Eclipsed

Chapter 7

An abandoned building.
Manhattan, New York City, New York.
7:03 p.m.

    "I knew it!" Luna shrieks excitedly. "This is awesome news!"
    I furrow my eyebrows. "How so?"
    "Well, for one, we don't have someone with your power yet, and second of all, you'll be a great Fighter— you can learn to short-circuit hydro systems." Adelée explains.
    I'm confused, but I don't ask why the second part's important. "So I'm gonna be a Fighter?"
    "In-training. Uriah, do you have an Apprentice right now?" Adelée asks.
    Uriah's blueish-purple eyes sparkle. "Are you asking me to train her?"
    Adelée nods. "If you want to."
    He grins. "Why not?"
    —
    That night, I sleep in one of the girls' sleeping tents, feeling a bit restless on my floating bunk. Like a hoverboard, fans support it, yet for some reason sleeping on it makes me nervous, like it might plummet to the ground and crush Luna, who sleeps under me, any minute.
    Not being able to drift off again, I slip silently out of the tent at 6 a.m. and find the camp mostly empty. Not feeling hungry enough for breakfast, I pull my board from my pocket and step onto it, gliding up to where I'd been yesterday night, but this time sitting cross-legged on my board, hovering higher as I watch the sun rise. I'd had twisted dreams all night, some of my usual ones, which include watching my parents get blown up in some way or another, and ones of me electrocuting my new friends, my parents, myself. Ones of me causing a worldwide blackout and getting chased across the country.
    I sigh, leaning back on my hands and trying to flush the dreams from my mind. Suddenly, I hear a zapping sound and look back. There's electricity arcing across the backside of both hands. I quickly yank them away from the board, but it's too late. The whole thing powers down, sending me free-falling through the air at full speed. I scream for help, hoping somebody will hear me and be able to help, because if I hit the ground from this height, I'm dead. I'm still screaming at the top of my lungs, gradually losing my voice, when something stops me.
    I let out a loud "Oof," and look under me. But there's nothing there. I see a girl standing, hands outstretched, watching me with a concentrated look on her face. Her short, jagged blonde ponytail blows wildly in the wind as she pulls me and my board towards her, setting me on the ground and catching the board in one hand.
When she does, she lets out a breath, then smiles. "Close one, huh?"
"Thanks for saving me," I tell her. "I would've totally died if you hadn't." I scratch the back of my neck. "I guess it's not safe for me to board until I get my ability under control— I'm a new recruit."
Her eyebrows raise. "You're Rune Kishi, right?"
I frown. "How do you know that?"
She grins, scrunching the large birthmark under her left eye. "There's been some talk of your talents from the other Eclipsed." When my expression turns confused, she clarifies, "Eclipsed, like the other members of our group? I thought you knew that name already."
"Nope. This is all new to me. So we're called that 'cause that's when our powers were activated, right?"
She nods. "And we're born on eclipses. Double whammie. Your powers usually activate sometime in your teens, which is why that's the age of most of us here."
"Cool. What's your name, before I forget to ask?"
"Oh— I'm Tash. Tash Hayven,"
"Just Tash?"
"Well, my full name's actually Tashlyn, but nobody uses it."
"I think it's nice."
She shrugs. "I guess. But Tash is shorter, easier to say."
"Fair enough." The two of us start walking, back in the direction of camp.
Tash hands me my board, which I inspect. I think I powered it down somehow. I'll look at it when we get back to camp.
"So," Tash says, "What are you training to be? Do you know yet?"
"I'm gonna be a Fighter."
"Who're you apprenticed to?"
"Uriah."
"Oh, yes. Uri. He's been talking about you, y'know." She turns to me, eyes sparkling. "He seems very keen on you."
I blush. "Yeah..." I trail off, then recover myself. "Isn't it a little weird that somebody the same age as me trains me?"
"Not for me, but I've been with the Eclipsed for four years, so it's not my place to say. It's always been that way."
"Hm." We're heading back into camp now. "So how old are you, then?"
"Fifteen. My powers came early, when I was eleven, during a partial solar eclipse. If you didn't already guess, I manipulate wind, so that's how I saved you."
"And you're..." I wait for her to fill in the empty space, hoping she knows the answer I want.
Of course, she does. "I'm a Fighter too, so I guess I should say, welcome to the team."
I smile. "Thanks! I'm pretty excited."
She grins back. "You should be! It's intense sometimes, but also really great."
We enter the food tent to find Uriah and Luna arguing.
"...I don't get why she's not a Spy. She's way better suited for the job."
"Are you kidding? Her speed beneficial for us Fighters. You're just mad because you can't train her."
"No I'm not! But it'd be so much easier to sneak around with her supposed ability to cause blackouts!"
"That's useful to the Fighters too! You can't argue with..." Uriah trails off when he catches sight of me. "Oh...hey Rune. Sleep well?"
I shake my head. "Nope. I was up way too early from nightmares, then, to make matters worse, got myself into some trouble while trying to clear them from my mind."
He puts his hands on his hips. "I told you that roof was dangerous!"
"Gee, you're not my parent. Haven't had any in six years. I think I know my limits. And that's not what happened."
"Well, what'd you do, then?" Luna asks, jumping into the conversation.
"Um, well...I was sitting on my board..."
"Just spit it out!" she orders. I know she's probably mad, and she's chosen to take it out on me. I don't really care.
"My powers kinda sparked randomly when my hands touched the board and I might've powered it down somehow cause it turned off and I kinda fell but it's okay Tash saved me and I'm fine now." I say quickly. 
They both stand there, blinking. Then yell at me.
"You should've had someone with you!"
"...not safe at all!"
"You need to be more careful next time"
"GUYS!" Tash shouts. "Calm down! She knows the risks now, and nothing bad happened to her!" She pushes past me to find something to eat.