RP:A Light Lesson Carries Weight

From HollowWiki

Mage Tower

Svilfon has enjoyed spending the last few days at the Mage's Guild. There is much to learn here, and the wizard required aid so he could repay his debts. Hours were spent in the library, both public and the private Master's Library, and many experiments were done behind the plethora of defences on the higher levels of the tower. It had been productive, and more so now than ever Svilfon has found himself content with the decision he made. He was a student of magic, he liked it that way. So now, having returned a book he borrwed, the Magister Templi is wandering the lower levels, contemplating whatever it is wizards do contemplate when all seems right in their eyes with the world.


Satoshi, like Svilfon, has found herself frequenting the Tower as of late. However, the magus' motives are less scholarly than the wizard's. Satoshi's sniffing around for her wayward apprentice, in hopes of catching him unawares for a lesson. Thus far, the rabbit has eluded the fox, which leaves Satoshi to stalk the halls with tail thrashing, narrow eyed looks shot at any mageling who ventures too close. There's no sign of Ezekiel anywhere, perhaps Satoshi should just go ho-- the foxkin stops short, ears perked forward as a vulpine grin creeps across her face. Satoshi spies a wizard hat disappearing around a corner! In a flash, the kit darts after the familiar hat, tearing around the corner so quickly she skids into the far wall, although the collision does nothing to stop Satoshi calling out, "Wizard~!" For someone who's just slammed into a wall while childishly hailing Svilfon, Satoshi is remarkably composed by the time he turns around.


Svilfon has his thoughts broken by an altogether familiar voice. A grin appears on his bearded features, before he turns with a hand already lifting to tip his hat. It doesn't take his pale gaze long to find Satoshi, standing there looking rather composed, despite the few strange looks a few of the magelings flash in her direction... well-hidden looks, I assure you. The wizard completes his hat-tip, even as he takes a step towards Satoshi. "One le..." The covers his mouth with his hand to hide a quick cough, before speaking again. "Lady Icicle." His grin becomes entirely too crooked after that. "I've been looking for you." The crookedness fades then, devoured entirely by the excitement which covers his features. "I think I've done it!" What 'it' is isn't really clear, and the 'think' had perhaps a little too much emphasis on it, but nevertheless!- it's clear Svilfon is more than a little excited about what he's worked out.


Satoshi's left ear flicks back, having caught that halted remark by the wizard. Just you watch, Svilfon, soon Satoshi will be free of that name. Ezekiel will save her from the cruelty and shame. And if he doesn't... she'll kill him, the little jerk! Which will hardly help the matter, but that's beside the point. What is the point, is that Svilfon seems excited about something, and when a wizard is like that, it's wise to give him your full attention. Satoshi does precisely this, eyes widening in wonder and face adopting an intrigued expression. "You've done it?! That's--" The magus blinks, almost looking sheepish. "...Done what, again?" Had he told her what his current project was? For the life of her, Satoshi can't remember. Too much of her mind has been devoted to plotting lessons for Ezekiel, and finding further means to make Hildegarde fidget and flail.


Svilfon fails to notice that as Satoshi's response to his excitement is to give him her full attention, the magelings, teachers and visitors to the tower take the other route... and decide when a wizard is excited, it's far better to be somewhere else. So around them the room begins to clear, even as Svilfon responds to Satoshi. "I've done it! Well, rather... I didn't need to do it, but what good is payment if you cannot spend the gold?" He tips his hat, then, though whether it's to Satoshi or himself isn't quite clear. "Debts you see, my lady icicle. I realized I could teach you how to create the light snakes, but what use would they be if they require too much focus, or due to your affinity with ice, you couldn't cast them without using some form of aid? Useless!" He nods, then. "Useless I say!" The wizard barely seems to pause for breathe; vampirism, it seems, has many benefits. "So instead, I altered the spell. Or rather, relearned it a way that you can utilize. I am fairly certain it will work." Which means he has no real idea.


