Camelot
Castle Ector
The day started off well enough, a simple breakfast of hot oats and bangers was on the menu today as made by the cook. Whereas everyone, the guests included, were eating at the dining room table in the early morning, Arthur fashioned himself a bowlful of burnt oats and charred black sausages whilst sitting on the bottom of the stairwell so he could hear everyone converse and talk. Every so often mumbling his own response to the question or the remark made at the table softly to himself. Even making himself laugh every so often from what Kuro could hear.
Kuro ate his meal fast enough that it had barely hit the table top before he was done, eager to get to some real magic training with Merlin today.
After the day of swimming and nearly being eaten by a large Pike, it was nice to have a change of pace where he can be on dry land with a wizard and learn how to cast spells properly. Besides, Arthur was to catch up on his demerits which meant being torso deep in cauldrons, elbow deep in pots and spending the worst part of the morning scrubbing pans and polishing utensils, all of it while covered in suds and old food gunk. The smell carried up into the higher levels, even making Kuro feel a little nauseous when he woke up that morning. An occupied Arthur meant Merlin was going to have his schedule open for the foreseeable future and meant he would have the time to work with Kuro on his magic. A prospect which spurred the whole reason for Kuro's decision to come here to this world and work with the wizard in the first place.
Kuro's training began at dawn shortly after breakfast, the morning sky barely aglow with the rising sun as he pounded the last of the dummies he and Dusk had fashioned out of old rucksacks and dry hay with Merlin's instruction. Each slamming of his fist drove the pole deeper into the ground as a hammer would drive a nail into place. Kuro, satisfied with his makeshift enemies, approached Merlin ready for instruction. An eager smile on his face and noticeable excitement in his step.
"Magic is primarily a practice of utilizing the flow of power that is already inside of your heart." Merlin explained, with a hand pressing against Kuro's chest. Merlin focused his sights to get a feeling for Kuro's capabilities. A few steady beats of his heart, Merlin felt it. A familiar aura that gave him hope for this pupil. His pointer and middle finger jutted forth while his other fingers curled. The fingers jammed hard against Kuro's breast as the wizard spoke. "That, beating in your chest, is the source of your power. You already have the magic in you. All we are doing is tempering it to make excellent use of it. Which means we need to try, try, and then try again."
Merlin nodded his head, and Kuro called forth his staff and gave it a few twirls in his hands. Loosening his shoulders and focusing on his breathing.
"Now, magic comes in two varieties. Light, and the dark." Merlin noted. Pointing to the light of the sun and the darkness of the depths in the forest. "Each of them share a domain over specific spells, however one should be careful to trudge into the darker arts. For it opens the floodgates to allow darkness to seep into one's heart."
"Don't you know about dark magic?" Kuro asked, as the idea of using dark corridors to travel to new worlds didn't sound as though it would be possible to do so under the practice of light based magic.
"I don't deal with black magic. My - Oh Heavens- my enemy Madame Mim is a practitioner of the dark arts. And let me tell you," Merlin's eyes turn towards the darkness of the forest, shuddering to himself as he shakes out his wrists and fingers. "She's been corrupted by the dark, so you must stay focused on not giving in to those darker inclinations. Focus on the power inside of your heart."
"The power inside of my heart…" Kuro uttered softly as a prayer, before being given the instructions by Merlin how to handle the magic inside of him. Kuro felt a surge of energy, and met the call with an enthusiastic tone in his voice. "Let's do this."
Going over the four primary forms that Merlin wanted him to practice for the day was easy enough. The standard was the blazing fire, the blistering cold blizzard and the uproarious thunder were straightforward and not at all difficult to handle. The dummies of fluff and hay were no match for the barrage of elements that came down upon them that morning.
The fire was a pulse of flame that spouted out of the tip of his staff as a breath leaves a pair of pursed lips. The power of the fire came from the metaphorical fire from within the practitioner. It required Kuro to tap into some of the anger he had centered and held firmly in his chest. A source of power Kuro found immediately, finding that there was this dormant aggression that was stirring within him as he conjured sphere after sphere of flame.
The blizzard was a wave of ice and snow that flowed through the scepter as a chill rose up a back on an eerie night and left a trail of winter frost in its wake. Freezing the morning dew it passed over into small icicles and a slippery trail of snow. The source of ice came from a place of calculation. It has to be measured, never done without consideration. Fire plumed and spread, ice was sharp and pointed. As Merlin described.
Thunder came down in a fury of a single bolt, the rolling of it echoing harshly in Kuro's chest with each clap. Thunder came from a portion of the heart that held this place of faith within. To reach out for the intervention from the divine. To call from the very heavens above to destroy your opposition. To ask and to receive.
Merlin's instructions and patience paid off, as Kuro's regiment of rotating the three elements allowed him to truly practice the magic in a safe environment. With Merlin acting defensively should it get out of hand or a mistake was made.
A foolish fireball that missed the target was blown into a puff of harmless smoke with a wave of Merlin's hand. A fault brushstroke of blizzard turned into a rolling wave of bubbles that popped against the morning dew glistened grass. A tepid thunder was pulled into Merlin's palm and caused his beard hair to static and stand on end rather than crater the grounds they practiced on or hit a rogue tree. These elements were honed to a steady and consistent level, which left one more spell Merlin wished to teach Kuro before the day was done.
