Testing the Wind

[Sylph]

((invite only please!))

Heed the Northwind's mighty gale,
lock the door, and trim the sail.
When the wind comes from the South,
love will kiss you in the mouth.
When the wind blows from the West,
departed souls will have no rest.
When the wind blows from the East,
expect the new, and set the feast.

Sylph was sat on the floor of the owlery - though she had thought to set an old blanket down before doing so lest she mess up her robes with all the droppings and regurgitated prey. On her lap was a book, the cover black and beaten about, but it's pages holding untold wisdom and power.

She had recieved it just yesterday from Professor Windwaltz, her tutor in the arts of elemental magic, more specifically, the element of air, and had barely put it down since then, desparate to read everything she could before she saw Talon again. She wanted to be good - no, great - at this. She wanted to use it to help destroy Danawi, though she wouldn't have mastered it by then, she knew. Still, there was always hope, especially when combined with a lot of hard work. Sylph had the willpower to do just that, and no doubt the talent too, once she applied herself. There was just so much to know.

"Boreas - North," she whispered to herself, her eyes closed shut in concentration. "Zephyrus - West; Notus - South; Eurus - East." Eurus had been the gale she had felt yesterday when her mentor Professor Windwaltz had shown her and Aidana how to contact their personal element. She wondered what it meant. The book had said something about a trial, to see which aspect of the element of air she should work with, but she wanted Professor Windwaltz here when she did that. Sylph was eager, but not unduly hasty.

"Boreas - North Wind, Zephyrus - West Wind, Notus - South Wind, Eurus - East Wind. Together they are the Anemoi, and are ruled by the Wind King, Aeolus, as in aeolian." She had been doing this for a while now, trying to learn all the names in the book by talking out loud to herself. Thankfully, no-one had come up here yet. It took some doing, and they weren't all.

"Kaikias - North-East; Skiron - North-West; Apeliotus - South-East; Livos - South-West."

Now she stopped intoning their names, and sat still and straight, still cross-legged on the floor, feeling the wind gently caressing her skin, fluttering her hair.

"Livos", she smiled, muttering the name of the wind that blew. Talon had told her that she should be able to tell which wind was blowing in a split second, and the book had said that the winds felt different, that you shouldn't have to know which way was north to do this.

Boreas was cold, Eurus on the other hand was fierce, with Notos obviously feeling hot, being the south wind. Zephyrus, in contrast to his brothers, however, was calm. Sylph had not been surprised not to find him blowing around this school of late. In fact, only Notos and Livos had been felt thus far, and they felt quite similar.

She hoped Talon would get here soon so she could perform the trial. Aidana had done hers last night, and Sylph badly wanted to make sure she kept up.

[Professor Windwaltz]

Talon woke up at that morning with a bit of a shock. Literally. Sparks kept flying from his body at random moments, and he couldn't even control himself. It was a good thing he bewitched his bed to conduct electricity. Yawning and looking at the grand old clock in the majestic corner of his classroom, he realized that it was time he had to meet Sylph up in the library.

With shocks flying everywhere, he jumped out of bed, grabbed for his wand, forced his bed and night table back into his emerald green bag, and then changed back into his raggedy old robes from his equally raggedy pajamas. This instant noise awoke the baby Trajan who had been snoozing on one of the armchairs in his classroom. "Talon! I'm trying to sleep!" He moaned. "No time Trajan, come on!" Talon scooped up the baby bird and charged out the door.

He ran as fast as he could down the halls from his classroom, not seeing as many students as usual. Shocks blasted from his feet as he ran, leaving huge amounts of static electricity behind him. Finally reaching the stairs to the Owlery Tower, he ran even faster up the stairs and even dropped his foot in the hole on the top stair. He pulled it out with care, and approached Sylph, who obviously had been waiting.

"Sorry," he said, "I suppose I slept later then I thought...busy night." It was obvious from first glance that he had obviously been busy with something or another. He looked entirely different from the day before. His hair, which was once soft and straw colored, had now been violently spiked in all different directions, with electricity charging out of them at random like lightning rods. His eyes too, which were once sky-blue, were now a deep amethyst. Every so often a spark would come out of his body randomly, at which Talon would show no sign of pain.

"So then, fill me in on what you did yesterday."

