The Real Ram

Chapter 5

The next day is a little awkward. I have a little bruise from where Trish punched me. I honestly forget about it until Beast spots it when he sits down at the table for breakfast. Shawn's eyes are puffy, probably from some mid-night crying. He doesn't handle violence very well, I can tell.

When Trish approaches the table she sits beside Shawn, not daring to look up. The entire meal is silent until an older guy, he looks like he could be a trainer, comes over to our table. Beast asks what he needs and he tells us Flame is requesting us in training once we are done eating. Beast thanks him and gets up. "You guys ready? Seems like it's important."

I stand and throw away my trash, and the other three do the same. We walk there together, but it feels like we're apart. Trish still hasn't looked up, and Shawn sticks close to Beast.

We get there and the doors open. We see Flame in the center, sitting on the floor. I turn my eyes to see his aura, but once I step into the room my vision goes blurry and I loose my balance a bit. Beast helps steady me, "You alright?"

"Yeah, sorry just got a little dizzy there for a moment."

"Get over here," Flame's voice rings in my head. We walk over to him. "Sit."

"What's this about?" Trish asks.

We all sit in front of Flame, "I was told yesterday that certain people in my group were having an argument." Trish looks down and I look away. "Care to tell me why?"

"It's all her fault," Trish says looking at me.

"Then you punched Zoe, Flame you know how Trish gets sometimes." Beast speaks up.

"I'm not asking you Beast, and I'm not asking who's fault it was. I just want to know what happened."

Trish speaks up, "I am trying to be a good friend to Zoe, but she keeps pushing me away. I got frustrated, and she started questioning me on my family values. I got angry and when I spilled my story she didn't want to tell me hers. So that's why I punched her."

"She didn't ask you to tell your story, am I correct?"

"Well...yeah but—"

"Then she had no obligation to tell you hers, do you get how that works?"

"I just want to be a good friend to her and she's pushing me away," Trish argues.

"You said she was talking about family values? I think she was making a point," Flame glances at me, "I know a little about her backstory, and believe me I would want to forget it all myself. So be a good friend and respect her wishes."

Trish crosses her arms, "Unbelievable, she gets everyone on her side."

"Well no, see Zoe shouldn't have been so defensive," he looks to me, "You should recognize that she's trying to help. You shouldn't get angry when she's just trying to be a friend." I nod.

Trish scoffs, "Whatever, let's just get to practice."

"Fine by me, just let me know that you guys are all alright. And apologize for punching your team mate. She's gotten enough of that in her lifetime."

Beast and Shawn stand up with Flame. Beast glances at me before they walk away. Trish gets up and turns to me throwing out a hand. "I'm sorry, Zoe. I'm just used to things automatically going my way. I shouldn't have punched you, and I do actually like having you on our team."

"I'm sorry for questioning you like that, it was wrong. Maybe someday in the future I'll feel comfortable to tell you my story if you still want. It's not that lively, but it seems like you really care."

Trish's face brightens up, "I would love that." She elbows me in the shoulder lightly, "Now let's get to practicing."

"Zoe, Beast, get over here," Flame yells to us. I run over to him, it's been about an hour since practice started. We've just been working on fighting techniques. I'm glad to be pulled over to do something new. "Zoe, stand right there." I do as he tells me. "Beast, there," he points to the other side of the room. "Go. Winner gets to leave early."

I look at him carefully. Beast winks, then shifts into a wolf. He snarls at me and I feel nerves erupt inside me. He pounces and I roll away. He has to have an opening, everyone does. Before I can think anymore Beast rushes me again.

"Come on Zoe, you've got to learn to think quickly during a fight. I see those wheels turning, you've got to come up with the explanation and the offense," Flame instructs me. By now the other two are stopped and are looking at us. "You have to see the opening, I know you can do it."

I strain my eyes, and they turn into something different. It's like slow motion, only I see way sharper. He rushes me again and I spot the opening. When he pounces, he doesn't look at me, but rather at the floor. He needs to see where he's placing his paws.

I bend low and Beast crouches too. I look for the smallest move in his paws to indicate when he's pouncing and it happens. He flexes his left arm, and I see his vision go down to pounce properly. I run at him and just as I get to him he realizes I've got him. Instinctively he pushes his paw out to stop me, but I see it coming. I jump -didn't think I was that agile- and I use the momentum of my run to jump over Beast while grabbing his outstretched paw. I flip him and he whimpers to the floor. I land, but loose my balance and fall into Flame's chest.

I get up and apologize, but when I turn around all I see is...shock? Yeah, shock laced on Flame's face. "Did I do something wrong?"

Flame shakes his head, "That was...new. Take a breather, all of you. I need to make a phone call," Flame says walking to the other side of the room.

I look back and Beast, he's now a human, and I see he's shaking out his shoulder. I feel a bit guilty. Trish runs over to me and says, "How did you do that? You looked like a freaking ninja. That was amazing."

"Yes," Beast says. "It was." His skepticism is growing.

"You've got to tell us your ability. Please Zoe?" Trish turns to me.

I back up a bit, "It doesn't really matter."

"Well it kind of does," Shawn speaks up. "We need to know what we can depend on you for, and we can't do that unless we know your ability."

I look down, not able to speak to them. All my life no one cared for what I could do. I was invisible to everyone, except when they needed help with something. I remember my friend Alyssa, who wouldn't speak to me unless she needed me to help her with her homework. Simple things like looking over her work to see if she did it right, and when I would tell her it's mostly wrong she would just make me do it.

I never had friends that cared about me like these three. I guess that's why I'm so reluctant to talking to them. I just can't get the words out to share anything I'm not used to sharing.

We hear Flame start to shout at his phone. He hangs up fast and walks quickly to us, "Practice is over today, I need to go visit the infirmary."

"What? Why?" Trish asks.

Flame looks at her and I notice his red eyes are brighter than normally, "A friend came back from a mission..."

"Go, we'll see you tomorrow," Beast says quickly. This friend must be important.

Flame nods appreciatively and rushes out of the training room.

"Who's this friend? She special?" I ask Trish.

Trish looks at me with a smirk, "You pick up things fast, don't you?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"She grew up with Flame. She goes by Willow," Beast starts to explain.

"Like the tree?" I ask. If so, then she must have a plant ability. I would love to watch a person like that train. It must be a beautiful sight to see.

"Yeah, her ability is based on plant manipulation," Beast answers. He sounds like his mind's far away.

"You alright?" I ask.

"Just worried about Flame," he sighs then puts on a smile, "Come on let's go get some lunch."