pool beneath her to break her fall one last time. She covered her head and closed her eyes, hitting tree branches on her way down before finally flopping into a thin pool of mud and water.

Needless to say, the fruit she’d stuffed under her clothing was now a sticky pulp, and she’d lost her grip on her shawl about halfway through the fall. At least she’d managed to hang onto the unripened bushel of fruit with her tail.

She’d definitely broken a few bones and scalded herself with the geyser. It hurt, but not enough for Kaara to cry about it.

But just the same she was still crying. Not for the fact she’d nearly died, but for the many fallen fruits who had sacrificed themselves to cushion her landing.

“I promise to eat all of you even if you got squished!” She sniffled.

Kaara sat up feeling some intense pain from her broken body. She gathered the water around her, formed it into a ball, and enveloped herself in it.

She closed her eyes and inhaled the water into her lungs as if it were air. She imagined herself breathing life into the water, and so the water began to glow with vibrant healing energy.

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Her bones mended in a matter of seconds, and the burns left behind no scars. This hadn’t been the first time Kaara had to heal herself with her magic, nor would it be the last.

As long as she didn’t die from the fall, she knew she’d pull through one way or another. What she couldn’t heal with magic, however, was her sprained soul.

She felt it anytime she tried to cast a spell too powerful for her current level. Even if Kaara could cast magic on a level far beyond her years, she still had her limits.

The effects of a sprained soul were… strange. She always felt less enthusiastic about things. Sluggish, apathetic, and indifferent. And there was always a strange pain in her chest.

She didn’t feel sad, she just felt numb. Detached from the world and everything that it meant to her.

But even if she felt this way, she knew she’d be happy again, so she chose to pretend to be happy now.

She reached under her clothes and pulled out one of the Ingen puree she'd made for herself, slurping it down.

Good food was one way to heal the soul, along with plenty of rest and fun conversations with other people.

And one thing to get excited about was that her soul would only be stronger after she came back from this!

Kaara could already feel her undying enthusiasm for the world flaring up again. She decided to track down the rest of the fruit and carry it back to camp in her shawl. The good news was that some of the ripe fruits had survived the fall, and the other good news was that the rest of the fruits had already been mashed into a pulp to make jam out of.

“Kaara!”

Kaara turned, seeing her mother running toward her, spear in hand. She had well kept and braided crimson hair with a posture that exuded the utmost poise. Her armor had new claw marks on it, but she didn’t look to be injured today. She’d probably just gotten back from night hunting.

Kaara was about to return a friendly wave before she noticed the look on her mother’s face.

Oh crap.

Kaara booked it in the other direction.

“Don’t run from me young lady! What was that? You could’ve died!”

“But I didn’t! I didn’t die! And I healed so-”

Kaara should’ve known she couldn’t outrun her mother. With nearly incomprehensible speed, her mother flashed into view in front of her, catching Kaara by her tail and hoisting her off her feet.

For the second time today, Kaara was hanging upside down by her tail. She decided to change the subject, “Look how much fruit I got momma!”

“I don’t care about that! Are you alright? That was so stupid of you. What would you have done if you hit your head and couldn’t heal yourself?”

Kaara shrank, “Well, I didn’t, so um-”

“That’s not the point. Stop being so reckless, you’re going to make me and your father worry. We’d like to see you turn twelve this winter at the very least!”

Kaara twiddled her fingers, “I’m sorry.”

Her mother breathed a sigh, “If I hadn’t seen those geysers you made I probably wouldn’t have found you either. But at least you’re safe…”

Kaara knew this moment all too well. The moment when her mother looked to be calming down, but in reality she was just charging up for another lecture.

“But that’s not an excuse for-!”

And there it was.

“...And what happens if you’re acting like this in front of the Xirxus family when they come? They’ll think we’re savages more than they already do!”

Kaara was confused for a moment before she remembered. The Xirxus family was a noble house that was going to be visiting their camp and traveling with them for a bit.

Normally, no one cared for appearances, but Kaara’s mother had been raised in nobility when she was young.

Her mother breathed another sigh, “That said, your usage of magic in a situation like that was impressive…”

Oh no, she was gearing up for a big wave of lecturing. Kaara had to think of something! She reached under her shirt and offered one of the fruits to her mother, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to get you and everyone some fruit cuz I know it’s dad’s favorite.” It was all the truth, but she had to play it up a bit in the hopes it’d calm her mother’s anger.

Her mother gave her a warm smile, taking the squished fruit and setting her down, “Thank you Kaara, this is really sweet of you…”

Kaara was already sprinting in the other direction. She knew it hadn’t worked! It was another false flag.

“Hey! I’m not done with you young lady! Get back here!”

“Hold her off Colonel Ingen! You’re my last hope!” She said, chucking another squashed fruit at her mother in an attempt to escape.

But even in times like these, even when her mother was mad at her, it just made Kaara happy to know how much they cared.