Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lux appeared at one edge of the lake and noticed two other women already in the are. One was walking along the edge, and the other was swimming much further in.
Hope they don't mind me and Xitha joining them, Lux thought to herself as she began unlacing her boots.

Lux finished removing her boots then shed the rest of her clothing. She had brought her sword with her; she laid it on top of her towel. Joining the sword were her throwing knives in their sheaths, the daggers at her waist, and the blades strapped to her back.
Once all her metal was removed, Lux felt oddly exposed. She doubted anyone would bother her things but she tossed her clothes over them just in case.
Looking across the lake, Lux noticed that Xitha had already entered the water. With a shrug, Lux walked to a deeper edge and dove into the water.
Lux swam under water until she found Xitha, then surfaced nearby her friend with a gasp.

"The water's certainly cool," Lux said with a smile, flicking her now-soaked hair from her face.

Xitha laughed merrily. "Feel better, don't you?"

Xitha smiled. "Alright, I'm going to teach you how to draw energy from the nature surrounding you. However, you first need to be able to see it," Xitha said as she began calling up memories of her first lessons in magery.

"Let's see..." Xitha mused as she looked about. "Aha! There-look at that flower right over there," she said as she pointed at a bright flower noticeably sticking out from the green grass.

"I want you to focus on the center of the flower for a few moments. Don't look at the stem or the petals, just the center," Xitha instructed.

"After you've stared at the center for a few moments, close your eyes for a second then open them again. You should be able to see a faint glowing outline surrounding the flower, similar to the pink outline I used to illuminate Kax," Xitha said to further explain.

Xitha shook her head vigorously.

"No, now that you know what to look for, you should be able to see the energy with no problem. You just need to practice it a bit, is all."

Xitha floated on her back, actually in the water and not floating above it as she usually did.

"Now that you can see it, you can refuel yourself with energy from the life around you. Most of this takes a strong will and imagination, like most magery. What you do is create a 'hand' of your own personal energy. After you've shaped your energy into a 'hand' just extend it toward the nearest source of energy. Energy calls to energy; you'll feel it flow right through your 'hand' and into your personal store," Xitha said.

"Here, I'll show you. Watch me with your mage-sight," Xitha said as she planted her feet firmly on the lake's bottom. Xitha closed her eyes and reached for her energy, which glowed a bright gold. All mage-energy glowed gold to her eyes, but generally each person had a different tint, even an entirely different color, to their own eyes.

Xitha instructed the energy by showing it images of what she wanted it to do. After careful instruction, the "hand" extended into the atmosphere-though it could only be seen to mage-sight. Energies in the form of butterflies flew to the outstretched "hand," fluttering above it for a few moments before blending together in one blanket of pulsating light. The blanket of energy covered Xitha's "hand," causing her energy to take on a blue-ish tint befor turning back to pure gold, shining brighter than ever.

Xitha opened her eyes, her skin glowing and her smile radiant. "Think you can do it?"

"Well, the energy came to me as butterflies because that's my special symbol. Butterflies and roses," Xitha said, turning to show the tattoo of two roses entwined around an X on her left shoulder.

"When you've found your own particular symbol, whether it be a plant, insect, or animal, the energy will probably come to you in that form," Xitha said matter-of-factly.

"So, now you can see energy and draw from it. First step accomplished," Xitha grinned as she dove back under water.