Flashback The Mage meets the Wolf

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren 18 Fall 513 AV Faolan was two years old and already had a knack for getting into trouble. In human years he was sixteen years old so it made sense that he wasn’t exactly an easy to control person. It didn’t help that the wolf inside demanded certain things so he was prone to disappearing from his home early in the morning and wouldn’t show back up for a few days. He was responsible enough to show up at his job at the stables whenever he was supposed to though, he didn’t just cut and run. After all he knew he wanted to leave Zeltiva and having a steady income was part of that plan to leave. You couldn’t travel without money for gear. In fact he kept a running list in his head of everything he needed to get before he could leave. Just as the sky began to lighten he slipped out of the cottage his parents owned and headed for the woods. The terrain he knew well, he had been hunting in it since he had grown enough to be able to run down prey. Making his way through the sleeping streets he reached the border of the city and slipped into the dark embrace of the trees. Taking a game trail that he had taken many times he moved ever upward until he reached the tree he stashed his things in. Stripping his clothes off, he wrapped them into a bundle and stuck them inside the trunk. Shifting into his wolf form he let out a happy sigh. Stretching each of his legs out he shook his fur out before tilting his head back to try and catch a scent. Picking up the smell of a rabbit nearby he began tracking it through the trees, his nose to the ground. Paws gripping the uneven terrain he navigated easily through the trees and undergrowth. His ears picking up the sound of the prey he slowed down, stalking the rabbit as quietly as possible. He was so close he could almost taste it. He could feel the crunch of the rabbit’s bones as he sprang out of his hidden spot. The rabbit took off the moment he moved and he ran after it. His claws and the pads of his paws gripping the earth he shot after the rabbit. Entering a clearing he seized the rabbit in his mouth just as they broke through the trees. Crunching down on the rabbit the young wolf seemed rather proud of himself as he shook it back and forth to make sure it was dead. He couldn’t abide letting another animal suffer for his meal. Dropping the dead rabbit on the ground he braced it with his paw and tore into it. The warm taste of blood wafting onto his tongue he let out a happy noise as he munched away on his fresh kill.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

It was early, too early to be awake, but try as she may Kamilla could not seem to drift back into any form of sleep. She'd been lying in bed for at least a bell now and to no avail, so finally with a dramatic groan of frustration, the young mage pushed herself up into a sitting position, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Her feet dangled only an inch from the floor as she took the time to stretch her arms and yawn, arching her back at the same time before sliding off of the bed.

About a bell later Kamilla found herself strolling through the narrow Mirahil Pass, the only way out of the city besides the ocean, or air. It was still early in the fall season and the temperatures hadn't dropped too drastically just yet, so she'd decided on a simple pair of tight black pants which she'd tailored herself, along with a matching long sleeved black blouse and her trusty black thigh-high boots. Her backpack was slung over her shoulders with her waterskin, journal/grimoire, stationery and a small snack inside and as usual, her lips were painted a deep red and dark eyeliner adorned her deep brown eyes.

Once out of the pass, the young mage continued along the road for a short while longer before finally turning off and venturing into the wilderness. Anyone who had seen the innocent looking young woman leaving the safety of the city alone at such an early hour probably would have been at a loss for words, but luckily there didn't seem to be many people out at this time, which was just fine by her.

In actual fact, Kamilla ventured out of town quite often(though not usually this early), she'd come to Zeltiva for the freedom to practice magic but was still too wary to openly display her abilities in the city, so instead, once or twice a week she made her way to the wilderness just outside of the city to better her craft. On top of the much needed practice, she quite enjoyed being alone and the short hike, while not quite strenuous, kept her healthy enough.

Only a chime or two after her detour the young mage arrived at her usual training ground, a task made easy by the few short stone columns she'd created as markers some time ago. The 'training ground' was nothing special, just a small clearing, bare soil and stones it's only real identifier. Several of the trees that sat on the edge of the clearing were littered with dents, a result of her training.

