When Comet entered the cave, he found Orion sitting there, almost like he was waiting for him to arrive.
“Now you have a silver pendant, you’ll now be able to do more advanced techniques.” He said, then got up and carried a silver dish in his mouth to a spot where water dripped from the cave ceiling.
The water dripped down in a steady, almost mesmerising rhythm. He looked at Orion, waiting for him to say something.
”I’ll show you this one thing while we wait.” He said mysteriously then pulled a ruined silver fork from his collection. “Close your eyes, keep your paw to it, focus on its energy, weight, and shape.”
Comet wasn’t sure how this involved his pendant but complied anyway and focused on the qualities of the fork. It was cool and heavy.
It was peaceful, focusing while the water dripped in the background. So peaceful, he almost fell asleep until he heard Orion shuffle around.
He woke up with a start, embarrassed.
“The dish is full.” He said. Then put his paw to his pendant. Suddenly, the water became an image of the fortress and island.
”Wait, so that whole thing was just a waste of time then.” He asked, astonished. He felt ridiculous.
”No, but now I want you to project an image into the water.” He said.
He snorted. What trick was he pulling now? But he placed his paw into the water, sending ripples across the surface. The water was icy cold and he quickly pulled his paw out.
“How? I can’t exactly touch it.” He said impatiently.
Orion placed his paw to his own pendant and Comet saw it light up, a moment later, an image of Comet’s grumpy face was projected in the water. Comet wasn’t amused.
“I thought this was meant to be serious.” He said.
“It is but you need to have a calm, focused mind to access the energy of any precious resource.” He said. “Place your paw to your pendant and focus on the dish, just like you did with that fork.” He explained.
Comet did as he was told, he was excited to find that his pendant emitted a glow as he sought out the form of the dish, trying to tap into intros energy. After some trial and error, he managed to do it and projected a faint image of the island on it.
“Impressive to truly master Silver, you won’t need to use your eyes, you will only have to sense and you can find any piece of silver in the valley. You’ll even be able to tell how far away it is and if it’s above or below ground.” He explained.
”Let me try.” Said Comet and closed his eyes, facing to the back of the cave. For a while, he just sat there trying to remember every little detail about the fork he was searching for while holding his pendant. He suddenly felt a tug towards a certain place.
He moved on uncertain legs, feeling almost like he had no control over them. He could sense it to his right then he suddenly felt the presence of lots of other silver around it. He shook his head. It was overwhelming. It made it almost impossible to track the fork.
Then he felt chills across his body then blackness, a moment later, he could see again but he was looking out of a tiny crack between two silver objects. He gasped as he was just as suddenly jolted back to viewing what was really in front of him.
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“What just happened?” He asked, scared and confused.
“What did you see?” Orion asked.
Comet didn’t answer, he scanned the room, stopping once he saw two familiar objects. He went up to them and pushed them aside, where he found the fork, laying on its side.
He stared at it with confusion. “I don’t understand. I thought I was meant to see the fork, instead, it was like I was seeing through it. I could see everything that was around it.” He explained.
”I’m sorry. I had wanted to teach you to master silver sensing before silver hopping. Silver hopping is powerful but can be very unsettling if you’re not expecting it.”
”So, can I silver “hop” through any piece of silver? As long as I focus on it?”
”Yes, if you want to, which is why it’s a power you must use wisely.” He said.
”And anyone who can use a pendant could do that then?” He asked nervously. Suddenly, the collection of silver made him uneasy. Could one of the Magia be watching him right now?
”Not here, my cave is protected by Iron stones, it counteracts the power of silver.” He said, then indicated to small stones embedded along the walls at even intervals.
“How many resources are there?”
“There’s Silver, Gold, Copper, Iron, Porcelain and Diamond. Each with their own set of powers and opposing resource. I’ll teach you what you need but first, you need to do more work with silver. You don’t want to be silver hopping when you're trying to seek or track. When you see through silver, you go into a sort of trance and you have no way of defending yourself.”
They kept training until evening, where Orion decided it was time for a break and insisted Comet go and eat with the rabbits.
Reluctantly, Comet agreed and left the cave. He expected to see a lot of rabbits but he saw hardly any. It was a very hot day so perhaps they were underground.
As he searched for good grass, he found himself back near the shore of the island. He heard splashing and could see that Brook was teaching her class to swim. They swam around the island, out of view.
Comet considered what it would be like to swim, not just flail around helplessly. He had made up his mind to stay here and it would help him fit in if he could swim.
Cautiously, he placed a paw into the water, it was refreshingly cool. His long legs allowed him to wade into the shallower parts, his body submerged yet touching the lakebed.
Once he had gotten used to the water, he dared to venture deeper but when he couldn’t feel the lakebed under his paws anymore, he panicked and splashed back to shore.
Brook and her class came around the opposite side of the island.
”Are you alright?” She called, coming over to him.
”Yes, I was just trying to get cool.” He said and began trying to climb up the muddy bank.
”I think he was trying to swim.” Said one of her students with a laugh.
”Shouldn’t you be happy I’m trying to learn your culture?” He said, frustrated.
”Oh, I am.” Said Brook. “But it’s not a good idea to swim on your own as a beginner.”
“Fine, I'll join your class then.” He said.
“You’re too old to be in our class.” Complained a student.
”I’m not that much older than you.” He said defensively.
“You don’t need to be a great swimmer, just good enough to swim to the island.” Said Brook. “Follow us.”
Feeling the pressure, he agreed and travelled back out.
”I can’t feel the lakebed anymore.” He said, stopping.
”You were supposed to be swimming, not walking.” Said Brook. “Just move your legs calmly, in a steady motion and keep your head out of the water.”
He was tense and took a deep breath before plunging into the deep water, frantically moving his legs.
”Remember, you don’t have to fight the water, just go along with it.” Said Brook. She and her students swam so effortlessly and gracefully.
He wasn’t sure how they did it but his exhaustion forced him to slow down, and gently swim. It was like the water was carrying his body.
“Hey, I’m doing it.” He said proudly.
”Great, now you should probably stop swimming in circles, you’ll wear yourself out. Keep your eyes on the island.” Said Brook.
The students snickered and Comet swam towards the island quickly, fuelled by embarrassment. Brook offered to help him up the bank but he refused.
After several attempts, he managed to haul himself out and panted heavily. He was proud of his stubborn determination.
Then he heard the students calling out to each other and saw they were looking up the valley. There was a group of rabbits racing down the valley, too far away to see who they were. Brook and her students swam back to the mainland and Comet quickly tried to follow them.