Nature's Magic

Chapter 2: Sweets and Flowers

Stormcloud knew he had barely slept for a few minutes when he heard a door shut. He was still immobile so he had to wait for them to come into his field of view, which the person soon did. It was Master Daystar, followed by Eclipse, Sky, Wave, along with four others, two of which he had already had glances of.

The muscular fellow that had been with Eclipse was holding a lithe brunette, who Stormcloud realized was the boy who had been outside earlier. The boy was taller then him, but had a similar build, and his locks framed his face and shoulders in springy curls. The most surprising thing was his piercing green eyes that had a warmth that echoed through him when he met them with his own.

The last two he had never seen. The smaller had hair like his, white and pure that fell to his thighs loosely, and eyes a mixture of light blue and pale gray, barely able to be seen against the whites of his eyes. His skin was pale also and he was only an inch or so taller then Stormcloud. He was like a dream, but the one behind him was a nightmare to Stormcloud.

He was a rugged handsome man. His body was a cross between Wave’s and the rust colored juggernaut’s. He had wild hair that fell to his shoulders in a bright red and matching eyes. His body was tan, and he was a stark contrast to the one whose hand he held. And he looked nearly like Flame. If Stormcloud had any control of his body, he would have cowered in fear at the red man.

The others seemed not to notice his sudden fear, but Master Daystar caught his eye.

“Don’t worry Stormcloud,” he said, moving closer to him. “Blaze is a friend, he would never hurt you.” Stormcloud still wasn’t sure. The pale man just giggled.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice as smooth as velvet to Stormcloud’s ears. “Blaze is all bark and no bite. If he gives you any trouble, Eclipse or I will set him straight.” The others also gave a small laugh, except for the red man.

“Ha ha ha Snow,” he said, his voice rough and his tone annoyed. “Scare the boy more, why don’t ya?”

“Why is he so scared of Blaze?” asked Sky frowning. “Sure, he is scary. But so is Copper, and he isn’t afraid of him.”

“Hey!” exclaimed the rust haired one. “I am not scary, am I Sprite?” He asked, hugging the smaller boy closer.

“As scary as a teddy bear,” laughed the green-eyed boy, which caused the other to pick him and tickle him. The green-eyed one broke out laughing, which caused everyone but Master Daystar, Eclipse, and Sky to return a small smile or chuckle. Sky looked very sad, and moved closer to Stormcloud, away from his lover, a rarity for him. Eclipse followed him, and stood behind as Sky fell to the ground next to Stormcloud’s chair. Master Daystar cleared his throat, stopping the boys’ antics.

“Sky, you may find out in time why he fears Blaze,” said Master Daystar in an oddly serious tone. “But I sincerely hope not. Before we eat, I wanted to introduce you all to our newest resident here and tell him some more about us, before I let Eclipse take off the enchantments.” The boys nodded.

“This is Stormcloud, and he is a Weather Mage, as you all may have heard,” said Master Daystar. Although they had already been told, all of them let out a tiny gasp. “Now introduce yourselves and name your element.”

“You already know me,” said Sky. “But just to remind you, I am Sky and I am an Air Mage.”

“Wave, the Water Mage,” said Wave, looking a bit upset that Sky still hadn’t come back to him, but instead was cuddling closer to the possibly dangerous Stormcloud. Wave hoped that Sky wouldn’t get hurt by the violent boy when he regained control of his body.

“I am Copper, the Metal Mage,” said the rust haired juggernaut.

“And I am Sprite, the Earth Mage,” said the brunette.

“I am the Ice Mage, Snow,” said the pale boy. “And my companion here is the Fire Mage Blaze. Really, you have no reason to fear him.” Snow smiled at Stormcloud, sweetly and Blaze sneered, but Stormcloud still felt like whimpering. He wished that Eclipse would hold him like before, though he didn’t know why he wanted that comfort from Eclipse.

“And of course you know our resident Darkness Mage, Eclipse,” answered Master Daystar. “And I am Daystar, the Light Mage, and Master of this Mage School. As I believe Eclipse has told you, you are the first hybrid Mage. Most Mages are just randomly born into a family, and rarely come from two Mages, even those of the same element have a hard time conceiving a child. But for some reason, you came to be, creating a new race of Mage.” Master Daystar paused, making certain that Stormcloud was listening. He was. Unlike with Eclipse’s soothing voice, he could not allow even his fears to tune out his Master Daystar’s gruff, yet calming voice.

