From Ivory To Blue

By

Akeluus

"…Get up…!"

The voice was firm, clear and resounding within Blues head. It did not matter if the speaker were inches or miles away, no distance could quiet Ivory Masters tremulous vocations if he wished for his audience to hear him. And though it seemed as though Blue could hardly move or even think after this latest assault, Ivories command was immediately registered and absorbed into his mind.

"…UP, cub! The next command will not be with words." Ivory projected thunderously through the pitiful youth's battered skull.

Blue somehow found the inner reserves of strength to bear the pain of moving his sore arms under himself to perform one pathetic push-up. Getting his legs to follow suit at this point would be something of a miracle, but the determined lad made a valiant effort all the same. He was not yet as winded as he expected himself to be, but the pain in his muscles and joints was debilitating. During a few light crimson coughs, the blue pelted youth managed get a foot under himself and achieve a very low crouch in just under a few hours, it seemed. Moments before he could raise his head, his keen, triangular ears caught the sound of more thunder, not from his militant master or the sky above but from below, a few meters, it seemed. Blue gasped, for he knew very well the source of this tremor, not from any natural seismic phenomenon but from a fantastic suggestion of mental will; Ivory's.

It was merely one faucet of Master Ivory's seemingly endless psycho-kinetic reservoir, this supernatural erosion. Blue knew that this was the only grace his master would allow him for quite a while, given the last assault the youth endured was a concentrated orb of psychometric pressure at nearly point-blank range. The only thing that saved the blue cub from crashing into solid stone this time was luck. He was luckier still that Master Ivory did not utilize his ability to instantly transmogrify himself the considerable distance to stand on the lads back as if he were a street curb.

The ground underneath Blue parted in broken crags, and a great chasm began to form between his weary paws like a large eye opening to behold him. The earth did not simply part from the youth but separate and retreat like a crowd from an erupting flame, with a white-purple flash from far below as a signature stamp from the Master. In seconds, any possible hand hold was far from Blues reach, and he plummeted into what seemed like immeasurable blackness. Immeasurable also was the cubs fear at that moment. Of all things, he could endure the trauma, being thrown and relentlessly pelted with stinging barrages, so long as the vast, blue sky was visible. It was, for personal reasons, the source of his security, his hope, his belief that his dear friend was watching over him from somewhere far away. And now as the youth tumbled into the earths gaping mouth, he was slipping out of sight.

Opening his gleaming, violet eyes after his latest concentration, Master Ivory brought his mind back to his own body's location a great distance from the terrestrial chasm he created. Drawing fresh air into the nasal slits at the end of his porcelain muzzle and back out again slowly, crossing his arms in front of his solid chest, Ivory began to count silently. The ovular end of his powerful, lengthy tail became a metronome as he waited patiently. All of the tests and attacks he had administered on Blue were calculated and necessary up to this vital point. He knew exactly what Blues limits were, where the cub excelled and where he failed, and nearly every single day the scale tipped a little more positively. This last maneuver, the Death Card, was usually where it happened, but he began to feel a sliver of regret as he noted the considerable delay this time.

More out of genuine curiosity than concern, Ivory finally decided to transmit his molecules through the ether to the center edge of his self-made canyon. He admitted, upon seeing the exact size of the fissure, at least wide enough to make several city cars disappear, that his zeal was mostly to blame for the excessiveness. It seemed as well that his own abilities were recuperating at a favorable rate. Ivory still couldn't believe that it took this long to recover from an ordeal that seemed to have happened a lifetime ago. He considered it just a little unfair that the whelp should, in some way, be utilized as a rehabilitation tool, but only for a fleeting moment and swiftly replaced with disappointment. It was mere chance that elicited him to peer down into the inky darkness at his feet as a blue-black blur suddenly sprang from the descending wall beneath him, arced in a bowing curve through the air on a subtle current of psycho-kinetic energy and dart back towards his chest. Ivory had to resist the urge to palm his porcelain forehead between the horns as he phased backwards from his own after-image, having momentarily forgotten that the spontaneously resourceful blue cub had an uncanny ability to "stick" to things.

