Fuzzy and Julian - Monday, July 23rd, 2074 - Evening - Blake Island

Fuzzy strode purposefully away from the party. Not that she had a destination in mind. She just wanted away from people and their complications. Where she found herself after moving away was at the end of a wooden dock and there wasn't much of it. She stopped at the end because all there was beyond that was water and she couldn't swim. No one approached her and the bonfire was student lead so no teachers had immediately interfered. Unwilling to walk back towards the party to get further away, she sat down at the end of the dock. None of the other students approached her and if they stared at all, she didn't care.

From her place at the end of the dock, she watched the small waves, the sky, the moon, the boats on the water, the drones in the sky and the city. The moon was almost completely gone with only the barest sliver remaining. The sky had a few stars in it, which she knew existed but had never seen before due to the ash in the skies of Puyallup, but most of the lights in the skies were largely automated drone traffic that was a highway in the sky.

Below she watched the water and the waves out in the distance. What little waves that threatened the docks area of the island were caught by a breakwater, which was essentially a long pile of rocks to stop the waves from hitting the docks. The breakwater also kept the school boat from rocking rocking, though honestly "school boat" was a misnomer. It looked more like a yacht, not that Fuzzy understood the difference. She was completely fascinated by her environment, but especially by the water. It didn’t stretch as far as the eye could see but only because she could still see the lights of the metroplex miles away.

The water was still so clear in a way that Puyallup rarely was. She wondered how deep the water was as well. There was so much and she couldn't see the bottom when she was on the boat that brought her here. None of it was drinkable, but that wasn't new as most water in the barrens wasn’t safe to drink either. She'd actually tried just a little to make sure as Julian had assured her that it wouldn't hurt or kill her as long as she didn't have much. It was just salty and it would taste bad. To test this she'd taken a little of it into her mouth to try and then simply spat it out like she would with any foul tasting water.

So she sat for a time. She listened to distant waves and watched the lights. She heard the music of the party from behind her change to something else. It was something more frenetic that made her want to dance despite her mood. She didn't, obviously, but the feeling clashed with her overall bad mood. All of this was overwhelming and she wanted some alone time.

Minutes came and went before she heard steps on the dock. She listened to them get closer before she turned to find Julian, tall and backlit ever so slightly by the bonfire on the beach. In his hands he had two of the cups from what Fuzzy now understood to be a party. He pointed to the dock beside her and after some thought she nodded. He took the cue, sat down next to her and placed the two drinks on each side of himself, though he didn't touch them.

"So there's probably some school rules about hitting other students," said Julian.

"Are there?" asked Fuzzy, curiously.

"Pretty sure, yeah," said Julian, wryly, "I'm here to talk to you about what you did."

"Do I get sent away?" she asked.

"No," he said, “I’m just here to tell you not to attack other students. You get a one-time pass considering your situation. From what I gathered Kenji deserved it and he's going to get a talking to and probably end up on the shame pole again. I wouldn’t suggest hitting anyone here in the future though.”

She nodded and looked back to the Sound.

"I understand," she said, simply.

"I'm glad that you do."

They were quiet for the space of a song or two. Water gently lapped at the dock. The metroplex stayed in motion.

"You took my weapons," she said, suddenly, "I don't like that."

"Well, you made a deal with me," he said, "You wanted new ends, porks and Puppy. Two of those things don't exist since you said them wrong, but I'm going to fulfill that part of the bargain anyway. By not checking with me if you could bring your weapons along I think you disarmed yourself, Fuzzy, and a good thing too as you hit Kenji."

"I wouldn't have use a weapon on Kenji," said Fuzzy, "You don't do that."

"No?"

Fuzzy looked at Julian seriously.

"Not unless you have any other options," she said, "Weapons aren't toys."

"No, they're not," said Julian, "Which is why we don't allow students to have them."

"You let them have magic," said Fuzzy, "If the first thing you're teaching me is a safety class then all you're doing is giving me different weapons. It doesn't make sense."

Julian rubbed his chin and nodded in appreciation.

"You're not entirely wrong," said Julian, "This is an inherent danger to magic. We don't teach combat spells and spells that manipulate the mind, but a lot of the other magic can be a weapon if used incorrectly."

"So is my bow," said Fuzzy, "But I've never killed anyone with it. I use it to feed myself. Same with my knives. My traps."

"You don't need a bow to feed yourself here."

Fuzzy took a deep breath to calm herself. Rat Man had told her that people from outside the barrens wouldn't understand. Gangers might use weapons to menace on a daily basis, but she had weapons because they gave her food and pelts. Weapons meant a full belly and fresh meat and pelts to trade for things she couldn't make on her own. And if one wasn't armed or at least didn't have friends who were armed, that weakness invited predators, both animal and people. Rat Man had warned her that while life in the metroplex certainly wasn't easy, it was soft in some ways. There would be disconnects and misunderstanding between her values and theirs.

