The Real Ram

Chapter 24

 "Shawn!" Trish complains, "Stop screwing around and give me back my—"

"Calm down, I was only messing with you," he replies cutting her off. He hands her back the scroll with the instructions. "Everything alright?" He seems genuinely apologetic.

"I'm fine," Trish says harshly. She shakes her head, "Sorry, just nervous."

"Why? Do you know who we are fighting?" Beast asks.

"Yes, and that's why I'm scared."

"Who are we fighting? I never got a chance to actually look at the board."

Shawn turns to me, "We're fighting the Black Bulls."

"Who?"

"They aren't too good. We can definitely beat them if we try," Beast says.

Trish adds, "I know. My only worry is their lead student. He scares the crap out of me."

"He's all bark and no bite. And don't worry, you probably won't get paired with him," Shawn says quickly, trying to help her calm down.

"It's random!" Trish yells, "I don't know who I'll face," she crosses her arms and sighs shakily. 

"Who's on their team?" I ask.

"Good question!" Flame's voice seems to echo throughout the training room and he makes his way in. 

"It's about time," Beast complains, "It's been over ten minutes. Where were you?"

"I was... talking with Mole, never mind that though," I notice his right arm is a little tighter than it normally is.

"Your arm okay?" I ask without even thinking about it. Wow, that's new for me. I don't usually slip like that, I should be more careful.

He tenses and replies, "Fine, just slept on it wrong. Now, what do we know about the Black Bulls?"

"There are four members, three guys and one girl," Shawn says. Flame starts to pace around us, causing us to turn around to face him constantly.

"What do we know about the girl?"

"Her name is Meghan and she has telekinetic abilities."

"But they're weak," Trish adds to Beast's comment. "She'll be an easy win if we just make sure to mess up her focus."

"Good," Flame says. "Now the youngest boy, I believe he goes by Rock?" He half asks, half says.

"Yes, his ability is rock skin," Shawn replies.

"What does that mean then?" Trish asks.

I speak up, "It means that Beast won't be able to defeat him. Anything Beast would do to him wouldn't make a dent in him, right?"

"Good observation. Let's hope Shawn gets him. Shawn would be able to sneak around him and attack him from any angle with his invisibility," Flame offers. "Now onto the second guy."

"His ability is healing, he'll be easy," Beast says quickly.

"Don't dismiss the healer so confidently, Beast," Flame warns. "Most healers end up wining. They know how to conserve their energy and whenever they are injured they just heal themselves. Usually they'll win by their opponent's exhaustion or frustration."

"Noted," Beast says calmly. I'm glad he knows how to take criticism. Most guys his age don't.

"And finally the head student, what does he do?"

"Well, he's one of the greatest shape shifters in this compound. He can become anything," Beast replies.

"What's his favorite animal?" I ask and my friends look to me confused. There I go again speaking without thinking. In intelligent conversations like these, I should just keep my mouth shut. Now I actually have to explain. "Most shifters have a favorite animal. It's like their default shift to when they need to fight. For example, Beast's is a wolf."