The Power of Words

Our visit concluded shortly after that, but before we left, we told Ama to meet us at the gate in the morning. There was no doubt Frosty would wait, but why spoil his mood? I also asked about the Grey Lizards who helped me build the course. Ama told me they already moved on to Boltier. There were a few projects there, and hence they moved places. From her explanation, Grey Lizards were usually like that. They rarely remained in one place.

"Since we have nothing else to do, let's visit my aunt and uncle. We haven't seen each other for a while, and they rarely visit", I proposed. My friends agreed to that proposal, so the rest of that day we stayed at my aunt's and uncle's place. Fortunately for Curly, Drak wasn't around. He returned just before we started to leave. After a short farewell, we retired for the night at Dawn's place.

The following morning, we met up with Ama at the Sedon's gate. Frosty wasn't around when we got there, which was a good sign. He'd have nothing to complain about, even though the journey back was short. Frosty appeared in our views about half an hour later, he seemed a bit surprised to see us already waiting for him. "There's more of you now…", he still found something to complain about.

"It's not like this makes any difference to you, right? Besides, Ama is required at our place to help with the fast travel Formation. Once it's functional, there will be no need for you to make such trips. You'll be able to simply sleep all day long", I replied, but teased him a bit in the process too. "Yea, I won't feel the difference... Alright, get on, we don't have a whole day", he said.

Travelling on Frosty's back was really convenient. Not only the speed at which we travelled was amazing, we could also marvel at the sights below us. "Frosty, you should have a few babies. That way, I could fly like this every day", I teased him. "...Want me to drop you?", he replied annoyed. "Come on, have you never thought about that? Someone who'd follow your footsteps, a child of your own", I added seriously.

"... It's complicated, I don't wish to talk about it", he replied. Frosty told me a bit of his story. I knew there were other Dragons, but his kind got swallowed by the Distortion Realm. 'Perhaps what happened to him in the past, shook him too much. I shouldn't tease him like that', "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad", I whispered while patting his back. He just shook his head, then remained silent.

With Frosty's speed, we arrived back home in no time. Curly immediately jumped off my neck, and ran to the house. She probably wanted to rest and relax a bit, away from people. "Hey Ama, long time no see. How have you been?", my father greeted us. "I've been busy as always. Besides, you wouldn't ask for me to be here, if this wasn't a pain in the ass. Tell me, what sort of stuff did you come up with again?", Ama asked full of suspicion.

"Hehe, you know me too well. Before that, get accustomed with others and rest a bit. We can start tomorrow, I'll fill you in on everything", father replied. After Ama left to interact with other Atols, I grabbed my father to the side. "Dad, you never said anything about training Tara… I wonder why?". "Hehe, are you jealous? You don't sound jealous though. Don't pull wool over my eyes… You mean Dawn, don't you? You know that I have a bow, and she's here for a reason", he said.

"Sometimes, I wish you'd be clueless… Yes, Dawn would like to learn from you. You helped one of my friends, so can't you help Dawn as well?", I asked. "A request from my daughter, eh? Sure, I'll show her some things. I'm not a great archer though, I'm much better at throwing stuff", he replied with a smile. That was enough for me. "Dawn, I hope you took the bow with you. I have a spare room at my house, so you can stay with me, alright?", I passed on the good news.

Once Dawn heard the good news, she grinned like never before. "Of course, thank you!", she exclaimed. "Dawn, we can start tomorrow, so take it easy for today. Don't worry, I'll find you myself once it's time", father added before leaving us. "I'd like to stay too…", Tara said out of nowhere. "Go home. Besides, your boyfriend is waiting, and I'm sure there's a job you have to finish", I replied annoyed.

"Sheesh, you are becoming stingy like your m… Never mind, I'll be on my way!", she quickly grabbed her Taurus and left. "An an! An an!", that's when I heard my brother calling me from behind. 'Yea, no wonder she ran away. I mean, saying that sort of thing in front of my mother…', "Hey mom, and hello little Dante. Did you miss your big sister?", I asked while taking him into my hands. "He became really attached to you, even though you haven't been together for long. Can you mind him for a while? I have a few things to take care of", she asked.

"Sure, I'll play with him", with that my mother left me, Dawn and Dante to take care of her own business. "Hey, Dante, do you recognise Dawn?", I asked while pointing him at her. "He probably doesn't. We only met a few times… You look really cute, like your mom", Dawn said while tickling his cheek. "Aba, ma, lala… Dam dam?", my brother said. "Hehehe, he's calling you dam dam. That's cute", I laughed.

Dawn didn't seem to mind, she chucked with me a bit, but then we all froze. "... Anna?...", my brother uttered. "What did you say?", I asked in disbelief. "... Anna… Anna!", he repeated himself, and hugged me. My mind went blank for a moment. He said my name, he said it like everyone else. That was the first time I heard him say something properly, and it was my name to top it all off.