“So,” continued Master Daystar. “An old friend of my Key captured you so that the Path of Light could train you into using your powers for good, or at least not using them to hurt someone else. My old student Flame,” Stormcloud went even more rigid at the mention of that name. “Sadly has rebelled against the Path of Life, and began down the Path of Evil. He is currently in charge of a group of mercenary Mages called Depraved, and trying to use them to take control of the planet, and I believe he wants you to help him with that. So it was necessary to bring you here, to make certain he doesn’t get his hands on you.”

“Master,” said Copper, as soon as he was sure Master Daystar was finished, “How do you suppose he is trained. We know not the extent of his powers like you know ours, so how can he learn to control them?”

“I won’t be training him, Eclipse will be,” said Master Daystar. “I am too old to adapt my ways, but he is young and strong enough to it.”

“The Rare training the Unique?” questioned Wave, to which Master Daystar nodded. “Interesting, but what do you wish us to do with him?”

“He has a name Wave,” said Eclipse, a bit hostile. “Use it. And don’t pretend that he is not here.” Eclipse and Wave were normally close friends, but sometimes they would go off on each other, normally to be reconciled by a tearful Sky. Wave just sighed and repeated his question.

“What does Stormcloud need us for?” he said.

“To be his friends and family like you are to all the rest,” said Master Daystar. “And to help Eclipse. Remember, he has a bit of all your powers in him, you may be able to help him learn how to control that certain aspect of his.” The rest nodded. “Now, I believe it is time to free our new friend.” Eclipse nodded and lifted the spell on Stormcloud.

At first, Stormcloud felt like he was still limp, then sudden feeling came back to his body. Eclipse breathed a short-lived sigh of relief at the calm nature of Stormcloud. Stormcloud when he was certain he had full control over his body, decided to make a break for it. He kicked Sky in the nose, and heard a crack of bone and a sudden high-pitched howl of pain.

“Sky!” yelled Wave, moving quickly through his friends, to where his fallen lover had fallen to. Stormcloud, in the confusion, tried to run but was caught in Eclipse’s hand, that were much rougher than before.

“Why in the seven levels of Hell did you do that!” Yelled an enraged Eclipse, who spun the restrained Stormcloud back around to see a concerned Wave cooing to a crying Sky, as he brought him to his arms. Stormcloud was upset to see Sky whimpering in Wave’s arms, and covering his nose that was bleeding heavily. Stormcloud cursed himself. Sky had been nice to him, and he attacked him. He should have gone for the old man or Eclipse, who had actually hurt him, or at least spelled him into submission, instead of the wide-eyed innocent Sky.

“Eclipse,” said Wave through a strained voice. “I will forgive him this once, but if he ever hurts Sky or someone else here again I will...”

“Don’t worry,” said Eclipse, noticing the slackness of Stormcloud’s wrist. “I have a feeling he won’t.” He let go of Stormcloud, who dropped to his knees and crawled over to Sky. Stormcloud feared that Wave would hurt him for what he did, but instead he just turned his now worried face to Stormcloud.

“Apologize for what you have done,” he said, his voice a bit angered, but still controlled.

“Sorry Sky,” said Stormcloud, who patted Sky’s damp cheek with his right hand. “Didn’t mean hurt.” Sky stopped crying and looked at Stormcloud. He dropped his hands to reveal his crooked nose and the bloody mess that was the bottom part of his face. This nearly made Stormcloud cry. He didn’t think he had kicked that hard, and now he started whimpering.

“He was frightened,” said Master Daystar. “And I am certain he won’t do anything such as this again.” He dropped next to Stormcloud and moved his hand over Sky’s face. A warm glow came from his hand and spread over Sky’s face. When it stopped, Sky’s nose was back in order and no longer bleeding. The only sign that he had been harmed was the remaining blood from when it had first happened.

“Not happen again,” said Stormcloud, touching Sky’s lip were blood had clotted. “No hurt Sky. Sky nice.” Sky smiled warmly at that.

“Stormcloud’s nice too,” he said, moving off of Wave’s lap to sit knee to knee with Stormcloud. Wave sighed, but hugged his lover from behind. Sky was very easy to forgive and forget.

