After Vaessen, Linkin, Jaron, and Jalen all worked together to pull Lucas out of the crater, they had breakfast (which was really just raw noodles and questionable seasoning) as the morning sun slowly rose in the east. Once that was finished, it was time for even more exploration with Gifts.
Now that the desert sun had reached a considerable height, the heat was unbearable, but Vaessen still had the four young men stand outside in a line.
"Alright, boys. I'm leaving later tonight, meaning I won't be able to hand down my wisdom to you until I return on July 31. So, we're gonna cram a lot of learning into today!" Vaessen announced.
"Please not another essay, please not another essay, please not another essay...," Link repeated under his breath.
"It's not another essay."
Linking whooped and gave Jaron a high five.
"Okay, split into two."
Link and Jaron instinctively closed the already small gap between the two of them, leaving Lucas and Jalen with each other. Lucas didn't really mind. He was still the shortest of the bunch, and at least Jalen wasn't quite as humongous as the other two.
"Alright. Now I want you to fight with your partner," Vaessen said.
"What-?"
Lucas was cut off by Link's body colliding with his. He would have fallen over if Jalen hadn't caught him in time.
"Are you alright?"
"Uh, yeah." Lucas quickly pulled himself away from Jalen. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Lucas turned around to see Jaron holding Link in a choke-hold. The two shuffled around in the sand while Link tried to free himself.
"Gah! This sucks!" Link complained.
"Yeah, when is this gonna be over? I think I've won at this point," Jaron said.
"Just reset," Vaessen replied. She turned her attention to Jalen and Lucas. "You two!"
Jalen and Lucas straightened their backs. "Yes, ma'am?"
"I said don't call me that. Also, start hitting each other or something."
Suddenly, a fist made contact with Lucas' face. Blood rushed from the point of contact to his nose. Soon enough, he lost his breath, his sight, and all his other sensations. It took him a bit to finally regain control of himself. He looked up to see Jalen with his arm extended and his eyes bulging out of his sockets.
"I- Oh, my God. I am so sorry. I didn't mean for it to be that hard-"
"AGH!"
Lucas lunged his body towards Jalen's abdomen and refused to let go even when the taller one of the two was sent tumbling to the ground. Jalen yelped from the impact and the weight of another person on him. Lucas sent a punch towards the other's head only to have him dodge at the last second. When Lucas moved to hit him another time, Jalen wriggled out from beneath him and scrambled to his feet. Lucas, still on his limbs, reached out and grabbed Jalen by the leg.
Jalen tried shaking off Lucas' bony hand, causing his robes to swish around a bit. "Let go!"
"NO!"
Lucas reached out with his other arm and latched himself onto Jalen's leg like a leech. Jalen started to try and pry Lucas off him by tugging at his jet black hair, but Lucas wouldn't budge. Lucas tried to tug at Jalen's other leg to make him lose balance, but the way that he was positioned made it difficult. Maybe if he just...
Linkin's body slammed into the ground beside the two, soon followed by Jaron heading over to twist his arm behind his back. "What are you guys- Ah! Ow, ow!"
Jalen, noticing that Lucas was momentarily distracted by Link's comment, finally managed to peel him off his leg. As Lucas worked to stand up again, Jalen put some space between them and fumbled out his hands from his flowing sleeves. The one with darker hair begun to run towards Jalen again, but Jalen paid no attention to him. He was focused on his hands, the right one in a fist and touching his left palm.
Lucas slowed down a bit in his approach, curious about the strange gesture. That was when another punch was sent his way, but instead of getting hit in the face, his whole body had to suffer a blow. Next thing he knew, he was swept of his feet by the impact. Literally.
Jalen, Jaron, Link, Vaessen, and the shack all became and obscure, orange mural in Lucas' vision. His stomach made flips as he made rotations around that area of the desert. Strands of his own hair whipped his face, and Lucas shut his eyes to protect them from the harsh gust being created by the momentum.
Finally, Lucas fell off and onto the sand. Beside him, the heavy sound of whirring machinery came and went. Lucas looked up to see the translucent steel blue wisps of a phantom. No, a train. A phantom train?
