Lessons in Magic - Part 2 -

Solban and  Leilani
Elenor (NPC)
Year 752 of the new age - Summer
Oakfern - the Moonpool




Leilani
In the mean time, Lani hardly payed any attention to Solban. She knew he was swimming in all directions … But she couldn’t care. She was just … she felt so strange! So so … light.
Elenor returned to her pupils.
Leilani hadn’t moved; she was just resting. Solban on the other hand…
Elenor put her ear in her neck while looking at the young stag, but focused on Leilani.
“Here, my dear. Eat these, you’ll feel better.”
Lani reconised the nettle; her mother had let the ‘sting’ wear off by drying it a little. Never took long. She didn’t quite reconize the others. She ate them, and she could feel herself getting stronger, in a way. The herbs were known to help “ground” fawnlings; this meant she felt herself reuniting with her body again. She felt herself get better by the minuite.

Elenor aimed herself at Solban.
“Solban. Didn’t I tell you to rest?”
She most certainly didn’t sound happy.
“Dearest Solban, if you don’t wish to participate in my magic teaching, you should just leave, instead of tiring yourself out.”
She turned around, and found herself a spot to rest.
“Magic is a hard thing to learn. You need a strong body, but not an tired body. Rest, we’ll get to the more physical part of this lesson soon.”

Solban
Solban climbed out of the water, his hooves scratching against the hard rock, when his steph-mother called him ‘yes Elenor’ was all he said. He shook the water out of his hairs and stretched his musscles for a moment. He did not care to say anything more or to be bothered by the words Elenor just told him. He found a spot, a bit removed from Lani, where he lied down, he didn’t feel tired, not at all. He felled thrilled to do some real magic, so he obeyed Elenors wish that he would rest for a while. He closed his eyes, he knew he was suposed to say something now… but what? Should he say sorry? He did not feel sorry, he just felt like jumping right inside the water again, as some sort of focus. As is if the little drops of water on his skin made him feel more conected.But he rested, hoping they would continue their lesson soon.

Leilani
Elenor gave Solban an approving look. She was glad he listened. He’d be tired enough after learning magic. Leilani seemed to brighten up with the minuite; the herbs were clearly helping her.
Elenor gave them a few more moments before she got up, saying; “Time to contuine.”
This part was less dangerous to go into trance.
Leilani stood up; she was less engergetic then before, but she felt better, and ready.

Elenor walked foward, and stood in front of a puddle of water, ignoring the large mass of water Solban had just swum in.
“Now, you’ll have to move the water around.”
Elenor demonstrated what she meant; she made the water gracefully dance into a circle.
“Focus, and just try. Solban, you’re first.”
Leilani was disappointed she couldn’t go first - she wanted to proof herself after what just happened. Slightly jealous, she turned her ears back, and stepped back, to give Solban some room. He would have to show off, like he usally did of course. Why couldn’t he just be like a brother for her?
                   

Solban
Solban did not notice any of the jealousy Leilani felt. She was right though, if he had the chance, he would show of that he was better. He fixated his eyes on the small water in front of them, he wondered how he should move it… what was he supposed to do? With a half eye he looked at Elenor, was she going to give him more instructions? But she remained silent and so there was nothing left to do than just fix his stare at the water in front of them and try, with his eyes he tried to move the water, focussing all his energy there. But it did not matter how hard he tried, nothing happened. In his mind Solban was getting angry with himself, he was supposed to be able to do this! He had moved water before, he could do it! He tried again, putting his energy in his mind, trying to feel the water, trying to be the water… still, nothing happened.


Leilani
Elenor sighed. Magic often came with a toll; it was fycially exosting. Had the young stag listened to what she said, he would perhaps still be able to use his magic.
Lani looked at Solban with very surprised eyes. Did the show-off just fail?
She was … surprised. She was speachless. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel.
Joy, because the perfect stag-son failed, or sadness? He was sorta her brother after all …
A lot of time to think about the appricate reaction she didn’t have.
Her mother, Elenor, quickly stopped the exerise.
“Enough, Solban.”
“Lani, your turn. You only need to move the water around in a circle, nothing more.”
Leilani was surprised. Really? Did her mother just .. skip over the boy that had to bring them to the top ranks of the herd?
Her mother gave her a look,and she knew she had to start.
She inhealed deeply, and stepped forward. She swallowed, hoping this would go right. It didn’t before .. she was scared of that happening again.
But she tried anyway.

At first, their was nothing. But then .. the water wrinkled. It wasn’t what it had to be, but it was … something. Elenor was pleased. “Well done, my little star.”
“Solban.” Elenor’s voice was much colder then before.
“Do you wish to try again?”
She’d give him another change.. if he could handle it.

