Quickly, Nightingale trotted back to the training room where Risa and she had left Gideon. She entered silently and looked around, hoping he was still there in the meadow-like scene.
Gideon was indeed still in the Woodland meadow, but not as himself. A larger serpentine dragon lay coiled in the center, like the one he described to her on . The stone was floating just a few inches off the ground, dancing in small circle's by Gideon's scaly nose. He looked up, and the stone dropped. The orangey dragon eyes blinked, and the entire beast shimmered back into the form of a man.
"Did you see it Night? I made it move!" His eyes sparkled with great joy, and he himself seemed to shimmer a little. A great smile spread across Gideon's joyful face.
Nightingale smiled and nodded. "You did amazing..." She said quietly, her voice quite mellow. "I told you, y'know. I told you that you had it in you." She said, walking over and sitting down in front of Gideon. She showed him a glad smile. As she sat, she reached over and hugged Gideon as a congratulations. As she pulled herself back, she picked up the stone and held it out for him. "And it only took me and Risa's absence for about half an hour." She said with a grin.
"Now that you know you have talent, what do you want to learn?" She asked, leaning back and relaxing. "Pick anything under the five elements: Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, and Soul." She said, the rock in her palm suddenly bursting into a molten glob, and the skin of her hand seeming to catch fire with a purple flame. A moment later, the stone and her hand ceased to flame, and the molten rock was cooled by a sudden douse of water from all directions of the stone. As they spoke, it would slowly turn into a globule of water itself, just floating in her palm.
"Woah... ummm..." Gideon paused, resting head on his interlaced hands. "I think... earth or wind..." He gazed at the stone which was turning itself to water. Water was what he would have chosen of the bat, and fire was natural for dragons, particularly in a fight. He preferred to be cool and calm, like water. The balance of the two seemed to be in between. Something strong but not directly associated with strength.
"Can't I learn all of them?" He asked. Gideon wanted to know everything, the concept of magic was huge. "Which is best for enchantments, that's what everyone here does. Weaving enchantments in their speech or action," He looked very thoughtfully at his hands once more, but the trance of before was not what occurred. Gideon still spoke. "How can I do that with my poems?"
"Each element has an emotion. As you may have discerned, Fire is passion, and Water is often Calm. Earth is steadiness, strength, or even stubborn-ness: It's sometimes calm too, but whatever. Air is freedom, speed, and often happiness." Nightingale explained, the stone in her palm seeming to blow away into the wind. "Father would often show me his music, and how in every word there was an element. In your poems there is often emotion. In the one you showed me there was emotion." She said, showing him a light smile.
"Which emotion do you think you use the most? Happiness, Anger, Sadness, or Calm?" She asked, the air seeming to blow around her hand and slowly collect in her palm again, reforming the dark stone perfectly. "Father geared me more towards war. I'm sorry if I'm not the best artsy teacher." She said, showing him her puppy eyes.
Gideon smiled at Night's big eyes. "It doesn't matter what you're geared towards, it's all of what you choose."
Risa was standing by the doorway, watching them both. Gideon thought for a few moments, but his choice was obvious to Risa. He was not an angry person and did not hold on to his anger for very long. Gideon feigned the look of calm, but really he was to ambitious to maintain that appearance. He had very little to be sad for, and Gideon seemed to always be smiling. Wind was the element for him. He seemed to come to the same conclusion as he looked up and nodded. "I think I'd choose happiness, over all."
"Lots of people choose happiness." Nightingale said, her eyes soft and widening. She seemed to be remembering things as she went along. "Father always said to start with the emotion that we all disagree with the most. Understanding your opposites often make you understand yourself even more." She said, quoting her father like he had said it to her yesterday. "I'll give you a choice though... Do you want to start with Happiness, Sadness, or Anger?" She asked, speaking slowly as if for her words to sink in.
"Father never gave me a choice. He made us master our emotions before we even began magic. Sadness was always my hardest to control, while my brother struggled with Anger." She smiled softly. "What would you like to work with? We can do happiness if that is what you truly wish."
"Your father values strength. You had to strengthen yourself against much, it appears." Gideon stopped to think again, and Risa began to circle the two younger, a little bit of concern in her eyes. "Working with the opposite sounds like a dangerous choice. Building up strength through slow progression can only be beneficial. You learn patience," Risa said.
Gideon frowned just a tiny bit at first, but shook his head and smiled. "Lady Risa is right, and I will start with the lightest burden." He looked to Risa, and she nodded in approval, allowing a small amount of pride into her voice as she spoke.
"Sadness is the heaviest burden to face, Gideon is intelligent to prepare before having to deal with it..."
"Sorry." Nightingale said as Risa finished, taking her words as a seeming reprimand. "I will understand that others disagree with his ways of teaching." She said, her voice a bit blank, as if she were reciting something. Her eyes seemed to wander off and stare widely in the distance as she spoke. No emotion hung over her face as well, her skin paling and making her face seem a bit... robotic.
Then she looked back and pursed her lips at Risa, color returning to her. "I agree with you. Sorrow in general is tough to battle. I understand why one would want to prepare for it fully." She said, shaking her head. "In a way, it's just torture. I'm not saying my dad tortured me mentally to make me stronger, and more apathetic to those whom I might someday face in battle, but that's pretty much what he did." She said, putting in a small giggle at the end to finish her sarcastic sounding anti-joke. "I mean, really!" She said, a facetious smile forcing its way onto her face. It was very clear she was in emotional pain underneath it all. "Gideon won't ever have to face that. I'd never play games like that with him." She said, a bit of insanity leaking into her words. The corner of her left eye twitched for a moment, then she sighed.
With her sigh, she looked away and dropped whatever wall she had put up. Her expression became a dark, receded one that looked as if she was panicking and about to cry all in the same moment. She looked away from the others at this point, and into the soft green grass. "I..." She mumbled, her eyes wide. "N-no..."
Night's reaction caused immediate concern to Risa, and from where she stood she rushed over to where Nightingale was. Night's wide panicking eyes filled Risa's face with lined concerned. "Nightingale, are you alright? Night?" She placed her hand on Night's shoulder, golden mist spreading over her hand, and a warm feeling spread from her touch. Gideon sat in a shocked worry. The momentary insanity Night had shown.
"Night... Come on now, Why don't we leave training for now." Risa said, moving her hand away. "You seem stressed. Lets go into town, I hear the fair has set up."
