Strange Awakenings

[Wolfmist]

Wolfmist stirred. He felt well, certainly a lot better than before but he felt that time had slipped by, too much time in fact. It was twilight now and he could only tell the shape of Xavier on the other side of the loft, but some new objects had appeared on his little mound of trinkets. Books.

"Xavier..?" Wolfmist raised his head a little to see if his friend was awake but for now there was no response. He looked around for a candle and found a small stump in a dish he had ferreted away some time ago and wondered how to light it. Failing to find anything of use, he tucked the books away into his now-empty pillow case and climbed down the ladder to find the kitchen door to the castle.

Some time later he sat hunched near the fire, using its renewed life thanks to a couple of spare logs he found next to the hearth. He couldn't read, he'd never been taught how, but the diagrams and the pictures within these books told him they were magic books and the depictions entertained him enough to try and redraw some symbols in the ash of the hearth. They entertained him some more when he found four significant symbols that did something when he drew them. Earth, Air, Wind and Fire; each one creating what was represented above the symbols before the ash was blown away by their energies.

The rest of the symbols did nothing. Well, strictly speaking that wasn't true - they tended to just make the ash crumble back to basic ash and dust, as if the symbols didn't make sense or maybe they were drawn in the wrong order, Wolfmist wasn't sure. But two symbols in particular just didn't do anything at all. He dipped some bread into a bowl of cold soup he had managed to scavenge, then underlined the symbols with a small dot of soup. Not a lot, just enough to make a mark. There were a lot of marks already, presumably from previous owners or just old age, but the soup stains stood out as they were the most recent.

Contented that he had learned something at least, stopping with the fire symbol as it nearly burned his hand off as he traced it in the ash, he sat and merely looked at the pictures, enjoying the artist's evident effort and keen sense of wanting to portray whatever the mages were doing.

Finally he moved onto the last book. It was more special than the rest, wrapped in strange kind of leather Wolfmist had never seen before. But as he opened it to the first picture he could find, he threw it into the fire. Shocked and disgusted, he eyed the book nervously, becoming even more nervous as the book refused to burn - even under the influence of the fire symbol. Calming down, he used a poker to retrieve the book. He listened to the fire crackling merrily again, as if it were glad to be relieved of some unsaid burden the book seemed to represent. "Sod it."

He turned back to the picture that shocked him and tried to look past the gore, the scenes of torture and dementia. He flicked past, a sick sense of curiosity getting the better of him. A tear formed in his eye as it began to dawn on him just what this book was. A picture showed him a corpse crawling out of the ground, a grave that has some kind of ethereal light shone into it. "Is this Necromancy?"

He threw the book away from him again, only not into the fire itself this time. He hated it. He cuddled his knees and stared at the book for some time. He felt horrible, as if the things he saw were meant to be evil. Should he ask Xavier about it? He remembered giving him a hug for the first time, but he didn't hate that - there were weirder things out there than a walking corpse. But why was he afraid of the book's version? Why wasn't he afraid of Xavier's real life version of Necromancy? Why - !?

He stopped himself. It was useless to think like this. Maybe this was a test from Xavier, to see if he was truly ready to learn any kind of magic. He learned four symbols tonight. Whatever else he had learned needed tuition, further explanation... maybe even reassurance. He was content at that, he had always heard that learning things took time and he was happy to respect that. Especially when it came to the strange book. What was that strange leather?

Putting the books back into his pillow case - and handling the necromancy book very carefully - he finished his food (something he was very grateful for after his 6 days of involuntary fasting), washed the dish and retreated back to the hay loft. On his way he dug around the kitchen for some matches and more candles, so that he could lie against the straw bails and stare at the pictures under candle light.

The necromancy book lay forgotten for the night next to Xavier's feet.

[Xavier]

Xavier awoke upon the sixth day since the incident with the orc with a throbbing headache. He had not gotten a wink of sleep the night before which was odd considering he had never needed to sleep. Xavier dismissed this and looked around the room. The trinkets Wolfy had collected were glinting in the morning sun and it would have blinded any other man. He looked away as it irritated him and looked over to Wolfy. He was sleeping with the books strewn about underneath him and circles drawn into the floor. He noticed his own book was gone...He looked down and saw it by his feet. Necromancy is not for everybody I guess thought Xavier. He tucked the book away into his bag, gently smelling the wonderful aroma of the tanned human skin that the book was bound in. He moved over to wolfy and tapped in on the face. When he did not respond Xavier murmured an incantation and a dab of green fire eminated from his finger...and he gently pressed it against Wolfy's chest. You seem better now Wolfy...time to make up for five days of work you have missed. Xavier had a smile upon his face but it was not one of kindness but rather a mix between annoyance and parental guidance with a hint of sarcasm.

