Storms of the Sky

even ask - LXXII

TW: panic

--Bastet--

"Foot there," Ivana instructs me. I grumble and match my foot to hers.

I managed to get a few hours of sleep by the time Avery and I got back to Ixora. Even still, I am exhausted.

The excitement from last night is buzzing in my veins. I mean, I won't say I didn't know...but I didn't know. But now I feel lighter. And now I can make gay jokes about myself without feeling extensial dread of homophobia and just get a chuckle and a "same". Yay!

I raise my arms and arch forward, my stars turning blue in hue. Ivana nods, smiling. She insisted on a one-on-one lesson today. So she gave the entire class gardening duty while she tries to wrap her head around teaching me uhhh....

"What was it?" I ask her. Ivana arches her hand up gracefully.

"Water Wielding." Yeah. That. So far my stars haven't flickered. I'm already sweating and we've barely been out here more than thirty minutes.

Ivana took me by a pond by the forest's edge. Sweet shade cools me in the heat of the day.

"Okay, let's try it again," She says. I nod, pressing my mouth thin and adjusting my feet so my stance is solid. I arch my arm like always, except this time I jut my opposite arm forward at the water.

Nothing happens.

"Figures the moment you learn Moon your myth decides to stop there." Ivana crosses her arms.

"At least I have Brown-Eyed?" I mumble. My moon is going away. Ivana sighs.

"Let's try again," She says. I get up with her and set my feet in position. I arch my arm, breathing in. I exhale with the jut. The water in the pond stays still.

I groan, keeping my face tight. I squeeze in my eyes, letting a sweat roll down my eye. Focus. Focus.

"Ivana...." I start. Ivana nods at me.

"You can learn the basics. They are enough," Ivana says. "You just need No-Eyed and probably more theory."

"I haven't gone to any actual Cloud-Eyed lessons," I tell her. "It's been difficult to figure out by myself. And most of the lessons I spend learning Sign Language if Milo is on the ground. I can't fly."

Ivana frowns.

"You'll get it, Gold-Eyed," She tells me, her hand on my shoulder. "Now let's get you better in Blue-Eyed myth than Brown."

* * *

I hold a small sliced apple in my hand. Breaking the leaves and twigs, I step. I chew on the snack.

I haven't found Thorn yet today, but I'm confident she's around here somewhere. I need to tell her about my myth and that I'm leaving soon. I don't know, maybe she can come with me. Like Avery and Quarry would allow that. But they would understand, right?

"Oh, there you are," I say. I catch a blur of black hair passing behind a tree.

"Shh," Thorn says quietly. "I'm studying you." I blink, eating another apple.

"You are the weirdest person I've ever met," I say. Thorn comes out from behind the tree. She has her hair down today. It brushes their wrists.

"Is that an apple?" Thorn says, pointing at my hand. I nod, holding some out. She takes a slice and comes up next to me. Thorn falls on me, so her body is pressed against mine. I cough, taking a step back.