[RP Log] Northern Downpour Sends Its Love

Fen Li had been sitting in the kitchen of her current teacher. The year is 2013. Fen's stomach is round with child, and she enjoys a cup of tea with her teacher and her teacher's wife- Nikita and Nadia. It hadn't been a very long day, study wise. She had a feeling Nikita was taking it easy on her, now that she was coming up on nine months. Every day she felt more and more like she was ready to burst, but that never did impede her dedication to the craft. 

Their son, now 10, came running into the room breathlessly. He had just gotten home from school, and with a grin on his face he began to prattle on and on all about his day. He was a smart boy, just like she had always been growing up. She hoped her daughter would be just as enthusiastic about school and learning. She hoped she would get to hear all about her day in elementary school as they enjoyed an after school snack.

The year is 2023. In response to the memory, Fen places a hand over her flat, toned stomach. The bell to her practice rings and there he is- 20 now, and here to learn. She was amazed and honored that the son of her teacher wanted an apprenticeship under her. Besides, she had always seen Sindri and Suru as her niece and nephew. So she greeted him warmly with a hug- something few other witches of the coven ever got the privilege of. "How are you?" she asked, cupping his face with a grin, before realizing he was no child anymore. She stood up straight and regained her composure.

--

Sindri was greeted with the smell of incense and the smile of his new mentor as he stepped into the shop. He had to scoot down slightly to give her a proper hug, but he grinned, trying not to show his embarrassment as she looked him over. "Hey, Aunt Fen. I've been good; just getting used to my familiar being around." Astra was a new addition to the Caldwell household- more specifically, she showed up one day out of the blue, Sindri's parents had always been firm believers that familiars were the signal of growth, and a new era in life. They appeared so that the witch would have a spiritual guide as they navigated this new portion of their life. So, when it was clear Astra had shown up because of Sindri, they encouraged him to find a mentor. "Mom says hi, by the way. How've you been?"

--

"Where is she?" Fen asked, looking for a cat carrier that was not with him at the moment. "You should bring her from now on, she's found you for a reason" she stated before returning to their casual conversation.

"I'm glad your mother's doing well. I've been alright- preparing for your arrival has been a fun project" she responded, leaning in to hug the boy once again. "okay, let's get going" she stated before her heels began clicking away, through a door and down the hallway. Two doors on the left, two on the Right, and one at the very end of the hallway. That was the one they were headed for.

Entering the room, it was extremely.... Witch-like. That was for sure. It wasn't a very large room, but unscented candles lined the walls, and soft white noise played. The room smelled vaguely of lavender, but for most it was just a smell they couldn't quite put their finger on. But this wasn't the room. No, Fen didn't even hesitate as she closed and locked the door behind them, and opened a small closet in the corner. It was simple enough- a few robes, towels. But as she pushed them to the side there was something else- barely noticeable, no handle, no crack, a sliding door. She slid it open and slipped into the room, waiting for Sindri to follow. When he did, she closed the closet door on the outside, straightened the robes out to cover the hidden door and closed the sliding door as well, locking that too. "Welcome to my library! This is where you'll be doing most of your work." She gave him a moment to look around.

The room itself was bigger than anticipated, for sure. But it had to be to house all the books Fen had added to her personal collection over the years. It was a strange hodge-podge of modern and classic interior decorating- but it somehow worked. The shelves themselves were dark but minimalistic, whereas the desk that sat in the middle of the room looked almost antique. But among the dark wood and old books sat an outlier- a white desk had been put together and placed along the left wall, so that whoever used it would be facing the rest of the study as they worked.

The desk looked shiny and new, as if it had just been assembled out of the Ikea package a few days before (it had been,) and the chair that matched looked brand new as well. A large bookshelf next to the desk had been emptied, explaining the stack of books on what Sindri could have presumed to be Fen Li's desk. Sinilay, there sat a few books on Sindri's desk as well.

