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Chapter 5 Child of the Blue Wind

Liam glanced around as he held his tail over his disrobed unmentionables to ensure he kept his shame hidden from any potential eyes that could be staring at him, looking for wherever his clothes could have possibly gone. The gentle morning breeze rushed through the trees and past the threadbare young fox, making him brace for the incoming draft. Strangely enough, he felt the tickle of clothing against his fur being tossed by the breeze. He opened his eyes and glanced back down at himself, momentarily forgetting his nudity and releasing his tail. His paws felt at his body and, to his surprise, he felt the soft fabric of his clothing still hugging his form. "They're... Invisible...?" Liam whispered to himself questioningly.

Without a droplet of hesitation, Liam scramble back over to the parchment at the parchment that the contained the spell that had just exposed him to the world, looking desperately for a way to revert what he had cast. To his dismay, however, there didn't seem to be anything describing any means of reversal, though he did notice a line of text below the original spell description that he was certain had not been there before. It read:

"To you sneaky kids trying to take my spell books without my permission, if you are reading this, you have likely tried this spell out. I hope this teaches you a lesson about taking other people's things and how you shouldn't mess with magic you know nothing about! Have fun!"

Liam could only gawk with his mouth open at the message. It was a prank!? A prank meant to deter kids that were trying his father's magic spells? Did he forget it was in the spellbook he was giving his own son? The little fox couldn't believe it; he had fallen for a prank spell... At least now he knew better than to trust spells that weren't named. Thankfully, he was alone in the forest so nobody would see his shame. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter could be heard above him in the great oak that made his fur stand on end and nearly jump out of his skin. The laughter was quickly followed by a sharp yelp along with the crashing of branches, making Liam fall over onto his rear. A blur of silvery blue fell from the tree, breaking a couple smaller branches before suddenly stopping in the middle of the tree's trunk very close to the ground above the startled little vulpine! What stared back at the young mage was in fact another cub, a silver-maned fox boy who looked just as shocked as he was but for very different reasons.

The boy wore a sleeveless blue and white top with casual white bottoms, the design being rather intricate and almost tribal with its flowing wind-like motifs, yet it was plainly of civilized design. His silvery blue fur was highlighted with a white underbelly and blueish tips to his ears and tail, his paws gloved in dark grey fur. His hair was pure silver and boyishly trimmed besides the ponytail reaching what looked like his upper back from Liam's position. The sky-fallen boy blinked down at Liam, both staring awkwardly at each other for what felt like forever. The dagger that slowed his fall embedded in the trunk leaving a long trail carved up the side from where he fell. "Uuuh... Hi?" The silver fox cub said with a nervous grin.

Liam was too stunned to speak; he had truly thought he was alone in the wilderness, in fact he hoped he was due to his current situation! The boy unhinged his dagger and landed gracefully in front of the young mage, immediately sheathing it to show he meant no harm. "Eheh, a little breezy today huh?" The silver cub said rubbing the back of his head, either alluding to the fact he had fell from the tree or subtly pointing out Liam's nudity. Regardless, young Liam squeaked in embarrassment and brought his tail back over his exposed front.

"H-h-how long were you up there!?" The flustered little mage squeaked, visibly shaken at this sudden turn of events.

"Weeeell, would you be upset if I said the whole time?" grinned the mysterious boy as he snickered to himself.

"The whole time!?" The child squeaked out, feeling his bashfulness and awkwardness of this scenario ramp up even more heavily than he did when he discovered someone was there in the first place.

"Yeah like, kinda watched you poof your clothes into thin air. S-sorry, it was just a bit funny is all!" he said almost nonchalantly as he tried to play off not having fallen due to laughing his head off, instead of balancing himself, though at least he was honest. Liam could feel his cheeks burning under his face fur, his tail tip twitching as he tucked in on himself with his immense embarrassment. The smaller fox twitched as the older boy suddenly held out his paw to him, offering to help him up. He hesitated, not readily sure if he wanted to stand or even trust the boy.

"Hey, don't be shy! We're all naked at some point in life anyway. I promise I won't laugh at you..." he leaned down a bit to Liam's level with his paw still extended, a friendly smile lighting up the lithe fox's face. "My name's Maverick, what's your name?"

"It's... Liam. My name is Liam." The small fox said, contemplating the paw in front of him before timidly taking it in his own. He gasped as he was helped up to his feet before letting his tail fall back to rest behind him. It was odd being naked in front of another person, especially another boy and the whole situation made his stomach flutter anxiously.

"Hehe, it's nice to meet you Liam! Sorry for scaring you, this tree is just really fun to climb and I didn't expect anyone to come here this early." Maverick chuckled. "So, you're a mage huh? I take it you must be new at it too, eh? I mean... How could you not be when you been slinging those spells around! Heheh~" He followed up that assessment with his almost trademark chuckle.

"Uh, y-yeah...! I just started practicing today. I kinda been looking for my dad and I found his spellbook and staff in my bag last night. He left me a letter and everything. So, I came out here to practice." The budding young mage explained.

"Huh, that's pretty cool! It looks like you're getting the hang of it pretty fast! Er... Well, mostly, at least. Hehe..." Maverick chuckled, trying not to stare at the boy's disrobed features too closely.

