Refuge and Instruction.

[Aaron Winsett]

Aaron looked around the family grounds. Not his closest family's grounds mind, but it belonged to his Grandfather: Barek. The old magician was something of an explorer and adventurer in his younger days, and had led travels. The man had done well for himself, and had opened up facilities for study of the natural world. Oh, he trained a good deal of mages, but there was more to it than that. All around them were fields with plants growing, tilled by those who came to learn. Elbow grease was a major component of working the mind, as far as the people at this school were conerned, and besides magery, most of the learning here was focused around extracts and different uses of natural ingredients. Besides the main crop of herbs that were kept, there were greenhouses built to try and grow some of the more exotic plants from other regions. And there were plenty of different sorts of trees growing up nearby as well. Enough to classify it as an arboretum.

It was in Western Laus, and many of the people that hadn't been able to take shelter in the main city had gathered here instead. Some were leaving now that other events were happening, but the grounds still seemed full. The house was large, with a main section and two additional wings built on. During the catastrophe, store houses had been converted into makeshift housing, and militia from the refugees had supplemented the mage instructors who looked after the place. These days, it was still a place of shelter open to people willing to work around the grounds, but things were beginning to return more to a normal order of business.

Today, he was out looking around. He'd gotten back a couple of nights before, after having witnessed the defeat of the army attacking the City of Heroes. He'd seen much, and gathered more hearsay, but had seen little first hand of the conclusion of that great event. He strode along the path near the edge of some of the trees, notebook in hand and wrote in it.

There was so much power there, but it was not the sort that I could read or identify. It was foreign to me, though reminiscent in its strangeness of something else that I encountered once. The world is better off with it gone. Though I can't guarantee that it won't turn up again.

He paused, looking around and seeing the house off in the distance. A few birds sung under the eves of the trees nearby. No benches though. The best that he'd expect to find out here would be a few large rocks grouped together for convenient seating. Anything else would look to unnatural, and his Grandfather had seemed to be taking a swing towards making things as natural as possible these days.

He'd been told that there might be some students out here that would have plenty of things to ask of him. Or perhaps just some travelers seeking to talk theory or practice. "It would be a good warmdown from his travels", Barek had insisted.

[Alex]

Alex and his wolf cub companion, Kip, were strolling the grounds, admiring the flora, but also prepared for battle. Despite not endorsing in conventional hand to hand combat, instead relying on his trusty fire tome to help him in a fight, he still needed agility for dodging oncoming attacks. To this end, his battle armour consisted simply of a black skin tight undergarment, but concealed by a long white robe, used for the sake of decency and being able to enter the grounds. He was due to spar with a famed tutor here to learn more of his craft. Seeing a green haired perched reading on a rock, he decided this may be a good place to ask for directions.

"Excuse me," Alex began, somewhat hesitantly, for he was still unaccustomed to talking with strangers. "I'm looking for a Mister Aaron Winsett. Would you, uh, be able to point me in his direction?" Being this close to the man soon made him feel awkward about his choice of attire; He was about to take on a veteran mage, effectively wearing nothing but underwear. He pulled the cloak around himself to conceal his foolishness and exposure, but remained calm so as to not attract attention to himself. At his feet, Kip licked Alex's toes for any scraps of food. Finding none, he instead elected to try and search Alex's pockets, and so leaned on his right leg and finding purchase on the tight black shorts. Surely there had to be some food in here?

[Aaron Winsett]

Aaron glanced up at the traveler. A young one wearing a white robe open over a skin tight suit underneath. Well. Not the most usual of choices for attire, but he'd seen plenty of strangeness across the parts of Elibe that he'd been to. What was more intersesting to him was the animal with him. Looked like a wolf pup. Aaron let his glance linger on the animal for a moment. He'd asked for something. The sage prompted back into his mind and recalled the name. "Mr. Aaron Winsett"

Oh.... He means me.

Aaron chuckled a bit at the antics of the pup, but saw the question was waiting to be answered for the young mage. Probably one of the ones he'd been told about. He'd shown up quick.

"I can." Aaron's voice was calm and clear. He snapped his book shut with a flick of his wrist and stood. He tucked the journal away into his bag and relaxed his blue traveling cloak around his shoulders in one smooth motion then looked back to the youngster. Close to his age when he set out, by Aaron's best guess.

