Flames were rampaging the plains and she felt lke it was a terrible thing. People from the Mages' College were out in patrols. Even novice mages were running around with their little frost spells to put out fire. Greysia herself was beginning her trials as a mage.

The girl stood no more than five feet.  Brown hair was pulled back into a bun and hazel eyes stared out. She was a girl of particularly bad talents. Mostly falling over herself and trying to keep up with the others in her class. She hadn't found her niche yet and her teacher thought it would be best to throw her into a rather terrifying situation. 

She picked up a vase of water and moved it over to a group of survivors. This was the best should could do for the moment. Putting her hands on the vase she made the water cool as the other mages sprung water out of the ground and put the flames out. Putting the vase down she got cups and filled them. "I wish my magic would quit being weird."

There was quite a fuss about orcs being made recently.  They were spilling from Tenebrim dungeon, and reeking havoc across the land.  Hiro knew he had to do something about it.  It'd be a great way to help people out and make a name for himself by defeating the orcs and accomplishing the bounties.  He also heard there was a mage's guild that is involved with the bounties.  He had to find someone involved with it.

He made is way to the Plains of Bohar; he heard it was rich in varied wildlife.  His sapphire eyes gazed upon the plains, saw utter devastation.  Animals were fleeing in fear of the utter inferno the grass and trees had erupted into.  The sky was filled with black billowing smoke.  Hiro, the raven haired Phoenix Knight in training, had to do something.  There were mages running like panicked chickens spraying water and ice on the blaze, but hardly making a dent in it.  He knew what he had to do.

His cape billowed in the hot air, his mythril armor shined in radiance from the flames.  He raised his hands toward the flames, his hands open, he focused his might in controlling the existing flames.  He clapped his hands, releasing a shockwave of magical might that spread across the inferno, extinguishing a large chunk of the flames as it traveled.  He walked slowly across the burnt soil, holding his hands out in front of him.  His sapphire eyes glowed intensely as his will was forced upon the flames.  The flames in the area continued to extinguish as he walked through the field.  Did any of these mages really understand fire magic?  It was a simple task to extinguish flames, even those he did not create.  All he really had to do is tell the flames to calm the hell down and to strip fire mana from it.

Greysia looked on and watched as the fire mage put out the flames so easily. That was really weird considering this was actually just a training exercise for those not skilled enough to hunt down the orcs. She handed out the last of the cups after she pulled her eyes away from the boy. He had to be her age. He looked so young. So very fragile like most mortals. 

Moving she looked around before going to his side. "You aren't from the academy are you? Most of the mages here are learning new skills. This is one of them. Our teacher didn't want us involved in the main fight so we're charged with putting out the fire. Though he thought it would be a good idea for us to train our water magic today. Your's was impressive though. I can't even get a candle to light for me yet." She chuckled a bit.

"My name is Greysia. I am a first year student of the Mage's College. " She bowed to him before giving him a sad smile. "It's terrible what these people have gone through. I could never imagine my home being destroyed like this." She played with her lithe curls for a moment before blushing. "I'm from Egjora. My family was a bit disappointed I didn't go into the school there instead so I kind of got kicked out. I guess my home is wherever the winds take me."

Hiro was approached by a young lady that looked about his age.  She was pretty.  She also appeared to be a mage, by the way she was dressed, she was dressed similarly to all the other people who were previously working on putting out the fire.  She started to talk to him, and suddenly he realized he had made a mistake, he felt an embarrassed blush coming to his face.  It probably should have been obvious they were all from the same organization.

"Ah geez, no I'm not from your academy.  I thought someone set those fires like the orcs or maybe it was a natural wildfire, something like that.  I didn't know it was a training exercise.  I'm so sorry about that."  She didn't seem upset though, but he didn't know if a teacher was going to come out of nowhere and reprimand him for messing up the exercise for them.  "Uh, you want me to set up a new fire so no one would know?  Though there isn't much left to burn over here, I'm afraid."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Greysia.  My name is Hiro Kouen, an adventurer and Phoenix Knight, well, in training anyway.  My father is the one true Phoenix Knight, he's probably still back at home in Vespora, which is nowhere around here.  He sent me on a training journey from a distant land to here.  I'm here to make a name for myself, and one day be worthy of taking up his title."  He smiled and scratched the back of his head, still a little embarrassed.  "I've heard about all these orcs attacking people, and it's terrible.  I'm trying to find my way to the mage guild so I can take up one of the bounties and do something about them."  She explained how her family kicked her out of her home for not going to the school in Egjora.  "That's terrible of them!  Your parents should be happy you're going to school, period.  Was it a different kind of school, in Egjora?  I still don't know all the towns around here, since I'm from a distant land.  To me they all have weird names," he said with a laugh.

