It wasn't two minutes before Wakko was sincerely regretting their decision to trust Pip. Sure, he was a powerful seer with useful facts and probably the only person who could teach Yakko any of these Hero powers, but that didn't help the fact that less than five minutes listening to him made the middle sibling want to pull his ears off and swallow them. At least his stomach would muffle the sound. A look at his siblings made it clear they shared the sentiment.
"Okay, Pip," Yakko said. "Not that your stories aren't interesting… cause they're not, but you did say we're strapped for time so let's try an' keep it to a limit, huh?"
"Of course," the seer replied, casually straightening the lapels of his robe. "As I said, we just need to cover the basics for now and that ought to be relatively straightforward. One of those things where once you learn it, you develop an instinct for it, you know."
He brushed an invisible speck off a sleeve before looking at the eldest sibling, his flat expression never changing.
"Now, you'll need to put those on."
Wakko looked at his older brother, while Yakko hefted the leather gauntlets with a slight frown.
"Oh, don't worry," Pip said. "They'll fit just fine."
Yakko directed a doubtful look at the seer, then his eyes moved to Wakko and Dot. Letting out a sigh, he shrugged and began to do as instructed. Wakko blinked in surprise when the gauntlets slid on easily, and Yakko looked just surprised.
"Huh." He directed a winning grin at his siblings. "Guess it's a one size fits all kinda deal."
"That's pretty convenient," Dot said, brows raised. Pip waved a hand.
"Oh, of course. Every Hero must wear them, so naturally they need to fit. Now, as I said, you need to reach the Dwellers as soon as possible, so we'll be learning the teleportation spell and a few of the simple ones for attack and defense."
Wakko glanced around the enclosed space, feeling a little nervous. If his brother was going to be learning how to fight, there wasn't going to be much space for it. Pip either guessed what he was thinking or could somehow read his mind, which wouldn't really surprise the middle sibling.
"Not to worry, I'll make sure there's no damage to anything. Or anyone, of course."
"How comforting," Yakko muttered. His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but as always Pip didn't notice or didn't care.
"Good. Now, teleportation first. Spellcasting in general is really quite simple, in fact. Since both the seal and the gauntlet have bound to you, you need only speak one word to activate them and then whatever spell you want to cast. Though you'll need to use the Old Language, which I'm sure you know can be a bit of a tongue twister. The trick is keeping them all in mind and separate, especially as you learn more."
He clapped his hands together, his expression never changing.
"Now, activation first. Quite easy… you simply plant your feet and say wacu. Be sure to enunciate."
He fixed the eldest sibling with his usual flat expression, clearly waiting. Wakko looked at his brother as well, seeing the brief flash of unease on his face before he schooled it into his usual relaxed confidence.
"Okay, then. Here we go."
As instructed, he planted both feet flat on the ground and spoke in a firm, clear voice.
"Wacu."
As soon as he said it, the stone set in the gauntlet flickered with faint golden light, then flared into a gentle glow. Wakko nearly jumped in surprise, and his other siblings clearly shared the sentiment.
"It worked!" Dot exclaimed. "It actually worked!"
Despite his own surprise, Yakko looked up with his usual teasing smirk.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis."
"It is quite impressive," Pip spoke up. "Especially if it's something you aren't used to seeing. Now, defense first. The easiest spell, and a surprisingly effective one, is scieldburg. It forms a simple shield around you and anyone a few steps near you. It's strong but drains with time… and faster as it takes damage. On its own it lasts about twenty minutes. In combat, maybe five… ten at best."
"Got it," Yakko said, clearly wanting to avoid any unneeded additions to the instructions. "Lemme give it a go."
Bracing his feet, he repeated the activation spell along with the new one. Almost immediately, the stone flared again, then a silvery, transparent wall sprang up around him. Wakko felt a swell of pride, along with some reassurance on noting that the wall was indeed large enough for all three siblings if they were close enough together.
"Well done," Pip said, sounding as uninterested as ever. "Now a simple fire spell. Bear in mind, it certainly isn't the best choice for fixed combat, but very effective for defense, which is all you'll need for now." He gestured. "Again, just one word… al.
Wakko blinked.
"That's it?"
Pip looked at him, his expression blank as ever.
"It is a small word, yes… but pronunciation is important. Why, in some languages the smallest tic can completely alter a word's meaning… may be very dangerous in spellcasting, I'm sure you can imagine."
He turned his attention back to Yakko.
"Best not activate the gauntlet, this isn't the best place for open flame. Let's just work on getting the pronunciation right… it does roll off the tongue a certain way, not the easiest to get right. I can repeat it if you want."
The eldest Warner immediately shook his head.
"Nah… I should be good."
After clearing his throat with a dramatic air, he proceeded to say the new spell exactly as Pip had, even pitching his voice to sound like him. Dot snickered and Wakko couldn't help but grin proudly, tongue poking out. His brother always had a way with words. Yakko grinned and winked at them as Pip blinked, unruffled as ever, then nodded.
"Excellent. Now all you need is the teleportation spell and you'll be set. In time you'll be able to travel places by picturing them, but until then you need say where you want to go. Naturally, names of towns work best in that case, which we luckily have in this case. The Dwellers do tend to refer to their home as a camp, but it's mainly for sentimental reasons… at this point it's grown to be a village. Very quant place still, though… simple, cozy homes, lots of homemade food, and the people are really quite friendly. Even the chieftain has a certain gruff charm, once you get to know her… and provided she likes you, of course."
Wakko exchanged glances with his siblings to see his own slight unease reflected on their faces, but Pip seemed oblivious as he brushed an invisible fleck off his sleeve.
"Now, this spell is a little more complicated but given your obvious talent with words I see no difficulty. You start with the activation, of course, then faran to Snowridge, in this case. That is the name of the village, you know."
Wakko cocked his head at Yakko, and his brother raised a brow. Dot spoke up first, voice full of dry sarcasm.
"That's original."
Wakko shrugged.
"Maybe they just got tired of calling it Dweller Camp," he suggested.
"Actually, that was about how it went," Pip said. But then he trailed off, his eyes growing even more distant. He blinked, then looked at the three siblings. "I apologize, but it seems I'm needed elsewhere. You remember all the words, I suppose, so there should be no problem getting here and back. I'll let your councilor know… he'll be accompanying you, of course. Just make sure you're all holding hands so you transport together."
Caught off guard, Wakko struggled to process the seer's words for a moment.
"Wait, what?"
Pip looked at him, completely unflappable and unreadable.
"Oh, don't worry, it's best I'm not there anyway. Chieftain Slappy isn't very fond of me, you see… she says I scare her nephew and his friends too much. Come to think of it, you three seem a little unnerved around me too. Kids can be strange like that, you know."
Without another word, he turned and strode from the room. The siblings stared after him, then Wakko heard his brother snort in disbelief.
"Sibs, I think he's the first guy we've met who's so weird he thinks even we're normal."