I peer over Joffrey’s shoulder as he stares through a bush we’ve taken cover behind. Making sure to stay low, I look forward and see a small building, no more than a room or two big with a small plot of crops growing in front. It’s been a few hours since I first spotted the smoke, and we took a little time to gear up before heading to check it out. Joffrey throws a hand signal up and Silven nods, slinking up into a nearby tree, and scoping out further into the landscape. I shift uncomfortably in place while we wait. Why do we have to do all this? It seems unnecessary. After a minute, he slides back down.

“I see more buildings in the distance, and there are… people?” He crouches down next to us.

“It’s probably a village. I’ve heard rumors there are a few of them outside the kingdom, but there aren’t any records that I’ve seen in the Archives…” Joffrey scrunches his brow, tossing ideas back and forth in his head, and I hear him mumble under his breath, “Why wouldn’t they have any records of this…?”

“Do you think they’re friendly?” I give Joffrey a nudge to break his trance and point through the shrubs, his eyes follow my finger, and we see that a middle-aged man has stepped outside. He’s wearing tattered clothing and a beat up hat, a harsh line on his once-light skin tone darkened by hours upon hours of being under the hot sun. He makes his way over to his plants and begins to water them. “He doesn’t seem too violent.”

“Yeah, you may be right. But we should probably lay low for a while, see if anything stands out.” Joffrey hunkers down, getting ready to spend most of the day here, but something in me feels as though I’m being physically dragged toward the village. My body, almost of its own will, steps forward through the bush. Wait, why can't I stop myself? Stop moving. Stop. Joffrey and Silven try calling my name in hushed tones and quietly grabbing at me to pull me back, but their voice falls on deaf ears.

My body moves toward the man, and I glance over my shoulder to see Silven and Joffrey waiting anxiously for something bad to happen. The man notices me and gives me a pleasant smile.

“Hello young man, I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you traveling from one of the nearby villages?” His voice was gentle and warm, and his body was very relaxed, easing my mind just a bit. So, I guess it isn’t unusual for strangers to pass through here? How many villages are out here?

“Uhm… Well… Not exactly? I…” The drive that pushed me to walk out here rapidly dissipated, and my thoughts began crashing into each other, stopping me from getting out a complete sentence. I assume that Joffrey and Silven realized there wasn’t a threat because the man’s focus shifts over my shoulder, and turning back I see them making their way over.

“I suppose these two are your underlings?” The man jokes quietly to me, his face straight before cracking into a smile in such a way I can't help but chuckle back and nod. He adjusts himself and speaks loudly, "You must be with this fine young man right here."

“Hello, yes. I apologize for Salem, he likes to wander sometimes,” Joffrey answers as he plants himself next to me, “My name is Joffrey and he is Silven.” Joffrey gestures toward Silven, who leisurely raises his hand with a nod.

“Well then, Salem, Joffrey, and Silven. Welcome to the village, my name is Odel, have you lived around here for long?” His smile grows, and he begins motioning us to walk with him as we talk. The three of us follow beside him, and Joffrey takes hold of responding for the group.

“We’ve just settled down a couple of days ago, really. Found a nice plot to build.” Joffrey stretches upward, groaning before continuing, “Took a couple of days of work, but we’ve got an adequate place.”

“That’s wonderful, we love meeting new people here," Odel continues, "This village is home to around 130 individuals, and we see a lot of travelers coming through. Though we don't often have new folks settling down here."

"Why is that?” asks Silven, "It's beautiful around here."

"Well, since we are rather small, we don't have a lot to offer," Odel's voice twinges, his body slumping ever so slightly. Is he upset that people aren’t staying here? His body perks back up immediately, "We have a blacksmith, a bowyer and fletcher, a tailor, and a little market for trading goods. But beyond that you'll have to find a more populated area for more specific goods. There is a larger village not too far from here that holds an annual festival, I do believe it is coming up soon as well."

I glance over and see Silven's eyes sparkling at the mention of a bowyer, and he's biting his tongue so he won't cut off the gentleman guiding us. I bet he would love to see that shop. Him hopping with anticipation sparks me to speak up, "Hey Odel?"

"Yes, young man?"

"Could we go see the bowyer? Are they nearby?" Silven's head snaps to me, he starts silently shouting excitedly and he's staring at me like he wants to throw me into the air in celebration. Why is he so adorable?