Two, to be specific. One was an old book, covers barely containing the pages that had been added in over the years. It was well worn and becoming a little worse for wear. The other book was completely empty- a clean slate. A white envelope sat atop The two books with Sindri's name cleanly written on it in Fen's neatest calligraphy.

--

“She’s home for now. I didn’t want to move her until I had everything settled here and.... to see if it was okay with you if she came with me,” he omitted the part about her hiding so far up his old bookshelf that he had no hope of catching her. He was positive she would come with him once he went back home to get her. Well.... mostly positive.

Sindri once again returned the hug before following after his new mentor. His eyes scanned the house as he went, already trying to get a feel of the layout of what would be his new home. His skin tingled from the magic that danced in the air, giving off a mystical quality to the room they eventually found themselves in. His jaw was agape at the sheer volume of books on the shelves, trying to downplay his delight- but there was no mistaking the joy in his eyes as he looked around. He looked over to Fen, who gave him permission to look around more extensively.

It was only a matter of time before he found the envelope on the desk that, based on context clues, must have been laid out for him. “Aunt Fen? What is this?” He asked, gingerly picking up the envelope.

--

"It's a welcome gift- open the card" she urged with a smile. When he did, it was.... sweeter than was to be expected of Fen. The front read "welcome home," and the inside was blank besides Fen's neat script.

"Sindri,
Welcome to your new home, at least for the time being. I am very lucky to have the opportunity to have you as a student, and I look forward to the time we will be spending together. I have laid out for you a new Grimoire, as well as my first. Both are for you to use, and one is for you to keep. I hope you learn all that you could have wanted to,

Love, Aunt Fen"

--

Sindri did just that, brows furrowing at the front of the card. It wasn’t until he saw the inside that it clicked. He hadn’t thought his aunt to be the sappy type, but the card was very sweet, regardless. A small smile crossed his face as he read the note inside.

His eyes glanced over to the two books on the desk as they were mentioned, a stray hand lightly brushing the cover of the top book. Gently, he opened it to the first page of what was to be his own grimoire, finding it blank- but the book itself was beautiful.

He looked up at the rows of books around him, and then at a Fen Li. “These are really for me?”

--

"Of course," she smiled gently. "Every student needs a place to take notes, and witches especially take a lot of them," she stated. "Was there anything specifically you were hoping to.... find out? learn? I'm not sure where to start- this is just as new to me as it is to you. Of course formally we'll start tomorrow, but..." she seemed excited.

--

He couldn’t help but reach out to hug her again in gratitude. The last time he’d been away from home for more than a day or two was to stay with Grandma Hawthorne for a week when he was 16. Even with college, he’d been taking classes at a community college, unable to narrow down his scope of learning to one degree.

It hadn’t fully hit him yet just how long this stay was to be, but he was touched at how welcoming Fen was all the same. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t just as excited as she was- even with the added nerves.

“Anything. Everything. I don’t know, it’s all so much- it’s so hard to narrow it down to one thing,” he admitted. “I know I’ve been looking into the celestial branch of witchcraft, but... there’s a lot of other branches that interest me, too.”

--

There was a little grin at that. "I was never quite as good at celestial studies as your mother was but- how do you feel about crystals? They're a staple, and fairly simple to grasp the concept of" she began. "And... well. I have quite a few. They're all at the office, but thats where we'll be working tomorrow. I use them in my treatments."

She began pulling down books off shelves, carefully navigating them to find exactly what she was looking for. "Hmhmhm...." she hummed aloud as she found one, two, three books, and continued searching for a forth. "The first section of my grimoire is crystal notes."

--

Sindri pulled out the necklace that had been tucked beneath the collar of his shirt, holding the rose quartz gemstone up to the light. “Always wanted to learn, but neither of my moms knew too much about it.” He sounded a little disappointed at that, but perked up pretty quickly. “Mom said you specialize in them. They’re supposed to be pretty versatile, but all I’ve found is a bunch of conflicting advice with them. I don’t know what to believe with what I’ve read...”

