If At First You Don't Succeed... (Faolan, Gwen)

Tattooed runes! She'd definitely heard of other mages who used them too and thought they sounded super cool. Maybe one day she could use something like that too! Maybe something colourful, on her arms or shoulders or insteps--

Gwen broke out of her daydreams as Faolan stopped and suddenly gave her a command. No, an instruction! He was being her teacher, after all! She paused as well and made an intensely thoughtful face as she considered it seriously. What she could do? What could she do? They'd done some very basic stuff in class but what was an actual taste of her magic?

She reached into her bag again and pulled out the crystal she'd been talking about. It glimmered blue and she remembered the odd bits of magic she'd managed to do on the day she'd received it. They weren't proper spells, but...

"Okay!" she cheered, and brandished the stone triumphantly in her fist. It wasn't a proper spell, but why not! In the next moment, an uncontrolled gust of wind burst around her hand, knocking her straight off her feet. She hit the floor with a yelp. Ow! Ow ow okay, maybe that was why not.

Gwen huffed determinedly and sprang back up to her feet. Again! Yes! Her eyes squinted as she looked at the crystal this time, trying to concentrate. How did people concentrate on this stuff though? Where was her concentration supposed to go?

The burst of wind was less violent this time and didn't knock her off her feet, though it did send her stumbling backwards a few steps. It was as directionless as the previous one, simply exploding around her hand and vanishing quickly. As she regained her footing, Gwen scratched the back of her head with her free hand and looked contemplatively down at her gem. "I don't actually know what I'm doing," she decided to declare (as if it wasn't obvious already). "We got taught some really basic stuff like floating feathers and nudging pebbles in class, but this is the coolest thing I can do. Uh, whatever it is." She grinned sheepishly up at Faolan.