18 Frost, Year 122
[Closed]
[Part I]
With Risdra curled up in her lap, Hilana set the bowl of dates aside and uncovered the lodestone once more, setting the big mixing bowl directly in front of her on the low table. Intention, her teachers had stressed. Daemon in particular had explained how water was often thought of as being formless in their lesson, and as she held the quartz in her hand, she focused on pulling the water out of it. Guide it, shape it. See the form and move it to follow. With concentration on her face, her lips pursed and her gaze focused, she set to extracting the aetherized element in the stone. The cat was unimpressed, trying to turn over on her lap in order to pay at the hands that were no longer petting her. She wasn’t about to try to whip the water the way the white-haired Avialae had when they were outside of the city and he had neatly severed the cypress branch. Doing that in here would cause too much damage to too many of her prized plants, so she settled for imitating Palaemon’s water spirit. She guided the water into a serpent-like shape, and began to move it in a steady, spinning spiral in the air above the mixing bowl, trying to keep it all contained.
Consistent, steady channeling was what Sentinel Ævril had suggested was her best path to progress and training her aether in an otherwise inconsistent learning situation. The Academia Arcanum might have been wiser, if only because she would have regular, daily lessons, rather than going between Palaemon and the Sunborn for her studies. But as it was, the schedules made that decidedly more difficult. Hilana had to work, and while Vasilei would have been understanding, she was not about to leave him and the shop to hang out to dry. She was a girl of her word, and she was promised there until next Searing at the very earliest. And that put the onus on an untried student to make her practice daily and as regularly as possible. As busy as she was and liked to keep herself, Hilana still carved out time to do it. If it was important, time could be found. And this was a priority. She didn’t want to feel as though she was making anyone wait, but she knew that she was as she continued her training and studying.
The water continued to weave itself in the spiral, and Hilana worked on keeping it tight. She didn’t want to get water droplets everywhere; she needed to keep it tight. Water wasn’t formless, but it was up to her to guide it. Move it. Direct it. The whispers of the spirits were getting louder, and the pressure in her ears was starting to grow. She couldn’t very well put the water back into the stone - she wasn’t Daemon, or one of her other teachers, and so she guided it down to pool in the mixing bowl before she lost all control of it and spilled it everywhere. Like, Founders forbid, on her textbooks.
Her chest rose and fell as she took a drink of her tea, even as Risdra patted at her arm for scritches. She gave in, rubbing the large cat’s belly, and the fingers of her freehand rested against her forehead, feeling her temperature and the difference between her forehead and her fingers. Well, that was something. She could get up in a bit and use the water she had made to water her plants. It was going to take some time, she knew, since she had made and charged a decent-sized lodestone, then worked with it for a while, and her limits were telling her that she was done. At least, for now. Hilana thanked the water spirits, sitting back against the couch and having another drink of her tea. She closed and stacked her books, moving them up onto the couch on the other side of Tiaz before resuming her petting of her bengal cat. Risdra began to purr, and the python left the pillow he had been curled up on in order to make his way to her shoulders. “Hey, big boy,” Hilana greeted him, shifting her elbow to make it easier for her snake to reclaim his favourite spot. Tiaz worked his way up, and the familiar weight of the cool serpent was a comfort to the girl as she sat there.
She had another sip of her drink, resting her cheek against Tiaz’s soft, muscular body, and she stroked Risdra’s belly absentmindedly. It was a strange feeling to have so much energy and yet feel so taken out by apprentice-level magic. She had to remind herself that this took time to get used to. She had only had the Rune for a few months, and formal training had been ongoing for even less time. Tea that was rushed was weak tea at best, and it would likely be the same for her. She had to take her time and do it thoroughly. There was no such thing as easy-mode, no spell to cast or potion to brew that would train one’s aether for them. It was a grind.
Lucky for her that she was used to it.
Her head rested against Tiaz, a date in her mouth as she stripped the fruit clean of the pit. She had only been planning to sit there for a few minutes and finish her tea before getting up. By the time she blinked awake from her unplanned and unintended nap, the clock on the wall told her that she had been sleeping for a good three hours. Well, faex. That wasn’t intended, but apparently she had needed it. Neither of her pets had moved in the duration, but now that she had stirred, the cat’s tail was twitching as she felt Hilana move a bit underneath her. Risdra cracked one eye open before closing it again, as if to suggest that she wasn’t going anywhere. The Vastiana had a drink of her now-cold tea and set it down, eying the cup thoughtfully. That gave her an idea.