Stormcloud was feeling very ashamed of his actions toward these people. Sure, Master Daystar and Eclipse had used magic on him like Flame, and Blaze had the same coloring as the wretched man, but they hadn’t hurt him, even though he was certain that at least Wave, Eclipse, and Copper were stronger then him, and they easily out numbered him.

“I think it is time for lunch,” said Master Daystar. “May is probably very upset with us for delaying her meal and then still coming late.” Master Daystar rose up and all but Sky, Stormcloud, Wave, and Eclipse followed him out.

“I am going to help him get cleaned up,” said Wave, helping Sky to his feet and escorting him from the room, leaving Eclipse and the now free Stormcloud alone. Stormcloud again turned his attention back on Eclipse, who appeared wearier now. Eclipse noticed where he was looking and gave a lopsided smile.

“Seems you caused quite a stir on your first day,” said Eclipse. “And I hope you are more calm now. We won’t hurt you. Not like Flame, the bastard.” Eclipse was fuming at the thought of what the horrid beast had done to the young boy. Master Daystar seemed to know, but refused to tell the others, but Eclipse had an idea and that made him hate Flame even the more so, if that was possible.

“No Flame?” asked Stormcloud rising to his feet, oddly calm. Stormcloud wanted to blame the magic the others had on his newfound tranquility, but knew that it was his own guilt of hurting them that was causing it. He remembered the bite he had earlier given Eclipse and touched it gently.

“No, if Flame ever shows himself to me he will be with the only one that can compete with him in wickedness,” said Eclipse. Eclipse wanted to hug and reassure Stormcloud, but didn’t know if that touch would be appreciated or liked by the smaller boy.

Stormcloud nodded, not fully understanding Eclipse’s threat. It suddenly dawned on him that all the minor injuries he had had before arriving were gone too quickly to be normal, and that Master Daystar had managed to heal Sky’s nose, but Eclipse still had the bite. He touched the wounded area and looked at Eclipse with confused eyes.

“He can’t heal a Darkness Mage,” Eclipse said. “One of the few drawbacks of being what I am. Have to do it all naturally.”

“Sorry,” said a saddened Stormcloud, who meant it. Eclipse gave a true smile again.

“Don’t worry about it, I have had worse from my friends,” he said. “Let’s go and get some food, and then you can spend the rest of the day getting use to your new home. We can start your training tomorrow.”

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Lunch was had with the others at a long wooden table. It was vegetables covered in an odd thick strange flavored water, followed by cooked fish that tasted like it had eaten lemons, and ended with a crumbly brown piece of bread covered in sticky brown foam that tasted sweeter then honey.

He had yet to master silverware, so no one objected as Stormcloud ate with his hands. The food was good and filling, not like he was use to. It was hard getting use to the taste of cooked meat, he still preferred raw, but the brown sweet was worth it. The others laughed silently as he dug in with zest to the food, making a mess of his place setting and face. As the laughter got louder, Stormcloud frowned and stop eating the sweet, though he wanted greatly to finish it.

“Go a head and eat,” said Eclipse, with a smile. He had hardly touched his sweet. Wave hadn’t even eaten his, and had given it to Sky, who was showing the same joy in it that Stormcloud felt, but much neater. The rest were eating theirs slowly so they could watch Stormcloud. “We just think it is cute that you take to sugar so well. Then again, I guess it’s not something you have ever eaten before.” Eclipse took a risk and tapped Stormcloud on the end of his nose, and pulled back his finger to show that it was partially covered in chocolate that had been decorating Stormcloud’s face. Stormcloud looked adorably confused at Eclipse, but went back to eating the sweet with relish, and gave out a cry of joy when Eclipse gave him his barely touched sweet.

“Thank you,” he said, about to dig in to it with his dirty hands. But he noticed that he had the tool that Eclipse had earlier try to feed him with by his plate, and that the others were using it to eat their sweets. He picked it up and tried to mimic the way that Eclipse had held it, but it was too hard. He kept trying with frustration to control the tool.

“Don’t worry, you can just use your hands for now,” said Eclipse, taking the fork away before he hurt himself with it. Stormcloud frowned, but wanted the sweet too much to argue, or attempt to argue, with Eclipse.