Cure, the magic centered around healing the wounded and staving off death.
However, when it came down to the actual practice of the necessary and much needed Cure spell, that was a roadblock Merlin noticed immediately. Merlin had gotten Kuro to get a surface level scratch on the back of his hand by having him smash a jagged stone against his skin with the intention of teaching him to use Cure on a trivial level. One swift strike and a surface level wound later, Merlin was ready to walk Kuro through the fundamentals of Cure.
Cure was explained by Merlin that it came from a place of love. It came from a place of compassion and of empathy. To cure someone, you need to have the space in your heart to share a piece of it with the recipient. To bypass the rules of nature to heal the wounded.
When Merlin placed a palm on Kuro's hand, he focused his energy and mumbled his incantation. A demonstration to give Kuro an idea of what to expect. Kuro had expected a glow or a shine, maybe a noise to notify him of the spell working. There was none.
When Merlin pulled his hand back, the sore spot was still there.
"My word, that's peculiar." Merlin muttered gently to himself, brushing his thumbs over the spot. Baffled truly, the spell didn't take. Kuro squinted his eyes to stare over the pattern of destruction he had laid to the dummies, then turned back up to Merlin. An inquisitive look in his eye. "Most curious."
"Well, is there an issue?" Kuro asked rhetorically, having a suspicion of what exactly might be causing the issue almost immediately. Given Merlin's heart was predominantly composed of light and goodness, and Kuro's heart was - well - Kuro was Heartless. "Could it be because I'm… well. You know."
Merlin's eyes shot up to Kuro's then back to the wound. Kuro grimaced, letting out a short breath when he looked away shamefully. A twinge in his chest made him let out a slight sigh of disappointment as he pulled his hand away.
"I can't say for certain." Merlin shrugged, his eyes softened as he stared at Kuro. He combed his long beard with his spindly fingers. "I know that your… heritage is one of complications. A Heartless generally doesn't- what I mean is you don't - they don't - I suppose. I have read reports that say the Heartless are known to heal one another, so there is a way for one to heal and be healed with your circumstances. But I cannot heal you for some reason."
Merlin's fumbling over his words only continued to make Kuro's mentality spiral. If Kuro wasn't who he was, this would be such a simple lesson. But he wasn't a typical person. He was a Heartless, it was against his very nature to heal the wounded. He was supposed to strike and do harm. To devour and destroy hearts. Not to nurture the harmed and the helpless. Kuro glanced to the dirt with a clenched jaw, then back up to Merlin with a pair of forlorn eyes.
"So, you can't heal me because I'm Heartless." Kuro nodded solemnly, before his eyes widened with a look of confusion in his eyes. If Merlin couldn't heal him, what could he do? Who could Kuro heal? Dusk, more than likely. But what about Barret? Jessie? Rinoa? Even Xion? Could they not be healed by him? "So, does that mean I can't heal-"
"Merlin! Merlin! Kuro! I finally finished the cleaning!" Arthur's voice broke through the morning air, his boots knocking against the drawbridge wood and nearly slipping across the wet grass. Arthur approached Kuro, a warm smile on his face. Clapping a hand on the bigger boy's shoulder. "Hey there, Kuro. Are we ready for the next lesson? How'd magic training go?"
"Yeah," Kuro shrugged. His eyes glance over at his friend, offering a simple shrug in return as he nodded towards the boy. "Lesson is going fine. Just focusing on the basics."
"Lesson," Merlin repeated, before snapping his fingers and gaining a warm smile. He clapped his hands together. "A lesson! Yes! A lesson for the both of you. Now, the lesson, the lesson?"
Merlin scratched his chin, shutting his left eye as he pondered what the lesson of the day would be. It had to be something that would expand the world to Arthur with a lesson in understanding and engaging to Kuro who was in desperate need of a boost to the demure mood he's feeling. Something exciting and fun and full of joy. He turned his eyes towards the nearby tree line, seeing a rodent shimmy across the branches and jump from tree to tree. The sight sparked an idea in the Wizard, nodding in satisfaction as he thought of the lesson for today. "One of nature's most peculiar mysteries is the continued existence of a small Sciurus. The Squirrel."
The scurrying along the forest's looming trees was fun. That much was certain. Being on all fours while scampering around the forest floor and twisting up trees with intense speed definitely perked up Kuro. Arthur's red fur made him blend in with the autumn leaves that Kuro found himself having to really hunt him down among the branches and the tree tops.
Being a gray furred squirrel, it took the third round of alternating hide and seek with Arthur before the pair decided it would not be fair for Kuro to be the hider and became exclusively the seeker. Which was fine with him. Kuro saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and chased after it.
His feet galloped along the tree branch, watching Arthur reach the end of the line and use the speed and his momentum to hop onto an opposing branch from a different tree. The small rodent soared across the air, almost appearing to be gliding, to reach the next woodland oak to avoid getting caught by Kuro. Arthur crashed into one of the offshoots of the tree branch. His small paws grasped for a solid grip. Being so small and so high up in a tree would make for a perilous drop to the forest floor.
