Lesson One (Sablerose)

[Toph Bei Fong]

For the fist time in her life, Toph had been unable to decide what to wear.

It was usually a simple question: Who was she today: The Baroness or the Blind Bandit? Answer that question and everything else fell into place. It might seem odd to some, to have aspects of your personalty of behavior so neatly segmented, but when you've done it all your life, you get used to it. Just because she could switch from bruiser to lady with nothing more substantial than the unspoken will to do so, did not mean Toph didn't know who she was. If anything, only someone completely sure of their own sense of self could attempt such a thing without going mad.

Then she slept with Jo. And her whole world view went tits up.

Toph grunted where she sat near the bank of the river located in the hunting grounds. She had been trying to meditate before Princess Calla arrived to begin her lesson in the druidic faith. Lessons that Toph had asked for. Lesson she'd had been putting of ever since she got back from her last, ill-fated hunt. She could scarcely imagine focusing on so complicated a thing as religion without her head screwed on straight. Picking her current attire proved to be challenging enough. She had spent far to much time feeling each garment, picturing how it would look on her. When she caught herself wondering how Calla's face – the only face she'd been able to see her whole life – would look when she caught sight of her in this or that outfit, she felt her own face grow hot. Then she picked the very next item in her wardrobe, not caring what it looked like, or at least telling herself so. It was a sari not unlike the one she had been wearing when she met Calla, only made out of more durable materiel and far more plain looking.

Her hair tied up into a single long braid that rest on her shoulder and dangled to her chest, Toph rose to her feet with a sigh, unable to get the memory of Calla's glowing smile out of her head. “Gaia,” she mumbled to herself even as she fell into the first stance for her morning katas, bare feet spread wide apart. “Sleep with one woman one time and its all you can think about. No wonder men are nuts half of the time and stupid the other half.”

Toph began her katas, trying allowing her earth-sight to spread as her chi mingled with the earth all around her. Tall pillars of rock and stone rose and fell around her in time with her movements. She focused on her breathing –

(the sound of frenzied, passionate gasps for air echoing around the cave)

-- on the warm morning sun that filtered down through the leave of the trees –

(the chill of the cave no match for the warmth of skin on skin under the heavy blanket as they lay sleeping).

“Stop it,” she mumbled to herself. She miss a step in her routine, and the corresponding pillar crumbed back the ground. “Get it together, Bei Fong!”

And she would have to do it fast. She could already 'see' Calla approaching on the edge of her perception. She was still hazzy, but Toph knew it was her. The glow soft green glow was already visible.

She gave the kata's up as bad job, and turned to wait for Calla to approach. She was smiling and didn't know why.

[Sablerose]

After her encounter with Lita, Sablerose's mood was off, to put it mildly. She felt anger and disgust with what the woman was doing, but she also pitied her. Lita seemed so wrapped up in defeating death that she was ignoring the things that made life worth living. Those conflicted feelings had fed up the empathic link between herself and Greystreak, such that when she had arrived back at her quarters, the wolf familiar was already agitated. And a quick reading of the Druid's memories let him see the cause.

Oddly enough, he was far more practical about the incident. He reminded Calla that, in her mind, Lita was doing something that no one else would dare. Her methods were morbid at the least, but her intentions, assuming that she was being honest with both Calla and herself, were in the right place. He also pointed out that it was unlikely that anything Calla had said or done would have changed her mind. Though farsighted on her actions, Lita was shortsighted on the consequences; until she truly saw results that confirmed how misguided others saw her actions, she would always see the need outweighing the methodology.

It had taken him most of the rest of the morning to get her calmed down. Even then, it was a while longer before she put the incident behind her.

What had helped, though, was a note from Baroness Fong -Toph- that reminded Calla about her promise to begin the lessons in Druidical faith. That, however, was less a bit of good news as much as it was something new to worry about. Calla fretted about how good a teacher she would be. Knowing how or why something was done was one thing; trying to teach it would be another. The Princess worried about how well she could explain, and therefore represent, her faith.

Grey had simply rolled his eyes, metaphorically speaking. He did insist on coming, in part to support Calla. However it was also to help give a different level of insight to both women. In Calla's case, it was as a Familiar to his Ward; in Toph's, it would be to give her images of things that her blindness would not allow her to identify, if need be.