"Oh yes, Marianne is just a little ways up the road here. She would love to meet some new faces." Odel waves to

a young woman walking the other way, who returns the favor and we continue down the road. A few houses come and go and soon we come upon a hut with a small hanging sign on the front displaying 'bowyer'. Odel walks up to the door and rings a small bell sat beside the entrance.

"In the back! Come on in," shouts a voice from inside. We all walk in and are greeted with different displays of beautifully carved wooden bows with intricate designs etched into them, a wall of arrows made from different woods, and tipped with different stones, and metals. Silven's face lights up and he immediately runs to examine some of the woodworking. I spin around, taking in all the different colors. Wow, how do they make these designs by hand? This must have taken so many years of work… After a moment, a woman, who couldn't be older than twenty-five, walks out from the back room. "Hey Odel, what brings you by today?” her face sweetens when she realizes we're there, "Oh hello! How are you boys doing today?"

"We're doing great, thanks, I'm Joffrey. This is Silven, and Salem," He states rather quickly, his demeanor shifts to a much more polite and respectful one. I notice Odel slip out the door and he slips me a look with a smirk like before, making me giggle again. Joffrey reaches out to shake hands and delicately grabs hers, "Silven here is an archer who’s with us, and Odel here mentioned you were near-"

"How many pounds is the draw on this one?" Silven abruptly cuts Joffrey's attempt at being smooth and walks over carrying a short bow, made of a very durable and deep-brown wood, etched with different animals and flora along the length. Marianne hesitantly pulls her hand away and turns to Silven.

"Oh, that one has a draw weight of about eighty pounds. I made the string using a super-dense fiber I wove out of some hardy plants," She takes the bow and effortlessly draws the string back to her shoulder, displaying the curvature and bending on the bow, "Can you handle eighty? What are you working with now?” Silven excitedly tries to yank the bow off his shoulder, the string catching on his neck and bag. He's such a dork. After fighting it for a second it comes loose and he proudly presents it to her.

"I made it myself out of a sturdy branch I found, and some string I was able to make. I think it's around fifty pounds?" He confesses proudly. She takes the bow and draws it, and is taken aback by the smoothness of the pull, and the bend of the bow being near perfect. The string snaps back into place.

"How did you achieve such a high quality bow? Also this weighs closer to seventy than fifty, in my opinion,” her expression could only be described as awestruck.

"Oh, Joffrey helped me with it. His Specialt-" he is cut off by a thump on the arm by Joffrey.

"I have a lot of experience crafting different things from my time as a woodsman." Joffrey speaks proudly, shooting a glare at Silven for a moment before switching back to his polite self. His words spoke a hint of commandment in it. "Just something I've had a lot of time around."

"But Joffre-" Joffrey bumps his arm into Silven's shoulder trying to be discreet but being all too noticeable, as Marianne's composure breaks for a moment, a small strained chuckle escaping her mouth.

"Yes, we can go check out the market after thi-"

"But you enhanced his bow!” I cut Joffrey off loudly, my voice leaving me as I try to continue, "... didn't you?" Everyone turns and looks at me, Joffrey staring daggers through my skull. Marianne is the next to speak.

"What do you mean, enhanced?" Her eyes sizing up the now-shrinking man that was leading us ever so valiantly. He slinks back toward me and I nudge him back forward.

"Tell her, I trust them. Isn't that good enough?” I push into him. He reluctantly groans and steps back up.

"I have an ability. Or, well… A Specialty is what we know it as." He shifts uncomfortably in place.

"Oh? And what kind of 'Specialty' do you have?" She puts air quotes around specialty, giggling toward him. His face flushes for a second before continuing. Oh my god, does he like her?

"May I?” He reaches toward the bow Silven pulled off the shelf a moment ago.

"Okay… What are you going to do?” She stares cautiously.

"This," He takes the bow in his hands and begins his process. The bow lifts from his palm and he begins circling his hands around it. A purple aura circles the bow and closes in, wrapping around the volume of the bow and its string. This will never get old, it's so pretty, I think to myself. He pulls it from the air and extends his hand toward Marianne. She hesitantly takes it from him and looks over it, being satisfied nothing about the appearance has changed, she draws it again. Her jaw drops as she gently releases the string.