Upon arrival Kamilla dropped her bag unceremoniously on the ground against a nearby tree and stepped casually into the centre of the clearing, eager to get started. She enjoyed magic, the knowledge of what she could already do only made her more enthusiastic about discovering new and fantastic feats.

Taking a deep relaxing breath Kamilla fell into silence, her attention focused on her inner being in order to tap in to her djed. A chime of stillness passed, the only activity being the soft rustling of leaves in the breeze and the singing of nearby birds. She could feel it, her djed, flowing just beneath the surface, ready to do her bidding. Her left arm straightened out in front of her, palm facing the sky, with fingers slightly bent, as she directed her djed towards it.

Slowly, like upside down water droplets the glistening lavender substance known as res began to emerge from her palm, small specks gliding along her fingers before leaping off the tips and into the air where a small ball began to form, each dot that joined it made it slightly bigger until finally it was about the size of a small apple.

Kamilla had grown confident with her earth reimancy, quite liking the element actually, but her djed was still slow to respond and her res production sluggish, but even still she had definitely improved over time. As proud as she was of her progress she was well aware that she still had a long way to go.

In slow deliberate movements, Kamilla began to open her hand and then clench it again, only to repeat the process once more and as she did, she willed her res to disperse from a floating ball of glistening fluid into a thin mist and then back again. She'd learnt that using the right form of res at the right time could make all the difference.

Once she'd had enough of her combining and dispersing exercise Kamilla gathered the small ball of res a final time before willing it into a flat disc like shape, however it did not take the exact form that she wanted and she found herself having to physically flatten the glistening ball with her hands, thinning it out till it as much as she could. Happy with the shape it had taken, Kamilla stuck her arm out once more, the glistening disc still hovering over her palm before finally, she shot it straight ahead, quickly transmitting it into solid rock.

The stone disc flew through the air towards it's target, one of the trees on the border of the clearing, and hit with a loud thud that caused the tree to tremble, sending startled birds into the air. A small sigh of disappointment escaped Kamilla's lips as she walked over to examine the effectiveness of her spell and saw that, besides barely hitting her target, only the very edge of the palm sized disc had lodged itself into the bark of the tree, not nearly as effective as she'd hoped.

The idea was that the thinness of the disc would enable it to cut through most of the log with ease, but it seemed just flinging it wouldn't do the trick. She paused there, eyes closed as she tried to come up with a solution to her problem. Biting her lower lip as she created the mental image of the disc flying through the air. She had gotten the idea from the memory of an unusual weapon she'd seen years ago in Sunberth. The man had called it a chakram and she'd watched him use it to kill a fleeing thief with deadly accuracy, a small wince appearing on her face as she relived the moment.

"That's it!" the excitement in her voice making it clear that she at least suspected that she'd solved her the problem. As she imagined the chakram flying through the air she realised that the difference between the weapon and her earth disc was that the latter just hurtled through it, lacking any sort of finesse whereas the former SPUN through the air.

Satisfied with her realisation Kamilla made her way back to the centre of the clearing, repeating the process. Once again she slowly generated an apple sized ball of res and physically flattened it into a disc shape, though this time she left the centre hollow, instead forming a ring. She had decided to stick as close to the chakram's design as possible rather than just a loose imitation and besides, the res that had previously been used in the centre was now available to increase the size of the ring.

With the new adjustments made Kamillla stretched her arm out once more, eager to see if the new shape and strategy would make a difference. In her mind she imagined the chakram spinning through the air and slowly, with the assistance of her index finger, she began to rotate the ring of res, slowly at first but quickly it picked up speed until it was spinning quite fast.

"Go!" she whispered encouragingly to the spinning ring of res, which responded by shooting forward and cutting through the air as she transmuted it into stone, it's velocity clearly superior to her previous attempt. This time the thud was much louder and Kamilla nearly skipped over to the tree trunk in excitement.

