Weak Nature - Chapter 6

Feeling a slight breeze around her, Fae slowly opened her eyes to see Aero sitting on a branch nearby meditating. Not wanting to disturb him, Fae just laid still and watched the small gust of wind that seems to surround him, even slightly blurring him. Watching in awe, she subconsciously wished that at some point she could cause something that breathtaking herself, with her bloodline.

After awhile, Aero opened his eyes. Smiling at Fae, he said,”Did you enjoy watching?” Since Fae’s expression is written all over her face with twinkling eyes, and an open smile. Fae, not one that ever really learned not to respond truthfully, said,” It was truly amazing. Someday I wish that I could achieve something like that. Though I don’t quite know what my bloodline does.” Ending the sentence with a little bit of an embarrassed chuckle. With both getting off the tree, Aero went straight into the day’s lesson. “Did you practice? Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter to ask, since I’m gonna make you run right away. Off you go now. Same as last time.”

Watching Fae start the run, Aero just had to raise an eyebrow at it. ‘Seems she really did practice a lot. Wish the Aether kids I train did the same.’ He noticed right away that the main thing that she seemed to really practice is how to properly place her foot to make it quieter while allowing an easier time to keep the speed. Efficiency is the key when hunting and gathering afterall. Watching further, he noticed that the plants around her, or more specifically right under where she is about to step, bend a little, acting as springs to further increase her speed while lessening the noise. ‘I wonder if she will become a top class runner even by Aether standards with this kind of power.’

Not too long after the start of the run, Fae finished the run. Aero pondered before saying, “Today you are not allowed to use your bloodline. I guess the first question is can you even do that? I have yet to ever see your eyes not glowing.” Fae, feeling a little awkward, said, “There has never been a reason too… and it’s second nature. It’s very comforting knowing that all around you are friends willing to help and share your burden. Oh, speaking of willing to help, Mr. Willow over there wanted to say thank you. His leaves needed a good rustling.”

Amused at the fact that a tree thanked him for rustling his leaves, he contemplated the problem. “Seeing how your bloodline seems at least slightly similar to my own, maybe the same kind of way to activate it, or in this case, deactivate it, works.” Walking over, he then sat down comfortably and asked Fae to copy him. Once Fae was seated, he said, “I want you to imagine that within you, where ever you consider the origin of your power, is glowing. Okay?”

letting that sink in a bit, he then continued. “Now that you see your origin on, try slowly dimming that light, until it is completely dark.” For Aero, it was very interesting to watch as her eyes slowly lost their glow, and the plants all around seemed to lose a spark of life. Even the willow looked sadder than it normally does. Speaking of, what happened to the walnut tree that was around here? Looking around confused, Aero doesn’t even realise that the tree seemed to just disappear, like some author forgot it and then deleted it…

Once Fae’s eyes lost all glow, Aero spent the remaining time forcing her to do the same run, calling out things that she needed to fix. Aero also forbade her from using her bloodline until she herself could use the correct form. When Fae asked for a reason why, Aero simply stated, “Although using tools to get the job done is efficient, if you don’t know how to do it in the first place, how will you properly use the tools?”

This continued on for the next week, while Fae started to get a slightly toned, lean frame from the constant running. At the end of the second week, Aero seemed to notice that the plants were depressed or the like, let Fae use her bloodline for a while just so the plants and the nature around here brightened up. About three and a half weeks of training did Aero finally say that Fae had the basics good enough, and the rest is up to practice and integrating her bloodline into it. He did say one last thing. “Try to ask nature around you to help you by properly broadcasting what you want. If you want speed, try imagining yourself running faster. Don’t just sit there letting it run on it’s own. When I train, its like all the running you do. I have to properly use and work it for it to get stronger.”

Later, when she went to Odo’s, he noticed that her eyes didn’t have the constant glow. Wondering why, he asked. Fae, realising that she left it off, looked deep inside her, at her heart. With the zero glow, she started to slowly add more glow. Not realizing that Odo’s yard had a lot of changed flowers, or that no one was around to be a safety net for her, Fae’s bloodline origin seemed to crack and shatter into a new heart, stronger and much brighter. Feeling intense pain, all that odo heard was a whimper before he turned and looked at Fae passed out on the ground, with the grass and flowers growing at a visible rate, seemingly to protect her from any harm.

He also noticed, that her silver hair grew at a incredible rate, and that her skin seemed to get even paler than before, a feat not thought to be possible.

“I hope this is what I think it is…” Odo muttered, before sitting on the ground close by to watch over her.