♜ 001 | The Beauty of Nature

[swiftkicks]

Characters: Rena (swiftkicks ) or Warmage (unteachableapprentice ) and YOU!
Setting: Backdated to Valentine's Day. Dormitory Hallways for Rena, Library for Warmage
Format: Prose or action brackets are a-okay; I'll match!
Summary: An elf and an idiot a hero both manage to get ahold of a certain tape playing Lovely Ladies. Oh dear.
Warnings: PG, most probably. Might be updated to reflect current situation.

[Rena: Dormitory Hallways]
When you walk along the dorm hallways, you might chance upon a particular elf that's walking along them with a lovestruck look in her eyes and a heart-shaped item in her hands. Funny what you find in the forest. Cloudy with a chance of flirting, folks.

[Warmage: Floor 3 (Library)]
A certain man is walking along the libraries, not to read, per se, but to think of how to reinforce the place in case of an attack. Call it an occupational sickness, but that's what he had to do at home.

Now why would someone leave a tape of all things in a library? Worth investigating, obviously. As well as a listen.

You would think someone like him would be wary of items like these lying around by now.

Comments

[unteachableapprentice]

"Rain, huh... My magic is actually more specialized with hurtin' things. Came with the job; had to defend people from Orcs. Specially when they were all rushing through to kill everyone they saw."

But hey, you never know until you try. Even while the storm cloud was raging in the distance, he removed the bracers to break the flow of magic and concentrated on the silver ring on his hand.

Sure enough, the cloud which was raining fire gradually stopped looking so angry and started to turn a lighter shade of grey, until it became normal, gentle rain.

"Hmm. The old man didn't teach me that. Sometimes I amaze myself."

He turned to the girl. "Ya like it? Didn't expect the ol' Thunder Ring to be able to do such a thing.

And if ya want to learn magic, I guess I could try teaching."

Usually he was the one being taught. And subsequently getting yelled at.

"Don't have much of the training artifacts from back home, so I guess I can loan ya mine. The old man used to say it was all about mental strength or something. 'Magic's not something you're born with, Apprentice.'" He even imitated his teacher's gravelly voice. Something he always did. When out of earshot, anyway.

[tohko_amano]

"Well, I can see why. I suppose a bit of rain probably wasn't going to deal much damage to Orcs or any other monster in your universe.."

However, when Warmage did manage to get it to rain, she applauded him even harder and nodded. If one looked closely, there was a gleam in her eye.

"I did! That was pretty amazing! And if you're willing to teach me, I'd be more than happy to learn!"

Tohko grinned like a madman, fighting back the urge to chuckle at his imitation. It was good that this was a universe where magic wasn't something you were born with.

"I won't mind borrowing some artifacts..but I don't want to be a burden. Are you sure it's alright if I do?"

Warmage, you scored some massive brownie points here.

[unteachableapprentice]

He's a bit embarrassed, actually; being able to cast magic was something he was expected to do, and compliments aren't exactly something he's used to.

"I'll be glad to, specially if you of all people ask. I can hold my own without 'em." He takes his crossbow which was hanging off his back to show her. A crossbow whose bolt is glowing a holy light. "This used to belong to my master, but stuff happened and I took it. Long story short, this baby is more than enough for anything here."

So he's just going to hand Tohko his ring (which incidentally causes the raincloud to immediately dissipate).

"You can hold on to that. If ya want lessons I can do it now, but it's going to be tiring. Might want some rest before doing it."

[tohko_amano]

Sadly, Tohko didn't realize that she was embarrassing her new friend. Tohko nodded at his explanation..but looked a bit puzzled.

"Well, I'm sure your master wouldn't mind you being with a weapon..but what do you mean by 'me of all people'?"

Tohko smiled as she took the ring and nodded.

"Oh, thank you! I'll take good care of it, I promise. And don't worry, I'll be alright. If it's not too much trouble, could you give me some lessons?"

[unteachableapprentice]

"Well, you're plenty charming, and very enthusiastic as well. You kinda remind me of myself."

Yes, he did inadvertently call himself charming.

He rubs his hands excitedly; first time teaching, after all.

"Alright then, magic 101 it is. Well, channeling magic with these things are the easiest, so this should be easy. The harder parts are magic without them. Like this."

