FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 31

"No no no, stop and listen for a moment. Rick you are trying too hard to force the earth to your will. It has to be a natural extension of yourself. Jasper you are being too stiff in your form to manipulate the air you have to be able to move with it. Both of you try again from the beginning."

It has been over a month since I got the blasted cast off my leg and almost two since the fight with Aduro and during that time I have redoubled my training with the new guardians. Shadow and Rosalie are proceeding along quite well and are able to practice with each other without the need for constant surveillance. Rick and Jasper on the other hand are requiring a more involved tutelage.

It took them both over a week to learn how to summon their weapons at will and another two weeks for their armor. Their biggest obstacles have been learning to control their respective elements. Since neither of them ever had any magical abilities prior to becoming guardians I never gave them more than a basic understanding of it as they were growing up. Something I am rather regretting now.

During their first days of training in their magic both showed signs that they would be slow learners and I thought I was prepared for that. But since then things have not improved much.

Rick is bad about putting way to much effort behind his power resulting in a magnification of what he intends. Sometimes an extreme magnification. The first time that he was able to make earth move at his command he created a small canyon in the yard that took three days to fill back in.

Jasper on the other hand is having the opposite problem. Every time we trained he would work hard and do what I asked of him but some inner restraint or fear would hold him back. The result of this was that his first air manipulation resulted in a very weak gust of wind, one that I'm not entirely sure he caused but there was still hope. Eventually he managed a few more powerful gusts but none that would be very effective in combat.

Moving though the new snow fall that has come early this year telling us that winter is moving in with speed I work on trying to correct Jaspers stance, "Your holding yourself to stiff relax your shoulders and arms then try again."

He takes a deep breath and tries relaxing his muscles before he begins moving through the motions I have taught him. As he moves I feel the air around us begin to change directions and move with him. At the climax of his exercise he finishes by making sweeping direction in Ricks direction. This time though instead of a slight breeze Jasper manages to unleash a gale force blast of wind.

With all of Jaspers lack of impressive displays Rick has let his guard down and this time he regrets it. When the wind is let loose Rick is blown back off his feet as the snow around him is whipped up into a small blizzard. Soon all that is left visible of Rick is his feet and part of his tail.

Almost as soon he managed to raise the wind storm Jasper lets it go in surprise at his accomplishment. I am torn between being proud of him for doing so well and doubling over in laughter at his expression while he looks at his brother. I settle for a small chuckle as I move to stand beside Jasper while Rick works to unbury himself.

While watching Rick I speak to Jasper, "That was much better though I think you may want to work on your aim a bit. I doubt that Rick wants to be turned into a snowman."

At that moment a snowball comes flying at the two of us followed by Rick yelling, "THAT WAS COLD!!!"

The incoming snowball snaps Jasper out of his stunned stance and he barely ducks the attack before he starts laughing. That just serves to irritate Rick but instead of losing his cool he gets a mischievous look on his face. It's at that moment that I realized I have been going about their training all wrong.

When Rick and Jasper were younger they always seemed to learn better when it was a contest and with Jaspers accidental snow storm this training has just become a game. Rick summons his hammer and begins going through his own training motions. This time though with having a goal in mind he is able to control his powers better than normal.

As he swings his hammer around him small pillars of earth spring up sending chunks of snow at Jasper and me. Acting on reflex I summon my trident and spin it in front of me causing the snow move around me. Jasper not having his powers fully under his control tries to dodge the snow while attempting to manipulate the air around him so that he remains dry. He only partially succeeds.

The air he manipulates does move some of the snow away from him but not all of it. Several large clumps of snow make solid contact and cause him to fall backwards. Seeing that this will soon turn into a full on snow fight I edge to the side of the training area and watch the two practice using their powers to launch snow at each other.

For several minutes a constant storm of snowballs rages around the yard till a voice calls out from behind me, "Is this our new training regime? If so why wasn't I invited?"

I turn to see Shadow followed close by Rosalie walking out of the trees both with their weapons at the ready and breathing a little heavily. I smile at my mate and respond to his questions, "It didn't start out this way but when they started using their powers more easily in a snow fight I figured I would just let them practice that way."

A stray snowball flies between me and Shadow only to hit Rosalie in the face. All movement in the area seems to stop at once as soon as we all realize what happened.

Jasper and Rick both freeze in their tracks as they stare open mouthed at the snow falling from her face. Shadow and I exchange looks and slowly begin to back away from where Rosalie is glaring out at the brothers. The snow on her face beginning to rapidly melt as her water powers reflect her mood.

She twirls her trident slowly around once saying, "So you two want to play with snow huh. Well just remember what snow is made of."

Shadow catches my eye and says softly, "We were practicing her manipulation of snow earlier and she picked up a few new tricks."

I try and suppress a laugh as I watch Rosalie spin around in a tight circle then slash her trident in an arc towards Rick and Jasper. As it moves a tidal wave of snow forms and rushes towards the stunned pair. Every flake of snow is used leaving the ground completely bare as Rick and Jasper are covered in the cold mound of white.

My eyes widen with a mix of surprise and pride. Rosalie has really done well in learning her new powers. Moving my eyes from her to her targets all I can see of Rick is his tail and feet sticking out from under a small mountain of snow. Jaspers ears break the surface of another mound a few feet to the right of where Rick is.

As they struggle to unbury themselves I move to stand beside Rosalie and say with barely controlled laugher, "That's pretty good, but next time try not to bury my students quite so well. It's kind of hard to train wolf-cycles."

She just grins and moves off towards the house calling over her shoulder, "Well if they are so cold they can get a bowl of stew when it's ready."

