Orlouge Training Lesson 2: Steppenwolf Orlouge

[Silence Sei]

The moon had turned to cheese and was colored blue. Pigs grew wings and flew through the air. Houses just uprooted and left for the nearest grocer they could get to in search of tacos. The world was ending, and the impossible had happened.

Steppenwolf Orlouge had cleaned his house.

The large, pink haired Mystic had expected Kyla's arrival at his home, and so he had actually managed to pick up the place. Sure, instead of food everywhere there were now folded clothes laying on some of his tables. There was also the occasional dirt and snow trail that followed the inventor into bed with him, but nothing was that annoying, at least he did not think so.

"Did you really fold your clothes and not put them up?" Kyla asked, hands on her hips as she closed the door behind her, "And when are you going to sweep this place?"

"Seriously?!" Steppenwolf rebutted, "I threw out the trash and washed my dishes of Thayne's sake! Some gratitude would be appreciated!"

"You totally half-assed it! Are you really so lazy as to fold up your clothes, but not take the extra few bits of effort to put them in your drawers?!"

"Listen Mom," Steppenwolf's words had a playful sting to them, "If I wanted a scolding---"

The 'fight' was interrupted by Steppenwolf's large St. Bernard, Pepper. The dog barked several times, sending a few vibrations to roll through the workshop, and even a single picture frame to fall off of Steppenwolf's fireplace. The afro Mystic laughed and pushed his hands down. "Okay Pepper, we were just playing..."

Steppenwolf walked over to Kyla and wrapped his massive tree trunk like arms around her, lifting the poor girl off the ground. "Welcome back Kyla, I got some books already ready for you, if you want to crack down on studying first."

[Amber Eyes]

"Really? I don't even get pizza or candy or anything?" The young mystic laughed. "Okay, but if I study really hard, we're having spagetti for dinner."

"Your not going to throw up on me again are you? Took me weeks to get the spagetti stains out."

"Let's just say if I'm pregnant again I may need more than a few weeks of training to get me back on track." The girl playfully swatted her uncle before beginning to sort through the books he'd lain out.

"There are lots of good one there, a few from my days in school actually."

Pepper bounded up to Kyla and placed his large head on her lap. "It's really good to be back here."

Kyla rubbed the large dog as she thought about her last visit. She had been so afraid after the decimation, and had run to the only place she thought she would be safe. Steppenwolf had greeted her with open arms and guided her home. Kyla smiled at her uncle, "But I still want spagetti."

[Silence Sei]

"Spaghetti it is then" Steppenwolf announced proudly, as if expecting an award for giving Kyla what she wanted. The large Mystic smiled for a moment, before noticing Kyla turning her head back and forth. She was obviously looking for something, and the pink afro warrior soon saw the question on the girl's mind coming.

"Where's Terry?"

Terry Rouge, Steppenwolf's deceased best friend, had had his soul transferred into the body of a robot Steppenwolf had created for the purpose of preserving the man's short life. The scientist looked down and shook his head for a moment, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, you know how Wind-Up was always talking about hearing multiple voices?" Kyla nodded, "Well, turns out, Terry's soul wasn't the only one that got put in my machine. It works too well, and rather than keeping one Mystic soul within it, it keeps any short lived Mystic souls in it. As such, the voices Terry was hearing..."

"Were the souls of the babies I killed..." Kyla trailed off, her hand stopping the savage petting of Pepper. Steppenwolf took a heavy gulp and nodded.

"Yeah, and so he didn't want to be called Terry any more, he wanted to be known as 'Wind-Up', which, as you know is what I was calling him before his soul was put in the machine. Well, he decided he needed to go explore Althanas for himself, not only find out what has changed about it, but give the 'babies' several new sights to see. So you see Kyla, everything works out in the end!"

Steppenwolf's words of comfort seemed to do anything but, given the look on Kyla's face. The large Mystic scratched the back of his head once more, turning around. "But, let’s talk about something different, you're here for training, right?"

The light hearted inventor reached underneath a desk, pulling out a button on a metal plate. It didn't seem as if the thing was attached to anything, but with Steppenwolf Orlouge, one could never be too sure. He crossed his arms and looked to Kyla.

"Lesson 1, Patience." Steppenwolf pressed the button, and absolutely nothing seemed to happen. "Don't press the button again Kyla," Steppenwolf warned, "even if something spectacular will happen if it gets pressed twice..."