[Wolfmist]

Wolfmist yelled as he scrambled away from Xavier's finger. "Argh!! What did you do that for!?"
He looked at Xavier, wondering whether he should be scared of him. It was odd... when they first met, he respected Xavier but didn't fear him for what he was. What he could do, well, anyone could kill Wolfmist quite easily. So he had gotten used to that. Right now Wolfmist wasn't sure what to think. Not since he opened that book.

Wolfmist simply barged his shoulder against Xavier as he moved to get to the ladder and went down. He knew he was being childish, but he didn't know what to say or do right now, other than get back to work.

He was fairly quiet all morning as he worked. He silently admitted that Xavier had done a good job, but the horses lacked a week's training or exercise. It also turned out that another mare was to give birth sometime before the end of the month. At breakfast time, he sat in the stable's field after harvesting, eating his simple dry meal of bread and an apple. It wasn't much but the proper breakfast was later.

As he stopped and ate, the memory of last night and this morning came back to him and rather than feeling relieved he felt angry again. Moody.

[Xavier]

Xavier felt as he was barged in the shoulder as Wolfy stormed away. Xavier chuckled to himself at the same time as he wondered if he had done something wrong. He looked over the books strewn across the floor and he neated closed them away and put them back in a pile next to Wolfy's bed...well what was supposed to be a bed. He climbed down the ladder and watched Wolfy do his chores for the day. Xavier decided to go into town instead of be around Wolfy...he seemed slightly angry. Xavier took no heed of it and went on his way. In town he got himself some food and was on his way home when he saw the bookshop where he had bought the books on magic before. Xavier did not know what it was but curiosity got the better of him and he went inside to get another book for Wolfy.

Upon entering the store Xavier found himself filling his dead lungs with dust instead of the relatively fresh air outside. He moved over to the shelves and started hunting his way through them again for anything more on magic. He had kept to himself last time and intended to do the same again...yet fate had decided another path for him as he saw in the corner of his eye the owner walk up to him. He had a grin on his face and was leaning against the dusty shelves. So...I see you are back? Looking for more books? Xavier stared unresponsive as the owner chuckled to himself but after a brief few moments of this was annoyed and replied in appropriate manner. I am looking for more books on magic? Do you have any?. Xavier's question was met with another chuckle and the disappearance of the owner. Xavier sighed and went back to searching through the shelves for something that may be useful. A few minutes past and the owner returned with a big grin on his face again and his arms behind his back. So...what you want the book for?. Xavier looked at him with a glare that could peirce through stone. He stepped forward towards the man intending to rip his head from his body but decided against it. The book is for my...my... What was Wolfy...was he his...friend...no...maybe...experiment? He could not tell the book owner that...apprentice...apprentice...yes that was what he would be! the book is for my apprentice...may I have the book? Xavier looked at the owner and from beneath his hood attempted a toothless smile...fortunately the owner did not see the contortion of the face it probably looked. He removed the book from behind his back and presented it to him. Here ya go...I got this in yesterday...take it. Xavier took the book and went to his pocket to give the man some money but was stopped. This one is free! hehe. Remember though...you owe me one. Xavier watched as the oldman bounded away and disappeared...what an odd man. Xavier returned to the stables later that night.

When Xavier climbed up the ladder for the day and saw Wolfy sitting there still in a mood he merely grunted to him to show his arrival and tossed the book over to the boy. He laid down upon his bed and looked up out of the crack in the roof.

[Wolfmist]

Wolfmist looked up at the grunt and saw Xavier. Wolfmist caught the book and looked at it then watched Xavier return to the hay loft. The book was an old tatty thing, weakened at the binding and the pages seemed as if they had never been opened, just spotted with dust and age on the edges. He sighed, it was all text and odd little symbols that he couldn't interpret. He placed it on a fence post and got back to work.

Later on, he climbed the ladder and poked his head over the top. "Xavier, coming to breakfast? You wont want to miss this." He felt the weight of the book wrapped away under his shirt and pulled it out. "Listen... eh.. thanks for the books."

He scrambled over the hatch and approached Xavier, then sat cross legged in front of him. "I am having trouble understanding them, though. But let's talk about that over breakfast, ok?" he smiled slightly and waited for Xavier's response. As he waited, he caught the smell of the breakfast coming from the castle kitchens, where the rather large cook was preparing the traditional monthly cook-off - a massive feast of big breakfast ingredients; bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausage, loads of other ingredients, often involving skills that awed the audience as the cook used tools, cooking equipment and rare things collected from farms and shops far and wide. It was often used as a trader's introduction to Fenia, and Wolfmist really didn't want to miss it, so he explained it to Xavier as he lay there.

