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Looking through the ample window, the Castle's inner gardens spread beautifully. There weren't any flowers actually; instead, trees dominated the place creating a pleasant spot for those who sought cover from the harsh sun. In the middle was a majestic fountain of a dragon of white stone, wrapped in its own wings as in deep slumber. Some wooden benches here and there plus the paved path only added to the 'park inside castle' image inside Héctor's mind. He liked it; it reminded him of the park back in his hometown where he would go just to have a quiet time.

"Excuse me!" Someone spoke behind the door at the other side of the room.

"Yes?" Answered the white tiger.

A brown cat in armor stepped in, halting just as he crossed the threshold and stood straight; ears erect and tail resting low. He saluted placing his arm diagonally across his chest, paw formed in a fist.

"Sir Collins is waiting for you at the back gardens, Sir Furor."

Héctor was oddly displeased at how the guards referred to him. He actually kind of liked when others called him Mr. Furor; it made him feel a sense of formality and detachment which made easier to deal with others. But the title of Sir weighted a little too much for him. Nevertheless, he had to get used to it. The Pilar stood above any other knight in rank, the closer ones where the Knights of the Crown but, unless it was for the sake of the King, they still would take orders. He was at least thankful that only some guards knew who he truly was, being seen as some sort of guest by the most of all.

"Thank you. I'll go right now."

The guard saluted again before leaving and Héctor followed shortly. Compared to the front gardens the back ones where just a short walk away, not that he minded, the feline liked to walk. He opened one of the crystal doors that lead to the outside and observed the garden closely for the first time. He had resided in the Castle for some days at that point, but he had always felt it was too soon to look around like if he 'lived' there. He knew where the back gardens were just because it was obvious where they would be.

First there was a spacious patio, paved with smooth stones; probably where parties and other celebrations were be held, but at that moment it was empty and that allowed to see further ahead. At the distance, nothing but trees, a small forest inside the walls. Separating the two terrains was a yard; the green and even area was only disturbed by a rectangle of fine sand, closer to the patio than the woods. The field could be used for both entertainment and training purposes. Someone awaited there.

Sir Collins jovially waved a wing to his approaching comrade, his beak open in what was a smile for the avian variety. Héctor stood in front of him, the macaw's antics already provoking him a tiny smile.

"Ready? Hope you slept well last night. I know the propaedeutics was just yesterday, but I would like to see what you can do before sending you off to the Academy." His tone was cheery as normal, and he received a positive from the tiger. "Okay, we're just going with the basic course, no need to tire you out."

The parrot stopped for a moment and eyed his student. Both were practically wearing the same clothes, long pants and vest used for training with a white undershirt. Of course there were differences in the details, and the color was different. The tiger whore blue, the macaw indigo, but he couldn't help but relish the similarity of the colors and locked his left wing with Héctor's right arm, dragging the feline to stand to his side.

"Hey, look! We're matching today!" His feathers puffed out and tickled slightly the furson close to him. "Anyone would say we're brothers!" He let out a hearty laugh and maintained it until he returned to his place, in front of his student. "Well, let's begin. Start with the warm-ups."

Héctor did as told, and after that he was performing stances, figures, and flips, showing off what he knew. He was doing only the movements that comprised the foundations of standard combat training. Most youngs didn't learn a Style until they started middle education, and it was either from a Martial School, the Military, or a House. Next he was doing some bare-paw combat practice with Sir Collins, and as expected he found the macaw a thought partner.

"You're holding pretty well. Looks like I can't go easy on you." His tone wasn't his usual merry one, meaning he was taking his own words seriously.

The tiger couldn't help but slightly grin at that. Even if he had always slacked off in school's combat practices, at home he had to compensate some-fold; his father was a rather harsh instructor. They had gotten a good pace when Sir Collins deemed the feline's skills sufficient and spoke.

"Okay, that's it with the physical exhibition, now, let's start with magic." That sentence made Héctor's stomach cramp. "Now that I think, I don't even know what kind of magic you use." He smiled mischievously. "Forget the magic foundational movements for now, show me something good."

--Forget the magic foundation movements, indeed-- thought Héctor. As someone banned from magic studies until some days ago he didn't even know what they were. But that wasn't the tiger's biggest concern. He was still unsure about using his magic; he couldn't help but wonder what could happen if he went out of control again, or if his eyes were discovered. That's why he had hesitated using his magic back in the Academy's dungeon. He was unsure.

