Renevere Mars: Part One

Episode 4: Echo Missions

"Put me down, you crazy idiot!" Cara laughed, batting at Sam's back as he carried her over his shoulder. He jumped from branch to branch in the woods built up on the side of Hero's Mountain. He was showing off as Ren lagged behind. She flew through the air and landed on the nearly sideways tree trunk she was aiming for. The surface was uneven, and she nearly lost her balance. But she deployed the energy she had stored in her feet and stabilized herself, pushing herself once again so she could leap to the next flat patch of land. She soared with an extra boost of energy blasting through her legs.

In the month that had passed, Ren had become tenfold the warrior she had been, though she was certainly still only a beginner. She could hit a target with a knife, almost all the time. She could use her energy to balance herself on uneven surfaces and build up enough in her limbs to help propel her forward faster than merely muscles could take her.

"Come on, Cara, I need the extra weight to actually make this a challenge," Samuel said, laughing as he looked over his shoulder at Ren, more than a few paces behind him.

"Shut up, Samuel!" Ren yelled, running as fast as her legs would take her up hill and then launching herself forward with gumption. She landed close behind Sam, making him start at the noise and look over his shoulder. The jerking motion made his foot slip from the tree trunk he had been perched on. Squealing, he reeled back, arms swinging in desperate circles as he tried to catch his balance. Cara screamed as she and Sam went toppling down to the ground, rolling past Ren as she laughed at their expense. They stopped themselves a few feet down the mountain, panting and smiling despite themselves.

"You snuck up on me!" Sam accused.

"I shouldn't be able to sneak up on you," she taunted, mocking something Master Duren had said to them some time ago in a shared dream of sorts.

"Yeah, yeah," he panted, pushing up off the ground.

"You have come a long way, Ren," Cara said, still laying on the ground, panting. "Not so soft anymore," she added with a wink.

Ren scoffed at her and turned to look up the mountain. It was true that she had hardened up in the past month. The difference in her muscle definition was noticeable, and her increased strength and endurance was to show for it.

The three of them charged up the mountain and reached the flag at the top very soon. This time, there was no figure atop the flagpole, illuminated by the moon. This time it was broad daylight and though they had a much easier time getting up the mountain without all the traps, sweat still rolled off their bodies.

"We have to go again," Cara said through heavy breaths.

Sam groaned and laid back in the grass. "Come on. We just got here, give it a rest."

"But Master Duran said—"

"I don't see him here now, do you?" he retorted which made Cara huff. "Why are you so obsessed with following the rules all the time?"

"I'm not," she said, blanching at the accusation. "It's just..." She snorted, shaking her head and looking into the woods. "If you think Master Duren is strict, that's just because you haven't met my dad."

Ren looked at Cara, features struggling to hide her seriousness. Samuel sat up and looked at her as well.

"Wait, what do you mean?" he asked.

Cara swallowed and shook her head lightly, folding her armsl. "Forget it. It's nothing."

Sam leaned back again, slowly. "Well... at least your dad was around to be strict. Mine's never there."