"Always look before you leap, boy!" Merlin shouted from the ground, his back pressed against the tree trunk watching the two boys play and frolic amongst the branches. Arms folding over one another as he kept a watchful eye. "Don't take gravity too lightly or it'll catch up with you."
"Right, right." Arthur nodded impassively to placate the older man. Taking his small hands and smoothing out the mess of fur that formed on his chest due to the impact against the branch. As Arthur thought about Merlin's words more thoroughly, he cocked his head to the side and looked puzzled. "What's gravity?"
"Gravity's what causes you to fall." Merlin explained, grabbing a loose stone off of the dirt floor and tossing it up into the air with a short throw. Mindlessly fidgeting with the stone. Emphasizing the stone by making Arthur watch him throw it around in his hand. "The phenomenon that any two material particles or bodies, if free to move, will be accelerated toward each other."
"Like a stumble or a trip?" Arthur tried to simplify, not quite understanding the words 'particles' or 'phenomenon'. He did know about material though, the castle was built with plenty of it. Arthur glances over his shoulder, seeing Kuro gathering speed and making the jump as well. Arthur's laughter is heard over Merlin's explanation as the two continue their game of hide and seek.
"Yes, like a stumble or a... No, no, no. It's the force that pulls you downward." Merlin spoke surely, watching the two boys make jumps from branch to branch. Kuro was finally close enough to grab Arthur, only for the younger boy to juke out of the way at the last moment. The next time Kuro misses a grab for Arthur's tail, he slams into the trunk of the tree head first, disorienting himself for a moment and is left behind by Arthur. Left in his dust as he is scratching his now sore forehead.
Kuro loses sight of Arthur for a moment against the backdrop of orange and brown leaves, his horizon shaded eyes squinted as he finds himself among the dense crowded leaves. Trying to look for any movement, any accidental eye contact, anything to try and find Arthur. He sees a flash of red fur zoom past two branches above him, wasting no time and chasing after it. He scurried further up the tree, following the red blur through and around the branches.
His paws skimming across bark and his head brushing aside leaves as he moves quickly. Following displaced leaves as he hurried his way through the autumn colored flora. Eventually, Kuro gets within grabbing distance of the tail, reaching out to hold while letting out a quick laugh. He was gonna get him now.
The tail flicks out of the way, the chirps that followed not sounding anything at all like Arthur. That's when he heard the knocking of two heads together, the 'thunk' sound echoing in the wood as the two forces stopped dead in their tracks.
Kuro crashes into the figure in front of him, backpedaling and falling back. Landing backwards and nearly stumbling out of the tree. When he gets readjusted, he then finds the squirrel he was chasing that he thought was Arthur had just knocked into the actual Arthur.
The squirrel that Kuro had been chasing was just a similarly shaded creature. Not just a different squirrel, a girl squirrel. The squirrel batted her eyes at Arthur, her chirps of satisfaction growing as she reached out and pressed her paw against his snout. Then she pulls her hands back and presses them to her cheeks as she continues her chirps. She takes her paws and grabs his wrists to press his hands against her nose. She wiggles in her spot and giggles at the sensation.
Kuro cocks his head in curiosity, sitting back and watching the two of them squabble. Watching this odd courtship with a grin and a short chuckle. Arthur would move to the right, she mimicked. Moved to the left, she did that too. He reached out to move her physically, she met his hands. Intertwining their fingers together and swung them around while humming in a sweet harmony. Her nose wiggled towards his, trying to make them brush together.
"Merlin! Merlin!" Arthur shouts, taking his hands away and trying to reposition them at the girl's side, growing irritated at her incessant touching. Merlin looked up, focused his sights before catching sight of the squirrel girl. He then hollers out a hearty laugh as he watches the two of them tussle. Arthur is now on the defensive as she nuzzles and chirps with a yearning gaze in her eyes against his cheek and neck.
"That's a girl squirrel and a redhead, at that." Merlin said with a cheeky grin, winking his right eye towards Arthur as he continued to laugh. Merlin traces his finger in the air, making a vague shape of a heart.
"She sure acts funny." Arthur shouted with some mild annoyance, turning to Kuro for assistance. Kuro shrugs, hands out to his sides as he watches the two of them as well. "Kuro? Help?"
"Don't look at me. She wants you all to herself, it looks like." Kuro chuckled, rubbing his chin with his small claws as he glanced down at Merlin. Cupping his paws around his mouth before clearing his throat. "Hey, what's going on, Merlin? Why is she acting funny?"
"Well, she likes him, Kuro." Merlin explained with a warm glow to his cheeks. His hands wringing out at his sides as he watches Arthur. Pointing to the girl squirrel and then to Arthur once again. "When a squirrel picks a mate, it's for life!"