But he couldn't refuse; the macaw's eyes were fixed on him expectantly. What weighted more on him was the prospect of letting down his instructor. It was odd, a thought like that didn't surface in his mind often, but it didn't bother him. He raised his arm and held it on level with the ground; Sir Collins had moved aside to observe. Héctor took a breath, trying to calm himself, and attempted to create an icicle. He focused in a point on the field; he squinted his eyes to narrow his vision, but nothing occurred at first. The seconds went and Héctor himself thought it was odd nothing was happening.

"May I interrupt you?" Intervened a warm and deep voice.

Both fursons twisted their heads towards the Castle's back door. A big canine was approaching, most of his body draped by a blue cloak with shoulder-plates that Héctor thought resembled fins. Sir Collins immediately stepped forward to receive the newcomer on the border between the patio and the yard.

"Dar, awesome to have you back! Finished running errands?" The parrot inquired excitedly, taking a paw in his wing and giving a hug with a pat on the back to the dog.

"Not at all, I stopped by to meet our new friend."

Héctor fixed his stance as the two furson came to him. The visitor took the spot in front of him. The tiger raised his head to see his face. The canine was a really handsome husky with squared features. He portrayed a calm and gentle smile that told he was a nice fellow.

"Ec" the parrot began diligently, "let me introduce you to Sir Darien Deus, Pilar of Caniri." He used his wing to present the husky, who bowed slightly. "He's not a husky by the way. See the fluff and brown eyes? That means he's a malamute."

The feline observed the dog and didn't miss that his white and solid black pelt certainly was richer than he had perceived, and his clear eyes were a light brown color; these stood again the markings on his face, two jointed black circles interrupted his white mask looking like shades.

"I'm glad we found another of our comrades. Welcome to the Pilars, Sir Furor."

"He's a part-time model too."

"That's not true, Sir Collins" the malamute corrected.

"Well, you appear in enough magazines to be considered one." He leaned towards Héctor to sassily whisper. "Of course, most are for the ladies." His comment earned a weak guiltily laugh from the canine.

"Sorry for this" he directed to Héctor, and then returned to the parrot, "it seems I interrupted your practice."

"No, you arrived at the perfect moment. Ec was about to show us what kind of magic he can do." He concentrated on his student. "Ready?" He received a nod.

"Mmmh" muttered Sir Deus, "actually, I have something I want to talk with him. Do you mind if I talk in private with him first? Just for a moment."

"Sure" answered the macaw without a second thought.

"Thank you." He took some steps forward. "Sir Furor, would you mind accompanying me" he motioned towards the woods deeper into the back gardens.

"Uh, yes" was Héctor's mumbled answer before he went behind the malamute.

They walked, until the tress completely blocked the Castle's view and they were out of Sir Collins' earshot or anyone else. They didn't stop though, and Sir Deus spoke while they continued strolling.

"Pardon the discourtesy, but it looked like you were having trouble casting your magic." Behind him the tiger's ears perked up. "Is there something disturbing you?"

Héctor's ears fell a bit. There was certainly something, however, it couldn't be discussed with the dog; he wasn't allowed to talk about the matter with anyone. He had actually wanted to ask Sir Corio further, but the boar had left to another province before he had been given the chance. And inquiring the King was out of question; he couldn't simply bring himself to ask for an audience. Héctor was silent several seconds, pondering how to respond correctly to Sir Deus' question.

"Sir Furor, actually... Could it be that you weren't informed that I would come today?"

"Huh?" Héctor was truly surprised to hear that, his ears perking up again. Nobody had told him anything. "Eh- No, I wasn't... informed."

"I see. Well, that couldn't be helped. Sir Corio isn't here right now, and the King must be too busy to talk to you personally. This is a matter that cannot be heard by others after all." He stopped and turned to face the fully interested tiger that had been following him. The malamute's expression remained kind, but it showed some worry. "Sir Furor, I've come to talk with you about the Mad Eyes."

Héctor was taken aback by Sir Deus' declaration and his face completely showed it. Even the grasp of his tail around his torso increased with the emotion. And for a moment he felt insecure, being alone with the canine out there. But he had to mentally slap himself for that thought, for doubting a Pilar; he even had had a good first impression of the dog. It pained Héctor to know he was becoming paranoid.

