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With a somewhat rough push against my shoulder with his foot, Granh woke me the next morning. Jeseia had slipped away and was gathering some food and water for the day. He growled down to me softly as I started to stand.

"You sleep too much, eat this and get ready. The mountain pass is tricky even at best and today is as good a day as we could hope for. We leave as soon as we are able." With that, he pressed a small cut of dried meat into my hand before turning to Jeseia and making sure she was packed.

"Where are we going? What mountain?" I asked as I stretched out, gnawing on the dried meat as I did.

"Your next training, Jeseia will be taking you to Torrnals peak, it is west of here. About two days travel. You'll be able to see the peaks once you clear the trees. Travel swiftly, the weather will turn on you just as easily as not. It's not safe to remain there for long." With that, Granh turned and left our clearing, heading back to where I'd guess the rest of his clan was living.

"Are you ready Tanthis?" She asked of me before standing. A pack on her back made of various skins.

"I guess no really isn't an option, lead the way Jeseia and I'll do my best to keep up."

The vixen gently took my hand and began leading us just south, from where we entered these woods a few days ago to clear the trees. From there she pointed west and we began a brisk walk along the forests edge.

"So, tell me, how does a fox breed know a wolf clan? Do all of you breeds get along with each other except for men?" I asked idly while walking. Her tail bristled just a moment before she smiled and turned her head slightly to speak with me while traveling.

"No, we're at a truce for mutual survival from your kind." She growled just slightly, "Granh was my teacher as I was his when we came to learn the truth of the magics. Just like we try to balance and keep all five elements in harmony, so do we try to keep the rest of our people at a relative peace with each other."

"That explains a lot, so if its all of you against me, why does Granh tolerate me and why do you now teach me?" I asked softly, reaching for her paw to draw myself closer while we spoke.

Jeseia lightly squeezed my hand a moment before looking skyward and thinking. "We're hoping that perhaps you will help bring balance to all of us, man and breed. The other of your kind that we'd found died at the second part of his training. We never knew what he was capable of."

"Wait, isn't this the second part of my training? What are we doing that's so dangerous that I might die? Didn't you have to do this too?" I asked, suddenly slightly concerned before I drew on my water token and felt the calm slowly flow through my core.

"No, this is the first part still. I don't know if I explained this to you, but for true magics to be taught you need at least two teachers. Air and Water are taught by a female, as that is the feminine side to the world. Fire and Earth must be taught by a male, they balance the scales so that the four primal elements are in balance. Finally, spirit must be taught by, well, a female. Spirit grants life from the four primal elements. Females are the chosen for bearing life and so we must teach it. He died during the training of the fire element."

"Three of the elements are taught by female, and two by male. That doesn't seem to make much of a balance by my count." I said with a slight chuckle, again squeezing her soft paw lightly.

"We'll get to that part if you make it there, it'll be more clear that way. I'll hopefully teach you the air element atop the peak and when we return, if you prove yourself, Granh will teach you fire and earth."

"You know, you're kind of cute when you sleep." I laughed to her quietly and stepped just aside in case of retribution.

"And you're kind of cute when staring at a naked woman, so we're even." With that she smiled and drew me close again for company while we walked.

As we traveled west, the trees to our right began to thin and the mountain that marked Torrnals peak drew ever closer ahead of us. Playful banter and just the company of each other made for a pleasant walk until the sun started to set and we were forced to make camp for the evening. We settled amidst some small apple trees which made for a nice snack to go with our dried meat from Jeseia's pack.

"Jeseia, tomorrow do you think we'll make it to the peak?" I casually inquired while rolling out a straw mat to sleep on.

She slipped over next to me and cuddled up against my front once more, I spooned around her slightly and held the small female protectively against me while we settled in. "I hope so, we'll need to travel carefully. There's some animals there on the mountain that don't take kindly to visitors. Sleep easy for now, because it'll be a while until we get another good nights rest. And, you can call me Jes, no need to be so formal"

"Jes then, I'm glad to meet you, you can call me Tan." I joked quietly while gently squeezing her to me. Her pelt was nice and warm, even through her clothing she felt nice to hold in my arm. Sleep once more came quickly once I held her, the vixen murring quietly while I gently stroked at her arm in my sleep.

I awoke the next morning to a sleeping fox still nestled in my arm. I gently hugged her, trying to wake her up without too much a start. She murred again up at me before yawning and smiling up at me. "You know, you're warm when you sleep" She grinned and slowly sat up to stretch out.

"As are you Jes, and still, cute when you sleep."

"Alright alright, enough teasing Tan, we have a rough day of travel ahead of us. Grab some apples for the road and lets get moving. It's already later than I'd like to start moving" She casually donned her pack of supplies and we set out not fifteen minutes later. West, always west.

We traveled quickly that day, enough that towards the south I could see some smoke from the town of Torrnal far in the distance. Towards mid day Jeseia slowed down and drew me close. "You probably can't feel it yet. But, we're not alone any more. Seems we've gotten close enough that the local wildlife is keeping an eye on us. Stay close and try not to invite anything bigger than we can handle.

I nodded to the vixen and tightened the grip on my walking stick. We picked the pace up slightly and soon after were at the base of a rough trail carved into the side of the mountain. There, not far up the trail a soft growl was heard. Jes' ears pivoted just a bit and the crouched down.

