#rivervale_lodge

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"You have to reach into the cold, into the sense of ending, of still ness... and RELEASE" Ice spikes fly from Vali's hand, stabing the target.

"Your turn, Padawan" Sir Vali says

And he motions to Dagmar to try.

She rubs her hands together, and turns them palms out - no ice, but cold.

Sylvi watches from the sidelines, curious.

He notes pacing "Folks speak of fire as anger... but cold... cold and ice... that is implacable, inevitable. It is roof breaker, lung taker... it is slow and sudden alike. It is the terror of stillness, the quiet weapon that kills you in your sleep."

"Cold can be ruthless."

"I don't want to be ruthless."

"Good. A lot of fire flingers don't want to be angry... that's where the control is needed. You are tapping into the magic that some fae fear is banal. It is, they fear, the end of endings. But the truth is... it is also preserver, cleanser..." He says "And like any season, what you bring into it, affects what you get out."

"Snow doesn't seem banal. I mean, I'm no Disney girl, but Elsa's pretty glam..."

“That’s like that fire and ice poem,” Sylvi says.

"Snow is the most deceptive of all Winter's creations.... but it is beautiful and not banaL true." A grin at Sylvi "Good reference. "

"Sometimes the only line between ice and snow..." Vali gestures... and ice forms in the air, the bursts and snow flurries fall down 'is sifting."

Dagmar scowls, and tries again... it is decidedly cold around her, but still no snow.

“Huh...” Sylvi watches, and experiments with a similar gesture, but without glamour.

She’s definitely trying to respect their training session, not interrupt.

"It's okay..." he assures Dagmar...and reaches for a bottle of water, "Here... throw some of this about during your working ... sometimes it helps ."

Stomp stomp stomp cast... well, the bottle freezes - water inside expanding and popping off the lid. "Ow..."

"Well.... if someone ever pisses you off while theyre swimming at the lake, they will regret it"

"I can't do this."

"This is stupid."

"Hey hey.. " Vali says "Dagmar, everythings takes practice. You think I did a dream dance and master Kyros?"

Sylvi glances at Vali, and moves off a little bit, to avoid being an audience.

He notices this move on Sylvi's part, raises a brow but lets it be.

"No. But I can't make cold every time, and I don't think making snow works the same way..."

"Well, for Kyros, cold shock is the first.. ice is the second..but the older Winter magic has it's own... I know and study both... so I'm not going to fuss at you if you favor one angle or another...and I'm definitely not trying to add to your frustration level. Why don't you take a break, show sylvi those hensteeth?"

“Oh! I, um, didn’t mean to interrupt your practice.” Sylvi looks concerned...but also curious. “Hens teeth?”

"Widow Febland is kinain, not just crazy. She paid me in dross, check it..."

Dagmar digs the teeth from her pocket.

Vali looks amused at the "not just crazy" comment but lets the two girls talk

The teeth are dross all right.

As Dagmar relates the tale, Vali looks fondly at the two girls and wonders what kind of mischief they'll get into exploring this new/old Kinian and her stories. He's mentored Gerd on and off for a while. He hopes he's doing Dagmar some good, and that she doesn't give up. But for now? No doubt they'll chase some adventures.

Odd how mentoring seems to be giving him more satisfaction of late. He rubs at his shoulders, wondering why he's feeling stiff? oh well... hot shower will fix that.

(End scene)

"So, she was here before Chief was Chief..."

"Wait...really? She's...wow, she's gotta be OLD then."

"She's a sidhe? I mean, sidhe kinain? I think I might've shoveled her drive once....oh, wait, yeah, she tried to pay me in birdseed or something. That was ages ago, though. I guess I just didn't make the connection."

"Well, she's a bit odd.."

"But the teeth were dross, so I figured, well, I'd ken her..."

"Definitely cool. And yeah, smart move. Was she, uh, any less odd after that?"

"Slightly?" She shrugs. "We watched the nevers come in. You know how funny they get about lightning bugs."

"...jealous, maybe?"

"Yeah..." Sylvi says with a fondness. "I used to fantasize about having a tiara with lightning bug jewels and then the nevers would flit all around like a little swarm of dragonflies. I tried to lure a never with one once, and...well, you don't want them stuck in your hair. Trust me."

"They're, like, kind of mean..."

"But they're also the closest thing to real fairies I've seen."

"Yeah. Just don't let 'em bite you. So...are you sure those teeth are just dross? They don't do anything? I mean, even as just-dross, they'd still probably be good in a bunk."

"I.. I don't know? You wanna look?"

"Well, sure...I don't know if I'll see much more than you did."

Dag shrugs and offers them out.