Damien smiled reassuringly at Reseda " I know, soon you'll be a really strong witch and won't need me anymore but I suppose I will have to do for now. Won't I?" He grinned slightly feeling the wind caress his hair and it blew gently in the forest, brown eyes looked up at the sky as he walked " It's going to rain." He mentioned as they followed the wild beast. It seemed like hours they had been walking but Damien had never felt so alive so proud. He felt like he had grown a lot in just one battle and that he had learned a lot more about himself. Instead of walking like he didn't care he had an air of confidence around him and his eyes showed just how much that was true. He saw a house at the end of the pathway, it was very creepy looking. But it seemed very well kept. He assumed this must be where the witch teacher that Reseda needed to see was. He slowly walked in front of her not knowing whether or not he would need to protect her again but he did want to make sure.

He almost sounded... Disappointed, or at least that was the feeling Reseda seemed to be getting. Shaking her head, she attributed it to imagination. Walking briskly, a smile crossed her face at the sight of the cottage which they approached. The panther ran forward to approach the place before them and announce the presence of a learning witch and her familiar. A little smile crossed Reseda's face at the sight of Damien moving in front of her.

"It's alright, there's no need to protect me for the moment." Placing a calming hand on Damien's shoulder she smiled. "You look like you're actually enjoying yourself, but I'll feel better once you've had those wounds completely healed." The crone was also quite good at healing. The double specialization had been one of the reasons Reseda had chosen to travel to the cottage in the first place.

Damien turned around to glance Reseda over she seemed fine, her blue yes containing excitement and he felt I wave of relief as she put a hand on his shoulder. How odd he though to himself, then he glanced at his arm, he had forgotten all about the bloody thing, literally. He couldn't feel it at all only when he focused on his arm did he feel the pain but even then only slightly from the shirt clinging to his wound. He let Reseda lead the way she seemed excited, this crone must have something important for her to learn then he chuckled quietly when he realized something, they all would have something important to teach her. He just hoped he could stay useful till she grew stronger. He already started to feel himself grown stronger and realized he had gained a pain tolerance he would have never imagined before hand, and that the panther familiar the crone had would have freaked him out only a day previous.

Smiling, Reseda found herself almost skipping to the cottage. She knocked politely, and waited. The creepy place, the wonderful vine covered place, was seemingly empty but she knew that was not so. It was another small test, and the blond woman was ready to wait for as long as possible. Turning, her brown eyes softened at the sight of Damien. Sighing, she knocked again and prepared a small spell to unlock the door. "Crone Bellanca, I have come to seek apprenticeship with you!"

The door burst open. A dignified blue eyed, black haired, woman stood there. Chignon high, and frowning face, she regarded the two before her. Nodding silently, she motioned with a hand and they were in her cottage. Without asking, Bellance made a chair move forward for the human familiar to sit upon. Grabbing some herbs, she placed them beside him and made Reseda take them. "Heal him."

((IS it okay if I moved Damien around a bit? I'll change it if you want.))

(Yeah it's fine as long as you don't start god modding him xD)

Damien sat down in the chair his head rushed and coming down from the adrenaline high it had been on. He felt a small twinge of pain but it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. He looked around in the creepy little cottage and somehow he felt like he was at home but it still gave him the creeps none the less. He glanced at Reseda waiting to see what was going on now, waiting for any ques he might have missed, making she he wasn't doing anything that could screw up her getting to learn from the crone.

(( Tell me if I ever do, it'll probably have been an accident. Maybe we could have Nye teaching Damien things? ))

With great care, the young woman removed the hasty bandage she'd made earlier. Under the watchful eye of the crone, she began cleaning the wound. It didn't take too long, but water spilled because of her nervousness. Reseda then proceeded to start mixing the herbs, and was stopped. "Put some feeling into it! Part of the magic comes from you." Conceding the point, Reseda tried to let what she felt go into the mixture. The young witch sent her will for him to heal into it, and the feeling of friendship that was beginning to grow between them.

Once the mixing was done, the resulting paste was lathered onto the wounded arm. So as not to aggravate the wound, Reseda quietly and efficiently placed a bandage upon it. "Damien how are you doing?" Her voice didn't betray any worry, but her big brown eyes certainly did.

((We could do a time skip soon too))

( That could work. and yeah a time skip soon may help)

Damien smiled putting a hand to Reseda's cheek trying to ease the worry in her eyes " I'm fine but you have work to do don't you? He turned to look at the Crone, May I learn from your familiar as well?"

(sorry for the short post >.>)

((Alright, I'll skip to halfway trough the apprenticeship,))

After that first day, Bellanca took Reseda under her wing. The young woman was always puttering about, picking herbs and reading. Shield spells were the hardest. At first, Reseda couldn't block even a leaf. She got quite a few scrapes from trying to block offensive spells with weaker shields. In the end, that only made her learn faster. The routine was easy, eat, sleep, dream all about the things learned. There was never a moment the young woman relaxed, unless it was one of those rare times she was able to stop and watch Nye training Damien. If anything, the panther was harder on the Damien then his mistress was on the young witch.

One night, Reseda walked out of the cottage. She marched to a nearby clearing, plainly leaving a magical note so the others would know where she was. The young woman lay down on the grass to look up at the stars. Things had changed so quickly. Only a month ago, she'd been alone and without anyone to rely on. Now she had Damien. Tears prickled Reseda's eyes at the thought of the young man having to be released from his duties. She didn't want him to go!

((Is a month too long to skip?))

Damien felt closer to Reseda then he had to anyone with her, he felt that he had a purpose he really didn't want to be released hence going under the hardships and the extreme pain that training from the panther entailed. He wanted to be with Reseda as long as possible, he felt so close to her and he thought that he was helping her or at least he hoped he was and each day he was getting stronger from being able to fend of Nye, to the challenges the panther gave him. He did not want to lose her.

Silently, Reseda sighed and wondered if Damien would respond to the fact that she was feeling lonely. Actually, the blond woman rather wanted his company in particular. Sometimes she would watch him working diligently under the watchful eye of Nye. The young man had worked harder then she'd ever imagined anyone could. Admiration and fondness warred together with the witch's sense of right and wrong.

Shifting around, Reseda sat to regard the clearing. This was one of the few peaceful moments afforded her, and Reseda wanted to take advantage of it as she waited. It wasn't yet time for Damien to leave, he couldn't... Still, the two of them had been avoiding the issue for the past month. Now, they needed to speak. In a week, Reseda would have to set off again to someplace quite far and no forest spanning spell would be able to shorten the journey.