Grey's suggestion was that if she were to be a Druid teacher, then Calla should look the part. Getting fashion advice from Greystreak was something that Calla did on occasion, though it was odd given that as wolf he never wore clothes. It also bothered her that he was actually rather good at it. He insisted that it was for her benefit, to put her in the state of mind of being a formal teacher, since Toph wouldn't be able to see it all. Sablerose knew it was because he had been pressing for her to look more Royal when circumstances allowed, so she tolerated it.

As Sablerose, she was dressed rather formally. Her pine green dress was just about ankle length, with comfortable but sturdy deep brown leather boots whose toes peeked out from the hem of the dress. Around her waist was a supple leather belt, and hanging from that was her symbol of office, a platinum sickle. Over her shoulders, she had placed a mantle of dark green silk that hung almost as far as the dress. Her red hair hung loose. All in all, she looked every inch the Royal Druid.

She walked with her wooden staff in hand as she and Greystreak made their way to the appointed spot. As they approached, she could feel tremors through the ground. It seemed that Toph had been practicing her Earthbending while waiting for the pair. Sablerose didn't know how the Earthbending worked formally, but she did have enough of an idea that something seemed off about the effort. The tremors did not seem to have a pattern that indicated comfort. If anything, they seemed a bit rushed.

"Baroness?" Sablerose called out, trying to give the woman enough time to settle herself. "Are you ready for us to join you?"

[Toph Bei Fong]

It took Toph a moment to find her voice.

Fun fact about earthsight #69: She cant see clothing.

Well that was only partially true. She could 'sense' the clothing where it touched the body she was 'seeing'. It was a hazy feeling, easily ignored. Body shapes and muscle movement was far more visible to Toph. That reduced everyone to featureless mannequins. Naked featureless mannequins. The novelty of feeling as though she surrounded by naked people had worn off a long time ago, however. She didn't even think that way anymore... although it had come in handy when trying to find out of a guy was into her or not.

Calla was...different. The unexplained glow lit up every curve of the princess body, and Toph could see it all with excruciating detail. She had noticed the night in the princess room as well, but never mentioned it. It didn't seem important. But that was... before. Before that night, and everything changed.

"Uh, y-yes," Toph finally manged to squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I mean, yes, your highness." She offed the woman another curtsey , and used the the moment to take a deep breath and focus her attention on her 'sight' to just Calla's face. It was a pretty face, Toph had to admit, but would not drive her to distraction like the rest of the woman.

"How do we begin?" she asked.

[Sablerose]

"First, here I am not Princess Calla," Sablerose replied laughing and shaking her head slightly. "During the times I am instructing you, I am Calla. That is lesson one. Technically, if you were a formal pupil, I could have you call me solely by the name I chose for myself upon becoming a Druid, Sablerose. There are some Druids that are very traditional about such things, and it is an insult to them to call them by their 'former' names. That is lesson two."

She took her seat across from Toph. "As for how to truly begin, let's try something similar to how I was taught. If you have very basic questions that you want answered, I will do so. When things start to get more complicated, I will begin more formalized instructions." As Greystreak lay down to one side, in the shade of a large oak, she asked "So, will that work for you? And if so, what's your first question?"

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph thought for a moment, careful to keep her one bare foot scraping across the ground so as to distract her from Calla's 'nudity' with more sensory input of her surroundings.

"You mentioned that druidism is a religion before. Is there a..." She cast about for the word, "monotheistic deity at it head? It is a question for worship, or simplify faith?

"In the Gaia Kingdom, where I'm from, we used to worship the Spirit of the Earth, Gaia... but these day the faith has almost become a mythology. There are a few sects that still believe in Her... but taking her name in vain has almost become a turn of phrase to everyone else. I get why though; ever since earth-bending was discovered... its kinda hard to have faith in the power of an absent and silent earth goddess when your five year old can do the same thing and it right in front of you.

"But something tells me..," her attnetion lowered from Calla's face to the slide of her shoulder to the top of her chest before she snapped it bafck up to her face again. "...that your faith is different. More... real?" she offed for lack of a better term.

[Sablerose]

"You do not believe in starting with simple questions, my friend." She paused several seconds, considering how to answer. She felt confidence from Greystreak, even as he drowsed under the tree. "Let me try this from a different angle. First, all faith is real to those willing to put trust in it. It is the passage of time and dimming of memory from said passage that turned faith into myth and legend. That said, the Druids do not have a pantheon of deities as some religions do. We see the very existence of the world as proof that what we follow is real.

