"This does not make any sense to me." There was evident irritation in the way Paola?s face went completely blank. The clearing within the forest was far away enough for Paola and Devin to practice the exchanged gifts as the bond grew to its strongest right before the full moon. Paola had already adopted several Fire attributes: more emotional, making decisions off emotions, and even wore minimal amounts of clothing. Now, her eyes shifted and change from gold to darker hues, the fire stream she had been attempting disappearing as she sucked the air away.
Devin raked black hair back from his forehead and turquoise flicker-flashed behind the mild brown shade of his eyes as he watched her. The strength of her Air was growing in him, though the changes were perhaps less obvious. ?You just demonstrated it ? it?s really more about the air than the fire when you?re making a stream like that. Look ? watch. The air creates a channel, and that feeds into the fire. It?s a way to keep it fueled without nearly as much effort.? Well ? that was a simple explanation, right? He concentrated, and turquoise lit and glowed in his eyes, and then swirled oddly with gold as a channel of flames carved through the air.
She watched him, her fingers running lightly over her curls as she watched. He was more patient with her than she had expected, and found that she became more impatient and frustrated than she thought was appropriate. It completely baffled her, and she as constantly taking deep breaths and trying to control her mood. "You made it seem so much easier to control the fire with the air than it is for me."
He repeated her earlier method of killing the flames, abruptly withdrawing the air from the channel of fire. A thoughtful look passed over his face, then. ?But I am Fire. You?re borrowing it ? and you can still handle the air that much better than I can. Besides,? he turned to face her squarely, and gestured as he tried to work out the thoughts in his head as he said them. ?Think about it. Fire has always relied on Air and Earth, used them. But neither Air nor Earth need Fire the same way. It?s only an extension of what I?ve always done, for me ? it?s something completely new, for you.?
"Yes, I suppose you?re right." She gave another sigh, before trying again. She tried to let the air lead and fuel the fire, sending the stream in twists and turns to follow a senseless pattern. Her eyes returned to the lighter shades with bright blue specks within them.
Now for the harder part of this ? or at least harder for him ? as her stream of fire and air wound nonsense patterns through the sky. The flare of gold vanished almost entirely from his eyes as he looked up at the clear blue they practiced under. Vibrant turquoise lit again as he tried to gather the raw wind and send it hurtling toward her patterns. It slipped through his mental fingers, again and again, until finally he spit out a frustrated curse under his breath.
She felt his attempts, his growing irritation, and moved her flames to gather in a large orb well above their heads. She glanced over to him, amusement wanting to lift the corners of her lips. "It is all about precision. The air may seem to be loose, but to control it takes only that much more control. Try focusing on a smaller portion." She began to put the fire in the same unpredictable pattern.
The words gritted out between his teeth, ?Smaller portions won?t do a whole lot of good.? Despite that, he tried to refine his grasp at the winds as she directed. Precision was not exactly his strongest suit. Finally he managed to direct one gust of air into a lance ? and then a whirl that rose up and started to reach out and draw on the flames she was guiding about.
"Small are better than none at all." She tried to move the flames to make it more challenging for him, but not so hard that he would not succeed. She wanted him to have some sense of accomplishment to make the training easier for the days to come. Finding a rhythm with the flames now that they were out there, she looked to study him from the corner of her eyes.
Face set with concentration, he whipped the wind higher ? only to have it slip his grasp yet again. This time when he lost control the whirlwind didn?t evaporate ? it accelerated. This time the curse wasn?t under his breath ? and he lifted one hand and balled it into a fist, the gesture somehow helping as he wrenched back the lost control and cut off the twist of air harshly enough to cause an ear-popping pressure change.
Paola was about to let go of the flame and help take control of the whirlwind. She had failed to mention to him that those types of winds were not her forte, and so they would be extremely difficult for him. Once he stopped the winds with such force, it threw her off and the flames died in an instant. "Oh, by the Goddess Devin!" She practically hissed, her ears ringing and reacting to the difference.
