The Hamato Lily

Inkmasters

The gentle whirring of the heaters attached to the wall of her pool was what Lily awoke to. It was late at night or very early in the morning. The heaters were set to turn off once her alarm rang. Letting her blanket float away, she swam to the surface and grabbed the ledge, keeping her shoulders submerged for a little longer than usual to bask in the warmth. Taking a deep breath, her mind drifted to the snacks in her special cooler. She pulled herself out of the water and made her way to the kitchen. Once she reached her cooler, she flipped it open and smiled at her prize. Inside were half a dozen fish, each swimming slowly in the colder water. Gripping one of the most active, Lily bit off its head. Crunching on it, Lily heard footsteps behind her.
"And here we have a wild Lily engaging in her nightly ritual in which she eats her prefered prey. While the Lily is peaceful during daylight hours, at night, she is much more aggressive," Donnie said with the air of an animal kingdom documentary.
Leo piped in, trying to sound like an Australian man, "And that's no joke, this little las knows how to throw a serious punch."
"Could both of you kindly shut up?" Lily asked, wiping the remains of her snack off her top, "I'm going back to bed."
"What time do you think it is?" Leo asked.
"1 in the morning-ish?"
Donnie flicked on the lights as he said, "It's 5:30."
"Oh," Lily said, shielding her eyes from the light.
Donnie asked, "What time did you go to bed last night?"
Lily's eyes flicked, avoiding looking her brothers in the eye.
"Lily."
"Around midnight," Lily said before tucking in her lips.
Her brothers subsequently waved her to her room. Sitting down, she tried to unfurl the black doorway that led her to the ink realm, but to no avail. And now she had a headache. For some reason, her magic drained quicker than usual for the past week or so. Leaning back, Lily bunched up her shirt to look at an odd marking. It was a tiny lizard curled up on her side. Because it was so black, she likened it to a tattoo, but would frequently vanish from her skin and trying to figure everything out was driving her bonkers. A soft ringing sound came from behind her. Looking, it was a doorway to the realm. Only, it was a dark red. Suspicious, she took a few steps back, but leather straps shot out and tied her up before dragging her through.
She ended up in a dreary gray tunnel with jars lining the walls. Some were basically empty, but most were completely full.
"I think you've set a new record," A young woman with a clipboard commented.
Lily cocked her head and said, "You sound kinda familiar."
"When I'm yelling all the time, I sound weird when I talk in a regular volume," The woman said with a grin.
"Who are you?"
Pointing at Lily with a pen, she said, "I'm known as Honey Badger, and you are here for official registrations."
Before either could say anything else, another voice roared, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Several people ran into the hall, each one looking furious. Badger swore under her breath as they came closer.
"Did you tamper with one of the jars?" One of the people asked, face set like stone.
"Tamper? Jars?" Lily asked in a whisper.
"I didn't!" Badger exclaimed, "Honest!"
"LIES!" Another roared, "How could it fill so fast otherwise?"
Lily started to pull her purse out from her arm to listen to her music and giggled to herself because it was always amusing to see a large object rise up through her skin. Before she could unzip it, someone grabbed her arm. Looking up, the people were staring at her intensely.
"How are you able to do that?" Several asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"What's with the jars?" Lily asked in response.
Their faces scrunched up in agitation, but before a verbal war broke out, Badger said, "She has a right to know after all. When you unlock your wildshape, you get a sort of living tattoo that drains part of your magic and deposits it into one of the jars. Once it reaches a certain fill percentage, you're brought here to get your registration papers. For most inkmasters, it takes months, if not years to reach that point, but your's has completely filled in just one week."
"Drains my magic!?" Lily asked.
"Yep, it continues to be drained until you can maintain a safe level. Too much, you go kaboom, too little, you get a headache. Most new inkmasters only need to worry about the first one."
Lily rubbed the side of her head and sighed. She had the exact opposite problem.
"Once you have your registration papers filled out, you can start learning control!" Badger continued, not noticing Lily's expression, "Most start with simple things, like summoning strips of fabric or chains of metal."
"Like this?" Lily asked, having her ribbons spiral around her.
Badger was silent for a beat before saying, "Yep, I probably should have seen this coming. But, eh, hindsight's 20/20. How long have you been able to access your magic?"
Lily racked her brain for a minute before saying, "I think since I was around 6 or 7, but I might have started when I was closer to 3 or 4."
"What did you use it for?"
"Reaching the box of things my dad hid," Lily giggled.
That sparked a very long and enjoyable conversation.

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