Hiccup did not know what he expected for his first, official, magic lesson with Gyda. He did know he never entertain the thought it would happen in his hut with his brother laying on the floor in pain. He did know he had no thought that Astrid would be aiding Gothi repair the tear in Toothless' wing membrane and salving and bandaging the gashes endured in the fight. He never envisioned the lesson would have Moondust sitting close enough to the three to watch but also looking as if she was at fault for all that had happened.

"Hiccup."

Hiccup blinked at the hand waving in front of his face. He turned, finding Gyda staring at him with a lifted eyebrow. He grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't be," Gyda replied. "Toothless is your brother. If you weren't distracted, I'd be worried. But this presents a great opportunity for you. Your core is awake, but did you notice something while looking at it versus mine or Toothless' or Sharpshot's?"

"Yeah. Mine flashed all colors and I felt odd sensations with each color. Yours flashed four. Toothless and Sharpshot's only flashed one."

"Those are the colors of magic," Gyda replied. "Each represents a field available for you to learn. Right now, your core holds all the colors because you have not focused upon one or more. Mine shows the four fields I have chosen to master. The dragons are different in that they don't learn as we do, but their colors represent a major part of their breath attack."

"Is that why theirs is in their throats?"

"Aye."

"What do the colors means and why did I feel sensations when my core flashed a certain color?"

In answer Gyda held her hand out, palm facing up. A fireball formed in the air just above her palm, but Hiccup saw that her entire hand glowed with a faint red hue. He blinked. He had not seen that before whenever Gyda used her magic.

"Every field of magic is both offensive and defensive. Each field represents not some ideal, but a balance. Fire can be destructive, causing chaos and pain in its wake, but it can also be renewing. The soil after a forest fire holds more food for the seeds that survive which makes for a stronger forest. As with everything in life, how one uses their knowledge and their skills determines the good or evil therein. Everything begins and ends with the intent of the user and the moral code they follow. Understand?"

"Yes. You said the same about karate. Mrs. Hofferson said the same about weapons training."

"Correct. Fire can be both powerful and long lasting. Those who master it will find spells that can wipe out villages, armies, anything within the path of the user. For those inclined to evil, this fire will destroy, but for those inclined to good, this fire will aid and protect."

The fireball disappeared. Lighting now curled around Gyda's hand and Hiccup saw the blue-purple hue dancing around her hand.

"Lighting is also powerful, but it is quick. One may blink and it will be gone. Those who master it find spells that can strike a single target out of a crowd of hundreds. Those inclined to evil could use this to kill much like an assassin if you are familiar with that term."

Hiccup nodded. As Stoick's son, and before his father stopped taking him to the Things, Hiccup had learned much more than the other teens had. He did not boast about this knowledge. It just was expected that a Vikings chief would learn more than just what their own island had to offer and would learn to read, write, and speak more languages than just Norse after all.

Gyda tipped her head. "Those inclined to good could use the spells found with this form of magic to hit a specific target during a war. Warriors who see those who hold rank downed, one by one, via lighting bolts typically do not wish to continue the fight, especially if there is no indication the bolts came from a storm."

The lighting vanished. This time a dusting of snow swirled in the air above Gyda's palm. Hiccup saw the icy blue hue coating her hand as well.

"Ice, like fire and lighting, is powerful and just as destructive. It also holds fast to whatever it touches. Oceans can freeze to the point people and dragons can walk over them, as we saw with the Speedstingers. Ice also is both quick and lingering."

Hiccup frowned. "That makes no sense."

Gyda smiled. "A magic user can use a single shard, sharpened to a blade's edge to kill with a swift strike to a point upon their enemy that causes instant death. Lighting and fire can be used in the same fashion as well, but whereas lighting does not linger long at all and fire's lingering damage only smolders, ice slowly and silently kills. A person trapped in ice soon feels no pain and merely falls asleep. A person trapped in flames feels their death with every heartbeat."

The snow disappeared and Gyda looked towards Gothi. "I hold no mastering of and very little training in the next field. Gothi, however, has both." She turned back to Hiccup. "The next field is water. I know what I was taught by my master back home as all mages are at least given an overview of all the fields. Since Gothi is busy, I'll tell you the same thing I was told. Water is both life giving and life taking. It can strike with the quickness of lighting but linger with the strength of fire and ice. A master in water can bring an end to a drought starved village or drown that village in tidal waves."

"What about black?" Hiccup asked. "I saw that color and felt as if something was hidden from my sight."

"That is illusion." Gyda grinned. "I guess those who formed these fields ran out of elements to name them from. Or just got lazy." She shrugged. "I will never know."

"How is illusion both offensive and defensive at the same time?"

"Before I answer that, I must stress this: Out of every field this one is the easiest to become corrupt with. The magic user who master this must go in knowing who they want to be when the finish. They must hold fast to that determination even beyond being declared a master."

"Why?"

"Illusion deals with the mind and its ability to see and process what it sees. When we rescued Heather's parents, remember that I went looking like someone else?"

"Yeah."

"I, for lack of a better term, tricked all who saw me into see something that was not there. Illusion magic can shatter people, Hiccup. Those inclined to be evil can leave their victims with no will and no ability to think for themselves."

Hiccup frowned. He did not like the sound of that. It flew too close to his experience with that slave owning chief. "What can those who want to do good do with this field?"

"Create barriers that protect and guard. Use spells such as I did to ensure missions are accomplished, especially if the mission includes rescuing people who are probably guarded."

Hiccup's eyes widen. "So, all those barriers you created, they're not really there?"

"No, they are solid or they wouldn't do what they are supposed to. But they are manipulations of what is real and what is not. By themselves they are also harmless, much like a wall of stone. They just stand between what is to be guarded from those who would harm or take it. It's when they are combined with one of the other fields that the can become deadly. I used lighting while you all were in my cave. You used fire. That is another way illusion can be easily corrupted. A master in this field can distort what is real and add one of the others, making those trapped experience the deaths that come with those elements."

"So, how does one choose which field they will master?"

"By knowing themselves."

Hiccup blinked. "I don't understand."

Gyda smiled. "Within you lies the answer to your question. It is not something I can tell you. It is something you will have to discover upon your own."

Hiccup grunted. "That's not helpful."

Gyda chuckled. "It's not meant to be. It's meant to make you think. To be a mage means you must always know yourself, for the things you know and things you learn can so powerfully aid or harm those around you, not to mention killing you in the process if you aren't careful."

Hiccup frowned. "But how will I know myself?"

Gyda stared at him in silence for several heartbeats. "By living."

Kirika: Hehe, well, for one of his sons, maybe not so long. Yes, he is gone. He was given many chances to live but he chose poorly. Moondust is learning to trust again. That does take time. Toothless' sister is learning that there is always two sides to every story and that what she thought was correct was not the whole of it. Kinda reminds me of the Vikings both before and after the Red Death died.