"Why has the weight dropped so much?" Her face was full of awe.

"Well, the weight hasn't dropped. I have an ability that allows me to enhance the quality of whatever I choose," He spoke casually, as if this was a regular occurrence, "It's definitely come in handy a few times. I used it on the bow Silven has been using. Here, try this now." He grabs Silven's bow and the same purple aura as before unfurls from it, slinking back to Joffrey. She takes the bow and pulls on the string, barely able to pull it more than a few inches.

"This must be at least a hundred and fifty pounds!" She strains to say through gritting teeth. She releases the string and lays the bow down on the counter, allowing Joffrey to reapply his enhancement. She walks over to the display and pulls a long recurve bow made of a nearly white wood from the shelf. "This bow has a draw strength of about one hundred and eighty pounds. No one has been able to use it, but I think it's one of my most beautiful works. Do you think you could try your special power on this?” Joffrey shrugs and takes the bow, enhancing it rather effortlessly and hands it back. Marianne pulls the string back with a little strain, but clearly ready to fire. "The weight must have dropped at least eighty pounds! This is incredible." Joffrey shies away at the remark, hiding his reddened face behind his long hair.

"It's really no problem…" He shuffles in place.

"They actually fire at the force of the original weight also, it takes a little getting used to, but it packs one hell of a punch," Silven boasts proudly, "Do you want to go try it out?" Silven's words sputtered out so fast I could barely understand, but Marianne's face lit up and she nodded excitedly. We're quickly ushered out of her hut and then around behind it, where she has some hay bales set up at staggered distances.

She has selected a fine tipped arrow of steel, attached to a sturdy but flexible dark-brown wooden shaft, and black feathers attached as fletching. Drawing in a deep breath she nocks her arrow, pulling back the string and taking her aim. Silven speaks up before she releases, "Remember it fires heavier than you feel it will". She nods and lowers the bow ever so slightly. Her focus is incredible, she seems like someone you don't want to be on the wrong side of. Letting go, the arrow pierces through the hay bale about a hundred feet away faster than we could blink. We walk up to the bale and begin searching for the arrow, Silven finding it about forty feet behind the bale, holding it high above his head and shouting a loud "Found it!"

"This is absolutely amazing, how long do the effects last?" Marianne exclaims to Joffrey as everyone begins walking back to the firing line. She extends the bow over and whispers to Silven, "Would you like to try?" He nods and takes it quietly, admiring it as Joffrey responds to her question.

"As long as I don't remove it, the quality shouldn't ever go down." He spoke proudly. Their voices trail off as I watch Silven nock the arrow on the bow. His breath is silent and his eyes are cold and calculating. He gets so intense when he's focused. He tugs the string, testing its weight and draws in his breath. The string inches back slowly, his bow arm extending as he draws back with the arrow. I wish I could see what he sees, I don't think I could imagine what that would look like. His eyes narrow as his fingers drop the string, the bow snapping back into place and the arrow sails smoothly through the air, embedding itself into the center of the second farthest hay bale, about a hundred and fifty feet away. He releases his held breath, the corner of his mouth turning upward in a smirk, his eyes full of awe. He makes it look so effortless… Marianne speaks to Silven, snapping me back to reality.

“Wow, you’re quite the archer, aren’t you?” her voice lilting in excitement, having someone to share something she’s passionate about with.

“Yeah, well… I have a different kind of ability, one that has saved me more times than I can count,” He goes on to explain his power, and her face contorts in confusion at first, before coming to some conclusion of understanding and fascination. Marianne thinks for a moment, before turning to Joffrey.

“Tell you what, if you wouldn’t mind doing your spooky purple magic on some of my weapons to make it easier for us to hunt, I’ll give you the bow that that boy hasn’t seemed to lose interest in." We all turn to see Silven caressing the bow like a newborn baby, studying every inch in awe. His focused look soon drifts to meet all of our gazes, causing his face to flush red, and he begins stammering about something incoherent. Joffrey turns to Marianne.

“Yeah, I think I’ll take you up on that,” He chuckles, to which she replies with a small giggle. Silven obscures his face with his hair and sheepishly whispers to Marianne.

