Bad Day
Hello! I finally posted something again! This is just a short story I did as an introduction for a character I roleplay with. The land of Emeria and all cities and ideas within it are property of my friend RJ Thunderfox. Anyways, please let me know what you think, I would love to hear from you guys!
Feral
The white wolf sat quietly, sipping the ale in front of him. It wasn't strong, but it was hard to find any truly good drink in this city. Strong drink was slightly frowned upon in the City of Crystal. The wolf took another swig from the bottle. Maybe the Elders were afraid everyone would get drunk and destroy the city somehow. He chuckled. 'If crystal could be destroyed,' he thought. On second thought, a town full of drunken mages may be able to do just that. The wolf took more of his ale, frowning at the taste. 'Would it kill them to import some good drink?' he wondered.
Novaria, the City of Crystal, filled with those who have devoted their life to the study and practice of the Arcane. It is a city made completely of crystal, built into the side of a mountain. Beautiful, crystal-like flowers cover the adjacent fields, making Novaria a shining beacon to the rest of the world. How the city was actually created, only the Gods know. It is home to followers of all kinds of mana. It is a place where furs strive to understand mana and use it for the betterment of the entire land. Here, in this city of beauty and learning, Felxaar Et'Vora had been born.
It was also where he had spent the past two decades of his life studying the Arcane, learning to harness its powerful energy to aid him, as well as others. Felxaar was a healer, specializing in using mana to rejuvenate and restore those around him. He had chosen the Path of the Healer, much like his father before him. His father had been a well-known healer, travelling all over Emeria to help those in need. Naturally, Felxaar was expected to follow in his father's paw prints. A good man, Felxaar's father never turned away from those in need, no matter the situation. The wolf took a long drink from the bottle and sighed, remembering his father. The fur had made it his life's mission to help others and it was on one of his father's journeys, helping a town caught in a battle years ago, that he had been slain. Felxaar closed his eyes. He remembered hearing the news.
He had been only a pup, still chasing after his mother's tail, when he learned his father had been killed in a town he had never even heard of. His mother had fallen to her knees, crying. The wolf swallowed some more of his ale, trying to chase the memory away. His mother, a beautiful she-wolf with a warm smile and heart, had raised him after his father's death. Felxaar remembered the time he spent with her. His mother would take him on walks through the fields, aimlessly wandering through the crystal flowers. She loved the flowers, but she always told her son that real flowers were much prettier. The walks Felxaar had taken with his mother always soothed him. He quickly learned why his mother loved Nature and shared her affection for it. Anytime the wolf was troubled, he had his mother and Nature.
He had lost his mother a few years later, just after Felxaar had been accepted as an apprentice to a Master Healer. She had died fighting a group of bandits she encountered on the road. Felxaar's mother had taken a trip to visit some of her Druid friends in her old village. On her return journey, bandits had ambushed her. She managed to fight them off, but suffered a wound from a poisoned blade. The grey she-wolf had hung on long enough to make it back to Novaria to tell her son goodbye. She left him with a kiss, and the dagger she always carried. To this day, the dagger was never far from the wolf. He absently rubbed the sheath of the highly decorated blade, as he recalled that day.
Sliding the sleeve of his robe up, Felxaar looked at the dark green tattoos that twisted and curled over his arm. They were a tribute to his mother's Druid culture, supposed to bring him luck and remind him that Nature would watch over him. The knife, tattoos, and his green eyes were all he had left of his mother. He supposed his talent in Earth mana could also be a gift from his mother, but he was better at healing. Lifting the bottle from the table, the drink swished around inside it. The ale wasn't helping like it was supposed to. Felxaar had come here to relax and forget about his earlier failure. Somehow, the talented young healer had botched a simple cure spell. Gritting his teeth, Felxaar growled as he remembered how the Elder present that day had berated him. It had been so simple! He shouldn't have failed. The wolf shook his head violently. He had been distracted, he knew that. It was the first thing he was taught studying mana- _Focus ._Usually Felxaar had no trouble focusing, but that day, he couldn't help thinking about his parents. The wolf had a dream about them the night before his challenge. No matter what he did, he couldn't get his parents off of his mind. Felxaar sighed. He needed to refocus, get his mind straight. Taking another sip of his drink, the wolf tried to calm his restless mind.
"Surprise finding you here, Felxaar," a voice called behind him. Felxaar turned to see a red fox dressed in similar white robes behind him. "You know, if you didn't spend as much time here, maybe the Elders would like you." The fox said, sitting opposite Felxaar. The wolf's eyes snapped to meet the fox's gaze.
"Something you want, Fairn?"
The fox leaned back. "No, I just wanted to see how you are. Heard you had a rough time the other day. Of course you're finding comfort in liquor."
Felxaar finished his ale and growled. "Leave."
Fairn looked at Felxaar and snorted. "How do you ever expect to become a Master if you can't pass a simple test?" Felxaar's eyes narrowed. Fairn continued, "With your father being one of the best healers known, I thought you would be just like him." The fox scoffed. "You may have his white fur, but not his talent." A loud growl was the only warning before the wolf came across the table, throwing Fairn to the ground. Felxaar struck the helpless fox three times, before he was thrown back by a powerful force. Fairn stood, his paws glowing. Felxaar snarled, summoning his own energy. He was going to make this fox pay. The wolf inhaled, letting his energy swirl around him, preparing to slam the fox into next week.
"Stop!"
