A Different Kind Of Love (Loke x OC)

Chapter Nine

3rd Person
Alana spent the next few weeks getting familiar with the mansion and setting up her herb garden. Along with a particularly fertile patch of land, Yukino gave her a greenhouse and a little workshop. The workshop was perfect for preparing herbs and making poultices and medicines, and it had a nice desk along with a few shelves where she could store her supplies. When Alana wasn't busy studying different herbs and taking notes on the seeds' progress, she was planning lessons and studying up for her new pupil, Yukino. Today she had a special lesson planned.

Alana's POV
"Yukino, you ready to go?" I grabbed my messenger bag and picnic basket as I headed towards the front door. The weather was beautiful today, so I planned on having an outdoor lesson. Well, all of our lessons so far were already outside, but I planned on taking her out to a meadow I discovered in a nearby forest as I was out looking for herbs. To celebrate the occasion, I had on a forest green tunic with a brown braided belt and matching brown slouching boots. My black leggings were comfy and thick enough that so I could still sit comfortably on the grass. Miss Porlyusica had given me the perfect clothing, from style to size! As I was pondering how she could possibly have achieved that, Yukino came running down the stairs.

"I'm here!" I laughed at her excitement and called out to her.

"Careful, you'll trip!" She slowed to a fast walk and headed towards me.
Yukino had an outfit very similar to mine. She sported a dress that was the same color as mine, but it had sleeves that were rolled up to slightly above her elbow, and two pockets on her chest. Her belt was also brown and braided, but the strips with thicker with a less tight weave. Her boots were also brown, but the didn't slouch and resembled that of a cowgirl. Her white hair was held back with a green bandana, a style that complimented her bob cut and bangs very well. She looked up at me, blue eyes sparkling  with excitement.

"Where are we going?"

"To the forest!" To my surprise, my answer was met with little enthusiasm. 

"Why are we going there?" I frowned, opening the door and beckoning her outside. As we headed to the forest, I answered her question.

"Today I wanted to work on your magic power and endurance."

"Why can't we do it at home?" I shook my head and sighed. 

"You've gotten very good on your own at harnessing the Ethernano in the air, but your environments have always been rather...subpar." I continued once I saw her confused expression. "Your house is simply too constricted. There's no freedom; every living thing is perfectly groomed and monitored. You simply do not have a good enough feeling of the Ethernano,, and not a very good connection. A great wizard is able to harness enough Ethernano is almost any environment, but in order for you to do so, you must establish a better feeling for it. The only reason you haven't been able been able to make more progress on your own is because of that. Once you learn this, you won't even need me anymore." Seeing her panicked expression, I hurriedly continued." However, I won't leave anytime soon! I plan to have you be able to summon a zodiac easily before I go!" At this, Yukino spoke up.

"But how are we going to get one." I raised an eyebrow. "I meant, how are we going to get a key for their gate?" I nodded, satisfied, and smiled reassuringly at her.

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Look, we made it!"

Stepping out of the cool shade of the trees, I calmly took out a picnic blanket from the basket and laid it out neatly on the ground. Sitting down, I patted the spot beside me. Once she had joined me, albeit reluctantly, I continued.

"The easiest place to gather Ethernano from is nature. You'll eventually gain a feeling for it, but in your current house, that might not be the most fun thing...When I first got here, I felt like I was suffocating! Anyway, I want you to continue doing what we practiced. Close your eyes and feel the energy. Once you sense it, imagine pulling it into your body." Yukino did so and, after a few minutes, I saw her start to slowly release a little energy. "Good! Now a bit more..." She scrunched up her face and concentrated. All at once, it blew out, and she looked at my clearly upset with frustration showing in her eyes.

"I can't!" I sighed and readjusted my position.

"Yes, you can. Let's try something else. And no, it isn't easier, don't look at me like that. Just concentrate on me." Closing my eyes, I cautiously tested the air around me. Carefully, I pulled in the air around me and slowly started releasing small amounts of energy. "Try predicting when I'm storing and when I'm releasing energy, okay?" She nodded, but before she started she asked a quick question.

"Why do you look like you're struggling? I thought you said it'd be easier out here!" She giggled when I stopped and gave her a look.

"I have trouble controlling my intake and release. I'm only doing a little, to make it hard for you. I'm so used to taking and using large amounts quickly. So, you work on sensing, and I'll work on regulation." Yukino went back to being serious as we discussed a few tips and tricks. Once we were prepared, we nodded at each other and both closed out eyes.

3rd Person
The pair spent the rest of the morning practicing. They had both made a lot of progress by lunchtime, and once they had eaten their fill, they decided to take a walk around the forest. Alana was able to gather many plants along the way and quizzed Yukino on more of the theory of celestial magic. They returned home as the sun was setting in high spirits, but they were very happy to simply be able to relax and take a nice long bath after a long day of physically and mentally tiring events. Once they had had dinner, they parted ways for the night. Yukino headed to bed and Alana headed to her workshop.

Alana's POV
I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I finished up my last report. The workshop was filled with the scent of drying herbs, most of them harvested this morning on our little adventure. Finally alone, and with all my work done, I allowed myself to relax. BIG mistake. All at once, a wave of exhaustion and loneliness hit me. I remembered that Miss Porlyusica had packed some medicinal teas as well. Reluctantly getting up, I tediously dragged myself over to the shelf and grabbed the box (off the top shelf, ouch!) I then stumbled over to the workable and prepared a pot of hot water as I fished for a tea that would relieve fatigue and soreness. As I sipped my tea, I noticed a slim white envelope hidden among the rows.

Dear Alana,
I hope you're doing well and keeping up with your studies. You know I don't tolerate slackers! Knowing you and your foolish friends, you probably forgot to write them and you haven't found this letter for weeks, so they're probably worried. And bothering me about it. Don't let them bother me! You should write to them. And purely for convenience, why don't you send the letters with your reports and any questions or observations you might have. I'll throw the letters to the pack of hungry dogs when the get here. Although, dogs are too noble to describe them. Perhaps pigs...or boars. Yes, wild boars. Tell them to leave me alone, okay?
-Porlyusica

I was struck by an overwhelming wave of sadness and loneliness as I read the letter, mixed in with joy and amusement. As a result, I half laughed and half cried as I prepared some parchment and other necessities. Drying my eyes, I gathered my reports and began to write.

'Not very subtle Miss Porlyusica!'

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Sorry it's late