FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Chapter 12

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As I walked into the room Aceh was already there, sitting in the middle of the room with his legs crossed, meditating. As I approached he opened his eyes, his piercing blue eyes meeting mine made me stop in my tracks. He slowly stood up and moved closer to me, leaning in close.

"You're hurt."

"Yeah... some guys picked a fight..." I said sheepishly.

"Did you win?"

"Yes."

"Good." His tone didn't seem to display any pride in the fact I won, it was as if he had expected me to. He turned and walked several paces before turning back to face me. "Today you meditate."

"Meditate?" I sighed. I found it really hard to meditate, I could never clear my head.

"Meditate on your fight. Meditate on your mistakes!"

"What mistakes? I won!"

"You got hit! You are injured!"

"There was six of them!"

"Fight could have been avoided!"

"..." I was speechless.

He was telling me that I shouldn't have fought? But he doesn't know the whole story! But he was right, the fight could have been avoided, I could have refused Hazani's invitation to the spar... his rouse to get me into a situation where he and his buddies thought they could beat me down. I sighed and lowered my head in defeat.

"Most fights don't need to happen. True strength is knowing when to fight!" Aceh lectured, his arms crossed in front of him as he looked down on me, even though he was only slightly taller than me it felt like I was looking up at a giant. "Now meditate."

"Yes Master."

I did as I was ordered and sat on the floor cross legged, just as Aceh had been when I had entered. I looked over at him and saw him do the same. I closed my eyes and focused on steadying my breathing.

As I tried to meditate Aceh's words echoed through my head, 'True strength is knowing when to fight!' The incident with Hazani and the others was a spar that got out of hand, but then Hazani had no intention of it just being a spar. My instincts had told me to leave it, but I had wanted to impress them. He reminded me a lot of Kaleb, that self-righteous attitude, thinking that he was stronger and smarter than everyone else. I guess Draconians are more tolerant on the whole, but there were still some bad seeds.

I had only accepted the match because I hadn't wanted to back down, even Laguna got over his initial excitement when the gauntlet match was suggested. I had wanted to prove my strength, no... I had wanted to show off. Laguna had shown an interest in me ever since he met me, was always impressed with my fighting ability and found everything I did fascinating, I had wanted to impress him. But in doing so I had put both of us in danger when I went against my better judgement. Just a few weeks ago I never would have even thought about accepting Hazani's initial proposal to a fight, my distrust would have told me to steer clear. It was my fault for letting the fight even start, and Laguna had gotten hurt trying to come to my aid.

I let out a deep sigh of frustration, I wanted to lay back and stare at the ceiling and just wallow in the guilt I now felt. I may have won the fight but now I felt like I had lost, I had gained nothing from that fight other than the knowledge that Hazani is no better than Kaleb. And I would make sure to use that knowledge to aid my judgement in the future. Knowing that Aceh was there watching me I remained in position, my eyes firmly shut.

As I the guilt of what happened to Laguna festered I remembered the rage and anger I had felt as Hazani had struck him, I hadn't noticed it at the time but the feel of my spiritual energy had changed, it had flared with my anger and I had passed through the wall of fire he had summoned without so much a bit of singed fur. I had used fire bending to push right through it.

I focused on the sensation of my nen, how different it had felt and where the change had come from. Kassius had tried to teach how to bend by remembering Rose's death, did emotion play a part in how nen reacted?

I played the scene of Hazani knocking Laguna to the ground over and over in my head, trying to remember everything of how I felt. After what seemed like an eternity I felt a knot in my stomach, and I felt heat spread out from it. I drew out my nen, letting it surround me, but instead of forming a perfect bubble around me like before, the edges flared and shifted; like the flames of a fire. This is where my fire bending skills came from, this is what I needed to learn to control.

"Have you learned?" Aceh's voice pierced the silence.

"Yes." I responded, opening my eyes to meet his. He met my eyes and after several long moments he nodded and motioned me to stand. "I'm sorry Master..."

I bowed my head in apology, I had used what Aceh had taught me in a way I had never intended to use it. I had asked him to give me the strength to protect those close to me, but a friend had been hurt because of my arrogance.

"Lesson is learned." Was all he said, placing his large paw on my shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "No need for apology."

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"That's it Malakye, just take your time." Xavier said encouragingly.

I had told him I had figured out how to fire bend, and with an excitement he had tossed me the perception stone. He had tasked me with focusing my spiritual energy into the stone and make it glow in the colour of fire. If I achieved this then it would be the first step, I needed to be able to suppress my wind affinity and only draw on my fire affinity in order to achieve this.