"Mate for life? Well…Can't you just magic her away?" Kuro inquired, a sharp ping of dissatisfaction in his chest at the thought of having to cast thunder upon a rather small docile creature. Especially one that meant to simply love upon another with such an innocence. He saw the way she looked at him with such bliss and fondness, how her eyes held such a sweetness with him. "Because she… she…"
"She likes him." Kuro smirks gently as he thinks to himself, wondering what the sensation of 'liking' someone feels like. As he reflected and watched, he felt this pulsing energy begin to radiate off of the pair, this beating heart like pulse that warmed the air and gave the pair of squirrels this warm glow. It was a heat, a fire that kept burning. Unlike the flames of rage, this warmth was fed with care and consideration, with tenderness and infatuation. It was so much more inviting and uplifting kind of heat than the oppressive and fury kind of flames Kuro had previously felt.
"I'm afraid magic can't solve this problem." Merlin stated, nudging his chin towards Arthur with a nod. He cleared his throat and cupped half a hand around his lips. "Wart! You ought to try and let her down easy! No need to go breaking her heart."
"Look, I'm not a boy... I mean... I'm not a squirrel, I'm a boy." Arthur shook his head as he attempted to explain to the squirrel in the most broad and straight terms he could cobble together, stuttering for a brief moment as the girl squirrel curled her tail up and around his chest like a bandolier would. Her tail tugged him close to her body, her nose skimming his chest. As she snuggled and giggled, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head tucked underneath his as she chirps against the nape of his neck. "A human boy, not a real sq... Leave me alone!"
Kuro watched as Arthur threw up his arms and broke the hold the tail had around him and tried once more to run away from the girl squirrel. The girl squirrel, refusing to lose Arthur for even a breath, continued her pursuit of him around and underneath the branch they shared. Getting out of his sight for but a moment before surprising Arthur with a pair of arms wrapping around his legs and tackling the both of them off the limb.
The pair careening off and out of the wood and tumbling down to the next branch beneath them. Kuro charges to the spot they fell down from, eyes watching dutifully as they fall. Afraid that they might miss the branch and continue to descend down to the forest floor. Which, given their size and the now towering heights of the tree, would prove to be fatal.
She crawls atop of him in the middle of their descent, Arthur's back laid flat on the branch. The girl squirrel nuzzles his chest, arms tucked around and under his back. Arthur huffs, shaking his head.
"Merlin, what will I do? She won't leave me…" Arthur complained, eyes squinted in frustration as he attempted to squirm out of her hold to no avail. Her chirps of joy vibrated his chest. Making his hairs stand on end. "She won't leave me alone!"
"She only knows one simple fact, my boy. That fact is that she wants you. It's a natural phenomenon, she wants you to be her mate!" Merlin explained, his hands clapping out of the hilarious situation Arthur had found himself in.
"A mate, huh?" Kuro glanced at the two squirrels, eyes fixed by the sight of her snuggling hard against Arthur. The friction of the nuzzling could have started a fire. The noises she made sounded so longing and earnest, one would think she found the love of her life. Kuro smirked gently, resting a balled fist under his chin as he stared at the two of them. "Look at you, Arthur. Got yourself a little girlfriend."
"I can't be her mate for life. I won't be a squirrel tomorrow." Arthur stated, his hands moving to the girl's wrists to try and break their hold. Again, it was pointless. The love she felt must've given her a strength to rival iron cuffs, she wouldn't let him go.
"She doesn't know that." Merlin waved it off with a snicker and a smile, shaking his head towards the two love birds or two lovesick squirrels. "All she knows is that you're a cute boy and she'd like to spend time with you."
Merlin shakes his head, glancing up to see a shifting in the branches and the treetops. He squinted his eyes, stepping up off of the tree and seeing the displacement of the leaves were much larger than a squirrel could do. He could see a glow of golden eyes, and he was perplexed.
Arthur glances up above him upon seeing what little sunshine broke through the branches had just been blocked. Once his eyes adjusted to the shadow, they suddenly went wide as he saw a glow of golden eyes and a barring of razor sharp teeth.
Their fur was a starless sky black, almost looking as though they were a shifting blot of black paint if it weren't for the definition of the beast's shoulders and haunches and the glow of their eyes and shine of their fangs. Along the chest of the beast was that infamous Emblem. The Canis Minor barked wildly at Arthur, lunging from the branch above down to the pair of squirrels.
Arthur grabbed the girl squirrel and rolled them down to the next available branch, avoiding its nasty bite. The Canis' maw crashed into the spot on the branch the two of them were laid upon, the jaws snapping the branch into two pieces and sending it crashing down.
"Run!" Arthur shouted, the squirrel girl bolting ahead of him and keeping a watchful eye on Arthur as the two of them scurried up the tree. The Canis chases them up the trunk, sending the occasional bite towards their fluffy tails.
Kuro steadied his stance, pulling his small paw back and summoning his now minuscule staff and raising it above his head.
"Bolt!" Kuro shouted, the rolling thunder overhead was heard before a lightning strike came crashing down. It had hit a intertwined bunched leaves and blew them into charred pieces of ash. The flakes were raining down onto him as a breeze moved through the woods. Kuro glanced at the way the wolf's paws sank into the bark, chasing after Arthur and the girl squirrel. "Frost!"