Satoshi's grins are always genuine around the wizard, and the one she's currently wearing is no less so. "You did it! Wizard, you're a genius!" So what if he hasn't confirmed if it works. She understands full well what Svilfon means by 'fairly certain', and that such a phrase is sometimes synonymous with 'unspeakable catastrophe' when it comes to wizards, but she doesn't care. It's part of why the two of them get along: why look before you leap, and ruin a potentially wonderful view you could save for the free-fall, eh? And so, such thoughts in mind, Satoshi folds her hands behind her back and takes up the stance of a dedicated student. Words aren't needed to announce that the magus is ready to learn.


Svilfon spends just a moment basking in the praise - hey, if you're going to get praise before attempting something, you should always make the most of it... means failure isn't so terrible. When done, he flashes Satoshi a brief grin, before clearing his throat and adopting a voice thick with authority. Not often does he speak in such tones, but they seem natural coming from the robed caster; the familiarity forged from the many lessons he gives in this very building. "Do as I do... and concentrate..." The wizard vanishes then, mid sentence, before returning with his arms laden with snow. Clearly, he'd teleported to Frostmaw to scoop it up, and he carries on speaking as if nothing had changed, even as he drops it on the floor, "I will use this snow, as creating my own in Xalious is beyond me. You should perhaps forge your own, though, as you'll not always be in Frostmaw." The wizard shrugs as if it doesn't matter, before pulling from the air itself his Xalious wood-wand. "Do as I do when done, then I will show you more." Lifting his wand and pointing it at the snow, the wizard, instead of speaking a chant in an archaic tongue, begins to sing. Though, he isn't exactly bring in the crowd material, his voice is good enough that the words flow within their rhythm, building up and seeming to cling to the ice before him. Slowly snowflakes begin to rise, many of them lifting up languidly, before forming themselves in the air between Svilfon and Satoshi the outline of a snake. It's not particularly tidy, but it does resemble one enough. It takes the wizard a long time, but eventually he pauses his song and looks at Satoshi. His gaze is distant as he focuses on unfamiliar magic, but the silent look clearly states it is her turn.


Satoshi watches, silent and observant, absorbing every detail of the wizard's casting. When he looks her way, he'll find the magus ready, azure-glowing hands lifting to the liquid scarf about her neck. As if it were solid, water separates in ribbons from the clothing to pool in Satoshi's hands before solidifying into palm-fulls of glistening snow. Never is she without a fuel source for her spells~. Eyes flutter closed as Satoshi focuses inward, recalling the words she'd heard Svilfon sing, and repeating them now in her own melodic way, with a lilt to her voice as if she were murmuring in a loved one's ear. In response, the snowflakes mimic Svilfon's, eager to rise up and arrange themselves into the sinuous shape of a serpent. Hanging in the air above Satoshi's hands, the frosted viper shrugs its coils and tips its head in the same fashion the foxkin does, both of them awaiting Svilfon's next step.


Svilfon watches what Satoshi does without too much focus, though it was enough to realize his snake - which looks like a child made it by rolling some mud between their hands - and Satoshi's graceful serpent are world's apart. But he cannot dwell upon it. The strain which casting magic this way takes is high - even something as simple as the snake is taxing the limits of Svilfon's power. So with a brief nod and the words, "Watch closely... you will see..." the wizard carries on. Most would perhaps miss what it is Svil does next, though he's sure Satoshi will not: The tiny crystals and snowflakes which make up the snake begin to shift. Where once they reflected most the light away, now they begin to bounce some of it towards their center. Such fine control is mostly beyond Svil, so that his snake ends up becoming, after quite a long time, barely a source of light; its glow less than the natural light in the room. But it's all Svilfon can do, and how effective his own are do not matter. So again he focuses, murmuring quietly words which are very similar to the ones he sung earlier, causing the snowflakes to shift back and once more reflect most the light while storing their own inside.


Satoshi, unbeknownst to most, has a fairly adept understanding of altering the way light reflects and moves across frozen surfaces. It is, after all, how she has managed to manipulate the ice of her false arm to appear like fur and flesh. It had taken months to perfect, and endless frustration, yet eventually Satoshi had triumphed. She now proudly bears a replica that cannot be told apart from the actual, each piece of 'fur' woven of malleable frost, given just the right movement and reflective quality to mimic the way light bounces off her true fur. Thus, when Svilfon shows her the next step, the magus is not lost. She sees what must be done, a string of music is spoken, and the serpent responds. It takes some trial and error, and even a grumbled curse from Satoshi, but in time the serpent has been manipulated to draw the light sources inward until it's nearly painful to look at for the nocturnal pair. Partly why Satoshi is squinting at the light-and-snow snake, the other part being the focus needed to keep each snowflake in precise place. Creating a shape from ice is one thing, maintaining it in that 'not quite finished' stage requires far more energy. Svilfon isn't the only one eating into his magical reserves to try this spell.