[Sylph]

Sylph snapped her head quickly around when she heard the footfalls of someone coming up the stone steps, and received rather a nasty shock. It was Professor Windwaltz, but he looked... well, weird. More like some nu-punk guitar player than a teacher of history. She eyed him warily, noting his purple eyes and the static in the air around him.

"Maybe you should tell me what you got up to yesterday," she said somewhat sarcastically before she could stop herself. She knew she shouldn't cheek one of professors, least of all one whom she was relying on to teach her a highly advanced and dangerous form of magic such as this, but her tongue had always been that split-second faster than her brain in situations like this. She bit her tongue and shook her head.

"Sorry, Professor," she said apologetically, though a slight smile remained on her face. "But you, well... yeah," she finished lamely, though she tried her best to explain what she was thinking using hand gestures. She decided - probably wisely - to drop the subject.

"I read this book, like you told me," she began; "though I haven't read all of it yet, obviously, even I can't read that fast. I've learnt all the names of the winds - they're greek, aren't they? Oh, that reminds me, some of the winds mentioned in this book are specific to certain areas - does that mean you can only call on them when in those areas or not? I was just wondering, like I said, I haven't quite finished reading this yet.

"Anyway," she continued, putting the book down on the blanket and getting to her feet. "I spent some time outside in the breeze, trying to learn how to tell which wind is blowing - like you told me to, but so far the only ones I've felt are Notos and Livos - the wind has been coming from the South since yesterday, and I don't think I'm ready to call on them on my own yet. They do feel a little different though," she added thoughtfully, closing her eyes and feeling Livos on her back again. "I can't quiet explain how, though." She paused, feeling somewhat hesitant.

"The book said something about a trial. I was wondering, was that the one I did yesterday, or is this something else? It said something about four pillars, I believe. Are they the elements, the directions of the wind? What?"

Okay, so it sounded like she hadn't done a lot, but when there was that much to read, and lessons to attend, it wasn't unduly surprising. At least she had lots of questions...

[Professor Windwaltz]

Talon's look turned strict at Sylph's words, though her apology made him return to his normal expression. "Apology accepted." He said, without any further note. He moved across the Owlery to a tiny spot in the corner, where he placed the baby Trajan down. Trajan hungrily jumped into a pile of bird feed and scarfed down. "I knew you'd like that," he said happily.

As he watched the baby bird eat with delight, he took in every word Sylph said with interest. After hearing everything Sylph had to say, he turned around and began to answer. "Yes, the names are all Greek, because it was the ancient Greek wizards, "The Servants of Hekate", as they called themselves, who discovered most of these magic related creatures. They, however, believed the Winds were Gods, we know better. They are Elemental Spirits."

Pacing to the left (for he always found it better to pace when talking, he continued, "Imagine the world like a circle, if you need help. You are in the very center. On the northern side of the circle, there is a humanoid with wings - imagine him or her however you want. In fact, make sure you do so. A relationship with the winds is almost imperative. This is Boreas. In a clockwise manner, you will find Kaikias. And so on, so forth. Imagine them however you want...each Wind Mage has a different look on them."

Pacing back to the right, he looked over at the baby bird once more, who seemed to have stopped eating and was watching Talon with interest. "The Winds take turns blowing. As you and I have both noticed, the wind has been blowing from the south for nigh two weeks now...should I, well, shout 'Boreas Novaculae!' -" At this, he turned quickly with his hand outstretched as if summoning a wind spell. Nothing occured but a spark that shot from his left knee - "Nothing will happen. You must know which wind is blowing. As so...'Notus Novaculae!' -" Several transparent and hot daggers flew across the Owlery, slamming into a support beam and vanishing. "Something will happen.

"That is why you must know which wind is blowing." He said with a happy tone, "And that is also the first trial of being a Wind Mage. Once you get the hang of that...you just need to use your magic to control the winds. It's a lot easier when you view the winds as your friends. Very little can be taught in Wind Magic...so I recommend finding an airy place and trying to feel and 'create' the winds that blow. Oh look..." He said, almost sounding surprised, "...we're in an airy place right now."

[Sylph]

Sylph raised an eyebrow at the professors last words, wondering vaguely if he was mocking her, but said nothing. She also noticed that Talon's pheonix had undergone his burning and rebirth, and it was almost as if Talon himself had undergone something similar. Sylph had been right yesterday when she thought there was more to the pair of them than met the eye - a connection, as it were. She wondered idly about that, but again, said nothing. The Professor would no doubt not appricecite her prying.

