THE APPRENTICE II

45

The south looked like one of those Christmas towns that you would see in holiday movies. It had brick houses, its people wearing puffy jackets made of fur or feathers, some exotic beasts on leashes as the folks hustled and bustled through the snowy streets. It seemed more quaint than the main city that was glimmering with lights and had tall buildings from left to right. The passersby seemed to be completely comfortable with their prince, even calling him by his first name.

"You have to get the skate shoes from this place, it's Kino's." He excitedly dragged her to a store that was primarily built with wood and brick. It had a fireplace burning with a few clothes on a spinning rack and a huge wall of different colored shoes. A man with blonde hair and a plump build almost stumbled at the sight of him.

"Prince Heskit, you're back!" He had flushed cheeks and he shook the man's hand enthusiastically, his entire arm wagging up and down.

"Hey, Kino! This is my friend-,"

"-Hazel, just Hazel." She interrupted before the bowing could even begin. She shook his hand that was rough, but surprisingly warm.

"Okay, Hazel-just-Hazel, I'm assuming you've come here for a pair?,"

"A pair?" She repeated, baffled. She smirked and pointed to the prince. "I mean, he could use a pair, but he'd probably have to grow them,"

"Nice." Matt snorted and gave her a nod, she cocked her head upwards and the man in question shook his head.

"A pair for her, and a new pair for myself, too,"

"Alright. She's a...7, sized down to a 6.5." He bent down and angled his head to check her feet out. He adjusted a little to look at the prince's feet and shot up. "And you're still an 11.5, I see!"

He got two black skate shoes on the counter and he threw him a pouch. Heskit gestured towards the door while Matt was reading a bottle of warming lotion, and she scrunched her brows. She pointed to a bench to urge him to try the shoes on, but he lazily waved his hand and pointed to the door. He gave her an "I'm sure" look and she followed.

"He's never wrong about the sizes. The best of the best, right, Matt?" He told her as the climbed up some icy stairs towards a pine forest. It smelled of earth and had cool, crisp air traveling up their nostrils. There were white deer and giant, white spotted foxes with blue eyes that occasionally crossed paths with them.

"Right. I'd bet my house. I trust his instincts that much,"

"Okay, okay." She showed her palms in surrender and smirked. She held up the shoes and eyed his footprints. "A size 7, A size 12,"

"Yeah, and you know what they say about men with big feet." He winked suggestively and simpered, and he caught her wrist before she could hit him. The three shared a laugh as they turned a right to a frozen lake.

"You brought me here to skate?" She panted and sat on a log, then rubbed her hands together. He sat on the floor, parallel to her, then proceeded to take his shoes off.

"Sorry we aren't saving the world, Master Wolfe." He teased accusingly and put a shoe on. She waved her hand and he got a face-full of snow. "She's too important to skate,"

"Ah, sorcerers." Matt joined in with a lighter tone and a laugh to his voice.

"Okay, we'll, I don't know how to skate,"

"What?! Then what do you do with your life?!,"

"Well, like you said, I save the world." She shrugged cockily and they smiled. She began to bend over and reach for her shoes when Heskit approached her.

"C'mere."

She gave him a look of confusion, then he knelt down to remove one of her shoes, placing her foot on top of his lap. He reached for one of the skates and held onto the sole of her foot, wiggling it on. He was interrupted when they snapped onto her feet in the blink of an eye.

"I've got magic, remember?" She reminded as he stood and placed a hand on his forehead. He began to travel towards the ice. "But thanks for that, now I have a shoe-fitter,"

"Will you put my shoes on me, Kit?" Matt pleaded sarcasm and whispered something in his ear. The prince cursed him off and punched his arm, causing him to huff out. They went on the ice and began to glide on it, the superior doing a few spins.

Hazel got on her feet and slowly waddled to the ice, waving her arms to maintain her balance. She turned her amulet into the time staff and used it to guide herself. She has never gone ice skating before, and it was one of the activities that made her feel like she barely had any control of both her body and her surroundings. Needless to say, it was less than ideal. She attempted to grab a rock, but instead, fell on it. She let out a yelp as blood began to drip from her hand. The two rushed over to her as they tended to her.

"What happened?" Matt breathed. Heskit squatted down and healed her wound, a blue light penetrating it. A cooling sensation overtook it as it slowly closed.

"I hit a rock, tried to sit," She grunted.

"Poor rock." Heskit frowned teasingly and began to smoothly glide away from her with a laugh. "Sorry, Hazy-Haze! Catch you later!"

Matt shook his head and chortled, and Hazel could feel the heat rising in her. He had that smug grin on his face that made her determined to be an olympic-level skater, just so she could punch him in the face. He observed the growing irritation on her and he let his arms spread, basking in it.

"Snow fight, ice-magic only." She began and wobbled up.

"Fine, but I get to team up with Matt,"

"What?! That's unfair! We'll let him decide." She crossed her arms, then gestured to the man. He began to travel to his friend. "Matt?,"

"Friend?" Heskit reminded. "I can skate,"

"Doesn't matter. Master of The Mystic Arts." She countered. The man stopped in consideration.

"I'm your friend, and your prince," He offered and the superior was now in the middle of the two, his head whipping from left to right, clearly conflicted.

"Power-tripping, really? That's low, Captain Kitty-Kat." She spread her mouth and sucked in a breath. She held her hand out and pretended to check on her nails. "Plus, in terms of ranking, I'm pretty up there with him, as a Master. If anything, none of you would even be in this planet, if it weren't for us,"

"I never should have taught you about out history,"

"Too late,"

"Why don't you just spend the time teaching her how to skate, like normal people?" He threw his arms up in frustration. They shared a glance for a moment and frowned in consideration.