Fire, Lightning, and... Healing (2)

                                    

                                          


Onmund was still making no progress a few hours later when a small commotion outside his dormitory room caught his attention.
                          
He sighed grumpily as he got up from his desk, giving up on studying for the time being.
                          
Elyzyn and Brelyna were in the dormitory common area causing some kind of ruckus with whatever spell Brelyna was practicing.


                          
Onmund didn't know what Brelyna was trying to do, but yesterday she'd gotten it so wrong that Elyzyn had been green for several hours. Onmund didn't understand why Elyzyn would still be helping her after that, but apparently the girls were still at it...
                          
...or at least that's what Onmund had thought was going on... when he actually got up and stepped out of his doorway he wasn't so sure...
                          
Instead of the pretty Breton he'd been expecting to see, there was a horse standing in the common area with the Dunmer.
                          
"Oh my... that isn't right," Brelyna was muttering.
                          
"No, but J'zargo thinks it quite funny... try it again," the Khajiit snickered from his own doorway.
                          
Brelyna cast whatever spell she was practicing again and the horse became a large dog. J'zargo laughed harder and the dog turned its head toward him with what sounded like an annoyed bark.
                          
"Oh no..." Brelyna groaned, "just wait... just... I can fix this!"
                          
"Wait..." Onmund looked from Brelyna back to the dog, "is that...?" His voice trailed off as the dog looked back at him with an embarrassed expression. "What did you do?" He demanded looking back to Brelyna.
                          
"At least she is not still green, yes?" J'zargo teased.
                          
"Don't worry," Brelyna said quickly, "I can do this!"
                          
She cast the spell again and the dog became a cow. J'zargo laughed so hard he fell over backwards into his own room, rolling on the floor.
                          
"Maybe we should go get Tolfdir," Onmund suggested worriedly looking over the large brown animal.
                          
"No, no," Brelyna pleaded, "I'll get it right this time... I swear!"
                          
She cast the spell yet again and a petite woman suddenly appeared in place of the cow. Elyzyn stumbled forward, and reflexively, Onmund shot an arm forward to catch her. He felt the almost electrical tingle of magic run up his arm as she held tightly to him for a brief moment as she steadied herself.


                          
Onmund hadn't previously given a lot of thought to his fellow apprentices... he'd remembered their names and made general mental notes and observations about each of them. J'zargo was a confident Khajiit, Brelyna was a shy Dunmer, and Elyzyn was a friendly Breton— actually Elyzyn might have caught his eye more than the other two had, but he hadn't spent any time really dwelling on any of these observations...
                          
Not until now at least...
                          
Elyzyn was a little woman, barely tall enough to come up to his shoulder, and, best he could tell, she had a fairly average amount of feminine curve to her figure. She had sharp blue eyes, and dark blonde hair that was usually kept pulled back under her hood. Her face had the subtle elven features that were typical of most Bretons, but Onmund found that, on her, the high cheekbones and long, pointed nose were actually rather elegant looking... and when she smiled or laughed Onmund had to admit to himself that she was quite pretty.
                          
He had seen her shoot an angry scowl at the Thalmor who'd been lurking around the college once... her face had become something altogether different then; her brow furrowed, her nostrils flared and she looked downright dangerous. Ancano had rolled his eyes and scoffed at her, but Onmund had been thoroughly unnerved and steered clear of her the rest of the day.


                          
Now, as he helped her catch her balance, Onmund made another observation... he'd expected her to be soft and probably nearly frail under her robes, but she wasn't. Her hands were firm and slightly calloused, and she had what felt like considerable muscle tone in her arms. He suddenly found himself a little disappointed when she regained her balance and let go of him.
                          
"Thanks Onmund," Elyzyn smiled up at him as she resituated her hood.
                          
Onmund felt a slight flutter in his chest at that... she was quite something when she smiled. He didn't manage to give any response beyond a nod before she turned back to Brelyna and the girls began conversing about Brelyna's practices.
                          
He paid a little more attention to her figure as she looked away from him... he hadn't known many mages to focus a lot of energy on physical fitness, magical energy was usually far more sought after... but Elyzyn seemed to actually be in good physical shape. Onmund was suddenly pretty sure she was no simple mage... he was curious now...
                          
His attention was suddenly brought back to the conversation as his Khajiit classmate spoke up, addressing Elyzyn as well...
                          
"If you are going out on another adventure, can you... can you possibly help J'zargo?"



                          
Onmund wasn't sure he trusted the Khajiit's experiments any more than he trusted Brelyna's at this point...