Blue knew that he was courting disaster by attacking Master Ivory head on, but this tactic would even the scales slightly. Ivory's emphasis was mostly on ranged combat and refining what little metaphysical projectile ability the blue whelp possessed. Short to mid range aural burst attacks were utilized often enough from both parties but never for very long periods of time. Blue actually preferred getting up close and personal with the Master, even though he knew that eventually it would provoke painful psychic volleys and aerial warfare bombardments later on. Young though he was, the cubs innate hand-to-hand skill and resourcefulness seemed to just about match his master's.

The translucent thing put in front of the whelp was just an obstacle, he realized quickly enough. He decided to feign an attack on it before dropping to the ground just beyond the image and propelling himself in the direction he sensed his master's concealed presence to be. Even when he couldn't read Master Ivory's aura very well when he was cloaked like this, subtle tell-tale nuances would give him away: environmental acoustics, clouds of dust kicked up, disturbances in the air, heat wave ripple silhouettes, and in a pinch Ivory's almost imperceptible scent. Blue also knew that Master couldn't travel very far under concealment, and was not incredibly surprised when his young warriors intuition paid off, his novice aura punch impacting with Ivory's forearm at the moment of his uncloaking. The attack brought them close, dangerously so, and at this point Blue was mid air and about eye level with the tall, pearlescent being. Aside from having five powerful limbs, strongest among them being a tail the length and weight of 3 Blues at least, the cub refrained from glancing upward any further than Ivory's collar line into eyes that could stupefy their pray as quickly as they could blink. The height differential between the two combatants was where Master had another advantage in close quarters, and Blue anticipated the attack that was about to follow. Before falling, he swiftly reached out with his other paw to grasp Ivory's extended forearm and swing himself out of the way of the rapidly descending tail coming down at his head. If Ivory had to go toe to toe he would do so in a sideways stance, where he could make the most of his physical arsenal, Blue knew. The cub had only seen this done by the Master a few times before, but he made it a point to remember this seemingly important information. When Ivory's strong forearm began to glow a deep, sparking violet, Blue chanced to drop just a few feet just as the glowing arm was being brought back following the path of the powerful tail. This was also an attack the whelp knew well, a devastating one at that, and his plan would be a very costly one if he failed. As predicted, Master Ivory rose slightly and advanced bringing up his knee a bit and forming a nightmarish claw of dark energy around his three fingered paw before whipping it around at the plummeting cub.

Blue managed to just barely clear the top of the energized limb as it swung around, having bounced up off of Master Ivory's raised leg and vaulted back up to just above eye level. The very end of one of Blues black hair locks was severed cleanly off by the arcing energy, a small price to pay considering the gashes formed in the ground 5 feet from the attack. The cub had blundered his attack, the backwards moonsault kick he had tried to perform over Ivory's attack and at his chin was just a hair too short, and now the whelp was inverted in the air almost forehead to forehead with his Master. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, Blue was still tumbling backwards in the air above Ivory, who's eyes were gratefully still rising to meet his, but the cubs momentum wouldn't allow him a chance to kick down between those dangerous, violet eyes.

Ivory's expression was deadly, he really hated being this close to his opponents, but this opponent didn't get to see his angered face for very long. Just before he could bring his tail around in an apposing arc at the tumbling blue whelp, Flailing black paws puffed with bluish energy before coming down on either side of his face and clapping his muzzle. He felt his tail attack connect, but it was much too close and awkward a blow, somewhat near the middle of it's complete mass and into the pups shoulder. The whelp was knocked away far enough, but scoring a hit with the tip tail bulb would've been more satisfying, as he could easily topple a good sized tree with that technique. Ivory stood his ground and watched as the blue pup sailed towards some nearby foliage and believed he had battered the cub enough to stun him, until a petty but skillfully accurate orb of aural energy zoomed at him from the bushes nearly an instant later. He swatted the ball away quickly and was genuinely impressed by the whelp's blind aim, but he frowned when he considered the attacks speed. Ivory knew that the cub could fire much faster than this, which meant only one thing: A diversion. Opening his senses in the nick of time, the porcelain being registered the swiftly moving signature of the blue whelps form blurring to his flank using aural propulsion.