"He's about three steps in front of you, and wondering very much who is speaking to him." There was a little of a twinkle in the sage's eyes as he spoke, though he maintained a serious facade. He wondered where the youth had gotten his name, and how long he'd been in the area. How far had his reputation spread on these journeys he embarked on? Was that good or bad?

[Alex]

"I---Uh, my name is Alex, sir. Other than that, there's not really much I can tell you." Alex was unsure what to think of his potential mentor. On the one hand, he seemed somewhat arrogant, but on the hand, he definitely seemed to have the skills to back this arrogance up. "I, er, came here to spar with you, sir---To learn from you." Feeling Kip beginning to gnaw at his already thread bare attire, Alex pulled a hard treat for the cub to chew on; That should keep him busy until Alex would be able to change into his usual clothes. In response to Aaron's own actions, Alex instead chose to open his tome and prepare to cast fire, still his only skill thus far; Unless Mister Winsett was also of a charitable disposition, it could be a while before Alex would acquire Thoron.

Once again drawing his cloak around him to conceal his now embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, Alex was still doing a fairly good job of maintaining sensibility in spite of his ridiculous appearance. "So, uh, where do we start?" He said, almost excitedly.

[Aaron Winsett]

Ah. Sparring match today? Well, so be it. He looked over the almost jittery excitement of his partner, and had to calm himself a bit. The last time he'd used his magic he'd been roasting... things... alive. This wasn't going to be like that though.... This was far away from that catastrophe.... This was safe.

He cast a way eye towards the trees. If they were sparring, he didn't want to be anywhere near those. Too many bad memories of unintended consequences when using magic near a forest. He'd never quite realized how much baggage he carried now. Many experiences and beliefs had shaped him over the years. He didn't try to judge anymore whether these were good changes or bad. He just had to do what he could to take care of himself. And his loved ones.

"Alright Alex. Nice to meet you." The words were sincere, but sounded almost as if they came out by rote.

"If we're sparring, I don't want to be anywhere near those trees. That field should make a good arena though." It was a wide open affair with nothing in it save tall grasses. Not ideal for a battle, but that could be fixed. "C'mon over here."

Aaron entered the field with a slow cautious walk, making sure not to take a bad step in the grass which covered the ground. He reached a point a few hundred feet in, and stopped. He reached into his bag with one hand, and touched the binding of a book there, tapping into its power for a moment. He pulled it out and the temperature immediately began to drop to a freezing low. His breath misted as he looked around.

All around them, blocks of ice began to form. They were roughly six feet high, and shaped like square walls. Their edges shone reflective in the midday sun, and they were shaped into an arena. As it came together, it was identical on all sides. Plenty of walls to take cover behind. Because he was crafting it, he knew their strength. They would be vulnerable to fire, but it would take more than a single blast to destroy one of these many walls. Some of his tomes could bring them down, of course, but he would be limiting himself to the fire tome that Alex carried for this. If he tried to pump enough power into fire's limited structure to obliterate a wall in a solid one shot blast, then he would probably explode his spell book instead. That wasn't to say that these walls wouldn't be vulnerable to creative uses of fire.

Tucking Fimbulvetr back into his bag, he reached in again and pulled loose a very weather worn book. Some of the binding and the cover was beginning to disintegrate in fact, but it still held together.

"Alright Alex. Let's try to avoid burning ourselves too badly." Aaron turned around with a smirk, looking at the the young mage. Will your pup know to stay back?" Aaron asked, glancing at the animal. It was still interesting that the critter followed Alex around. Aaron couldn't say he'd seen a wild animal following a person like this before. What caused it?

[Alex]

Shooing Kip over into a corner, Alex took off his cloak with great embarrassment, but proceeded to cover his canine companion with it to offer him some degree of protection. While he did trust Aaron enough not to scorch Kip within an inch of his life, there was no telling what could happen in the middle of such a heated battle. "Do, uh, forgive my outfit," Alex began. "I thought it would be wise to give myself extra mobility..."

