Toshiro sneezed.
"Who the Hell is talking about me?" He grumbled. "I feel like it was a while ago, though."
He looked to his side as Myndræl began to wake up, yawning loudly with ivory fangs gleaming in the morning light. The prince had ended up falling asleep leaning against the dragon, comfortable on the beast's cold body.
"Morning." Toshiro greeted him.
"Good Morning." The dragon nodded sleepily. "You're going to the mountain today?"
"I need to." Teal eyes turned towards the peak showing above the trees in the far distance.
"I know. You should probably eat first, though."
"Don't worry, I will."
The boy stood, stretching out his tired limbs, and headed towards the house.
"When you're ready I'll fly you to the mountain." Myndræl called after him.
Toshiro turned enough to give the dragon a grateful smile before he vanished into the house, Myndræl taking off to get his own food. Ruala kept her island kingdom well stocked with animals for the predators, though certain ones she made sure they knew were off limits to eating. She made sure her favorites were kept alive and told them never to go for the healthiest ones because they kept the populations thriving.
While the twins got around to feeding the young prince, Kirio having left last night, they found Ruala strangely absent.
"She disappears sometimes." Ralæn had shrugged when he asked. "Probably off practicing her magic to keep it strong."
They left it at that and said their goodbyes as he walked outside and towards the mountain on a full stomach. Myndræl soon found him and the prince mounted the blue dragon to ride towards his next trial together.
"I'm not allowed up the mountain." The beast turned his head back to explain. "Lady Ruala only allows those taking the trials up the mountain, or those who have already taken it."
Toshiro nodded to show he heard. Once they reached the edge of the forest where the path started, Myndræl dove downward, landing a little roughly. Though the flight was fun, Toshiro did not like the feeling of being saddle sore. Perhaps the blue dragon would allow a saddle on his back, a few of the scales had actually nicked his skin. Considering the amount of Spirit Energy he had at the moment that should have protected his skin like Kenpachi's did, it proved how tough dragon scales were. Even the semi-soft scales of a young dragon.
"Practice what I told you while I'm up there so you don't get bored." Toshiro told his new friend, scratching under his chin. The dragon purred.
"Got it! Hopefully I can do it." Myndræl spread his wings and took off towards the lake, leaving the young prince at the base of the mountain.
Hitsugaya watched the dragon leave for a moment before turning back to the mountain. He wondered if Blazefang was already gone or if he'd be there again just as a checkpoint. Probably the former. Taking a deep breath, Toshiro began to walk up the mountain once more.
Sure enough, he passed the point where Blazefang had been sitting before, the wolf and door both gone, and continued on up the mountain. The path began to narrow, the way down steep, but that was no problem for him. The way up to the next trial seemed much longer…or maybe that was just Ruala's magic. Either way, he felt like he'd been walking for more than an hour, probably two.
Finally he reached it, another door with a different spirit in front of it. He almost expected another wolf-like creature, but this one was a large feline, about the size of a panther. Most of her was light blue in color with dark blue leopard spots Her legs turned dark green with tan stripes before fading to dark blue, toes tan. The top of her head and end of her tail were also dark green with tan feather on the end of her tail and tan ears. The cat watched him approach with lighter green eyes.
"Are you another elemental like Blazefang?" Toshiro asked as he reached her.
"Nope." She meowed. "I'm Eilsitha, one of the cats Lady Ruala raised from a kitten. She raised me to control my powers in ways that make them much stronger when really I'm not all that strong."
"Is that why you've been picked to teach me that?"
"Yes. Though it's rather obvious, I have to say it. Prove to me your birthright."
Since he couldn't control his Spiritual Pressure at the moment anyway his brand was already shining brightly, so all he had to do was hold out his hand. Eilsitha nodded and nudged open the door, revealing another dark portal. He wondered where this one would take him. He stepped through.
He found himself in a large open space with smooth stone beneath him. The sky was dark but he knew it wasn't indoors like the first trial. There was a strange blue glow around them but he couldn't tell where it was coming from, only that it was there. He'd been told there would be obstacles of some sort, but he couldn't see anything no matter how far he looked. The land went on for miles in every direction with no one besides him and the large feline inhabiting it.
"I can see you're curious." Eilsitha said.
"What exactly are we doing?" Toshiro looked at the cat, confused.
"We're starting with basic Shinigami training. Only, the power needed to complete it will be much stronger than for them. You can still Flash Step, yes?"
"Of course."
"I'm going to teach you how to use your vast Spirit Energy to make it even faster, make it go farther. Over these next few days you'll be doing things you know how to do easily, only you'll find I've made them much harder in order to compensate for how much power you have. When I'm done you'll be able to control your power like any average Soul Reaper can. The next spirit will be the one to teach you how to make that control tighter."
The young prince nodded to show he understood.
"This world continues on endlessly, it's all tied to the same area. No matter how far you run you'll never find the edge." Eilsitha crouched, tensing to spring. "On that note, show me how good your Flash Step is, and we'll go from there."
Together they shot off in the same direction before Toshiro had gone as far as he could in Flash Step and stopped, Eilsitha pausing a little further ahead.
"Average for a Captain." The cat said. "Now, to make it better."