I just shake my head at her retreating back. It has been several months since her home and shop were burned down and eventually rebuilt but she still spends most of her time living here with Aaron. Though with both of them receiving training and education from me I can't fault her for it. I would like to use my kitchen again though.

I turn back to look at Rick and Jasper still struggling to get out of the snow so I take pity on them. Using my trident I make a swiping motion at the snow still partially covering them and it melts away almost instantly leaving them wet but free to move. Rick spits out a short stream of water and says with chattering teeth, "C...Couldn't you... ha...have warmed... the... w...water... a bit?"

I shrug semi apologetically, "Would you have preferred to be left under the snow?"

They both just glare at me as Shadow steps forward laughing and creates a hot fire on the ground so the brothers can dry off and warm up.

In no time the brothers are both dried off sufficiently to keep from tracking water through the house. As we begin making our way back to the warmth of indoors Rick asks, "Why is it that Rosalie and Shadow were able to learn their powers so quickly but Jasper and I are having such a hard time getting control?"

I glance at Shadow before answering, "Well Shadow was a magic user before he became a guardian so he already had an understanding and measure of control over his powers which were only altered and amplified by becoming a guardian. As for Rosalie, she has always had a mind that lent itself towards a magical direction even if she didn't have powers. So once she had them learning was almost natural. Plus she has heard me talk about it at a lot over the decades."

Rick looks down at the path as the thinks on what I have said while Jasper speaks up, "So why haven't you talked to us more about it as we were growing up?"

At that I can't help but laugh, "Well aside from the two of you having less magical abilities than your average rock does before becoming guardians you never showed any real interest in the book side of magic. I have talked about it before with you but mostly to make sure you had an understanding of the dangers it can pose. Besides, the amount of knowledge I have forgotten over the centuries is more than I could have told you two in the last few years. It will take a long time for you to reach your full potential now."

Jasper snorts and says a little dispirited, "At the rate I'm going that could be three thousand years."

I look at him with a raised eyebrow, "Actually the two of you are doing rather well considering you don't have masters of air and earth guiding you. I am doing the best I can for you but you are still working from a disadvantage."

He looks up at me and with an apologetic tone, "I didn't mean to sound like you were a bad teacher Seeker. I just meant that we were being slow learners is all....."

His voice drifts off to silence as I chuckle remembering how he was as a teenager always putting himself down in lessons. After my laughing subsides I respond, "I know you didn't Jasper, and to be honest you two are really doing good. I remember in my own training that there was a guardian who had a very hard time getting to learn his own water powers. It took him three months just to make enough water move to make a wave big enough get his feet wet."

He looks at me with a raised eyebrow not fully believing me. I nod as I say, "It's true, and it took him a long time to learn control over his powers. But eventually he did and in time became one of the finest water guardians of our age group."

Rick comments with an air of sarcasm, "You're not about to tell us that was you are you?"

I let out a bark of laughter, "No it wasn't me, but I was his tutor for a time. So when I say that you two are doing well I mean it. There were a lot of young guardians who had been raised around it who didn't do as well as you are."

Jaspers ears perk up and a glint of pride shines in his eyes, "Well that's good, I would hate to be the first guardians in history to not be able to control their powers. It would look really bad a few centuries from now if we were still having troubles with our powers."

I chuckle a bit, "Jasper I never worried for a moment that you two wouldn't be able learn what you needed to be fine guardians. All you really need is practice and patience."

We reach the house and head inside only to be met with a wall of sound as our pack and Wolfie's pack are both gathered in the main area chatting away happily. A blur of fur shoots out of the crowd as Luna wraps her arms around Rick's neck giving him a big kiss. After he gets over the surprise of being latched on to he wraps his arms around her and they walk inside together with Luna asking about how his training was.

Shadow places a quick peck of a kiss on my cheek before he motions that he is heading up stairs to clean up. I nod to him before I walk over next to Wolfie who is talking animatedly to several members of his pack while Lance leans against him with a happy grin on his muzzle.

"... And there is this pond on the edge of the clearing that looks to be filled with fish. A fresh stream runs through the area as well so plenty of water. There were signs of fresh deer tracks in the area as well. Over all I ink it will be a great area for us to build a home." Wolfie stops his oration when he notices me walk up, a wide grin on his face.

"Seeker, I've wanted to talk with you!" Wolfie turns to me with a wide smile that reaches his eyes, "The village elders have agreed to let us build our new home on the other side of the valley!"

I can't help but share in his excitement as I reach out a paw to him saying, "That's excellent news, it will be good to have you as our neighbors."

He shakes my paw with enthusiasm as he replies, "We will be able to have a future now thanks to you and your pack. We are hoping to start building as soon as possible, but I fear winter will slow us down a lot."

I let go of his paw and wave off the comment, "don't worry about that, you're welcome here for as long as you need."

With that I pat his shoulder as he turns back to his pack and continues telling them about the land for their new home. I turn and head to the kitchen following my nose as a rather enticing smell begins to drift through the house. I reach the kitchen and push open the door to discover the source of the smell. Once the door is open and I can see fully into the kitchen my eyes go wide at what is in there.

Standing in front of the oven is Rosalie but she isn't the one cooking. She is standing next to a tall black furred wolf that is wearing a white apron and is seasoning the stew under her watchful gaze. The fact that she is helping someone cook isn't what surprised me though, it's the fact that she is running her hand up and down his back in a tender manner. Then there is the stance that they have both taken, each is leaning slightly towards the other as though suppressing a desire to be closer.

The door behind me swings shut with a soft click causing both Rosalie and the wolf to jump and turn to look at me. That's when my second surprise hits me causing my jaw to drop as I look into the shocked and very embarrassed faces of my oldest friend and my mates father Harandoom. All three of us stand there staring at each other with no sound except the slow bubbling of the stew.