Joni quickly took charge of the team. She was barking orders and testing everyone's limits in more ways than one. It should be obvious by now I don't take to following orders well. Authority figures and I don't mix, well I wasn't the only one having trouble. Dariyah also doesn't like someone barking orders at her. Let's just say our team dynamic needs some work.

Our opposing team is made up of a Shadow Caster, Charge Caster, Guard Caster, Water Caster, Force Caster, and an air caster. They look to be the best of buds already, joking and laughing with each other and horsing around. While our team is a stick in the mud.

Coach comes over to us to give us some pointers and run some drills. The other team gets the assistant coach as a helper.

"Alright, your teleporter should always be the flag grabber. In any game, it's always important to have at least one protector and one scout on your flag grabber. The rest will be base protectors. That being said, I won't tell you how to make your team strategy. But I suggest working amongst yourselves to select a team leader and form a good strategy."

"I can be team captain," Joni quickly volunteered.

"I want to be team captain," Dariyah countered.

Some of the other girls snorted in amusement at her.

She glared at them.

"Let's put it to a vote," Joni suggested.

"All in favor of Dariyah?" Coach asked.

Only I raised my hand, and I only did it because I don't want to get my face smashed in later.

"Whatever," Dariyah grumbled.

"Alright Joni, it's yours." Coach said.

We ran a few team drills and talked out some strategy, I swear I looked like a chicken with no head. I was even more lost than when I started. All I know is my job is to get the flag and teleport back to home base in one piece.

Seems simple enough.

Right?

In an hour or so we lined up for our first test run. On the first run, we are on our own, just to show the coaches what we can do. Then after they see us in action they will pull us out and start actually coaching us and helping us. Then we go for round two. After that is the first cut. We find out who comes back tomorrow.

"Okay, Dariyah and I stay on Emery. Everyone else protects the base." Joni orders. "Moriah and Jacquline are the first lines of defense. Elsah is the last line, put up a wall around the flag if you have to. Just don't let it get into that Shadow Caster's hands."

"Okay, are you ready?" Coach calls from the sidelines.

"Yes!" Both teams respond.

"Then, on your mark, get set, go!" she blows her whistle.

"Stay on me," Joni instructs.

We nod.

Dariyah quickly gets in front of me, to protect me. Her body glowing red. Joni uses a spell and her hair turns white along with her clothes. She blends in with the ice and snow.

"I'm going to go scout, stay together and back until I return." She says.

We nod.

She walks ahead and seamlessly blends in with the snow. After I few seconds my eyes can't even track her. Reality magic is so strange, I've never seen it in action before. Dariyah slowly inches ahead, I follow close behind.

God, it's freezing outside.

The field is a maze of ice pillars and sharp spears sticking out in every which way. I nearly impale myself when I stumble forward but Dariyah catches me and glares at me.

Sorry, I mouth.

She rolls her eyes.

It's good to be very quiet in the beginning because you don't want the other team to gain an early advantage.

"Hey," Joni appears.

I yelp.

"Shh!" she and Dariyah sush me.

I pout.

"I made a secret pathway for us that leads right to their base. Guarding the base is the air and water caster. Force Caster is their last line of defense. It's not going to be easy." She whispers.

"I can stand my ground," Dariyah assures us.

"I have a plan," Joni says.

I turn to her.

She quickly cast a spell to make herself look exactly like me.

Talk about freaky.

"The old bait and switch," Dariyah says.

"Exactly. We draw them away, Emery you teleport in and grab the flag and get out before anyone sees you." Joni explains.

"Uh... okay, I'll try my best."

Dariyah facepalms.

"Here," Joni cast a spell on me to make me white as snow, so I blend in with the background.

"Let's go, before they spot us," Dariyah says.

We nod and start making our way to the passageway Joni made.

We watch her walk right through what looked like an ice pillar, but was actually an illusion. So what looked like a blocked path was actually a straight line to the base.

Joni held up her hand to stop us.

We pause in our steps, I could hear distant footfalls in the snow.

Joni put her finger to her lips, or should I say my lips, and indicated for us to be very quiet.

I nodded.

We waited for a good minute before moving in closer. Joni motioned for me to break off from the group on my own while she and Dariyah went for the direct approach.

I hate this. I just know I'm going to mess this up and make myself look like a fool somehow. With a heavy sigh, I start to make my way through the maze, around the snowy pillars to their base.

I pause like a deer in the headlights when the water caster walks right past me, looking for signs of people. I blend right in with the background so she didn't see me. But if she would have looked down she would have seen my footprints.

Once she's gone, I tiptoe behind her, following in her exact footprints. She leads me right to the base.

"Be on alert, they can't be far now." The air caster says.

