Grumble Grumble

It was pretty close to lunch time when Jason finally made it to Hope River. He had actually been in the area for quite some time but finally, he walked up to the water. Today was a good day to try to practice, and where better than a giant river with an endless supply of the element he can control?

Across the river from Jason, a wolf was drinking from the river. He looked up as the water caster approached, and tipped his head to the side expectantly.

Jason didn't exactly notice the wolf at first and continued with his focus as he got closer and closer to the river. He knew he needed to practice and this was the best way. Taking a deep breath, he took an odd stance to keep his balance as he focused his hand down on the water. Within a few seconds, he lifted his hand only to find a small string of the clear liquid following suit. Although, to him, this wasn't very impressive. This was just about the only thing he could do. That and balls of water. But anything else was a challenge, especially keeping it for a certain period of time. Just moments after the string of water had appeared, it splashed back down into the rushing river. This was actually Jason's second attempt at practicing so he was already aggravated by his first tries earlier that day. "Gah!" He screamed angrily. "I can't do this!" He threw his hands down to his sides with extreme force, making the water respond to his actions by flying around in different volumes everywhere. One landing square on the wolf like a bauss /shot.

The wolf yelped as he was splashed and glared at the water caster. "You can do better than that, can't you?" he growled.

The voice from the wolf actually scared Jason as he jumped back away from the river band and stared at the animal with huge, frightened eyes before it clicked in his head that it must be some ki d of animeer or shape shifter. "Uh..." he muttered as he tried to think if what to say. "I don't think so..."

The wolf sighed, not paying attention to Jason's startled reaction. he layed down and looked up at the water caster. "Try again," he said.

"But... but.. I don't k ow if I can..." he muttered, honestly wondering if he would ever be able to control his powers. Or maybe he was just a fraud.. or a pathetic excuse for a caster.

"You won't know unless you try again," the wolf said.

Taking a deep breath, Jason retried to focus his thoughts. He already had doubt inside of him. He hadn't been able to do it before so it wasnt like it was going to happen now. The saying 3rd time's the charm doesn't work in this situation. Quickly, he aimed his hands at the river again, and basically acted like he was pulling on a rope. The water soon followed, making another stream of water follow the motion of his hands. But as soon as he saw it and realized what he had accomplished, he lost his focus and the water fell once more. "See?!" he shouted.

The wolf shook his head. "You had it, but you lost focus. Never loose focus when you have your goal in sight," it said. "Try again."

"Who are you, my mother?" He retorted without thinking. Instantly the water caster regretted say what he said but it couldn't be taken back. "Sorry..." he muttered before taking another deep breath. He focused again, making the same motions as before only to have the same result. The string of water came up from the river, looking a little stronger than what it had been before and it surprised Jason, but instantly he tried to refocus. The string had almost broken again before he gained a grip on it once more. He slowly pulled it out of the water until he had made a rope of it, making it fly this way and that through the air. He finally did it! Well, for the most part. As he led it through the air, it flew just about everywhere, encircling him a few ri s before he guided it right back into the river. "Whoa I did it! I really did it!" He exclaimed.

"See, what did I tell you?" the wolf said, giving him a nod of approval.

The young caster simply couldn't stop smiling. He actually accomplished what he wanted to do. He didn't know who this wolf was, or if the wolf was actually talking to him-- heck, Jason might be going completely crazy-- but he did it. For a second, he jumped up and down like a giddy little school girl before he composed himself, cleared his throat, and looked back at the wolf. "Oh, uh.. Thanks. For, you know, helping me and all," he said sheepishly.

The wolf seemed to shrug. "I do what I must," he said, then got up and headed back to the woods.