Gingerbread House

Chapter Twelve: Training Field

Jam giggled as the little wolf jumped up and down, trying to get the stick that the small child held.

He carefully ran around the backyard before tossing it away from him. The little pup ran after the wooden stick before running back to their owner. Their thick tail wagged happily, a happy grin on their wolf lips.

The child giggled, taking the stick out of the wolf's mouth before loving rubbing their ears. If anyone could see him, he would look like a child having fun with their pet. They wouldn't have guessed that the young boy was being carefully watched.

Fresh watched from the back windows, smiling softly. The child always looked their happiest when it was just them and their mutt. He missed that happy look being focused on him. He wanted to see it again.

The witch made a humming sound, a thought forming in his head.

It had been a while since he had started to teach the youngling about his style of magic. That was namely because of a tiny accident the child had made while trying to do some wind spell. It had originally broken the little one's arm, but since Fresh didn't have to hide his ability, he healed it to be more of a sprain. Yet, this accident, had made Paper more hesitant on learning magic. Maybe, he should expand the building some...

A soft smile formed on his face before he went outside to get the little one. They were still playing with their small wolf, so they didn't notice the warlock.

"Jam-Jam!" The pale monster's voice easily earning the other two's attention.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Fresh?" The small child paused in his playing, moving to sit on his knees, silently pulling their pet closer to them. He felt safer with the wolf in his arms.

Quietly, the older monster sighed. He was making progress, but it was slow. So, so slow.

"I was wondering, if you wanted me to show you a special place." He gave the younger a soft smile, holding a teasing tone to it all.

It wasn't a dangerous tone, but his words could've had many meanings. Meanings that the child knew could be dangerous.

"What place?" Curiosity killed the cat and captured the kid.

The witch grinned widely, stretching out his hand for the child to take.

Jam looked at the hand with caution, before slowly reaching towards it, letting the taller one guide him. The small pup quickly followed the two, almost glaring at the older monster.

"Whe-Where are we going?" There was worry in the adolescent's voice, their hand naturally tightening in that worry.

The monster felt his soul beat just a bit faster at the feeling of the other basically clinging to him. He was already going off on a high when the younger had grabbed his hand, but this was going to be too much for him almost. Still, he laughed lightly, his grin softening to reassure his tiny companion.

"It's a surprise!" He hummed softly, rubbing his thumb on the other's hand gently. "But you're going to love it! I promise!"

Softly, Jam nodded, going silent as he was lead upstairs. Oddly, the stairs went up more than just to the second floor. The ink skeleton stayed quiet, recognizing that they were going to a magic room.

A couple steps into the new third floor, and the pair were stopped by a door. The door didn't appear to be anything special, just a simple oak door.  However, there were some strange symbols craved onto the doorframe.

Quickly, the witch opened the door, his grin widening.

Inside the room, was an outdoor training area. The place was big and had hundreds of trees surrounding them. Many of the trees were carved into, making themselves into shelves for books that were bound by different colored leathers. The air in the room was crisp like that of a mild summers day, it even felt like a mild summers day.

Paperjam blinked, his eyes widening as he looked at the place. It was very beautiful and peaceful looking. Carefully, he stepped into the room, gently feeling the soft breeze that floated around the room.

Fresh tenderly pulled on his arm, pulling him further into the enchanted room. "This is where we'll be learning magic from now on." He hummed out.

A confused look crossed the younger's face.

"This... Why?" Jam frowned some, looking around the peaceful room again. It was then that he noticed the odd symbols craved into some of the trees. He vaguely knew they were for protection of some kind.

"I know you're nervous about trying magic, and I thought why not make a room for it? That way, you can practice it safely." Fresh beamed at the younger, taking him to a small area that was similar to a school setting if it was nature based. "Here, I'll teach you runes, incantations and some simple potions." He then brought the little one over to a deep fire pit.

The fire that burned there was an odd sky blue-magenta looking fire, magic fire. Hanging over it was an empty cauldron, however just a bit away from it were shelves full of bottled liquids, herbs, animal parts, and... human/monster parts.

"T-The potion area?" The smaller question, looking away from the body parts. It was sickening.

The insane witch nodded, a happy look never leaving their face. They believed that the other was going to love making potions with them.

"Yes, making potions is like cooking o-or baking; you have to actually do it to be good at it." He hummed happily. PJ just nodded, still not facing the jars. "The next place is a small collect of grims that I've been gathering for some time!" He chirped, almost happily. "I even have a few Time Master Books!" He sounded overjoyed by that.

"Time Master?" The young time asked, getting a quick explanation.

"Time Masters are usually witches or wizards who master all time related magics. They are given the job to mark everything that happens down."

"So they know everything?"

A nod was the answer. "Yes, however, because time isn't always straight, it's also their job to fix anything that goes against the rightful order of time." Fresh hummed, getting a bit excited. "To actually obtain a Time Master's Book is an extremely hard thing to do since all of their findings are said to be in another dimension, only showing it's full self when a Time Master either is searching or gifts someone the book."

Jam nodded, blinking some. That... That did sound interesting, but he was sure he was going to hate them. He didn't really know why, but he was sure of it.