Cale helped his dad set up the camp and prepare lunch. He wasn’t big enough to move logs or anything heavy, and his dad used his force script with great effect to chop and transport the logs. Cale couldn’t help but giggle as he watched his dad try and juggle the logs he had found using his scripts to cover his legs so that he wouldn’t get hurt by them. He helped his dad show off his skill by occasionally throwing sticks at his legs to try and throw him off. His dad enjoyed the challenge and they ended up making a mini game out of. Once they had their fun, Cale helped his dad finish setting up camp by unpacking their bags and their cooking utensils.

  Once the unpacking was completed, his father taught him how to butcher the game they had caught while on their way out to the campsite and it was an eye-opening experience for him. Cale hadn’t hunted or killed anything when he was on Earth, so this process was new to him, and it only mildly grossed him out. The whole time he wished that he didn’t have to touch the creature and get his hands full of blood. Granted his dad did use his force script to hold certain parts to make it easier, but it didn’t make the job any less messy. After the butchering process, his dad showed him how he liked to cook his meat, and they prepared it with some natural plants that his dad knew grew around the area. They reminded him of potatoes and were prepared a lot like them.

  While his father was teaching him, Cale couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to do the cutting with his wind script. He imagined himself slicing the hide and separating it. He imagined the removal of the meat as well as the more delicate slicing of the potatoes without having to get any of it on his hands. After lunch he laid against a log and took in the scenery, he was resting after overeating the delicious meat and fresh veggies. He ate well at the base but there was something about making the food himself that was very satisfying.

  While he lounged there, he noticed the deep greens of the tree leaves and how they contrasted with the lighter green foliage below. He noticed that some of the trees around them may not have been the tallest, but they were very wide and looked ancient. For the first time he seemed to notice the smell of the world around him. The smells that he once would have considered exotic, he now called home.

  As he looked at the world around him, he came to the conclusion that the world itself had not changed, it was in fact him that had changed. The noise, the smells, the colors seemed to be fading into existence as they started to increase, and his senses started to feel like they were becoming bombarded. He felt what could be described as a small pressure build up in his head, but before it became uncomfortable, the pressure settled in and slowly went away.

  The intense sounds of the forest faded out of focus and once again became background noise. He realized that at some point he had closed his eyes in an attempt to block out his vision. He opened them to see his father was directly in front of him as he lay there on the ground. Cale looked into his eyes and didn’t see any panic or fear, instead he saw a slight smile.

  “It’s going to be ok Xavier. You’ve somehow synced a little closer with your script and what you are feeling is the euphoria that comes with your new understanding. It is not harmful so you will be ok.” He reassured his son.

  Cale rested there a moment and noticed his dad was right, the intensity of the colors were fading – not completely – but they were becoming less intense, less of a bombardment on his senses.

  “You need to use your script as soon as you can. It completes the process. They say the more times you use it right after syncing, the stronger the sync will be. Let me know when you feel better and we will go through your training again, ok?”

  Cale sat up and had a drink of his water, trying to process what had just happened to him and the words his father was saying. It had felt a lot like he had been drugged but if he was drugged, he probably wouldn’t feel fine already. After only a few more seconds it felt like nothing had happened and the sensation had fully faded away. He noticed that he himself felt a little heavier, but he couldn’t fully place the feeling.

  He observed his hands in front of him as he thought about his abilities, his dad had said that the sooner he used his script, the better the sync would be. He didn’t fully understand the ramifications of what he was about to do, but he trusted his father, and at his father's encouragement, he stood up to use his script. He expected to be dizzy and have to fight a mental battle to maintain focus, but instead he was able to walk unimpeded, his footsteps even felt a little lighter and his head felt clear. Once again it was the opposite feeling he was expecting.

  Cale walked over and stood in the same spot he tested his script earlier, this time as he thought about his script, he thought about the cutting motions he had envisioned earlier. He had a few ideas in mind, and his newfound clarity made him think he could pull any of them off. Since he could try any of his ideas, he decided to start at the most practical one, one that he could use every day.

  “Dad, can I have one of those extra potatoes you picked? I want to try something.” Cale motioned over to the extra stack they had sitting in their bags to take home.

  Phil walked over and handed Cale a potato and gave him a questioning look. Cale, with a large smile on his face, took the potato and set it on a flat rock in front him so it wouldn’t roll around. Cale stood in front of it, closed his eyes, and imagined what he wanted his script to do. His face became more serious as he focused on the task in front of him. His intent was simple, and his will was set in stone. He looked at the potato and thought of all the times he had cut one on earth and how annoying it was.