Felxaar was thrown by another force, slamming into a wall. He lay on the ground, dazed and his vision a little blurry. An older wolf stepped into view. He grabbed Felxaar roughly. "You need to speak to your Master! I'm taking you to him this instant!" With that, the older wolf half-dragged Felxaar out of the bar and through the city. Felxaar didn't care. He was still too angry at Fairn, and his failure days ago. Before he could finish his brooding, he was thrown onto his Master's floor. "Here's your apprentice Master Asar, he was fighting in the bar."
"Thank you." Felxaar's master said to the departing wolf. Asar moved to stand directly over his apprentice, glaring down at him. "Stand up." He commanded. Felxaar obeyed, meeting his master's cold stare. Raising an eyebrow, Asar asked, "What happened?"
Felxaar looked away. "Fairn insulted me-and my father's name." The white wolf glanced at his master. The snow leopard held his apprentice in his gaze and sighed.
"That damn fox is no good. You know he was trying to get a rise from you, which apparently worked." Asar reprimanded, "You can't let him, or anything else, break your focus." Felxaar couldn't meet his master's golden eyes. Focus was the most important part of mastering mana. One had to be in control of their emotions, or it could have disastrous results. Felxaar had lost to himself today, and that also angered him. Asar walked to his desk, picking something small up. Stepping in front of Felxaar, he pressed something into the wolf's paw. Felxaar recognized it immediately. It was a pair of small, smooth crystals. Each was a perfect sphere and was clear. Felxaar used them to calm his mind. He would roll them in his paw, while passing energy through them. Depending on the type of energy the wolf passed through them, they would glow different colors.
Felxaar understood his master and began rolling the crystals in his paw. The smooth surfaces gliding over his paw soothed him. Moments later, both spheres gave off a small white glow. At first, Felxaar couldn't even get the crystals to glow. After practicing countless times, he finally learned how to pass his energy through the crystals correctly and filled his paw with the white light. Now, it was his way of meditating. The feel of the crystals in his hand was comforting and the repeated motion and technique of running energy through the crystals to produce different colors worked wonders on the wolf's mental state. He focused now on making the white light brighter. Asar patiently watched his apprentice.
After minutes of playing with the crystals, Felxaar finally spoke. "I shouldn't have failed. I knew what to do, I just couldn't focus." Asar just watched the wolf, listening. Felxaar sighed, changing the crystals' color to a bright green. "I've been thinking about my parents lately, Master. I had a dream the other night and I can't stop thinking about them."
"I understand why you attacked Fairn. You have to clear your mind. You'll get another chance to prove yourself to the Elders. Relax, get your thoughts in order, and refocus. Also, no more bar fights." Asar fixed Felxaar with a level gaze. The wolf concentrated on the crystals in his paw, making them a brilliant purple.
"I want to be a Master." Felxaar said determinedly. "I want to heal other furs and myself. I want to be like my father." The crystals glowed brighter. The snow leopard noticed the wolf staring intensely at the wall.
"Why are you in such a hurry, my apprentice? You have plenty of time to make Master, and plenty more to use your abilities. As for your father, well, you are very much like him." Felxaar looked at his Master, noticing the smallest hint of a smile.
"The Elders don't think I'm capable of anything. I ruined an important chance."
"Silence. You messed up. Take it as a lesson in focus. It is difficult enough focusing on just the mana and how to manipulate the energy. Even more difficult to focus this energy with outside influences." Asar looked Felxaar in his eyes. "Hardest of all, is focusing with conflicts within yourself. To become a Master, and be the Healer you dream to be, you must overcome all three." Then Asar smiled. "And mastering the use of mana, of course." Felxaar snorted.
"Yeah, that's not so bad." The wolf changed the crystals' colors again, a dark red coming from them.
Asar nodded. "Now, go relax. I mean read or something, not get in another fight. Get your thoughts sorted and come speak to me again."
"Yes, Master."
"Good. Now leave. I have things to do." Asar quickly pushed Felxaar out of his room, taking the crystals from Felxaar, and shut the door behind him. Chuckling, the wolf strolled toward his own home, slightly more at ease with himself. His master, as always, knew just what to do. Also, just like usual, he had kicked the wolf out.
Reaching his home, Felxaar grabbed the old, beat up, book on his table. He went to his bedroom, tossing the book onto his bed. Throwing himself onto the bed, he grabbed a small pouch from his nightstand. Inside, was a set of smooth, spherical crystals, much like the pair Master Asar owned. They had belonged to Felxaar's father and the set contained five crystals. Felxaar had been told that his father would suspend them in the air, just over his hand, as he was thinking. Felxaar couldn't quite do it yet. He had managed to levitate two crystals, but he had to focus completely on them. Leaning back, Felxaar held his book. He opened it, and began flipping through the pages. Each one was worn, and had notes scribbled all over the margins. It had been his father's book. His father had used it since he had been an apprentice. It was one of the few things Felxaar had to remember his father. Felxaar took the book with him everywhere, and read it constantly, trying to understand mana better. Rolling the crystals in his paw again, Felxaar took his dagger off his waist and laid it beside his book. The two things he had left of his parents, a dagger and a book on mana. They were the icons of his life, the ability to heal, and the ability to fight.
Taking two crystals, Felxaar concentrated on lifting them gently into the air. As they began to slowly circle each other, he flipped open his book and began reading about mana. Letting his mind fall into the rhythm of understanding what the book said and keeping the crystals in mid air, began to calm the wolf. After he finished a chapter on mana shields, he noticed the crystals still floating above his open palm. Mesmerized, he watched them. Somehow, his mind had fallen into a peaceful lull. He felt better now. Grabbing the crystals out of the air, he stuffed them back into the pouch. Putting both the pouch and book on his nightstand, Felxaar took a deep breath and decided to take a nap. He smiled at the memory of his parents, as he let his eyelids close and his mind to wander.