She sat up a bit straighter, focusing on the cup. This was getting a bit ahead of herself, since while Palaemon had discussed it and they had practiced on rocks from the garden to make them lighter... This was working with something that had already been refined by heat, and she didn’t want to make one of her favourite cups brittle or shatter it. On the other hand, it was a good practice of control. The table was protected by the tile coaster. That, she supposed, added to the stakes. Both of her hands rested in her lap, much to the bengal cat’s delight before she formed a mudra with her fingers in an attempt to help her focus. The fingers of her left hand touched the fingers of her right, palms facing each other, but apart. Her thumbs were held level with the centre of her chest, and she ran her tongue over her teeth as she breathed.
Focus. It would get easier in time, but for now, she had to focus.
She concentrated on the teacup, and started slowly as she enmeshed it with a steadily-growing warmth of fire. She sought to try to keep the heat away from the handle - the last thing Hilana needed was to burn herself - though that was an extra challenge for her that she would likely fail at. She didn’t need the cup extremely hot, she just wanted to warm it enough to reheat her tea. Was it necessary? No. But she wanted to so that she could at least practice this concept. After a few minutes, the contents of the mug were starting to waft tendrils of steam and heat, and Hilana tested the handle with a fingertip before withdrawing it quite quickly. The whole mug was quite hot, and now she was going to have to leave it alone for a while. Just as well, perhaps, but there was an awful lot of satisfaction at getting it done without obliterating her mug. There were no telltale pings or cricks, nothing that she could see, and so she picked up the bowl of dates and brought them beside her where she could reach them more easily rather than having to stretch for them.
“That went well,” she told her pets, picking up a date to take a bite. “Need to do a lot more practice, but we can do that later. Tomorrow will be good... then we can recharge the lodestone and do some more. And make another one. Or two,” Hilana had no problem talking with her pets. Founders knew she irritated enough people with her enjoyment of talking, and Risdra and Tiaz were certainly used to it. She was quiet as she worked on that date, cleaning every last bit of flesh off of the pit and setting it back in the bowl before getting another one. “That way we can at least carry a handful if we ever need to and cycle through them, but I have to practice until I can’t get it wrong. Until it's second nature to do it.” Risdra chirped at her, and the Vastiana stroked her side as her tail lashed. “I’ll get there. Eventually.” Once she finished the dates, the mug had cooled enough for her to be able to drink from it, and she let out a contented sigh. Now it was time to get up and make dinner... though considering how late it was, she wasn’t sure how much she wanted to do. Maybe she would just fry some pitas and get out the dips. That was probably smarter. She had no shortage of appetizers available with her enjoyment of snacking. A light dinner was probably best, and then she could get a good sleep in and get back to her usual routine.
But one thing was for sure, she was going to sleep well tonight.
[Closed]
[Part I]
With Risdra curled up in her lap, Hilana set the bowl of dates aside and uncovered the lodestone once more, setting the big mixing bowl directly in front of her on the low table. Intention, her teachers had stressed. Daemon in particular had explained how water was often thought of as being formless in their lesson, and as she held the quartz in her hand, she focused on pulling the water out of it. Guide it, shape it. See the form and move it to follow. With concentration on her face, her lips pursed and her gaze focused, she set to extracting the aetherized element in the stone. The cat was unimpressed, trying to turn over on her lap in order to pay at the hands that were no longer petting her. She wasn’t about to try to whip the water the way the white-haired Avialae had when they were outside of the city and he had neatly severed the cypress branch. Doing that in here would cause too much damage to too many of her prized plants, so she settled for imitating Palaemon’s water spirit. She guided the water into a serpent-like shape, and began to move it in a steady, spinning spiral in the air above the mixing bowl, trying to keep it all contained.
Consistent, steady channeling was what Sentinel Ævril had suggested was her best path to progress and training her aether in an otherwise inconsistent learning situation. The Academia Arcanum might have been wiser, if only because she would have regular, daily lessons, rather than going between Palaemon and the Sunborn for her studies. But as it was, the schedules made that decidedly more difficult. Hilana had to work, and while Vasilei would have been understanding, she was not about to leave him and the shop to hang out to dry. She was a girl of her word, and she was promised there until next Searing at the very earliest. And that put the onus on an untried student to make her practice daily and as regularly as possible. As busy as she was and liked to keep herself, Hilana still carved out time to do it. If it was important, time could be found. And this was a priority. She didn’t want to feel as though she was making anyone wait, but she knew that she was as she continued her training and studying.
The water continued to weave itself in the spiral, and Hilana worked on keeping it tight. She didn’t want to get water droplets everywhere; she needed to keep it tight. Water wasn’t formless, but it was up to her to guide it. Move it. Direct it. The whispers of the spirits were getting louder, and the pressure in her ears was starting to grow. She couldn’t very well put the water back into the stone - she wasn’t Daemon, or one of her other teachers, and so she guided it down to pool in the mixing bowl before she lost all control of it and spilled it everywhere. Like, Founders forbid, on her textbooks.
