First Encounters with Magic

I always knew I was going to have to work hard if I wanted recognition. Even when I was just a pup, I could tell my litterkin were bigger, faster, and stronger than I was. I know it took me longer to walk just on my hind paws than any of them, longer to talk, longer to wean... So my siblings mostly ignored me, much happier to play games with each other than trying to slow down for me. I got used to it, I guess. Sometimes I'd try to push my way in, you know? To show them that I *could* do it, that I *could* keep up with them, that I was a valuable member of the team... THAT never worked out. So I spent a lot of time on my own. I climbed a fair bit. It was nice to look down at people for once. My favorite place to climb was an old Labernum tree at the academy next door. If no-one was watching, I could sneak in and get all the way to the top without falling. Most of the students there were Sahali, so they never bothered looking for anyone hanging onto the branches way up at the top. There was one spot where I could sit and lean back against the trunk and have a pretty good view into one of the classrooms. I'll never forget the first day I saw them actually attempt to do magic. The professor had a little ball up at the front of the classroom, and they were supposed to use their magic to copy it, or at least, copy what it looked like. I'm not really telling this part well, though, there was a lot of build up and warnings about how daaangerous magic can be and how this wasn't just a game and would require your complete concentration... Anyway, after all that, all these students were just sitting there, waving their hands around over their desks and talking to themselves, and none of them were able to make the ball, at least, not at first. Finally, though, I saw the professor clap and point at someone I couldn't quite see, and he went over to inspect. Then he brought her up to the front of the classroom, and you know what? She was a Sahali girl who only had one arm. One arm! And she was the best mage in the whole class! Magic's like that, you know? You might think you know what it takes to be a great mage: the strength, the heritage, the raw talent... but the truth is, anyone can get lucky. Anyone might have powerful magic at their fingertips and not even know it. I got to thinking, maybe that was my chance. There was no way I was getting sent to that academy, we didn't have the money, at least, not for me. Besides, I had my work to do for the family, washing out the mash tuns and sparge pots with all the little spigots that I was the best at cleaning. But that didn't stop me from trying every blessed thing I learned when I was sitting in that tree. Nothing happened, of course, not at first. But then one day, something did happen. A couple of my brothers decided they wanted to play something a little rough with me. You know how brothers are. Anyway, I could tell that I was going to be coming out of this game with more bruises than I wanted to, and I told them to stop, that I didn't want to play, and they just kind of laughed it off and said stuff like "Aw, come on Softpaw, you're always begging us to play and now you don't want to?" and I just looked at him and I felt this weird kind of... intense calm? And I said "Stop bothering me", and, they did. Not a word, they all just turned around and walked away like (*snap*) that and didn't seem to think anything about it. That was the moment I knew that I had it. I was going to surpass every last one of them. I was going to be Magnificent.