"You just don't understand," was what she managed to say.

"Can you help me understand?" asked Julian.

Julian had visited her in the barrens, but she had no idea how to communicate what that was like to him. So she only shrugged.

"Maybe," said Fuzzy, "I don't know."

Again they were silent for a time.

"Going back a little," said Julian, "You're right. Magic can be dangerous. I'm glad that you seem to understand that. I'd like to think that you'd be responsible with your weapons. I think that once you get used to this place that you probably wouldn't use them, but you're not the only person here. The parents of other students wouldn't trust you if you were armed. And if you were armed, other students would want to be armed too. And I can assure you, they're not trustworthy with weapons or magic. It's why we do the safety class first."

"Then I can have them back?" asked Fuzzy.

"Mother Bear talked to me," said Julian, "And we've discussed allowing you to hunt on the weekends when everyone else is away. Most students leave on Saturday and Sunday. You couldn't hunt everything, obviously, but we'd allow you hunting rights."

The compromise mollified Fuzzy only somewhat. For now, she decided not to push it until she thought things through.

"I can negotiate new deals though," he said, "I'd like to find an agreement that both of us are happy with."

She narrowed her eyes at him as he smiled at her.

"You're a trickster," she said, suspiciously.

"Sometimes," he admitted.

His smile turned into an impish grin.

"A trickster like Kenji," she continued, and her eyes narrowed.

"Fuzzy, I am in a whole different class than Kenji," he said, "After all, I trick people into doing good things."

Suddenly he jerked his head right around and glared intensely at a spot behind them and above the dock.

“No snooping, Devin," he said, authoritatively, "Or at least not until you get better at it."

He snorted. Fuzzy wondered if he was crazy. She didn’t see anyone there.

"Bacon is on the menu tomorrow," continued Julian, "And the school deposited five hundred nuyen into your account for the month. It's not a fortune, but if you stay all four years and save I think you'll have a modest sum for yourself by the end."

Again, Fuzzy was soothe by this. Five hundred nuyen was currently ten times more than she had on her beat up credstick, though she didn't really know how much things cost. Nuyen, which was the common currency in the metroplex, wasn't really accepted out in the barrens anymore. Bacon was good though. She felt more secure now that he'd fulfilled his part of the bargain, though her lack of weapons still frightened her.

"I downloaded a program on your commlink," said Julian, "To help train you in how to kill and um...Process a deer. I think that's the word?"

"Close enough," said Fuzzy.

"We'll set limits," said Julian, "It's a small island after all. We don't want you hunting all the deer out. And the babies are off limits until they're full grown. We really do try to make accommodations for students. It's just that what makes you, you, your hunting, will take some time to clear. I'll get it done though, don't worry."

She didn't like any of this, but she could see that he was trying even if he didn't seem to understand. Plus if she bagged one of those deer, she could send its meat back to Rat Man to help feed the kids there and he could probably do something with the leather. There was nothing the size of a deer out in Puyallup so it'd be a serious windfall. So for now, she could do without weapons even though she hated the prospect.

"I want them back if I leave the island too," she said, "My weapons."

"You want to leave?"

"Can I leave?"

"Yes."

"When?"

Julian worked his mouth around, as if chewing the question.

"Weekends mostly," said Julian, neutrally, "But I take it you want to know if you can leave for good if you wanted to. Am I right?"

Fuzzy nodded seriously.

"You can," said Julian, "You're not a prisoner here. If you want to go home for a day or two, that's perfectly acceptable."

"What if I want to stay for longer?" asked Fuzzy.

"Then you'll talk to me," said Julian, "And if the reason is a good one then we can make arrangements. But if you're asking if you can just come and go as you please without even speaking to anyone then the answer is no."

Fuzzy prickled at the loss of freedom, but she'd anticipated something like this when she'd been disarmed.

"Why not?" asked Fuzzy.

Julian pursed his lips in thought.

"You're significantly behind in your education compared to what you should be for your age," said Julian, "Which isn't your fault. It's just how you were raised. It's going to take a lot of one on one time to get you up to speed but if you're disciplined and motivated, I believe that you can do it. But as for being stuck here, relative isolation in nature increases magical power."

"Does it?" asked Fuzzy.

Julian nodded.

"It does," said Julian, "Isolation has its limits but feeling like you're connected to the natural world is a path to magical power. It's why you're so powerful. Not as powerful as Julie Freeman or any of the teachers, but you're starting in the top ten percent of the school in terms of raw magical ability. Even a lot of seniors would have a hard time obtaining the power you have from spending time out in Puyallup. Even though it's desolate out there, you connected to the environment and so the environment connected to you. Your magic increases as a result."

Fuzzy smiled a little smugly and kicked her feet at the end of the dock.

