Street Magic 2
By Ashurasempai
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters..yadda..yadda..nor do I own "Appurushîdo," (Masamune Shirow and Seishinsha do.) but I do own Appurushîdo airisu. Sort of. :-D Hehe.. Appurushîdo airisu equals Appleseed iris. Man, I'm corny..xD;;
A/N: Yay! We have managed to reach chapter two. I greatly appreciate your reviews, and I hope to be able to improve this story. If the characters are out of character, I am very sorry. x.X;; Enjoy!
ON HIATUS!
End of Chapter 1 Recap: "As he turned his head around to view the bountiful mountain shrubbery, he noticed that Rosethorn had dismounted and was carefully examining something on the roadside. Frowning, he dismounted as well, and went over to Rosethorn to see what had intrigued her..."
Street Magic 2 - Chapter 2
"Hey, Rosethorn, wha...what in the name of the Green Man is that?" Briar stared, mouth dropping open at the magnificent sight that sat on the ground in front of him. It was a tiny plant with leaves and blossoms that seemed to be made of glittering, crystalline glass. He watched while Rosethorn continued to examine the sparkling plant.
"To tell you the truth, Briar, I don't know what this plant is," Rosethorn murmured. She thrust a hand out and broke a leaf off, holding it up to the sun and rotating it so that the facets of the leaf glittered in the sunlight. "The plant appears to be quite ordinary, except for the fact that it behaves like crystal. It looks like an Appurushîdo airisu, but I'm not too sure. I've never seen one like this before."
Briar snorted. He knew well that Rosethorn was probably correct in her assumption,because she was usually right as he had learned after several years of studying with her, and he was intrigued that this plant had stumped her. Kneeling on the dry dirt path of the road, Rosethorn proceeded to dig the plant out of the moist soil and put it in a small earthen pot, which she then placed in a basket located in the cart that transported their goods. She mounted her golden palomino, and it started off again towards Winding Circle. Briar, who had begun staring off into space, jerked out of his reverie about small bushes, flowers, and whatnot, and sped to his own horse. He and Evvy followed Rosethorn, Briar continuing to ponder about the plant, and Evvy muttering the uses of malachite under her breath.
The next day, Briar woke at dawn to the sounds of the birds and animals around them, and crawled out of his tent, to be greeted with the sight of the magnificent mountain view. After rubbing his eyes to rid them of sleep, he instinctively sniffed the air, and inhaled the scent of food cooking. He glanced over to his right, and noticed that Rosethorn and Evvy were already awake, cooking what was to be breakfast. As Rosethorn stirred the pot that sat on a glowing rock, Briar noticed that the rock seemed to glitter with magic, and he looked at Evvy, whose face told him that she had a part in the fact that the stone glowed and emitted strong waves of heat. Briar walked over to the steaming pot, and a quick glance into it told him that breakfast would be rice porridge.
"You did a good job with that stone," Briar complimented Evvy. She beamed.
"Pahan Rosethorn suggested it as an exercise in controlling my power," said Evvy. Briar turned to Rosethorn, and she grinned at him.
"I thought she should practice whenever the chance came up," Rosethorn commented. "She did an excellent job with this." Evvy beamed once again at the praise, and Briar gently cuffed her over the head.
"Don't become too arrogant, or you'll end up like Jooba-hooba." Despite this, Briar grinned at Evvy's obvious happiness and turned his attention back to the steaming pot of porridge.
"I won't. Besides, he was an idiot, becoming a zernamus, just so he could have power and money. That fat tub of senseless lard couldn't do anything but order people around," muttered Evvy. She rolled her eyes at the very thought of herself becoming that way. Briar nodded in acquiescence, and accepted a bowl of porridge from Rosethorn. He poked at the porridge with a wooden spoon, and wrinkled his nose.
"Rosethorn, don't we have anything to add to this?" Briar whined, continuing to prod at the brown grains in the bowl.
"As I recall, you gobbled up all of our stores of seasonings back in Chammur," Rosethorn teased. Briar rolled his eyes and went back to his porridge prodding. After gulping down spoonfuls of the excessively plain porridge, he got to his feet and went to the stream nearby to clean his bowl and spoon. After he finished, he handed the bowl to Rosethorn, and went over to Evvy, who was still slowly eating her breakfast, with her cats circling around her.
"Hey, Evvy, hurry up, and then we can start working," urged Briar.
"Hm? I'm hurrying..." mumbled Evvy from behind her bowl. She finished eating, and then stood up. "What are we doing today, pahan Briar?"
"First of all, don't talk with your mouth full," said Briar. Rosethorn snickered, and he raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she was amused by the fact that he had similar manners in the past before she had cleaned him clean of them. Or not. Briar snorted, then said, "Clean up, and we'll start with meditation." Evvy nodded, and washed her bowl in the stream, and then handed it to Rosethorn. Briar led Evvy over to a patch of dirt, motioning to Evvy to sit down. She did so, and he drew a circle of protection, using oil made of rosemary, cypress, and rose geranium. The barrier rose up and enclosed Evvy and himself in a dome-shaped bubble.