[Amber Eyes]

'I'm not five, I'm not going to press the button if you say don't press the button." Kyla smiled at her uncle who raised his eyebrows at her. It wasn't until a few moments went by that she realized that no matter which way she looked she always focused on that little red button in the corner of her eye. She picked up one of the books and began to read, but every word that started with a 'b' became the word 'button' in her mind. She finally gave up and put the book down. Steppenwolf giggled a bit and excused himself from the room. I don't really see how it's funny.

Kyla decided she would go ahead and begin making the spagetti to distract herself from the silly test. She reached up into a cabinet and pulled down a jar filled with noodles. She then dug through the cabinets until she found the tomato sauce. Another drawer revealed both matches and a spoon. She grabbed two pans that were drying and placed them on top of the stove. She turned around for just a moment and stared at the button that now apparently controlled her every thought. It seemed larger now than it had a moment ago. She sat all of her wares down and walked to the table. It was just a box with a button, not words written on it or pictures or anything. It was so ordinary, and yet it was the only thing her mind could focus on. Kyla held her hand over the button, her muscles begging her to take the chance. This is just stupid. What could it possibly do? She pulled her hand back and again began to cook.

She lit the stove and added water to the pot. As she waited for the water to boil she looked around the room. Steppenwolf's kitchen was small, it consisted of the stove, sink, cooler, and counter where she stood now, and a dining area with the table pushed up against a wall with a shelf over it. Inspirations struck when the girl noticed a flowerpot sitting upon the shelf. Kyla focused upon the flowerpot, her mind willing it to move gently. Her entire focus was on that small piece of clay as it inched closer and closer to its mark. Suddenly the girl felt heat near her back and relized she'd been standing too near the stove. Her shirt had began to catch fire. The girl yelped as she tried to put out the flames with her hands. She succeeded in handling the fire and then looked to the table where a smashed flowepot lay inches away from the button on the table.

[Silence Sei]

Steppenwolf smiled when he heard the flower pot slamming against the table. No doubt his niece had let her curious nature get the better of her, and she had pushed the button. Yet, the after effects of pushing the button did not seem to be happening as of yet. The large Mystic grew curious himself, and walked into the kitchen, looking at the flower pot remains and Kyla's panting from putting out the fire she had started.

Steppenwolf's eyes looked over to a nearby clock. The device resembled a small kitty, its right paw and eye slits moving back and forth with each tick and tock. It had been roughly fifteen minutes since Steppenwolf had started the test, and he looked to Kyla with his lovable smile.

"Okay, so we now know that you can focus on something for about fifteen minutes before your patience wears out," he said, the almost evil grin crossing his face. "That's good, it's enough time to teach you some nifty things that your light magic can do, come on."

Steppenwolf walked outside, his large feet making heavy crunches in the soft white powder below. Pepper followed, panting and making similar crunches in the snow. The inventor then pointed two of his fingers down, and shifted them upwards rather quickly. A few seconds later, a large white ball of light shot up in the distance, exploding in a melody of reds and blues.

"The cosmetic applications of Light Magic are astounding. If one is skilled enough, they can make the light do whatever they wish. Today, I'm going to teach you how to make fireworks. It may seem silly, but once you see what happens when a firework blows up in someone’s face, you won't think such things anymore." Steppenwolf laughed as he shifted his fingers again, another ball of light firing off and exploding, this time in yellow.

"It's like making your basic light ball, just picture it in the distance. Think about how long you wish it to last, and what colors you want it to be before it disappears. If you concentrate hard enough, which I know you can Kylana, you'll do it in no time. Just don't be discouraged if it takes a few tries, okay?" Steppenwolf turned around and placed a hand on the girls head, ruffling her hair as if she were a mere child.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla closed her eyes and imagined a bright green ball of light rising through the sky and then bursting into several smaller green and gold balls. She imagined the entire sky lighting up with her magic and then she gathered the light energy in her right hand. The warmth from her hand exicited the girl as her imaginary picture show continued inside her head. This is going to be so cool!

The mystic held her hand out and opened her eyes, pointing two fingers out as she had seen Steppenwolf do. She lifted them and then smiled as she felt the warmth leave her fingertips. A moment later a small trail of light exploded in the distance. Okay, so it wasn't the right color. It didn't do what I wanted it to, and it lasted about one second. Her smile grew as she looked at her uncle, "That was awesome."

Steppenwolf put his arm around his neice, a smile crossing his own lips. "You wanted it green huh?"

"Yup."

