Well It's About Time

Liun listened to both of his cousins with a keen look in his eyes. Partial shifting had been a goal of his for his entire life, since his mother so deeply specialised in the skill. "Arm. Gotcha." He nodded, but he somewhat spoke like he was confirming it with himself.

In a way, this method reminded him of when he was younger. Probably in the days he adamantly attempted to fight older dragons, then getting royally beaten. The first iteration of his armour was only the gauntlets, and he recalled how he intently stared at his arms as he attempted to form the armour, to start to grow it. This recollection actually gave him a good mental image for him to use.

He nodded again as he somewhat mentally prepared himself. "Alright, yeah, I've got an image in my head. Arm makes sense." The way he spoke almost sounded like he was stalling. In a way he was. A part of him felt so hesitant to do this, since it wouldn't be the first. The first time he partial shifted was while he was captured. When he was forced to. There could also be the chance he couldn't partially shift, that perhaps the same thing that blocked his regular shifting would also block partial shifting. He shook his head briefly as he cleared the doubts from his head. Liun had to be optimistic.

With that, Liun put his arm out and focused on it. He attempted to picture it shifting, or at least for claws to form, but he struggled with the image. What would him partial shifting even look like? That thought just completely evaded his mind. Eventually he dropped his arm with a huff. "I'm not getting anything..." There was a disappointment and resignation in his voice that felt uncharacteristic. Usually he wouldn't be one who seemed to give up so easily, but with this he already looked like he was willing to say it had failed.

A lot of emotions would go through Liun's head in a very rapid amount of time, largely because of his two cousins' words of... encouragement. At first, he immediately felt guilt and frustration at how quickly he gave up. Even he felt a little ashamed at it, since he did want to partial shift. It had been his dream since he knew what it was.

First, it was Shul. Being told about his own experience, reassurance. It made Liun feel a bit less like it was hopeless... not getting it right was normal. That had to be what he told himself. Liun smiled a little at Shul, an appreciative look on his face. "Thank Shul, I just-" But Liun couldn't finish the sentence before Fweiu grabbed the back of his neck. It was a familiar motion, since they were all taught by Wera. The appreciation and reassurance he felt because of Shul quickly changed to anger, determination, and pride.

At being shoved, he staggered a little to keep his balance and stop himself from falling over. His eyes had a look to them almost like a new fire had been lit. He wouldn't give up anymore. Wordlessly, he put his arm out again and focused on his hand. Despite the fact he currently felt pretty wound up, he attempted to tune everything out. His eyes kept on his hand, and a part of his focus slipped to his own breathing.

Eventually, he closed his eyes, but kept his arm out. Liun had no idea what partial shifting for him could look like, so he stopped trying to envision it like that. Instead, he just attempted to recall what shifting in general felt like. Minutes passed, Liun just stood there with his arm out and his eyes closed, his face having shifted to a concentrated frown. But eventually, Liun suddenly winced and opened his eyes to look at his hand. A part of him thought what he just felt was his imagination, and that he wouldn't see anything. But instead, he saw that his hand now had claws. His eyes widened and he looked between his hand and his cousins repeatedly.