"Eugh...pahan Briar, can't you use anything else?" she wrinkled her nose at the scent, and Briar rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"It's one of my best for making a barrier, and besides, it's not like you've never smelled this one before," he said, sitting down in front of her. She nodded, sniffled a few times, and then sneezed, loudly. Briar sighed. She had smelled this particular oil at her first lesson which was his first attempt at teaching. However, she never lost an opportunity to rib him about the smells of his various potions, each of which she had deemed quite putrid. "And don't call me pahan Briar," mumbled Briar. "Just Briar. Getting called pahan by you makes me feel too old." Evvy nodded in answer, smiling slightly, and Briar began the lesson.
"Okay, think of a small piece of quartz, and draw your power into it." Evvy closed her eyes, and her skin quickly glowed with sparkles of power. Briar raised an eyebrow in surprise. She really has gotten better. Maybe I can start teaching her other stuff...
"Hey Evvy, later, I'll teach you some things you can do with your power," said Briar. She opened her eyes, and jumped around excitedly.
"I'll be a stone pahan soon, and then I'll show that fat head Jooba-hooba what a true stone mage can do," she exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement.
"Not so fast, you still need to work a lot before you become really good," said Briar, grinning. However, he understood her unrestrained enthusiasm. When he first found out that he was a plant mage, he had been reluctant to accept that fact, but soon, he enjoyed working with the plants in and around Winding Circle. He wondered whether Rosethorn had felt the same way when she had first taught him the ways of plants, back when he began his studies, what was it, five years ago? He had lost track of time, but he clearly remembered the day he was sentenced for life to the docks, but was fortunately discovered by Niko to have magical powers. It seemed it happened like eons ago already. He recalled meeting Sandry, Tris, and Daja, with whom he hadn't gotten along with well at first, but they had quickly become fast friends...
"Briar...hello, Briar...Briar?" Evvy was waving a hand in front of his face, having noticed that he, once again, had blanked out right in front of her.
"Hm? What? Oh, sorry," mumbled Briar. He got to his feet, and broke the circle with a quick wipe of his hand.
"What were you thinking about?" inquired Evvy, staring at him with interest. Briar shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts.
"Nothing...nothing at all," he muttered. Hearing a hearty laugh to his right, he turned, and saw Rosethorn attempting to appear solemn, but failing terribly, her fist stuffed over her mouth, and her shoulders quaking with laughter. Briar sighed, and turned back to Evvy.
"Do your chores, and then after lunch I'll begin to teach you how to make your own barrier," Briar said. Evvy ran off to do her chores, and Briar went to the cart to get his shakkan, and the other miniature trees he had brought with him on this journey. The shakkan, a hundred-and-fifty-year-old miniature pine bent into the shape of an elongated S, was his good friend, and it often accompanied him on trips such as this one. He placed it lovingly on a stump, where it could bask in the bright morning sunlight, and arranged the others around it. He then walked over to Rosethorn, who had taken the Appurushîdo airisu out of the cart and placed it on the stone she had used to cook breakfast, where she was staring at its crystalline formations. The plant glinted, throwing specks of light everywhere.
A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review! Arigato!
By the way, you guys have any ideas about a possible title for this fic, I'd appreciate suggestions, because the current title is kind of lame, even if I do have a reason for naming the fic that way. Haha. Anyways, if you do have a suggestion, put it in your review, and I'd really appreciate it. But, I'm not promising that I'll use your titles. I'm just wondering what you guys think a possible title for the sequel of The Circle Opens: Street Magic would be.
Much thankies to:
My beta: Miharu-san! You teh evil one! xD;
My Reviewers: You guys are so great:)
wishicouldreadmore – I hope to keep the characters in character.
FabeleiNormanSugar – Thankies for the review. I hope that I can write a lot of chapters for this fanfic.
Lady Black Widow – I also liked Evvy's commenting on camels. xD
pheebe – Thankies for the review. I also wonder where Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy will end up. Right now, the story's going where it wants to go, so I'll just let it go there. Lol. It'll probably be as much of a surprise to me as it will to you.
Miharu-san – Thankies for the constructive criticism. I'll try to make the chapters longer.
Chimalmaht – Thankies for the review. I hope to stay true to the book, and to the characters.
BETA NEEDED! - I really need a good beta for this story, because I know I'll make mistakes, and whatnot. So if you've read the Circle of Magic books, particularly Briar's books, I'll really appreciate the help. Just email me at gmail . com (just take out the spaces) if you're interested.
Btw, I'm making this fanfic AU from now on, because I want to practice writing fics and concentrate on improving my writing without having to stick too closely to the story. I'll still try to stick to the story, but I want to practice writing first of all.