"So I'm powerful, huh?" she asked.

"In raw, magical ability yes," said Julian, "And you're one of the rarer types of awakened, called a mystic adept. You have adept magic, which is body magic and you have most of the abilities of a classic shaman: Spellcasting, summoning, alchemy and enchanting, though most focus one two or three of those disciplines at most. You can't astrally project like a full shaman and you can't assense the astral world without tools either. In fact, the only thing that would slow you down is that you have too many options. Most mystic adepts don't specialize. They become generalists."

This information pleased Fuzzy even more and she couldn't help but smile.

"So I can do almost anything?" she asked.

Julian shook his head no.

"Magic has limits as you'll learn," said Julian, "But it'll be a long time until you rub up against your limits. You're only at the beginning of what you can accomplish here. I won't promise anything like earth shattering power but if you give me a couple of years to work with you'll be extremely competent at whatever you put your mind to."

Fuzzy wondered about that. What power meant. In the barrens the gangs had power which is why she stayed clear of them as much as possible. So if that was what power meant, she didn't really want it, especially after thinking she was going to get initiated into a gang only minutes ago. She didn't really know what she wanted out of magic, but she was curious.

"It sounds interesting," said Fuzzy.

Julian grinned boyishly.

"It is," said Julian, "Magic isn't a toy, but it is fun. Useful too."

"Mother Bear said I could learn to hunt better. What kind of magic could I use to do that?"

Julian nodded and rubbed his chin in thought.

"For spells?" he asked, "All sorts of combat spells, though you won't learn them here for a few years. You could cast detection spells that would simply show you where an animal would be, or even all animals in an area. You could turn invisible..."

Fuzzy's eyes widened.

"I can turn invisible?" she asked, a little awed, "With magic?"

"Yes," said Julian, "It has limits and you'll learn about them if you decide to learn that spell, but invisibility is a handy spell to have."

Now that sounded interesting to Fuzzy. It would not only help with hunting but it'd be easier to slip away from threats if she could turn invisible. Especially since she already knew how to be stealthy. She almost decided to stay there on the spot, but there were problems. Deep and dangerous problems in her opinion. And she needed to think before making a decision. Sometimes it was good to make a snap decision, but for now she decided to take her time before she committed to anything.

"I need to think for a minute," said Fuzzy.

"Take your time," said Julian.

Fuzzy idly kicked her feet as she sat at the end of the dock. This place with all of its nature and water and people was distracting but she didn't want to move before she made her decision. Her attention turned inwards towards an essential problem.

In the barrens, weapons meant freedom. This was the harsh and simple logic of a harsh place. It was a place that had been abandoned by governments and corporations and police. In fact, Fuzzy only had a passing familiarity with these concepts. There was no law and there was no order in her part of the Puyallup Barrens. There were only customs that people generally lived by, the way things were. Those who were strong could defend themselves. Those who were not generally lived under someone else's boot. It wasn't a hard rule. There were exceptions. But a small, teenage girl like Fuzzy wasn't strong enough to bend them. If she lost her ability to defend herself then there was a very good chance that she would lose her freedom and become someone's victim.

There were many things that she didn't understand, but Julian didn't understand that to her, weapons meant freedom and they got her food and pelts, which meant security. Maybe he had some sort of sense of this as he'd tried to give her weapons back sometimes. However, her weapons weren't just tools for hunting. They were tools for defense. And at present, all she could do to defend herself was to punch someone, hide or flee. These weren't good options. Fuzzy was very strong for her size, but she was still small.

Part of her wanted to just take her bow and go home. Puyallup was a lean, harsh place, but she did understand it. There she knew how to survive and thrive. But this place, this school, represented an opportunity. And her weapons weren't exactly essential to defending herself. In fact, she was going through a safety class for magic right now and she was learning a lot of the same, exact rules for what not to do with magic that she'd learned with weapons.

So as she stared out into the black expanse of shifting water, towards the lights of the city, she made a decision. She would compromise. Her physical weapons: Bow, spear, knives and traps weren't her only means of defending herself. In fact it was glaringly obvious that magic could be a weapon. They'd told her that she couldn't learn combat magic or control the minds of others, but she didn't need to throw balls of fire to defend herself. In fact, that was limiting. Her first spells should be like her hunting weapons, both a useful tool and a way to defend herself. Combat spells would come later.

She didn't want strength for its own sake. All she wanted was enough strength to defend herself and push back against rules that she didn't agree with. She had this feeling that no matter what she said or did, Julian wouldn't compromise much more than he already had. However, magic could serve the same exact purpose. When she was strong, she could carve out a niche for herself here just like she had in Puyallup. The rules she agreed with she would live by because she wasn't contrary for her own sake. The rules she didn't like, she would bend or break.

"I think I'll stay," said Fuzzy, finally.