Confound this close proximity, Ivory growled mentally, and the youth had taken the side where tail was already curved so he would only have enough time to attack with a kick. Ivory's legs roughly comprised the mass of two Blues each and could punt the whelp easily clear of an oak tree cluster, but the trick was actually hitting the mark firstly. The pearl beings foot just passed through a residual cloud of blue dash aura, and he activated an earth cracking psycho-kinetic field bubble but only a split second after discovering the youth running at him up his retracting leg. The whelp always did his very best to exploit Ivory's weakest attribute: his arms, and the psycho Dark Claw would take too long to charge at this point. He had expended too much energy manifesting his momentary PK barrier, so the pearl being's only choice was to stab at the approaching youths face with his three bulbed fingered hand.

The stabbing strike grazed along Blues small chest adding another gash to his already battered front, but it did not slow him down. Concentrating all of his aura ability into his outstretched paw, Blues complete arm span only slightly beat Ivory's single stabbing limb as he delivered a relatively solid blow to his Master's exposed side. It took the vast majority of Blues strength and will to return and get as close as he did, his little legs too sore to hold up much of his weight by now, but the brilliance of the energy that flashed from his paw into Master Ivory's side was almost blinding. It was enough to make the pearlescent being physically growl and clench inward as Blue descended back to the earth and stumble backwards to the ground, just out of tail reach. Now at a safe distance, Blue was very thankful for the momentary reprieve, though he was sure that whatever was going to happen next would take a second to come around but would surely smart.

A defiant well of reflexive aural energy bubbled in his tired limbs as Blue's entire body was suddenly ensnared and hoisted by an invisible vice of psycho-kinetic energy. The indignant flame that burned in the violet eyes the blue whelp was now gazing helplessly into nearly singed him to the core. The inexplicable surge of power he sensed within him could quite possibly save him from the enveloping field, but Blue wasn't quite sure what he would do after that.

Master Ivory was carrying him through the air with what seemed like no more effort than putting on a hat as he stood tall and upright, rubbing his side for a moment. He raised and curled his tail dangerously behind him as he brought the helpless blue pup to within three feet of his piercing violet gaze, boring into the youths frightened, apple red eyes.

"…That…" The ivory beings voice echoed at a gratefully normal volume in Blues scuffed and beaten head, "will conclude your lessons for today. The progress you have made during this latest trial is significant, but you know I expect a far better effort from you in tomorrows training, and all the days after. You will devote much greater focus on strengthening and utilizing your aural abilities in widely varying situations from now on. Am I understood, cub?"

"Y-yes, Master." The youth squeaked pitifully as he hovered within Ivory's invisible grasp. Blues mental communications were mostly short range, almost vocal, and had nowhere near the crushing bass of his masters thunderous telepathic voice.

The light of the setting sun over the distant mountain bathed half of Master Ivory's pearl visage in a warm red-orange glow and darkened it considerably around one of his stern, luminescent purple eyes, making his expression even more terrifying to little Blue. The porcelain being turned to regard those distant mountains for a moment as the blue whelp levitated beside him, his body starting to outline in bright, electric blue.

"Our day is done. We have both earned some rest." Ivory declared, as both their bodies slowly began to glow in more of that cold, aqua blue light. Even after seeing the act at least a few hundred times, Blue never stopped marveling at his Master's ability to teleport not only himself but any number of things simultaneously great distances in the blink of an eye. It was admitted earlier to Blue, after the first tireless inquisition, that the very island they inhabited was transported to this part of the vast ocean some time ago.

Someday I'll learn how to do it too, the whelp promised himself silently again as the pair vanished with a flash. He'd made that particular solemn vow most every time he was audience to the phenomenon.

A wide and sparkling lake was visible through the lush trees and vegetation just outside of Master Ivory's primary domicile: A great cave that traveled a ways into the side of the largest mountain. This sanctuary, home to a small collection of other creatures as well as the tutor and student, was nestled in a small valley just on the other side of the range from where the pair did their training.