Over the next few hours, Eilsitha explained how to channel his very Spirit Energy onto himself, thus allowing him to travel farther than he had before. The result created a small glow around him, which explained why Ruala seemed to glow before she vanished; she was using the same technique. Occasionally his Spiritual Pressure would spike out of his control as he tried to raise it and froze part of the landscape, but thankfully Eilsitha was light on her feet. She never rested or stayed in one place too long, always on the move even if he had his power bottled up safely. It was the reason she was training him, to control it without worrying about it losing control.
The Flash Step was easy enough so Eilsitha moved on to having him focus on how much he let out. Any Captain could generally control how much of their Spiritual Pressure they released, and while Hitsugaya's was on a much larger scale, he needed to be able to do that too. She would release her own power and tell him to match it. That was more difficult, since when he lifted the same amount of control he usually did to match that level his power spiked and the cat was once again on the move.
The feline could tell this would take a while.
"Find a secluded area outside this mountain and practice what I told you." Eilsitha said to the tired prince, stopping their practice. "Have Lady Ruala help you if she's willing, her unique powers will keep her protected from Spiritual Pressure no matter how high it goes."
"What kind of power does she have, exactly?" Toshiro questioned, brushing some ice crystals out of his hair. "The dragon Lilianna told me she was…rare, something not human but not completely inhuman."
The blue and green cat cast him a strange glance before pondering his question.
"Lady Ruala is like the Greenleaf Family, the witches…but she's also something more. The Elementals sometimes pick a special being to harness their specific element, a rare few being allowed to harness two or three. Their kind was called Elementalists by the Greenleaf ancestors, but humans called them Avaintha, Spirit Healers. Their power mended the world in ways humans would not at first understand. But that was in ancient times, before tyrants came to fear Ruala's race and cast them out."
"So she's an Avaintha…like a Soul Reaper?"
"Very similar, only the Avaintha extended their power to more than just the human souls. They helped animals, plants, the very earth itself. They were one with the element they harnessed and were meant to use it in ways of keeping the planet itself alive, not just the balance of human souls."
"Meant to?" Toshiro caught onto the feline's saddened tone. "I guess not all Avaintha did what they were meant to."
"No, they didn't. When humanity struck at them for being freaks, the Avaintha fought back, giving into to darkness. They turned on each other, as Ruala learned while still young."
"They attacked a child?"
"More than that, prince." Eilsitha hung her head low. "But that is something that must not be told by anyone but her. She survived, but at a cost to her sanity. Lady Ælfwyn took her in and healed her, gave her the family she deserved, and Ruala grew into a member of the Royal Guard itself. As for your original question; what her power is. Ruala is rare even among her kind, for she gained the blessing of more than one Elemental. She gained all of them."
"All?" Toshiro's eyes widened. "And…and how many Elementals are there?"
"Fourteen." Eilsitha seemed to realize something. "Actually, she only has thirteen of them. The fourteenth is a little tricky right down to her very existence. An Angel of Death that was never meant to live. Ruala's twin sister."
"Ruala's sister is an Elemental?" That wasn't the only thing that shocked him; the fact that Death had its own element was rather…disturbing. He couldn't imagine what kind of twisted person she was.
"The Greenleaf ancestors believed that the Angel of Death's existence as Ruala's sister is why the thirteen Elementals chose Lady Ruala as their master, to counter it. But despite that, Ruala is only as powerful as the element available. That is her limit. She can only use the element near her, though she can augment it, and only one at a time."
"What about Sofia?" Toshiro remembered the girl saying how Sofia was like a zanpaktou.
"All Avaintha were gifted with a familiar that could change into creatures of their element. With Ruala having all of them, Sofia can change into any creature available of any element. All Rahvain, which is what Sofia is, have a true form that they rarely ever show unless their Avaintha is in danger. It is their last resort before they die.
"I can say no more. Go; practice what I've taught you." The cat created the portal out and pushed the stunned prince through before he could ask any further questions. He was at the base of the mountain once more.
'Thirteen different elements…an Elemental sister, who controls Death itself no less…just how strong is Ruala?'
He heard Hyorinmaru give a confused growl to show he didn't know what to think of it either. The sounds were getting a little louder now as Toshiro settled into his new power. Soon he'd have his dragon back.
Still a little stunned by the revelation of Ruala's unique powers, Toshiro trekked back to the Greenleaf Family home on foot, ignoring the sounds around him and where he was walking. All the while he wondered where this twin sister of Ruala's was now, and what exactly happened to Ruala during her early life. Either one couldn't be good.
When he felt cold on his feet he looked down to see he had walked to the lake instead of the tree mansion, the water lapping up against his ankles.
'I just need to forget about that for now.' Toshiro sighed. 'I need to focus on my power, not Nakryin's. This is as good a spot as any to practice a little more.'
He sat at the water's edge and did just that. At one point his dragon friend found him and together they practiced, Toshiro with controlling his power and Myndræl with recognizing the icy power and attempting to use it. They did not move from the lake that night and the two fell asleep at the water's edge.
So a little more on Ruala. She's starting to look like a Mary Sue, isn't she... T^T Well, i'm trying to give her weaknesses, like the only using one element at a time thing, and only what's available...though that's a lot, considering where she lives. Anyway, she's strong, but she's not invincible, and she's a scaredy-cat, so hopefully she's not too Mary Sue.
Anyway! There's a time skip after this chapter to skip past the boring trials and get on with things. Enjoy!