Snap!

King of the hill

The big kid's name was Julius. It was a nice name and Wind had told him so. Julius made a face and said, "What a weird thing to say" before turning his back on Wind to face the other kids.

"Today's game," Julius said. "Is King of the Hill. I'm going to put a flag up on top of there-"

He pointed to the steepest hill in the area. It wasn't a soft incline covered in grass and wild flowers. The angle was steep with jagged rocks and thorns covering the area. Already Wind could feel the sting of bleeding cuts on his hands and elbows.

"-and the opposing team will need to try to get under a time limit. I get to choose who guards and who must get the flag. Any questions?"

Wind raised his hand.

"None? Perfect." Julius pointed. "Those who are guarding are you, you, you, and you. Let's move out!"

Julius chose the biggest, tallest boys to guard. The kids who had to rush up the hill was Wind, two girls who appeared to be the same age as Aryll, and two boys who looked like they never seen the sun before today. The big kids made their up the hill, laughing and jeering.

"Well this feels uneven," Wind said under his breath.

"I don't know if I want to play," one girl said. "The last time I played this they kept knocking me down."

"We have to," said one of the pale boys. "If we don't, we don't get our toys back."

Wind frowned. "They stole your toys?"

"They like to say they 'borrow' our toys, but I haven't seen my ball in months. Julius said he'll return them once we win a game, but..." He trailed off, his chin wobbling.

"You haven't won any," Wind finished for him. He watched as the big kids took their places. They hooted and hollered like gorillas, banging their chests and flexing their arms. It was clear they had no intentions going easy on these kids.

That was fine. That just meant Wind will have no intentions going easy on them.

"I'll get your toys back," Wind said to his small child team. He took front point, staring up towards the closest big kid, who stared down at him with a dirty smug smile. "It won't take long."