Working with some scenes in Harvest. Came up with this and I like it more than what I had before \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Katara walked through the halls, her fingers lightly trailing the wall to her right in order to keep her on track as to where she was going. Her worn down sneakers squeakd against the tiled floor of her school and her long shorts made the skin underneath her knee itch. She kept forgetting she hated this pair of jeans.<\/p>\n
To her left she heard a group of Angels speaking in hushed tones.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think it was a Rat?\u201d a boy said, his voice wavering with puberty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re constantly<\/i> doing this sort of stuff,\u201d replied a girl, her voice deeper than the boy\u2019s. \u201cThe question is, which one of them did it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInet likes to throw stink bombs in the bathrooms. I bet it was her.\u201d Their voices trailed off as Katara continued walking, a small smile playing at her lips. Rats enjoyed using their stealth to play pranks on the Angels. They particularly liked sabotaging the combs for the Angel\u2019s massive wings so that glue would keep them grounded for several days. Angels usually got the Rats back somehow, though Katara never paid too much attention.<\/p>\n
The voices of Lizards taunted the Shifted, each arguing which was better: being able to turn into a humanoid-lizard with claws, scales, and tails, or being able to turn into something like a bird, a lion, a dog? Katara shook her head as their words grew ever more aggressive; they were always arguing over who was better.<\/p>\n
As she wandered further through the school, she moved to the left just in time to miss the lockers that lined the wall. Her fingers trailed against their doors as she strode forward, knowing the school better than her own home. She frowned at the thought of home.<\/p>\n
She heard a loud grunt to her left and the crumpling of metal as a fist punched into a locker. Katara shook her head with a deepening frown as a teacher rushed past her\u2014at least, she thought it was a teacher\u2014to separate the brawling students.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoldiers should not<\/i> act like this,\u201d the teacher hissed, voice low and hard for Katara to pick up over the crowd of students. \u201cYou should use your strength to help each other, not fight.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
Soldiers, always testing their strength against each other. Katara\u2019s parents had both been Soldiers, their skin tinted orange and their strength far past that of a human\u2019s. The Soldiers in the school made up the security force, though until the shooting, the group was mostly for show.<\/p>\n
A shoulder caught hers and made her stumble into the locker to her right, too distracted by her thoughts to hear someone approaching directly at her. She scowled towards the person.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatch it, blindy.\u201d The voice was feminine. Katara made a single rude gesture and continued on her way.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d the woman hissed. Her hand landed on Katara\u2019s shoulder. Kat sighed and turned towards the voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think because you\u2019re blind you can just run into people?<\/i> What makes you so special, anyway? Why are you always having separate classes?\u201d Katara wished she could roll her eyes. \u201cWhat? You want to say something, blindy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think because you\u2019re a Wielder that you can just burn everyone in your path?\u201d<\/p>\n
Katara imagined the woman\u2019s eyes would be narrowing because her grip got tighter on Katara\u2019s shoulder. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d the woman\u2019s voice was low.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard me, Aria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aria\u2019s Gift activated\u2014Katara could feel the heat of fire close to her face. \u201cI dare you to say that again, blindy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d A new voice interrupted. Katara flashed a grin. She had the situation under control\u2014no one dared to seriously hurt each other in or out of school\u2014but she was glad for some back up. Samuel strode up next to her. \u201cYou\u2019re not going to try and hurt Katara on school grounds, are you, Aria?\u201d<\/p>\n
Aria scowled and shoved away from Katara, the flames\u2019 loud sputters dying down. \u201cYou won\u2019t always have your bodyguard with you, Baneswing.\u201d She turned on her heel and strode away where Katara could no longer assess where she was. A heavier hand rested on her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all right, Kat?\u201d Samuel asked, voice low as he moved protectively closer. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away teasingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had it under control, Sammy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He flashed a smile and put his hand over her\u2019s. \u201cSure you did. Want me to walk you to class?\u201d<\/p>\n
Katara snickered and shifted the weight of her backpack\u2019s strap on her shoulder. \u201cFine, fine, since you\u2019re bending my arm.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a light chuckle, Sammy took her hand in his and strode down the hallway, pushing others aside if they dared stray too close to Katara. His hand was warm and suggested his inner Gift: that to Wield fire. Katara only wished she could see him spin around with flames in his hands, daring anyone to come near. She flushed slightly at the thought and tilted her head down, letting her shoulder length hair fall around her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear that the Sweepers are getting in on this prank war?\u201d Sammy asked, voice booming over the cluster of sounds in the hall. He turned right to head for the stairs and take her to her first class.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I didn\u2019t. People don\u2019t really tell me much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because they\u2019re jealous.\u201d She felt his hand move as he shrugged. \u201cAnyway, apparently they weren\u2019t very happy about the Rats\u2019 latest trick they had to clean up. So now they\u2019re putting all the garbage from the cafeteria into their homeroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katara crinkled her nose. \u201cEw.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sammy laughed. \u201cI know, it\u2019s pretty gross. What\u2019s better is that they refuse to move it, so the Rats have had to move it with their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMust be nice,\u201d Katara muttered as they entered the stairwell to the second floor of the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dunno. I think if I was a Sweeper I\u2019d be pretty lazy. Using my mind to bring me my soda and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katara laughed and punched his arm. \u201cAnd you\u2019re not lazy already?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy must you hurt me so?\u201d Sammy teased, carefully leading her hand to the railing and walking in front of her so no one would get in her way as she climbed the stairs. They walked in silence for a while, listening as chatting friends passed them by. Katara wasn\u2019t a slow climber however, and soon Sammy and her were racing to the top. Katara burst through to the second floor first and stumbled into a fellow teenager. The girl grunted as the two of them rammed into the wall together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you wanted me alone you could\u2019ve just asked,\u201d the girl teased, shoving Katara off her. She reached up and brushed her ash brown hair out of her face, her hazel eyes flicking to Sammy as he walked through the door, panting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Alex,\u201d he said, raising a hand momentarily as he caught his breath. Katara giggled and leaned against the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeat you again, slow-poke.\u201d She pointed her jaw in Sammy\u2019s general direction and he rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI let you win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMmhhm.\u201d she hummed. \u201cWas that Alex I heard a moment ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one and only,\u201d Alex said. She did a mock of a curtsy that only Sammy appreciated. \u201cWhy? Were you looking for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou haven\u2019t been at school for a month.\u201d Katara replied, her words slow and deliberate. Alex\u2019s faint smile faded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Well.\u201d Alex\u2019s voice was flat. Sammy moved and put his hand on her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just came for some books.\u201d She brushed past him, moving quickly down the steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex!\u201d Katara cried, running towards the sound of Alex\u2019s footsteps. Sammy\u2019s hand reached out and snagged her arm before she started to tumble down the stairs after Alex, though she fought him momentarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex, please! Just talk to me!\u201d Katara shouted, her voice echoing in the well. Her shoulders slumped when she received no reply. \u201cI just\u2026don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGive her time, Kat.\u201d Sammy whispered. \u201cShe\u2019ll come around.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shrill ring of the bell bounced through the halls and Katara jumped at the sound.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m late! Thanks Sammy, I can make it from here!\u201d She gripped the strap of her bag and ran down the halls of the school, one hand outstretched to run along the wall. Samuel sighed and shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cLater, Kat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Working with some scenes in Harvest. Came up with this and I like it more than what I had before \ud83d\ude42 Katara walked through the halls, her fingers lightly trailing the wall to her right in order to keep her on track as to where she was going. Her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[3],"tags":[21,23,26,72,129,130,16,19,12,68,69,114,60,97,65,66,37,133],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27tjX-cP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":796,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions\/796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}