The Black & White Saga

Chapter 7 - The g**g (2)

After collecting shots of the panda cubs’ cuteness and the three adults’ silliness, the panda parents finally settled down in front of the fireplace to cultivate their spirit energy.  Lunette returned to reading her book on advance magical theory.  She currently had reached a bottleneck with her magic, so it was useless for her to continue training.  

Everyone has the ability to use magic.  There were many methods and schools of thoughts for cultivating spirit energy on Arcadia.  The general theory behind them, however, is the same.  The fundamental goal of all Arcadians was to absorb magic from their surroundings and bend it to their will using their spiritual energy.  Spiritual power is equivalent to the amount of mental energy one has.  There were two main paths for training magical powers.  The first is the warrior category which absorbs magical powers and stores it in every single cell through out the body.  The ones who take this path are much stronger physically, but find it difficult to use big spells.  The second category is the magus path, which absorbs magical power into the center of the body and and stores it in an energy core.  The ones who follow this method tend to be physically weaker, but are able to cast large scale spells efficiently.  There is a third category, which is a fusion of both the warrior and magus categories.  However, there are very few who succeed in learning both classes at the same time.  Accomplishments in one category alone are already very difficult, let alone two.  

Another factor that affects one’s ability to use magic power is elemental affinity.  Most people are born with one elemental affinity.  Two elemental affinities were also not that uncommon.  More than three affinities, though is very rare.  There are those without any elemental affinities as well.  They can still use magic, but it is very difficult.  Nebula has a minor affinity with the water element, which means she can easily use simple spells involving water.  If she wanted to perform a bigger spell, she would need additional support.  To make it more efficient she could supplement her powers with energy gems, or be in close contact with a body of water while she is using her spells.  Sam had it easier, since his minor elemental affinity is wind.  He is in contact with the air almost all the time, so even though his affinity is not that strong, he can still easily use wind magic.  He may just run out of energy very quickly when he tries to use stronger spells.  Lunette on the other hand, is an anomaly.  She has strong affinities with all eight elements.  To put it into perspective, a minor magical affinity is like a small trickle of water gently flowing down the stream.  A strong magical affinity is tantamount to a gushing waterfall, rushing into a giant rapid river.  It is much easier for those with strong elemental affinities to cultivate magic compared to those with minor affinities, or those without any affinities.

In the peaceful ambiance of the living room, Skye slowly sat up and rubbed his bleary eyes.  He tilted his little head in confusion, and slowly looked around.  His little sister was still snoozing away next to him with her leg draped across his lap.  She tightly clutched a corner of the light blue blanket with both her paws and nuzzled it with her head from time to time.  “What a weirdo,” he thought.  He shifted his head and saw his parents meditating in front of the fireplace.  He wanted to go to them, but then shook his head, and said to himself, “no….. they are working hard.  I’ll be a good boy.”  He nodded to himself, then turned to the other side of the room, and saw Lunette sitting by the window.  

The late afternoon sun fell gently across her figure and wrapped her in a warm glowing light.  Her sleek black hair was a vibrant reddish brown in the sun.  Her smooth, fair skin was radiant against the white short sleeve shirt and loose black pants she was wearing.  Her delicate hands curled around the dark leather-bound book, as her fingers lightly turned the page.  The plump red lips on her face were curved slightly in a light frown, while her brows were furrowed in deep thought.  Her big wide eyes were narrowed slightly as they moved back and forth on the page.  Noticing the movement in the room, she turned her head towards the crib.

Skye’s eyes light up as he saw Lunette look in his direction with a small smile.  He quickly pushed his sleeping sister’s leg off him, and scampered toward the side of the crib in Lunette’s direction.  Holding on to the edge of the bamboo crib for support, he balanced himself on his hind legs and blinked at Lunette with big watery eyes.

“Mi mi miiiii,” Skye squeaked quietly.  

Lunette shook her head indulgently and put down her book.  When she approached the crib, she lifted her hands and patted Skye’s head.  Skye grabbed on to her finger with his tiny paws and held them tightly for support.  Tottering left and right, Skye moved from her pinky finger to her thumb with one paw holding on for balance, and the other patting her hand as if giving her mini high-fives.  Lunette watched as Skye amused himself, playing with her hands.

Gaia soon woke up as well.  After shaking her little fuzzy head to clear away the drowsiness, she noticed her little brother playing with Lunette by the side of the crib.  She perked up and bounced to their side.

“Mi mii, mi mii,” she squealed.  

Lunette smiled at Gaia in greeting, and patted her head with her other hand.  Gaia nuzzled her hand warmly and squinted her eyes in delight.  Nebula heard the cubs’ commotion and left her meditation.  

“Little imps, what are you up to now,” Nebula greeted them endearingly.

“Mi mi mi miii mi mii,” Skye chattered as he pattered to her side of the crib.

“Miiii mi mi,” Gaia purred to her as she continued to play with Lunette’s fingers.

“Let’s get you guys fed,” Nebula said.

“I’ll go make some milk,” Lunette offered.

“Thanks.  Remember no bamboo milk for Gaia for the next three days,” Nebula added.  Lunette walked off to the kitchen, while Nebula took the cubs to their room to nurse them.  

Lunette was making milk for the baby pandas because Nebula did not have enough milk to sufficiently nurse both of them.  Pandas in the wild found it very difficult to nurse their children.  Unfortunately, most wild panda mothers who give birth to twins would end up giving one up, to make sure she can at least keep one of her cubs alive.  Nebula was in a much better situation since she could cultivate magic.  This made her body stronger, but it was still not enough to raise two cubs.  Luckily Lunette dabbled with the healing arts and alchemy.  When they found that the cubs needed more nutrition, she decided to make their own formula.  They could not feed the panda babies with cows’ milk, because it had different proteins and vitamins compared to panda milk.  Melinda introduced them to a plant called lait flowers.  When matured these flowers formed a small fist sized bulb that contained milk.  This plant based milk had proteins that could be digested by the cubs.  After adding a few more herbs to supplement the lacking vitamins, Lunette was able to make a panda formula to supplement Gaia and Skye’s nutrition.  As a treat, they would sometimes add a small spoonful of bamboo sap to the milk before feeding the babies.  Both panda cubs adored the taste of sap, hence bamboo milk was born.

After preparing the formula and pouring it into two baby bottles, Lunette left the bottles in a large bowl of hot water to warm up on the kitchen counter.