"Sir Corio tasked me to apologize on his behalf, both for what he did and for not being able to say it in person." Those words distracted the tiger from his complicated feelings, which was what Sir Deus wanted. "It seems the way he went about the issue, it caused you much worry, isn't it? To think that it would come to the point of blocking your magic, I also apologize for not being able to come sooner. I know it can be strenuous, but I was an adult when it happened to me and you're still a kid, so the burden is different. I should've come earlier to help. Sorry for that."

Each line had been spoken softly and the malamute's face only showed pain and kindness. He honestly was regretful for putting his duties before the wellbeing of that young, his new comrade. And once more Héctor was taken aback by Sir Deus; the way he talked, what he said.

"Eh?" The tiger's eyes widened a little as he stared intently.

Sir Deus didn't miss his reaction and immediately understood. His face cleared of any expression and he closed his eyes. He slowly opened them again. The irises were now a brilliant golden color that couldn't be dulled by the black blotch that had appeared. The spiral mark seemed to come out from the center and go and mix with the black fur around the eyes. The malamute smiled weakly, trying his best to not upset the young with such revelation.

Héctor didn't know what to think at first when Sir Deus showed him his eyes, but after observing a few seconds he was mesmerized. He thought they were beautiful, Sir Deus' Mad Eyes, and somehow he calmed. He even wanted to take a closer look. It was his first time seeing another furson with marks on his eyes, marks like his. Though he noticed than the dog's were quite different, an antler-like shape in the middle instead of the star-like, and sharper lines.

After some more seconds passed, Sir Deus brought his right paw from under his cloak and moved it towards Héctor. The feline followed the movement with his sight only, the paw coming to a stop halfway, which made him turn his attention to the malamute's face. The dog's expression had turned pained again; he was hesitating, but soon came to realize he was the only one backing away. The feline was looking at him with expectant eyes.

Sir Dues reached for the left side of Héctor's head and cradled it, and moved it a bit closer. At the same time he lowered himself, and placed his right cheek in contact with the tiger's. Shortly he would feel the temperature of the young rise and that made him smile.

"I know it's difficult, but I hope you can come to trust me. Those marks won't go away, that's the truth, but you don't have to be eaten by them. You're different, you can control it, just be more confident in yourself. You don't have to be afraid of them. I still have some more tasks to attend, but I'll return as fast as possible and tell you more. I promise." He pressed himself a bit more onto Héctor's cheek. "Can you try, to trust me?"

The white tiger was having trouble concentrating. He was aware of his habit of becoming meek when dealing with adults, but to that extent was a first. That gesture was meant to be a proof of truthfulness and bonding, nevertheless, Héctor was utterly embarrassed. Knowing that the malamute could feel the heat coming from his face embarrassed him even more. He opened his maw in an attempt to speak, but it took him more than one before the words came out.

"O- O- I'll... try."

Sir Deus closed his eyes content with the answer. It had been a clumsy one, but enough for a start. He would have liked to tell him more, but in that situation something had more priority. He broke the contact and lifted his head, looking down at the tiger again; this one was looking to the side, apparently focusing on the paw that was holding his head, but he was obviously just trying to evade looking at the dog. Sir Deus chuckled inwardly at the young's bashfulness.

"Okay" he said. "Let's talk a lot more when I come back." The canine retired his hand from Héctor's left cheek. "We can't let Sir Collins wait much more, but first we must resolve your inability to cast magic or it'll become a serious problem. If my assumption is correct, all your worries are eclipsing your willpower. That seems the most feasible answer. Fear is the anti-catalyst of Magia after all."

At some point Héctor's head had turned slightly to one side, following his eyes effort to evade direct contact, and his ears twitched nervously from time to time. But that last comment picked up his interest and it made him force himself to look at the dog again, thought only his eyes moved.

"What do... What do you mean?" He asked. "With Mag- Magia, do you mean magic?"

The malamute stared at him curiously.

"Well, yes."

"Sorry" Héctor's ears flattened."I never... studied magic."

"Ah" Sir Deus' astonishment increased, and then he thought about it for a moment before speaking. "I see. If you don't know magic theory, it's understandable that you'll become frightened after such incident, especially if you don't know about Auto-Magia. You don't know about it either, isn't it? How much magic theory do you know?" The question made Héctor drop his head.

"Nothing" he simply stated.

Sir Deus considered the situation, and found it more complicated than he had anticipated. It would be difficult to make someone who didn't know the principles behind magic overcome such obstacle. An idea occurred to him, but its success was more of a gamble than anything else. He could only trust the young's guts. He raised his right paw and held it in front of him, which made the tiger's face turn completely towards him.

"Give me your paw."

