A Fierce World

"We don't seem to have a lot to go on" says Grandma Rosa

"Why don't we just go to the town in the direction she was headed maybe that too is fate"

"You just want to go have fun. There's nothing but entertainment out there."

"She should have fun for once. Going to school to be a warrior is boring. If she expands her world maybe she can focus on her combat training."

I keep my head down feeling awkward about lying.

"You're right lets have her learn about the world around her. It does not matter how much we look because we don't have a place to start. This community is supplied power; maybe we can locate their supplier."

"See I knew it was the right decision."

"You know nothing outside of whimsical which is what I love about you. You have a way of showing a world I could never have found myself."

Grandpa Chris smile and says, "Thank you, I still feel giddy when you compliment me. I feel like I'm still in my twenties"

Gross why do old people have to be in love.

"Since you are missing school. We will begin training you. I specialize with a bow and Grandpa Chris uses spears. You do not have four arms so you will not be able to learn his style."

"I'll still help you with the basics of spears. Now dear can you tell us what is the mutation that was passed on."

"I was born like my dad. My body is normal."

Grandma Rosa speaks up "That does not sound right. If a human did not mutate then the child would only receive their mutation from the other parent. As far as I know, it is impossible for you to not have a mutation."

"I some how beat the odds I guess," I say as my head slumps down in sadness. I lift my leg and kick dirt up

Why are they looking at each other like that. Am I missing something. Lightning do you not see their puzzled looks. Look up girl.

"Since we have two spears lets start with that," says Grandpa Chris. "Did you learn the basics for spear"

"Its been a while since I used one. I was using a sword mainly so if we could start from the beginning."

Grandpa Chris pulls the spear off his back. They were sitting snug between his back and his bag.

"Catch," he says as he toss the spear with the black cracked wood.

I reach out to catch it

*bang*

It hits me in the face. I warp my arms around it trying to keep it from falling to the ground. My posture makes it seem like I'm hugging it.

"My sugar must be low."

"Come eat then. We'll train after you're full."

"Ooh, What are having?"

"We did have time to prep for a trip so we're having a salad," said Grandpa Chris

"Aww"

The knife chops away against the carbonized wood. Grandma Rosa turns around with a shiny caramel colored wooden bowls and jar. "It is all ready. We have spicy pickled purple cabbage, red bell peppers, fresh butternut squash, walnuts, and dried cherries. Do you want this honey vinaigrette?"

"YES!"

This bowl is as big as my face, yum. I pour the beautiful golden tinted vinaigrette on my food and then dig in.

"Do you want a fork?" Asks Grandma

"Umm, I'm almost finished," I say as I scarf down the rest of it. Grandma starts to walk back to grab the other bowls.

*burp* "I'm so full!"

Grandma's voice is projected over to me, "Do you want more dear?"

"Yes please!"

Grandpa stares at me with a face full of confusion. I press my lips in together to feel less awkward.

"We might need to gather more supplies my Dear Rosa"

"I will find food while you both train."

<10 mins later>

"Oof!"

"No it's a spear you need to utilize it as such. The shaft must dance around your hands. Holding one position during a fight will be your down fall. For deflecting blows or quick attacks grasp near the center. It gives you more leverage. Always dodge heavy blows. A strong thrust is best to be used when furthest from the head of the spear. Again!"

My eyes widen as the spear thrust towards me. I roll out of the way. Grandpa grabs my spear and starts attacking with both.

"Leaving your weapon behind can easily be your down fall."

*Smack*

"Ouch!"

Child abuse. Send Help!

"Now take the spear; lets go again"

Grandpa doesn't wait to attack. The back end comes down hard. I life my spear up with both hands to defend. The spear rebounds up after it impacts.

"I did it!"

The spear spins downwards in his hands. He crouches down as the spear thrusts towards my knees. The spear's shaft smacks against my leg.

"Hrrnngg"

*Fweeet*

I cover my ears as the sound makes my head hurt worse. A High pitch whistle sounds in the distance.

"Get up now," Grandpa says as he pulls me to my feet. "Up in the tree now." His face is deadly stern. Out of pure confusion I do as I'm told. Grandpa pulls out a small rock with holes in it and blows. The sound is much lower then the one in the distance. A few moments later the sound of breaking branches and tousling leaves are heard in the distance.

*grooaawrrrr*

Grandma Rosa breaks through the tree line. She heads straight to grandpa and yells "Switch!"