He opened Fen’s grimoire next until he saw a page with different drawings of various crystals. Every note was written with the same precise handwriting. “How’d you learn about them?” He asked, his eyes scanning the notes while Fen continued hunting for books.

--

"My grandfather, who learned from his father, and so on." She placed the four books on his desk. Two of them were handwritten- not full grimoires, but books specifically on the studies of crystals. The third was labeled "The Encyclopedia of Crystals" and the fourth was labeled "Complete Guide to Crystal Chakra Healing. "I keep a few more at the office as well, but you can start on these tomorrow- I'd be happy to help clear up meanings for you. Often crystals involve balance, and a single crystal can be used for many things."

She smiled at his necklace. "Is there a particular reason you've chosen rose quartz?"

--

Sindri had to stop himself from reaching out to hoard all the books as they were put on his desk, instead nodding at Fen. “Is there anything I should read to get ready for tomorrow’s lesson? A passage or a chapter, maybe?”

He blushed out of embarrassment as she asked about the rose quartz, knowing the implications behind the stone, but that wasn’t the reason he was wearing it now. “I heard it was a relatively easy stone to imbue with magic. I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet, but I’m hoping carrying it around with me will help.”

--

"Have you charged it?" she asked curiously. "I had just assumed it was for your health, as I know you've had problems in the past- quartz are great for healing" she stated, before continuing.

"Hm.... yes. Skim the encyclopedia. Let me know what interests you most. For now, let me show you up to your room," she offered with a smile, leaving the library. As she did so, a small goblin- well, at first sight it must have appeared as such- lept from the ground and directly into Fen's arms. "Oh! Sindri, this is Nanook," she began. "Nanook, Sindri." While it wasn't really necessary for her to introduce Sindri to her familliar, she thought it would be the polite thing to do anyways.

--

“Oh,” Sindri said, shaking his head. “No, it’s, umm.... not for that.” There was a slight pause before he added, “I’ve tried, but it doesn’t seem to last long?”

He took the books with him, moving a bit awkwardly now with their added weight, but he managed. It was a good thing he was holding onto them tightly, however- he almost dropped the books when Nanook revealed himself. Instead, he readjusted his hold on them and dipped his head in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Nanook.” He knew better than to baby talk a familiar, and Nikita had warned him about the oddity that was Fen’s familiar.

--

Nanook let out a low meow as he rested his front paws and head on Fen's shoulder, who then proceeded up the stairs, naked cat in hand. The upstairs was just as nice as the lower level, with three doors in the hall. "Last door is the bathroom- that one's all yours, I have an en suite. The door next to that is your room. Consider that half of the upstairs all yours," she stated, moving to open the bedroom door for him. The walls were white, as was the bed spread, though the bed did look comfortable. It was a full, with plenty of room for just one person. Much like the desk in her office, the furniture in this room was clean and new, definitely from Ikea. "Of course this is your room, you're free to do with it as you please while you're here- to an extent."

--

The spaciousness of the House wasn’t a surprise for Sindri, who’d been visiting since he was small, but he still appreciated his own bathroom and bedroom. Seeing his room was what finally registered the solidity of this apprenticeship- learning more of the craft, being away from home, being away from his family.... it was a lot to take in. He tried to smile, and ignore the homesickness for now. “Thank you so much, Aunt Fen. This is.... really, really nice.”

--

"Of course, of course." She had replied. Something still seemed off with him, but she was sure he would settle over time. A new home was a lot to take in, even a temporary one such as this, and Fen Li knew this. So she gauged the situation and made an executive decision. "I'll let you get settled in, then. When you're hungry, let me know, and we can order in tonight. Anything you want, I promise" she offered one more smile and a pat on the back before she excused herself, leaving Sindri to settle himself in.