I sat cross legged on the ground, staring at the polished black stone in my paws as it glowed white. Trying to draw on my fire affinity, from time to time the stone would flicker with colour, but my wind affinity was still dominating the stone. Until I was able to suppress my affinity for wind I would never be able to fire bend properly.

After an hour of trying to do this I had gotten the stone to have a constant yellow/orange tinge to it, but it was apparent that my wind affinity was still dominating with the brightness of the glow. I was beginning to get a headache from focusing so hard, so Xavier decided to call for a short break.

"That was impressive." Xavier grinned as he sat down.

"I thought it would be a lot easier than that..." I sighed. I thought I had solved the mystery to my ability to do fire bending.

"Don't fret my friend, the progress you've made is very impressive. Having a second affinity is a rare thing, and from what I've learned it took past grand-masters years, if not decades, to be able to control theirs properly."

"I don't have years." I whined.

"I don't understand why you are so hung up on this, even if you never learned to fire bend you have the potential to become a powerful wind bender." Xavier tried to reassure me. "Even more powerful than me."

"But the Anaris are meant to be fire benders."

"Is that what it is? Did you know that there have been many Anaris in the past that weren't fire benders, but could bend other elements?"

"Really?" I was surprised to hear that.

"Yes." He smiled. "So don't worry about it. Be proud of what you can achieve and not what you can't. I'm sure some day in the future you will master your fire affinity, but right now you have only just begun to learn, so don't worry if you can't do it right now."

"I still want to try..."

"And I will help you to the best of my ability, but I think we should focus on some wind bending training. The experience in learning how to control your wind affinity might hold the key to learning how to suppress it enough so you can bend fire."

"That makes some sense." I mused, feeling a little better now thanks to Xavier's words of assurance.

"Good, now why don't you come with me and we can have a little fun while we do it?"

"Okay." I said a little suspiciously.

"Good! Then I think you had better put these on." He smiled reaching into a large fur lined bag that had been here when we arrived. He grabbed an armful of fur clothes and dumped them into my arms. Suddenly I wasn't so sure if I was going to be able to call the next lesson 'fun'.

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As I followed behind Xavier I was constantly adjusting the fur clothing he had given me, I wasn't sure what animal the fur had come from but it certainly didn't smell pleasant. It was a heavy and had a fusty scent, one which made my nostrils tingle unpleasantly. I had never worn so much clothing in my life. It had taken me several minutes to figure out how to get my wings out the back so they wouldn't be crushed by the fur. It felt itchy and most of all restricting. My foot paws were still bare, he had given me some fur boots but I drew the line there, I was sweltering in the clothing already, having acclimatised to the cool - but far from freezing - temperatures in the caves which spread throughout the mountain.

I heard a sound of metal scraping on metal and diverted my attention from the distracting clothes. Xavier was opening a bolt on a metal door that was embedded into the stone. As he pulled the door open I was blinded by the daylight that came pouring in, and was immediately glad of the fur clothing I was wearing. A freezing cold gust of air forced its way into the cave, I raised my arms in a futile attempt to block it.

Following Xavier out the door I was beginning to seriously wonder just Xavier had in mind for training me. The area we were in was nothing more than a valley of bare rock, the door we had come from was embedded in a cliff face which rose hundreds of feet into the air, and only a dozen yards away from where we stood there was a sheer drop. A howling gale washed over us, so strong that I staggered back unable to maintain my footing. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky above us, but despite this it was freezing cold.

When the gale finally eased Xavier walked towards the edge of the cliff. As I followed him I gasped in surprise, the view was breath taking in more ways than one. We were so high up, I felt my legs shake at the mere thought of it. The view of the snow capped mountains with the pristine blue sky... I had never imagined such a view could exist, the sun light made everything seem so unreal. How could a cold and harsh environment appear so beautiful?

"It is a common past time for Zangarians to come here and engage in gliding."

"Gliding?" I asked, I saw Xavier's muzzle curl into a smile.

"We use the strong gusts of wind to propel ourselves into the air." I staggered back, suddenly going weak at the knees. "What? Are you afraid of heights?"

I looked from Xavier to the valley floor below, it was a long way down. I had never had an issue with heights, but I was beginning to have one. Xavier chuckled.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will teach you how it's done." He clapped his paw on my right shoulder and squeezed it firmly in reassurance. Another strong gust washed over us and I was once again sent staggering backwards. "Draw on your nen Malakye, let it envelope you!"

I did as Xavier ordered, my spiritual energy pouring out from my body and forming a bubble around me, enveloping Xavier as well. Suddenly the wind stopped... no not stopped, I could still feel it. The bubble of spiritual energy was diverting the wind around us, I could feel it push against the bubble but it was unable to force its way through.