I watch Dariyah and Me/Joni come in from the side, pretending to try and be sneaky. "Me" slips and falls on her face. Classy. Couldn't have done it better myself. 

"There!" the water caster points and quickly runs over to them.

The plan worked.

While they are all distracted I tiptoe to the base. The force caster is only about ten steps away, debating if she should go help. I pluck the flag silently out of its post and back away.

"She has the flag!" a girl points at me.

I yelp and quickly teleport back to base. Except I only make it halfway, I got turned around in the maze. Shoot.

"After her, hurry!" I hear them call.

I start quickly moving in and out of the ice fortress, doing my best to hurry without being too obvious of where I'm at. Although me carrying a giant black flag in a pitch white landscape isn't much help.

Out of the shadows appears the shadow caster. I yelp and jump back. She uses a spell to create a glyph that grabs the shadows around me, including my own shadow and holds me down. I'm tied down with shadows!

"I got her!" she calls.

"Get the flag!" two more run at me.

Okay light, don't fail me now. Cyrene and have been working on a very simple spell. I like to call in the light blinder spell. I concentrate and a glyph appears in front of my face, then like a camera flash, a bright light temporarily blinds them. They grunt in pain and rub their eyes.

I feel the shadows loosen on me and I jump out of their grasp and teleport again. This time I overshoot it and land on an ice pillar, which is slanted. I scream and slide all the way down, landing on my butt.

"You are a moron!" Dariyah runs up to me and hoists me out of the snow.

"I know!" I say as we start running again.

Joni's spell on me finally wears off and I become normal again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the shadow caster once again grow and appear out of the shadows.

"On the right!" I call to Dariyah.

She stops dead in her tracks while I keep going.

I see her pick up a bunch of snow and form it into one hard snowball. Then she flings it at the Shadow caster. I swear that thing is like a bullet! I hear it break wind! It pelts that poor girl right in the chest and sends her flying back with a big oof.

Dariyah picks up more snow and quickly makes more ammo. Then she jumps high into the air, using her enhanced legs, and gets a birds-eye view.

"To the left!" she calls me when I am stuck at a fork.

She lands with a hard thump and we both go to the left.

"Two are catching up to us, but Joni can handle it," Dariyah says.

"How far are we from the base?" I ask.

"Not too far, just up ahead." She keeps running.

I scream out when I feel an electric charge run through my body. I go stiff and drop the flag, falling to my knees. Dariyah quickly turns and pelts the Charge Caster with the snowballs. Then she picks me up and the flag and we start running again.

"Ow! That hurt!" I complain.

"Get over it, you big baby." She snaps at me.

Once again the Shadow Caster appears in front of us, this time she brought back up, the force caster from before.

The Force Caster quickly casts a spell and uses her powers to yank the flag out of Dariyah's hands.

Well, I only know a few spells so hopefully simple works.

I use a moving spell on her feet, causing her to slip and fall in the snow. The flag falls to the ground. Then I teleport over to it, but the Shadow Caster runs to it and we grab it at the same time.

I push back using just my energy, she pushes too. Our energies clash in such a strong way that the wind and snow pick up around us, creating a small little vortex with us inside.

My feet slide in the snow as she pushes with all her might.

"A little help here!" I call to Dariyah.

Then like she did to me, she picks that girl up like she weighs nothing. The girl screams and drops the flag in surprise. I grab it just as the Force Caster is getting to her feet. Dariyah hurls the Shadow caster at her, and the two smack into each other and fall back down.

I can't help but laugh, it's funny when it's not me being hurled.

"Come on!" Dariyah yanks me along. We stumble into home base where Joni and the others fend off the other Casters trying to steal our flag.

I teleport to home plate and coach blows her whistle.

I did it, we won!

Our team cheers and whoops.

Dariyah pelts me in the head with a snowball.

"Ow! What was that for?" I complain.

"For being a moron! You could have just teleported to base." She says.

"I forgot where it was!" I say in my defense.

My team gives a collected groan and facepalm.

"At least we won," I grumble.

"Alright, nice work ladies. Let's bring it in and go over what happened." Coach says.

We all shuffle over to her.

"Nice work," Joni smiles at me.

I smile back, "Thanks. At least someone appreciates me." I say.

Joni winks at me and playfully bumps my shoulder.

I giggle.

"She has a girlfriend," Dariyah inserts herself between us.

"Rude, and what does that have to do with anything?" I ask.

"You moron," she sighs.

Joni giggles but smiles at me one more time before walking closer to the group and coach.

Wait, was that girl flirting with me!?

Dariyah smushes a snowball into my face before walking ahead of me.

I sigh and spit out snow.

I wish she could just communicate like a normal person.

Is that too much to ask for?