Getting back to the matter in hand, however, Sylph looked with detatched interest at the place where the daggers had hit the beam. There was no trace of them, not even the marks where they had hit. How odd... Sylph looked back at her mentor, and closed her eyes. The book had given descriptions of the personifiactions of each of the four winds - in fact, they seemed to be the same ones as the Greeks had carved in the Tower of the Winds in Athens, that Sylph had seen whilst on holiday there with her family, but she wasn't quite comfortable with thinking of the wind spirits as winged men. To her, when she thought of them, they were something stranger, creatures without names, though they bore resemblence to some. Boreas was a great winged furry serpent-like creature, long trails of hair flowing from its head in brown and white, while Apeliotes, the south-east wind, was more like a great curly-haired fruit bat, bearing flowers and grain. There was a human aspect to them, but they were not human. Eurus was the most human of them all, a man clad in water, if such a thing could be imagined, but he was wild and fierce, much like the east wind itself.

Opening her eyes once more, she felt Livos blowing on her back again, and saw before her eyes a firey being, something that spoke of sunlight and warmth and good harvests. Then again, she was from the south coast of England and was hence intimately familiar with the south-westerlies that came off the Gulf Stream. If she could identify with any wind, it should be this one.

"What do you mean by 'creating the winds that blow'?" she asked. "I thought you said you could only use those that are already blowing?" Again with the questions, she thought glumly. He's going to think you're stupid if you don't shut up...

[Professor Windwaltz]

"I basically meant, that you need to create their images. I didn't mean creating a wind yourself," He said, obviously not saying it clear enough the first time. "Though, of course, that leads into the second trial...summoning the winds." He nodded, reaching into his robe pocket for his wand.

"It isn't necessary to use a wand, I simply do because it's easier on me. There are times, of course you should know, when wind isn't particularly where you are. They refuse to blow...and that's why, once you have a relationship and an image of who the winds are...you can call them to your aid." He smiled, "If you can get them to stop partying, that is, quite savage party animals, they are."

He lifted his wand in the air, and closed his eyes. He imagined in his mind a rather fat Santa Claus with amazingly large red wings. "Boreas!" He called, and though it was reaching the summer months, a fierce northern wind blew throughout the Owlery, chilling most of the owls. "As you can see, you simply have to focus on your image of the wind, and call it's name. If you can learn how to do that...you should be able to perform proper wind magic. Go ahead, give it a try. Try your wand first, don't be a fool and try without it."

[Sylph]

Sylph smirked a little at his party animal comment. With his new look, Professor Windwaltz looked like something of a gatecrasher himself. Still, at least now she understood what he had meant. Taking out her twelve and a half inch willow and dragon heart-string wand, she raised it just has she had been shown seconds before, and closed her eyes tightly, summoning all her willpower and concentration.

She projected the image she had seen before of the north wind - the great limbless furry dragon with beard-like tendrils coming off its snout and trailing behind it, its wings spread wide and huge as it soared over the icy wastes of the Arctic. Inside herself, she felt a small hot ball of yellow energy rise and fall, spinning ever faster upwards, though it remained static. It grew as she concentrated on the image harder, filling in gaps and colours and expressions, picturing in her minds eye the fur of the great beast being ruffled by its own wind.

"Boreas!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, in the voice she normally reserved for cheering on England at rugby matches. As she called she heard the great Wind creature roar inside her head, and this was shortly followed by a real roar of a cold gale sweeping past her ears, tugging powerfully at her hair.

It was not as mighty a gale as the one which Talon had called, but then Sylph had not expected it to be; in fact in Sylph's opinion it was feeble in comparison, but it was there, she could feel it. Boreas felt very different to his southern counterparts, Sylph knew she would have no trouble distinguishing this one. Still, this would require a great deal of practice.

She opened her eyes and the wind died. Looking up at Professor Windwaltz rather apprehensively, she spoke, though her voice was uncharacteristically shaken.

"How was that?" she smiled weakly, gazing up at him hopefully. She hoped that had been acceptable for a first timer.

