A/N- Thanks for the reviews, darthritter86 and The-Saiyan-From-Hyrule. This story seems to be easier for me to write than a lot of my stories.
Disclaimer- I still don't own Zelda
Peaceful sleeping is a wonderful thing, no? No dreams, no loss of ability to fall into the thing called sleep, no one waking you up, nothing disturbing you from just sleeping. It truly is quite a great thing. Something that Malina did not get to have.
First of all, she could not get to sleep. She was too busy thinking about Vaati. He had saved her life? And what about... well, why was he this way now? Did he not like her now because of something that she did back then? Was it something that she should have known about? Something that even with her great memory she could not remember, even as hard as Malina did try? It was a horrible to think that her worst enemy had, at one point, saved her life.
Malina flipped over in her bed, now on her right side. And then she would begin magic training tomorrow. Or later today. Whatever time it happened to be. She didn't even know what had happened during the time that she was asleep. No one had wanted to really explain it to her, she supposed.
And that man. Riste. What was wrong with him? Why did he seem to not like her already? All of this was coming on too fast for Malina. She wished that she could trace back to the time that Vaati had gotten into her mind so she could stop him sooner. If she had been able to do that and not be such a big baby, perhaps she would understand more of what was going on around her. Yes, that would be nice.
Malina sat up in her bed. She absently brushed a piece of hair from her face. It was getting annoying. Maybe she should cut it like Yuumei did. Yuumei had cut her hair into lots of layers and short, barely to her shoulders. There was a lock of her hair that was now a brilliant white, very different against her raven hair. Malina liked it better longer, but Yuumei said that it was easier to manage the shorter it was. Yes, perhaps Malina should try that.
At the thoughts of Yuumei, Malina's eyes went to her bracelet. It glowed faintly in the dark. Malina could not help wondering if there was any sort of magical qualities about it. It didn't seem likely, but it was possible. After all, right after she put it on Vaati was able to get into her mind.
Was it possible that Yuumei wasn't on their side after all?
That was likely not that Malina thought about it. Yuumei was always happy, she could never get angry, she had a amazing voice... she was perfect. Too perfect. No one could possibly be that perfect, no matter how hard they tried. It was entirely possible that this was all something that she was acting to get to their group.
The thought bothered Malina. Especially since Yuumei had sworn that they were 'best friends forever', no matter what Malina did... but what about Yuumei? Would they still be 'best friends' if Yuumei did something wrong? What if she was doing something wrong right now, like contacting Vaati and telling him where they were? The thought made Malina bite her bottom lip. It was much too possible.
The young girl pulled her knees up to her chin, resting it there lightly. She had to get such thoughts out of her mind and try to get to sleep. It was hard, though. With everything that was happening from Malina's sudden distrust of Yuumei to her magic training in the morning... she couldn't suck it all in.
Malina got off her bed and walked over to her windows. She leaned over them and looked around outside. The night was warm, as it always appeared to be in the Zora's Domain. The air was slightly humid, but not as humid as it had been that afternoon.
The outside of the Zora's Domain was large. It was hard to believe that they had managed to keep this place a secret. It was made from all the same white stones with rivers that ran all through the city-like place. This was the largest of all the buildings, but it was not the palace. All of the buildings were simple and tall with nothing on the outside. The palm trees and rushing blue rivers were enough color for these people.
A soft breeze flew through Malina hair, brushing it in her face. She absently brushed it behind her ear. The night was perfect, but Malina just wanted to go to sleep. It felt near impossible with all of the thoughts that rushed through her mind.
She sighed and walked over to her bed and lied down on it. Even if she couldn't sleep, it was better to try than nothing...
"Wake up, girl. I am not going to wait any longer for you, you know," Riste muttered, shaking Malina roughly. The girl groaned and put her pillow over her head. It felt like a second since she had fallen asleep. In reality, though, it had been only an hour.
"Get up!" Riste, by this point, was very annoyed by his new student, so he pushed her off the bed. Malina groaned and tried to life her head off the floor. She failed. "Oh, good, you are awake. Come on, get up, we have work to do. Up, up, up!"
The door shut and Malina sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She glanced around the room. It was still slightly dark, which meant it was about sunrise or dawn. She sighed and rolled her neck, still trying to wake up. She stood up and began fumbling around for her boots. When she found them, she pulled them on, still not really awake. As Malina began pulling up her hair, it finally hit her.
She was going to start learning how to use magic today.
The thought made Malina drop her ribbon and stare forward dumbly. It was such an odd thought. A month and a half or so ago, she would have laughed. So much had happened since that day. Her birthday. The worst day in Malina's memory.