“Sweet,” he said, taking another hand and stuffing it in his mouth.

“It is called chocolate cake,” said Snow, who was almost done with his slice.

“Don’t eat too much of it though,” said Sprite, “Or you will make yourself ill.”

“Sweet bad?” asked Stormcloud, putting down the next handful.

“Too much of it is,” said Wave. “But Sky sometimes forgets that too.” Wave gave Sky a motherly look, to which Sky pouted and stuck his chocolate-coated tongue out. “Put that back in your mouth before I do something with it you won’t like.” Sky eeped and drew back his tongue.

“Don’t worry,” said Eclipse. “This one piece won’t kill you. Just no more until after dinner tonight.” Eclipse again gave him a warm smile, which caused Stormcloud to return it and finish eating the cake, as Snow had called it.

After lunch, Sprite offered to show Stormcloud the gardens while Eclipse took a much-needed rest. Not sure if being outside would give Stormcloud any thoughts of escape, Copper followed them out, after Eclipse had washed Stormcloud’s face and hands from lunch. Stormcloud had been given a shirt to put over his torso, which he did so confused as to why he needed it. He use to live outdoors without any clothes, and now suddenly he needed them.

Unlike the forest, the garden was well ordered and arranged to compliment each other, flourishing under Sprite’s magic.

Stormcloud always thought that nothing could be prettier then the wild flowers he saw, but the ones that Sprite had grown rivaled those. They were a cornucopia of colors, shapes, and smiles that Stormcloud wanted to experience them all. Sprite was gleeful to have someone so interested in his garden, though Copper was bored with hearing the endless names of all the flowers, vegetables, plants, and herbs.

Sprite, noticing his lover’s waning interest, sighed and decided to give him some attention when it became clear that Stormcloud wasn’t going to leave. Stormcloud noticed that Sprite had turned his attention from the plants to Copper, and decided to go and explore some of the flowers that had caught his interest.

He watched as butterflies and bees drank from the bright colored petals and then flew off to the next with delight. He had seen the action before, but he found it so lovely to see it repeated again and again.

He became distracted by the patch of an odd flowers that grew tall and many to stalk. In between the leaves of green, golden seeds peeked out. “Eclipse eyes,” he whispered, touching the golden seeds.

“What is so interesting about the corn?” asked Copper, noticing that the newcomer had walked over and was entranced by the corn stalks, from his position of lazily laying next to Sprite on the ground.

“Eclipse eyes!” said Stormcloud, touching a kernel of the corn.

“Are you saying they are like the color of Eclipse’s eyes?” asked Sprite.

“Yes,” said Stormcloud. “Flower color of eyes.”

“It isn’t a flower,” said Copper. “It is a vegetable. You eat it.”

“Eat Eclipse eyes?” asked Stormcloud. “Hurt Eclipse! No hurt Eclipse!” Stormcloud was upset at Copper for suggesting such a thing as eating Eclipse’s eyes.

“No, not his eyes!” said Copper. “The corn! Corn is food, not flower.” Copper was on his last nerve, he wasn’t the most patient of people, nearly rivaling Blaze in the temper department, and the odd boy was trying what little he had.

“Oh,” said Stormcloud. “Still pretty like eyes.” And went right on studying the corn. Sprite was more sympathetic then Copper, and rose from his lying area to walk over to were Stormcloud set examining the plant.

“Would you like to bring Eclipse some pretty flowers?” asked Sprite. He enjoyed giving his friends flowers that he had enchanted to stay alive for weeks. Stormcloud nodded with great enthusiasm. He thought flowers were pretty, especially Sprite’s, and that Eclipse might like them.

“Well, I have some pretty yellow ones you might like to give him.” Sprite led Stormcloud away from the corn, to another area of the garden that had many bushes boasting large and elegant flowers in a different array of colors. Sprite led him straight to one that had yellow colored blossoms.

Stormcloud was enchanted by them. They weren’t as golden as the corn, but they were much prettier and smelled better. He was certain that Eclipse would like them.

“They are called yellow roses,” said Sprite, as he took from his tool belt a pair of shears to cut a dozen off the bush, that immediately were replaced. Stormcloud was shocked.

“Magic!” he exclaimed as the flowers grew back. Sprite chuckled.

