Callie's Heroes

PART III - WATER FOLLIES

“I’m still not comfortable doing this while you're holding it,” Thucax called nervously. “I could miss and hit you instead.”

“Then you had bessst not missssss,” Vonn called back, holding her arm out. Dangling from her hand on a short piece of rope was a metal hoop about one-half meter in diameter. “If you hit me, I’ll be very crossssss!”

“You’ve got this, buddy,” Callie said cheerfully. “Remember, ‘be the arrow’.”

“You’ve already done this a dozen times,” Jesca added. “The only difference is that she’s there.”

“I have faith,” Shul’an added to the encouragement. “And Reynard should be able to work again soon if you kill her.” He grinned back at the glare the Gnoll sent his way. Giving Thucax shit was far too easy.

“Are you ready?” Vonn called out. “Remember, jussst be the arrow. Let your inssstinctsss guide your aim.”

Hesitantly, Thucax nodded. Jesca was right, he’d done this exact same shot at least a dozen times, probably twice that. He knew the right movements of his arm, exactly how much to pull the bow back, and absolutely knew where the arrow was going to go. Still …

“Recruit!” Vonn called out again, shaking Thucax out of his introspection.

“Okay, I’m ready.” This was stupid. Actually, no it wasn’t. They needed to be comfortable shooting close to allies, he actually understood that. Using a target dummy didn’t have the same pressure as a real person. He understood that, too, but it didn’t make it any less nerve wracking.

Vonn nodded and took a deep breath. “Rawr!” she said in a lazy mockery of a Demon roar.

Thucax raised both his arms in a single, fluid motion. In one paw, he called forth his Heartwood Bow from where it was stored in his belly. With the other, he moved his paw perfectly to intercept the bowstring as it came into existence, grasping it and pulling back. Almost instantly he sighted in on his target and released. The arrow flew, ricocheting off a large rock. Its flight continued, now with a new path. The Gnoll’s aim was spot on, and the magical arrow passed almost precisely through the center of the hoop.

“Woo!” Callie and Jesca both yelled from where they were seated under the shelter roof, clapping over their heads. “Way to go, buddy!” Callie added.

Thucax let go of the breath he was holding, relief evident on his face. It was probably bad form to hold your breath for so long, but considering how nervous he’d been, it really couldn’t be helped. He turned, wiping a tiny trickle of sweat from his furry forehead and took a seat with the others in the shade of the shelter, pulling out his waterskin.

“Excccellent shot, Thucax,” Vonn said as she slithered close. “SSSee, I told you that you could do it. Alssso, thank you for not shooting me.”

“No pressure,” the Gnoll grumbled, thumping the back of his head against the rear wall of the shelter as he leaned his bow against the same.

“Your accuracccy is much better than you give yourssself credit for,” Vonn added encouragingly. “You jussst need the confidenccce when under pressure.”

The Gnoll nodded in understanding as he emptied the last of his water. “I know. I’m fine if I don’t have to bounce it off the rock, but adding that to the shot …” His words trailed off, the adrenaline finally starting to wane as he thumped his head again.

Jesca patted her fellow Ranger’s leg in both sympathy and encouragement. “Do you want me to fill that?” She gestured towards the empty waterskin. “It gives me an excuse to use my new skill.”

“Uh, sure.”

Jesca stood and walked several paces away with the container in one paw.

“It’sss channeled, and new, ssso not too much,” Vonn warned.

Jesca swallowed nervously at the warning. She took a few deep breaths to center herself, and then focused on her left paw, while holding the waterskin in the other. She’d cast this spell once earlier in the day under the guidance of Trainer Rowani and it had gone mostly to plan.