"We see every tree, every bird, every sunny day and every blizzard as evidence that Nature is powerful. However, we venerate -honor, really- than we worship Nature. Oddly enough, though, in someways, you're right. Because we can point to the source our veneration anytime we step outside, it can be seen as more real than some. I should say that despite my use of the terms 'venerate' and 'honor' rather than 'worship', that doesn't mean that Druids don't use the latter term interchangeably with the first two. If you encounter most Druids, any of the three is likely to be fine in describing what we do. Even our most arch-conservatives are willing, even if grudgingly, to accept the terms."

I will add, Greystreak said, speaking up for the first time that day to Toph's mind that there are some who put quite a bit of faith toward one area or another. Some have a preference to worship the forest. Others, a particular mountain range. Still others a river. These Druids do not believe in the overall power of Nature any less; it's merely that they have a strong connection with specific locations or events. Those who love thunderstorms are...somewhat peculiar at times. It is a bit of a running joke in the Druid community that they have been struck by lightning one too many times. However, smart Druids will not say such things like that to a Storm Druid's face.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph nodded, able to suppress the shudder she always felt when Calla's familiar did spoke directly into her mind.

"Back home," she began, not at all sure where she was going with this. "My fellow earthbenders tend to be more... utilitarian about our abilities, our connection to the earth. Like a said, its considered a form of martial arts, without hardly religious or magical context left to it at all."

Toph brushed her feet across the ground, her earthsight spreading outwards, hitting dead spaces where the threes of the hunting grounds stood tall. "It never occurred to me before that there might be a power in nature beyond what I imbue it with when I bend." Toph suddenly struck the ground with the heel of her left foot. A chunk of the very ground before her suddenly leapt into the air, to hover at a level even with her chest. It was roughly as big around as a cannonball, but with rough and jagged edges.

"I can shape this earth however I want," Toph said simply, her now outstretched hands gliding in the air around the clump pf earth and rock but not touching it. It shifted to a star shape, then a cube, then a heart, and back to a sphere, albeit one that was more smooth. "I can sense it, but I cant see it. Not like I do you. I thought it was because of if your nature magic... but if that's everywhere, how is it I only see you?"

All of you, she added silently, and felt her face flush.

[Sablerose]

Calla considered her answer, turning it over in her mind for a few moments. "I can guess, though it is far from certain that this is the only answer, much less the correct one.

"As I mentioned, we Druids consider ourselves to be agents of Nature. As such, we consider ourselves to be vessels for Nature's power. Nature endows us with the capability to channel Its power. It is a power that we can tap via spells and rituals. Since you've never knowingly encountered a Druid other than myself, it's hard to say if you would see all Druids the same as you're seeing me. It's certainly possible.

"But it is also possible that it's my status as a Royal Princess that's making it even...well, clear to your Earthbending senses. Grey once told me that although not every member of the Laurelmoon Royal Family is capable of becoming a Druid, every member who becomes one is usually quite powerful. It would help if we had a non-Royal Druid for you to compare me by."

[Toph Bei Fong]

Conjecture that may have been, but Calla's reply made sense to Toph. Her trademark smirk curled on the left side of her lips. “I'm guessing you haven't met many other druid princesses since coming here, huh?”

This was good, Toph noted. Keeping the mood light distracted her form the other woman's apparent nudity. She's have to remember that in the future, even as she forced her thoughts to the far more serious conversation. Unconsciously, she began to pace before Calla slightly, no more than three or four strides before tuning in the opposite direction for the same number before turning and starting over again. Of course, at her height, three or four pace still covered a lot of distance.

She paused in mid-step, a thought occurring to her as she turned toward at Calla. Focus above the neckline! she reminded herself. “Could... could you show me how to, I dunno, feel this nature energy? Or tap into, or sense or whatever the correct term is for that. When earthbenders are initially taught how to use their ability, the first step is always teaching them how to feel for, and control, their chi. The shaping of earth comes next,” she gestured at the the still-hovering rock and soil, which arranged itself into a crude, but recognizable smiley face. “Then the summoning and dismissal,” she went on, gesturing the rock back down. It fell back into the hole it came from, with only the slimmest of gaps around the perimeter to show for it having been displaced at all. “Then we learn the forms.. but that's a lifetime of lessons all by itself.