Her second attempt had been much more successful with less than half of the stone ring sticking out of the helpless tree and much closer to her intended target. "Much more effective, it would seem that the rotation allows the stone ring to cut through the air with greater ease as well as with more accuracy." she said to herself, making a mental note that she would be sure to add to her grimoire later, or when she got back to her cottage.

Satisfied with the result, Kamilla made her way back to her backpack, taking a seat against the tree trunk and retrieving her waterskin. While not entirely exhausted from the minor djed use, the effect was still noticeable, a feeling akin to being slightly out of breath. "I think I'll call that one an...earth chakram." she said proudly as she took a sip of cool water.

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren When the wolf was finished with his snack he sat down and licked his lips a bit. He sat for a while just enjoying the quiet of the trees around him before getting up and trotting off towards a nearby stream. Drinking his fill and sticking his muzzle down into the water to get the blood off he trotted back into the trees. Wandering aimlessly he just made his way along various game trails. He had nothing in particular in mind to do so he just meandered through nature. He came across the smell of some deer and trailed after them lazily. He hadn't been able to catch any deer yet, he wasn't quite fast enough. Either that or he just hadn't figured how to go about it he wasn't sure which it was. As he moved along through the trees the sound of a dull bang reached his ears. Pausing in his tracks his ears swiveled around searching for the source. Not hearing it again he moved along down the scent trail without giving it another thought. It was probably just a dead tree falling over or something. Hearing it again he stopped once more, ears flicking back and forth to try and figure out which direction it had come from. With the trees and the mountains sound reacted differently than it would on flat land. Deciding that it had to be coming from in front of him he moved along the trail at a steady pace. Senses searching the area for any sign of what he was going to find he came upon the smell of a human girl. Curiosity spurring him forward he followed the scent trail. As he got closer he slowed down and became more careful of the way he moved. He did the same thing when he was stalking prey to keep his presence hidden for as long as possible. Coming up on a clearing he found himself a bush to conceal himself in and laid down to peer out into the clearing. He quickly figured out that the bush was inhibiting his line of sight since he couldn't see much of anything. It would be a risk to just waltz out into the clearing without seeing what he was dealing with first. Backing out of the bush he carefully circled the clearing until he could see the girl sitting against a tree drinking water. Stopping where he was he wondered at what she was doing out here by herself. He also was curious as to if she was the source of those loud thuds he had heard echoing through the trees. Not sure how to approach, or if he even should, he merely watched her curiously from where he was.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Several chimes of silence passed by as Kamilla simply sat there slumped against the tree trunk with her eyes closed as she ran her newest 'experiment'(if one could even call it that) through her mind several times over. The technique seemed quite efficient in conserving djed considering the damage it could cause, but at the cost of casting speed. She was well aware that her res generation and control were amateur at best, something she would be sure to work on.

A sudden rustling in the bushes interrupted her little mental monologue, forcing her to quickly jump to her feet as her deep brown gaze shot in the direction the sound had come from. She stared cautiously in that same direction for several ticks, half expecting some wild animal to jump out at her, but none came. A short sigh of relief was all she allowed herself though she still remained wary, this was the wilderness after all, any notion of safety had been left behind the moment she'd left the city and it would be stupid of her to believe otherwise.

Placing her waterskin back in her bag before taking another quick glance around, Kamilla decided that it would probably be best to leave rather than to test fate. A slight frown of disappointment found its way onto her face, she had been hoping to try her new technique at least one more time to make sure that it's success hadn't just been a fluke but it seemed that would be a task for another day. What a shame it was, especially since during her short water break she'd grown curious as to what kind of effect the 'earth chakram' would have if she coupled it with some earth attraction.

"Oh, well..." the words had barely left her lips when she turned and spotted something that made her heart spike with fear. There, near the edge of the clearing was what, at first, looked like the shadow of a large dog, the only proof that it wasn't being the creatures sky blue eyes, sky blue eyes that were locked on her. The weight of the wolf's gaze had her stuck in place, too scared to move lest she spur the beast into action.