  He thought about how long it took to peel them, how hard it was to hand cut the perfect slice for fries. He had almost immediately known the desire behind his daydreaming earlier, it was his desire for utility, his desire to take the nuisance of things in his life and make it easier. Yes, he wanted to throw around blades that could cut his enemies in two, but he also wanted to prepare lunch and not have it take forever, he wanted to be able to use his script to a capacity that not only kept him safer but also made his life EASIER.

  When his intent solidified and the entirety of his will had become whole, he activated his script and held it in his focus as he waited the annoying few seconds for it to work. When it finally activated, he felt the script go through his arm like usual, but this time he felt like he should make a chopping motion with his hand, out of instinct, he opened his hand straight out mimicking a blade and made a downward slicing motion with his arm.

  As he sliced, he imagined eight perfectly sharp pieces of solidified wind that were shaped like mini kitchen blades, only without the handle. In his mind he envisioned his script cutting the potato apart into even sized slices that would fry perfectly. When his arm finished the chopping motion he opened his eyes and looked at the potato to find that it looked exactly how it was when he placed it, Cale turned his head in confusion since he knew he felt the script activate, but the potato was still sitting there in one piece.

  Did I miss? He reached out to touch the potato to examine it for marks when right before he reached it, a piece of the potato broke away, causing the rest of it to quickly fall into fry shaped slices like he had imagined.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Yes!” He screamed as he started jumping up in the air and dancing. His father ran over and noticed what he had done and just stared at Cale with eyes the size of their dinner plates at home, before picking him up and swinging him around in a giant hug.

  “Well done, Xavier!” Phil said as he squeezed him tightly before setting him down. “But you are not done yet, you must use your script until you empty your core. That is the only way of making sure you get the most out of this rare event.

  Cale nodded at him and held out his hand. “Hand me another potato.”

  Leo

  Leo helped his mom fill their cart as they shopped for supplies. His mom had been sent into the city with the latest caravan from the base to get special supplies for the Festival of the Frozen Lady. Leo absolutely loved the Festival of the Frozen Lady, and he had been talking about it for months. As he helped grab items off the shelves, his mind wandered to the first time he looked up and saw the frozen lady in her glory through one of the rare star scopes that his family used to own. It was a rare memory of his since it contained his father and he cherished it greatly. He could recall his father's hand on this shoulder and the calm quiet voice behind him as he was given instructions on how to look through the scope. The memory was so vivid he could even recall the smell of the night’s air.

  The memory slipped forward to his view of the Frozen Lady herself. The wonder, the amazement and reverence he felt when he first saw it. Part of Leo’s awe was that his parents wouldn’t tell him what he was going to see. He had been looking up into the night sky while others looked on as well. He was in wonder of all the distant lights and glowing parts of the sky. When it was his turn to use the star scope, he had expected it to mostly look the same. What he had not expected was to be staring at the face of a very beautiful, but frozen woman.

  On that day, those distant lights he had just been staring at felt a lot closer to him. He giggled to himself as he remembered asking his dad if they could travel there and seeing the smiles on their faces as they explained what he was looking at. His parents told him that some people think the divine sent this sign to show that they are always watching.

  His love for the festival, and the memory of his father, was the reason why his mother let him skip school for a few days and come with her on this trip. As they shopped, Leo kept an eye out for matching hats that would fit him and Cale. It wasn’t customary to look alike, but he thought they would look really cool together if they had something that matched, something to show that they were buds.

  “Leo, stop your daydreaming and find me some more of those white streamers. We came to the store over two months early and people are already trying to hoard festival supplies! Hurry!” his mother said, motioning him to get a move on with her hand.

  Leo took off running in the direction his mother pointed and soon found himself on the complete opposite side of the store. As he looked for white streamers he stumbled upon something much, much better. Matching T-Shirts with a giraffe holding a spyglass looking up at the moon. It was the coolest shirt he had ever seen.

  “Yes!” Leo yelled as he quickly grabbed the shirts in two different sizes and ran back to his mom.

  “Mom, I got them! I got the perfect thing to wear with Xavier!”

  “And the streamers?”

  Leo got quiet as he quickly put the T-shirts into the cart.

