Mirror

Chapter 6 - Tempest

Ten year-old Tempest stalked through the endless Prairie Region of golden grass. Her senses were tuned to the world around her: the rustle of grass, the summer sun glaring down at her, the musky scent of prairie dog. It couldn't be far now. She manipulated the wind, bringing any scents to her. This was her kind of hunt. She was finally in her own realm.

She parted the grass ever so slowly, revealing the small furry creature a few hand-lengths away from its burrow. It held in its paws a small plant it had been chewing. Tempest crept forward, her feet gliding soundlessly over the dirt. The prairie dog pricked its ears, beady eyes alert. Tempest froze. It stared straight at her, tiny nose twitching. It was too far away to pounce on, but she couldn't progress without it getting startled and dashing for its hole. She would have to kill it from here.

Very slowly, she rose her hand, fixing her eyes on its. It continued to stare at her, nibbling on its little leaf. Tempest squeezed her hand into a fist, taking a hold of the prairie dog's breath. Then, she ripped her hand back, leaving the the creature winded, gasping for breath. Tempest kept pulling, drawing air out of it, withering its lungs and crushing it from within. It squeaked in terror, clawing at its throat.

Tempest leaped forward, hands easily crushing the tiny spine. She held up her catch proudly.

"Even Wolf will be proud," she said to herself, marching back toward camp. As she got closer, she began to go along faster with excitement. Finally, she burst into the small grove of sunelms.

"Everyone! I caught this all by myself!" She held the prairie dog out, waiting for praise and excited questions on the exact details of the hunt. Aquilo gave her an annoyed glance.

"Tempest, we're busy right now," he said, standing next to Lynx. They were combining their powers, ice and wind, and shooting icicles at trees.

"Oh," Tempest deflated a bit, then bounced back up. "Can I help?" She scampered over, prairie dog still warm in her hand.

"No," Aquilo said flatly, "go bug someone else." Tempest stuck her tongue out at him and bounced over to Flood.

"Want to hear about how I caught this? It was really hard. But I did it all by myself!" She looked eagerly between him and Wolf.

"That's nice," Flood said and turned back to his conversation.

"Well, if you guys aren't interested, I'll go have this prairie dog all to myself! And it's going to be a delicious dinner, and I'm not gonna share with anyone!" She announced this loudly, stomping purposefully across the clearing to sit at the trunk of a sunelm, even though she had no idea how to start a fire, much less cook it. Everyone, of course, ignored her. She sat down in disappointment. They'll be sorry they ignored me, because I get to eat while they starve, she thought bitterly.

The grasses shook, and everyone turned to see what was emerging. Aquilo froze, ready to attack. Tempest peeked out from behind the tree. Permafrost materialized from the curtain of gold. His ice-blue skin was slick with sweat as he dragged something into the clearing. Tempest's eyes became disbelieving moons of green when he hauled a full-grown bison in.

By all the Winds!

"Oh my Earth," Lynx cried in astonishment.

"We will be full tonight!" Flood said, looking impressed. He and Aquilo helped to lug the huge, brown body across the crumpled grass to the center of camp.

"You've done well," Wolf said grudgingly. It was rare for him to hand out accolades of approval, and Tempest was simply appalled. Permafrost seemed to swell with pride.