“Thank you for the bow…” His voice was barely loud enough to be heard. Aww, why did he get all shy out of nowhere? I can’t help but think to myself. Marianne smiles and ruffles Silven’s hair, to which his lip pouts out and he narrows his eyes as if he'd just woken up from a deep sleep.

“You’re welcome, Silven. Now then, shall we take care of it?” We all head back inside the hut, Marianne walks with Joffrey to the wall and he takes the next few minutes going along the displays and enhancing her gear. I walk up to Silven as he is still is cradling his new bow like a baby.

“That looks so cool! Are you excited to use it?” My voice springs out more energetic than normal, startling Silven slightly. He raises his head with a giant smile plastered across his face.

“Yeah, this thing is beautiful, she’s gonna tear through just about anything,” His joy is infectious and a smile creeps over my face as well. I'm glad he likes it so much… Why do I feel so warm? Soon enough, Joffrey finishes up and we say our goodbyes, meeting Odel outside the hut.

“Nice upgrade, kid,” He says, having noticed the new bow. He kicks off the wall and starts down the path once again, the rest of us stepping in tow behind him.

"Thanks…" He's regained his voice, but is still acting sheepish. Another quarter mile down the path is the center of the village and where the market is located. There's eight small huts scattered around between a few larger buildings which I could only assume to be storage, or perhaps places to eat or drink. There's maybe a couple dozen people walking around the open central area. We walk up to the first stand and are greeted by a short, round man bearing a large, pointy mustache. His voice was gruff and grainy when he spoke.

"Welcome! Would you like some fresh grown onion? Maybe some potatoes?" His smile was almost unsettlingly large.

"No thanks," Joffrey replies, ushering us to quickly move to the next stall. The man scowls as we distance ourselves, grumbling under his breath.

We move to a stall holding different articles of clothing, being run by a younger gentleman with short blonde hair and a clean shaven face. He is very tall, almost brushing the roof of his shop. "Hey folks, y'all doing okay today?” His demeanor was very casual, which put us all at ease compared to the last man's smile, which is still burnt into my mind. I start looking over his different attire, my eyes widening as they set on a pair of gloves, showing obvious signs of age, the color was a washed out, faded red. I've always wanted a pair like this! Man, those would've been helpful during that last winter we went through. I thought I'd almost lost my fingers… I begin patting myself down, trying to find something to exchange. Not finding anything, I sling off my bag. Joffrey and Silven are stunned at the sight of me frantically searching through the pack to find at least one thing I was carrying of value. Joffrey leans down next to me to ask me something.

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"Is there something you wanted, kid?" His offer catches me off guard, and I stumble over myself, spilling my bag on the ground. I collapse and frantically grab at my belongings.

"I-I… Well… I don't… have anything to trade," my vision begins to blur as my eyes well up.

"Which one do you want?" He helps me gather my things, and lifts me off the ground. I wipe my eyes on my elbow and shyly point toward the gloves. He scratches his head. He doesn't say anything, but I can see from his expression he doesn't get why I'd want these when it's so warm out.

"Well, I-" I go to say, but Joffrey speaks over me.

"We'll take that pair of gloves," He says, and points to a long, clean black coat, very similar to the one he's wearing, "And that please." With that, he reaches up to the neckline of his jacket and pulls a small pouch out of a hidden pocket, unstrings it and picks out a large ruby, placing it gently in front of the awestruck salesman. He picks up the ruby and examines it closely, nodding with approval. He hands over the gloves and coat and wishes us a great day. As we walk away Silven and I can't take our eyes off of Joffrey.

"How long have you had those?" Silven's voice strained to keep quiet.

"Hush, I've had them since I left the Kingdom. But we don't need to talk about that now." Joffrey nods forward as we approach the next merchant. They have a wide assortment of different produce, some of which I've never seen before. My brain can't keep up as my eyes sweep side to side, taking in the array. Yellows, oranges, greens, reds, purples, it's like looking at a scattered rainbow. Joffrey offers another small gem to the man and he lets each of us pick a couple that we want. I grab a red fruit about the size of my head, which the man tells me is a grapemelon, and they're some of the best he's grown yet. My eyes stare at the fruit in wonder, not wanting to wait to dig into it. I also grab a purple fist-sized citrus fruit called a purpfaba. Silven spotted his favorite and grabbed two small light green fruits with what looked like netting that I learned is called cantaloupe. Joffrey grabs a couple that I don't recognize.