She quickly shook those thoughts out of her mind and pulled her hair up. There was no need to get changed being that she had slept in her clothes and probably wouldn't get any new ones for quite a while. And if she did, it was because they got too dirty from whatever sort of training that she was going to have to go through.
The instant that Malina walked out the door, Riste grabbed her arm. "Come along, we are going outside to begin our work." She followed, not really understanding. But then again, she didn't need to. He was the teacher now. The boss.
Malina was unsure if that was really very good for her. Most likely not.
She, once again, pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She followed wordlessly while he led her outside. The building was so large that if Malina tried to find her way through it, she would most likely end up more lost than a dragon in Lake Hylia. Ha. A dragon in Lake Hylia.
As they exited the building, warmth flew all across Malina. Although it was cool inside the buildings somehow, it was very hot outside. Of course, it was not hot yet, but it would later that day. By the feel of the temperature already, it would be very hot indeed.
They came to a large field with a river that ran all the way around it. No one was there, but it had stands all around that were also made from the same rock as the rest of the Zora's Domain was. It seemed to be used for things like tournaments and sports. However, the Zoras doing fencing brought a smile to Malina's lips.
"This is where we shall practice." Riste said, turning to her. "For at least the next month. I expect you to wake more willingly next time, though." She could do nothing but nod. "Now, come here, to the very middle with me."
Riste sat down as they reached the middle. Malina did so as well. He did not say anything, but he stared at her. She felt slightly uncomfortable while he did this and she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking or what he was doing. Finally, he spoke after five or so minutes.
"We shall begin with learning how to move other things. I suppose that you know how to do at least basic things like that." Malina nodded and Riste stood up. He did not offer his hand to her. He walked over to the river and indicated for her to follow.
"Follow my lead." He said simply. Riste extended his hand and closed his eyes. He fluttered his fingers and the water rippled. He did so even more but began to draw his hand up. The water followed his actions. Riste opened his eyes and watched it with not much interest. After a moment of allowing it to come up into the air, he allowed it to drop down, bringing his hand down quickly.
"Now you try." He said just as simply as before. Malina nodded, and began to draw out her magic. The instant that she began doing this, Riste tapped her fingers. She frowned and stopped.
"What?" Malina asked.
"You are not doing it right. You must have the magic come to you, not have you go to the magic." She stared at the man in confusion.
"What, is magic a dog or something?"
"No, it is energy." He replied. "However, you must prove that you are the master of energy. So far, it seems that you are not. You must call it, not draw it. Honestly, do I have to explain everything to you?" Malina bit her bottom lip to keep from answering sharply.
She closed her eyes and sighed. How to draw it out, now... Riste was watching her, his arms folded. After a moment, Malina opened her eyes, a scowl on her face.
"Will you teach me how?" She growled, drawing each word out slowly. He nodded.
"Firstly, though, you must close your eyes. After a while you will be able to call upon your magic with but a blink, but you need to close your eyes for now." Malina did so. "Now, I am just going to assume that you know where your magic is. It changes depending on the person. However, that magic is the most vulnerable place in your entire body. If you get hit there, it is over. I thought that you ought to know that."
While Malina shuddered, Riste changed the subject. "To call upon your magic, you must not go searching about like I have seen you do. You must take a deep breath with your eyes closed. You can feel the magic pulse through you if that happens. It will race, for but a moment, up and down your body. In those instances, your body and your soul will be entirely one. It is something that only us users of magic can even possibly understand, not to mention use. Now try it."
Malina sucked in a deep breath and felt what he had been talking about. She had always taken it for granted, this feeling, but now it seemed... so much more interesting now that Malina was aware of it. It felt as though you had power, more than any in the world. Your soul and body being one, huh? It felt... amazing.
"I felt it." She said, opening her eyes. Riste smiled slightly, with slight approval.
"Good. Now, when you feel that energy, direct it to your fingertips. After that, extend your reach down to the water and pull it up as you would pull anything up. It might be a bit difficult at first, but you will get the hang of it in time."
Malina closed her eyes and took another deep breath. As the energy rushed through her during that moment, she pushed it all towards her fingers. It was much more difficult than she had expected. Imagine being able to move your blood all over your body at just your want. You would then have slightly what it felt like to push your magic around, only it is more of a feeling than an actual liquid.
She ignored the difficulties and pushed it to her fingers. Soon it was all there, within a second. However, to Malina, it felt as though it had been much longer. She pushed past her fingers, and felt empty space all around her. The feeling of trying to keep that magic bridled while it was so wanting to be free, fly into the sky was near unbearable. However, it was only near. Malina knew that she could do it.
