Here's chapter fifty - two. Thank you caitlinkeitorin for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter Fifty - Two: Warning
Gillick wandered slowly along through the forest. For the first time since leaving the Silver Fang, he wondered what he'd do next. The reason I came out here was to find Silver and collect the bounty on her head. Since I'm not part of her little group anymore, I suppose I could go back to that. Truthfully, though, he had no desire to continue trying to hunt down Silver.
He exhaled heavily, looking up to the sky. For two years, I've traveled the world. But what has it amounted to? "Is there even a reason for me to keep going?" he muttered aloud. He wondered if he'd still feel the same way if he hadn't briefly been a part of the Silver Fang, where it had felt as if he were doing something important; as if he had a purpose. Then he gritted his teeth and lowered his head. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore, does it? he reminded himself harshly.
To keep his mind off of other thoughts, he halted and withdrew his sword, deciding to see if he could figure out the weapon's supposed 'powers'. I wonder…would it respond to magic? He discarded the thought soon after it occurred to him. If it reacted to magic, then it would have reacted to the other magic users he'd fought in the past. Besides, he wasn't willing to use magic, a trait associated with the Keyblade, just to test out his theory.
Gillick rubbed his eyes tiredly. This is getting me nowhere, he decided, impatient with trying to decipher the sword's power. He traced a finger along the runes, and only felt cool steel. He shook his head. This is ridiculous. There's no power in this thing. The runes glowing was probably just my imagination. He jabbed the weapon back into its sheath and continued off in the direction he'd been heading.
He froze suddenly as he saw the trees begin to thin out. An odd sense of foreboding crept through him as he stared between the trunks. For some reason, he felt as if he shouldn't go that way. Irritation immediately flashed through him. What are you, a coward? he hissed to himself. Pushing away his misgivings, he stalked forward.
Then the trees ended, and he beheld a scene of carnage. He stiffened as he looked at the destroyed landscape, the broken bodies, and the living people who looked lost and heartbroken. Scanning the area, and image flashed through his mind: a stocky armored figure, striking out with magic and brute force at anything it could reach; the nightmare that he'd faced as a young Keyblader. The Knight.
He could see the monster swooping down and disorienting the travelers, then going for its first victim, its claws cutting into her fragile flesh. He could see it as clearly as if he'd lived it.
Gillick averted his amber gaze, narrowing his eyes. It doesn't matter. This doesn't affect me. He tried to ignore the part of him that disagreed; he didn't have time to deal with a mess cause by a monster he had little connection to. His legs, however, carried him away from the scene faster than he'd intended.
Riun looked up as Jish walked over to him. "Well," the cat man said, "are you ready to begin?"
The boy gave a quick nod. "Yeah."
"Good." Jish moved a few paces away, then quickly began pacing back and forth with his hands folded behind his back. "Now, we've established that you can already use the Fire spell with proficiency, and Fira has shown improvement. We shall keep up work on those. Now, however, we shall focus on other magical attacks."
Riun's eyes brightened. "New attacks?"
Jish paused in his pacing and nodded and affirmative. "Yes. As a mage, it would be better to be well versed in all elemental attacks…or at least the main stream ones."
Riun nodded vigorously in agreement. "Great! What do I do?"
"Well, for starters, we can warm up with a simple Fire spell."
Riun nodded, quickly drawing on his magical energies and, with a call of "Fire!" shot a small fireball from his hand.
"Excellent," Jish said as the boy turned to look at him for approval. Riun felt a flash of sadness when he remembered the Gillick had been the one who'd first taught him this. I don't know why the Silver Fang were so mean to him, he thought glumly.
"Are you even paying attention?"
Riun jumped as Jish snapped agitatedly at him. "Um, s-sorry," he stammered, looking down.
Jish sighed. "Well, to repeat myself, I said that you'll have to do something similar for all spells; that is, draw on the magic inside of you." Riun nodded, wide - eyed and trying not to lose his focus. "That magic, then, will be shaped by how much power you draw from, as you know with Fira, and by how you form the energy."
Riun frowned. "Form the energy?" Jish nodded. "It sounds complicated at first, but don't worry; once you master a magical command, it takes little effort on your part to use it." He cleared his throat. "Now, the spell I'm about to teach you is called 'Blizzard.' As it's name suggests, when used it will send out a small blast of ice."
"Cool!" Riun exclaimed, excited at the sound of it.
Jish grinned at his enthusiasm. "Well, then. When you formed your Fire spell, the energy felt hot, yes?"
Riun frowned, his mind winging back. "Yeah," he said after some thought.
Jish nodded. "For Blizzard, the energy you form will need to feel cold, not hot. Then, to release that energy, you will call out 'Blizzard'."
"Blizzard!" Riun commanded, dragging out some energy.