"What are those?" I stare at the long tube-like produce, one green and one yellow.

"This green one's a zucchini, and this yellow one is a squash," He nods to the gentleman, and we set off again, "They're really good for soup. Though… I'm realizing now we don't have a cauldron or pot of any kind. Maybe we should find Odel and see if we could go meet the blacksmith." We look over at Silven, who is far too engrossed in his new snacks, salivating while staring at them. Joffrey continues, "Maybe we should stop somewhere to eat these first." He turns back to me and we both chuckle quietly, Silven finally tuning back in.

"Hey, what's so funny?" He says with an eyebrow raised. We both clench up and try to hide our laughs, but fail miserably in the process, little cracks of giggles escaping.

"Are those that good?" I switch sides with Joffrey, putting myself between him and Silven.

"God, yes. They were one of the best things we got offered as fodder for the nobles. They had so many they thought it was practically worthless like us." The fact that he responds with that so casually causes my blood to start heating up. I grasp his arm and yank it toward me.

"Don't say that!" I shout, causing Silven to jump, almost dropping one of his fruit but managing to catch it while stumbling forward. He takes a second to regain his composure, and turns back to look at me with a spooked expression on his face. Joffrey rubs my hair and I glance toward him, his expression very sincere.

"Hey, be careful shouting like that. Silven's had to go through a lot to get here, and we probably shouldn't attract too much attention." I peer at Silven, who is trying to hide the fact he's shaking. After a moment of realization, I run up and hug him from the side, taking caution to not knock his food out of his hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. Just…. Don't say something like that," Silven's shock slowly settles into a returned hug, and then I continue speaking, "You've been the best friend I've made. And you were already amazing with your bow, I could only imagine what you can do with this brand new one. Don't call yourself worthless, please?” Silven pulls away from the hug, his face bathed in a pink tone, and he begins stammering.

"S-s-sure.." He avoids eye contact with me, his expression growing a brighter pink, "I-I'll try not t-to." We catch up with Odel, who is having a conversation with one of the stall keepers. Joffrey steps forward and gives him a small tap on the shoulder. Odel turns back around and he smiles like we're old friends who haven't seen each other in years.

"Hey! There you all are. How are you liking the village?" He notices all the produce we're carrying, and chuckles, "looks like you guys are already getting comfortable, I'm glad!”

"It's a lovely quaint place, that's for sure. I don't think we could've picked a better spot to set up camp," Joffrey enthusiastically says, "Say… do you know a good place for us to sit down and eat these? Preferably outdoors somewhere."

"Oh, sure! There's a few scenic spots around the village. Shall we?" After a few minutes of walking, Odel brings us to a crystal clear pond about a quarter acre wide, with large, colorful fish swimming around. Some have patterns, others are solid colors, no two fish look alike. Around the pond is a cobblestone path with handcrafted benches dotted along the trail. The tree-line is a dozen yards or so off of the path, giving people plenty of room to watch the partly cloudy sky. The sun rays breaking through the clouds land on the water, scattering light throughout the water and creating a mesmerizing moving mosaic of different colors.

"Whooaa," Silven and I speak in tandem, our jaws on the floor.

"Isn't it a gorgeous spot?” he asks, Silven and I nodding profusely in response, "yeah, I put in a lot of work to have her look like this." Our awestruck gazes shift to him, me being the first to catch my tongue.

"You made all of this? This must have taken so long!" My sight swings back out over the landscape, taking it all in. How could he have done all of this himself? That doesn't seem possible… Maybe he has a Specialty like us? Should I ask? I don't want to sound crazy though. Do they even know about these powers here? The bowyer didn't seem to have any knowledge of them…

"Yep, and I did it all myself! It took me about 5 years to get it to look like this," he announced proudly. Okay, five years sounds like a reasonable amount of time. We all walk over to a shady patch in the grass with a good view of the water, Silven and I plopping onto the ground. Silven draws a knife and slices one of his cantaloupe into quarters and cuts out the seeds, handing one over to me. He offers one to Joffrey who politely refuses.