The Canis's claws moved to stick into the wood only scrape and skate across the surface of a growing sheet of fresh ice. The Canis slipped down the trunk and crashed into the branch it originally leapt towards, then turned their attention onto Kuro. Their eyes gleamed in contempt as they focused on this new creature. The Canis steadied their stance along the tree branch, their paws digging into the wood without issue. Kuro readied his staff, rolling his wrist and measuring his breath.
"Boys! Boys!" Merlin shouted, having lost them in the densely packed treetops and couldn't see them. "Boys! Rush to me!"
Arthur made a motion to rush towards Merlin to be safe, only to hear the Canis bark and make a bite towards Kuro. One he deflected with a prodding of the winged staff into the beast's snout. Arthur saw the girl squirrel approach him nervously, her paws shaking before thoroughly examining him from top of his head to the bottom of his feet. A sigh of relief escapes her form when she sees he's alright. She chirps happily and pulls him into a tight hug. Grateful he's safe. He pulls away, gripping her shoulders. Her chirp reads one of confusion as she cocks her head to the side.
"I need to help my friend!" He shouted, glancing around and seeing a handful of acorns hanging off of the tree tops. He grabs an armful of them and rushes across the branch to be above the Canis. "Kuro!"
Kuro pulls his staff back, and with a fluid stroke, swings it towards the Heartless. "Frost!"
The wave of ice and sleet covered the tree branch, piecing icicles jabbing up and into the underbelly of the Canis. The beast roars in response, taking its paw and smashing it against the branch. The branch creaks and begins to crack, splintering the wood beneath them as they prepare to continue to fight. The Canis snaps at Kuro, who backsteps out of the way and jabs a pointed tip of the staff towards the shout of the beast.
Arthur pulls an acorn back and hucks it towards the beast. The small nut smashing atop the head of the Heartless as it growls and barks up towards the squirrel boy. Each bark making his hair blow up as though he were caught in a sudden gust of wind. The beast jumps up to the branch that Arthur was standing on, clamping their teeth on the hanging branch to try and swallow him whole.
The wood was a little too thick, and the wolf was suspended in the air while attempting to close their jaws around Arthur.
The girl squirrel rushed towards Arthur, her chirps of fear and worry escalating to higher pitched anxious noise as she took her small paws and pressed them into the gums of the beast. Using her utmost strength to attempt to push them open to try and help Arthur escape. It was no use, the beast's jaws closing ever more tightly the long they held. Sinking deeper into the wood. The girl squirrel reached out through the slowly closing jaws and held onto Arthur's paw, giving it a few tight squeezes as though to assure him that she was still there.
Kuro took his staff, and with an intense focus, swung his staff to and fro three times in quick succession. "Burn! Burn! Burn!"
Out of the tip of the staff were brought three balls of fire, each of them bursting on impact against the underbelly of the beast and scorching its fur. The beast lets go of the branch to descend down onto the branch, the already splintering limb now creaking and beginning to bend.
Arthur threw down acorn after acorn onto the Canis. The girl squirrel followed Arthur's example and began to hurl the acorns down atop of the Canis. The beast's snout, ear and eye each getting targeted and beamed with a nut. However, the beast didn't detract from its focus on Kuro. It took a paw and swiped it wide, Kuro's body dropping to his belly as he avoided the swing.
The wolf lunged and clamped its jaws around Kuro, aiming to swallow him whole. The beast, with their fangs sunk into Kuro's back and chest, juggled the gray squirrel up into its mouth with a hard snap. Their eyes going wide as they felt a resistance in the closing of their maw, Kuro's fighting to keep their jaws from closing.
The tongue was slippery and made it difficult for Kuro to keep his footing, the ridges of the roof of the beast's mouth were wide enough for Kuro to get a grip properly and push up against the force. The beast tried its damndest to squeeze its mouth shut, only to feel the resistance in Kuro's push escalate with it as he kept the beast from clamping down their jaw. Kuro stares out between the spaces of the fangs squeezing down atop of him. Seeing the woodlands out between sword sized fangs.
"Get me out of here!" Kuro roars through gnashed teeth. Taking a close fist and popping it up into the roof of the Canis' mouth.
Arthur promptly panics, looking around for anything he could use to distract the beast. That's when he hears the chirps and the noise coming from the girl squirrel. She had climbed up to a nearby bunched bundle of leaves, grabbing one end of it and trying to pull it apart. Arthur followed her example and pulled the opposing side. The two tugged the bunched up leaves, a beam of light breaking through the treetop and painting the wolf in a ray of light.
"Kuro! Kuro! Use your lightning!" Arthur shouted, reaffirming his grip as he pulled back further to give enough breadth for the spell to work. Kuro struggles to stand straight up, his hands pressed flat on the roof of the Canis' mouth as he strains to keep from being eaten. With a labored breath, Kuro finds the moment to yell.
"Bolt!" Kuro shouted, as the rolling thunder echoed above and the bolt of lightning crashed down onto the Canis, the wolf yelping and crying out as the spell made contact. Kuro chuckled darkly, adjusting his footing and once again continuing to shout. "Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!"