Leilani was all happy and excited. This time it went right!
Cheerfully, she looked at her foster-brother, and gave him an encouraging look. She whispered: “Good luck!”

Solban
Solban was displeased with himself. He growled frustrated and angry when his Steph-mother told him to step aside. But he did none the less. He looked with the full package off jealosy when Leilani did manage to succeed and move the water… it was nothing though, nearly no movement. But it seemed to be enough as Elenor was deffinatly happy with it, ‘well done, my little star’ she said. It made the anger inside Solbans heart only rise more. ‘Solban’ Elenor said, he looked at her, his eyes full of hatred ‘do you wish to try again?’. He nodded, yes he wished to try again, he knew he could do this, he was beter than Leilani was for sure. Solban almost snapped at Leilani as she looked at him so happily, satisified and proud, how vain she was ‘Good luck!’ she said. As if he needed that.

So he stepped in front of the water again, what he did not know, was that his emotions influenced his grip on the fluid at his feet. So while he took a deep breath and fixed his stare on the water once again, something happened. Something more than he had expected, something more than he had hoped for. Instead of just a movement, the water became a small wave, spalshing over his hooves, making small drops land on his frontlegs. Solban was suprised, it had been different as he had expected. But he was proud, because had done better, better than his stupid little sister.

Leilani
Lani sighed. Really, was it that hard to be nice for a change? She wished him good luck, couldn’t he just be happy about that?
No, he had to be a jerk about it.
Lani snored - she didn’t care anymore he moved the water! Trough, when he did, she looked at it. It wasn’t what her mother had asked, but it was certainly moving!
Did he really need to be cold, distant showoff all the time?

Elenor had a creepy grin on her face. She was encouraging his bitterness, and it made him more powerful. For Elenor, she had no reasons to try otherwise.
“Well done.”
“Leilani, try again.”

Suddenly, it seemed her previous try wasn’t good enough anymore.
She had to resist sticking her tongue out to Solban; he just made the training harder!
She stepped forward, and inhealed deeply. Move the water in the circle. Closing her eyes, she pictured the water moving in a circle.
It would move, circle, and again, again ..

when she opened her eyes, the water wasn’t moving. But she could feel it.
So she tried again. “Move.” She whispered.
The water wrinkeled again; and this time, it moved; it wasn’t really moving in a circle, but it was movement!
The doe let her breath go, smiling to her ‘brother’.

Elenor smiled. “Well done, both of you.”
Elenor played a game now.
“Do you wish to keep training … or woud you rather stop the training here?
Remember, I will only make it harder from here.”

Solban
Solban made a bored noise when he saw that Leilani was moving the water again, it was not moving as strongly as he had made it move anyway. ‘You see’ he told himself in his mind‘I am better anyway’. Leilani had to talk to make the water move, he could do it with his mind alone, and he would get better at it for sure.

Inside of him, he was a little happy when Elenor gave them a compliment, he had done well and he knew it. But his outside was as cold as ice, showing no sign of any emotion. ‘Do you wish to keep training… or would you rather stop here?’ Elenor asked them, Solban noticed the almost evil grin playing around Elenors mouth, what was she up to? But he said nothing and only nodded. Of course he wanted to continue the training, he wanted to keep training until he dropped deadly tired to the ground. As long as it made him stronger, he would always want to train, both his body, and his mind. But especially his magic, because his magic would continue were his body could no longer compete. He looked sideways to Leilani, would she want to continue aswell? Or would she be too afraid to give in to the magic, afraid to slip away again? He hoped, no he prayed, that she would want to go on with the lesson aswell, as Elenor would probably stop if either of them was done with it.


Leilani
Leilani peeked to Solban. This face was blank, not emotions whatsoever … She could find nothing in it. Did she want to go on? Her mother’s question hung above their heads as a eagle ready to swing down on a mouse. It was really the feeling she was getting. She knew her mother. She saved the toughest for last ….
But she also knew, her mother didn’t like quitters. It had been hard, and she was tired… but she could push herself. She stared at Solban. He would too of course..
“Yes mother, I can go on.”
If Solban tought she was going back down, he was wrong; VERY wrong!

Elenor smiled. “Solban?”
She nodded happily when she saw he was eager to go on.

“Good! I have a final challenge for you! This time, you’ll be compeating against each other!
Your goal is simple; make the water rise, whoever gets higher, wins!”

Competivie moods. Elenor knew it would encourage both of them. And it wasn’t as simple as Elenor made it seem. Leilani knew that; she’d told her daughter about the magic. They started in directions that would give least resistance; such as making the water move in circles to avoid having to fight versus gravity. This was a direct fight against gravity.

