Hawks walked for about an hour before she sighed and turned to face me, “Why are you following me?”

I looked sheepish and signed, “Want help you.”

Hawks raised an eyebrow, “Why are you waving your hands like that?”

I pouted and bent down to write in the dirt with my finger, “I want to help you find a place to sleep. And I use sign language to talk.”

Hawks nodded, “Ah, I see. I don’t need your help, so go back to the others. You’ll be safer there anyway.”

I stood and stomped my foot, shaking my head.

“Tough shit, kid. Get lost and go back,” Hawks warned. I ignored her words and walked past her, putting my hands behind my head without a care in the world. Hawks growled to herself and clenched her fists, “Why don’t you listen, kid! And how can a blind useless child be of any help to me?!”

Stopping in my tracks, officially ticked off at being called a useless child, I focused on everything within my sight. I found three rodents on a tree branch a few branches above Hawks and turned to face her, dropping into my fighting stance. I brought my right fist up in an uppercut, then jabbed with my left fist at the rodents. Three palm-sized rocks shot up from the ground to chest level and launched themselves at the rodents. The rocks crashed through the branches in their way and collided with the rodents, blowing their heads off. The three corpses fell from the tree and landed on Hawks’ head.

She yelped in surprise as the three rodents struck her, and she quickly threw them off her. Then she marveled that I just struck three rodents in the head when I couldn’t even see. “How did you do that? And what did squirrels ever do to you?”

I smirked and signed, “I blind. Can see more than you.”

Hawks scowled and said, “I still don’t know sign language, kid.”

Turning to keep walking, I tapped the side of my head to say, “I know.” After that, Hawks said nothing and just walked with me in silence. I soon spotted a clearing ahead and picked up the pace to get to it sooner.

Hawks kept up with my pace without complaint, but she clearly had a few on her mind. Once we reached the clearing, I let out a sharp whistle to ensure the place was clear of dangerous animals. All I saw and heard was tall, rustling grass and a few insects. Hawks nodded, “You can say that again.” I scowled at her, and she ignored it as she said, “This spot isn’t ideal, it could be prone to a bandit or monster attack, but it’ll have to do. Come on, let’s get everyone else.”

I nodded and followed after her. Getting back to everyone was much faster than going to the clearing, but that’s fine. It just means we were thorough in our search and weren’t lost. The Spear-Bear was thoroughly butchered with all of its skin off and a good chunk of its meat by the time we got back to everyone.

John waved and said, “Hey, there you are. I was wondering where you wandered off to, Miss Rose. I assume Hawks took good care of you?”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything was fine,” Hawks said, “Anyway, there’s a clearing not too far from here. It’s better than nothing and doesn’t appear to have any monster activity.”

John nodded, “Very well, we’ll set up camp there.” He then picked up his pack, which had the head of the Spear-Bear, while Felix needed help from Mountain to put his pack on. It was bulging with so much meat I was surprised he was the one carrying it.

Mountain picked up his pack, which rattled with cooking utensils and food. Snow and Hawks didn’t have packs, apparently. I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed that before. But we began our march to the clearing. Snow walked up beside me and tapped my shoulder as we walked. I turned, and she signed to me, “How you?”

I glowered at her and signed back, “I’m blind, not deaf.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Snow squeaked and looked a little sheepish because of what she did. “I didn’t mean to assume. When talking with the others, I saw you writing in the dirt and thought you were deaf. My apologies again.”

I waved a hand and signed, “Fine. Don’t talk loud. Hurts my ears.”

Snow nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll try my best. So what’s your name?”

I crossed my fingers and drew it over my eyes, then spelled out what I signed, “Rose.”

“Rose, eh? That’s a pretty name. So, did you use that earth magic during the fight?”

I nodded as I stepped over a cluster of roots.

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“How did you do that when you didn’t say anything? And why are you signing when you’re blind?”

“Asking the personal questions again, sweety,” Mountain chastized from behind us.

“Sorry, but I have to know,” Snow groaned.

I tapped her shoulder to get her attention and signed, “I mute. Can’t talk.”

“You can’t talk? Then how do you cast spells? And how are you walking without trip—Ahh!” Snow asked more questions and then tripped on a root and face-planted. I doubled over as I laughed at her silently.

Mountain knelt and helped her back to her feet, saying, “Watch where you’re going, sweety. We won’t be able to function without our healer if she’s the one who’s injured.”

“Ow, ow, ow. I know, I know. But I have so many questions!” Snow moaned.

“I will tell you camp,” I signed.