"Glad to hear it," said Julian, "I will need something from you though."

Fuzzy looked up at Julian and frowned. More rules.

"Something else?" she asked.

"Well, this school isn't just for magic," he said, "I'll want you to learn regular subjects too: English, history, science, math, some electives, that sort of thing."

Fuzzy's frown deepened.

"I thought this school was just for magic," she said.

Julian laughed which soured Fuzzy's mood.

"Oh no," he said, "I bet some of the students wished it, but no. We're not just going to release newly minted awakened out into the world with only a middle school education. What a nightmare."

He shook his head in disbelief, still chuckling.

"You'll learn magic, but you'll still learn regular subjects," said Julian, "You won't be the first student that we've had privately tutored to catch up. I've had students less educated than you and far less willing to learn."

Again, Fuzzy thought about this. There were things here that she didn't know. Originally she'd just come here to learn magic and she hadn't figured that learning normal subjects were part of the deal. Once again she was reminded that the price was never the price. That there were always expectations within any deal.

"Will they be useful?" she asked, "Rat Man said you'd try to teach me some useless things."

Julian smiled wryly.

"Oh he did, did he?" said Julian, a little coolly.

"Yes," said Fuzzy, simply.

Julian mustered the patience that comes with being a schoolteacher and put on his best smile.

"There are some lessons that are less useful than others," he said, "There are some lessons that don't seem like they'll be immediately useful either. Some lessons that are useful to one person might not be useful to another. Some lessons aren't useful, but they are fun. And some lessons, I'll admit, aren't very useful at all."

"Why would you teach useless things?" asked, baffled.

"That's a simple question with a lot of different complicated answers," said Julian, with a sigh, "Someday, if you want to be bored to tears, I'll teach you about institutions and committees and how they sometimes get in the way. But not tonight. How about a useful lesson instead?"

Fuzzy grunted in assent and Julian straightened his posture.

"So I understand that you don't quite fit in here yet," said Julian, in his best teaching voice, "And that you're probably a little mad at me for not explaining everything to you before you got here. My problem is that even if I told you everything you needed to know, you wouldn't have learned much. Some things need to be experienced, not just taught."

Fuzzy seemed to think about this and her mood turned a little less sour. Rat Man had told her that people wouldn't understand her. It seemed obvious that she wouldn't understand others as well.

"Yeah, it's different here," she said, "Really different."

Julian lifted up both red cups that he'd sat down.

"So what I have here are two drinks," he said, "Are you thirsty?"

Fuzzy was thirsty, actually. So she reached out for the cup that Julian offered her and took it. Out of habit, she looked at the color of the water and even in the darkness she could see that it was slightly brown, which didn't say much of the quality of the water. Normally she'd be hesitant to drink bad water because drinking bad water was a simple and predictable way to die out in the barrens, but this water also smelled sweet. So at Julian's urging, she tasted the water.

"It's apple water," she said.

"Apple juice," he amended.

"That's what I said," she countered.

He smirked, but didn’t call her out on the lie.

"Great. I brought the right kind," he said, "So I didn't fill it up that much and I don't have much of it left. Would you like more?"

"What do you want for it?" she asked suspiciously.

"Think of it as part of the lesson," he said, "You will pay for it by learning. Or at least attempting to learn.”

She nodded. That she could understand. She allowed him to take her cup, he poured the juice into the second cup, this one containing water and then handed her the cup that was now mostly water with just a little juice.

"Drink up," he said.

She eyed it dubiously, because again, it was out of habit. He sighed and took a drink before she took it and sipped some herself.

"You poured the apple juice in water," she said.

"Right," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"So this school...We want it to be like the juice,” he said, slowly, choosing his words carefully, “Potent…Er…Not watered down. It used to be like this a long time ago, but slowly, little by little, we have introduced water to the juice. It's still drinkable, but not as good."

"It's okay," she said.

It really was. Even watered down it was far tastier than anything she'd ever had in the barrens. Far cleaner too.

"Okay isn't good enough," he said, "We want to be the best, but we can't do that all at once. Would you like some more juice?"

"Yes," she said.

She reached for the juice but Julian pulled his hand back.

"You can't just drink the juice," said Julian, "We need to add juice to the water."

"Why?"

Julian shrugged.

"Because water is what we have," said Julian, "With a little bit of juice. And all we can do now is add juice to the water."

"That's dumb."

Julian sighed and nodded.

"I'm aware, trust me," he said, "My cup of juice? That's the school ten years ago. But over time, the school kept adding in more water. What you have is the school of today. It's water with just a little juice left."

"Okay..." she said, still not understanding.

"But watch," said Julian, his voice a little hushed, "As I add more juice to the water of today."

He poured a little juice into Fuzzy's water.

"Kenji," he started.

He poured a little more.

"Julie," he continued.

He ended his object lesson a third pour.