"Thanks Sil, but I'm going to run down to the blacksmith and see if they have any pots I can cook with. Odel, you mind showing me the way?" Odel nods, and Joffrey continues, "You guys just stay and enjoy your food, I'll be back soon."

"Okay!" We both speak together. They head off and Silven and I turn back to the food. I gawk at the early sunset colored flesh and glance over at Silven, who is happily halfway through his second slice. I take a deep breath, and bite wholeheartedly into it, teeth cutting through with ease, a sweet juice joining the soft melon. I savor every chew, the flavor bursting in my mouth. This is the best thing I have ever had, oh my God! In the blink of an eye, I devour the rest of my slice. I look over and see Silven's face beaming, watching me enjoy the food. My face flushes red.

"W-what?" I stare at him.

"I'm glad you like it too," his response causes my chest to fill with warmth.

"It's delicious! I would have loved having this in the Kingdom," I twinge for a moment, when am I going to wake back up? My parents need me… I must've been out for days by now… am I… dead? No, that's crazy. Right? Silven must have noticed my somber expression, because he thumps by shoulder.

"Salem? What's going on, bud? Is the food okay? Did it make you sick?"

I shake my head, "No, I'm okay, just uh… my head hurts a little, but I'm alright now."

His expression looks unsure, but he responds, "Sure… okay," there's a slight lull, before he perks up again, "Did you want to try the stuff you got?"

"Oh! Yeah… yeah, they look weird, I'm excited," I crack a smile, "let's do this one first." I hold up the purpfaba, and he takes it, quickly peeling the skin and pulling out beautifully vibrant deep purple slices, and hands half of them back to me. I pop one into my mouth and bite down, juice gushing into my mouth, the flavor tangy with an almost floral taste. Wow, these are incredible too! My mouth puckers slightly and I look over to see Silven with a similar face. We both giggle as we eat through the rest of our slices. Next we had the grapemelon. Silven cuts into the crisp skin and gets almost halfway through before running into something solid. He cuts around the outside of the center and twists both sides apart, a saturated lime green center greeting us, with a single deep brown seed in the middle. Silven pops it out and tosses it to me, I catch it and examine it with awe. It barely takes up a quarter of my palm, and is smooth to the touch.

"Watch this," he digs a hole a few inches deep, "here, toss that in the hole." I lean over and pop it into the ground, Silven covering it back with dirt and pouring a small amount of water from his canteen onto the mound. "Now, if we manage to find our way back here in about a year's time, we can have more of these. The water nearby should be enough for it. This plant will grow giant." I stare at Silven in admiration. Growing food is that easy? Man, if we had space in the outskirts of the Kingdom no one would have to be going hungry.

"How did you learn to do that? Is that really all you have to do is put it in the ground like that?" I put my hands just beside the mound and bring my nose to practically touch the ground, examining the little bits of loose dirt. I wonder if I can watch it grow? Silven catches on to what I'm doing and laughs, causing my attention to shift to him.

"It's a little bit more complex than that, and it'll take a long time before you'll see anything coming out of that dirt." He stifles his chuckling, to which I plop back onto my rear and cross my arms grumpily.

"Well that's no fun," I grumble.

"Yeah I'm sure it's not, but how about we try this fruit now?" He smiles as he extends a half to me. My disgruntled mood settles quickly and I happily snatch my half, taking a large bite without hesitation only to be greeted with tart mouth-puckering juice. Agh, oh god, why is it so sour?! is this thing safe to eat? My body instinctively recoils and I nearly throw the fruit over my head, but the impact of the flavor settles fast and leaves a mix of sweet and tart taste in my mouth. I notice Silven rolling on the ground laughing and I shoot him a glare.

"You knew it was going to taste like that, didn't you,” I can't help but chuckle, "You're an ass, you know that." He manages to reign himself in enough to sit back up.

"Yeahhh, I know. I can't help it. It's great getting to see you try new things."

"Why's that?” I throw my eyebrow up and lock eyes with Silven.

"Well, I know you're from the outskirts like me, and I know they didn't have space to grow crops or much of anything for that matter. Everyone there gets the leftover scraps from the nobles and tradesmen. So I'm just happy to see you getting to experience so many new things here. Makes me feel good to be a part of." I feel my face heat up as he speaks, but luckily he doesn't seem to notice.