“There musty be a similar princess for teaching a new druid. If it not against the rules or something, could you show me how to take that first step?”

[Sablerose]

Sablerose and Greystreak looked at each other for a few moments, though neither one spoke mentally to the other. "I have to admit that it is a tad unusual to try to teach someone who has not already shown a dedication to the calling. There aren't any rules about it, per se, though." She turned to look back at Toph. "On the other hand, your abilities might make a starting easier in some ways. Grey?"

I have no objections, the wolf familiar said to the two women. And you might be right, Calla. She is able to already touch an aspect of Nature. A Druid does it with spells, but there is a certain...mindset that goes with activating those spells. I don't know just how easily it will mesh with your training, Toph. Grey cleared his mental throat. I do realize that you are not all that comfortable with my touching your mind, but I do have an idea that might make things a bit easier. I can establish a link between you two. It won't be enough to touch even surface thoughts, but it can let you see how Calla slips into the necessary trance for training.

Sablerose nodded at the idea. "It might work. It'll be easier than having you fumble for it. Usually, a Druid trainee would simply watch and learn the first few times. Then, when the teacher believed he or she was ready, the trainee would attempt it themselves, under a magical spell to monitor the trainee's state. But I was always under the impression that the spell was designed to only work from one Druid to another. I've never known it to be cast on a non-Druid."

Never has been to my knowledge. Or at least, if it has, I've never heard of it working the same way. That's why I figured this would be a good substitute. Would you agree to this, Toph? If not, we can try the spell, but we have no idea what the outcome will be."

[Toph Bei Fong]

And, just like that, Toph was stuck.

A mental link? she thought to herslef. Oh, no, no, no. The way her mind had been lately, ever since Jo, that was the last thing she wanted to do. Plus there was the little matter of her ogling Calla, however accidentally. That was little factoid she'd like to keep locked in away in her noggin, thank you very much.

That said...

Toph rocked on her toes as she considered it.

When knew how long this might take otherwise. If Toph was honest with herself -- a feat that seemed to be getting harder lately -- then would have admit that chance to see with this nature sense or magic or whatever it was -- had a certain allure to. At the very least it could augment her own earth sight...and if all else fails, she could at least learn how to turn it off so being in Calla's presence no longer drove her to distraction. Plus the wolf had said they would not touch one another's thoughts.

"All right," she said finally her mind made up. There was certain... resistance in the back of her mind, a strange yearning not to allow any kind of mental tinkering, but she pushed it down. Besides, this was hardly tinkering. "Lets try the link. Is here good? Do you need me to do anything special on my side?"

[Sablerose]

"No," Calla replied with a shake of her head. "Grey knows what to look for in recognizing my being in the trance. He'll link with you and watch for the moment to bring you in. That way, we can show you what the result looks like first. Then we can work on a way to possibly train you to enter it."

Grey stood up and shook the loose debris off his fur before coming to sit next to Toph. To make things easier still, put a hand on my head. Physical contact is not necessary, but it might help put you more at ease if you have a solid link rather than me linking at a distance.

Calla barely heard the mental suggestion. She was already slipping into her trance. She then ignored all things that had nothing to do with Nature Itself. Instead, she let her senses notice the sun on her skin, and the grass beneath her. The sounds of the nearby river. The birds and their calls in the trees. The wind as it rustled her hair. All that and more helped her reach out to feel Nature and all Its glory.

She could feel her mind touch the power around them, very lightly, at which point she felt the familiar and gentle touch of Greystreak as he led Toph to the very outskirts of her consciousness. The power touched her back, but there was no surge of energy through her. Instead, it was a merging. She now could do many things with it. A nudge in one direction or another could wreak havoc or heal a hurt. A spoken word could call up a zephyr or a storm. It was a power that Calla as the Druid Sablerose was comfortable with, but never took for granted. Nature was Its own power. It assisted; It did not bow to someone's will.

Now that the connection was firm, Calla let Grey in to show Toph what Calla was doing. How she kept from losing herself to the power. She was a part of Nature, but she only channeled it. The glow that Toph saw oddly did not change in brightness much, but it seemed now more firm, a solid presence that recognized both Greystreak and Sablerose. Though It lacked what any person would call a consciousness, It was very much alive, and with life comes a certain amount of curiosity. To it, Toph, though a user of Its power in a different way, was a stranger in Its presence. It did not reach out to her, though, but what Greystreak and Calla felt was it...smile. It was warm and encompassed the trio. A mother looking down at her infant children was the closest thing that Calla could describe.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph silently placed her hand on Greystreak's head, and had to repress the urge to scratch behind his ears. Wolf or no, he was a thinking creature and treating him like a common mutt might be seen as an insult. Instead she focused what was being shown to her.

