Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Stinker..." she growls with a chuckle and takes off after him, using her long stride to try and catch him. She's still a little larger, even if he appears to be more agile. Suddenly she gets an idea and begins to concentrate. Slowly the forest begins to fill with a heavy mist as she chills the air within it.

Ai steps from the mists and tags him while pulling him close. "Tag... let's continue this another day and go home, kiddo. Before ye catch a cold, hmmm." And before he can answer she ports them back to the hearth of the cottage fire. She pushes him down before the fire, then drags a blanket over to him, tucking it around him carefully. "Sorry... I keep forgetting ye and I are from two different worlds."

Ai looks at the fire and hisses a call, suddenly a small troop of salamanders tumble out and run to his aid. Curling about him, warming him through. Sighing the great cat crawls back into her chair and settles down. "You stay put, until I know you are alright." she orders the juvenile firmly.

"What happened?" asks Fortuny as she watches him get comfortable.

"Why Unkwel Kero so cowld. I was outside and it wasn't tooo bawd." says Salunia with a troubled frown.

Ai sighs and lowers her head to her paws. "He's getting so good, I called a fog, forgetting he's susceptible to chills. He was using illusions on me, though I admit I was using one of my skills on him... light bending. It's not really magic, though it stems from it, kind of like his ability with salamanders..."

"What is that?" asks Salunia, her eyes big and round.

Bez walks into the room from the kitchen, his shoulder freshly bandaged and answers for Ai. "Ai's fur is kinds of special. You know what a prism is, right?"

Salunia shakes her head, so Fortuny explains. "Its a crystal that helps break up light into different colors. It's really very complicated, Sal, but white light is actually all the colors rolled up into one... darkness is an absence of light."

Ai nods. "Light is my realm. Like emotions, it reflects what surrounds it. When you look at something green the object is really soaking up all the colors except for the green light waves which are being bounced back to your eyes. When you look at something white, all the colors are bouncing back... at something black, and it is all soaked up... My fur is prismatic, but I can control what each strand reflects... it's not easy though, but sometimes it can be fun... and when you hunt in the tundra, it sure helps. Not so many places to hide."

Ai nods. "As I've told ye before light and fire go hand in hand. My powers span two schools. the fringe of fire, pass the heat into reflection, and on the edge of water, hence ice. Ice is highly reflective, so in truth, even though they seem contrary... they walk hand in hand." She yawns and smiles at Salunia. "It may seem odd, but truth is. only a handful of mages ever walk a single realm. Most have a range of abilities. Do you remember the various schools of magic and what they are? We read about it not too long ago, you and I? I think your daddy told you about them as well."

Ai thinks for a bit then tells her to pull down a book from the shelf. It is rather dusty. Kero hasn't used it in ages, but it is one of his earlier primers on the subject.

"In the front of the book you should find a drawing with a picture of the various schools and their opposites across from them. Tell me what you see." she urges as Salunia settles down next to her mother with the book.

Ai nods. "Those are the cardinal schools. Now take an imaginary pencil and draw line midway between each of them through the center of the circle... kind of like cutting up a pie, so that each school has it's own piece of the pie. Now at the center of all the schools lies a point. That is the realm of divine magic. It touches all, right. And along those lines you will find the other schools. Light magic sits near the center in the wedge of the realm of fire. Ice magic lives in water's realm. But in truth they are very close togeter. See? Earth smothers fire so it lies at it's opposite. Can you think as to why the others sit as they do and where your daddy's lightning magic might sit?"

Ai nods again. "But lightning is like Light magic, a combination of schools. What schools do you think it combines?"