CREATE WATER

It started as a small trickle, appearing a little faster than she would have hoped, but this time she’d readied herself. Clear, cool water formed in her paw. It actually felt good in the hot sun, and Jesca concentrated on keeping the flow better under control this time. After a few seconds, she made a partial fist and held it over the waterskin. Maybe only half the flow of water went into it, the rest of it dribbling to the ground. Still, the spell was working, creating a slow, steady stream of fresh, cold water. It was summoned, with a duration of only about five or six hours, but would keep Thucax hydrated, and when he got close to a fountain he could fill it with the real stuff.

“Good job!” Callie cheered, seeing the happy look on Jesca’s face. Next to her, Lhawni, who was out on Healer patrol, had stepped into the shelter’s shade. She had been called over on the off-chance Thucax hit Vonn, and she was now cheering her friend on, right along with the Gnome.

Jesca grinned back at her friends as the waterskin finished filling, before commanding the spell to stop.

It didn’t stop. In fact, the flow of water began to increase.

Jesca made a concerned frown and concentrated again, shaking her left paw a single time, water splashing all around her, but the amount being created continued to rise dramatically. Now a little worried, she dropped the waterskin, focusing, but that just made her right paw start spouting water as well.

“Stop!” Jesca yipped, the start of panic in her voice, as the water flow continued to increase. She clasped her paws forcefully together, trying to cap the deluge off. The water, now under pressure, sprayed out in several directions, beginning to soak the Catkin and getting dangerously close to her friends. Callie instinctively pulled her legs up tight to avoid getting splashed, squeaking out a yip of her own.

The pressured spray of water continued, completely drenching Jesca, who was at least polite enough to turn the shower away from everyone else. You could actually see the panic growing in her eyes as the spell refused to end. While it was absolutely funny at the moment, at least to the onlookers, it could actually become dangerous if Jesca couldn’t get things under control.

While the rest of the Rangers were laughing at their poor classmate, Vonn braved the water and slithered up to Jesca, her face scowling a bit. With a tremendous ‘whack’, she smacked Jesca right on her butt, the shock and impact enough to break whatever unconscious concentration her student was somehow locked into. Immediately, the water ceased erupting, what was still in the air splashing to the now-muddy ground, leaving a waterlogged and dripping Cheetakin standing there with a dumbfounded expression on her face. While Vonn was obviously quite unhappy with what happened, Callie, Shul’an, Lhawni, and even the usually sour Thucax, were almost rolling on the ground with laughter at the sight of their dripping fellow Ranger.

“Uh, sorry,” Jesca said to Vonn with obvious embarrassment on her face. “I need to work on that a bit, I suppose.” She tried to smile. “Thanks.”

Crisis averted, Vonn rolled her eyes and then joined the laughter with a chuckle of her own as she slithered back toward the shelter, shaking off her water-soaked fedora. “Go and drink a purple potion, jussst to be sure. Maybe practiccce that sssome more with Rowani before you try again by yourssself? I won’t be around to ssspank you all the time.”

“Yeah,” Jesca said in agreement, removing and shaking the water out of her own hat. “That’s probably for the best.” She looked at her laughing friends, and then at Vonn, and couldn’t help but laugh, too, as she pictured what a sight she must have been. She bent down and picked up the water skin, which surprisingly hadn’t fully emptied and walked it back to Thucax. “There’s some in there, at least.” The Gnoll smirked, taking it with a fading chuckle and a ‘thank you’.

Shul’an started to rummage through the supply basket to dig out a potion, but Lhawni spoke up. “I can give her a Rejuvenation. Save the potion for another time.” She walked over and took Jesca’s soggy paw in her own hands, and then focused. Magics of the Rejuvenation spell flowed through the wet Ranger, restoring some mana and pushing back any potential concerns about having lost control of the water casting.

“Thanks,” Jesca said, and you could almost see her blushing despite the fur on her face.

Callie was about to give her friend a little more grief for the impromptu water follies, but the sound of something in a nearby tree caught her attention. She focused, zoomed a bit, and saw a shape in the shadows that had bright, white eyes. “Is … is that thing laughing at you, too?”