The Hunter

A Mess By Any Other Name...

Gloria followed Finn into the kitchen. The woman moved with a stiff gait that Gloria was sure had a lot to do with the damage to her ribs. Finn led the way into the training room and Gloria frowned.

"Normally I would take out my frustrations by chopping wood or hunting something, but that's not an option right now." Finn waved in frustration at her injury. "So we're going to do the next best thing." She paused and side eyed Gloria. "Maybe. At the very least it'll give you practice." She stood on one side of the room and crouched slightly. "Attack me."

Gloria blinked. "What?"

"Attack me." Finn rolled her hands towards her urging Gloria to attack.

Gloria looked around her for a weapon, a nerf gun maybe, and then she caught the look of exasperation on Finn's face. She took a step back. "You don't mean with magic." She scoffed incredulously.

"Not sure why else we'd be in the magic training room." Finn answered.

"Finn that's insane. I don't know how to control it yet!"

Finn shrugged. "Two ways to learn, by doing or by studying. This is a practical skill so doing is the only way to learn."

Gloria shook her head and turned in time to see the room seal shut. "Are you serious?" she asked the wall.

"I won't attack you to force the issue, I don't feel like traumatizing you, but deflecting spells is as hard for me as stretching your arms would be for you. The harder and faster you go, the more I practice a very basic skill of my own and you can try and figure out what exactly it takes to go slowly or hard."

"Finn this is stupid." Gloria turned to face Finn and tilted her head. "Unless this is your way of burying your emotions. Your escapism. If that's the case that's fine, go find someone who knows what they're doing and isn't still trying to convince themselves they aren't Hell-bound because they can." Her voice rose in volume as she confronted the other woman.  "Find someone who doesn't feel like they have no solid ground because they know some of what's going on. Literally anything of what's going on. Stop dragging me along for whatever dodgeball ride you're on." Her hands ignited and for the first time Gloria didn't care. "I want answers!" She threw her hand at Finn and watched as a ball of flame ripped from her hand directly at the other woman's head.

"I want my world to make sense!" She threw another one as Finn directed the first into the wall.

"I want to go home!" Gloria felt tears burn down her face and wondered, not for the first time, how water could burn to hot and not steam away. Finn directed the second fireball to the floor and seemed to become more energetic, bouncing on the balls of her feet and clapping her hands.

"Why are you like this?!" Gloria screamed as she fell to her knees, flames growing around her in what she realized was a protective shield.

"Better this than a sappy, useless mess!" Finn yelled from her side of the room and Gloria felt something push against her flames. As her fear started to climb into her throat and her flames started to get split down the middle to allow Finn access she stalked towards Gloria, her eyes lost in a predatory daze.

An unexpected snowball slammed into Finn's face, distracting her and bringing relief to Gloria's defense. She turned her head to the woman in jeans and a grey, cable-knit sweater that had appeared in the room. She made brief eye contact with Gloria, gave as quick a smile, and then turned her attention back to Finn.

"Has it occurred to you that actually experiencing your feelings isn't 'sappy'?" The new woman asked as she continued to pelt Finn with snowballs. Finn started to deflect them, but the woman pressed her into the wall, giving her no opportunity for escape, and finally hit the woman with enough ice to freeze her to the wall.

Finn, pulling at the ice, pulled on her injury as well and hissed in pain. The new woman rolled her eyes, unaware of the injury, and turned to face Gloria curiously. Still talking to Finn she tilted her head to ask, "When did you pick up a fire mage? And why? You don't usually work with people."

She focused on Gloria's face through the wall of fire. "You can drop that anytime now. She's done with this passive-aggressive outburst, I'll make sure of that." Out of her sight Finn sagged in the ice prison.

Gloria hiccuped a sob. "I don't know how. She's supposed to be teaching me, and she has broken ribs so now she's passed out, and I don't know who you are and I'm scared and confused and she's not supposed to do this!" Gloria sobbed and her flames pressed outwards. Pressure from the other woman prevented the flames from getting too big, and Gloria was thankful for that.

"What do you mean she's supposed to be teaching you?" The woman asked as she turned her head to observe Finn. She swore when she realized Gloria had been telling the truth and stepped to the wall with Finn frozen to it. "Drop the flames. Call me Alice. Open the training room door. I can come and go, but I can't bring anyone in either direction with me."

"I can't." Gloria dropped to her knees and sobbed while her 

"Look up." The woman's voice came through the roaring flames somehow gently. Gloria did, and found herself staring into eyes a shade of grey she had only heard described. Slowly her flames subsided as she felt calm wash over and through her.

"How did you do that?" Gloria asked as the last of her flames disappeared.

"A sort of hypnosis. Can you open the door now?" The woman stood and walked to where Finn still slumped.

"I can try." Gloria walked to the section of the round room where she remembered the door to be and pressed her palm against the grey stone. The door appeared and swung open silently and Gloria stepped out. The woman dragged Finn behind her and lay her down in the hallway. As Finn started to wake up the woman set a hand on her hip and hesitated. Then she leaned down and punched Finn where blood had begun to seep out of the bandages.