"Well I'm glad I met you, Joffrey, Raina and Gontu. No one was really ever nice to me…" My voice wavers slightly, and my mouth feels like I've spent the day in the desert, swallowing what I can before continuing, "My parents would hit me if I couldn't bring home something to eat each night. I had to take food from people's stands just to have anything, and they barely gave me any of what little I could get. There were a few kids that I thought were my friends but thinking back after having met you guys, now I realize that they were just picking on me."

"Damn… I'm sorry Salem, I wish I could say I understand, but I didn't really have any experiences like that… We struggled, obviously, but somehow my parents always managed to take care of me," Silven's expression sinks, "That's… that's just horrible. At least you have me now, right? And Joffrey?"

"Yeah… Things are definitely better out here… I almost feel guilty for leaving my family like that…"

"Hey!" Silven shouts, sending me a foot into the air, "You didn't leave."

"But I-"

"No! you were forced out."

"Well, wh-"

"No! you don't have to feel guilty about anything, you can only hope that they're doing okay and focus on yourself. That's all you can do. There is no getting back in…" His powerful voice fades away. He hangs his head down, his hair obscuring his face.

"Silven?” His head rises ever so slightly. "Did you try to get back in?"

He doesn't say anything for a moment, then slowly nods.

"What happened?"

His breath stutters, his body sinking lower to the ground. I've never seen him like this before… I should leave it alone.

"It's okay, forget I asked. I'm sure it's not something you want to talk about right now." I awkwardly chuckle and scratch the back of my head. We sit in silence for a few minutes, both facing the water, watching the little ripples as the fish pick at the surface. As I start to turn back to Silven, a woman's scream comes from the distance. Silven and I meet eyes, then begin scrambling to run toward the commotion. Finally, a chance to use my power again! I hope everyone is okay. As we're running down the path, Silven readies himself with his bow, arrow in hand and ready to fire in a second's notice.

As we approach the source of the scream, near the center of town, a ball of fire crashes into the building next to us, knocking us to the ground and causing the entire wood building to go up in flames in a matter of seconds. We hurry back to our feet and keep moving toward the center, being greeted with two of those same black creatures we fought during my first few days out. One of them launches a fireball toward a group of buildings, causing an explosion sending wood debris in every direction. As the shower of rubble pelts down on us, the other beast notices us and snarls, a gruff of smoke escaping its mouth. Silven fires an arrow and it embeds itself in one of the beast's eyes, a horrible ear piercing shriek coming from the creature. Now's my chance! I begin moving toward the first beast, going faster until I'm sprinting. I feel the warmth… Getting within around thirty feet of the monster, I stomp my leading foot into the ground, halting my speed, and thrust my palm forward. NOW! A pulse of orange travels through my body faster than a bullet, from my chest down my arm and reaching my hand. A blast of fire spews from my palm, sending me backwards and scorching the fur off the front of the beast. What the… Before I can think, the beast tramples toward me and I scramble to get on my feet. Silven catches the beast in the other eye, sending it off course and charging through a building. Why didn't that work, dammit? Let's try that again… I turn to the other beast, who is already charging another fireball aimed toward us as Silven chases the first one. Planting my feet on the ground, I focus on finding the warmth. A glow forms in my chest. Got it! The beast fires first, the roaring blast speeding toward me. Come on. Come on… I hold my palms forward and feel the heat snake up my arms. My hands begin glowing just seconds before the fireball reaches me. I squeeze my eyes closed, bracing for the worst. The fire impacts my palms and my feet dig into the dirt, sending me skidding backwards, my balance nearly toppling. So… strong… but I… I've got it. It… isn't burning. I open my eyes and see the roaring wall of flame in front of me. I push into the dirt with all my force, my right foot burying into the ground. Gritting my teeth as I grind to a halt, I begin to step forward and plant my other foot down. With a yell from deep inside my core, I launch the fireball back toward the beast, hitting it directly in the chest, and blasting through. The creature crumples as I turn back to see where Silven and the other one went. I have to move quickly, he might need help! More screams echo behind me as I begin to run in the opposite direction, a burning ache pulses through my feet.