"I figured."

[Silence Sei]

It came as no surprise to the huge Mystic that his niece had desired green fireworks. He had wished the same thing when he first started learning the trick. A little into the distance, Pepper had begun crunching down on the snow, taking mouthfuls of the powder while simultaneously barking at the light show. Steppenwolf patted the girl on the back and waited for the magic to die out before going back inside.

Later on, during Dinner, Steppenwolf noticed a glum look on Kyla's face. The girl was absent mindedly rolling a meatball back and forth on her plate. Steppenwolf's gaze shifted to Pepper, who was hungrily licking up the meal as if it were the dog's last. Obviously, Steppenwolf had cooked the food right by the canine's standards. If it was not that then Kyla had to be glum about her small display of power.

"Kyla," Steppenwolf said while pointing the prongs of his fork at her, as if she did not know her own name, "Light and Shadow Magics, for us Mystics, they feed off of us. Emotions are typically the primary catalyst to determine whether or not your magic is going to be spectacular or flop. I think I may have come up with a good way to get you stronger in using your magics."

As Steppenwolf finished, a cold chill suddenly overcame the house. Steppenwolf and Pepper both shivered for a moment, the former looking over to his brick fireplace. The fire had all but died, and only a few embers remained, attempting to stay lit on the wood that had yet to burn.

"Perfect target," Steppenwolf said, "Kyla, I want you to focus your light magic on those embers. Also, I want you to think about holding Akiv for the first time. Such happy emotions should feed the light magic, and cause the intensity of the embers to burn harder. Maybe if we start with something small like this, you can work your way up to spelling your name with explosions." Steppenwolf slammed his fork down on a meatball, sending red sauce all over the table as he did so.

The inventor bit down on the food as his eyes shifted back and forth from Kyla to the fireplace, expecting something to happen.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla smiled to herself. Steppenwolf was unaware that Kyla had already perfected this particular trick on her own. In fact, burning things was one of the first tricks Kyla learned. She studied the embers, and thought of Akiv. She pictured holding him for the first time, his long limbs so small and fragile. His round nose and pink cheeks. Kyla could picture her newborn like it was yesterday, she remembered holding him up in front of the windows in Moriah.

As she pictured each part of her new baby, the flames came to life. The nearly dead fire quickly consumed the wood in the fireplace before continuing to dance without any fuel. Steppenwolf smiled at his neice and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Good job Kylana. I didn't expect you to pick that up quite so quick."

Kyla shrugged her shoulders, "I've worked on that before. I guess I cheated." "If studying before a test is cheating then we're all in trouble."

Steppenwolf gave the girl a hug. "I think maybe we should get some sleep, I've got big plans for you tomorrow. Kyla took her plate and threw the remaining food away before rinsing the dish and setting it aside.

She stared at her uncle, "Thank you."

Steppenwolf poked her in the side as he walked towards his own room, "Anytime."

[Silence Sei]

That night, Steppenwolf did not rest. Inspiration ha struck him and he was not going to allow it to leave so easily. He made sure to keep quiet as to not awake Kyla. Steppenwolf smiled at the thought, knowing full well that once Kyla went to sleep, nothing short of a snow wyrm crashing through her bed room would wake the Mystic girl up. Still, he toiled in his room until the next morning, finally completing his latest contraption with the dawn's breaking light.

He had walked out of his room and almost immediately began cooking breakfast for the three of them. Kyla got to decide dinner, so he was cooking his favorite breakfast food today. He cracked the egg on the pan and poured the insides into the hole created in the toast. After a few minutes, the large Mystic flipped the toast over. The first egg in a basket was complete.

Kyla came into the room as Steppenwolf had finished her two pieces of the delicious meal. He set the plate down on the table with an orange juice (One of the few things Kyla would drink besides Dr. Paprika), and some biscuits with white gravy. Steppenwolf figured that she would eat at least one of the items before her, or both depending on her hunger pangs.

"So, I created something I think may help with your problem..." Steppenwolf said with a grin, taking out a single silver ring. "It will focus your energies on whatever you're concentrating on at the time. I think that if we go outside after breakfast, you'll have even better results than you did last time. So what do you say, Kylana, wanna give the fireworks another go?"

