The Journeymen

Lessons Learned

One week of waiting painfully stretched into two. Initially Jack and Chuck had been the only ones showing signs of anxiety over their extended wait. Both were men of action and both were also anxious to return home so they could see their families and make sure that everything was still safe in their village. Now as the four companions entered their second week of waiting for the required ten council members, Anya's anxiety grew as well.

The young woman had only spent one night in Jack and Aly's home but she already felt that she was more at home there than she had been in her small house in her old village after her father died. She had made friends in her old village and she knew she would miss them and mourn them when things calmed down but they never felt like family. Sitting at Jack and Aly's table for breakfast with both their children as well as Brian, Chloe, and their kids, Anya felt a sense of family she had never known. She now felt a sense of homesickness for a home she barely knew.

Although Jack and Chuck, whose planning for the council meeting was long complete, now spent most of their time pacing their rooms and playing cards, Anya was fortunate to have the ever optimistic Gabe to occupy her time. The pair, though they had only known each other for a little over a week, spent almost every waking moment together. Anya could sense that Gabe knew she was growing impatient and that he was working hard to make sure she enjoyed her time.

"So, my magical protégé, you have been introduced to the idea of all kinds basic survival magic. I was thinking maybe we could start trying some of them out," Gabe said as he and Anya sat at the table they had claimed as their own in the tea shop that had become their favorite place to sit and talk.

Anya smiled softly at her teacher-turned-whatever they had become. She wasn't sure if she could call him a boyfriend as they hadn't known each other for long or had any kind of discussion establishing what they were. She hadn't done much dating before the Separation and had done no dating after but she knew she had never felt for someone the way she felt for Gabe. She also knew she had never kissed someone the way she kissed the blue-eyed wizard.

"Well, magic man, what kind of magic am I going to do in our favorite tea shop? I don't want them to kick us out for starting a fire and I doubt we'll be able to tell that I'm using a scent or sound blocking spell," Anya said, picking up her teacup and taking a sip. She crossed her arms with an eyebrow raised, looking at him with mock impatience.

Gabe chuckled at Anya's expression, "What is one spell that could specifically be done at the tea shop?"

Anya cocked her head to the side as her face shifted into one of questioning. She then looked around her, at the traders sitting in the corner making a business deal, at the worker counting silver coins, and then finally down at her teacup.

"Don't make me waste my tea!" she complained in sudden realization.

"We'll get you another one, don't worry," Gabe said, consoling his student.

"Fine. I guess I'll purify my tea into water. I wish I could figure out how to make it work the other way," Anya said, resigning her cup of herbal tea to its fate.

"Do you remember what you need to feel?" Gabe said, sipping on his own tea, almost bragging that his would remain unchanged.

Anya took a breath and closed her eyes, "Yes. I have to picture cool, clear water. And focus on everything except water melting away."

Gabe nodded, "Good. Focus on that," he whispered.

Anya took another deep breath and focused on the feeling she got when she looked at cool clear water. She focused on a mountain stream that she and her father drank from on one of their many hunting trips in the Rocky Mountains. Her father had explained that the water was runoff from the snow melting on the mountain top. She remembered watching it flow downhill, kneeling down and scooping it out with her hand. She remembered the cold it was, how sweet it tasted.

Then she imagined everything except the water melting away. Just as the snow on the mountain top melted to make the cool water she drank on that early spring day, she felt the darkness of the tea melt away. Instead of melting and running down hill, the dark coloring of the tea simply melted away into nothing.

Anya's eyes were still closed when she heard Gabe speak up, no longer whispering but with obvious excitement. "You did it!" he exclaimed gleefully, clapping his hands together loudly and then pointing to her teacup.

She opened her eyes and looked into her cup. The water was perfectly clear. There were no traces of the herbs that had steeped into the water and, when she touched the cup, it felt cool. She sipped the water and it tasted just like the water from the stream.

She looked up and smiled at Gabe, her eyes meeting his kind, adoring eyes.

"You did it," Gabe said again, now softly.

"Thanks to you," she said, reaching a hand out and taking one of his.

Gabe accepted her hand and stroked his thumb across the back of her hand, "Anya, this is all you. I know that as a Journeyman, magic isn't your sole focus but with enough practice and training, you could go far. I can sense that you have the potential to be extremely powerful. More than Chuck, maybe even more than Jack."

Anya blushed, her hand that wasn't in Gabe's reaching up and thumbing one of her braids. "Well you're very sweet," she said, looking down at their interlaced fingers.

"And very honest. Well, most of the time at least," Gabe said, reaching across the small table and lifting Anya's chin to bring her eyes back onto his.

She laughed at his little joke, "You know, you've surprised me quite a bit. After our introduction, I didn't expect any of this from you. How can I be sure I'm not just another hookup?"

Gabe laughed a short, pained laugh, "Well for one thing, we have only kissed and I have to say I'm not too disappointed. I really like how this is going and I really like you. I can tell you are better than a normal hookup. You're somebody that steals a man's heart. You have stolen mine."

Anya felt her whole face flush at his answer, "Well I really like you too. I'm glad we're not rushing this, I have really enjoyed getting to know the real you, not that show you put on for the villages you try to sell your magic in. You know, the real you is much more likable."

Gabe smiled sweetly at her, "I'll take note of that."

The couple sat there for a moment longer, looking at one another. Gabe finally spoke up, "Anya, how would you like to learn about battle magic? It is extremely advanced and you have a long way to go before we actually try it out but you're smart enough to at least learn how it works."

Anya blinked away the love-induced stupor she had fallen under, "Sure, magic man, what do you want to teach me?"

Anya could see that Gabe paused for a moment, considering his words carefully. "So all of the magic you've learned so far, it helps people right?"

Anya nodded, thinking about how her spark created the safety and warmth that a fire could produce and how the water purifying spell could create the necessity of clean drinking water.

"Well, battle magic is different. You normally focus on good memories when you do magic but battle magic doesn't work that way."

Anya only nodded, tilting her head slightly to the side, now holding Gabe's hand between both of hers.

"Battle magic comes from a place of pain. It does for me at least. That spell I used on the bandits a few days ago, that magic had to come from the memory of horrible pain. It is incredibly difficult to control."

Anya nodded again, now concerned for the man she had grown to care for so deeply. She could only wonder what kind of horrible pain the young man could have experienced to produce such a raw, powerful display of magic.

"I'm sure you've seen that burn scar on my shoulder. It actually covers a good deal of my upper back as well. I'll tell you about how I got that another time, maybe when you start to practice battle magic. But that burn is how I'm so good at fire magic. I am acutely familiar with the pain that fire can cause."

The apprentice Journeyman lifted her companions hand up to her mouth and kissed it gently. "Whatever it was, I'm so sorry you had to go through it. It must have been horrible."

Gabe shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't recommend it, but think of how far it has gotten me. Now, let me flag down that waitress so I can get you some more tea."