The ache in his own ears combined with snapping frustration had him glaring back at her hissed out words. ?And you?re having that much better luck?? Internal wince as soon as the words snapped out. He didn?t retract them, though ? sometimes the infusion Air calmed him, sometimes, as now, it lit the embers of temper even higher.
Devin raked black hair back from his forehead and turquoise flicker-flashed behind the mild brown shade of his eyes as he watched her. The strength of her Air was growing in him, though the changes were perhaps less obvious. ?You just demonstrated it ? it?s really more about the air than the fire when you?re making a stream like that. Look ? watch. The air creates a channel, and that feeds into the fire. It?s a way to keep it fueled without nearly as much effort.? Well ? that was a simple explanation, right? He concentrated, and turquoise lit and glowed in his eyes, and then swirled oddly with gold as a channel of flames carved through the air.
She watched him, her fingers running lightly over her curls as she watched. He was more patient with her than she had expected, and found that she became more impatient and frustrated than she thought was appropriate. It completely baffled her, and she as constantly taking deep breaths and trying to control her mood. "You made it seem so much easier to control the fire with the air than it is for me."
He repeated her earlier method of killing the flames, abruptly withdrawing the air from the channel of fire. A thoughtful look passed over his face, then. ?But I am Fire. You?re borrowing it ? and you can still handle the air that much better than I can. Besides,? he turned to face her squarely, and gestured as he tried to work out the thoughts in his head as he said them. ?Think about it. Fire has always relied on Air and Earth, used them. But neither Air nor Earth need Fire the same way. It?s only an extension of what I?ve always done, for me ? it?s something completely new, for you.?
"Yes, I suppose you?re right." She gave another sigh, before trying again. She tried to let the air lead and fuel the fire, sending the stream in twists and turns to follow a senseless pattern. Her eyes returned to the lighter shades with bright blue specks within them.
Now for the harder part of this ? or at least harder for him ? as her stream of fire and air wound nonsense patterns through the sky. The flare of gold vanished almost entirely from his eyes as he looked up at the clear blue they practiced under. Vibrant turquoise lit again as he tried to gather the raw wind and send it hurtling toward her patterns. It slipped through his mental fingers, again and again, until finally he spit out a frustrated curse under his breath.
She felt his attempts, his growing irritation, and moved her flames to gather in a large orb well above their heads. She glanced over to him, amusement wanting to lift the corners of her lips. "It is all about precision. The air may seem to be loose, but to control it takes only that much more control. Try focusing on a smaller portion." She began to put the fire in the same unpredictable pattern.
The words gritted out between his teeth, ?Smaller portions won?t do a whole lot of good.? Despite that, he tried to refine his grasp at the winds as she directed. Precision was not exactly his strongest suit. Finally he managed to direct one gust of air into a lance ? and then a whirl that rose up and started to reach out and draw on the flames she was guiding about.
"Small are better than none at all." She tried to move the flames to make it more challenging for him, but not so hard that he would not succeed. She wanted him to have some sense of accomplishment to make the training easier for the days to come. Finding a rhythm with the flames now that they were out there, she looked to study him from the corner of her eyes.
Face set with concentration, he whipped the wind higher ? only to have it slip his grasp yet again. This time when he lost control the whirlwind didn?t evaporate ? it accelerated. This time the curse wasn?t under his breath ? and he lifted one hand and balled it into a fist, the gesture somehow helping as he wrenched back the lost control and cut off the twist of air harshly enough to cause an ear-popping pressure change.
Paola was about to let go of the flame and help take control of the whirlwind. She had failed to mention to him that those types of winds were not her forte, and so they would be extremely difficult for him. Once he stopped the winds with such force, it threw her off and the flames died in an instant. "Oh, by the Goddess Devin!" She practically hissed, her ears ringing and reacting to the difference.
The ache in his own ears combined with snapping frustration had him glaring back at her hissed out words. ?And you?re having that much better luck?? Internal wince as soon as the words snapped out. He didn?t retract them, though ? sometimes the infusion Air calmed him, sometimes, as now, it lit the embers of temper even higher.