Welcome to Gaia! ::

An expanse of flat land used for practice Shaman Fights.

Jou Kuromatsu sat on a tree stump, one of the few things that one could sit on in the flat area designated for fighting. It wasn't the weekend yet, so the field wasn't being used, but it was a good place to just hang out and read a book, which was what the young shaman master was doing. He didn't notice the younger boy until he started talking to himself. Jou looked up over the book, arching an eyebrow. Not many people came here when it wasn't time to fight, because there wasn't much to look at. However, then he made note of who the person was.

"Ah, so you're our new trainee?" The teen assumed, standing up from the tree stump and patting a bit of dirt off of his pants. His expression was serious, although he held out his hand in greeting to introduce himself. "Kuromatsu Jou."

"Good to meet you, Cyth," Jou said politely, maintaining the eye contact. In fact, he seemed to be sizing him up - already making his own judgements based on the boy's demeanor. He placed a bookmark in his book instead of using his thumb, and turned toward the boy.

"So tell me, Cyth... have you seen spirits your entire life?" He smiled conversationally, but underneath the surface, he was trying to gather information on the new kid to determine whether or not he thought he would be a difficult person to train.

Jou titled his head, looking confused by the question. It was pretty obvious to him why he would ask that question, since seeing spirits was kind of crucial in becoming a shaman. "Do you know why you're here?" He inquired.

"Hmm..." Jou crossed his arms, looking intrigued. Why would a stranger tell a boy something like that? Cyth didn't seem to know anything about being a shaman. But... it was obvious that he had shamanic abilities. Jou stepped forward and put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "Well, don't worry. You have the potential. We'll show you how to be a fine shaman." He took his hand off his shoulder and crossed his arms again. "Marlowe," he called his spirit's name cooly.

From seemingly out of nowhere, a giant squid appeared and loomed just above his shoulder, the tentacles curling behind his back. "This is my primary spirit, something all good shamans must obtain. He's been my partner since I was six years old, and he's a strong holy ocean spirit. The first step to obtaining power as a shaman is befriending a powerful partner. But we'll teach you the basics of shamaning before you get one, so that your body can handle it."

Marlowe appeared to be rather affronted at being called a "Kalamari special."

"Of course they're not," Jou rolled his eyes. "Marlowe is a water spirit that just happened to take the form of a squid. You might get a different kind of spirit, or maybe even a human spirit if you're willing to work extra hard. Doubtless since you have shaman ability you've seen plenty of them."

"Hmm," Jou tilted his head, finding this kid to be pretty simple minded. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Jou could already feel that his lack of knowledge would probably start to annoy him. "Good. Then, we'll make sure you do become stronger. My mom is a good person to ask about spirits, in the meantime... When today's training begins, you'll understand better."

Jou walked past Cyth toward the house, with Marlowe bobbing after him in the air. The boy turned around again to look back at Cyth, opening his book again. "Excuse me."

After Des had woken Hazuki up, she ran outside to have a good laugh, and flopped down on the short grass. Some insects were crawling around so she rolled over on her belly to check them out... nothing better to do until the training started.