Res, she needed res, her thoughts flowed freely but her djed wasn't so responsive. Why was it just watching her? Why wasn't it doing anything? Was it alone? All these questions and more ran through the young mage's mind as the stare off continued. Slowly her breathing began again, something she hadn't realised had stopped in the first place. The intake of fresh air helped to calm her nerves, allowing her body to regain some of it's movement.

The initial shock now finally behind her, Kamilla found herself back in control of her body, a cautionary step back being her first order of business, even her djed, which had been stubborn at first was beginning to respond once more. A thin layer of the glistening substance leaked into her left hand, which she hid behind her back. She now felt much more confident in her odds, with a handful of res at...hand.

The dark wolf still watched her with it's sky blue eyes, the light orbs hauntingly beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Kamilla didn't want to hurt such a beautiful creature, but if the need arose she wouldn't pull any punches. The fact that the beast still hadn't darted off was what she found most worrying and was also the reason she felt a display of power would be necessary.

Having reached the end of her nerve, Kamilla swung her left hand out of it's hiding spot behind her back and pointed it in the direction of the wild animal, a small blob of the glistening substance shooting off of her res coated palm and toward the wolf. She willed the small amount of res to attract earth as it flew, picking up a trail of harmless dust which followed behind it before finally being transmuted into a tiny stone which smacked into the ground only inches from the creature's body.

The 'attack' had actually been an attempt to scare the creature off, hence the flashy, yet harmless, dust trail. She had intended for the stone to land a bit further from the, currently innocent, wolf but her accuracy was lacking and it had only just missed animal's hind leg, though she hoped the close proximity would aid her attempt to frighten it off and if not, she still had three fingers of res waiting.

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren He knew the exact moment she laid eyes on him. The scent of fear wafted to his sensitive nose across the open clearing. His eyes stayed locked on her wondering what she would do now that she had spotted him. Most people reacted the same way when they spotted a wolf so her reaction wasn't all that surprising. Their little staring match was rather amusing to him though. He was impressed that she hadn't turned and run. If he had been a completely wild wolf and she had turned to run his response would have been to chase her; it was only natural. When she took a step back he shifted his weight slightly in response. He could sense the change in her demeanor too and wondered at that. What had made her unafraid all of a sudden? As he was pondering that question her hand swung out in his direction. Staring at her in slight confusion he wondered what that was supposed to be or do. Some sort of odd greeting or threat maybe? He wasn't sure though. Watching the dust trail curiously he wondered what that was all about and then something smacked into the ground near his hind leg. All that did was startle him into the clearing. Looking at the ground where he had been standing in confusion he turned around to look at the girl again. That rock had come from her; of that he was certain. Some sort of magic he figured. He was now a few feet closer to her as he turned around to look at her again. His body language was tense but open. He wasn't on the attack and he wasn't necessarily on the defensive; both of which would have him baring his teeth with his hackles raised. Instead his head and ears were up and he was watching her curiously. It was unusual for him to stand still for so long and he started to move to the right of the girl. He maintained his distance but he couldn't stand still anymore. Pacing along the edge of the clearing he kept his eyes on her; eying her hand warily. He knew that's where the magic had to come from. After all that rock didn't come flying towards him until she extended her hand towards him. The only reason he hadn't run off in the other direction is that he was curious. Curiosity was his biggest challenge to overcome; it was always getting him into situations like this. He knew that the girl could probably easily kill him, but the rock had been cast to scare him off so he figured she probably didn't really want to. The wind ruffled his fur lightly as he circled around her curiously; waiting to see what she would do next.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

The impact of the small rock slamming into the dirt nearby the dark wolf had the desired effect, initially, as the wild animal was clearly startled but unfortunately that was as far as it's success extended. Kamilla had hoped that the minor attack would send the wolf running in fear but instead it had leapt into the clearing and towards her earning a small startled leap of her own.

