1 Shock

"Hey Matt," Eric called to his younger brother's room. "Get up and get ready sleepy boy."

"Ugg, what? Why?" A drowsy Matthew called back.

"It's 6:30, and you said you wanted to do some early morning fishing today, remember?"

"Hmm… I guess I did, didn't I?"

"That's what I remember," Eric replied with a smirk, "So get dressed, get yourself a bagel or something, and meet me in front."

Eric walked away from Matthew's room and went downstairs to the fishing closet.

The two brothers lived alone in what used to be their father's house. Now that he was gone, Eric had tasked himself with the difficult job of looking after Matthew. Often times Matthew would get into trouble, skipping school and sometimes following Eric to work. Eric didn't mind the trouble as much as he worried for Matthew. Specifically, for Matthew's interests, or more so his lack of interests.

Eric stood at the front door looking at the springtime dew. He was dressed in dark jeans and a grey shirt that had the outline of a knife designed on the back.

"I'm all set," Matthew called while running down the stairs.

Eric looked up at him to see a teen whose long black hair was still damp from the shower. Matthew wore his usual dark gray hoodie and sweatpants, and on his wrist was a crystal bracelet, the one Eric had given him after their father had died.

Eric gazed at the bracelet for a while, then asked Matthew, "Where's your rod?"

"It's out back, next to the shed." Matthew replied, "Come on, let's get moving."

Eric picked up his rod and bait leaning against the wall, then followed Matthew to the backyard.

Eric looked at the boy, at his brother who he had taken care of for the past few years.

"I hope you can find something of your own." He thought to himself. "You're 17, you're not a kid anymore. I wish you would realize that."

Matthew grabbed his rod from the shed, and the two brothers went on their way. They walked along, both lost in their own thoughts, walking to the lake that lay just outside of their hometown, Steelfur.

…

"Come on, Glare honey." Marsry insisted. "You've been living here for 9 years and you still don't want to have dinner with us?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Glare replied, leaning against the wall, "You don't need to waste your own food on me when I can hunt for myself."

Glare was an 18-year-old spitron living in the town of Safrin, a larger town populated by gareni and few jaltris. Glare's scales were red near the top of his body, with a gradient of dark grey flowing in from the bottom. He lived with Teffer, the 19-year-old son of Marsry. Both Teffer and Marsry were gareni. Teffer had lime green skin and light brown hair. Marsry's skin and hair were similar to Teffer's but slightly darker.

"Nonsense," Marsry replied. "You can have one meal with us, can't you?"

Teffer then walked into the kitchen, having heard the conversation from the living room.

"All three of you?" Glare asked.

A blotch of uncertainty swirled in his stomach.

"Would Dad… be okay with that?" Teffer asked with slower words.

"I don't see why not." Marsry said, "He agreed to let you live here, one meal wouldn't hurt."

"He wasn't happy when he found out I was living here." Glare thought to himself.

Teffer's father had always been a difficult man for Glare to figure out, mostly because Glare tried to avoid him.

"Fine, I guess I'll stay for one meal." Glare agreed reluctantly.

"That's wonderful!" Marsry exclaimed. "I'll talk to your father about it, so why don't you two go hang out with your friend Kekler until it's time to eat, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Glare replied.

"Okay mom." Teffer complied, still with slower words. "I love you."

"Love you too sweetie, now go enjoy yourself."

Teffer opened the front door and walked outside.

Glare was following behind when he heard Marsry call, "Glare."

"Yes ma'am?" Glare responded.

"Watch after Teffer for me, will you?" Marsry requested. "You know how slow he is, and recently our town has gotten a lot more dangerous. I don't want him getting himself hurt, alright?"

"I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thank you, now go have fun, I'll see you two for dinner."

Glare stepped outside, then looked at Teffer. He had never liked him to be honest. Glare preferred to keep to himself, and Teffer asked too many questions for Glare's liking.

Then Teffer gave Glare that look. The look that told him a question was forming in Teffer's head.

"So… um… Are we leaving?" Teffer asked.

"Obviously," Glare growled, "follow me."

Glare spread his wings from behind and flew up. He made sure to keep close enough that Teffer could follow him, even though a part of Glare wanted to fly on without Teffer. A part of him wanted to take off and leave Teffer to get lost.

...

"Any word on the gareni rebellion?" Rick asked, walking by his friend Salge.

"Nothing" Salge responded, sitting in a hardwood chair.

"Do you think it'll become a big issue?" Lox asked, sitting on a couch with her friend Zora. "Or do you think it'll fail just like that one from a few years back?"