[Professor Windwaltz]

"Exceptional," Talon said, leaning against the balcony where Trajan had resumed eating, "I was starting to wonder whether it was a good idea to start with Boreas...Zephyrus is normally the least wild of the winds." Sylph had completed the trial completely, though he wondered if she really understood what it meant to stop a wind from partying. Boreas apparently wasn't very wild that day...but there was one wind who never stopped partying.

"There is a very difficult one to summon. That would be Eurus, the East Wind. He's normally the host of all the parties that they hold. In the legend of Achilles, when he wanted the winds to come and blow the flames over his friend Patroclos's body to cremate him, the winds refused because they were partying." He nodded, and lifted his wand again, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on his image of Eurus. The image was that of an Arabian warrior, with a large turban and a beard like a Pharoah, sticking straight out with braids in it to keep it from falling. In his hands he held scimitars, and he had black feathery wings protruding from his back.

The fierce warrior appeared to be dancing in a very provacative manner while juggling his scimitars. "Eurus!" He cried at the top of his lungs, though no wind responded. The fierce warrior continued to dance in his lude fashion, until Talon bellowed with a deep and stern voice, "Eurus!" The East Wind at last nearly fell over in his dance, straightened himself, and charged. A very dangerous wind blew, knocking over several owls and blowing Trajan out of his dishbowl and into Talon's hand.

At last, the wind stopped again. "Summoning Eurus is the most difficult. He's like a really rebellious teenager. You have to use severe discipline to summon him."

[Sylph]

OOC: sorry i've been gone a while, i was trying to sort out my damn browser! Oh, and I got distracted by the cricket

IC: Sylph watched carefully as Talon summonded Eurus. It seemed to take an awful lot of effort, and yet that was the wind that had come to her yesterday, unbidden. She noticed that her teacher continued using the word 'partying' when refering to the winds. She wondered vaguely if this was just a metaphore for their uncontrollable rebellious natures, but he seemed to take this partying very seriously. Maybe to him, the winds, as winged men, did actually get up and boogie. She smiled faintly as an icy, fiercly harsh wind blew through the room, leaving some very disgruntled owls in its wake. She wanted to try it again, but knew that she didn't yet have the power to summon Eurus, especially if he always acted like that. Instead she turned and faced west, closing her eyes and raising her wand as before.

In her minds eye she saw Zephyrus.... that was Loki's middle name. No, she told herself sternly. Concentrate... Zephyrus, as described by both Talon and the book, did indeed look peaceful. He was cool and gentle, surrounded by soft spring rain and flowers, sat comfortably outside a cave. He was himself somewhat reminiscent of a satyr, sat cross-legged with goats legs, and a magnificant pair of snowy swans wings, though his face was that of a human male. Smiling a little, Sylph called him forth.

"Zephyrus!" she called loudly, and, as before, a great wind blew through the western windows of the owlery, but it was far stronger than before; not more fierce, simply there in greater strength. Opening her eyes again, Sylph smiled up at her mentor.

"That one was much easier," she admitted happily. But once we summon them, what do we do then?"

[Professor Windwaltz]

OOC: No problem.

Talon smiled as he felt the calm wind rush past him, the beautiful Zephyrus. In his mind, he always viewed Zephyrus as the only female wind, due to its calm nature. She had long soft female hair, a gorgeous face, and a wonderful demeanor. She had been the first wind he had ever summoned. Coming back from his thoughts as the wind faded away, he laughed and continued to speak.

"Now you simply must learn how to use these winds to your battle strategy. Seeing how the North Wind is the coldest, if you're facing an enemy susceptible to cold it will work the best. The South Wind is the hottest, so natural it will work on those who hate the heat. It goes on...." He said, not wishing to describe every wind and their effect after already saying it before. "You can also create things and attack using wind magic...like this." He lifted his hand softly, and said aloud "Livos Sica!" A single transparent dagger flew to his side, and began to slice at the air as if it were an enemy. "Evanesco!" He cried, and the dagger disappeared.

"I was making an example, as you can see, so I didn't summon a wind. If you needed a cold dagger, you would use Boreas, for a hot, use Notus, for a fierce, use Eurus...and I recommend not making a calm one." He chuckled at his last comment. "There are other spells as well...it's just that the Spirits have been neglected since the Roman Age, when they were last known. So they respond to only Greek or Latin. So simply call them forth and tell them what you want to do in Latin. Voila. Here, give a spell a try before you go for a duel."

