Fanfare

Abandonment

Trenna closes her eyes tightly, listening to Kieran as he says the same thing, over and over. She sighs, frustrated, and opens them. "It's not working."

"You have to push it out, girl. I know you can do this." Kieran's voice is the same grizzled tone she's been hearing for the past two weeks. She can't say she's overly fond of it.

"I can't," she says, after closing her eyes tightly and trying, very hard, to do what he says. She tries to push the darkness away from her, like a cloud around her body. When she opens her eyes, nothing has changed. They're still in the training room, in the dark, in the middle of the night, and Kieran can still not see while the world is as bright as daylight to her.

"That's because you're not trying," Kieran growls.

"I am, though. I'm trying so hard I feel like my head's about to explode." She runs her fingers through her hair angrily.

"That can be arranged," says a disembodied voice. Until Trenna turns, and the voice gains a body.

Jack grins at her from the mouth of the cave, and she realises the lights are still off when she looks up to the ceiling, all except the small rock in his hand. She frowns. "How are you doing that?" she asks.

Jack's grin widens, and the rock's glow brightens slightly, though it makes no effect on the room around them to her eyes. "Control, child," he says.

Trenna rolls her eyes and turns back to Kieran, who is watching Jack with keen eyes. "Learnt that yourself, boy?" he asks. Jack nods, looking pleased with himself. Kieran runs a hand over his grizzled chin, looking thoughtful, before his chair begins to move towards the doorway. He stops beside Jack. "You might have more luck than me, then. Teach her how you do it." He jerks his chin towards Trenna, and she blanches.

"Seriously? You're leaving me. With him." Jack actually looks offended, and she smiles slightly.

"Don't mess around, girl. I hope you learn more from him then you did from me, otherwise you have no hope." He rolls out of the room, snatching Jack's rock from his hand as he goes. Trenna stares after him, unable to keep a cold chill from sweeping over her skin.

Then Jack walks into a wall, and she bursts into laughter. "Graceful entrance," she says, getting to her feet and helping him over to her mat, making room for him to sit.

"Well," he rubs at his head, wincing as he settles himself down. "I think I did well for someone who can't see. Also, that's no way to speak to your teacher."

"Teacher," Trenna scoffs. She sobers after a minute of thought. "You know, I seriously miss being in the dark."

"First person I've ever known who actually likes it. We put up with it, sure. But to miss it?" Jack shakes his head. "I miss the light, and I've been in the dark for all of two minutes."

"Will you help me, then?" Trenna asks quietly.  

Eerily, Jack's fingers change colour to a bright yellow, and his eyes lock onto her as his fingers find hers on the mat. He weaves them together, his long, squared hands contrasting starkly against hers, small and thin in comparison. "Anything for you, darling," he says, with a quick grin. But his eyes hold a seriousness she previously thought not possible in Jack.

She removes her fingers from his, feeling uneasy, and forces a smile. "Alright then," she says, shifting backwards, so there is a metre between them. "Teach me."