"And now you,” he finished. “Now drink. What do you notice?"

She drank. It was still watered down, but stronger now. Tastier.

"It's still apple water," she said.

"Apple juice," he corrected.

"No, there's water in it. You put it there," she said.

Julian's lips made a line of frustration, but he smoothed out his features

"Okay, you’re right,” said Julian. “So if I poured apple juice into the apple water, and you three are juice, what does that make the apple water? What does that make the school of today?"

"Tastier?" asked Fuzzy.

"A little extra flavor you might say," said Julian, "What else?

She looked down at the cup.

"Browner," she said.

"How about more potent?" he asked.

Fuzzy said nothing as she didn't understand that word.

"How about stronger," he amended.

Sudden comprehension dawned upon Fuzzy. Julian's face lit up with hers into a big smile.

"They're weak!" she exclaimed, "All your students are weak!"

Julian's face fell and he shook his head.

"No. That is not quite right," he said, seriously, "If you think that any of the students here are weak you are in for a nasty surprise. They are powerful in a way you don't comprehend and won't until later. This is why I was worried when I heard you hit someone."

Fuzzy let out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't get it," she said, and her shoulders slumped.

"They're not weak, but people like you, Kenji and Julie can make them better," he explained, "You all have the potential for real magical strength. You make them stronger by being among them and challenging them to do better. Or at least that's the hope."

In a fit of arrogance, Fuzzy smiled at him and waggled her head ever so slightly side to side.

"But I am already juice," she joked.

"Yes, but you were in the wrong cup," he said, and smiled knowingly, "And you're not as strong as you could be, otherwise you wouldn't nee a school to learn magic. You may have learned magic in that cup, in the barrens. Maybe a little, but who knows? You might even flourish there, but the life expectancy of an awakened without guidance is usually a short one. If it's not short, it's usually awful. I don't recommend it."

Julian's knowing smile faded from his face. He looked towards the water.

"Do you understand your place here now?" he asked.

"I'm here to better myself," she said.

"And?" he prompted.

"And to help others by being strong,” she said, "And to make your school strong."

Julian waggled his head from side to side as if deciding something and then nodded to himself.

"Good enough for today," he said. "Not perfect, but good."

"If I knew this was what you wanted I would have bargained for more," griped Fuzzy.

"Well if it makes you feel any better when you're done with the magical safety course we teach you your first spell."

This made Fuzzy interested.

"When is that?" she asked.

"When you finish the safety course. Then you'll pick a spell and practice it until you master it."

"How do I know which one would be best?" she asked.

"You'll have time to study what you'll want and choose," said Julian, "We prohibit spells from the combat school of magic and from the school of manipulation magic that deals with subverting free will, but we allow for illusion magic, detection magic, healing magic and the physical branch of manipulation magic. For instance, invisibility for example would fall under illusion magic. Finding animals would fall under detection magic."

While invisibility sounded great, she did have other priorities. If she was being honest with herself, what she was looking for first in a spell was a tool.

"What about healing?" she asked.

This seemed to make Julian relax by a few degrees.

"Well, it's the branch of magic that has to do with healing," said Julian, "You can mend wounds, cure ailments, cure poisons from animals, that sort of thing. There's also a branch that boosts or decreases your natural attributes."

"I could make myself stronger?" she asked.

"Or smarter," said Julian, "The increase logic spell is a favorite of students for studying. We don't allow it in class but for most students, it cuts study time in half."

"And by study you mean...Practice?" she asked, slowly.

"Yes," said Julian, "We do set limits on how long you're allowed to boost yourself though. You can become addicted, so we generally don't teach those in the first years. And we don't teach decreasing spells at all."

"Why not?"

"If you rob a weak person of all of their strength, they could die," said Julian, seriously, "It can cause the heart to stop beating. Or if you messed with someone's brain enough with a logic spell you might send them into a coma...A...Ah, deep sleep that they wouldn't wake up from."

Fuzzy nodded. That made sense at least. If she was being honest with herself, the spell she was most interested in was healing. She couldn't count the times when turned an ankle or woken up sore or worst of all, cut herself and attracted predators, especially ghouls. If she could heal herself then she'd be at her peak at all times. So she had a question.

"Ghouls hunt by smell and sound," she said, "Does invisibility cover up smell?"

"No," said Julian, "There are spells for that, but invisibility is only sight based."

Fuzzy nodded to herself. Invisibility was good, but in the barrens, ghouls had been the number one threat. They'd been people once, but they'd gotten infected and needed meat to survive. The meat of people. She'd lost friends to them. In a sprint, she could actually outrun a ghoul, but only if she was at her peak.

"What about a heal spell?" she asked.

"Thinking about getting into the medical field?" asked Julian, with a hint of excitement.

"No," said Fuzzy, flatly, "I just want something that's useful."

Julian's smile diminished.