"You never cease to amaze me!" Xavier grinned. "How are you doing that?"

"I'm not doing anything, I'm just drawing on my nen like you said."

"Describe your nen to me!"

"It's formed... a sort of bubble."

"Does it always do that?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah... pretty much. Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because no ones nen is the same." He replied. "The users nen takes on attributes of their personality. Yours has formed a protective bubble around you."

His words made sense, it also explained why his nen seemed so different from my own. Growing up with the wolves I was the target of constant attacks, so it made sense that my nen would take on a protective form.

"So what do I do now?" I asked.

"Right! Well... I hadn't expected the large bubble, so what I want you to do is extend your wings."

I looked at him uneasily, but Xavier had assured me that it would be okay, I trusted him so I did as he asked. Slowly extending my wings, I realised then that the bubble was the exact width of my wing span, My wing tips touching the edges of the bubble.

"Now I want you to try and shrink the bubble so it doesn't envelop your wings."

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before focusing on shrinking the bubble down. Nothing happened at first until I realised that I should probably reduce the amount of spiritual energy I was giving out. I focused on the stream of constant nen pouring from my body, closing my eyes to concentrate. Slowly I felt the stream begin to slow, changing from a strong current to little more that a gentle stream.

Another gust of wind washed over us, with my bubble of nen now significantly reduced my wings were no longer enveloped by it and the wind caught my wings like sails. I gasped as I was pulled backwards, my foot-paws leaving the ground. I let out a yelp of surprise and watched as the distance between me and Xavier grew exponentially. Out of fear I closed my wings out of reflex, the bubble of nen growing back to full size at the same time. I landed roughly on the ground, my backwards momentum made it impossible for me to land on my foot-paws, and I tumbled head over heel over the hard rock.

"MALAKYE!"

I groaned and began to pick myself up off the cold rocky ground, I had bumped my head and I had a few grazes but nothing serious. Xavier was on his knees next to me by the time I had managed to get to my paws and knees.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a worried tone.

"I'll live." I groaned as I pushed myself up. Xavier took my arm and helped me up.

"Do you want to try again?" He asked.

"Sure... but I think I'll have you show me how it's done first." I smiled.

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After watching Xavier use the wind to carry him up into the air, and with a bit of advice, I managed to glide about twenty feet or so off the ground. It had taken a couple of hours but I was finally understanding that how I shift my body and position my wings affected the direction I went in. I had completely forgotten that he had originally taken me here to wind bend until he explained what he wanted me to do.

He wanted me to use my wind bending to manipulate how I flew, he explained that as wind benders we were able to control the air under our wings, and not rely on the gusts of air to soar higher or maintain altitude. But since it was obvious that I was still struggling to learn the basics of gliding he told me to forget that for today and that we would try again tomorrow.

We went back to the training area and I stripped off the heavy fur clothing, scrunching up my snout at the smell that came off me. The smell of the fur itself stuck to me, and I had also sweated profusely while wearing them.

"I suppose you would like to wash up?"

"Yeah... I stink!" I said making a face.

"Come on then, there is a hot spring nearby. No one ever comes this far into the mountain these days, so we have plenty of privacy."

Once again I followed Xavier through the complex series of tunnels, after a few minutes of walking I noticed the air became heavy with moisture, and soon we entered a small chamber that was filled with steam. Xavier left the torch he carried outside the chamber, the water itself seemed to glow with a familiar gentle blue glow.

"Is that Anglaor*?" I asked, the glow so familiar as the one in the forge room in the Anaris house.

"Yes, I always found this place incredibly relaxing. Come on, lets bathe and relax for a while." Xavier insisted, beginning to strip off his clothes.

Having stripped off the fur clothing before coming here I only had my poncho and loin cloth on. I reached behind and with a slight blush rising I untied the knot holding the loin cloth in place. Even though I normally only wore a loin cloth I always found it surprising how bashful I was when I came to getting naked in front of others. The small amount of fabric giving me enough modesty to not normally worry about such things. My loin cloth fell around my ankles and I removed my poncho. I wasted little time in walking into the shallow pool of water. The water was hot, but not uncomfortably so, it was the perfect temperature. The water felt good against my scales.

I moved to the far side of the pool, which was only several yards wide, but got deeper the further back I waded. I leant against the far edge of the pool, the rock comfortably smooth and warm from the heat of the water, while standing the water came to up to my chest. It had been so long since I had bathed, and even longer since having a hot bath.

