The Hunter

To Do List

Finn re-crossed her ankles where she reclined against the wall in the training room. Beside her sat a notebook and a pencil, and in she held in her hand a battered and well-loved copy of Pride and Prejudice. In the centre of the room Gloria held a candle and glared at it. Finn, paying more attention to Gloria than she would admit to the girl, smirked. He temper was going to explode any minute now. Again.

The girl was proving her obstinacy more than anything else now that she had made her decisions. She would stay and train with Finn, that had come about after training for an hour with other options that Finn had found for her. One didn't have wards strong enough for Gloria's explosions, but was willing to consult with Finn on the process. Two had refused for personality clash reasons, and the last one's price for the training had been higher than Gloria was willing to pay.

"No! No, no, nononnono!" Finn touched the protective rune inscribed in the floor by her hip as Gloria lost control of the heat again. The candle melted, the wick barely warm, and a firestorm ripped from the young caster and ripped at the warded walls of the training room. Gloria pulled them back into herself - not Finn's idea - and burst into frustrated tears. 

Finn stood up and opened a drawer that was built into the wall. She pulled another candle and a box of wooden matches from it and then went to the centre of the room where Gloria was now huddled beside a waxen mess. The only thing the girl had learned so far was that her flames would never hurt her without an intention of self-harm from her. Although that was an important thing for anyone to learn, it was also the equivalent of learning that closing the cupboard door on your finger would hurt: you learn quickly to avoid it unconsciously. 

Finn crouched in front of Gloria, who glared sullenly at the new candle, and lit a match. Gloria frowned in confusion as Finn melted the bottom of the candle enough to make it stick to the floor. Then she lit the candle and blew the match out. Gloria looked at her askance.

"I don't suppose I could light the candle like that?" Gloria asked.

"Of course, but you already know how to do that and it has nothing to do with your magic. Something new to try though, lets see if this works better for you." Finn stood. "Just watch the flame. Feel the flame. Smell the flame. Hear it. Maybe don't try and taste it, but you get the idea. While you're at it I'm going to ask you questions and I want you to answer without thinking. I promise I'll keep them light." Finn sat back down beside the rune and leaned against the wall, watching Gloria glare at her and the candle and then finally relax into the exercise.

At first, nothing happened; the candle burned calmly, Gloria sat in frustrated silence, Finn practiced being still when she was bored. After a few minutes though Finn smiled gently as Gloria's fists relaxed open. Her expression was one of calm as well, almost as though she was mesmerized by the flame in front of her. 

"What colour?" Finn asked. It didn't matter if Gloria gave her favourite colour or the colour of the flame, just that the question was inoccuous and simple.

"Blue." Gloria answered. Her voice was strong and calm. Finn waited a moment, watching the flame herself, before she asked her next question.

"What number?" Finn asked.

"Seventeen." Gloria answered. As Finn opened her mouth to ask another question Gloria answered again. "Six." Finn nodded.

"What shape?" Finn asked.

"Cloud. Billowing." Gloria answered. Finn focused on observing the flame while she sped up her questions.

"What sound?"

"Chimes. Low."

"Where?"

"Garden." Gloria began to reach for the flame with one hand.

"Warm or cold?" Finn let her concern into her questions.

"Won't matter." Gloria said, and lifted the flame from the candle into her hand.

"How does it feel?" Finn watched the girl, waiting for panic or realization to set in.

"Soft." Gloria blinked at the flame that hadn't grown but now explored the creases in her palm like a new pet. "How is it not burning?"

"You tell me." Finn turned the question back on Gloria with an honest curiosity. "I don't work elemental magic, I don't know what it's like."

Gloria rolled her hand and the flame moved to the back of her hand. "You said you could teach me."

"I can teach you to cook too, but that doesn't make me a chef. It just means I've learned a few tricks to make things edible." Finn reasoned.

Gloria nodded and then blinked. She squealed and shook her hand, the flame extinguished by the motion. Finn met her startled eyes with a concerned look.

"I realized I was on fire." Gloria said, her chagrin creeping up her face in a blush. Finn laughed.

"Good enough for today then. I'll get the scraper and we'll get those old candles up."

Gloria started pulling at the wicks, lifting large globs of mostly cooled wax. "Why don't you just use magic to clean them up?" She asked.

Finn sat beside Gloria and started scraping up the melted candles. "Why would I?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Muscles, once built, are lost if you don't use them. I wouldn't want to stop using my muscles. Magic though, is energy. It can be changed, split, manipulated, but not used up. It won't ever fade. Given the choice, I'll use my muscles as long as I have them and save magic for when I need it." Finn scraped at the wax and then paused. "Also at sleight of hand magic shows."

Gloria paused in her collection of melted wax. "Wait what?"

"Oh don't worry, I never mess with tricks that could hurt someone." Finn scraped the last of the wax off the floor and stood.

"There's another reason why I won't use magic for stuff like this. I think I'm healed enough to risk dealing with that book now." Finn stretched her arms over her head carefully. A dull ache beneath the corset the only proof she had nearly died four days ago. "You've been doing well with potions. It's rare that an elemental caster has that kind of skill with potions too. A bit of pride wouldn't hurt you."

"You make no sense." Gloria complained.

"Sure I do. You just haven't been around me long enough yet." Finn grabbed her book and the other small items she had kept beside her and left the training room, knowing Gloria would follow.