Her chest rose and fell as she took a drink of her tea, even as Risdra patted at her arm for scritches. She gave in, rubbing the large cat’s belly, and the fingers of her freehand rested against her forehead, feeling her temperature and the difference between her forehead and her fingers. Well, that was something. She could get up in a bit and use the water she had made to water her plants. It was going to take some time, she knew, since she had made and charged a decent-sized lodestone, then worked with it for a while, and her limits were telling her that she was done. At least, for now. Hilana thanked the water spirits, sitting back against the couch and having another drink of her tea. She closed and stacked her books, moving them up onto the couch on the other side of Tiaz before resuming her petting of her bengal cat. Risdra began to purr, and the python left the pillow he had been curled up on in order to make his way to her shoulders. “Hey, big boy,” Hilana greeted him, shifting her elbow to make it easier for her snake to reclaim his favourite spot. Tiaz worked his way up, and the familiar weight of the cool serpent was a comfort to the girl as she sat there.
She had another sip of her drink, resting her cheek against Tiaz’s soft, muscular body, and she stroked Risdra’s belly absentmindedly. It was a strange feeling to have so much energy and yet feel so taken out by apprentice-level magic. She had to remind herself that this took time to get used to. She had only had the Rune for a few months, and formal training had been ongoing for even less time. Tea that was rushed was weak tea at best, and it would likely be the same for her. She had to take her time and do it thoroughly. There was no such thing as easy-mode, no spell to cast or potion to brew that would train one’s aether for them. It was a grind.
Lucky for her that she was used to it.
Her head rested against Tiaz, a date in her mouth as she stripped the fruit clean of the pit. She had only been planning to sit there for a few minutes and finish her tea before getting up. By the time she blinked awake from her unplanned and unintended nap, the clock on the wall told her that she had been sleeping for a good three hours. Well, faex. That wasn’t intended, but apparently she had needed it. Neither of her pets had moved in the duration, but now that she had stirred, the cat’s tail was twitching as she felt Hilana move a bit underneath her. Risdra cracked one eye open before closing it again, as if to suggest that she wasn’t going anywhere. The Vastiana had a drink of her now-cold tea and set it down, eying the cup thoughtfully. That gave her an idea.
She sat up a bit straighter, focusing on the cup. This was getting a bit ahead of herself, since while Palaemon had discussed it and they had practiced on rocks from the garden to make them lighter... This was working with something that had already been refined by heat, and she didn’t want to make one of her favourite cups brittle or shatter it. On the other hand, it was a good practice of control. The table was protected by the tile coaster. That, she supposed, added to the stakes. Both of her hands rested in her lap, much to the bengal cat’s delight before she formed a mudra with her fingers in an attempt to help her focus. The fingers of her left hand touched the fingers of her right, palms facing each other, but apart. Her thumbs were held level with the centre of her chest, and she ran her tongue over her teeth as she breathed.
Focus. It would get easier in time, but for now, she had to focus.
She concentrated on the teacup, and started slowly as she enmeshed it with a steadily-growing warmth of fire. She sought to try to keep the heat away from the handle - the last thing Hilana needed was to burn herself - though that was an extra challenge for her that she would likely fail at. She didn’t need the cup extremely hot, she just wanted to warm it enough to reheat her tea. Was it necessary? No. But she wanted to so that she could at least practice this concept. After a few minutes, the contents of the mug were starting to waft tendrils of steam and heat, and Hilana tested the handle with a fingertip before withdrawing it quite quickly. The whole mug was quite hot, and now she was going to have to leave it alone for a while. Just as well, perhaps, but there was an awful lot of satisfaction at getting it done without obliterating her mug. There were no telltale pings or cricks, nothing that she could see, and so she picked up the bowl of dates and brought them beside her where she could reach them more easily rather than having to stretch for them.
“That went well,” she told her pets, picking up a date to take a bite. “Need to do a lot more practice, but we can do that later. Tomorrow will be good... then we can recharge the lodestone and do some more. And make another one. Or two,” Hilana had no problem talking with her pets. Founders knew she irritated enough people with her enjoyment of talking, and Risdra and Tiaz were certainly used to it. She was quiet as she worked on that date, cleaning every last bit of flesh off of the pit and setting it back in the bowl before getting another one. “That way we can at least carry a handful if we ever need to and cycle through them, but I have to practice until I can’t get it wrong. Until it's second nature to do it.” Risdra chirped at her, and the Vastiana stroked her side as her tail lashed. “I’ll get there. Eventually.” Once she finished the dates, the mug had cooled enough for her to be able to drink from it, and she let out a contented sigh. Now it was time to get up and make dinner... though considering how late it was, she wasn’t sure how much she wanted to do. Maybe she would just fry some pitas and get out the dips. That was probably smarter. She had no shortage of appetizers available with her enjoyment of snacking. A light dinner was probably best, and then she could get a good sleep in and get back to her usual routine.
But one thing was for sure, she was going to sleep well tonight.