"Hey Cas!"
Ignore him. Keep walking.
"Cas wait up!"
I wonder what will be on the menu for lunch?
"Caught you, Caterpillar!"
Dang it!
Andy grabs my arm, forcing me to stop and turn around to face him.
"What do you want, Wickleberry?" I cross my arms in front of me in a sort of protective barrier, trying to put some distance between us for now.
"Were you trying to avoid me?" He half smiles and I roll my eyes with a sigh.
"No. So, what do you want?" I raise an eyebrow at him and he holds his hands up defensively.
"Sheesh, what's up with you anyway?"
I stare at him until he sighs.
"Look, we need to practice our bond so I was thinking we should go out into the woods and-"
"Sorry, I need to train with Sky!"
I turn around and run out of the gym before he can say anything.
I need some space right now. A guilty seed has been planted in my stomach and as I'm walking I can feel the roots taking place as the tree continues to grow. I know I'll have to face him eventually, but after our little moment in the woods, I just need to clear my head. If we were to train now, I doubt I would be able to focus and then we wouldn't make any progress.
Besides, I was thinking of asking Sky for help in specific training, so this is perfect timing! Making my way back to the library, I pause for a few moments to try and regain my breath before entering. When I walk in I find Sky and Flare at the same table that they were at this morning, searching through stacks of books. At the sound of my approach, they both look up and my face must look flushed from running as they both raise their eyebrows at me with smirks on their faces.
"Didn't think there were any wild animals in the gym? Right Sky?"
"Yep! Which means Cassidy here wasn't running from something but from someone."
They both stare at me as if they are seeing through my mind, which is an ability that probably exists in this place, and I can only respond by glaring at them.
"I don't want to talk about it!"
"Okay~"
"One of these days you won't be able to keep running!"
"Guys, seriously! Enough!"
In response, they both pout.
Urgh.
"So, I'm guessing you ran away with a different training method in mind?"
Flare raises an eyebrow and I nod, grateful that the subject has finally shifted away from Andy for now.
"Yeah! I was actually hoping that you would be able to give me healing lessons Sky! Can you?"
"Hm. Let me check my schedule."
Sky takes out a timetable and I can see that it is fulled to the brim with either lessons or missions that she has had to undertake. She flips to a page marked with today's date and quickly scans it before flashing me a smile.
"All good! I've got a spare hour until I have to teach my next class!"
"Awesome!"
Sky closes the book she was reading before I entered and places it on a smaller stack of books that appears to be the ones that they've managed to get information from.
"Do you always check your schedule at the last minute?"
Flare interrogates Sky with her hands on her hips and Sky smiles.
"Teehee!"
"Honestly..."
"Well we gotta get going! Will you be alright on your own, Flarry?"
Flare waves us off, exasperated.
"Yeah I'll be fine! Trace will be here soon to take over for me anyway, so that I can teach my lesson."
We wave goodbye to Flare and set off towards the woods.
"You want to ride our horses there?"
"Yeah!" I'm jumping with excitement and Sky chuckles in response.
"I'm guessing you've already formed a bond with your horse?"
"Yep! Spunk is awesome!"
Taking a detour, we walk towards the huge stable near the edge of the woods and my jaw drops at the number of horses being kept in there. This doesn't last long though, as after I hear a familiar neigh I turn around and find Spunk in his wooden stall behind me.
I run over towards him and open the door to his stall so that I can pet him affectionately. He nuzzles his snout against my hand and I lean in to give him a hug, instantly getting filled with his warmth.
"I missed you boy."
Spunk nudges his snout against me and I take that as him saying 'I missed you too'.
"Here, feed him this."
Sky holds out her hand to me and I find a bright red apple resting against her palm. Spunk must smell the apple as I hear him toss his head and neigh behind me. Smiling, I take the apple from Sky and turn holding my hand, palm outwards, towards him. He bends his head and takes the apple from my hand.
"We better get going Cas!"
Sky, who left to retrieve her horse, comes back with a golden horse that is golden blond in colour with a light brown mane.
"Sky, she's beautiful!"
"Thanks! Her name is Aurea by the way!"
"That name is perfect!"
Sky beams at me. "I think Spunk is a perfect name for your horse too!"
Smiling, we lead our horses - once they've been saddled - outside of the stables where we climb atop them. As we ride into the woods Sky and I chat to pass the time.
"Are you an experienced rider?"
"Yep, I've been riding since I was five!" Boy am I proud of that, or else I would've given Andy another chance to laugh at me due to the pain I would've experienced in my thighs if it were my first time.
"I started around that time too! It's a great feeling, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It's peaceful."
We ride in friendly silence for a couple more minutes until Sky leads me into a clearing filled with rocks and animals.
"Whoa."
"Welcome to my little healing hideout! I come here to heal the animals, or just to further develop my skills."
We dismount from our horses and walk further into the clearing.
"What's with the rocks?"
"I'll show you!"
Sky picks up one of the rocks from the huge pile on the ground and at closer inspection I notice that all of them have razor sharp edges, like daggers. That's when I see Sky bring the rock down towards her outstretched palm, preparing to run it against the curve of her palm.
"Sky?!" I give her a look signalling 'What the heck are you doing?!', but she waves my concerns away with a bright smile on her face.
"Don't worry, Cassidy!"
She then cuts her palm along the curve, causing bright blood to seep through, slowly gathering in a pool in the middle.
"Alright Cassidy, heal me!"
"WHAT?!"
"Don't worry I didn't cut too deep! Besides, it's easier to get the basics by doing it yourself, right? It's also easier for you to heal me instead of an animal for the first time!"
She's got a point.
I take a deep breath and walk over to Sky's bleeding hand, activating my wind ability as I do.
"Try to feel for my injury. Since you're new to this, closing your eyes will help."
At Sky's gentle urging, I close my eyes and try to sense her injury. After a few minutes, I give a huff in exasperation.
"I can't do it!" I cry out, throwing my hands in the air.
"Yes you can! Focus. Listen to the nature around you. Wind is a part of nature, so you need to connect with it."
"Okay."
Taking a deep breath I concentrate on the sounds around me, taking in every flap of a wing, every chirp, every animal's footstep until I feel something buzz within me. Like the flowing water in the river not to far from where we are, I can sense Sky's blood pouring out of her cut.
"I did it!"
"Good job, Cassidy! Now focus on the torn skin and slowly mend it back together."
"Got it!"
Sensing Sky's torn flesh, I begin to pull the two torn ends together slowly with my wind until the skin completely mends back together. I open my eyes, ecstatic, to find a light blue aura around me and I look Sky's hand, to find that the cut has fully disappeared and after a few seconds the aura disappears as well.
"Sky, what-"
"It's your aura Cassidy! I can't believe that you were able to make it appear so soon! It was faint and it didn't last very long, but still!"
"Um, is that a good thing?"
"Of course! It - Oh crap, I'm gonna be late for my lesson if we don't leave now! C'mon I'll teach you how to heal more than cuts later!"
Sky jogs over to her horse, climbing atop it in a flash and taking off in a canter in less than a second. I scramble to catch up to her, climbing atop Spunk and urging him after her.
We part ways when we get back to the stable and Sky heads off to teach her lesson, while I grab a quick lunch hoping to find Violet to see if she would like to spend the rest of our independent training together.