[Z_] and Eclipse

[[Z_]]

Miles smiled, proud of Leona. She had advanced more quickly than he had suspected only minutes ago. "Great, Now I'm going to give you the flame. Focus only on controlling it. I promise not to let it burn you," He said, reaching over and placing his hand level beside hers. He tilted his palm upwards, allowing the flame to roll down and into Leona's palm. He wasn't sure this would work, hell, he wasn't sure Leona even had the power to ever learn this.
Kraid knew differently, he had seen it within the girl. Grinning he watched, as he clicked his finger tips against his skull.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Keeping her entire body still, she waited for him to pass over the fire. She wasn't sure if she truly trusted him or not, but pride kept her head up, and her eyes open. As the flame poured into her hand, Leona jumped, the sensation contrasting completely with what she was ready for. Though it was warm, the edges of the fire flickered in her palm, tickling the calloused skin. It pulled away any fear from her, creating instead a distracting tickling sensation. In a tight voice, for she had always been ticklish, she asked, "What am I supposed to focus on?" She knew he said controlling it, but how did she do that? Wasn't that his job, to keep it from devouring her?  

[[Z_]]

"Right now," Miles began, watching the flame. "Try just to make it move. I'm keeping it above your hand, so we can't be sure you have any control yet. To figure that out, you'll need to move it," He shrugged his shoulders, laughing. "I've never had to teach anybody before, sorry if I'm not very clear." With his other hand, Miles snapped his fingers, creating a small flame in his palm. He allowed the flame to grow and forced it to turn circles in his palm. "Try something like that, It takes focusing your energy on where you want the flame to be. Think of it like creating a magnet under your skin to draw the flame."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

“It wants to grow.” She whispered, staring into the heart of the flame. She wanted it to move, but remain controlled. For a moment, she wondered how to do that, but then it occurred to her. Placing her hand above the flame, and shuddering slightly as it’s heat and flickering reached her other palm, she started to roll her hands, as if it were dirt rolling into a ball. It took a few moments for the fire to obey, but she stayed focused on it, and soon it started to rotate, curling in itself to create a sphere. “Like this?” she asked, knowing it wasn’t like the magnet he talked of, but it was moving, right?
 

[[Z_]]

Miles laughed excitedly, smothering the fire in his free hand. He reached over and placed his hand beside hers, encasing the flame within four walls."That is excellent, but I have another test. You're doing well, but there's not enough motivation, so here's what's up: I'm going to force the flame to grow. While I do that, you need to keep it small or it'll burn you, understand?" Without waiting, Miles did as he said he would. The flame grew slowly but noticeably.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

“IT’LL BURN ME!” she shrieked, jerking her hand away, as if from the fire. Once she realized her failure at relinquishing it, she began to blow cool bursts of air at the flame, hoping to extinguish it. Miles was officially much more insane than Kraid. He just hid it better. Kraid flaunted his insanity, but he probably was much more clear-headed than he seemed. She was sure of it. Especially after this ‘trick’ of Miles’.  

[[Z_]]

Miles laughed, clapping his hands together to extinguish the flame. "Relax, Leo, there was never any real danger. You don't honestly think I'd hurt you, do you?" Miles questioned, a little hurt himself. "It was only to see how you worked under pressure. I didn't mean you any harm," He assured her, turning to the fire once more. "I apologize."
Kraid grinned wildly, amused with the girls reaction. He had been expecting something, but not that. "Still not ready then. But what would we expect? It's only been an hour, at most," He laughed. "With time then."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Regaining her composure, Leo brushed her hair out of her face. "How about we start with it just getting warmer the less control I have?" she kept her voice even, pretending that her panic moment hadn't happened. She still was scared of fire, and that was stronger than her trust of Miles. But it wasn't as strong as her pride; her pride kept her head held high as she offered up her hand once more.  

[[Z_]]

Miles nodded, smiling. "Alright, if you don't feel safe just pull away," He suggested, holding up his hands once more. Between his palms, Miles created another ball of fire, large this time, but not growing. He began to heat it up, very slowly. "You've got about two minutes before it's hot enough to burn," He told her, concentrating on keeping the heat down.  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Two minutes didn't seem long to Leo. Therefore her mind started racing with possibilities of keeping herself safe. To start she closed her eyes, imagining the ball of fire folding in on itself, keeping the flame in the center.. Slowly, the fire responded to the thought, but still she could feel the warmth of it. With an instinctual guess, she leaned forward, blowing on the fire. Instead of sending the air straight through the flame, she started to let it circle it, cushioning it away from her skin. Only then did she relax, keeping her eyes closed and focusing on the dance between the flame and air.  

[[Z_]]

Miles chuckled, shaking his head. "That's one way of doing things I suppose," He commented, still staring intently at the ball. He'd never had to keep a flame cool before, It had never occurred to him as a possibility, and yet, here he was. "Think about the things a fire needs," Miles suggested, forming the flame. "Air," He said, the flame in his hands taking on a wispy form. "Heat," He let out a small burst of warmth. "And fuel," He grinned. "Which of these can you remove from this fire?"  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Absentmindedly, she commented, “It’s actually just oxygen the fire needs, not air.” Her eyes were still closed and for a moment a memory of her father teaching came to mind. A smile crossed her face, but the fire and air stopped spinning for a moment too. The warmth pulled her from her memories, and after a few seconds of trying to remember the pattern, the flame wobbled until she got it back under control. Returning to his question, she pondered, “I don’t know how to take the oxygen out of the air, but what is the fuel? Isn’t it just coming from you?” Her questions were more to herself than to anyone in particular. “Heat….I’m cooling it now, but it’s not enough.” She returned to air, “I could take away my air, and cover it, preventing air from entering…but then the heat would grow before it was extinguished.” With a sigh, she exclaimed, “Oh I don’t know, what do you do?” dropping her arms down quick enough to blow out the flame.  

[[Z_]]

Miles laughed, "Perhaps, then, you'd like to teach this class, Eh Miss?" He smiled, shaking his head. "You would think I'm supplying the energy, wouldn't you? Well, I'm not. I only started it, and am keeping it cool," He took his hands away briefly, showing her that he was not responsible. "You're focusing your energy on it, but you can't just stop focusing, that's how you get hurt. What you need to do is cut the supply."  

[Just Before An Eclipse]

Looking properly abashed Leona tried again. “Cut the supply…” she murmured under her breath. Glancing up at Mile’s face, she reassured herself that she wouldn’t get hurt. Then she started squeezing the fire. She kept her hand flat, but her mind made a fist, tightening around the flame. Holding her breath she tried to let it disconnect from herself. Just fall away. The flame, appeared weakened, and then did just that, falling down. Right onto her favorite (only) set of pants. Ripped from her reverie, she shrieked, standing and smothering it with her hands as she backed away. Not paying attention to anything but the hole forming in her pants, she tripped over Kraid, landing promptly in his lap just as the flame went out.  

[[Z_]]

"I'm here for you!" Kraid boomed, placing a bony hand upon Leona's cheek. "How unfortunate for you, little one, you've gone the way you've been so scared of all these years. And it didn't hurt nearly as much as you assumed. Tsk, tsk, to live in fear of nothing is quite a shame," He grinned, wringing his hand around his scythe. "Come, come, let's not waste time."