"Careful, there's a hungry female cougar there up again. She's just had cubs and most definitely will take any chance at a meal. We need to try not to hurt her but she'll try to eat us I'm afraid." Jes softly mentioned back to me.

"How can you know all that? And hold still, I have an idea."

"Never abandon you, and what's this idea?" She asked lightly even as I pressed up against and started going through her pack of supplies. I drew out the last piece of the dried meat and smiled. "If she's hungry, maybe we can give her something to eat besides ourselves? I'd rather go hungry than been lunch"

I decided now would be as good a time as any and tried to draw the water into me from the token tucked away in my tunic. I felt the calm flow about me, and from there, I gently guided it along my path as I slowly crept up the trail. Soon I felt something stirring the flow of water ahead of me, there crouched was the cougar, prepared to attack as soon as I drew closer. I stood still there and only concentrated on the water in all things, calming and relaxing the flow between myself and the cougar. Slowly, her stance changed and she started to slink off. I again started to move in her direction and left the dried meat there before backing away and calling to Jes.

"I think I did it, she's backing off and should find a treat waiting when we pass. Come on up."

Jeseia gradually moved up to my place on the trail, smiling. "I was hoping you'd do something like that, it's part of who you are. And, I see you're starting to understand how your life will lead. Good good, now lets hurry before she gets agitated again and comes back."

With that thought, we both began hiking up the mountain. As we drew near the peak, it began to grow cold and the air thin. Jes began having trouble keeping up and I was becoming concerned. "Are you alright? Do we need to stop or anything?"

"I'll be fine, carry this pack for me. I'm not made for such heights, last time I was here, Granh had to practically carry me the last part of the way up the mountain." She slipped the pack from her shoulders and I casually donned the weight.

During our brief break, neither of us had noticed a small pack of wolves had surrounded our path forward and back. They announced themselves though soon enough with a chorus of growls and pawing at the earth while waiting to see who strikes first.

"Uhm...Jes, when you catch your breath, I uhm, we have company."

Her nose quivered just slightly before she jumped up and quickly looked around, growling in reply to the canines. I could see part of her animal nature coming out, her paws flexed and her lips started to curl back and expose her teeth. "Stay close, I think I can scare them away, but stay close to me."

Jeseia stretched her paws out in a strange symbol and a tiny blue flame began to trace her fingertips. From there she pointed a small circle around us, sprouting there from the earth flames began to leap out and burst to life. Quickly we were surrounded by a circle of fire that the wolves seemed afraid to enter.

"That's amazing Jes, how do you do that?" I asked, keeping my walking stick ready to defend her from any brave wolves that'd dare the flames.

"Fire and Earth, You'll learn. Now keep quiet, I need to focus otherwise the flames will die and then, so will we."

With that warning I just stood my ground, the wolves and ourselves at a stalemate. All of a sudden I felt my token calling out to me, strongly. I relaxed and reached out to the water element, feeling it out. There was something it wanted that I needed to understand. There, a desire for balance, it wants me to learn the elements and bring about balance. But how, the call was more than that. Again water called out to me and I knew, It would be risky but might work.

"Jeseia, stay close to me. I know what we have to do." I closed my eyes and set my walking stick down, I slowly reached my hands to the skies and felt the water there above us in the clouds. I tried to pull it down to help us in some way but it fought back, like a fish on a line.

"Mages pull, we guide!" Jeseia yelled at me, her concentration starting to fail and the flames weakening.

Again I felt up to the clouds and the stream of water there, now I felt what the water wanted. It wanted to help and I just needed to point the way. With that I gently drew the water element around us and let it wind into tight tight currents everywhere but on us. I felt the water element relax as I finally understood the message and then I heard it. A dull thud directly in front of me. I opened my eyes to find a hailstone as large as my fist had impacted the earth just outside our weakening ring of fire. This was the plan of water, I wound the currents of water element tighter and tighter while guiding it all around our last stand. Another dull thud, followed by another. Soon, all hell broke loose. The storm erupted in a fury of falling ice and cold, the wolves started to yelp and jump around as they were assaulted by rocks of ice falling everywhere around them. The only safe place for the moment was there with Jes and myself in our circle.

"How did you?" Jeseia asked, the fire dying entirely as she watched the pack of canines scatter from us, the hailstones seeming to chase them down while leaving us alone.

"I didn't, I just pointed the way and let do what it wanted. Water told me to point, and apparently this is why" I said with a slight smile.

"Well I'm glad it did, we'll talk about it later. Lets hurry and get up top before more friends show up to ruin our day."

We quickly made our way the last hour to the peak of the mountain. There, the air was cold and blowing harshly over the flat peak. There was a small fire-pit surrounded by stones and that was it. I could feel an almost urging, nagging, feeling on the back of my neck. It felt almost like the uncanny sensation of an annoying cousin trying to get my attention.

Jeseia went to work, quickly starting a fire and cuddling up against it to hide from the chill in the air. "We'll eat in the morning, come rest. Tomorrow we'll start your training." She gently coaxed me next to her and nosed in against my neck before I laid flat and pressed against her back as we had been sleeping. She slowly turned to face me and smiled, nosing against my neck and chest again before pressing her front to mine. I closed my eyes and passed into a cold and fitful sleep, the only peace I had was the soft feeling of her hair through my fingers as I stroked it.