Each battle cry met with the thundering blast of lightning meeting the beast. On the third and final strike, the heartless flops down onto the branch and breaks it loose, before shortly crumbling into smoke and purple dust. Kuro's body rapidly descends down to the forest floor, knocking into leaflets as he falls. He struggles to maintain a proper form. Merlin sees the flailing Kuro as he breaks through leaves and falls into sight.
"Snick snack snorum!" Merlin waves his hand and in a flashing glow, Kuro is returned to his normal form before impact. Crashing onto the forest floor back first and with a heavy thud. He stares up into the trees. His breathing heavy and his heart racing.
"You alright, boy?" Merlin asked, walking over towards the now fully formed Kuro. Kuro swiftly nodded, shaking his head with a yard less stare. "You hurt?"
"Things keep trying to eat me." Kuro said softly, with a hint of confusion in his voice as he slowly raised to a seat position. He glances up into the trees, giving a weak sigh as he clears his throat. "Arthur! It's dead! Come on down."
Not a moment or so later does the pair of red furred rodents come scurrying down the tree. The female squirrel tackling Arthur and nuzzling against his chest once again. Merlin repeats the incantation, and a flash of light sparks and Arthur is returned to form.
The girl squirrel feels her body jolt and get shifted, finding herself buried into the boy's chest before she pulls away in a great confusion and worry. She circles around him several times, before trying to bury herself under him as if to see if the human had accidentedly crushed her squirrel love. Arthur laughs at the feeling of her paws pressing and touching him.
"There. Now you see? I'm not a squirrel. I'm a boy. I tried to tell you. I'm a boy. A human boy." Arthur explained, patting his shoulders, thighs and forearms to further emphasize that he was in fact a human. The girl squirrel cocks her head to the side, her eyes beginning to glisten with welling tears as she chirps in confusion. It takes a moment to register, but then she wipes her tears from her eyes and gives a heartbreaking cry. Arthur rubs the back of his neck, letting out a sorrowful sigh. "Oh, if you could only understand."
The squirrel huffs in a fresh heartache, quickly retreating up into the trees. Arthur watches as she finds her nest and huddles deep inside. Peeking out to stare at her once captivated love and continuing to cry once again upon relaxing that he is gone or changed or however her mind connected the pieces of the squirrel she loved now being gone. Arthur cringes at the sound, feeling sympathy for the poor girl. He looks at Merlin with a defeated look in his eye, letting out a sorry sounding sigh.
"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, Merlin. I really didn't." Arthur spoke sincerely, glancing over his shoulder at the trees and seeing her still watching him from within her home.
"Ah, I know you didn't mean to, lad... but that love business is a powerful thing." Merlin explained, crossing one arm over the other as he walked along over to the path leading back towards the castle.
"Greater than gravity?" Arthur asked, reaching down to extend a hand towards Kuro. Kuro grabbed his hand and was pulled up onto his feet. Offering a short, 'thanks' under his breath as he joins Arthur in following after Merlin.
"Well, yes, boy, in its way, I'd, uh... Yes, I'd say it's the greatest force on Earth." Merlin said gently and earnestly, leading the two young men back towards the castle and away from the forest. Arthur couldn't stop looking back over his shoulder with a sense of sadness towards the creature, who knew nothing but affection for him.
Kuro clapped a hand along Arthur's shoulder, pulling him into a side hug and giving him a shrug coupled with a half smile.
"She'll be ok, Arthur. She'll be alright." Kuro assured him, seeing Arthur give a smile in return and return the side hug. Together the young men exited the forest, following the Wizard.
Arthur's step-brother Kay wasn't the most active participant in the boy's life. Arthur had explained that the two were often at odds, though Arthur never knew what he did to earn such negative attention from the older man. Kay never played, never willingly talked to him, never wanted to even eat alongside the boy growing up.
Kuro didn't get it. Arthur was a delight to be around. Kuro enjoyed the company and thought Arthur was a swell guy. And when Arthur said Kay never even wanted to spar with the boy, Kuro jumped at the chance to participate.
The two were given some practice swords with hacked together hilts and crude cross guards, but nonetheless did the two give each other the rundown. Arthur's footwork was impeccable, the years of watching Kay fight and shadowing his movement made Arthur a great instructor on form and technique. Arthur's work was met with Kuro's strength, which allowed Arthur to swing without regard for safety as he couldn't knock Kuro over even if he tried. Which meant whatever strikes Arthur wanted to practice, Kuro made a great practice mate for.
"You need to make sure you keep yourself at a sideways angle." Arthur broke his stance to jab the tip of the wooden stick against Kuro's shoulder, making him turn sideways and divert more of his left shoulder towards Arthur. Arthur smiled, making faint swipes along Kuro's left side and right side, demonstrating his point further. "Smaller target, less chance of getting hit."
Kuro snickered, blocking a follow up blow from Arthur when he swung down towards his head and then the following swipe from the right side. Kuro met the swing with one his own, parrying it and nearly knocking it out of Arthur's grip.