Svilfon squints as the light brightens up the room, the pain in his eyes adding to one that's forming already in his head. It's not so much that he finds casting ice magic difficult, despite his affinity with fire he can cast very minor cyromancer spells. It's more the mixture of casting his least compatible element with the unfamiliar style of singing. It seems to Svil like he walks the path between commanding and asking; where as he's used to his own will forcing the element to do as he wishes, it seems now he's merely asking, and thankful that the ice will adhere, while still so firm it appears equally as strong as a command. It's strange and unnatural to the wizard, and it shows in the exhaustion which is becoming apparent on his face. But he doesn't stop. "The last part.. I think..." this is where it all goes awry for Svil, "...is to make the encasing ice thin... so thin it is barely there... then so thin it is no longer there... what will be left should be a snake forged of light, crafted from ice... Watch." The wizard focuses for a final time, eyes intense as they stare at his dull source of light, voice almost cracking as again he sings. The snake which floats there stops moving entirely, though its ice-forged-body does begin to grow thinner... but it's all too much for Svilfon. He can get it only so thin before his focus isn't enough, cracks soon form and the light bursts forth in a tiny flash... which is exactly what happens now. Small shards of ice rain down like a tiny hail-storm, before the wizard draws in a breath and speaks, "You try... thinner... thin until it is no longer there... and you'll have your light snake... much like my own." Which means, when she's done, it should adhere to her wishes... if it doesn't explode while being made.


Satoshi regards Svilfon's work for a long moment, and while it's taxing on her energy to do so, the time is well spent. For when the wizard's serpent bursts apart, the kit is struck with an idea. The ice is fickle in Svilfon's hands, she could hear it commenting on his strange accent throughout the casting, and the same can likely be said about the light in Satoshi's hands. It is an element quite foreign to her, especially as a creature of the undead, who finds comfort in the shadows and nightfall. There is, however, one type of light that exists at night and sings in the same voice Satoshi does. Already she had heard its whispers, born when the room's light had been reflected from the ice: for that is how the Aurora is made. If any light will heed her call, it is the Aurora. Satoshi's mind latches onto this thought and her serpent begins to writhe in the air, its icy scales capturing more light until it seems as if it will burst. Yet still it squirms, forcing the trapped illumination to grow with each new reflection, swelling and building until, with a glassy crackle, the snake's ice-skin sheds away. Left in its place is a slightly smaller serpent with scales and coils woven of countless threads of the Aurora in all its soft colors. There hovers the only light that will listen when Satoshi sings, will answer with the same song, and thrives in the nightskies. Satoshi, despite herself, heaves a sigh--she hadn't realized she was holding her breath in anticipation.


Svilfon did not realize the truths between himself and Satoshi. Here within the room, and the other places he had practiced, were all lit with torches. The wizard finds great relief in the light cast by the fires around him, but in truth he didn't think it would make life more difficult for Satoshi. But she is clever, is the snow queen, and Svilfon didn't doubt whether or not she could find solutions to inevitable problems... you cannot truly have a wizard teaching an ice eidolon magic without something causing trouble. But ever are these two adaptable, as is shown when Satoshi captures the Aurora within her creation. The wizard smiles, and would congratulate Satoshi later on it, as well as ask her a few questions... but for now, he was teaching and he will finish the lesson how he always does... with a real life usage of the skills learned... and death usually the reward for failure. The wizard flicks his wrist and throws the Xalious wand into the air. With a few quick words and a brief gesture, fire erupts around the powerful weapon, forming itself into the shape of a bird. It seems Svilfon has been learning from Satoshi... he always enjoys the frozen critters she makes, and wanted to try his own variety. And fueled by his wand, it requires little effort. "Let us see if it will listen to you, lady icicle." The bird, wings flapping, encasing the wand entirely in fire, lets out a screech - which, if you were looking at Svilfon closely you'd notice he actually made - before it surges at Satoshi, flaming talons opened and aimed at her face. It flies close to the snake made from her Aurora, a tempting snack for it if the snow queen has control.


