Post by ShoddyProduct on Mar 19, 2023 6:18:34 GMT
Lessons
“Focus, June. Deep breaths. You can do this.”
The flame of the candle flickered before her, and she felt her heart jump into her throat. ‘Did I do that?’ she thought, feeling a rush of adrenaline all the way down to the tips of her fingers as the fire danced. It continued to waver, flickering and dancing as flame does, Juniper’s hand stretched out towards it, her orange-gold eyes locked intently to the candle, her heart thumping in her chest, and she could have sworn that she had almost done it that time, but the candle just refused to go out! After a minute, with a groan of frustration and anger, she flung her hands away, tears welling with the feeling of ineptitude. As she crossed her arms and shut her eyes to hold back the crying (her father had told her big girls don’t cry, and she was big now, right?), the candle flared up brighter, responding to her emotions running high. Unfortunately, she did not notice, so lost she was in her tantrum.
Vasen Cosser, former student of the Invola Institute of Magic and current traveler and tutor, however, did. With a subtle movement of the hands, and an exertion of will, he dimmed the flame, keeping it steady, under control. He let out a patient sigh, before placing a much larger hand on the poor girl’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Juniper. It takes time to get the hang of this, and even longer when you’re young. I’ll be here for as long as I can to help you, okay?” A kind smile lit his face, to match his soothing tones, and despite her frustration, Mr. Cosser had always been nice to her, and he was doing his best to teach her, and he very much knew what he was doing, so why wouldn’t she listen?
The budding sorceress lifted her glasses and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. “I did what you asked me to do, I held my hands out and thought cold thoughts, I told the fire to go out, but it just kept shining at me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” young Ms. Mason said, between sniffles. They had been on the candle exercise for months. All she had to do was get the fire to go out, and then they could learn new stuff, but she couldn’t ever get it to go out, only make it brighter. Mr. Cosser said making it brighter was bad, at least for this, and so she was stuck here, staring at the same candles every few days out of the week, sitting in front of it, hands out in front of her, throwing her thoughts at this fire that just ignored her.
Vasen’s smile never left his face. He hummed in thought for a moment, before speaking again. “Well, Juniper, pyromancy, or fire magic, is very much tied up with emotions. When you feel very strongly, like when you get upset at the candle, or when your mother brings sweets home from the capitol after a long trip, that makes your fire, the one inside you, burn bright,” he said, tapping her chest. “When your fire burns bright, it means that you can do incredible things with your magic, but it comes at a risk. If it burns too bright, you might lose control of it, it might get too big and hot to go out, like the bonfire at the festival every year.” As he spoke, he made a move with his hand again, and the candle jumped to life, the flames growing bright, and it began to melt down more quickly in front of Juniper’s eyes, who watched in awe.
“So, to make this fire go out,” he said, motioning towards the ever-bright candle, “you have to make sure your fire isn’t out of control. You have to stay calm, and be patient, and kind.” Once more, as Vasen spoke, he waved his hand downwards, his voice soothing and relaxed. Mirroring his mood, the flame abated, relaxing in it’s own right, until the wick was set with only embers, smoke trailing from its freshly burnt tip. “Does that make sense? I know it’s hard, but you’ve been a quick learner so far. I think you can do it, June.”
Mr. Cosser snapped his fingers, and the candle jumped back to life once more. Juniper set her jaw, and held her hands out towards the candle. Determination filled her small form, and she thought about what her tutor had just told her. Calm. Patient. Kind. She shut her eyes, and let out a long, slow breath, like she had seen father do after a long day of work, and for a brief moment, felt… Something. Some sort of connection, something her seven year old mind couldn’t quite put to words.
Vasen was smiling broadly, and he set a hand upon her shoulder once more. “Good job, Juniper. You’re figuring it out.”
The rest of the lesson that day was spent in celebration, rather than instruction. Juniper Mason had made a milestone in her practice, beginning to understand how to fully control flames, and Vasen Cosser, proud of her improvement, spent the rest of the day telling her of other schools and forms of magic, everything he had learned and heard of and practiced himself, entertaining her questions and engaging her mind.
Before long, the day was near done, and it was time for Mr. Cosser to go home. Juniper hated this part of their lessons, because she always wanted to know more. Today was no different, since she was looking forward so heavily to the new lessons she would be undertaking now that the had finally gotten the candle to listen, but she also knew that a mage needed to eat and rest well to be at their best (one of their very first lessons, which involved Juniper drastically changing her young diet to eat less sweets, at her own dismay). Regretfully, she waved as he was leaving. “Be safe, Mr. Cosser! I wanna learn everything you know!”
“I will be, Juniper. And I think you’ll know much more than I, one day,” he said, with that kind smile, and off he went, heading for his home in Goswick.