[Sylph]

Sylph nodded resolutely, squaring her jaw in the way she did before she played a football ((soccer to you, I know)) match. Here was the useful part, at least, useful beyond being able to knock someone off their feet with a strong north-easterly. This time she faced south. She knew that she shouldn't have to do this everytime, but for a beginner it seemed to make things easier. Raising her wand she called forth Notos, just to make her spell a little easier when she performed it. The book said things were always easier if the wind you wanted was blowing.

Notos was dark skinned, but looked rather like a large extinct flightless predatory bird in some respects, though Sylph couldn't quite figure out why. Summoning him, she performed a spell she had read from the book the night before.

"Mucro flammeus!" she cried, and a great spinning blade, made as if from the wind itself but red-hot to the touch, appeared and sawed effortlessly though one of the supporting beams of the owlery. A moment later, however, and it was gone, as was the wind that created it. Sylph stared dumbfounded at what she had done. Have I overdone it again? she wondered worridly. When will I ever learn control?!

Waving her wand quickly towards the beam, with an accompanying Reparo!, she fixed the upright before it collapsed entirely, and fell to the floor. That had been pretty exhausting, and Sylph wasn't sure if she could do it again. It took so much effort to evoke the winds like that, and getting them to perform magic for you was even tougher. She placed her palms on the stone floor of the owlery, trying to ground herself, looking sheepishly up at the professor.

"Sorry about that," she murmured apologetically, as if she had done something terribly wrong.

[Professor Windwaltz]

Talon smiled with a look of intense interest. "Very very good. I must say, you got it down to the mess up in the end." He chuckled slightly, before stretching his hand out. "No, I'm not mocking you. I'm just saying, you did it exactly like I did, all those years ago." He sat against the beam that had just been repaired. "All I recommend now...is practice...and dueling."

With a quick look down in the direction of the doorway, he put all faith in what was happening at that very moment. "And I think someone's waiting for you at the Dueling Hall. Someone who wants to see just how skilled you have become this afternoon."

[Sylph]

The duelling hall? Sylph wondered idly. Now? Who would be waiting for her in the duelling hall?

Somewhat shakily she got to her feet, taking a deep breath to steady herself, a wobbly smile on her face. It looked a little out of place in the absence of the regular charismatic grin that normally curled at Sylph's lips, but one could hardly blame her.

"Skilled?" she said out loud as she tugged herself up. "If you say so, Professor." Her eyes flashed slightly then, but it was more a reflection of the sparks flying from Talon's hair than any inner emotion she was feeling. She was too drained for that.

"Who did you say is waiting for me?" she asked, her voice gaining strength again as she took deep steadying breaths. "And will I be able to do - that - indoors?" Tired as she was, Sylph wanted to keep practicing, but still she knew her skill was rudimentary at best. It would take time before she was able to use it successfully in a duel. Still, her firey spirit would not let her back down.

"Ah, go on then," she smiled quietly, a little happier now she had stopped trembling.

OOC: the duelling hall - is this Aidana's thread or another one?Just checkin'!

[Professor Windwaltz]

OOC: Aidana, yes.

Talon smiled, refusing to say who her opponent would be. He didn't know if it would come as a shock when the two met...after all, they had both knew they were each his pupils. He looked out over the balcony at the wide grounds, the owls hooting above him. He felt Notus blow in his face, a warm breeze to comfort him.

"That's why I taught you summoning. That's when the wind does not blow - indoors. You have to summon the winds, and then use them to your advantage. There will be no basic wind to help you." He took a step away from the Owlery ledge, grabbed the baby Trajan, and walked over to the stairs. "So yes, go down to the Dueling Hall - and give it a shot! It won't hurt!" Trajan seemed quite annoyed that Talon had taken him away from the Owlery.

"Hey!" Trajan complained, but Talon laughed. "Do not worry about it, you're staying with me..." He whispered to the Phoenix, and the Phoenix decided it wasn't that bad. "At least I don't have to smell droppings all day." And with that, they were gone.

[Sylph]

((feelin' lazy, and seeing as how this thread's over... well, it's a veryshort post. Sorry.))

Sylph smiled back, her curiosity now fully aroused. Naturally not one to let a mystery get the better of her, she headed down the duelling hall to see who awaited her.