I looked over to Xavier and felt a slight blush as I watched him remove the last of his clothing. He folded it all neatly and sat it on a nearby rock. I watched as he stretched, my eyes drawn to his crotch in fascination. Like me he had a slit not a sheath. A little pink visible as the head of his cock peaked from its hiding place. Unlike me however he didn't have a shred of fur on his body. I mused at how much the slit looked like a females pussy, but you wouldn't mistake the two if you had seen them both. I continued to stare at Xavier's slit in silent fascination, I had never really gotten to see one so clearly before, my own slit was hidden beneath a thick foliage of fur which grew around it, one of the few patches of fur which grew on my body.

I glanced up and saw that Xavier was standing there looking at me with a knowing smile. I diverted my eyes and felt myself blush hard, cursing to myself as I realised that I was starting to get hard. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at him as I heard him enter the water and begin to wade towards me slowly. He leant against the back of the pool a few feet away from me.

"I don't mind you looking you know." He said.

"I didn't... I mean..." I stammered and he chuckled.

"Am I the first naked Zangarian you've seen?" I nodded, still not willing to make eye contact with him. "Well I can understand, after all I am equally as interested in your body as you are in mine."

"R-really?" I asked, braving to look at him for a second before looking away.

"Hmm hmm. We are as different as we are similar. It fascinates me."

That sounded like him. Xavier had a thirst for knowledge, and a thirst for sharing it. During the training sessions we have had he would spend some time explaining in great detail how things worked. He reminded me of Eric a little, how they both loved to tell stories.

"Are you... you know..."

"Gay?" He asked, finishing my question. I simply nodded. "Well... not in the literal sense. I am happily married, married to beautiful female." I felt a pang of regret at his words, along with a feeling of embarrassment. "But I have had my share of males as well. I suppose I would class myself as bi-sexual." I felt relieved knowing that I hadn't. He was the same as me then. "Do you want to do things with me Malakye?" His tone going low and seductive. "Do things to me?"

I wasn't sure if he was propositioning me or if he was simply asking if I was interested in him sexually. I hesitated to reply, not wanting to make a fool of myself. I was interested, but then as I remembered Cody I felt a pang of guilt for wanting to something with another male.

"Don't worry about it." Xavier said reassuringly. Reaching over and giving my shoulder a firm squeeze. "Come on, I'll wash your back for you." He reached over and picked up a whitish looking stone, I recognised it a soap stone. I had never used one, but I had heard they were commonly used by dragons to clean their scales, where furs would crush the stone and rub it into their fur, dragons used it to scrap their scales clean of dirt.

I nodded and turned my back to Xavier, I felt him move close in behind me, I felt his legs brush against my tail and I closed my eyes. Thankful that from here he couldn't see the erection I had right now. I felt the stone scrap down my back, it was uncomfortable at first, but after a few strokes it began to feel really good. A pleasant sweet smell filled the room, between the warmth of the water, the relaxing blue light, the scent of the soap stone and the pleasant and relaxing scrubbing of the stone across my back I felt myself relax. I let out a groan of satisfaction.

As Xavier began to scrub between my wings I felt my cock throb, I couldn't hold back my need for release. A pang of guilt in the back of my mind as I thought of Cody, but it was quickly over powered my my growing arousal. I turned to face Xavier, his expression one of curiosity as if he expected me to say something, but I had nothing to say. I leaned in and pressed my muzzle to his in a simple kiss.

I felt Xavier freeze, he just stood there and suddenly I was afraid I had made a big mistake. I began to pull away when he pressed his muzzle to mine and wrapped his arms round me. I felt his tongue and opened my muzzle slightly and felt it slip in. He pushed me gently against the edge of the pool, I felt his hard cock poke me in the thigh. I felt myself blush and wrapped my arms round his midriff. His body was toned and solid, and even though I was physically bigger than him, his presence seemed to tower over me. His kiss was as gentle as it was forceful.

"Are you sure you want this?" He asked.

I nodded, my face red hot with a blush, not trusting myself to speak; silently happy that my black scales and the dim light hid my blush. Xavier nodded and resumed kissing me, taking complete control of the situation. His paws trailed down my body and hitched up my legs, spreading them wide, exposing me to him. My stomach began to flutter nervously as I felt his hard length poke my rear as he positioned himself. The last time someone had... the only time someone had touched me there was... when Kaleb raped me. Memories of that night raced in my mind. I felt Xavier's cock head press against my tail-hole.

"NO!" I yelled shoving him away, I began to sob, unable to catch my breath. My heart was racing, pounding hard in my chest.

"Malakye? I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you..." Xavier's tone was one of confusion and worry, but how could he know?

"It's not you..." I said between sobs. "The last time... back when..." I didn't know how to explain it to him. I looked him in the eyes and I saw the genuine concern and worry, I had to tell him, I didn't want him to think that he was the cause of this. "I was raped."