Chapter 9
"While you, too, are talking, it would have been nice if you had gotten me out of here."
"Baby! Why are you in Beck’s backpack?"
"Yes, because I wanted to see you and talk with you. Animals were not allowed in the hospital."
"Oh, boy, I haven’t even gotten out of the hospital, and you are already going to yell at me?"
"Yes and no, she said as she chuckled.
"I need to tell you that what you did was dumb and was respectfully brilliant."
"What Beck and I said in unison…?" She sounded sincere. It was just hard to believe she actually complimented me, kind of.
"A skilled Waymaker forms the sword with their spirit energy."
"Really cool? Okay, so what do we learn next?"
"Kaysi!" "You can’t be serious, " Beck said harshly.” Are you looking to kill yourself?"
"Well," she said. "Given the right tools, I did fight and take down that boar, so why not?" Baby Face told me she was displeased by my reaction. Maybe it was the pain meds, but I felt high-spirited.
"It was a lower-level soulless, but you barely knew how to hold the sword's form, let alone use its powers."
"The sword you have is called a crane. It is made for you to carry it in its lower form, known as a feather. That way, it is a small, inconspicuous shape that is concealed, easy to carry, and ready for quick use when needed." "It is called a resting crane and can still be used but is not strong in resting mode. It is commonly used on weaker enemies. When you learn your sword's true power, it will become stronger, becoming a soaring crane when called out."
Beck slowly began to understand some of what Baby was teaching us. "So, the first form hides the weapon, the feather, then the resting crane is a second, and finally, the soaring crane is what it is called in its fully awakened form."
"Yes, Beck, that’s right, you caught on now."
"Oh, awesome, I get it now."
"Now," "moving on to address the other elephant in the room." "Beck, what did you see that day?"
"Oh yeah uh..." "You don’t have to worry about me. I won't be telling anyone. As I already told people who asked at school, it was a pack of wild boars."
"I also need to point out that you could see the monsters, as well." "That said, do not have a guardian like me?"
"An animal like you?" Beck was confused about the question.
"Yes, that’s correct. It is a guardian angel that takes the form of your animal companion."
"No, I don’t have any animals. I used to have a pet cat."
“Okay, well,” cough, 'I am more than an ordinary house pet. I am a full-blown angel. I was placed into an animal vessel to hide my identity while I trained her."
"Beck, you must know your friendship with her puts you at risk since you are not a waymaker."
"Kaysi, you must choose to put her in danger or not. If you choose to, you can keep her as a friend, or you can never see each other again from here on out."
"I'm sorry, but Kaysi can’t be given a choice like that. It is unfair to give anyone an option like that." "Even though we have known each other only for three years, aka since middle school, I know she would end our relationship, making herself miserable just to protect me."
"If that is the case, you are willing to grow your strength and knowledge to save yourself if the time comes. Most importantly, protect yourself and don’t get in harm's way because you could put her in danger by having to babysit you."
"Wow, That was a bit harsh."
"Of course, as a guardian, I am responsible for safeguarding humanity and aiding in developing her skills.""Yes, but I need you to be aware that it could take some time. I haven't heard of anyone being required to work with two-waymakers while training." "I still need to figure out your combat abilities, but let's see if you're able to sense spirits. You can still learn to arm yourself, protecting you from possible harm."
"As you can see, Kaysi was not supposed to get hers for another two years."
"Oh, okay, I will learn and adapt. Also, I am a year older than Kaysi."
The baby ducked back in the back as she heard footsteps approaching. Just when the nurse entered, she said, "I will be leaving later today."
Happy to finally be getting out, I asked Beck if she wanted to go and get Ice cream.
"Kaysi, it's time for us to bring you home so you can continue to rest and recover. You're not ready for any social mingling." She laughed, "I'll keep your offer for a rainy day."
I think Beck was correct when she said I was still a bit weak because I fell asleep right away after she helped me to my bed when I got home.