The animal's sudden and unexpected movement along with the perceived danger of the situation had Kamilla's heart beating rapidly as she continued to watch the wild animal, not daring to blink. The animal didn't seem to be enraged or aggressive in anyway, it's current body language reading simply as alert to Kamilla, but she was no animal expert and could easily have been misreading the situation.

Although the overall state of things hadn't changed much, the details certainly had. Instead of the cautious stare-off they had previously been in, the wolf was now, to Kamilla's great displeasure, slowly circling her as if waiting for it's chance to attack. With the creature now being much closer and on it's feet, the time which she'd have to cast a spell was greatly decreased and she highly doubted she'd be able to effectively defend herself in her current state.

With this newest realisation, Kamilla decided that it might be best to have her attack ready, rather than just having a small amount of res lying in wait. The minor amount of res that coated the mage's slender fingers began to retreat to the centre of her palm, pooling together before forming yet another glistening ball of liquid res which hovered above Kamilla's outstretched hand as she slowly turned to follow the circling wolf.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you so just run off before I'm forced to kill you." she said before realising she was talking to and trying to reason with a wild animal. To demonstrate her threat's authenticity(more to herself than the wolf), Kamilla willed the floating ball of res to attract earth, pulling dirt and small stone from the ground and gathering into a melon sized floating ball of rock and sand. Along with her previous attempts at spell casting, maintaining the floating earth melon was putting a drain on her djed reserves, as was evident by the familiar metallic taste in her mouth and the unwarranted sense of calm that suddenly overcame her. She was well aware that she was tip-toeing the line of overgiving and would not be able to hold the spell for much longer, she only hoped the beast would deem her 'not worth the risk' and leave.

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren The wolf stayed at the same distance as he continued to circle. He watched the girl very carefully as he did so. He could sense that she was frightened again now that he was closer and moving. Circling was a very predatory type of behavior but he hadn't thought of that when he started to move forward. He did find it curious to watch the magic forming in her hand as she turned to keep her hand pointed towards him. Recognizing that she was a threat if some sort of communication didn't happen between them he pondered what to do as he kept moving. When she spoke to him his head and ears perked up a little more than they already were. Watching the magic ball form in her hand his head tilted to the side. He hadn't spent a lot of time around magic users so seeing it displayed was intriguing to him. Deciding that he needed to actually do something he picked a spot and sat down, still watching her carefully. He let out a soft whine as he looked at her calmly. Laying down in the same spot he crossed his paws in front of him and seemed to be patiently waiting for her to do something. Hopefully she wouldn't shoot that rock at him but he was still prepared to quickly get out of the way if she did. It didn't occur to him to just change back into his human form to help put her at ease. Then again if he did that there was no reason for her to not inflict injury on him. After all meeting a strange naked young man in the woods would probably not be on her list of things to do. His clothes were a bit far away to just run and get; she would be gone by the time he could return. Deciding to stay put unless she threw that rock at him he appeared to be lounging in the grass despite being ready to bolt at the slightest sign of the rock hurtling towards him. He knew he most likely couldn't get out of the way quick enough but as long as he didn't get clunked in the head with it he'd probably be okay. There was no doubt in his mind that it would hurt to take a hit like that, but he was curious enough to stick around despite the danger of possible physical harm.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

To Kamilla's dismay, the dark wolf still hadn't been frightened off by her reimancy, even when faced with the ball of gathered earth. She'd noticed how it had been alerted by her voice when she spoke and then, instead of darting off at the sight of her spell the creature had instead decided to make itself comfortable on the ground, simply watching her curiously.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the wild animals unusual behaviour, it didn't seem as if it had any intention of attacking her, or fleeing for that matter. "What are you up to?" she asked as calmly as she could, once again realising the absurdity of talking to a wild animal, but for some reason this one seemed as if it sort of understood her. There was something about the creature that Kamilla found reassuring and she could see at least some semblance of intelligence in it's sky blue eyes.