“My magic,” he said with a smile. “The flowers grow pack the minute I cut one and the cut ones last much longer then normal ones do.” Stormcloud nodded in wonderment and picked up one of the roses, only to have it sting him like a bee. He yelped and dropped the rose and began to suck on his fingers to stop the bleeding. Sprite took his hands to examine the pricks.

“Should have warned you,” said Sprite, sighing that the wound wasn’t serious. “Roses have thorns to protect them. They are considered the most beautiful of the flowers, and have the most meaning.” Sprite began to pick them up and arrange them in his arms. He held a single one up. “Yellow means friendship and forgiveness, I think that is a good symbol for you and Eclipse.” Stormcloud nodded, not really understanding. Sprite rose up and led Stormcloud inside, followed by an amused Copper. It was funny watching Stormcloud so worked up about things that seemed normal to him. He was an innocent like Sky, it made Copper growl low to think of what Flame might have done to Stormcloud.

Sprite led Stormcloud to the kitchen, where some women were. Stormcloud remembered before lunch being told that the large one was the cook, and the others were maids. They nodded a greeting to them, as Sprite took a crystal vase that gave off rainbow colored light from a shelf. He went over to the sink and filled and placed the flowers inside and then filled it nearly to the brim with water. After that, he gave the vase to Stormcloud, and led him from the kitchen to the hallway.

As luck would have it, a rumbled Eclipse was coming down the hall. He seemed to have gotten his nap out of his system, and had come looking for his charged. Upon seeing Sprite and Stormcloud, he smiled a lazy grin and approached them. Sprite nudged Stormcloud forth, and Stormcloud took the hint and walked over to Eclipse to give him the flowers.

“For Eclipse,” said Stormcloud, then willing his voice to become more adult said, “Like eyes. Pretty. Yellow roses.” He scrunched his nose in annoyance at himself for not speaking the words as elegantly as Sprite had, but Eclipse seemed to appreciate the gesture.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the vase gently from Stormcloud. “They are lovely.” Stormcloud and Eclipse remained frozen in each other’s sight and both holding the vase. Seen only to a very pleased Sprite, the tips of the roses turned a deep shade of red.

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Eclipse showed Stormcloud the rest of the house, which was more like a manor. It was vast, even more so then Flame’s had been. Stormcloud had tried to stifle any thoughts of Flame, but being around humans again kept bringing them up. He quieted down his mind by reminding himself that no one was anything like Flame, even the few times he had spotted Blaze.

Dinner was a very casual affair. Master Daystar had decided to make it a picnic as the weather of the late spring was warm enough and Stormcloud seemed to enjoy the outside.

The sandwiches were easier for the boy to handle, as they were meant to be eaten with hands. He ate with relish at the bread that had meats and vegetables in them. He had never had many of these before, and he liked them all. Eclipse was lying on the blanket next to him, smiling at the content look on Stormcloud’s face. The others were lazed next to their love ones, sharing bites and pieces of their meal, and stealing glances at Stormcloud and Eclipse.

Master Daystar watched from the front porch as his pupils made merry. Eclipse introduced Stormcloud to ice cream, which the boy loved, but didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t eat it with his hands. Eclipse smiled at him, and fed him with a spoon, watching as the boy’s eyes filled with joy at every mouthful.

He began to see the emotions swirling and weaving between his star pupil and the newcomer. Both had so similar a past in certain aspects. Both were orphaned at young age, and harmed by one that Master Daystar had trusted so much, Flame.

He wished that those emotions would bloom into something else, but he knew better then try and rush them. He just wished that things turned out for the best for all of his students, so much like the children he never had.

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He sat in the center of the dark room. Oddly dark with the fires licking at every corner, but the light never reached him. He preferred it that way. He loved his fire, but also his darkness. The fire was more necessary than the darkness, but the darkness more desired. He could see the yellow orangey light dancing, and the message that appeared in it, sent to him from one on his allies. He had swore the moment it appeared in the smoke. But hours later, he had calmed back to his normal state. Maybe it could work to his advantage, now that all four he desired were in one place, one for the coffin, one chained to his wall, and two in his bed. All that was left was to just continue with his plan. He smiled. That was easy. The fun would soon begin.


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Author\'s Note: Taken from my fictionpress account. Edited by Saiwa of fictionpress.