"Not yet!" Jish protested, but it was too late. Riun was shocked when, instead of a small burst of ice leaving his hands, a small explosion blew up in his face. He fell backwards, coughing. "That is why the energy needs to match the command; if not, it'll blow up in your face, as you just saw."
Riun rubbed his eyes, trying not to feel shaken by the explosion. "But how do I make it feel cold?"
"When you draw the energy out, you have to focus on 'cold'. With practice, it'll be as easy as breathing."
Gillick lifted his head in surprise as he heard something explode up ahead. He frowned. I don't know what's going on, he thought, but whatever it is, it has nothing to do with me.
He was starting to head forward, away from the explosion, when he heard a familiar voice. "Gillick?"
He stiffened at the sound of his name, then turned amber eyes to meet clear blue. "Mala," he greeted tersely, wondering exactly how he should feel. Should he be nervous, angry…or what was that other emotion? Happy? …No, that couldn't be right.
He saw surprise flickering in her eyes. "What are you doing here? Do you know what the Silver Fang will do if they catch you?"
Gillick snorted. "I didn't even know the Silver Fang were here," he countered. "I was just passing through."
"Oh," Mala responded sheepishly, looking down at her feet. "I thought…you might be following us."
"Why the hell would I do that?" Gillick queried, eyes narrowing.
"Well…you and the Silver Fang have a common mindset," she responded quietly. "You hate Keybladers…"
She trailed off, her eyes suddenly growing wide as she realized what she'd said. Gillick, however, had long since ceased to care. "Yeah. But that doesn't mean I'm going to go around after people who hate me."
"I…see your point, I guess," Mala admitted quietly. Looking at him, she said quickly, "Riun's training over there, if you wanted to see him."
"Where the explosion came from?" Gillick asked, suddenly worried. Then he checked himself. Why should he be worried? It wasn't his problem anymore.
Mala nodded. "He's trying to learn a new spell, but it's not going too well," she informed him.
"How do you know?" Gillick asked, looking at her curiously.
"I've been watching," she told him. "Come on, if you want to see." She headed off past him, and he silently debated about whether or not he should follow her. In the end, he decided to go for it, and remained a few paces behind her until they reached the border of a small clearing. They remained hidden in the shadows of the trees, near the trunks.
In the clearing, a cat man - Gillick remembered his name was Jish - stood over Riun. He was telling the dejected looking boy to try again. Riun rubbed his nose and nodded, standing up. It wasn't long before the spell exploded in his face again. "Doesn't look like he's doing to well," Gillick observed.
"But he's still trying," Mala said, her voice hard.
"I guess that's a good thing."
He knew the thief didn't know how to respond to that comment, and so she fell silent. The two watched the boy and his mentor in silence for a while, though the young student didn't seem to be making any progress. After a while, Mala spoke up again. "So what are you going to do now?"
Gillick thought of the Silver Fang, of his sword and its 'power', of the Light Army and his brother, and shrugged. "I don't know."
He could practically feel her discomfort. "I see."
"Why are you talking to me?" he asked, his voice growing hard. "I thought you were mad at me."
"Well…friends forgive each other, don't they?"
"We're not friends." He didn't need friends; he didn't want them. He'd be fine on his own.
Mala fell silent again, and as she did, he thought about what had happened at the Dark Army fortress. The Light Army knew about the X - blade now…but what of it? What should he care, if he was no longer a part of it? I should just leave them to their fate; leave this place, and find somewhere else for a while. Somewhere away from Keybladers.
But it appeared his mouth and his mind had two different opinions. Before he realized it, he blurted out, "Keep an eye out for the Light Army, Mala. They have some knew knowledge that'll cause a lot of problems."
"What?" she asked, surprised.
Gillick wanted to hit himself. You idiot! You said you were going to stay out of this, didn't you? Before he could get himself into any more trouble, he spun on his heel and headed away, further into the forest.
Mala watched Gillick go with shock radiating off her. What was he trying to tell me about the Light Army? And why go about it in the way he did? Was he nervous about something?
The Light Army, of course, reminded her of Trevor. She frowned and, as she thought of the Keyblader, looked at his older brother's receding form. They're so different in some ways, she thought. But in some, they're very alike.
She shook her head, confused at the direction of her thoughts. What am I doing? I've got to figure out what Gillick meant! It would help if he hadn't been so cryptic. What new knowledge could…
She felt her blood run cold at the realization. There was only one thing that she could think of that he could mean: somehow, the Light Army had learned that Silver had information about the X - blade. Fear taking over her, she spun around and dashed madly back to the Silver Fang camp.
Several people looked at her in surprise as she flew past. She burst through the flaps of Silver's tent, gasping for air. The woman looked up from her musings, a frown on her face. "Mala? What are you-"
The thief didn't give her time to finish. "The Light Army knows about the X - blade!"
That's the end of chapter fifty - two. Reviews would be awesome, please?