Learning new talents for better or worse(open)

POV: Alka Banicki

Alka walked through camp with her nose pressed into a floating book. She wasn't paying much attention to the direction she was going, she was more focused on reading about a new potion she had recently discovered, as well as keeping the book levitated in the air. She hoped that she wouldn't bump into any oncoming campers, but she knew that if anyone was walking her way, her fox Sebastienne wouldn't hesitate to let her know.
"Could you at least slow down, Miss?" Sebby trotted beside Alka with his dark ears perked and amber eyes alert. The tone of his thoughts reflecting a slight desperation that caused Alka to sigh and close the book with a flick of her hand, but not before she dog-eared the page. She dropped her concentration and the book let gravity take it's natural course, falling into her hands. 
"Thank ya'!" 
"You're too uptight, Seb," Alka replied softly with a smile. Sebastienne simply brushed his fluffy tail back and fourth, dismissing Alka's light-hearted accusation.

Alka took a moment to survey her surroundings. She was slightly disoriented having not looked up from the words on a page since she had left the Artemis cabin with the potion book she had borrowed from the Hecate cabin.
The young Huntress found herself in the training arena, a place she was quite familiar with here at camp. Although she preferred the  archery range, Alka did appreciate training with her close range hunting knives every once in a while. 

The arena was virtually empty, with a few campers here and there sparring with each other. A girl standing alone caught Alka's attention. She was pretty, with long blonde hair and a seemingly bohemian style. Alka wondered why she was here after looking the girl up and down and not seeing a trace of any weapon on her. Of course, she could have something smaller on her that turned into a weapon, but if she was looking to train why didn't she already have it out? 
Too shy to say the first hello, Alka simply leaned on the doorway of the arena and watched the girl ahead of her curiously. Sebastienne took a seat, wrapping his long tail around his black paws and gazing questioningly up at Alka. 

Alka unconsciously let her jaw drop in shock. She hadn't been ready at all for the sudden change of scenery produced by the strange girl standing a few feet ahead of her.
Alka had found herself surrounded by beautiful trees, bigger than any kind you could ever find in New York. They glittered as if they were made of water that the sun hit just right during a hot afternoon. As soon as it had come, the scenery had slipped from Alka's bewildered gaze and she was suddenly back in the arena. It would have disoriented her if she hadn't had experience in manipulating the mist herself.

Alka tried to put her finger on who the girl was. She didn't recognize her from the Hecate cabin, and she was in there a lot borrowing books and magical supplies to take back to the Artemis cabin. Alka wondered if she was possibly a child of Apollo. She knew the Sun God's children had the ability of photokinesis, some more powerfully than others sometimes. Maybe she was a daughter of Iris, who's children also held that same power.
Too curious about the mystery girl to be shy now, Alka began to walk through the arena, making sure to make eye contact with those who gave the girl cold stares as she did. No one should be shamed for creating something so beautiful.
Alka found that when she wore her silver tunic and fur lined clothes like she was today, and showed off her status as a hunter, campers were more careful about confronting her. 73 years and she still wasn't sure if she appreciated that "perk."
Sebastienne trailed at Alka's ankles, his head cocked to the side and his ears perked questioningly. The poor guy always got confused and disoriented when Alka changed the mist. The same effects were probably happening to him right now. The huntress paused her hurried stride to scoop the fox up in her arms and let him position himself on her shoulder as he usually did when he wasn't walking with her. He nudged her ear lobe gratefully before she continued on.
"H-hey!" Alka stopped as she closed distance between herself and the girl. She called out to her and silently cursed herself for stuttering under the pressure of making the first social introduction. "That was really amazing. I've rarely witnessed such clear manipulation of one's surroundings... Even if they've had many years of experience and time to perfect it." Alka paused to let a soft smile cross her scarred lips before introducing herself.
"I'm Alka... Alka Banicki."

The girls smile was contagious. Alka couldn't help but pull one across her own lips at the sight of the excitement that circled the strangers blue eyes.
The girl introduced herself as Mirage, which was an incredibly fitting name for her talents of light manipulation. Alka hesitated as the girl held out her hand to shake, she was not one for physical contact, and really didn't like being touched by people she had only just learned the name of, yet Alka still felt as if she was being rude, which brought on a sense of discomfort inside her at her situation.
Luckily, Mirage's attention flicked like a light switch from Alka to Sebastienne who perched on Alka's shoulder sniffing the air that circulated around the new person in front of him. She spoke to him in a high pitched voice, which Alka knew Sebby wouldn't appreciate due to his snobby personality.
"Why do people always talk to you with respect, but not me?" Sebastienne's voice rang through Alka's head, causing her to smirk, but not answer him. Seb just continued to stare at Mirage with his head tilted as she once again flipped her attention suddenly back to Alka, curiously asking about her ability to manipulate the mist. With another soft smile, Alka answered both of her questions.
"This is Sebastienne, but he goes by Seb or Sebby... I do know how to manipulate the mist, yes... I could try teaching you if you'd like."
Mirage then confirmed one of Alka's previous thoughts, revealing herself as a daughter of Iris. It didn't surprise Alka much. She had met the Goddess before, and Mirage shared many of her bohemian characteristics with her mother.
Alka remembered eating the best tasting organic foods she'd ever had while visiting Iris at her shack while traveling with Artemis and her sisters. It had been a particularly grueling hunt for a hellhound running rabid around the area. The hunters were sapped of all energy, none of them able to go hunting for food. Iris had provided them with grateful hospitality.
Alka watched as Mirage pulled out a book and flipped to a page written in ancient Greek, outlining all of the abilities Mirage could possibly possess. It reminded Alka of years ago, when her own mother, Hecate had sent her a note under the pillow of her bed in Auschwitz outlining instructions on how to use her own abilities to her advantage.
"That is exciting!" Alka answered excitedly with a smile after pulling her thoughts away from her dark past. "Your mother is a very helpful Goddess. She was wonderful to my sisters and I on an occasion years ago." After a pause, Alka continued.
"So, if I'm going to help you, you might explain to me how your manipulation of light works... I assume the mist is similar in a lot of ways, but it might help me get a vantage point on where to help you from if I know how you work your magic."