"Well, the basic heal spell is the most common spell out there," said Julian, "Over half of awakened who can cast spells have it."

"Will it seal up a cut?" asked Fuzzy.

"It can heal anything short of death in just a few seconds," said Julian, "Well, if you're good enough. Though you'll have to use it within an hour of the initial wound. And you only get one shot at it. If you fail you can't try again."

"Why?"

Julian shrugged.

"The why of it is probably beyond you right now," he said, "Once you become basically educated you can take my arcana class and learn some magical theory. Until then, any answer I'd give you would probably wouldn't mean anything to you."

Fuzzy wasn't happy with this answer, but she did accept it.

"Can you show me some magic?" she asked.

"Diego does magic," said Julian, "Hasn't he shown you some?"

It took Fuzzy a moment to understand that he meant Rat Man.

"Oh, right," said Fuzzy, "He heals wounds, cleans water and mends clothes."

"Too practical for you?" asked Julian.

Fuzzy blushed a little in embarrassment.

"He has this instrument that he plays sometimes," said Fuzzy, slowly, "Some kind of flute. He says it's magic, but I don't know. He doesn't talk about it much. Do you..."

Before Fuzzy could finish her thought, Julian had already reached into his pocket and placed a few round stones on the ground that had been polished smooth by the waters of the Puget Sound. She grew quiet, her question forgotten as she watched and waited for him to do real magic.

He placed his hands over the stones and twitched his fingers. Both his fingers and stones began to glow brightly. All five of the the stones moved as if on strings attached to his fingers. However, there was no string. When he twitched a finger the corresponding stone would rise. When he relaxed his finger it would fall. He turned over his hand and the stones flipped. He twitched all of his fingers and snatched them out of the air with a small flourish.

"Doesn't seem very useful," she said, unimpressed.

"I'm just warming up," said Julian, "Just watch."

Without warning, the stones began to glow brighter still. Then they silently shot out towards the water to the side of the breakwater, as if hurled, even though his hand hadn't moved. Fuzzy had never seen a skipped stone before, but she watched as the stones kept skipping and turned in a circular pattern. They danced across the waves, through them, even under them, always emerging, bright and speedy and moving and shining like no stone should.

"So you control rocks?" asked Fuzzy.

"I'm controlling gravity and light," said Julian, "With a combination of the levitation spell, which lets me slowly lift objects great and small. A light spell to illuminate them so you can see them in the dark. Then with the fling spell I can move smaller objects as if I'd thrown them. So if you mean delicately weaving three spells together, then yes, I control rocks."

Fuzzy frowned in confusion. She knew what light was, but not gravity.

"What's gravity?" she asked, "Is that another spell?"

Each of the five rocks skipped hard out of the waves and began to merrily dance in the air like fairy lights. They just stayed their in midair while Julian lectured.

"No," said Julian, "It's a force that you'll learn about in school. Not in your magical classes either, but your regular classes. Some spells manipulate the world and you can more easily use magic if you understand how the world works."

Though they were interesting, the tiny, shiny, levitating rocks just hadn't wowed her like she hoped. As if sensing this, Julian held out his hand and the stones shot back into his open palm. He extinguished the light spell and pocketed the stones. Then he held out his hands, palms up and lifted them up slowly past his shoulders, as a showman would. Julian levitated a large stone from the school's breakwater, which was a large pile of stones laid out to keep waves from hitting the dock. The stone he lifted looked like was at least a hundred pounds. Then he plucked an enormous global of water out of the Sound itself. It rose into the air. Both objects hovered in the dark, for he'd not bothered to illuminate them.

"Now I'm good with gravity," said Julian, "But my specialty is fire. Just watch."

Fuzzy's eyes widened as Julian's hands closed. The darkness was suddenly illuminated as the glob of water began to steam. There was no fireball or a jet of flame. Two, tiny flames simply appeared between stone an water like stars plucked from the heavens. Though they were small, Fuzzy could feel the sudden heat radiating even here, hundreds of feet away, for Julian moved the display further away for safety's sake.

"They're so tiny," said Fuzzy, quietly, "I thought they'd be bigger. Brighter."

It wasn't a criticism. Fuzzy had just expected something different from someone who controlled fire.

"I don't need much light, just enough for you to see," he said, completely controlled and unruffled, "As for heat, some big, bright ball of fire is a waste of space and energy. Anyone can do that. This is what total control looks like."

One of those stars shot directly into the levitating glob of water. Immediately it began to boil. Within seconds, a ton and a half of water was mere steam that drifted away from them on the wind, soon harmless as it began to cool.

"And next, the stone," murmured Julian.