"At this point it's too early to tell," Rick replied. "The UPA only first heard about it a month or two ago, and there's no telling how much planning's gone into it by their leader."

Teragari. The name rang in Salge's head like a pair of annoying bells. Salge wished he knew the location of this rumored rebellion. He wanted to simply hold out his hand and end the possibility of war right here and now, but he couldn't.

Rick, Salge, Zora, and Lox. They were all part of the UPA, all of them part of the same squadron; Squadron 23.

Rick was 19 and was the leader of their squadron. As a human, he used a pair of Ultra Weapons to fight, which he liked to call Bladed Boomerangs.

The other members of Rick's squad were Salge, a 20-year-old lirenan, Zora, a spitron who was 18, and Lox, a 19-year-old jaltris.

"Do we know how many gareni are taking part in this rebellion?" Lox asked.

"Still no idea," Rick responded. "There's a lot we don't know about this issue, and I'm not gonna lie, it scares me."

Zora had been silent on the matter. Not like Salge, who often wouldn't speak, but still partook in conversation. No, she didn't want to talk, or really listen to the talk of future wars. The rebellion had been the news for everyone at the UPA. People knew very little about it and whenever someone heard something it would be the only thing to talk about.

Zora didn't want to listen, but she did anyway. She sat and listened to her friends talking about potential war, and she simply stared off at a window, looking at the clouds as the Almer flew past them…

"Zora… Zora?"

Zora turned to the familiar voice calling her name, realizing that she had fallen asleep.

"Huh, yes Lox?"

"Sorry to wake you, but we've gotten one last assignment before our shift ends," Lox responded.

Zora stood up, yawning and stretching. She walked over to a small room with her name labeled above the doorway.

"You won't need anything more than your suit." Lox continued. "The call came from Lake Bero. Reports of suspicious activity were voiced so if you need any more of your gear, con Salge."

Zora closed the door to her room and quickly changed into her UPA uniform. The blue and black colors reflecting the colors of the agency.

Zora finished pulling the suit up to her neck and opened the door to walk back out.

"Alright, I'm ready Salge," Zora called across the room.

Salge got up from his chair nearby and began walking towards Zora.

Salge was a tall figure, definitely over six feet. He wore a black and white flannel jacket, a navy-blue undershirt, and dark blue jeans. His skin was dark and his hair black. All of it was contrasted by his green eyes, along with his lirenan markings. The yellow marks looked almost vein-like upon his palms.

"Here are the coordinates and the image," Lox said, handing two pieces of paper to Salge.

Salge took the papers and studied them. He then looked up and gave a nod to Zora. It was a nod that the four friends each understood, one that Zora replied to with another nod.

Salge looked back down at the paper with the image and raised his hand up towards Zora. He opened his hand to reveal his palm and his markings, and as he held his palm and studied the photo, his marks began to glow. Suddenly, the markings flashed, and Zora started to feel something that none of them could describe in the 3 years they had been together. The markings continued to glow for a few more seconds, then stopped.

With a quick whooshing sound, Zora was gone. Her body was no longer there. She had been teleported to the margin of Lake Bero, teleported, by Salge. That was Salge's magic, the ability to teleport. It was simply one of the many abilities a lirenan could be born with. One of the many kinds of magic known to this world.

…

A young girl, no older than 10, sat in the corner of her home, hiding under a pile of blankets. One would love to think that she was playing a game of hide and seek with her siblings, except that couldn't be the reason. The young girl's siblings were dead, lying lifeless in the middle of the room alongside their parents. The girl didn't understand why they wouldn't move, and she couldn't comprehend why they were lying there in the first place. All she knew, is that he was the reason. Him, the one who had done it to them. The one who had sent sparks into her family and caused them to lie there. Him, him...

A spitron with yellow and light-orange scales stood at the doorway of the house. He stared at the family he had just murdered, staring at their shocked bodies. The spitron took off the gloves that he used to make the sparks, and turned to leave. He thought he had finished the job. He thought the whole family was gone. Yet he was in such a rush to flee, that he wasn't aware of the young girl silently crying under the blankets.

As the spitron left, the young girl waited, still crying, still hiding, still so so afraid. After a few minutes of no longer hearing the sparks, the girl crawled out from under the blankets. She crawled over to her parents, to her brother, then to her sisters. She tried to wake them, but they would not wake. She tried, and tried, then began to sob. The girl inched back over to her parents, still so confused and scared. She wrapped herself around her mother's arm. Her mother, who just earlier that day had been teaching the girl to read.

The girl cried and whispered, asking her mother, "Mommy, why won't you wake up?"

Mommy, Mother, Mom…