A furious scribbling of charcoal against paper, and a moment of introspection. With a sigh the page was torn out and crumpled, then tossed to the side. It needed to be perfect, and that was not it. It had been close, only a few mistakes, but it wasn’t good enough to even try. With a snap of fingers the book sparked with magic, a new page appearing where the last had been torn out. The charcoal was set to page again, slow and careful strokes sketching it out perfectly. No more mistakes could be made, too much time had been spent on this first step of the process. Progress must be made on further steps, less thought given to this one. Charcoal left page, and a satisfied hum was sounded. Yes, this was perfect. It would suffice.
The book was held aloft, the Mist gathered forth. Not too quickly, painstaking effort given to bring out just the right amount. It was held in one hand while the other swirled over it, shaping it to the imagined form, the one that had been drawn moments before. A round body, stumpy legs, long floppy ears. A miniature version, which was then cast out to the ground. If all went well the gathered Mist would hold the form indefinitely, only dismissed by a conscious effort.
The Mist held the creature together for a few moments, a few happy little bounds - and then abruptly dissipated in to nothing. Another in a string of failures, a frustrating pattern that had yet to be broken. The book was closed, slow breaths taken to steady body and mind. That frustration could not be allowed to take hold, for it would only lead to desperation, and that was not a good place to learn new magic from. A shining stone was produced from a hidden pocket, held aloft in palm of hand to be meditated on. The answer was here, in this stone. There only lacked a clear answer on how to pull secrets from it.
A sigh let out, for a break was needed. A time to rest and gather mist back, a time to let the mind clear and perhaps deduce what was going wrong. An indeterminate amount of time passed in meditation; enough that what had been sun was now stars to greet the eyes. The book opened, pages flipped in a flurry of mist. This was it, this would work. Meditation had been the key, had determined that what was lacking was focus. Focus on the book, furthermore on that which was drawn in the book. Yet not the drawing itself, but what it was meant to conjure.
Without standing this time, the msit was gathered quickly and formed in to a receptacle. Formless and shapeless, an extension of self. Focusing on what it was meant to be, not strictly what was drawn on the page. That focus released in to it, a burst of sparkling magic exploding outwards from that singular point. Eyes closed, a hopeful lift of ears for the pattering of tiny feet that would tell that it had worked.
They bounded up to her and her eyes opened, to smile down at her new glowing friend. Sparkles seemed to be constantly streaming from the little creature, and with a hop up - stepping on air as if it were solid - it was up on her shoulder. She let out a laugh, bringing a hand up to scritch beneath its chin. "What shall we call you, I wonder." She spoke to it. What had started as an extension of her Mist had now a will of its own, and so it needed a name. She picked it up off her shoulder, lifting it with both hands to inspect it, as though simply staring at it would show her its name.
"I will call you..." a brief pause as she finalized the name in her head. "Ruby!" She smiled, thinking this was the most clever and unique name that had ever been thought up.
