Tanchi walked through the forest, looking for animals. Animals were his only companionship, as he had the Gift. The kid who had first stumbled on it, he had turned to the other side, so anyone with the gift was banned from the underground world. Supposedly, there were three others with the Gift who hadn't been killed by animals, or joined thoseAbove. And for good reason, too. With the power they had, it was too easy to make a mistake. Tanchi had almost lost a hand, and he nearly blinded himself twice. For some reason, those who were born above could only use Time, and the other three elements had just been discovered. Four drownings, three third-degree burns, and too many people blinded to count were the results of the power. Tanchi had just learned to use Time properly, and it was difficult even to someone who had used it several times. Suddenly, he heard three loud twangs. He stopped time just before one of three arrows could hit him in the chest. Too close, he thought to himself. Who shot those? I don't see anybody in the direction they came from...
He started time, only to hear two more "twangs". From completely the opposite direction. Although he was unaware of it, a boy came up, stopped time, and placed the arrows directly in front of him. As luck would have it, as soon as he started time, Tanchi stopped it again. Now it was the boy who was frozen in place. He saw the kidright by the arrows. He put the quiver full of arrows on his own back, took the bow, and unfroze time. With an arrow pointed at the kid.
"Whoever you are," began Tanchi, with plenty of faked confidence, "don't try anything funny. Why were you trying to shoot me?"
The boy weakly stuttered, "I-I wa-was trying to- ehm- hit that uh, uh, sn-snake. Yeah, the, uh, snake."
"I don't see any snakes, liar!"
"P-please. Don't, don't hurt me. Please. Th-they made me d-do it. Th-the vill... villagers. They don't w-want anyone... here. Because, well... the-the last one. He started a flood. It, it killed a little girl."
"Say, kid. Where'd you get this bow and the arrows?" asked Tanchi.
"The- the um, shop."
"Well, then. Let's make a little deal. You tell them to let me in your village, and I don't shoot you."
"I, I'm not s-sure." muttered the boy.
"Oh, is that my grip loosening?" laughed Tanchi.
"Yes! Yes, I'll tell them!" With that, he ran off, crying.
Tanchi walked away, looking at the bow the kid had left. It was really fancy. A "compound" as it was called. It even had a mouth piece so he didn't have to grip the string with his fingers. Another good job at faking power, by Tanchi the great. Now only if he could learn to shoot straight, people would really give in. He wanted to help his people, but really he just wanted to be allowed somewhere.
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