Day One

The boy stood before the two-hundred year old man. He was considered a Master, one who has been around a long time. The man was there to give the boy his Power. A Power is the animal inside you. Once a Master gives you the animal, you can become it with proper training. Some people never unleash their Power, while some people might get an extra Power.

The man placed the staff that he held on his hands on the boy's shoulder and pushed down gently. The boy fell to his knees. The staff Rose and the man uttered ancient ryime.

"Land. Water. Sky. Let the power rise. Let it be with the. The Power is granted by me."

Smoke spilled from the top of the staff. It came down and circled the boy. As quickly as the smoke came, it went back into the staff.

The Master went to the next person and repeated this ritual. He did this to the next nine people as well.

Every month, ten twelve-year-olds are selected. Five of which are girls. The ten then go to a training place. They can't leave until the training is complete.

Once the Master was finished, the children were escorted to their houses to pack.

The boy went straight to his room. He paced enough clothes for ten days, and his hygiene stuff. Each person is only allowed one suitcase. They could also have one box. In his box were pictures of his deceased mom, art supplies, the Holy Bible, ten of his favorite comic books, and the safety pin with a dragon on it, which belonged to his mysterious, deceased father. The boy stayed with his aunt, who loved art, like his mother, and taught him to love it too.

The two men that escorted him to his house took the suit case and the box. They led him to a yellow scool bus. It was just as long as a normal bus, bit it only had six seats. They rest were removed. The back was for suitcases and boxes. The boy was the first to arrive. He took a seat in the back and to the right.

Just a moment later, a girl sat down across the aisle from him. She had long brown hair, sharp green eyes,and ragged clothes. To the boy, she was beautiful, but he knew she didn't think the same.

Two guys walked in together. They studied the girl, the the boy. They took the seat in front of the girl.

"The name's Gage. What's yours?" The brown gaired, blue eyed boy by the window said with a smile and a wink.

"Don't worry about it." She said.

"Attitude, I like it." The other boy said "The name is bulldozer, by the way."

"Let me guess, your mother was Dump truck, and your father was Crane." She said

"Ouch. She's quick." Gage said.

"And you're not because if you were you would know to move." She shot back at him.

"Don't be so snappy." Bulldozer said.

"Don't be so clingy." She said.

"Hey, you." Gage said to the boy. "You are..."

"Dustin" The boy that was sitting in the back row said.

"Nice name, Dusty" Gage said .

"Dustin." He mumbled.

Just then, a girl with long blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and ten pounds of makeup walked in. She sat on the front row beside the door. The two boys sat behind her.

The girl across from Dustin got up and sat on the seat with him.

"I'm Kim." She held out her hand. He shook it. "I hope this seat isn't taken."

Dustin let go of her hand and shook his head.

"So, Dustin, tell me about yourself."

"What do you wanna know?"

"Um... What do you do for fun?"

"Draw. Read comics. And you?"

"I draw, too. I don't really like comics though. I usually do basketball when I'm not drawing."

"My turn to ask you something." Dustin said. "What do you want your Power to be?"

"Hopefully a tiger."

"I'm not much of a cat person, but I want mine to be a wolf."

"Cool, My turn." She said. "Umm... What do your parents do?"

Dustin's face got red and dropped down. He looked out the window, staring at nothing. "Let's not do this anymore." He finally said.

To Dustin's surprise the bus was full. Kim stayed next to Dustin. She wanted to comfort him. He was alone. She sensed something was wrong.

The bus started moving. Dustin's eyes didn't leave the window.

"Dustin, I'm sorry if something I said was wrong."

"It's not your fault." He looked at her. She had her eyes fixed on his.

"I have a question." She said.

"Shoot it."

"What kind of art do you do?" She asked this because she knew from experience to find common ground.

Dustin's eyes lit up. "I do a little bit of everything. I like making my own comics, but I can do realistic stuff, too. Maybe I can show you my sketch books sometime."

"That sounds great. I keep a sketch book, too. It's mostly animals, flowers, and other realistic stuff." She said.

"Sounds cool. My aunt taught me how to draw cartoons, but I did other stuff by myself." Dustin said.

In two hours they had fallen asleep. Thirty minutes passes. The bus came to a sudden stop. Dustin woke up to find Kim's head on his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her, so he carefully moved it.

"Why did we stop?" The girl in the front asked.

"We're here." The bus driver said.

"We are in the middle of nowhere!" She shrieked. "Where could "here" possibly be?"

"Are you questioning me you little rat?"

"No sir." She finally said.

"I'm not a sir."

"Sorry." The girl said to the bus driver.

The bus driver opened the door. Ten men each got a suit case and a box.

Dustin woke Kim up. They got out of the bus last. After the bus drove off, the men guided the kids into the woods. Five in front, five on the back. After ten minutes, they reached the camp. There were ten cabins. Each had a sign with a name. The men put the stuff down.

"Everyone get your stuff. If you are a girl, go in this cabin. If not, go in that one." One man said. He pointed to the bags and boxes, then to the cabin marked "girls: new," then to "boys: new."

Dustin got his bag and box and got to the cabin first.

Inside we're five beds. There were five lockers in the back. A bathroom was placed in the corner by the lockers.

Dustin threw this stuff on the bed closest to the bathroom. Everyone else filled in and picked their beds. Each bed had a number . His was five. Above the beds were bulletin boards. They each had a map and a booklet. Dustin took the booklet off. The number five was on the cover. He opened it.

"Locker number five is yours. You can put your stuff in it. There will be training every morning from five to seven thirty a.m. You can eat after training. The rest of the day is yours. Training room is open from five a.m. to eight p.m. Curfew is nine. Eat whenever you please (but only from seven thirty A.M. to nine P.M.)" The booklet said.

Dustin shoved his box and bag in his locker and went to sleep.