"Agh!” I stumble onto the ground but force myself back up, biting my tongue through the pain. I have to help! I have to help… As a last ditch effort I send out a whistle, three tones, mid, low, then high. I continue running down the path checking every angle imaginable. A whistle matching mine comes from behind me to the left. My body, on pure instinct, swivels without a drop in momentum, dashing toward the direction of his reply. I see a trail of knocked down trees, and follow down, eventually catching up to the fight. Silven is high up in a tree firing arrows at the beast, and I notice that the creature is riddled with arrows all over. They aren't doing anything to it… I have to do something. With the beast's back to me, I charge forward and a pulse of burning energy shoots down my leg, a blast surging me upward into the air and landing on the creature's back. It immediately begins to shake vigorously, attempting to throw me off but my fists grip its fur tightly. I feel a warmth building underneath me, and realize he's charging up to a fireball, and raising my head, I see it's aiming directly for Silven. No, not him. My body takes over, a surge of intense burning coursing through me entirely, my vision begins to blur and I scream louder than I thought possible. As my body begins to glow, I feel an intense explosion of energy. I'm sent flying and my back makes full contact with an upright tree, all the air in my lungs escaping me. I land on the ground like a ragdoll, but manage to turn over enough to see only the legs and the head of the beast laying on the ground. Silven slides down from his treetop and runs over to me, helping me off the ground.

"Salem, holy shit, are you okay?" My leg crumples as I apply pressure to it, but Silven has a good enough hold of me to stop me from collapsing. His comment makes me look over my body for the first time, my hands are fully black with burn tendrils creeping up beyond my elbow. Pulling up my pant leg, I see the tendrils almost reaching my knee.

"Yeah… I'm fine." I push myself off of Silven, much to his disagreement, "We need to keep moving. I heard more screams from the other side of the village." I begin trying to run in the direction I heard before, but as my right foot makes contact with the ground, I nearly crumple. Silven lifts me back up, slinging my arm over his shoulder and we begin moving as fast as we can back to the village center. As we get close to the center, we come upon not much more than piles of rubble. Standing in the middle of the village square, two shrieks come from different directions. I turn and meet Silven's eyes. "Go. They need help. I can handle myself." A flicker of hesitation crosses his face, but he quickly nods and lets loose of me, taking off toward one of the screams. "Alright… I can do this. This is my dream. I can control what happens…" I shove off the ground and pick up the pace, biting my cheek through the pain in my foot. Approaching the source of the sound, I see another beast taunting a woman with two kids pinned with their backs to a small building.

"Hey!” I shout at the beast, but it ignores me completely, beginning to charge a blast of fire. This one is even bigger than the others… Can I do this? No… No, don't think like that, I control this. I can do this… I push through the pain and begin charging the beast. The woman cries out to me for help, and my burning grows. As I get close enough, I do the same as I did before with stomping my foot into the ground and throwing my hand forward, only this time I point forward with my index and middle finger, thumb extended in the shape of a firearm. I feel the pulse of energy surge through my body, but as it reaches my fingers, a lightning bolt of pain contorts my body, sending my fire stream into the sky as I collapse onto the ground. My head lands facing the woman, as she shrieks for help, my body unable to move. No… no, no, no. Get up. Help her… I limply throw my arm over, trying to prop myself up and make eye contact with the woman. She mouths something I can't understand before being engulfed in flames from the beast. N-no… no… no no no no… what is happening. I can see through the seemingly never ending spew of fire as they roast, her arm extending toward me in her last seconds before her demise. The image burned into my mind. No… this is… everything was… This is all… really happening…? I'm… awake… As I sit and stare at the charred remains of this stranger, the beast turns to me, satisfied with it's work on the previous victims. No… I… I can't… Go down like this… Please, get up… I'm begging you body, please. Move… The beast takes its time, every stomp on the ground reverberating through my body louder and louder. I roll over, making direct eye contact with this monster about to kill me. It hovers over me, a glow emitting from the center of its chest. Please… no… someone…. The glow begins traveling up the beast's throat, his jaw unhinging over top of me, saliva dripping onto my face, causing me to close my eyes. Just as the energy reaches the mouth of the beast, I hear two distinct slices. After a second or two, I hear a heavy thud on the ground next to me. Opening my eyes, I'm greeted with the beast, only its head is gone. I turn my neck and see the creature 's head laying next to me on the grass. As my eyesight begins to blur, I look up enough to see Joffrey running toward me…