"So... wanna go? You're fairly new here, I think you might enjoy it. I hear magic started in a kitchen... or was that Alchemy?"

[Xavier]

Xavier looked at Wolfmist and moved himself out of his resting position. He rubbed his eyes and they flared green as he awoke fully. Breakfast? well the food that the living cooked was not actually needed for him to function but Wolfy talked so happily about it...he stared into air and then shook himself into alertfulness. The sound of all the meats did sound to his liking even if he did not need them to stay alive. The books? yeah the books...I will teach them to you. Now I heard talk of bacon and sausage. Xavier got up and went down the ladder without checking for Wolfmist.

[Wolfmist]

Wolfmist looked to Xavier like he'd suddenly sprouted tentacles and eye stalks. Not that wasn't a common thing to happen in a magical place like Fenia. Shrugging it off, as something that grown-ups did, he followed Xavier down the ladder and meandered across the yard to the Castle.

The grounds were alive with tourists, chefs and traders, each as noisy as each other. Wolfmist found it difficult to cut through the crowds as he tried to find Xavier or the breakfast venue. He could smell it, he could even feel the familiar shiver of Xavier's presence, but he had lost sight of both goals and was being moved away down the street.

Determined to not be trampled to death, he crawled out of the crowd and stood on a box next to a fruit and veg stall, part of the normal market but a bit bigger today. He gave up, it was no use. He would just wait till later after the initial rush. Hopefully he could get to the stall after lunch time. Until then he would climb one of the walls and sit on the top.

He cursed himself for growing up too fast not for the first time: the other kids knew how to be streetwise around here, especially when it came to scaling walls and trees and picking out paths.

[Xavier]

Xavier had walked off into the crowd and easily towered over all the other people by at least three inches. Everybody gave him weird looks as his hood concealed everything but his glowing green eyes. He looked around wondering if Wolfy was going to natter away to him again as he did in his normal fashion. Xavier looked around as he was getting bumped and shoved around...his vision grew dark and his eyes glazed over and the green faded as he fainted on the ground. A gap in the crowd had formed around him as he drifted in and out of consciousness. What was happening to his body...he murmured to the crowd... What...is happe..ning to me... The crowd just stared at him as if he was some sort of attraction and a circus...something inside of Xavier growled at this as he lost consciousness.

[Wolfmist]

Wolfmist looked around, dangling his legs as he tried to figure out the birds' eye view of the market he had now. Over beyond the butcher stall he could make out a huddle of people. Was that the magic show!?

He carefully balanced on the wall, losing balance here and there and leaned against another wall, the wall of a house, rising above the one he was on. He scrambled over onto the rooftop and peered down from the chimney stack, slowly getting blackened by the sooty smoke.

He wasn't sure, but wasn't that Xavier?

[Xavier]

Xavier woke slowly and rubbed his head...he slowly banged the side of his head and then went on to slowly rub his eyes...it was like Xavier had not even woke up today from the eyes of the onlooking crowd...Xavier was completely oblivious to the people around him. He cracked a few bones around his body as he stretched his body. He slowly removed the hood as he twisted his ankles around getting them all limbered up. He revealed his head...several holes were formed in the brow above his eyes now and a hole had formed so you could see his jaw bone. His black hair was the same but now had fallen over his eyes and was unkept in appearance. Xavier cracked his neck and his eyes shot open. Instead of the luminescent green that was usually present in its place was a deep and peircing red. It was what blood might resemble after drying upon a stone cobbled floor. A grin etched his way across his mouth as he slowly got up and spuna round gazing at every member of the crowd...Xavier now stood up straight began laughing...but it was not a laugh of amusement or happiness...it was a laugh that peirced the very souls of many people looking at him. It was an evil laugh that was laced with darkness. He spoke in a voice gentler to his normal voice which had an undertone of elegance to it. Hahaha! Ah..I awaken after thee hundred long years after getting sealed away by that git of a master! Hahahaha! ...and I find myself surrounded by an audience! Oh this is BRILLIANT! He grabbed the nearest merchant and pulled the man's head under his shoulder and walked with him in jest. So...my good man...what do we have here? Are you a Bob or maybe a Steve...I had a friend called Steve. Good chap...until I killed him! Hahahaha! Xavier threw the man into the crowd with such ease but such force was present in the throw that the man and several rows behind him all collapsed onto the ground. The crowd backed off at the sight of this. It is good to be back! Now...where does the killing start? Xavier's hands flared up into the air and two dark balls of fire appeared.