Season of Summer, Day 45, 513 AV
Jorin had finally found his balance when the sun melted Uleru's ice. He watched in curiosity as she generated another ball. He was greatly curious what these shimmering balls and masses were. He was certain they had something to do with magic, but what was it? Since he saw her generate wind, water, and ice, clearly the translucent balls were not filled with one of those elements, but those elements were probably transmuted from it. Or something ... he couldn't be sure.
He'd barely paid any attention to magic when he was still in Zeltiva; the classes existed, he knew the names of some of the courses just because they were posted in the University, and he had to walk past them to get to his father's office in the Mathematics wing. But he had no clue what any of the names meant. He remembered a few, there was ... Auristics? Was that what it was called? Also something called Reimancy, although apparently those classes were for advanced students only. There were a couple of others but Jorin had forgotten their names. But all he really knew was that they were some form of magic, he had no idea what any of them were actually about.
This time, Uleru didn't try to trip Jorin with her magic, opting instead for creating a thin strip of ice about three meters in length. Jorin raised an eyebrow, not really understanding what the purpose of such a creation would be. He found out a moment later when she exclaimed, "Come!", grabbing his arm and throwing them both onto the ice, sliding across it. She seemed to shimmer with a silvery color as she laughed, clearly very happy to play on the ice as she flopped about much like Jorin had a moment ago. Jorin tried to stand, but kept falling as well, so taking a cue from Uleru he decided to just roll about on the ice too. The cool surface was certainly a comfort against the hot summer sun.
After a while, the ice melted, and Uleru looked back up, looking sheepish. Jorin just grinned at her. It was good to cut loose every once in awhile, he thought. She asked him about Zeltiva. Jorin nodded.
"Ah yes, my home city," he began. "Zeltiva's an interesting city. It's probably one of the few places you could go to that has both stuffy mathematicians with their heads in the clouds, sitting next to salty old Svefra sailors downing mugs of ale. I spent fifteen years of my life there, although much of it was in a place called the Zeltivan University."
Jorin had a faraway look as he recalled that place. "The University is a very old institution in the city. I remember one Summer when I was around thirteen. I had just come back from my father's office," and here Jorin's face took on an unreadable expression as he recalled his "sessions" in his father's office, sweating out his answers to the dreaded ten questions, and never getting more than five correct, "there were these two students out in the yard. They'd had an argument, it was clear, although I had no idea what it was about. One of them, she ... she transformed her arm! I'd never seen anything like it, her hand just transformed itself into some sort of bony, knife-like projection, and her arm took on a scaly appearance. I suppose it must have been some sort of magic, but their argument ended there when an instructor broke up the fight."
Jorin's eyes shone with his recollection of the first time he had ever seen any form of magic used. He'd heard it yelled many times by instructors as he walked by lecture halls, that magic was dangerous and should never be abused. But still, to have witnessed it first-hand ... and now with Uleru he was getting to see it again!
"Oh! But please don't misunderstand! Zeltiva and the University are not violent places! It was just -- that was the first time I'd ever witnessed magic before. Of course I knew it existed; the University taught magic after all and I spent nearly seven years of my life going to and from my father's office there, but up until then I'd never actually seen it. In fact, learning and seafaring are very closely intertwined in that city, and some of its best features are on the coast."
Jorin shifted in the sand as he continued. "My mother, she used to bring me to the docks every morning, to see the sunrise. She said it was important to give thanks to the sea that gave us life, and to respect the sun, which gives us light. As an artist, she always believed that in order to truly make art based upon something you needed to understand it, to breathe it, to live it. Else your art would be hollow and without soul."
Jorin paused. "It's different than here. There, on the docks there were always ships of every shape and size, of every nationality and hue, all mingled together. You'd see Svefra, and Isur, and Konti, and Kelvic, you'd even see a few Akalak. Every single race running about on the docs. Riverfall's docks do trade, certainly, but Zeltiva's docks were trade. The city relied on it for its survival. So the docks were always alive with people."
Jorin smiled at Uleru. "I think you'd like it there. I know nothing of your people, but you seem to come from the water, and they have great respect for Laviku in that city. But ... I had found it too stuffy for me. Perhaps it was just me, my own desire to see more of the world, but for all its benefits, Zeltiva felt confining. On the day the Traveling Thespians had arrived, I was feeling very restless, and you should have seen them! They were in top form that day, the colorful costumes glistening in the sun, made-up faces in a multitude of different emotions as they strode confidently across the stage, their voices carrying in the ocean breeze."
Jorin laughed. "I remember being so entranced, I got home late that night. My father was so angry with me, wondering where I had been. When I told him he was even angrier." Jorin shrugged. "I suppose I'd expected that reaction. By that point in my life though, I had become convinced that my destiny lay outside the confines of Zeltiva. So no amount of shouting was going to change my mind."
Jorin stood up, picking up the stick Uleru had dropped when she had decided to play on the ice.
"Ok, let's try this again," he said with a smile. "I'll succeed eventually, just you watch!"
With that, Jorin decided to get back into the first stance he was in. The lower stance was more stable, it was true, but also sacrificed mobility. He found himself essentially rooted in that stance, which was dangerous if he needed to move quickly. Deciding the other one was more efficient under general circumstances, he hefted the branch and eyed Uleru warily, wondering what new magical trick she would use this time.