"It was a prank spell! It's not my fault, I didn't know!" Liam said feeling his face redden once more, his arms stiff at his sides and little tail flicking about behind him.

"Ahaha! O-okay okay! I didn't mean anything by it, promise! Besides, that's part of the fun of a prank spell in the first place, no?"

Liam huffed, as if it couldn't get any worse. "What am I gonna do? I can't go back to the inn like this..."

"Hey, ya never know! It could just be temporary; I can't see a prank spell having any permanent effects. Just relax, it'll wear off! How bout I show you some spells and stuff while we wait?" Maverick chimed with a cheerful smile.

"Huh? But why would you wanna do that for me?" Liam puzzled, a smidge confused as to why this stranger would be so willing to show off to someone he only just met.

"Mm? Well I got nothing else to do, and I figure I should make it up to you for scaring you like that... and also maybe laughing at you a little bit..." Maverick said, mumbling the last bit of his sentence.

"O-okay! I guess that'd be fun!" Liam piped optimistically, his eagerness to explore more into the depths of the world of magic washing away all his doubts. Though it was an awkward first meeting, Liam began to feel a new kind of flutter in his belly... One that made the young kit feel like after the longest time, he may have just made a new friend.

The boys' ears perked suddenly to the sound of a distant crash, their keen hearing picking up the sound of crashing trees and splinters to the south. It was distant but it was just loud enough that it drew their attention. Maverick scowled a bit, something obviously not sitting right with the older kit about the noise. Liam looked worried, though Maverick noticed this quickly and turned back to reassure the smaller boy with a smile. It was then Liam got a good look at the silver fox's eyes, his left eye was a dark grey while the right was a tranquil blue that offset yet complimented each other.

"Hehe whatcha staring at, let's get practicing Liam!" Maverick grinned, breaking the kit's focus before strolling over to his new friend's spell book.

"Ah! R-right!" he said as he padded quickly behind the bigger fox.

Liam and Maverick began training immediately, the older boy directing his young friend by starting with some of the spells he knew himself. A spell that created a breeze enough to rustle the leaves. Another that swirled around the younger boy's body, sneaking in and through his unseen clothing. Even enough air that it was able to lift the child up a few inches above the ground! Liam was amazed by the older boy's knowledge of magic, after all Maverick didn't look anything like a mage yet he knew so much about it. He explained everything to Liam from how spells are cast and the proper form to effectively cast certain kinds of spells, to what Catalysts were and how they affected magic casting.

"So basically, a Catalyst, like the gem on your staff or the one in my dagger, are what let people use magic. They are strong crystals formed in places with lots of magic in the area that the magic crystallizes into these gems, they get mined up and then taken to crafters who make them into all kinds of shapes and fit them into staves and weapons. It's really expensive though so not everyone can afford to get magic weapons, so you and I are pretty lucky we got them already!" Maverick explained as Liam sat beside him, the smaller fox's attention undivided as he listened and learned. The older boy reached to his side and withdrew a single palm sized jewel that had intricate designs that seemed to swirl like a tornado within the spherical crystal.

"This catalyst here is special, it's sort of my lucky charm! It's stronger than most Catalysts and with it I can cast magic that's really strong~" Maverick said with a cheeky grin as if eager to show off his Catalyst to his friend. "Wanna see a cool spell I can do with it~?"

How could Liam possibly refuse? The boy nodded excitedly, which was all the confirmation Maverick needed. He hopped to his feet and ran up to the water's edge, gripping the jewel close as he held out his paw to the water. He drew a deep breath, then with a swift swipe of his paw through the air, he shouted. "Whirlwind!"

The moment the words left his mouth the wind over the lake twisted around, carrying water from the once still surface and leaves from the nearby trees into its center before scattering them high into the air. The tornado became a beautiful fountain as water spiraled up and became mist as it dispersed, creating a rainbow amidst the droplets as the sun glistened through the spray. The aquatic funnel even had a special glow to it, to show just how special that catalyst was. A unique blue aura surrounded that magical twisting gale, further emphasizing the sheen of the tornado and showing off the majesty of the rainbow nearby. Liam's face lit up as he watched the spectacle in front of him, Maverick merely grinning at seeing the boy's face so in awe of his creation, pride in his own skills welling up in his heart. Soon the wind came to a halt just as fast as it had come, leaving the scene just as it had been before save for a few scattered leaves and the lake's surface riled for a little while.

"Whooooa~! I wanna do some more magic now too!" Liam cried, turning on his heels and sprinting for his staff. The boy had already forgotten he still looked naked as the day he was born, but that didn't matter anymore. His young mind was now soaring even higher with the possibilities of what magic could do and he wanted to test just how much he could do himself!

Maverick only laughed as he watched the boy race to his supplies, though he couldn't help but admire the view of his new friend while the smaller boy wasn't looking. He glanced over the young kit's bare fur as it glistened in the light with the mist that his spell had caused to fall on them, and it became his turn to feel his cheeks brighten. The preteen fox was thankful he had made the mist now. It wasn't exactly hot outside that day, but for Maverick, it was certainly getting warmer.