Greysia laughed a little bit and nodded. "No these fires were set for the orcs but we're the student who can't go out and fight so they are making us put out the fires in different ways each day." She rubbed her brown curls for a moment and smiled. "It's fine I'm just glad other people want to help. Too many people spring for the money but don't do anything about the destruction left behind. When there's no one to pay them they don't care. I'm happy to see there are people like you."

For a moment she appeared uncomfortable with his words. She tilted her head and shook her head. "It's a pleasure future Phoenix Knight Hiro," It made her chuckle more as she went to get him a cup of water and offered it. "Here, you must be thirsty." Then he spoke about the bounties but realized before getting upset that he only wanted to help. "The mage guild is all the way on the other continent." She chuckled a bit. "I can probably help escort you to the bounties though. We were told all about them before leaving for Bohar."

Nervously she played with her hand. "No, in their eyes I spat all over what they were raising me to be. From the day I could walk they put a sword in my hand and taught me the way of the Ironheart family. I was ten when my magic ignited. I was thirteen when I decided I no longer wanted to hold a sword but pick up a spellbook." Her hazel eyes drifted to his. "They threw me away like everyday garbage. They could make another child they didn't need one who didn't fit their ideals. It was a military academy in Egjora. One for soldiers, knights, and the like to be brought up."

Finally she moved past the awkward feeling. "The Ironhearts have always gone to the Academy since the day it was founded. They have fought in every war, battle, and skirmish since the dawn of time. We are proud warriors who live by a code," it sounded like she was reciting something. "To be a failure is not an option. Those who are failures will simply cease to exist." Again there was that uncomfortable look on her face. "Technically before I could cease to exist I set the Ironheart Manor on fire… It was on accident but face it being told I was going to die because I wanted something different… That wasn't alright to me. I lost control." She looked at her hands. "They lived but I fled. Got on the first ship to the Mage College."

Hiro wiped his brow of sweat.  "Ah, I see.  Well, I'm happy to help, I'm trying to make a name for myself by doing the right thing.  The bounty on the orcs isn't as important as mitigating the damage, and stopping them from hurting people," he explained to her.  She offered him a drink of water.  He actually was thirsty from the heat of the fire and the heat of the plains and from walking so far.  "Thank you, I appreciate the drink, and an escort to the bounty would be great, since it'd be faster to get to the actual bounty than traveling to the guild itself, then going back," he said with a laugh.  "Though wouldn't that interrupt your classes or something?"

He drank his water as she explained her history, how her family wished her to learn the ways of the blade, but she wanted to learn magic instead.  They were not pleased with her, they figured they could just replace her with another child, and possibly kill her, or so it sounded.  She accidentally set the manor on fire and left for the mage college.  "Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that.  It sounds like your family didn't have nice people in it, if all you were to them was a pawn or some such.  My parents wouldn't have cared if I couldn't use a sword, or couldn't use fire magic.  They would have supported me no matter what, which I'm grateful for.  Dad is good at all kinds of magic, he probably would've been a great teacher at this Mage College, but he was also a blacksmith.  A lot of his family members were blacksmiths, I wasn't as interested in it, and I was out right bad at it, but he didn't care.  He just wanted me to be happy.  I guess I was lucky."  He smiled a bit, he had fond memories growing up of his parents.  "I'm good with a sword, good at fire magic, but I haven't been able to pick up the other elements yet.  I'll get there one day, I think."

"I agree! I heard about all the guilds coming together to help out. It's a very noble cause." She was glad to see him accept the water. "I can help out with that. This is really just a training exercise that we can participate in. I can leave if I want to. The teachers really don't mind since it is a guild and such."

Greysia looked up at the darkened skies before shaking her head. "I think that it was all my family had ever known. We humans are the most fragile and skiddish of all creatures in the end. When major change happens we have nothing but fear over it. We don't know how to handle it and our first instinct is to kill it. In the wild there are animals who kill their children if they don't think they will survive. A mercy killing."

Scratching her face lightly. "I am glad you have a choice and that your parents are so nice. However, I can use a sword. I can use it very well but I am not picking a sword up until I can control my emotions and magic. So far I haven't found my niche element but with due time I can become an excellent caster!"

For a moment Greysia had that sparkle in her eye. "Maybe you can help me learn? We could both learn a new element. It might help jump start my powers and skills. I have the ambition to control them but I am just fearful of my powers not being strong enough to manifest."

The water was cold and refreshing.  He really needed it.  He took a long drink from the water and wiped his mouth off.  "As long as you don't get in trouble for helping me out, I don't mind at all."  She explained to him her parents were thinking along the lines of a "mercy killing," if an animal in the wild is not strong enough to survive on its own, the parents kill it.  He gave a shocked expression.

