The Secret of Tanencha sy Tyrin

4 | Practice Makes Perfect

It had been known to Stella since the minute she established herself as a Renegade, that talent is not inherently natural. You were never "born," with a talent, though you may be naturally good at something. To be fully competent and to be talented at something were two separate things, and because this was established early on for Stella, she knew training would take work.

So, that's why she couldn't give up, even though it seemed like it had been hours. She was tired, exhausted, whatever you wanted to call it, but that did not mean she could not stop. The energy she'd been harnessing was important, and she wanted to make sure it was maintained. She sensed the Tanencha is trying to see how long she will last, and with no doubt, she would impress it.

So there she stood, tall and strong, though tuckered out, in front of the same target, seeing how fast she could summon that bright sphere of energy. She'd been practicing for a while, and the target in front of her had been punctured countless times.

At first, the Tanencha had helped her, giving her instructions for the same concepts, but faster. Now, Stella can do it on her own, and yes, much improvement has occurred. It was becoming easier, and she has been able to do it faster. A while ago, she asked the Tanencha to keep a record of her timing, so she knows for a fact she's doing better.

Time seemed to go by slower in this realm, this void- she doesn't really know what to call it. She can get more things done, while the rest of the universe slowly moves around her. Of course, according to the Tanencha.

The more she manipulated the energy around her, the more convinced she was of the power it held, the power she now held. It was difficult to say how Stella felt, but she most definitely knew what she wasn't feeling.

Not happy nor excited. As much as Stella didn't expect to ever have any control like this, she didn't necessarily feel surprised either. Her grandmother had told her about this before- an inkling of information about this, perhaps even a warning, and because of this, even before she knew anything, she had felt a connection to the space around her.

But also dread.

A large, overcoming feeling of dread. Something was wrong about this whole situation. Of course, something had to be wrong about this situation. In every story like this, there was always a catch- that being a quest.

She couldn't just be given power for the fun of it. Power wasn't given out for free, it was earned, either before or after its appointment.

Stella opened her eyes, almost forced out of the intrinsic state she had been in previously. Absentee was the sphere of light she had been commanding for the last couple of hours, replaced by nothingness.

Closing her eyes, she tried once more to summon it, only to see it was gone. Following suit once more, it didn't work.

"Tanencha?" She questioned, confused. "It's not working." She winced out that way her own voice sounded. She hadn't spoken in so long, it was husky and cracked.

After a moment of silence, she received a response. "You are overthinking it, Stella. Focus on training now. Don't think about the future, think about the present."

She tried once more, only to fail again. "Wait," She said, coming to a realization. "Can you stop my powers?"

"Only for a little while. Only when you are weak. Stop overthinking things, focus on your power, nothing else."

Stella sighed, "But I can't not." She complained. "Overthinking is what I do best."

"I do not care." The Tanencha simply told her.

Stella furrowed her brows, morphing her expression into a frown. "That's rude," she muttered. Well, she thought, I shouldn't be surprised. The Tanencha was surprisingly sassy- if that was a word you could use to describe, a being such as it.

The Tanencha was silent, which she took as a signal to continue training. Stella trained until she was physically and mentally drained. Her body, which had been standing up straight in a power pose for the past couple of hours throbbed, and her mind had also been through a mental beating.

"Could I do something different?" She asked. "I think I've gotten pretty good at this."

The Tanencha replied almost right after she had spoken, with no pause. "Could you do what I asked you before? Could you shoot multiple at the same time?"

"You haven't taught me to do that, so no. And I've gotten pretty good with the one bullet. It's been hours, I'd like to learn more."

As it had been many times before, the Tanencha was silent. "That's valid." It said slowly. "I will instruct you further."

Stella was silent as the Tanencha walked her through the next steps. She rarely spoke, which was surprising, because, as was made evident, she and the Tanencha did not get along well. It wasn't that they were clashing personalities or that a mutual deposition existed, it was precisely the fact that they, inherently had the same mind almost.

The Tanencha wasn't alive, but as far as Stella could conceive, it experienced feelings- annoyance, mostly as she could see. And maybe that was because of Stella's persistent questioning of everything, which would make any being go insane.

Apparently, Stella thought to herself bitterly. In her mind, the Tanencha shouldn't be so sensitive. It was natural that questions would be asked- apart of her nature. In fact, questions were the only time she got any straightforward information. The Tanencha was vague, vague to the point she knew what to do, but not necessarily how to do it.

Which is probably why she should be listening now, and not zoning out in her thoughts. Shaking herself into focus, she listened closely to what the Tanencha was saying, picking up snippets of the speech it was using, trying to bring together a clear picture of what it meant.

What a long day it had been, and Stella sensed by the three targets that had appeared in front of her, that it would indeed, be longer.