These creatures were all beings he created, Master Ivory imparted to Blue upon the whelps first arrival. They, like him, were clones of other creatures, and the entire island was a hidden place where they could all live together in peace and protected from those who would capture and do them harm. Initially, Ivory had summoned many strong warriors to this place as a means of publicly and personally establishing his individuality and his worth, he admitted to the blue cub, but that only brought a host of problems. A number of significant ordeals finally prompted his latest move here, where he enjoyed a time of peace and somewhat unsettling quiet until the arrival of Blue. While the cub was certainly an interloper and something of a risk in simply keeping around, the cloned beings did not consider him a threat and after some familiarizing and careful consideration it was decided that he would be allowed to stay.

As the sun dipped into the horizon beyond the lush trees, Blue dragged his feet to the mouth of the cave upon the pairs return, where the rest of the inhabitants usually awaited them. The first to welcome them, or at least Blue in any case, was a golden coated vixen of many lustrous tails, a fire elemental, who had taken it upon herself to monitor the cub's health. Just shy of performing a tackle on the youth herself, the golden vixen swiftly trotted up and encircled his weary body in her elongated body and tails, curling her muzzle up underneath one of the cub's weary arms and allowing him to lean the majority of his weight against her. After making sure the whelp was secure in her gentle embrace, she would also customarily glare up at Ivory Master and jet a subtle nostril flame as she berated him for such harsh treatment of the youth with intense emotions.

There was little Ivory could do in defense against the bitter vixen's scolding, even though he had explained time and again that such training was necessary for the youth to improve. He wasn't all together sure why Golden Flame's maternal instinct had so ignited around the whelp in the first place, but he ultimately supposed it couldn't be helped. Some of the other creatures felt similarly towards Blue, others, like one dragon-being of amber flame, agreed that Ivory's heavy hand was necessary for the youth to grow strong, and a few were still on the fence about Blues presence in general.

It was the same greeting just about everyday as Ivory hovered into his cave, yawning as soon as he was out of sight, but it was not a burdensome thing. He was actually grateful that they all had something to talk about, to keep occupied with, a welcome sliver of the outside world.

Further into the cave was an area that tapered off to a sheer, upward cliff face nearly a story high that opened up into a smaller cave at the top; Ivory's personal quarters. Once there, the pearlescent being walked the small distance to a wide cot on the floor, sat in it with folded legs and waved a bulbed paw in the air, activating a wide screened television mounted on the far wall. Ivory had little interest in the civilized world, and, in fact, possessed very few pieces of technology on the island, but he still considered the importance of keeping up on world events from time to time.

Recently, subspacial disturbances had begun occurring nearly everywhere, on every continent, speckled within cities and residential districts. A few weeks ago it was just a rumor, word of "portals" appearing here and there in out-of-the-way places, but nothing large scale enough to elicit any kind of panic. Now city authorities and news casters were strongly encouraging civilians to avoid approaching the mysterious wormholes as much as possible.

For Ivory, it was like déjà vu, he was quite familiar with such anomalies. Aside from having personally been through them many times himself, he owed the gates for bestowing upon him the small, blue wretch. He couldn't help but ponder how seemingly convenient it was for the youth to have stumbled into his path. There was certainly something about the timing of the event that made it seem almost "planned". But that theory just didn't hold water, no one in the world knew how to find Ivory or his island except for Ivory himself, and so it was ultimately dismissed.

The porcelain being was eventually aware of and somewhat surprised by the ascension and arrival of the blue cub to his chamber sometime later, when he knew the sun to finally be down. This did not bother him terribly much, for he knew that after a time the golden vixen would track him down and call him to bed from below.

"What does the news say today, Master?" the little one asked timidly as he approached the side of Ivory's cot to view the television screen. "Are there…more doorways now?"

"…It is the same as the day before, cub. Nothing has changed, no one was seen going in or coming out. It is not something you need concern yourself with now anyway." The pearl being imparted to the whelp before waving the device off. For a moment, the chamber was shrouded in complete darkness until Ivory illuminated the small room with many small orbs of soft, white psycho-kinetic firefly light.