I hugged my brother without a word, as the tears of happiness swelled in my eyes. 'He said my name, my brother said my name', I thought. Although it was just my name, for some reason I felt lighter. As if his words lifted the burden from my shoulders. "Anna, did you just…?", Dawn was too shocked to finish her question.

"Hehe, he just said my name. Little Dante said my name. Come on say it again, for big sister", I said. "... Anna.. si… Anna!", he actually tried to say sister Anna, but couldn't pronounce the word 'sister' properly. I hugged him again, "Come on, let's go show mommy what you can say… Mom! Come here!", I shouted while heading towards the house. "What's wrong, I just left him in your care?", she asked confused.

"Come on Dante, say it one more time, for mommy", I urged him. "Umm… si… Anna!", he exclaimed. My mother's face changed, she grabbed him and smiled. "My little boy loves his sister so much? Mommy's proud of little Dante". "Mama… Anna… ba ma ga…", Dante said. "That is one surprise, but haven't you noticed anything, Anna?", my mother asked.

"What do you mean?", I replied, confused. "She means that you actually broke past the Half Step. You are now on your way towards the Inner Limits stage", Dawn explained from behind. "I did?!... Indeed I did! Wow! That's why I felt lighter, as if someone took away a burden pressing me down… You mean this is thanks to Dante?... Come here you little... Helping your sister like that…", I grabbed him from my mother's embrace and tickled him.

"Just like I told you before. Sometimes, breaking past doesn't require strength. Sometimes, your mind has to be at peace. Your brother helped you out, allowing you to reach past that Half Step. I'm proud of you, both of you. Hehe, go bother your father about it. I have loads of work to do, alright?", my mother explained before leaving.

"Today is a great day… Not only did my brother say my name, I even broke past that Half Step. Hehe, let's go little Dante. I'm sure dada will be happy to see you speak my name". We found our father, then Dante displayed his awesome skills of saying my name. "Little Dante is learning for sure. Come here little pest, how about you say dada's name? Can you say Nex?", father tried, but Dante couldn't say it.

I grabbed him back from my father, "Nice try, but nope, hehe. Anyway, I'll take him to my house, so you can work in peace. How are the wolves?", I asked while we were there. "Oh, they are doing fine. I took care of them for these few days, so you should be fine for a while… Let them outside today, since they are supposed to hunt. Your Turry missed you a bit, so visit him as well. Other than that, not much changed", he replied.

"Alright, I'll visit him in a while. I'll see you later then". We then headed back to my house, where a pack of wolves awaited. "Calm down you guys… I'm back, alright? You are supposed to hunt today, so don't stay inside, go", I said. Before they left, I had to be licked by all of them… Most of them. Rogue was still a loner.

"Rogue, I missed you too… Don't look at me so annoyed, every wolf enjoys being petted. Now, go. You guys are supposed to hunt. Protect them for me, alright? I know you are a good guy", I said. With the wolves gone, I handed Dante to Dawn. "Can you watch over him for a while? I'll quickly visit Turry and return, alright?". "Aba dam dam…", Dante said while I handed him to her. "See, he likes you. I'll be back soon".

Turry didn't like me leaving without him. He enjoyed journeys and travelling, well, he was a Taurus after all. "Moo!", "Hehe, I missed you too… What? You want to ride a bit?... Sure, let's go. Dawn should be able to take care of Dante", I said. After a quick spin around the area, I returned to my house.

"Are you excited?", I asked Dawn. "Yea! Of course I am! Your father will teach me personally, I'm sure his skills are top tier", she replied. "Hehe… Anyway, you are free to stay for however long you want. Though I'm certain your parents will worry about you, right?", "Huh? Once my mother heard about this, she told me to learn as much as I could. Such opportunities are really rare. I can stay here for a year, and my parents would approve of that", she explained.

"That's actually great news. You can help out with Dante and the wolves", I said. "Umm…", "Nope, you will help out. I gave you this opportunity, as much as my father did. Help out in exchange", I added. "Well, I guess you are right. Without you guys, there would be no training. Sure, I'll help out as much as I can… What about you? Aren't you excited about this Formation? The project starts tomorrow… Although it's not going to be Formations just yet", she asked.

"Actually, I'll try to help them out with that as well. My Formations can be used for excavation too. Once Grey Lizards arrive, I'll try to help out with real Formations. If not, I'll just watch and try to learn", I replied. "Hehe, you have everything worked out, it would seem", "Yea, I'm really excited about this project. That's also why I'm asking for some help. I know my parents will dump my brother onto me. I don't mind taking care of him, but I'd like to work on my skills as well", I explained.

"You can count on me. We will work something out… Actually, what was your plan in case I didn't come here?...". She must've figured it out, once she saw the evil grin on my face. "That poor Tara. She has no clue what was coming her way… She should thank me for that…", Dawn said quietly. No matter what, I knew the following days wouldn't be boring. The project was about to start, my brother was beginning to pronounce words correctly and I broke past that Half Step. The future seemed exciting, but what would it bring? Perhaps no one would expect.