Julian let one hand drop, but focused on the other hand that "held up" the stone. Unlike water, which could boil, Fuzzy understood, rocks didn't usually burst into flame. However, as the star impacted the stone, this one did. But then, the fire that burned the rock, that danced unnaturally across the stone, turned inwards on itself and became bright. In moments, the levitating stone began to melt. Some of it was just slag that popped off the mass into the night, but most of the now liquid stone was allowed to slowly drizzle into the ocean, like room temperature honey off a spoon. Soon the stone was no more and the demonstration was over.

"Oh," said Fuzzy, again, quietly, "You melted a stone."

"Mhm," said Julian, "I could burn it hotter if I chose, but sublimating something like a stone is dangerous in case the wind changes. I don't want anyone inhaling it. Also it would take me about half an hour to gather the necessary heat. Not that fun to watch."

Julian laced his fingers together, turned them around and stretched. His knuckles cracked.

"Sub-what-mate?" asked Fuzzy, confused.

"Sublimate," said Julian, "Turning something from a solid into a gas, but you skip the liquid stage. And if you apply yourself to your schooling, you'll eventually learn about it in your science lessons."

Julian smirked and ever so slightly mimicked Fuzzy's head waggle. Then he plucked his drink out of the air, which Fuzzy realized only now that he'd been levitating his near him the entire time. She'd been so focused that she hadn't even noticed.

"Magic lets me put on a show, but that kind of magic doesn't have a lot of use for me," said Julian, "But I did need to learn a few non-magical lessons in order to learn how to do that. That display would've been impossible if I didn't know how the world works. If you want to be a great awakened then you'll apply yourself to your studies."

He handed her his now full cup of apple juice.

"Enjoy your juice," he said, "And please, if you want to hit someone in the future, come to me first. I can help you sort it out."

He walked off the dock and Fuzzy turned to stare at his back. On the beach, she saw that everyone, absolutely everyone who attended the party had been staring at the display.

Fuzzy, Kenji, Sasha and Julie - Tuesday, July 24th, 2074 - Noon - Blake Island

Fuzzy went to bed later on that night. She hadn't been punished but she understood that she had been warned. She'd become the center of attention having punched another student and gotten away with it. When people asked she told them what Kenji told her to tell them.

"He touched my butt," she'd say.

The lie wasn't a hard sell despite the fact that she didn't look particularly upset. After all she was the weird kid so people took that part in stride. All around the island the students would look at her and whisper before, during and after class. People talked about her, which she didn't like, but at least the lie that Kenji had fed her was so simple that even she could tell it which may have been the point. Kenji had touched her and she'd defended herself, as simple as that.

Mother Bear helped her set up her commlink after class. She wasn't released so early this time. There Kenji was, tied to the pole yet again. She'd seen him in class with a nasty purple bruise across his cheek, courtesy of her first, but he hadn't made eye contact. Eventually she approached him as he sat tied there by ropes to the shame pole. The pole was an unadorned, normal looking log with its bark removed and stained to resist the elements. It was thrust into the ground on a hill overlooking the long, picnic style lunch tables for all to see. As had two more poles not far away from them. Surprisingly, Sasha was already there and she was giving Kenji the business as Fuzzy approached.

"Pervert," she snapped.

"Guilty," he agreed.

"I'm glad they didn't heal you," she said.

"Yes, I've learned a very valuable lesson," he said in mock seriousness.

"Yeah, you're wearing it," she said, scathingly, "Maybe you should live here instead of your cabin."

"You wound me," he teased.

"Not yet I fucking haven't," she snapped.

Kenji was completely unphased by the withering glare that Sasha shot him. In fact, he brightened as he spied Fuzzy. Sasha caught Kenji’s sudden interest and turned to find Fuzzy standing there. For an instant, Fuzzy got that death glare before Sasha looked away and got her emotions under control, suddenly embarrassed. Fuzzy's new friend was intimidating, which she appreciated and acknowledged that fact with a nod of respect.

"Hello Fuzzy. I touched you without your consent. That is my shame," he said, with ritual significance, "No bad feelings?"

She looked him up and down and frowned, but with a significant glance from Kenji while Sasha's face was turned she nodded.

"No bad feelings," repeated Fuzzy.

Sasha turned her glare back on Kenji and made a disgusted noise, her hands on her hips..

"She is way more forgiving than I'd be. Keep your hands to yourself. I'll give you nightmares," threatened Sasha, "Literally, I'll give you nightmares. You'll never look at clowns the same way again."

"Aren't you supposed to not threaten the freshmen before the safety class is over?" asked Kenji.

"They'll just stick me next to you," said Sasha, hotly, "You want that? Because I can keep this up all day."

"The more the merrier."

She made another disgusted sound and turned to Fuzzy. Her scowl changed into a nervous smile.

"See you at the lunch table?" she asked.

"Sure," said Fuzzy.

Sasha's smile warmed from anxious to bright before she nodded and left with a final warning glance directed at Kenji.

"You know you hit me pretty hard," said Kenji, "You didn't have to hit me that hard."