He rushes forward crouching towards the ground with both spears in his hands. One thrusts towards Kitty's armpit while the other swipes towards its head. Kitty's body twist dodging both attacks while rolling to the side. It jumps out of the roll slashing at Grandpa's hand. The pink spear slams against the ground rolling towards the tree. Grandpa focuses on the Thanator. It's paw clashes down again, but Grandpa uses the spear to push the attack away forcing Kitty to stager to the side. The silver tip spear lunges towards its neck leaving a small cut in the skin. Its eyes turn black with rage. It leaps towards Grandpa. Only the spear keeps it from ripping into him as it forced into Kitty's mouth.

*gasp*

A pink blur shoots across the air. The tips of the spears slide across each other. A spark ignites forcing the pink spear to catch on fire.

"Woah?!"

It slices open the chest of Kitty. The flames follow the tip cauterizing it shut.

*whimper* It darts off into the forest. Moments later the sound of it disappears.

"Thank you Bear Bear"

"We'll need each other to survive out here plain and simple. Were you able to find food?"

"Filled my bag up. We will be good for a few days. Let us get back to training Lightning. You'll be learning how to use the bow now so come down here."

What in the French was that? Are they not going to acknowledge that both of them almost died!? What did you get yourself into Lī?

"Yes ma'aaaa…"

*Boom* I land on the ground while using my face to support my weight. I jump to my feet.

"I'M OKAY!"

Grandma passes me her bow and says "You'll have to train with this one. We will start with pulling the string while squatting. You will hold the position until I say so. Understood?"

"Awww…"

"Begin," Grandma Rosa says.

I pull the bow as hard as I can and go into a squat. The bow string is not pulled all the way out. Grandma reaches over grabbing the now dull pink spear with grey cracks in it. She pops my arm into the correct form.

"Lower," she says. I squat more while my eyes go wide.

"I don't think I can keep going."

"Thats for me to decide. You are living in a world where you do not get the say of stop. A beast will not stop hunting, so you must out last it. Continue!"

Are you scared because Im scared? This woman is crazy. How are we related? *eye roll*

"No one said you could break the forth wall at this moment so focus on training!" says Grandma Rosa.

My legs tremble trying to support my body. My body slowly starts to lose control. I begin loosing my form.

"We are not done."

My mind refocuses on maintaining the position.

My body begins to feel lighter. Grandma's eyes widen in confusion at first but then a smile crosses her face. Her eyes squint with curiosity as if she found enlightenment.

"That's enough Lī. We will pick up tomorrow lets go eat dinner."

Characters:

Name Lighting - Age 16 - Date of birth 2/3/1000 A.N. - Sign Hippocampus - Mutation ¿none? - hair brown curly - eyes brown or white - skin light brown - Fear Thunder (Astraphobia) - Fatal Flaw Diabetic - Character flaw Lazy and Lies - weapon bubble

Name Chris - age 72 - mutation four arms - hair white - eyes brown - skin midnight black - character trait extrovert - weapon twin spears - married to Lys

Name Lys - age 72 - mutation tiger - hair/fur orange & black - eyes yellow - skin white with black stripes - character trait kind, strong, observant - weapon bow and arrow - married to Chris

Creatures:

Type Iguana - danger level 1 - size 3 ft - ability camouflage & climbing - attack claws

Type Thanator - danger level 5 - size 4 ft - ability stalking, hunting, & climbing - attack claws, teeth, paws, and tail

Reference:

Thanator aka Palulukan from Avatar. The night black cat that kills without caring. She later ends up returning the favor of saving her kids.

School:

Carbonized wood is wood that has been scorched from extreme temperatures. A carbon barrier is produced which reduces flexibility but increases durability of wood. It also significantly lowers the possibility of water damage.

•The introduction of pink and black wood is misleading from the last chapter. The wood used is naturally pink. The color is supposedly produced from a resin found in the wood. Resin really is flammable, and in this story the resin is used as such. Burning it cause the wood to lose its vibrant hue until its Black.

•The tips of the spear here are flint and steel which brings the fire to life.

•The other interesting property in wood is Amber. If resin is produced it can harden which creates a protective barrier for the tree. The bowls and container are coated in the amber creating a water barrier. Amber is believed to have medicinal properties which would increase favorability in cook ware.

Now the concept of resin being in the wood and creating the color is fictional. Cells on the outer part of the tree (the bark) produce it to stop wounds from becoming infected on the tree. Its natural color is a yellow-brown hue.

Cauterize - this occurs when the a wound is burned shut. It doesn't have to be from fire. Chemical compounds can also be used like table salt or silver nitrate. Do not try it at home. To much pain can cause shock, and if done wrong, infection can occur leading to death.

French - It is being used as a form of slang by Lī. It is a spin from 'Pardon my French' and is used in place of a certain cuss word. In our personal history, English speakers used to look down on people using French and now it is synonymous with cuss word/profanity. We as people miss harsh context of our words when it becomes ingrained in our societies.