Blue sighed and hung his head slightly to look down at his own tiny, black hind-paws on the stone floor. "I was…was just curious, sir." The cub confessed demurely, not being much for words, "I didn't mean to bother you."

"It is understandable, cub. Were I in your position I would be inquisitive as well. But you should retire now and regain your strength for tomorrows lessons, as must I. Golden Flame will be along shortly to collect you."

"Yes, Master." The whelp stated with a short bow before turning back to the edge of the small cliff. Blue had to admit that his eyelids were already getting rather heavy, and he didn't even anticipate walking around this much just after training. He would wait for the golden vixen to arrive below, so that she could offer to catch him and he wouldn't have to expend so much aura power to slow his descent to the stone floor below. His sore limbs would be somewhat rejuvenated from whatever rest he managed to acquire before the very break of dawn, which Master Ivory always beat to the field hands down.

Sure enough, a shrill bark sounded from below not very long after Blue perched at the edge of Ivory's chamber, and the cub dropped down from the light of the white fireflies to the soft, golden plume of the golden vixens tails, subtly illuminated by a candle-light flame at the end of her long muzzle. Blue turned sleepy eyes up the sheer cliff face to the fading firefly light of Master Ivory's chamber and yawned widely as the motherly vulpine carried him off to bed.

A faint whisper of external suggestion awoke Ivory from his dream fitted sleep in the middle of that quiet night. He reached up to rub his temple lightly and exhale as he finally made the decision to stand from his lotus sitting position and stretch his limbs briefly. In the darkness of his chamber, he stood deliberating for a good while before finally making a decision.

Moments later, Ivory was standing in a flat, stony area on the opposite side of the island from the sanctuary. Arms folded, expression stern, he beheld the familiar sight before him with moderate contempt and a speck of curiosity.

There was little moonlight illuminating the surrounding the area, there didn't need to be much anyway, for the spherical, building-sized wormhole Ivory stood before brightened the world around it for quite a ways. It had been here for a while, and the pearl being could never effect its bizarre nature in any way, with any quantity of his power. While it was true that he could possibly move the island yet again to get away from it, Ivory wasn't sure whether or not the portal was bound to the land itself and if such a disturbance would cause an unfavorable reaction.

The only measure Ivory took to monitor its progress from a distance was to erect four psychically energized spires of gem rock, each measuring just about half the gateway's total height, on all cardinal sides of it. These charged spires would not tell him what, if anything, was coming thru or entering the portal, but when and roughly what size the object was.

The shimmering rainbow pool of this wormhole served as the curtain through which the blue cub made his appearance onto Ivory's island. For better or worse, it was also a painful yet somehow necessary reminder of his tumultuous past in the chaotic realm beyond it.

Ivory stood with tightly folded arms and cold, piercing violet eyes trained on the large gateway for a long time before exhaling into the faint, night breeze.

"…If you were anyone else, I would crush you the moment I sensed your presence."

The night yielded no immediate answers for the pearl being after his declaration.

"…Just what is your business here? I will have an answer while you are within my territory, and do not dare speak in riddles."

No voice came through the night air to compliment his, but he did receive an answer in the form of softly whispering music on the midnight wind, very close by.

"Do you intend to keep me standing here all night, Crystal Shadow?"

The sorrowful tune, that of a simple golden harp, continued on the air from the top of one of the stone spires. There, a lone, lithe figure in dark, exotic, form fitting garb, with a visage enshrouded in flowing veils and a delicately wrapped turban, stood perched expertly balanced against the starry sky.

"…Is it I, or the fitful visions of your dreams that brings you here tonight, White Mystic?" the perching figure imparted to Ivory in a gentle, haunting voice, its wispy blonde bangs dancing quietly before its closed eyes.

Ivory curled his tail around slowly as if in preparation to make a crater in the ground behind him before telepathically thundering "I do not appreciate my own pertinent questions being answered with another obscure question. Either make your purpose here known or be gone!"

The figure slowly opened deep, warm maroon eyes on the pearl being below, playing a few more dulcet notes on the ethereal harp before their form vanished in a silent, sparkling mist. A few moments later, the harp music continued anew, only this time at ground level and within the shadow of an adjacent pillar near Ivory.