Slowly taking a few cautious steps back in order to put some extra space, and time should the wolf attack, between herself and the wild animal before finally, though with reluctance, Kamilla relinquished her hold on the earth allowing it to return to the ground with a thud, becoming a small heap of dirt. The entire time she kept her deep brown eyes locked on those of the creature ahead of her as she slowly re-absorbed the small amount of res that remained, the metallic taste in her mouth slowly fading after about half a chime.

Carefully, Kamilla lowered herself onto the ground with both her palms facing the wolf in attempt to show it that she wasn't a threat, only lowering them once she was seated on her knees. "Now what?" she asked both herself and the wolf simultaneously, as ridiculous as it was, she couldn't help but be curious about the odd behaving animal.

[Faolan Lundgren]

Faolan Lundgren Faolan looked up at her as she spoke to him again and in response to her first question he just made a soft grumble as though he would say something to her if he could. He still wasn't sure if he should shift to his human form in order to actually be able to communicate. The last thing he wanted was to freak her out even more than she already was. The wolf watched her as she backed away from him. He stayed put realizing that she was probably still a little scared of him even though he hadn't done anything to harm her. He recognized that this was because he is a predator; if he had been a fluffy bunny or something less threatening they wouldn't be in this strange situation right now. Observing the magic release the dirt with a thud he looked at the pile of dirt for a brief moment before returning his inquisitive gaze to the girl before him. As she sat down and showed him her hands he stretched out a little more on the bristly grass. When asked what was going to happen now he seemed to think about that for a few moments before rolling his shoulders in what could only be interpreted as a shrug. He considered shifting again which caused him to let out a huff; doing so would not only leave the girl with a naked man in front of her, but would also cause him to be hungry again. Unlike the girl in front of him he hadn't brought anything into the woods with him to eat. The whole purpose of him being out here was to hunt for his own food. His parents, mainly his mother, frowned upon his need for raw meat. She was always cooking his food and forcing him to eat it even though he despised it. His father had managed to talk her into allowing him to go hunting when he needed to as long as it didn't interfere with his other responsibilities. Making a grumbling noise again he looked at the girl before him in order to pull his thoughts away from his home situation. His paws twitched on the ground in front of him as he waited for her to ask something he could potentially respond to with some sort of body movement.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

More and more, Kamilla found herself confused as to how she's gotten and managed to remain in this unusual situation. She may not have known much about wild animals but it certainly seemed like the dark wolf had no intention of attacking her, it's actions and manner had actually been quite adorable up till now, though she wasn't one to trust easily and a small hint of suspicion always lingered in the back of her mind.

Once again, she spoke and the animal responded using body language that Kamilla could read, shrugging it's shoulders as if it too had no idea where they should go from there. The creature seemed far too intelligent and comfortable around her to truly be a wild animal, though it's intimidating, yet beautiful appearance, said otherwise

The two of them sat there in silence for another chime, each one curiously observing the other from a distance until finally Kamilla decided to speak again, her curiosity in the calm predator now at an all time high. She leaned forward a few inches as her lips parted, "Can you understand me?" The words were slow, clear and deliberate, she made sure that if it was indeed the case, the wolf would be able to hear every word.

Only a brief moment passed after her question when something clicked in Kamilla's mind, her form visibly perking up as the idea began to flourish within her mind until she was incapable of restraining herself from asking it. "Are you a kelvic?" She may not have known much about Mizahar's 'animal people' but she certainly knew of their existence, people who could turn into animals and then back into people again. She wasn't sure if she'd ever met a kelvic before but she knew that they were amongst the most common race of slaves in Sunberth. The dark haired wolf with the hauntingly blue eyes seemed far too intelligent to be anything else, though she could be wrong.