Feeling slightly disadvantaged due to a combination of the cool conditions and his own minimal clothing, Alex looked around and noticed that there were people beginning to gather to witness the spectacle of two mages having a cage fight in what was effectively a topless ice cube, one almost completely naked, save for some cloth and a pair of sandles. "Wait, there's other people here too?!" Alex cried, blushing a deep red and attempting cover his skin tighter undergarment bulb with one hand while wrapping the other around his upper torso. "I didn't think this was a tourist attraction!"

[Aaron Winsett]

Aaron grinned a bit as his brownish haired partner addressed himself to his choice of clothes. Aaron had said nothing, but he'd been wondering a bit. Extra mobility. He wouldn't have any issues being hampered, except from himself.

"I see. I'm not sure about the extra mobility. Trousers, and a good pair of boots have always served me well." It was hard not to be a little amused at the situation, but Aaron was trying his hardest to avoid letting on. He doubted he was succeeding completely.

"Sorry. That was probably me making the arena. There's not usually an ice arena here. It's natural for people to get a little curious." Hopefully, once they saw the fireballs flying, the people would have enough sense to back off. Their fires wouldn't be likely to kill, but it could cause some injury if an accident occurred. And accidents couldn't be calculated out ahead of time.

"Guess we'll start!" Aaron said, not quite shouting it out, but he was definitely not as quiet as before. "Think fast!"

With a quick word mouthed, and an underhanded motion, Aaron conjured a ball of fire and tossed it up into the air before it arced downward towards where Alex was. From how he'd formed it, the fire would hold together for a bit before it felt apart and disintegrated. It would take a mage's stabilizing influence on the element to keep it from falling apart after those brief few seconds though. Backing quickly, Aaron spun on his heels and ran back into the collection of improptu arena walls, leaving the fireball for Alex to catch.

[Alex]

Unable to move out of the way in time, Alex instead chose to launch his own fireball directly above him at startling force, resulting in a small but impressive explosion where the two fireballs collided in the air. Somersaulting backwards, he then kicked off the ice wall behind him while keeping one foot firmly on the ground to send himself careening towards Aaron like a figure skater. Upon reaching him, he ducked down to dodge another oncoming bolt of fire whilst positioning himself behind the older man to fire his own weak ball of fire directly at the man's back. While Alex had every confidence that Aaron would either dodge or parry every one of his attacks, one could not be too careful and Alex did not want to risk an accident.

As Aaron's last fire ball hit the ceiling a small sprinkling of ice fell down onto Kip's head, causing him to shiver in surprise. While Alex's cloak didn't offer him much protection from the flying fire balls, Kip was very lithe and quick thinking and so could jump out the way on a moment's notice. Besides, it at least kept him warm in the icy arena as he chewed on his hard snack. Looking out of the icy areana, Kip could see that the initial spectators had already left the area, either having lost interest in the fight or faith in the sanity of these two lunatics throwing orbs of fire at each other all in the name of character building...

[Aaron Winsett]

There was a sudden stuttering explosion in front of the Sage as Alex threw his own fire up into the air and contacted his. Something in Alex's spell detonated Aaron's, causing waves of heat to fire back across his face. His opponent was already moving though. Alex looked to be a lithe one, dancing across the battlefield quicker than he'd seen most people able to manage. He started breaking down his opponent's talents and assessing vulnerabilities. Concentration for quick spells looked to be one attribute, as well as a swift pace. The first flame bolt he'd thrown had been chaotic enough to break down the bindings Aaron had placed on his literal "ball" of fire.

Knowing that his opponent was getting behind him Aaron spun, following where he'd seen his partner heading in the moment before. Sure enough, there was a fireball already coursing towards him through the air. Falling back a step and flinging a hand out, the sage let loose with a spray of flame in an arc across the path of the fire ball, and covering the area between them with a flurry of angry flame. Leaning back out of the path, Aaron let the fireball pass through where he'd been and stepped around the corner of one of the ice walls nearby, breaking line of sight while the spray of fire was still up.

"There are more ways to use fire than just as a bludgeon, you know." Aaron called from around the corner, back against the icy wall. Briefly, Aaron leaned around the corner, and lobbed a small fireball out towards where Alex had been a moment before, burning it into an ice wall nearby with a small paf.