Magic; Colours

magic; colours

“Are you sure you want to do this?” The Apprentice turned her head. “What?” she teased. “Getting cold feet?” The Companion tensed. “No!” he was quick to say. “I’m just....worried!” “Uh huh.” The Apprentice chuckled softly beneath her breath. Her hand gripped around a branch, pulling herself up an incline. “What could you possibly be worried about?” She paused and waited, letting The Companion reach up to her level. “Well,” he huffed, “we’re walking through the woods in the middle of the night.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s kinda sus.” “Almost midnight,” she corrected. The Apprentice made to shove at him, but decided against it. Standing at the edge of an decline might not be the best place to rough house. “It’s not like we’re walking in the dark anyway,” she countered - lifting up her flashlight. The Companion hefted his own almost instinctively. With the movement, the light flickered a few times - then died off completely. A look of disbelief flitted across his face. “Really?” He slapped the tool a few times. The Companion groaned, “I just changed the batteries on this thing.” The Apprentice couldn’t help but laugh. “Here,” she extended a hand forward, “let me.” The Companion’s eyes widened in the light of her flashlight. Without another word of protest, he passed over the malfunctioning tool. The Apprentice shoved her flashlight beneath her armpit - using her now two free hands to tilt the broken flashlight around. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed - her fingers tightening their grip around the tool. Purple tendrils streamed out of her fingers. They roamed freely for a while - before The Apprentice narrowed her eyes to slits. The tendrils were jerked back towards the tool, their tips sharpening - plunging and filling up the flashlight with a bright purple glow. As soon as the glow faded, The Apprentice let her shoulders relax. “Tadaa,” she said, grinning - her finger flicking the flashlight back on. Her Companion made a soft sound - a huff of amusement. “Thanks,” he said, taking back the now-fixed flashlight. He glanced up to her. “Purple?” “Electricity,” The Apprentice confirmed. Abruptly, she turned away. “We’re almost at the summit. Come on.” Behind her, The Companion huffed out a breath. “I thought yellow would be electricity.” “That’s a stereotype. Yellow is healing magic.” “Healing magic? Wouldn’t that be green?” The Apprentice paused and gave him a look. “When was the last time you ate green medicine?” The Companion lifted up a finger, then paused. “Fair point.” The Apprentice rolled her eyes - although snickered softly. “Yellow is healing magic because it represents the sun,” she explained. She stepped over a gnarled root. “Green is speed.” “Because green means go?” “Exactly.” The Companion snorted. His footsteps brushing against the undergrowth, he moved quicker to come up beside her. “Okay,” he said, “what about blue?” “Blue’s air.” “White?” “Cleanliness.” “Black.” “Evil,” The Apprentice whispered out, her tone dropped by a few octaves. The act broke at the sight of The Companion’s wide eyed gaze. “Black’s the dirt,” she chuckled. “Fertility and what not.” The Companion rolled his eyes and snorted. “Is there even a color for evil?” The Apprentice stopped then, thinking. “Good question,” she hummed. Slowly, she began to move forward. “I don’t think so,” she murmured. “Evil isn’t a magic - it’s a choice.” The Companion gave no response to that for a while. They made the rest of their journey in silence. Finally, they both came up to a rocky summit. The Companion grinned at her then. “Ready?” he asked, fishing out a device from his backpack. The Apprentice grinned and dropped her own pack. “Ready,” she confirmed, rolling up her sleeve. Her Companion held a small cube in his hand. One wrist flicked upwards to check at his watch - whilst the other held out the cube towards her. The Apprentice grabbed it between both hands - shuddering softly at the warmth it shot through her veins. After a few seconds, he nodded. Held out five fingers into the air. “Five.” The Apprentice braced herself. “Four.” The woods around them went silent. “Three.” The Companion’s grin grew wider. “Two.” Her own grin grew. “One.” With a short grunt of effort, The Apprentice shot multi-coloured tendrils into the cube. The Device shook slightly in her hands, before- In a glorious light show, it shot the tendrils up into the air. A silent explosion - their own personal firework show. More tendrils got shot upwards, more lights, more colours that lit up their faces. The Apprentice stepped back, brushing her shoulders against her Companion. “Happy New Year.” She smiled. The shoulder beside her nudged her gently. “Happy New Year.”