Snow pouted and grumbled, “Fine. How much further till the camp sight?!”

“Not much further. Maybe another couple dozen meters?” Hawks answered from the front of the group. I whistled sharply and confirmed that we weren’t close to the clearing. But we quickly made it to the site a few minutes later. John, Felix, and Mountain all dropped their packs and got to work pulling out sleeping mats while Hawks and Snow gathered wood for a fire. I just sat down on a dry spot and waited for everyone to do their thing.

As I felt the cold of night fill the clearing, John constructed a wood pile, and Mountain set it on fire with a spell, “Farg luumb.” I could hear the fire spring to life and feel the warmth on my face. Then my face began to hurt, so I scooted away from the fire. I could see the twigs and branches burning and hear them crackling as Felix added a few logs to the fire.

Then they got to work setting a pot over the fire, and Snow filled it with water using another spell, “Mizzena flougger.” A bubbling sphere of water appeared over the pot like a phantom within a second and dropped into the pot without it splashing.

Hawks and Felix cut the Spear-Bear meat into small chunks on the other side of the fire and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I watched them making dinner and was surprised by how coordinated and in sync they worked. Mary wouldn’t let anyone in the kitchen when she worked cause nobody could keep up with her, and they were all in the way. She got the day off whenever there was a big event so nobody would kill her.

While I was distracted by my memories, Snow sat beside me and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” I signed.

“So nothing makes you smile like that?” She retorted.

I scowled at her, “Don’t want talk about that.”

Snow sighed, “Fine, be that way. But back to my original questions. How do you cast spells? How are you walking without tripping on roots? And how much mana do you have?”

I turned to her with a questioning look and spelled, “M-a-n-a?”

“Yeah, the amount of mana you have to cast spells. It’s magical energy. How much do you have?”

I thought for a moment. Then I grabbed a stick to write it all out cause it would be easier that way. “First question. I use my body to cast spells. Depending on what affinity I am using, I use a different motion,” I wrote, then erased it after giving her a minute to read, “Second question. I use one of my affinities to see where I am going.” After another minute, I erased that and wrote, “To answer your third question, I need to know how to measure mana. What determines mana?”

Snow thought for a moment and said, “With each consecutive spell cast, you slowly build your mana capacity. So if I were to spray water constantly for an hour one day, the next day, I would be able to spray water for an extra ten minutes the next. It’s a slight increase, but it grows constantly. Does that help?”

I nod, then thought for a moment before giving up on figuring out the math and writing the infinity symbol in the dirt with a question mark next to it.

“WHAT?!” Snow exclaimed, making everyone jump in surprise.

“What’s wrong?” John asked with a sigh.

“You think your Mana is infinite?!” Snow asked incredulously, which got everyone’s attention.

I shrugged and wrote, “Maybe. I, apparently, use my mana to see when I wake up until I go to sleep. So, maybe.”

“What do you mean you use mana to see?!”

“And can you teach it to me ‘cause that sounds very useful?” Hawks asked.

I shrugged and erased the dirt again.

“You don’t know how you do it. You just do it?” Snow asked.

I nod.

“How many affinities do you have?” Felix asked.

“Too personal and rude, Felix,” John scolded.

“Sorry for my rudeness.”

“It’s fine,” I signed, and Snow interpreted and spoke for me. Then I wrote, “I have air, water, earth, and one that I call Force. It’s the last one that lets me see.”

Snow’s jaw dropped as she read what I wrote, and everyone looked concerned by her reaction. She placed a hand on my shoulder and asked, “Are-are-are you sure that is correct?”

I nodded.

“You are one-hundred percent positive that you’re telling the truth? You’re not just pulling my leg.”

I nod again, a little exasperated.

“Are you—” Snow began, but I flicked her forehead hard enough to make a satisfying snapping sound.

Mountain laughed and asked, “So, what did she say that’s got you all riled up?”

Snow rubbed her forehead and stared at the words on the ground before answering, amazed by what she was about to say, “She says she has four affinities. One of which is brand new.”

Everyone in the camp froze, with only the sound of the boiling pot of water filling the silence. John was the first to break the silence, “Let’s not worry about what that means and just get dinner cooked so we can eat.”

I cocked my head as Felix and Hawks threw the ingredients into the pot and began stirring. I signed, “What that mean?”

Snow cleared her throat and said, “I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out eventually. And I hope it means something good.”

I sighed and decided to content myself with drawing in the dirt while we waited for the food to cook. I don’t know what I drew, but it looked terrible, and I gave up after a few minutes as my stomach grumbled and I wished for food.