  “I didn’t see any on that side of the store. I just dropped these off so now I have room to hold more when I find them.” Leo said with a hint of guilt in his tone. He hadn’t even bothered to look for them the second he laid eyes on those shirts.

  His mom’s face scrunched up as she stared at him, she was giving him that calculated look where she didn’t believe his excuse, but she was also too busy to get upset about it.

  “Ok, well hurry up and get on with it. I saw them over by the boxes of glitter and candles.” She said with one last squint in his direction.

  “Should have started with that, mom,” Leo said giggling as he took off toward the streamers.

  He ran around the store for a few minutes before he finally found a box of them mixed in with other colors. He quickly grabbed them and started heading back to where his mother was, if he took too long, she would think he was slacking. The store was packed, and he was having a difficult time navigating through it while holding the box and found himself having to reverse his route multiple times in order to make any forward progress.

  After getting stuck in his third aisle, he was getting frustrated. Leo was standing in the middle of an aisle, and unable to look around some of the people because of his size. He looked at the shelves around him and just up ahead he saw a clothes rack separating the shelves and it looked like he could go through it to reach the other side. The idea of going through the clothes tickled his 12-year-old brain and with a giant smile on his face he hurried into the clothes rack.

  “Oooomph,” Leo found himself unwillingly making this noise as air was pushed out of his lungs from the box hitting something inside the clothes rack. He tried to go in slower, but someone had bumped into him from behind and he had lost his balance.

  “Ouch!” Leo heard someone yell right next to him. He couldn’t see very well as his eyes had not adjusted to the dark yet and the opening he had come through had closed.

  “Who is there?” Leo whispered as he tried to see who had made that noise.

  “ME!” a voice yelled at him in the dark, making Leo wince at the loud voice that was close to his ear.

  “Ouch! Not so loud. Why are you in here?” he asked, thinking it was a very valid question.

  “I’m here because I’m hiding from my sister, why are you here and why are you carrying a box?”

  “I was stuck in the aisle! I’m just trying to get to the other side. All these people here are really making it hard to get around.” Leo explained without hesitation. “Can you let me through? And if you are playing hide and go seek, why did you yell ME! A second ago?”

  “I am not going to answer such silly questions,” The strange clothes rack bunkmate said with a snooty tone. Suddenly the clothes to the side of him parted, “You are free to go.”

  Leo didn’t respond, he could barely think. When he looked upon the face of the girl in front of him his heart skipped a beat, maybe even two. His brain went blank as it tried to process the flood of new emotions. He tried to respond but his brain would only allow out one word.

  “Beautiful,” was all Leo was able to say. He was caught up in her bright blue eyes that were framed with jet black hair. Her pale skin partially shadowed by the darkness within the clothes rack.

  “HELLOOO,” the girl said to him, waving a hand to get his attention. “You can go now. Don’t forget I’m hiding, so if you see my sister, don’t tell her where you saw me.”

  Leo tried to form more words but the best he could do was nod his head and quickly leave the clothes rack. When he got back into the aisle it was just as packed as the last one, but he felt like he could finally breathe. WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? He thought to himself as his emotions calmed down. He thought of the pretty girl again and he felt his body immediately locking up again. I don’t know what this is, but it is weird, he thought. He slowly made his way to his mother as he did his best to get her out of his mind – ultimately and horrendously – he failed completely.

  ***

  A few feet behind Leo two men with their faces partially hidden were following him and his mother. They quickly circled the duo, unseen, scanning their faces with scrutiny and comparing them to the photos they had in their hands.

  “This isn’t them. Our intel wasn’t right.” One of the men hissed to the other.

  “Our intel wasn’t wrong, we were just told that a caravan was coming to town, that is it. We decided to check it out to see if we find her.” The other man reminded his agitated partner.

  “Fine. I know. It is just that she speaks such heresy it makes my blood boil!” the first man said as he balled up his fists and stared at Leo and his mother.

  “Shh! Do you want the local church to know we are here?! They must not know of our presence.” The calmer man reminded his still agitated partner. “If they knew what we’re here for they would increase security and make things harder for us. So, keep quiet and keep a lookout.”

  The other man scowled before turning around and started to walk away. “I will go keep an eye out on her sister. Good chance that if she comes to town she will visit.”

  “Good idea. Stay out of trouble, it won't be long before we find the heretic.”

  The men nodded to each other as each put their attention on the tasks before them.