It's been over a cycle since I was almost caught by the Hunters, since I was torn apart from my family and was thrown halfway across the dimension, to the Realm of Magic. They say Magic comes from who you are as a person, from your inner strength an...
It took a while before Abrish joined us again down in the calmth of the forest. Her skirt fell down elegantly when her feet met with the ground- and the moment she did she turned back to her original form, discarding the wings that had just carried her in flight.
'I could see the Academy from up there, it's in that direction,' she gestured vaguely and somewhat frivolously to indicate our heading, 'but actually getting there might prove to be a problem. From what I could see, the forests are quite thick and I do not believe it will be easy to get through without knowing exactly where we're going. But no need to get hung up on that at this point. Right now, I suggest we head in first and hope we take the right path. And if that doesn't work, we'll just have to rely on Ra's sense of direction.'
Her remark led to an unamused look from Iklím, but it was quite clear to me they were both holding back a laugh, which, weirdly enough, caused me to ease up a bit. Enough so to ask them a question I'd been meaning to ask, at least.
'If I may ask- did you two previously know each other? Before coming here, I mean- to the Academy.'
Abrish simply nodded as she started walking- and as both Iklím and I followed her example, I received a short explanation from the latter.
'Ab and I- we basically grew up together. Decided to come to the Academy together, too. Never really had plans to do so, but Ab convinced me otherwise.'
'How so?'
Iklím just shrugged.
'Well...' Abrish chimed in- and before we knew it, we found ourselves deep in conversation, both about our coming to the Academy as well as our plans for the cycles ahead. That was, until Iklím suddenly stopped walking.
'Ye know, I hate to break it to ye, but I think we're lost.'
'Lost?' Abrish's voice sounded surprisingly high for a split moment, but she soon regained herself. 'You might be right, we've been walking for hours, we should have encountered the Academy by now.'
'Don't think ye can fly up again, can ye now?'
Abrish looked up and closed her eyes, but then shook her head. 'It's no use, I haven't been able to rest and recover my energy since the journey here.' She turned to me, her tone serious. 'We might actually need to utilize your source now, Frostthorn.'
'Mine?' I asked in surprise, tensing up at the sudden spike in attention towards me.
Iklím took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. 'If yer truly a nature fairy, ye should have a way with forests, nay?'
I looked down at my hands. 'I suppose...'
A hand placed itself on my shoulder, which quite honestly made me jump a bit until I realized it belonged to Abrish. 'Come on, honey, just try- we'll help you through it.'
I mulled it over for a brief moment, then decided there was little harm in trying, so I took a couple of steps forward until I was facing one of the trees.
Tracing the lines as I raised my hand, allowing myself to take in the texture of the bark and the fuzzy feel of moss still damp from the last patch of rain, I tried to access my Magic again, a little uncertain yet surprisingly steady.
I took a deep breath, allowing moments to pass in little more than just one as the energy of the tree linked to my own. I could feel its pulse, its rhythm- and then the elocation following my touch as the tree pulled me from my spot and into the embrace of the connectedness of nature- a sensation both gentle and numbing as well as utterly terrifying. It placed a tightness on my chest. My breath became heavier, erratic, shocking- and I pulled back before I'd even started glowing again, not having moved at all- in all actuality.
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'I- I can't. I can't... I don't know what to do...- and I... I...'
Abrish and Iklím looked at each other, their faces riddled with confusion. I'd already opened my mouth to try and explain- but couldn't get the words out yet again. So I sighed.
'I'm sorry...'
Abrish walked over to me. The way she stood tall before me made me shrink even more than I already did. I don't believe I had reason to presume she would, but I half expected her to lash out at me- or to belittle my efforts. In any case, I didn't expect her to give me a soft pat on my head.
'It's okay, sweetie, you've got nothing to apologize for.'
I let my shoulders down again, allowing my sight to go up to her face for the first time since our meeting- and breaking my frown into a fragile smile, until-
'Ye've got a grounding problem.'
It caught me off guard a little, but both Abrish and I turned to our remaining companion, silently- awaiting her explanation.
'Hate to break the moment, but uh- ye do have a grounding problem. The way ye called on yer Magic just now... Have no idea what ye were doing but I think I can- uh- help ya with that.'
Abrish smiled at me reassuringly. 'You don't have to try again if you really don't wish to- but I think you'll do just fine, honey.'
I stared blankly for a bit. My gaze went from one to the other. Breathing in and out again, eventually nodding a couple times. 'Okay...'
