Aurora

Lessons

Wow.

Just wow. I haven't updated this in three months (ish), and I'm sorry. To make up for it, this one's pretty long.

Now that I know it's forbidden, I'm working even harder to keep my friendship with Ash a secret. My parents didn't ask why I was late for dinner; I guess they thought I was off flirting or partying or something silly like that. I'd rather be with my secret friend any day.

I casually make my way to training half an hour early for my first ice-type training session. I realize with an unpleasant jolt that Jet will be there early, too; he has the same birthday as me. Because most Eon parents choose to conceive in the spring, (and Eevee eggs take about three months to hatch) shared birthdays are not uncommon. No doubt the idiot will be a Vaporeon.

When I arrive at the training area, Jet and Cirrus have already started the former's lesson. Watching them, it's hard not to smirk. I'm sure all Eons are inexperienced with their powers when they evolve (I know I certainly am), but it's still pretty funny to watch someone I loathe failing so miserably. Even Cirrus is looking frustrated, and I'm sure he's used to this.

"It's okay, Jet," he says consolingly. "No one is naturally good with their powers." Jet sighs and nods.

"Let's try this one more time." Cirrus appears to be steeling himself. "Now, I want you to summon a bit of water in your paw."

Jet holds his webbed paw out and suddenly acquires a look of intense concentration. Nothing happens. Jet looks accusingly at his paw.

"It's okay," Cirrus says. "Try again."

Jet sighs, stretches out his paw, and tries again.

Water gushes everywhere. It flies out of the ground in giant geysers; it pours out of the sky in icy torrents; a section of a nearby stream even changes course and flows toward Jet and Cirrus. The water seems to be coming from everywhere except Jet's paw.

I burst out laughing. I can't help it; Jet just looks so ridiculous. Jet turns, anger and embarrassment fighting for possession of his face. But the glare dies when he meets my eyes.

"Aurora?" He says in disbelief. I roll my eyes.

"Who else would be sitting here watching you fail?" I say, still laughing.

Instead of firing back some angry retort at me like he normally would, he opens and closes his mouth a few times, looking even more stupid than before.

Now I'm really starting to get concerned. He's never acted like this before. He's probably just embarrassed, I tell myself.

"Ah, Aurora," Cirrus says, coming over and ending our awkward moment. Right now, I hate him less than usual.  "This seems like a good time to start your lesson." You don't say.

We walk over to where he and Jet were practicing. "Have you tried to use your powers yet?" Cirrus asks. Somehow I doubt it would be wise to mention that I used my powers to bridge the river.

"Well, I tried to decorate our cave for my party, but all I did was make it snow."

Cirrus smiles. "That's okay." Is that his new catchphrase now or something?

"Okay, let's start small. Try to freeze the ground here. If you can't do that, that's fine, we'll try something else."

I take a deep breath and plant my paws firmly on the ground. Cirrus nods encouragingly.

I suddenly feel a freezing sense of cold inside me. It starts in my chest, and then slowly radiates outward, down through my paws and into the ground below. I can feel the ground turn hard, and when I look down, the roughly circular area of the ground surrounding me is completely frozen.

Cirrus looks extremely impressed. "Wow," he says. "It's been awhile since anyone did anything on their first try."

I feel a twinge of pride. Well, I've certainly shown up Jet.

"Now try making a sheet of ice on top of the ground," Cirrus says hopefully.

I feel the same pleasant sense of cold, but this time, I feel completely in control of it, as if I'm holding it in my paw. Once again, it goes through my legs into the ground, but this time it's only because I tell it to.

A perfect circle of bluish ice comes to life beneath my feet and spreads outwards until it's a few feet wide. I look up at Cirrus. He looks almost ecstatic. I don't really see what the big deal is. All I did was make some ice.

"That was amazing!" Cirrus cries out. "Normally it takes Eons weeks to get that far!"

I'm a little taken aback. "Um, thanks..?"

Cirrus shakes himself slightly, apparently moving on from my success. "Alright you two, training as normal," he instructs. "Battle positions."

Jet and I slowly stalk each other in a circle. The stupid expression that was on his face has disappeared, replaced by a look of concentration and determination.

Suddenly he lunges forward, and a few lame geysers shoot up in a circle around me, although this is a pretty weak trap for an ice type. Without even thinking, I freeze the geysers into giant icicles, forming a complete circle of protection around myself. Jet doesn't stop charging in time, and he barrels straight into one, yelping as the sharp point slices through the skin on his chest. Dark blue blood drips to the ground.

I can tell it's a superficial wound, so I use his moment of distraction to my advantage. Leaping high over the walls of my ice, more of the stuff grows up from the ground to catch me as I fall back down.

I have never felt so powerful. Something has awoken inside me that I never knew was there. Running along my bridge of ice which slopes gently toward the ground, I feel as if the ice is an extension of my own body. I shape and control it with ease. It obeys me.

When I reach the ground, a thin skin of ice appears. I slide deftly along it, whereas Jet slips and falls. I leap on top of him and pin him down, and the battle is over before it begun.

When I let a gasping Jet up, both he and Cirrus are staring at me.

"What?" I ask. "Did I do something wrong?"

Cirrus shakes his head, still looking dumbfounded. He eventually pulls himself together enough to clean up the  battlefield for the next pair of students. Since he's a Glaceon too, removing my ice is no challenge for him. As it shrinks back into the ground, I suddenly feel exhausted, as if the ice was keeping me going.

Jet drags himself over to a nearby puddle, and the effect is instantaneous. The scratch on his chest slowly disappears, and he perks up noticeably. When he eventually pulls himself out, he's still staring at me, with that same stupid expression back on his face. Deeply unnerved, I turn to walk up the slope to my home.

When I reach the top, Brook is waiting for me. Since she won't evolve for another week, it's odd to be so much taller than her.

She's giggling as I walk over to her. "What did you do to Jet? He looks so dumb!"

I sigh. "Is he still staring?" She nods, snickering. She keeps this up the whole way home, and it starts to rub me the wrong way.

"What?!" I finally burst out as we reach my family's cave. She just shakes her head, still giggling. "Nothing."

As we part ways, I turn to watch as she continues on toward her home, her small frame still shaking with laughter. Feeling like I'm being mocked and not liking it, I turn around and enter my cave.

I'm going to try to make these chapters a little longer, so we'll see how this goes. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Bye for now!