Héctor was confused, but complied either way, and put his paw on Sir Deus' slightly bigger one. The canine drew his other paw from inside his cloak and used it to flip the tiger's, the soft feline pads upwards. The expression on Sir Deus' face had become serious as well as his tone.

"Listen well. The reason you cannot cast magic is because you're afraid of it. I know it must be obvious that the only solution is stop doing it, but that's much easier said than done. But I want you to try. Say, do you feel something?"

Héctor nodded; shortly after he rested his paw on Sir Deus' his whole arm started to tingle. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation though, yet it made his fur stand up.

"Right now I'm directing my energy so it flows to you. This should at least help you feel your own energy, just concentrate. Do something small, that will be enough."

The tiger nodded again, but before trying anything he raised his sight to look at the malamute with curiosity. He focused on the Mad Eyes.

"How long have you... had those eyes?" Héctor inquired.

The dog's ears stood fully straight at that question, taken aback by the question if momentarily. Next he showed a confident and handsome smile.

"Almost seven years, and I'll tell you it's not hard to control them. Unless it's a fly-or-fight situation, they won't appear unless you want it."

A bolt of blue light emerged from Héctor's paw and instantaneously solidified into ice, surprising both fursons. Héctor stared at the icy structure intriguingly; instead of a simple ice stake it looked more like the branch of a tree, but sharper. It actually reminded him more of the lighting. To do something like that was unusual for him. His focus was lost when Sir Deus' paw moved, stopping from holding his, and came to take the figure from him. The canine had a stunned expression, and his eyes were back to their normal brown color and examined the ice. He retreated his paw inside his cloak, together with the icicle, as he fixed his face to a calmer look.

"This will do." Sir Deus started to walk back and bypassed the tiger, aiming for the same route they had used to enter the woods. "Good work."

Héctor followed the malamute's movements, a little confused at his reaction, but he promptly pursued. He felt better, more than anyone could guess. Some doubts still lingered, but he realized that he could solve them himself. Magic class, he could finally attend one; he could learn magic theory, and do many things more. The tiger felt silly realizing the reality of his situation only at that point. Even if it was worlds-apart from what he had planned for himself, he was willing to try.

Not long they came out of the forest. Sir Collins was waiting for them on the field and grinned when he noticed the two approaching. Sir Deus stopped at his side, his serene and warm expression had returned.

"Done?" The macaw simply asked.

"Yes, sorry for the inconvenient."

"Not at all." Sir Collins turned to Héctor. "Do you want to continue?"

The tiger considered it for a moment before nodding. He knew it would be okay. He thought it was unjust to the King and Sir Corio, but he could trust Sir Deus' word; the word of someone like him. The other two fursons stepped aside, granting the feline some space. He extended his arm and concentrated, and that time he did feel the energy within him.

Héctor realized something more; worse than being imprisoned or shunned for his Mad Eyes, it would be never being able to cast magic again. He had gone against his father wishes for that after all, because when he discovered magic he fell in love with it. Feeling confident on his magic once more he let the excitement take over him. He didn't remember the macaw asking him to show him something good, but he planned to.

He moved his arm and pointed his paw towards the sky. Dark clouds started to appear and cast a shadow over the place. Moments after, snow began to fall. The phenomenon only covered a relatively small area, maybe as wide as the patio with him at the center, and the snow wouldn't pile up, but that was as far as the tiger could manage. He really liked that his magic was ice.

"You're full of surprises, huh!" Sir Collins claimed as he put a wing around Héctor's shoulders and tugged him playfully.

"Commending" added Sir Deus. "You should ask Sir Collins to instruct you. There are some things you'll need to learn if you don't want to raise some question at the Academy." He was confident the tiger would know what he meant. "It's a pity, but I have to go. I'll see you both soon."

"Yeah, sure. Take care, and watch out for the fangirls! It seems your were declared one of the most coveted single fursons this year."

"Please, stop reading that kind of magazines" Sir Deus said sheepishly. The malamute began to turn around, but stopped midway and actually returned to his previous stance. "Sir Furor" he began, "may I call you Héctor?"

The white tiger was slightly taken aback. It was the first time someone asked him permission before refereeing to him with his given name. It looked like he wasn't as used to formalities as he had thought

"Uh- Sure."

Sir Deus smiled warmly and then he turned around. He began to walk away and would shortly leave the province. But he would return soon, to teach Héctor about the Mad Eyes; it had been a promise, and Sir Deus always held a promise.