He points somewhere away from the pair of them and a barrel bulging with explosives materializes out of nowhere, though when he snaps his hand, it vanishes.

"Not sure I can teach you that, need spellbooks. Don't think this place has em."

"Anyway, I'm goin' off topic. You just need to wear that ring, point it somewhere else and just imagine yourself using it. 'Course, this thing controls 'thunder', so it has to be related to thunder. Though remember the rain I made? I reasoned that I could create a thunderstorm, just without the thunder. And less heavy rain. Only limited to your logic and imagination."

[tohko_amano]

"Well..that might not be such a bad thing then, since you seem like a pretty nice guy!"

And Tohko just smiled happily as she said that. Tohko listened to his explanation as she put on the ring, and nodded in several spots to make him know that she was listening and understood.

"Alright then. I think I get it. Let's see then.."

Tohko, focusing her mind, imagined a heavy purple rain falling on the both of them without any thunder and snapped her fingers, just for some extra help.

Hopefully, if all went well, the rain would fall.

[unteachableapprentice]

And lo and behold, there actually was rain. Even though there seemed to be a few flashes of electricity in the cloud.

"Hey, nice job! On your first try too! I screwed up a coupla times when I tried using this thing back home. According to the old man I didn't have enough concentration or somethin'."

He looks up at the cloud for a bit, allowing the rain to fall upon the pair of them for a while.

"Alright, that's pretty good for someone who hasn't touched magic before. Might wanna stop it though. Magic takes a big toll on a body, specially for someone who hasn't used it before."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko smiled when rain actually managed to fall on them. Sure, there seemed to be some electricity..but as long as any lightning didn't hit them and or anyone else, that would be fine. She could quite tell if it had managed to be purple or not.

Oh well.

"Ah, thanks! Maybe it's because I read so many books. After you read awhile, you can picture quite a bit in your head."

At his instructions, Tohko nodded. She didn't feel that tired, but she snapped her fingers and tried to imagine the rain dissipating anyway.

"How does it take a toll on the body?"

[unteachableapprentice]

"Huh." Maybe books actually do help. Maybe. He might want to try that a bit some time later.

He had to shake his head slightly to dislodge these somewhat unpleasant thoughts.

"Think of it like... a pool, maybe? Everyone has a 'pool' of magic, if you call it that. Every time ya use magic, you draw the energy from the pool. Cept, when you try to cast more magic when the pool is gone, you start to use some of ya own energy. Let's just say that's a no-no. Don't use any more when you start to feel tired. Good thing is, the more you use it, the less magic juice you have to use for each spell. Think of it like exercise.

Nice going on your first try, though. Really. You can keep that ring if ya want."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko would be more than happy to recommend him some good books, if he wanted.

"Oh..alright then! I suppose that makes sense. Does normal rest and eating restore your magic, just like exercise?"

..Warmage, you really were racking up the brownie points here.

"Oh, really?! Are you sure I can keep it?"

[unteachableapprentice]

"Yep, just resting like you would normally do when you're tired. Magic's funny like that."

Even as a disciple of the magical arts he really doesn't really understand the intricate parts of it. Nor does he care to learn it, as long as he can use it. Or teach someone, in this case.

"Yep! Just remember not to waste yer magic, okay? Don't want to have to find you collapsed somewhere."

[tohko_amano]

"Actually, that doesn't sound too funny. It makes sense to me, and it's what happens in a few stories too!"

Tohko, being a book girl, both loved stories of magic and liked knowing all she could about actual systems of magic.

"Oh, thank you very much! Don't worry, you won't find me collapsed somewhere! I'll be careful! Thank you!"

Tohko happily thanked Warmage as she slipped on the ring. This was awesome, as far as she was concerned.

[unteachableapprentice]

Seeing the girl smile so sincerely at his gift made him feel incredibly happy; rarely does he see people reacting to his actions. He's used to working in the shadows, doing a thankless job. A job that he likes, mind, but a thankless one nevertheless.

"I'll teach ya how to use these-" He shows her the bracers he just strapped on again- "but I don't think it's smart just yet. Maybe tomorrow, alright?"

[tohko_amano]

To Tohko, gifts like this were amazing, and if she knew that her friend's work went mostly unappreciated, she would start chronicling his work so that people did remember him.

Tohko nodded at the bracers, still smiling.

"Oh, sure! You can teach me whenever you want!"