But she was up for the challenge. Solban was … she wouldn’t disapoint her mother!
She gave Solban one final look … He was
She stepped forward … and focussed.
She swallowed … and focused on the stream she wanted to create. She viewed the water into her mind… just going up … up … up ….


Solban
‘Good! I have final challenge for you! this time, you will be competing against each other’ Elenor said, you could say a lot about does, and especially oakfern does, but this one certainly knew how to trigger her two kids into using all the skill they had. ‘Your goal is simple; make the water rise, whoever gets higher, wins!’. Solban could see the a tad evil grin on Elenors face again. This task was hard and she knew it… But she also knew that Solban refused to loose, especially now, especially from a doe, and especially when that doe was Leilani.

Carefully he looked at Leilani, who seemed to be thrilled to win this. She looked at him in an angry way… it would not take much for her to snap at him. Solban felt deep anger and frustration rising inside of him, she did not really think she could do beter than him right? She would and could never be beter, she was a doe after all. Leilani started to foccus on the water, Solban waited for a minute, just to see how she was doing… but she was fully concentrated, and for once, her face did not show what she was thinking.

Solban putted his own face to the water now too. He let the anger and frustration inside of him out, though his face looked like a mask, inside of him a storm coming. He let out all of the hate towards his family, who had not been willing to take care of his mother when she gave birth to him. He thought about his disapeared mother, how she had had the nerve to leave him alone when he was just a foal. He thougth about the other fawns when he had been younger, who had laughed at him for being motherless.

If he had been more trained in magic, all these emotions would have been enough to make the whole lake levitate, but he was not skilled enough yet. The water infront of him, however, did move… the more foccused his anger on the water, the more the water started to move. And slighty, bit by bit, he could bend it to his will. It started to rise, slowly, it looked almost as if it was a snail, slowly, climbing up against the air. It was not high yet, but hey, he had deffinatly made the water rise… and it was still rising more…

He did not dare to look at Leilani next to him, afraid to loose his anger and focus, but he wondered… was she able to do it too?


Leilani
Lani kept focused. She was unware over what was going on around her.
She tried to make her magic work.
But she could feel the tremble into her legs; she was tired. She had gone far before, and now a challenge that was not easy … for a first lesson…
Elenor swoll with pride.
Her little star didn’t open her eyes, she just kept focued, a picture of mental persistance.
She could not be happier. Solban was doing great to. As her adopted son, he could bring her so much status … ow yes … They were  both so strong, so ambituis!

Both focused, neither foal could see what the other was doing.
Lani was bending up a very small stream of water, that was calm and slow, much like her own focus. Solban’s stream, even trough slow, was much more ‘violent’ in it’s movements, and much bigger in diameter.

Elenor was happy. This was enough, before they would collapse.
“That’s quite enough, both of you!”

Lani gasped for air, startled out of her focus, the small stream splashed back into the water, before the young doe could ever see who’d won.
But Elenor wasn’t planning to let them know who won. They’d be much more focussed next time in the lessons then.
“Who won?” Lani looked at her mother, wondering what happened. She could see her mother was happy, she was smiling.. but not awsnering her!

“Didn’t you see?” Elenor asked Leilani.
The pale hind shook her head.
“Well, next time you should look then!”
Lani was left behind with … nothing?

Solban
It was hard for Solban to loose his anger. His focus went down a little as Elenor told them to stop, but he had to put the emotions back were they belonged, he had to calm down. The water in front of him was doing the same, slowly buty steady sliding down. Solban stared at it until the last drop disapeared into the lake. ‘Who won!?’ Lani asked her mother eager, and Solban looked at her too. He had not even looked at Leilani’s stream, he did not know who had won. His face looked like steel, wether he had won or not, he would not show any sign of happiness, or defeat. ‘Didn’t you see?’ Elenor asked, Leilani shook her head, and so did Solban, slowly. Inside of him the storm was starting to calm down… his heart felt frozen though, sad with all the memories he had visioned for himself. ‘well, next time you should look then!’ Elenor said with a grin, Elenor looked happy though, so Solban was rather sure both of them had succeeded. ‘I am going for a walk’ Solban announced, he turned towards Elenor and looked in her eyes, with his unfriendly brown-grey eyes ‘Thank you, Elenor’ he said, his voice was cold and distant, but he meant it. Than he turned away from both of them, walking towards the darkness of the deep caves.

Leilani
Lani could hardly believe this. That was it?
Before she could protest, Elenor simply said:
“Their will be food for you in the cave Solban. Don’t stay out to long.”
Her mother started walking, and Leilani felt her stomach growling.
“Leilani and I are going to eat now.”
She’d know her daughter was hungry of course …

The pale hind sighed…
And followed her mother. She gazed back briefly, to the brother wasn’t her brother.