Satoshi had been regarding her work with a shameless look of approval when Svilfon speaks. Ears twitch, not at his words, but at the crackle of flame coming to life. What would a lesson with the wizard be, without some field testing, after all? Narrowed eyes are lifted to regard the fiery bird with obvious suspicion. If she knows Svilfon--and few can say they know him as well as she does--that blasted bird is going to go straight for her face... Yep, there it goes, beginning its dive. Satoshi has to resist the urge to duck, dodge, or attempt a defensive spell. This is to test her control of the serpent, anything else would be besides the point. Yet the snake does not immediately answer Satoshi's call. The northern lights are notoriously free-spirit, the fact that they've agreed to take on a solid form is impressive enough, but now this magus wants them to -fight-? Bother. The snake emits an almost audible huff of annoyance. Or maybe that's Satoshi, as she sees the bird getting closer and the snake sitting idle. Instinct drives Satoshi to lift her arms in front of her face at this point, enchanted sleeves and a single bracer her only protection from the flaming talons that scores her forearm. The magus snarls at the gouges torn into her flesh, wounds bleeding a slush-like, dark blue liquid rather than the vibrant red of the living. It's the sight of this that seems to trigger a response in the serpent then, one second a bundle of languid coils hovering in the air, the next a raging, hissing, spitting viper of light that's snapping at the bird with glittering fangs. Satoshi stumbles back a step to give the rapidly striking snake room to assault the flames, even as she raises her eyebrows at Svilfon and shrugs. "I'd say I'm surprised but... ice seems to react rather violently when I bleed near it, these days." That, or it tries to smother her in a frigid hug, as if it can patch up her injuries. Thankfully, the snake seems to prefer to fight rather than nurture.


Svilfon silently looks at Satoshi for a long moment as the fiery bird and her fanged viper fight in the air. He seems oblivious to the battle taking place; the snake forged of northern lights facing the wizard's fire; the two elements behind it having battled since time begun. But the vampire doesn't really care. Instead his gaze remains focused on Satoshi until he snaps out his hand and clenches his fist. It's the only command required for the wand to return to his grasp, and without it the bird soon falls victim to its enemy, becoming before long nothing but tendrils of smoke which would soon fade. Without really noticing, Svilfon speaks once more in his normal voice; the lesson is done now, after all. He would speak to Satoshi as two Magister Templi should. "That's new." He points at the blood coming from her arm. "So is that, actually." He motions to her arm which now looks like normal - the first time Svil has seen it that way since he's known Satoshi. "And as your couatl repaid your debt to me, so too have I repaid mine to you.." He can't help but add, "Notice how I didn't try to when you're talking to the Sublime Master? Lovely is Emielle, but she could do with learning a few things about timing." He nods and grins. "You did well, lady icicle. Clever you are. And changed." There is a hint of a question in those last words.


Satoshi wrinkles her nose, both because of the trails of smoke left by the firebird, and at trying to imagine how talking to Tiphareth must have gone while having a head full of dress-Hildegarde images. She'll have to talk to Emielle about this, as the couatl's conversation skills are lacking. The wizard's questioning tone catches Satoshi's current attention, however, and she flashes him a lopsided grin. To most, the expression would appear impish in nature, as if she doesn't want to tell all her secrets. But to one who knows her as well as Svilfon, the kit's face speaks volumes about her ongoing confusion. "I haven't stopped changing. I can feel it down to my bones." Again Satoshi's nose is scrunched up at the thought before she adds quietly, "....If I even have those anymore?" She laughs, a short, bark-like sound that's more frustration than mirth. "I feel like I'm being sired all over again. But slowly. So, so slowly that I almost don't notice it." Being a vampire as well, she knows Svilfon must understand what she means, the creeping sensation as death overtakes living flesh only to animate it in mock life when the transformation is complete. To Satoshi, it is unnerving, yet not unpleasant. She shrugs. "I feel more... -me- than I ever have, though. I can hear the Snowsong more clearly, and ideas for spells come more freely to my mind. Like the clouds. How had I never thought to walk upon them before? They're made of water, it would not have been a difficult feat, and yet they never crossed my mind until this past year. I hadn't heard their whispered singing until then. It's like going your whole life with cotton stuffed in your ears, and then suddenly it's removed."