"So, you think Kay has a chance of actually winning the tournament?" Kuro followed his question with a series of swings to the left and right. Arthur met each strike with a strong defensive form, his sword held upright and meeting every strike. His forearms were taut and his form was unyielding to every attack thrown his direction. Kuro smiled deviously, crashing a strike hard and meeting Arthur's front guard. "If he's anything like you, he's doomed."
"Oh, very funny. And I'm not sure. I think Kay is a decent fighter, but I've only ever seen him work with dummies." Arthur noted, ending the last block by shoving Kuro off of him and leading that shove into a diagonal crossing swipe to Kuro's shin. Causing him to pass back to avoid being caught in the swing. Kuro dodged and brought down a hard swing, making Arthur slam the descending blade against his rising strike. "And then there is the fact everyone is going to be fighting their hardest for the crown. I think he had his work cut out for him."
Arthur swung his wooden sword amidst the exchange of blows, Kuro's own wooden blade crashing into the edge and shoving it away with a hard step forward. Arthur's feet stumbled away, right foot crossing behind the left before he got switched around and smashed into the dirt. His knee catching the edge of a particularly sharp stone and gashing it open. Arthur let out a harsh groan, a hand clapping over the wound as he fell.
His leg giving out from under him and sending him crashing onto his side. Kuro dropped his wooden staff, calling forth his own staff, the winged edges of the rod turned towards Arthur as he got down beside him and rested a hand over the younger boy's knee. Merlin watched fervently as he walked over to the two boys, hands folded behind his back as he waited to see the results of the forthcoming spell.
"Good hit." Arthur congratulated through a grimace and a forced smile, giving a nod of acknowledgement and letting out a laugh of discomfort. "Best two out of three?"
"Alright, alright. You're ok, you're ok. Let me just get this all healed up and get you up and about." Kuro mumbled, taking hold of the staff and raising it high above his head. With a secure grin, Kuro shouted out towards the sky, "And heal!"
The silence that followed made his blood run cold. Kuro glanced down at Arthur, whose eyes glossed over with tears as his fingers were painted red from his pressured hold. Kuro raised his staff again and shouted.
"Heal!" The silence still followed and Arthur still bled. Kuro's eyes grew tense with frustration as he clutched his staff tighter. He gnashed his teeth together as he threw the staff back up into the air.
"Repair! Fix! Heal! Get up! Come on!" Each word punctuated with a swinging gesture of his staff. Each word met again with similar endings. Nothing but silence and Arthur still bleeding. Merlin walked alongside Kuro with heavy laden steps, resting a hand over his shoulder as he whispered something under his breath. His hand squeezing with measured regret as he did so.
The sounds of bells and a flash of green light illuminated Arthur's face as his knee skipped past being scabbed and scarred and returned to its normal state. Having healed up to perfect form from Merlin's spell. Arthur stood up, shook out his leg as he glanced down at Kuro. Picking up his wooden sword and crooking his head in curiosity.
"What happened, Kuro? I thought you were going to heal me?" Arthur reached down and offered a hand to his still crouched friend, who slowly extended out his own to be pulled up onto his feet. Arthur's other hand drops the sword to get a better grip and use more strength to pull up the much bigger Kuro. Kuro stared at his hand, before glancing back at Arthur with a voided gaze. His unfocused and his brain a foggy mess. "Kuro? Are you alright?"
"I don't know, I wanted to." Kuro mumbled, before shaking his head and offering Arthur a fake smile in return. He gave a shrug of indifference, trying to hide the disappointment on his face. "I think I just need more practice with it. Why don't you head back to the castle, Arthur? I'll meet up with you soon for dinner and we can practice later."
Arthur simply nodded, winking towards Kuro before taking up the wooden practice weapons and jogging back to the main road. Kuro picked up his staff once more, turning to the dummies that laid down the way, further along the field. He threw his staff back and swung it.
"Burn!" A plume of fire bursts out from the tip, crashing into the upholstered dummy and drenching it in fire. Kuro turned his attention to the second one, right beside it.
"Frost!" Kuro swung the staff in an upwards swing, a wave of ice rolling across the beds of flowers and grass, freezing them into small icicles before the brunt of the winter wind crashed into the target and covered the dummy before him in a layer of ice.
The last one, further away, was met with an air pump of the staff and a ferocious roar for its turn. Kuro's winged staff pulsing a golden light as he shouted. "Bolt!"
The rolling thunder and the jagging bolt of lightning crashed atop the dummy, exploding it into a cloud of feathers and singed fabric.
Kuro glared at the three would-be dead foes, then stared down at the blood staining the blades of grass Arthur had landed on just moments ago, wondering what was the disconnect between the two kinds of spells. He could set fire to people, cover them in a layer of ice and bring down thunder atop of them to devastating effects, but he couldn't heal a scuffed knee?
Merlin watched the gears churn away in Kuro's head, folding his arms behind his back as he ducked his chin to offer Kuro a chance to speak.
"Merlin," Kuro's hands flexed against the shaft of the winged staff, his eyes glancing across the open field at the dummy still aflame and the layers of sheets of frost along the ground. The smell of singed feathers in the air from the thunder bolt. He glanced over at the elderly man, whose eyes grew glossy and whose hands clenched together into tight fists behind his back. Merlin pulled his arms forward, before resting them firmly on his bone hips in thought before taking up his left hand and combing it through his long beard. "What's going on with me? I can do all these offensive and aggressive spills like set fire to things, I can freeze things, call lightning from the sky but I couldn't heal Arthur?"