She wasn't sure when the link was made exactly; the familiar's impromptu bridge between their minds seem to emerge from nothing without preamble. One moment she was alone in her own skull, the next she had a sense of some else there. It was an odd feeling, like when you first walk into a room and it looked empty but you just know someone is there. It wasn't unpleasant though, so the blind eartbender relaxed some and got back to the task at hand.

At first blush, Calla's trance did not seem that different from her own meditation. Granted Toph prefered working form katas while she mediated, but at its core they were the same thing. A curious simultaneous opening and closing of the mind, keenly aware of oneself and their place in the world. Some people balked at that; it made them feel small. To Toph, who had frist learned to touch the earth from a pack of badgermoles, it made her feel as though she belonged.

Then, as the sharpening of Calla's glowing body called her attention, she noticed an important difference. A frown creased her features, the spark of desire the other woman seemed to cause in her was felt but ignored in favor of a much more important observation.

Earthbening involved taking her own chi and projecting it outwards. Earth was bent -- literately -- to her will. Where as what Calla was doing was more like a call and response. She reached for the power of nature, and it took her hand, joining like two drops of water forming a larger drop. Calla's glow didn't change, but now the ground she stood on was also glowing, spreading outwards in a circle from the druid.

Now thing were getting a little confusing. Toph still 'saw'the world around her as usual, but through Greystreak she also felt Calla's perception and by extension, the perception of the force she had joined with. Toph would have compared the feeling to double vision, or standing trapped between two mirrors that were reflecting each other, had she ever experienced either. It was dizzying and yet... warm.

Toph raised one hand, as if reaching for the part of the perception that wasn't coming from her. It was silly gesture, perhaps. To anyone passing by the three of them was just standing there staring off into space while the blind girl reached into the air in front her like an idiot. Toph wasn't even sure what she was reaching for... but it seemed important to make the effort.

[Sablerose]

Calla opened her eyes and saw the world much as she normally saw it. However, overlaying it were patterns of energy, lines of magical force, ebbing and flowing. A tide of Nature's mystical energies made manifest in her enhanced eyesight. Normally, even with detailed spell casting, she never saw things in this way. Going into the deeper meditative trace, however, gave her perceptions the ability see in a broader spectrum.

Oddly enough, she saw Toph much in the same way she mentioned seeing Calla. She was outlined in a green aura, an indication of her connection to Earth. It was bright and clean, and flowed easily around her as Toph seemed to be reaching out to something.

Toph? Toph, can you hear me? She projected like she normally did toward Greystreak, hoping that the Familiar had linked Toph's thoughts in as well. What are you seeing? What are you reaching for?

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph heard the question well enough, though it didn't dawn on her that it had come from between her ears rather than beyond them.

"I'm not... sure," she said softly. "There's something..."no that didn't sound right. Too cold for the warmth she felt. "Someone..." that wasn't right either. Too limiting... too human to describe it.

"There's you and me, and Greystreak, here" she tried to explain. "But there also... more." Yes. More was the right word to use. "I feel like I can almost reach it..."

Toph lowered her hand. That wasn't going to accomplish anything. Then, though it made no difference visually to her, she closed her eyes, and tried to turn her focus inward. She felt her chi at once; a decade and half of practice cultivated that kind of instantaneous response. To say nothing that with her earthsight, she was 'always on' anyway. But she wasn't trying to bend, but rather paid close attention to the earth under her bare feet. The tickle of the grass, the grittiness of the soil. She reached again, only with her senses rather than her hand.

She felt her chi... graze something. Something immense, something grand, something that made her feel small but not irrelevant. It was only a flash. A flash so bright that had she not been blind before, that might have done the trick. Toph gasped, and reflexivity stumbled backward at the contact, her hand leaving Greystreak's head. Her arms pinwheeled in the air, and the ground under their feet shook in time with her spinning arms until she finally fell, rather unceremoniously on her butt.

Her eyes opened wide. "What was that?" she asked herself more than anyone.