Svilfon knows Satoshi well enough to understand her expression, though he doesn't speak until she stops. Even then he is silent for a moment, but it's a comfortable silence between. Matters such as this require proper thought, and the wizard is content to think it over first. When he does speak his voice is quiet. He is confident none would spy on these two - unless it's Tiphareth, anyone else would die if caught. And even he would have to have a good reason. Even still he lowers his voice, "I remember when it started, lady icicle, and in truth I thought it stopped. But now I try to think of -when- it stopped, I cannot put my finger on it. That is because, I think, it never did." He grins, then, the look filled with his typical joviality - a look that seems to say everything is as it should be. "Usually about now is when I would say what's the worst that can happen, but I will not, because by the balls of Sven himself, Satoshi queen, I think nothing bad will happen because of it. Once, like others in the Coterie, I knew where you were almost always. Now, I know by different bonds. Much about you is changing, lady icicle. But it is a change that suits you; so much so that it seems strange now to think of how you were before." Not that the wizard thinks much about how things used to be - he is a creature of the present far more than the past and rarely even worries about the future. Most certainly, he has no worries about this. "It is right, though. At least... I think it is." And wizards usually have good instincts about things such as this.


Satoshi wholeheartedly trusts Svilfon's 'I think'. Hellfire, she's standing in this hallway, having just engaged in a questionable spell experiment, based solely on one such 'I think'. When a wizard thinks, one would do well to listen. And like Svilfon, Satoshi is not a creature of the past, only in rare, strange moods has she devoted much thought to what was, instead of what is. At this, she shrugs and smiles a hint more warmly. "I believe it is for the right. And this would not be the first time I have changed in my life. A river grows stagnant if its water are left to sit, no? To change and flow is to live~." Satoshi nods firmly at this, only to have her matter-of-fact and confident stance ruined by an outburst of laughter: the aurora serpent has chosen this time to wriggle down the back of her coat and make itself comfortable wound around her waist. Blasted thing -tickles-.


Svilfon shakes his head with a brief smile. "So says the lady of ice, who freezes rivers wherever she walks..." The wizard refrains from making a one lesson lady joke right here... that's a lot of flowing free rivers turned into icicles by not being proficient enough in the arts. "But you are of course correct, Satoshi queen." He pauses to snicker at the jumping Satoshi as the snake forged of light makes its way down the back of her coat, though his laughter comes from imagining Aeron running into it inside Satoshi's coat. "It suits you very well." His look grows crooked, then. "You being who you are, you wouldn't wear it if it didn't suit you perfectly." Be it clothes or fate, she would refuse. "Your student is doing well, too. When you next find him, tell you ran into me, and I was furious at what he did... so much so I attacked you in rage and cut your arm. That should keep him on his toes." The look the wizard gives is entirely predatory, though not at all feral... more just... contained.


Satoshi matches Svilfon's predatory look, right down to a wolfish curl of her whiskers. She takes a certain degree of pleasure in making the Rabbit jump, and Svilfon's just fueling her with more excuses to do so. If they keep Ezekiel any more on his toes, the poor fellow with have to learn to start levitating just to stay level. Satoshi glances about shiftily at this, before looking back Svilfon to say in a lowered voice, "If you hear screams or explosions in the Tower, you'll know I found him and delivered the message~."


Svilfon tips his hat in response to Satoshi, before briefly reaching out and taking her shoulder in his hand. "Hunt well, lady icicle. I shall see you back in Frostmaw soon." With another grin, the wizard lets go of Satoshi's arm before tipping his hat for a final time and wandering off. He is quite happy with how that went today, though he now has more questions than answers... which is typical of spending time with Satoshi... perhaps that is why he enjoys her company so much.


Satoshi offers the wizard's back a salute. He probably predicted she'd do that, though. He -is- a wizard after all.