She pushed the magic down, forcing it towards the water. Images played in Malina's mind of the magic swirling around her, beautiful and free. It wanted to play, not to lift the water. It was... alive almost, which was strange for her.
It, in the end, lifted up the water. Malina felt a bead of sweat go down her face and she let it go after holding onto the water for perhaps a minute. She turned to Riste, whose expression was beyond surprised. It held astonishment, hurt, and even some slight fear. However, he quickly smoothed it out.
"Quite interesting." He said. "You managed to do it your first time. There has only been one of my other students that have been able to do that, and it was Vaati. He was extatic about it, too. You need to not push yourself as hard, though. You already look like you are about to faint and we have a whole day ahead of us. Now, do you have any questions that you would like to ask me about your magic or using it before we continue?"
"Well..." Malina began. "Is magic... alive?" Riste stared at her for a moment.
"I have heard that sometimes magic is so strong sometimes that it gains its own sense of life. It could be alive right now quite easily if you are strong enough. I know that Vaati asked me that after using his magic properly the first time. I do believe that you two are a lot alike. If you train as well and hard as he did, you might have a chance of defeating him, you know. I can only hope that you do not kill him."
"Do you really think that my magic could be... alive?" Malina asked. Riste sighed and sat down. He patted the ground beside him, indicating that this might take a while to explain or cause even more questions to burst from the young girl.
"Yes. It can be. I believe, however, that magic is only alive if the person that it is in is very alive as well. If they are someone who is not bound to use their magic often, then they're magic will just sit inside of them, never to be awakened to what they could be. My magic is not alive because I am likely to use it after this. You, though... I must say that after this is all over with, your magic will be gone. That is my belief, but it is nothing more than a guess. Your magic will not abandon you; it will die."
"Oh." That left Malina feeling a little down. "So, you mean that my magic... will die? I'm not sure that I want that to happen."
"It is of no matter." He said. "Even though I understand life, you will understand your magic more than I ever will. Perhaps you will be able to communicate with it after a while, whilst I still can only understand the ways of life. I believe that in the most needed moment of your life, your magic will mature. It will become greatly powerful, so powerful that it will wear itself out. So even if you do win the battle against Vaati, your magic will be gone."
"You said that Vaati asked the same question. Does that mean that Vaati's magic is alive, too?" Malina questioned. Riste nodded.
"Yes. After a while, I would see his face crunch up in concentration and, every once in a while, talk to himself. He told me that his magic was talking with him and did not understand the meaning of no, as though it were more of a child than him. After a while, he seemed to be able to convince it that he was the master here, not the magic."
Malina giggled at the thought, but wished that the magic had more control. Magic seemed to have, by what she could tell, a more carefree spirit than any Hylian was able. Besides, of course children. As the magic seemed to notice that Malina was thinking about it, it sent images of cute dolls, the castle gardens, and her mother. It wanted to make sure that she was happy, and that made her smile even further.
"What?" Riste asked, his face slightly curious.
"The magic wants me to be happy." Malina explained. "So it's sending my favorite memories to me. The gesture makes me feel more happy than the actual memories do." Riste sighed, obviously not understanding.
"All right, then. Would you like to start training again? We can learn more about the intentions of your magic later, but for now let us get back to lifting the water and such." Malina nodded and stood up, dusting the dirt off herself.
Even as they began working again, Malina's thoughts were elsewhere. She was thinking about her magic. It seemed to be that Riste didn't think of this as something odd, but it obviously was. She felt slightly nervous about this. Something else to make her feel weird and out of place.
It's okay! A chiming voice said in her head. You can do it! And I'll help!
This just made Malina sigh further. Because her magic was talking to her, it just made her feel... insane, she supposed was the word. And she didn't really like this feeling. It even made her feel slightly guilty for some reason. But why? A question that she certainly couldn't answer no matter how much she wanted to.
"Stop that." Riste said in annoyance. "You are thinking too much about your magic, and not enough about using your magic. Now hurry up, I want you to have this down by the end of the day!"
Malina sighed and wished that he wouldn't read her thoughts so much. It was rather annoying and she didn't like it. His eyes narrowed at her as she thought this. Malina realized that he was probably still reading them, so she continued working, only faster.
What an interesting first day of training it had turned out to be so far. Malina glanced up and saw the sun was barely out. And it had only just begun. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like today very much.
"Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to get to work!?" Riste practically shouted in Malina's ear. She rubbed it and began again. Don't want to get this guy mad.
A/N- Please, R&R. You may think that you don't need to, but it really helps me out. It gives me a greater want to write!