"Kuro, my boy-" Merlin watched as Kuro took one of the wing tips and jabbed it into the center of his palm. The pointed end pierced his hand, leaving trickles of blood trailing down his wrist and forearm. Kuro, holding his hand tightly, let out a shuddering breath and focused his energy on the wound. And then, he heard it. Unlike the sounding of bells in his ears, he felt as though the wound itself was being cauterized. He opened his hands, and his wound had healed completely. If one were to wipe away the blood that trailed down his wrist and forearm, there would have been no sign that he had been hurt.
"My boy, I believe due to your origins, that you might not be capable of engaging in magic as I can teach you." Merlin said with a defeated sigh and a quick brushing over of his knuckles. He stared at Kuro's hands, before glancing to Arthur's spot in the grass. Still seeing the blood wetting the blades. "I am so sorry, dear boy. I shouldn't have gotten your hopes up."
"My origins. Is that why-" Kuro's eyes went wide, before he clutched his hands tightly together and flexed his jaw in irritation. He huffed out a groan as he glared up at Merlin. The rage piling up in his chest the longer he stared at the dirt. "I couldn't heal Arthur because I'm a Heartless. Right?"
"Magic is a lot like water in some ways." Merlin said, taking his finger and making an air circle. As his finger trails along the empty air, a ring of vibrant blue follows along until it meets its end and completes the circle. "There is magic that works in this circle, and then…" Merlin makes another circle, one of red right beside it. Merlin lets out a short sigh, before taking his hands to cup the circles and bring them together. Layering the circles over half of the other, making a Venn diagram with red and blue pies. "The middle portion shows what spells are able to be used by both sides and affect both sides, while each individual portion shows what affects individuals and those like them. Just as beings of light cannot heal Heartless, it seems that my theory Heartless cannot heal beings of light is also correct. The middle portion shows the magic applicable by everyone, such as your elemental magic."
"Couldn't you teach me the kind of magic that I need? You're a great and powerful-" Kuro began to speak only to be interrupted by Merlin. His hand was raised to silence the lad as he continued to speak.
"Now, my boy. I am sorry to say that I cannot under any circumstances allow myself to use dark magic. I cannot endorse it. Especially when it comes to the damage to the worlds that can be done." Merlin admitted, with a shake of the head and the bend of his hip. His hands combing through his beard as he stares at Kuro with a gentle gaze. "Dark magic goes with dark creatures. Just as oil and water don't mix, it appeared the Heartless are incapable of practicing magic of the light variety. I'm sure you could heal, just not in a way I can teach you. So, my practices can only get you so far, dear boy. With that, I apologize but I don't think you'll be capable of summoning brighter spirits to aid you in combat or be able to heal the wounded of those filled with light. No matter what I can do to have you practice the arts, I cannot make you capable of practicing the light. "
"Dark magic is my only way to expand my knowledge then?" Kuro questioned, his eyes glancing over to the darker recesses of the woods as he let his arms unfurl and rest at his sides. He glances over at Merlin, who gives Kuro a nod in response. "I'll never be able to heal the wounded?"
"Not without a potion or a first aid kit, lad." Merlin nodded, before reaching out with his bony hands and squeezing Kuro's shoulder affectionately. "So, as far as the things I can teach you, I may have reached my limit. I can only blame myself, I shouldn't have been so foolish to get your hopes up."
"I understand. it's not your fault, Merlin." Kuro muttered, glancing down at Dusk at his side and then to the forest. Merlin is a white mage, a practitioner of the good and the just kind of magic.
Kuro needed a black mage, and luckily for him, he was told of a certain black mage hidden out in the woods. Whether good or bad luck, Kuro would have to find out.
Kuro, turning to Merlin and offering a hand. Merlin took it, shaking it justly before marching off towards the forest. Merlin watched him with a heavy stare.
"Where are you going?" Merlin inquired, his hands folding behind his back as he watches the young man saunter forward. Moving ahead.
"You said you know someone who practices dark magic. Maybe she can help me." Kuro said as he glanced over his shoulder, his voice rising to a shout. "Thank you, despite everything, Merlin."
"Kuro, I don't think-" Merlin shouted back, only for Kuro to get closer to the tree line and his voice growing louder and stronger as he needed to speak.
"If I don't learn how to control my magic, people I need to help are going to suffer. And if I need to risk dealing with some witch, then I'll do it." Kuro's eyes focused on the darkness of the forest, feeling the shadows almost call to him. Drawing him in closer and closer. "Good luck to you, and give Arthur my regards."
"Kuro! If I may be so bold to say, I think you are a delightful lad! Regardless of your background, I know you're an upstanding man! And I'm glad we've met!" Merlin shouted as Kuro's steps carried him to the edge of the forest, meeting the tree line. And soon after, he disappeared into the darkness of the forest. "May the wind be at your back!"