"Whoa, what is that?" Link asked in awe while being brutally assaulted by Jaron.
The host train disappeared as Jalen turned to face Link. "This is my Gift: 'The Trolley Problem.'"
"The... Trolley Problem?" Lucas repeated to himself, still in the sand.
Jalen held his hand out for Lucas. "Allow me to explain."
Lucas took it to help himself up.
Jalen cleared his throat. "In order to activate the Trolley Problem, I must cause harm to at least one person other than myself. The more harm I cause, the more corporeal the trolley will be and the longer it will stay. That means that whenever I wish to use my Gift, I need to consider whether it is ethical to injure another human being in order for the sake of the greater good. I consider my views to align with utilitarianism, so-"
"What was ethical about punching me in the face?" Lucas cut in.
"Well..."
"Also, you just had to call it 'The Trolley Problem, didn't you? That's just stupid."
"Okay, I'd like to see you try to come up with something creative for your red, sparkly hands!"
"Fine!" Lucas sat up. "Um... Ja- ja... nnn... Ken?"
"What the heck is a Jajanken?"
"Who knows?"
"Oh, are we coming up with names for our Gifts?" Jaron piped in, finally the one being kicked around on the ground. "I was thinking of having mine be named Gullinkambi or Proboduvanje. Gullinduvanje?"
"Personally, I've been thinking of... Oh, wait I haven't been thinking of any names," Link said while digging his foot into Jaron's back.
"You never think of anything!" Jaron hollered, prompting Link to put even more weight on his back.
"Whatever. I'll think of a name at some point," Lucas said.
Eventually, Vaessen had them switch partners until they all had a chance to go up against each other. Lucas performed... decently against Jaron and Linkin. Perhaps if he had gathered up the determination to actually use his Gift, he would have done better. Once all the brawls were finished, the boys were absolutely worn out, and Vaessen gave them all as much water as they needed. She also offered them canned beans for lunch, but they all dismissed it. Maybe if they had eaten lunch, Vaessen wouldn't have forced them to read a stolen Bray'un textbook detailing the reproductive qualities of valley weeds in the Keppur Region. When they finished, Jaron pulled out a deck of worn-out cards for them to play with.
"Linkin, do you have any eights?" Jalen asked.
Link threw his cards down on the floor. "I hate this game!" Still, he handed over the card that Jalen was asking for.
Vaessen entered the shack with a bag slung over her shoulder. "Hey, weirdos. I'm heading out now."
"Really?" Lucas looked up at the roof's hole to see that the sky was indeed getting darker. Time really does fly when you're having fun.
"Jaron, be sure to watch over Link. Link, be sure to watch over Jaron," Vaessen instructed.
Linkin nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I said not to call me that. Jalen, I'll see if I can get my hands on that Marx biography you mentioned."
Jalen pumped his fist not holding onto cards.
"Lucas-"
"I'll do it." The young man looked up at Vaessen with unshakable conviction. "If I am to get back at the people who belittled, ridiculed, and banished me, joining your cause will be the best way to do so. It's the least I can do after what you've done for me. I'll be sure to pummel their skulls until I leave a crater in their brains larger than the one outside."
Vaessen was speechless. "I... was going to ask if you wanted a souvenir like a conch shell or something, but that works too. If you ever need anything, don't come to me."
Jalen snorted.
"I'm serious! I'm going to be a very busy woman this month. But if you have any questions or concerns for me, that Bookkeeper on Bantaybungou I mentioned will surely provide you with a better answer," she said. "I'm leaving one of my maps behind if you ever need to go there. We'll regroup here on the 31st. Got it?"
"Got it," Lucas affirmed.
"Great. I'll see you guys again in twenty-three days."
---
A/N
LKJALKFJALKFJDSF MY PRODUCTIVITY SCARES ME (eh tbf i'm procrastinating on studying for the science final to work on this, but oh well). This one's a little shorter, but the next one is going to be looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg. Well, I might be exaggerating a bit, but it's going to have quite a bit of stuff going on. Once again, this isn't edited. Anyways, I'm bad at outros...
Bye.