Micah was talking about my hospital stay the next day. I was in there for a longer time than I realized since I had to make something up on the spot. In all honesty, I wasn't prepared for people or for having to respond to their questions.
By lunchtime, others had started discussing my situation. I never knew the number of individuals who knew or were concerned about me; I found it to be pretty heartwarming at the moment.
I went with what Beck told me at the hospital: I saved Beck from a pack of wild boars. I got the wound from pushing her out of the way.
For now, I like to remember when people cared for me. One day, when I am weak, I may ask myself why I am fighting for a living and need some form of encouragement. Having been bullied so much growing up, this was a nice change of pace.
By the next semester, things had finally started to die down. Micah and I had a gym class together now. So we decided that day we would go to lunch together as it was the next period.
When we caught up with Beck, we told her we planned to start meeting more now that we shared closer schedules.
We agreed to eat and hang out at the outside lunch tables together so we could hand out more privately.
Seated among the trees, I could see the shimmering light with auburn gold gleaming through the trees of the autumn's blazing sun in the sky. I would love to watch the crimson leaves cascading as they fell to the ground. The air was a bit chilly outside today.
The school lunch menu mainly consisted of cheap frozen or canned meat products, pasta, and a bitter vinaigrette.
Beck almost always brought her lunch, which her mom would pack.
I asked my friends if they wanted to hang out after school. Now that I am older, my mom has given me the freedom to venture out a bit more.
So, since Christmas was around the corner, and I still needed to get presents for everyone, maybe we could do the white elephant game, which involves a secret exchange of gifts.
"What about you guys? Do you have anything left to do for Christmas?"
"Well, I only have a few items Beck chirped. You still haven’t got anything yet have you, Kaysi?" She said sarcastically as she mocked. "You sure are good at saving things to the last minute, right?"
"I know I like to save as much money as possible to get the right ideas from everyone first."
"Mmmm…Fair enough, Beck said, unconvinced but accepting. Micah, How about you?"
"I had so much to do this month, so I already got everything, wrapped them, and placed them under the tree."
"Wow, Micah," "Way to go." "Look at you, being an overachiever!"
"Okay, since Micah is busy, we could at least go to the mall. I would like to use that rain check; we can have some ice cream, my treat! Also, we can get any of our remaining gifts."
"That sounds great, Kaysi; I will double-check with my mom to ensure it is okay and call you later."
" I am heading home to finish my work so that I can catch up with you later," Micah said as she grabbed her tray and left."
"Okay, see you later, Micah I yelled back at her."
I turned to Beck. "Hey, Beck, “Is it just me,” or do you think Micah has been dodging us lately?"
"No, you're still loopy; she has just been busier than usual."
"Yeah, you're probably right. I am just overthinking things too much."
Going to the mall, I enjoyed looking at the decorations, the tall trees with twinkling lights everywhere, and the large ornaments. Each year, they choose a color theme for the decor. This year, it is gold and metallic red. The lights draped across the beams of the ceiling.
There were Christmas trees at every intersection of the mall.
The best part of the mall was the holiday cheer of all the employees. Some wore little Xmas headbands and ugly sweaters, and they had large-spirited smiles. Some of them wore full costumes like Santa’s elf or Christmas pajamas.
Some shoppers are even dressed with their Christmas cheer on.
They even placed carolers in the mall, who floated from store to store, singing Christmas songs and spreading Christmas cheer.
And the cherry on top of all this fiesta is Santa Claus sitting in his big chair in the middle of it all.
I even talked Beck into a photo with Santa and me.
When we got done, we walked to my house.
It was close enough, and she could get a ride back when my older brother returned. After he had gotten off work, he was coming over for dinner tonight.
It began to snow hard as we turned the corner from the back of my house.
"Beck, don’t you think it's pretty how the lights make the snow sparkle?"
(POW!!!) Something hit me in the face as I was standing there gazing up at the sky.
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