[Amber Eyes]

1. Kyla nodded to her uncle while jamming a fork full of gravy-soaked biscuit into her mouth. The ring silver of the ring glimmered in the morning sun's rays. Normally, the girl would have pocketed the jewelry and pretended as though she loved it (Kyla secretly didn't wear rings because she had a tendency to lose them). Steppenwolf wanted to see his invention in practice. The girl took a heavy swallow, not prepared for running the typical course of Steppenwolf's creations (see; blowing up). The look on her excited uncle's face, however, was enough to convince the girl to gamble with the possibility of death.

They made their way outside, where Steppenwolf once again instructed Kyla on how to create some fireworks from her magic ability. Only this time, the large Mystic advised that Kyla focus all of her thoughts onto the ring. It was a simple idea, and Kyla closed her eyes and slipped the jewelry on, zoning all of her energies into the ring as a focal point. As soon as the girl had thrown her fingers up into the air, vibrant colors of green and gold flourished in the sky, illuminating the air in a spectacle of greatness. The feat caused the girl to jump up and down in excitement before hugging her uncle. The pink haired Mystic laughed and returned the hug, happy that he could help his relative out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You have to go so soon?" Steppenwolf asked, being aided in his plea to make Kyla stay by the whining of Pepper. The girl simply nodded, holding the backpack Anita had let her borrow over her shoulder. It was time to move on to the next Orlouge in her training to become a legend. She wanted to be as well known as Sei, or even Steppenwolf, and the only way she was going to accomplish that goal was if she kept striving to improve.

"Yeah, Uncle Ciato said he could teach me a thing or two as well, so I figured I'd head over to Alerar and see what his place is all about," Kyla patted the large canine on the head and gave her uncle another hug goodbye. Steppenwolf watched Kyla as she disappeared into the sunset, smiling down at Pepper as he threw two fingers up in the air. Kyla may not have learned the most from her Uncle Steppenwolf, but he could at least give her the flashiest exit.

As she walked away from that single Salvar home, she looked up to see crimson flames sporadically exploding across the sky, accompanied by blue and white embers above. The girl continued to walk with an even bigger smile now, grateful for all that Steppenwolf had taught her. She could hear Pepper howling even now that the popping of the fireworks overhead tried to drown the sound out. For all that the Mystic and his familiar had done for her, Kyla could only think of one thing to say.

"Thanks Uncle Steppenwolf...

[Knave]

Aight, here you go.

Plot Construction ~ 11/30

This is more like an epilogue between books in a moderately long series, a series with very small books. It starts at the end of something I’d liked to have seen handled gently, and then the shadowy drama is stomped flat, made apparent, and glossed over. It is then about this “training” involving a few scenes and odd details.

The characters could have been a bit more vibrant, and the setting almost non-existant, and could easily be some part of Ohio or Tennessee as anywhere else. Bottom line, the only thing fantastic here is that there is some talk and show of light magic.

Characterisation ~ 9/30

This didn’t really fit with Althanas, it felt like the modern world except no one has a day job and someone is guilty of crimes against humanity. The history is there, it’s that I hardly received any here, I know why there are so many dead babies, but a casual reader wouldn't understand.

Althanas’ history or atmosphere was not particularly present here. All that’s left is the quality of your narration, which skips and jumps to hasten the limited developments without much in the way of any kind of transition. Steppenwolf is near the opposite of his namesake and has a few quirks that were not played to the fullest if played at all, and Kyla is a person. Depth of emotion or thought wasn’t something I felt reading this, and that is okay.

Steppenwolf notices there was a fire, he doesn't notice that Kyla was the fire. A pot was broken. These things don't come back after that post was mentioned. Everything is so contained in their posts. I don't really know what anything looks like. The greatest distinction between locations is between inside and outside.

Writing Style ~12/30

There were some mistaken words, but, aside from those, nothing that I stumbled over or felt oddly insulted by.

Amber, you wrote this a year ago as far as I am concerned, so I hope someone mentioned sooner than now that while you don’t have to tell who is speaking next to every bit of dialogue, simply leaving them hanging out in the air one after another with different speakers is confusing. This could have been helped with the usual bunnying tag at the top.

Wildcard: 3/10

The whole button thing, badly handled. It could have been much better. All of it could have been.

Total: 30.

I have an AIM and inbox, ha ha! If you want to speak to me, use those instead to keep yourselves busy.

Sei gains: 360 exp.
Amber Eyes gains: 225 exp.

The ring is granted as it seems to be the goal.

Abilities are not really my call, so I'll leave the Mystic Bombs (x2 per thread), and the harmless fireworks up to the RoG.

Yep.

[Letho]

EXP/GP added!