Globe Tracers 6: Chaos Storm

Chapter 6: Training

Tyrell:

The troop set up camp that night, saying they would be getting me home in the morning. The little girl made all kinds of jokes as the setup went on. I found myself very happy she was along and relieved to see her happy.

She seemed particularly fond of picking on the woman for messing up the eggs they had with them- apparently she either wasn't a fan of scrambled eggs or joking around was just the routine. She never missed an opportunity to tease that Floreen broke her yoke. "Look at that beautiful sunset! Like an over-easy egg splattering on the side of a pan!"

Floreen growled. "Believe it or not I haven't cooked in centuries."

"Oh, I definitely believe that," the girl said with a grin. "I'm a twerp huh?"

"On all of the levels," Floreen said with a deadpan expression.

The girl smirked. "You don't know the pure fine dining experience of eating a well-done and runny sunny-side-up egg, and you never will!" she proclaimed with an upturned nose like she was a prude. "Probably on account of the fact that well done means it wouldn't be runny anyway. I don't know am I mixing up my cooking terms here?" she then leaned back and looked back at me, head almost upside down rather than just turning around. "What do you think?"

"I um... I thought the eggs were okay..." I replied.

"Well- seems your job as cook is safe doc," Jess said, jumping back into a sitting position.

Floreen gave a slight smile. "Yes- something tells me if you cooked it would be burnt to a crisp."

"Yep. I worship my friends, I tell ya, burnt offerings for everyone!" Jessica said. Floreen just shook her head. We were all chuckling- well save Floreen, but it seemed more a humorless thing that she didn't, not so much that she was offended.

For all her faux complaints, Jess had cleaned her plate rather fast. She looked around the fire, seeming to be looking at everyone's plates. "Everyone get what they need?" she asked. She got nods and happy hums in response as the empty plates were now being stacked. The stack was set by myself as the four young team members got up.

They started walking strangely, each of them doing small shadowboxing moves as they got further and further away from the fire.

I looked over at the oldest of the kids, a teenage girl, the only one who hadn't been around when I first met the group. She had seemed to just appear while Jessica said grace for the food as we gathered around the fire. I was informed that her name was J-Star. She wore a yellow shirt and pants, which was kinda goofy but... she wore them well...

Watching her as she walked away, I started to lean back, taken in by the movement of her hips as she moved. I got lost in her motions, hardly noticing as she and the other kids started to move away from each other in a large circle. She turned to face the other kids with a smile on her face, folding her arms, and- she vanished from sight.

I blinked- it was like one moment she was there, a vision of beauty and grace, and- the next- poof, gone. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, scanning the woods for my gorgeous- why did several of the trees across from the campsite have small red dots on them?

My eyes now started to scan over each of the kids as I became less and less sure of what I was seeing.

I looked at the goofy Jessica as she shouted, "Take it, Raven!" She clapped her hands together and as she did- the ground rumbled like thunder.

My eyes shot over to Kyle as he threw out his right arm, a metal device on it that seemed rather meaningless before, I suddenly sensed was the cause of what was about to happen around him. The boy's backpack flew open and several metal stakes shot up and out of it, spinning around him, each turning so their points were aimed at the dotted trees. He pointed his fist forward and the stakes started spinning around it faster and faster.