"I only ask out of genuine concern, old friend." The figure admitted softly as it stepped into the light of the portal, with soundless footfalls and gentle harp music. The figure now revealed itself to be a humanoid female wearing a significantly regal and expertly tailored white dress. Her silken, auburn hair was all pulled and braided back from eyes that were now brilliant sapphire, behind long, tapering elfin ears and underneath a glittery crown of crystal and white gold. Ivory knew this was the only being he'd ever met who could sneak so efficiently into his lands. "I'm afraid I must also apologize to and thank you all at once."

This latest confession was taken with a measure of suspicion by Ivory, and he unfolded his arms in preparation for anything that could come next. "In regards to what, exactly?" the pearl being inquired with a cautious tremor in his mental voice.

The blue eyed stranger brought her softly crooning harp tune to a close before spreading her hands a little and standing openly before the towering figure of Ivory before stating "In regards to your young apprentice, Mystic Warrior, for I am the one responsible for his trespass into your sanctuary. It was necessary to save his life, and aside from being a native to this world I could think of no better caretaker for him than you. I have witnessed not only your remarkable abilities in battle but a fleeting glimpse of your compassion. Given the whelps unfortunate fate, he could use whatever compassion one could afford to bestow."

Ivory continued to glare at the sapphire eyed maiden, folding his arms again as he deemed her approach to be passive in nature. He snorted in frustration and looked back into the shimmering light of the giant portal before imparting "What you saw within the nexus was a mockery of my complete abilities. I needed to see my objective through at all costs, even at a fraction of my true strength. It was... disgraceful!"

"It was significant enough, White Mystic." The regal maiden offered in return, noting the chiseled scowl on the pearl beings muzzle at his offensive memories. "It may not have seemed as such, but very few denizens of my kingdom share such valiance, strength of heart and courage. All these things deemed you most noteworthy among the others, in my eyes. Even alongside the lone champion of my own world."

"…So it was you who brought the blue cub to my island." Ivory stated finally, giving the shadowy, maroon eyed figure a cold glare. "While he is not a threat or a hindrance to me, you do not have the authority to make such a decision, Crystal Shadow. Besides, other such gateways cover this whole world. You could have sent him through any one of them, to any number of willing surrogate parents, even others of his kind. I think the act was ill planned."

"It is true that given the situation at the time I had very few options, but my memory of you was quite clear, Mystic Warrior." The maiden admitted in her soft, disarming voice. "And as I have stated before, I could think of no better caretaker than you, given the similarities of your potential abilities. The cubs own personal quest, and his determination to fulfill it, are a mirror image of your own once upon a time."

Ivory could not find any words to project in response to Crystal Shadows observation. All he could do at that moment was look back across his vast island in the direction of his mountain home. His mind was a swarm of contradicting emotions, behind his tightly furrowed brow.

"The cub needs the kind of training only you can give him, if he is to successfully complete his quest. You can mold and shape him into the strong warrior he was meant to be, for the sake of the one he lost. Only, do not favor one half of his strengths over the other, Mystic Warrior. It is my belief that the young one could use more emphasis in his close quarters training."

Ivory only shrugged at Crystal Shadows latest statement, still watching the distant horizon with burning, violet eyes.

The mysterious, sylvan maiden began to play her haunting harp melody once again after a moment of palpable silence. She turned quietly as she played and paced with soundless footsteps back towards the vast shadow of a nearby spire.

"It is a pity you do not try your hand within the nexus a second time, White Mystic. It would be an honor to battle the chaos alongside you once again."

"…Apart from my obligations here among my charges, I don't have even a suggestion of the vaguest desire to return to that childish insanity, thank you very much."

Crystal shadow couldn't resist a soft chuckle in accompaniment to her haunting harp melody. "I shan't be far away." She stated simply before stepping into the spire's shadow and vanishing, from view and from that place, leaving the quietly fuming pearlescent being to his thoughts. And there he stood for some time that night, in the quiet company of his memories and the shimmering portal sphere.

Chapter 1