Cato (Kay-to) Emberson's Perspective:

I was running down the sizeable chilly tunnel that led from my house to the main square. I was supposed to meet up with Blaze today, and I had woken up late.

The two of us had recently gotten the hang of using our source energy to create blades or small projectiles, but we were both awful at it.

'As expected,' I thought to myself, 'we're only ten. You don't even get a contract from the Goddess until you're at least thirteen. Plus, having a contract is supposed to make using source energy a hundred times easier.'

I channeled a small blade off of the tip of my index finger and dragged it along the wall of the tunnel I was inside.

After walking a couple of meters, I looked back to see if I had kept the flow of source energy constant. If I had, the line of my blade should be the same depth throughout. I quickly peeked using the light of the nearby sconces and determined I had successfully kept the output of my source energy roughly even.

I rounded the last corner giddily at my success and burst through a bright break in the tunnel to reveal the enormous town square. In the middle was a statue of what I could only assume was the Goddess of Fire. I had yet to acquire my contract, but I couldn't even begin to fathom how gorgeous she indeed was.

The statue depicted a woman of never-before-seen beauty with a long ball-gown dress of flames. Her eyes made of precious red gemstones shone in the light, and at just the right angle, pierced straight through your soul.

Occasionally when I came into the square, it felt like she was watching her subjects mingle around through those gemstones.

"CAAATOOO!" a sharp yell snapped me out of my admirative gaze on our beautiful Goddess. I turned to see Blaze weaving through the crowd and making his way towards me.

I stuck up my hand and waved it around so he had something to follow in the crowd as he pushed his way through to my position.

Once he reached me, I stuck out my hand, and we did our customary handshake.

"Well," I started, "what do you want to do today? More source practice?"

Blaze sighed a sigh too deep for his age, "Oh Cato, what am I ever going to do with you?" Blaze asked while placing a hand on my shoulder.

I stared back deadpan as he took in a breath and slapped my shoulder, "Well, obviously, we're going to train our source energy!" Blaze announced, almost to the whole square. Embarrassed by my friend, I pulled him by the arm towards the normal exit we took to get to our training area.

"Why do you have to be so loud all the time?" I asked, half to myself, half to Blaze.

"Well, shouldn't the next True Power Wielder for the Fire Tribe have a fun personality?" He asked, turning to me and flexing his muscles.

I let out a scoff and turned away, hardly recognizing how serious he might have been.

"You do know we haven't had a Wielder in fifteen years, right? What makes you think the Goddess of Fire is going to choose you as a Wielder?" I said with genuine curiosity.

"Well, how should I know? It isn't like I met the last Wielder. I just got a feeling, okay? I think that should be enough." Blaze responded, a tad surprised by the curiosity in my voice.

"Whatever, you got my vote for Wielder Blaze. It would be better if it were you rather than the other person we currently know who also wants to be a Wielder."

Blaze pumped his fist and declared, "Now it's official if I have Cato's vote, I have to become a Wielder!" He jumped up as we climbed up the final stair to our training destination.

A high voice perked up to our left when it heard us enter, "Cato, you gave Blaze your vote?? You said you'd give it to me!" a small girl jumped up from where she was lying down reading and glared at me.

"That's my bad, Angelica. Blaze just seemed so serious about becoming a Wielder I couldn't help but give him my vote. Also, it's not like what I say matters to our Goddess." I retorted.

"Well," Angelica pouted and crossed her arms, "this just means you have to train with me more than Blaze."

"Alright," I stated. I turned to Blaze who's jaw had gone slack, staring at me. I stifled a laugh and contorted my face back into a serious one, "what?" I asked.

"What?" Blaze almost shouted, "We are training brothers, and we have to train together. That's the whole point!"

"Okay, okay, well, listen, why don't we just all train together, and you two can grab me whenever you need help. It's not like I'm any better than either of you at controlling source energy." I shrugged with the statement, and it seemed to calm Blaze down.

I may have lied about not being better than them at channeling and controlling source energy. I was pretty ahead of the game. Most of the people within the Fire Tribe did not start using source energy until they had acquired their contract. But that was not an option for me. I wanted to be strong like our ancestors who fought in the Battle for Terra.

I didn't tell either Angelica or Blaze that, but that was because I didn't have a reason to. There were almost no Fire Tribe warriors anymore, and those that were around us could not come close to our previous warriors.

After a couple of hours of meditating and attempting to teach my two best friends how I channeled my source energy, we reached a sweaty state where we could all barely move. After a little bit of resting, I pushed myself to my feet and started to head towards the exit.

I turned back and looked at my two friends still lying on the ground in our dome-shaped training room.

"Well, I'm going to head back home for some dinner. I'll see you two tomorrow?" I asked as I started to round the corner to go back down the stairs.

"Sounds good!" the voices of Blaze and Angelica echoed down the stairwell, and I went on my way back home.

In his late fifties, I passed by a shop owner, one of the last survivors of the Battle for Terra. He was missing a leg and had countless battle scars. I greeted him as I always did and made some idle small talk about the contract and how excited I was to get mine. He appreciated my excitement and responded with how he was excited for me.

I waved him goodbye and moved down a couple of shops to an even older woman who was Angelica's Grandmother and only guardian. I poked my head in to say hi and tell her Angelica would be on her way down. She thanked me, and I went on my way back home.

As I entered the tunnel that led back to my house, I noticed my scratch had disappeared. For some reason, either a remnant of the Mountain Goddess' powers or the Goddess of Fires' powers, these tunnels kept repairing themselves no matter the damage. A phenomenon I couldn't wrap my head around.

As I arrived back home, I swung open the door to be greeted by a warm smell of meat cooking and a quiet conversation between my parents.

'Ahhhh,' I thought, 'This sure is home.'