Glad the girl hadn't been offended by Alka's reluctance for human contact, Alka listened closely as Mirage went over the process of her light bending. She continued to ramble on leaving Alka to open and closer her mouth awkwardly a couple of times before she found a window to interrupt.
"Th- that makes sense," Alka said with a polite smile. "That's pretty much exactly how it's done..." Alka didn't really know how to explain it to Mirage without showing her, so she took a moment to survey the area around her.

There were many things in the training arena she could use to her advantage. She could be rude and turn one of the campers' weapons they were sparring with into a pool noodle, or she could turn one of the straw dummy's into something incredible. With the mist, the possibilities were endless, and that's what Alka loved the most about it.
It didn't take her long before an image popped into her head.

Alka stepped forward, pulling up a fur lined arm warmer to readjust it snugly just underneath her elbow as she held out her arms slightly, relaxing her body and mind.
"Like you said, the mist is all around us. We can do anything imaginable with it. All you have to have is an image of what you want it to be in your mind. It helps to make it even more convincing if you can use your other senses to create the image as well..."
Alka let her memories run wild to better times, times when she still possessed her innocence. She remembered the familiar scent of the magic shop she and her father had owned back when she was very, very young. It had always smelled like burning wood thanks to the fireplace he had stationed behind the checkout counter. She remembered how she felt happy and completely at home stalking shelves full of slight of hand card decks, magic kits and much, much more. She then thought about her father. She soon, without really realizing she had done it just yet, was staring face to face with a man who's mess of brown, curly hair fell into his brown eyes. His mustache groomed nicely, as he had always taken pride in it. He wore a magicians show outfit, top hat and all. Alka let a soft smile cross her face at the sight of him. Something she would never tell anybody was that sometimes when she felt lonely on the hunt she would go into forests and make trees look like an image of her father. Often she would do it after having night terrors about her past.
"That's my father," Alka informed Mirage, not taking her doe-eyed gaze off the image of him. He looked at Mirage with his signature charming smile and gave her a bow, taking off his top hat. He used to do that with every customer that walked into his shop.
"The mist will be very convincing if you too are convinced the object or person is right there in front of you. It will also last much longer."

Alka continued to stare at her father and remember good times, a soft smile spread comfortably around her lips. She had almost not heard Mirage speak until she was asked if she missed her father. Her smile faded quickly before she could catch it, a pang of sadness taking her contentment from her instantly. She couldn't help but remember the exact moment she'd learned he'd been killed in a gas chamber. Her hand instinctively clutched her forearm, where her very old tattoo, or as Alka referred to it, her very old brand, sat inside her skin forever, underneath her arm warmers.
As Mirage corrected herself quickly, Alka picked up her warm smile again, preferring to hide her emotions from others, like she had been taught by the Huntresses. She needed a strong and confident face, and she definitely needed to hide any hint of weakness. Sadly, she lacked in the confidence front. She had become a pretty good actress over the years, though.

Alka brought her attention away from her father completely, and the image of him faded away like a fog. She turned her brown-eyed gaze back to Mirage who was desperately asking her what else she could do.
"It's okay," Alka assured her in a soft voice. She then gazed around the arena in search of something else to demonstrate with.
The racks of communal weapons caught her eye and she began to wonder what she could make out of them. Mirage had been overcome with interest upon her first sighting of Sebastienne, so Alka decided to create something similar for her.
Taking notE of the way Sebastienne's russet fur felt against Alka's cheek as he stayed positioned around her shoulders, the way he smelled, like the earth and the wild, and the way his barks and howls sounded, Alka closed her eyes and concentrated.
She opened them a moment later when Sebastienne's voice rang out in alarm through her mind.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing? I'm an original!"
Where the pile of weapons used to sit, there was now a skulk of foxes sitting on top of a small den. Alka simply lifted her hand to scratch Sebastienne under his chin. To make him feel better, she focused on thinking about all the different breeds of foxes she knew of from the top of her head.
grey fox, arctic fox, marble fox, kit fox, fennec fox, swift fox and many more. Soon there were a group of different pelted foxes all sitting together as a group. Sebastienne calmed down and relaxed, jumping from Alka's shoulder to slink off and investigate.
Alka brought her attention back to Mirage and smiled.
"You can go up and touch them if you'd like... There's a lot of them so they might not be as solid."