"I think the girls would be madder at you if I didn't," Fuzzy said, thoughtfully.

Kenji pursed his lips in thought and the nodded.

"Yeah, fair,” said Kenji, “I mean, no one is allowed to actually hit me on this thing. Big consequences if you do. But as for you, if you'd hit me any harder last night it would've been lights out. I’m glad to know I have something to work with. You think about my offer?"

"To help me with people?" she asked.

"Yeah. Also, I know you're listening, Mother Bear," he said to the air, "I didn't molest Fuzzy, honest. I'm keeping her out of trouble in my own special way. Cut me some slack?"

Fuzzy looked around, but saw no one.

"She's not here,” said Fuzzy.

"You'd think that," he said, slyly, "Back me up?"

It took Fuzzy a second to figure out what he was asking about, but she nodded.

"Kenji helped me out," said Fuzzy, "He didn't actually touch my butt. Sorry."

A few seconds later, the rope that bound him slackened as if by magic, though it wasn't.

"Nice," said Kenji, "Now, let's walk and talk."

Kenji stood up and dusted himself off.

"I promised to go back and sit though," she said.

"No problem. Walk and talk to the lunch line then.".

So they went. They descend the tiny hill and walked past the tables. Students stared at Kenji, who despite having told everyone that he'd touched Fuzzy and had been thumped for it, walked free and clear through the hungry and chatting students. And what's more, Fuzzy walked with him.

Now in the lunch line, Kenji laid his tray heavily with the highest calorie, greasiest, most terrible of foods that he could find. High in sugar, high in fat, high in preservatives, and high he piled them.

"Anyway, you seem useful," he said, casually, "I know I'm useful. I want to demonstrate my usefulness to you so we can strike up a friendly relationship. We hit the town for a day, I teach you how to get along and if you like how it works out for you, you come back to me later and we can discuss terms."

Fuzzy grabbed a sandwich called a "BLT", which she knew were letters at least. It contained bacon and some sort of weird, red, sliced fruit that she wasn't familiar with. She took a bite, found it delightful and grabbed two more sandwiches along with some soy fries and ketchup on the side.

"You seem to think I don't value my own time," said Fuzzy.

Fuzzy smirked at this. She wasn't good with people, but she knew business. Rat Man had taught her how to haggle. Meat and hide swapped for more if you knew not only how to haggle, but how to establish a good relationship with who you sold to.

"What, free isn't good enough for you?" asked Kenji, amused.

"This isn't free," she countered, "You're trying to invest in me."

They continued to move down the line. It put a time limit on negotiations, which Fuzzy liked. So she could afford to dicker.

"Okay, I suppose you’re right," he mused, "Fine, I'll pay for lunch while we're out."

Fuzzy remembered the sting of being skinned by Julian’s negotiations. She decided to be more up front with what she wanted and get better promises from him.

"Not enough,” she said, quickly, “The way you said it you could just get me cup noodles."

"Fair enough. How about something else?"

Fuzzy craned her neck as Kenji stopped to admire a strawberry. He took a bite, nodded in appreciation, but took nothing more.

"Heard you got your weapons taken from you," said Kenji, his tone low, "I've got my spare survival knife in my stash at home. How's that sound?"

Fuzzy’s eyes lit up and she interrupted him before he could continue. Another weapon would be handy.

"Keep in mind you wouldn't be able to sneak it into school," said Kenji, "Security is tight. But it's good to have a weapon when you're walking around."

Fuzzy agreed with that, but she felt like she could still get more.

"Okay," she said, "Lunch and a knife. But I want something much better than cup noodles to eat. I want a realmeal.”

"Deal,” he said, easily.

This turned Fuzzy's mood. He'd agreed too easily. She probably could've gotten more out of him.

They walked past the few students in the lunchroom who ate inside today and made their way out, still walking and talking.

"Oh," he added, "And don't set the story about me grabbing you straight just yet."

"Why?" asked Fuzzy.

"I want people to chatter a little about why I'm off the shame pole so soon," he said.

"You like the attention?" she asked.

"If it gets me what I want."

"And what's that?"

Kenji only grinned.

"You're a hustler," she sighed.

"Guilty," said Kenji, "Nuyen, favors, items procured, secrets found out or kept. Work with me and I'll work with you."

Fuzzy wasn't so sure about him, but if he wanted to invest in her it would cost him. Her time wasn't free. After all, she was getting paid to go to school. She parted with Kenji at the end of the lunch line and sat down with Sasha. Julie sat close by but she was still by herself. Fuzzy looked pleased.

"I don't get it," said Sasha. "He molests you, you punch him and now you're talking? Does any of that bother you?"

"He knows I can punch him again," said Fuzzy, smugly.

Sasha giggled and nodded.

"Truth,” she said with a grin.

---

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