"That's a horrible way of thinking of it.  We're humans.  We may be animals, but we have compassion, that's one of the things have differentiates us from other animals.  It's not just being smarter than a lion, or being able to walk on four legs, or even being able to use tools.  We care about each other, we take care of the sick and the crippled.  We can adapt.  If someone has a lame leg, we can try and fix it or replace it with something to help them get around like other people," he explained his reasoning to Greysia.

"Maybe fire is your niche, if what you explained to me is true.  If you were pushed into a corner, angry, or upset, and the first thing you summon is fire, that may be your strength.  My father was born a fire adept.  It was so strong in him, and people were afraid of how strong his magic was, they placed a seal on him to keep him from accidentally using it while he was growing up.  A lot of people in the area he grew up in were afraid of arcane magic.  I don't understand why.  They believed in divine miracles, but the arcane magic unnerved them.  The whole 'witch' thing I guess was what people were paranoid about."  He thought about her proposal.  "All right, I'm in for that.  I've never had to teach someone magic before, but I can share what I know, and you can share what you know about other magic to me.  We're bound to get somewhere!"  Hiro smiled warmly at her.  "I bet what's holding you back is fear.  There's magic you learn from books, and there's magic you can learn from within, from force of will.  It's in your heart, it's part of your emotions.  If you're afraid of your own power, how can you hope to control it?  Fire is the hardest element to control, from what I've learned and been told.  The way it works for me, I try to channel my emotions into my magic.  When I weave fire, I channel my feelings into what I'm doing, I choose positive emotions.  Like the warmth of love, or if I'm using something offensively, you need 'righteous indignation,' as my father would describe it.  There is a wrong in this world, and this fireball is going to help correct it.  If your emotions are out of whack, it can go out of control, your magic can flow out of control too.  So it takes emotions and focus."  He demonstrated by opening his hand, and summoning a flame from his palm.  "The more effort you put into it, the more emotion, focus, and mana, the stronger it grows."

"I can wander as long as I continue to learn. We are free spirited like that." Greysia gave him a smile trying to get him away from that shocked expression on his face.

"Not a lot of humans have combated their animal instincts. If it fits their needs they will do anything against their family. Some even murder babies for riches. In some ways we are worse than animals. Though, I tend to think that the majority of humans have good intentions." There was a hint of happiness to her voice. "Afterall that's why people like us exist to help others."

Listening to him she thought about her powers for a moment and nodded. "Maybe but only time will tell. I'm still rather young and it's been a while since I as able to so much as conjure a flame to a candle! Maybe it's something lacking in my control. Maybe I am afraid to hurt others again." She thought about it for what seemed like a long time.

"Love must come easily for you. That's good, but, I don't really know about it. From the time I was little I had nannies and the only time I seen my parents were when they made me hold a sword. I'm rather cold but at the same time… I guess I have a rather optimistic out look on life."

She opened her hand and concentrated for a moment. There for a split second there was a vibrant flame of white, the hottest flame, and then it back lashed at her burning her hand. She threw whatever was in her hand and stared at the burn. "Dammit… Still not enough." She looked up at Hiro. "I don't know what's wrong with it."

Hiro managed to smile a little bit.  "They say humans are capable of charity greater than the angels, and evil deeds that would make devils blush, or something like that."  He smiled a bit more.  "You're right, we exist to help each other."  They started to travel, and Hiro explained to her about fire magic.  She figured maybe she's lacking control, and is afraid of hurting someone else.  He thought upon it before speaking once more.

"That sounds like something that could happen.  Control is very important for fire magic.  It is among the most chaotic of magics, and even father had trouble with it initially.  It took some effort for me to control mine, but I was told I learned it younger than father did, so I picked it up faster.  It's possible to build a block from emotions, and that would prevent you from using fire.  Was in a book I read when I was younger, I believe.  A kind of emotional block that hampers magic.  You have to put aside that, because magic can heal people, but it can also hurt people.  Fire is mostly for offense, but you use it to protect the weak, and defeat those who are evil, and seek to bring harm to others.  I think it's different throwing a fireball at a friend than throwing a fireball at an orc."  He watched her try to summon a flame, succeeding briefly, before it backlashing and burning her.  He showed surprise in that it looked like it was about to work, but then a slight disappointment when it didn't.  He looked at her hand in concern.

"You all right?  That looked painful.  It could be that emotional block maybe?  Not enough control or focus?  If you can remember the feeling you had when you started your family's manor on fire, it was probably a mixture of fear and anger.  But I suggest more positive emotions, because lack of control and restraint can cause a backlash, or worse.  Being consumed by your emotions, I've heard stories of people burning to death, consumed by their own flames."