Dawning Skye

“Are the Barrens on the other side of here?” she asked as she placed her hands on the wall.

“Aye. This be the closest field to them,” Murdoc stated.

“I prefer the term Hell Fields, me self. Bit more dramatic,” Gavin added with a smile.

Skye’s face was pensive as she let her magic flow; “That would be a more apt name fer ’em, I think. Radiation tis leachin’ into the soil.”

“How do ye know about radiation? Aren’t ye from the south?” Gavin asked with confusion in his tone.

Skye smirked; “I read about it in an ancient tome. There’s not nearly as many as what ye got here, but I had a fair selection ta choose from. Once I finished all the anatomy books I could find, I started in on the more complicated ones. Tumors and Many other complications can be caused by radiation, so I researched it a bit.”

“How much?” Gavin asked with high interest.

“Enough ta know that I have ta speed up the decay of the isotopes, then be careful of and nullify the things it breaks down into after that. Like fer example: did ye know that high-grade plutonium breaks down into uranium? I canna remember the numbers jargon, though.”

.....

Amara watched as Gavin’s face went from surprised to excited when Skye had finished talking. While he usually has a smile on his face, the one he had on there right now was one of pure elation. In all of the Highlands, there was maybe three others that had limited knowledge about the elements and their breakdowns.

To meet another person who’s knowledge was as extensive as his was unbelievably rare. As excitement bloomed in Gavin, the ground beneath their feet began to shake..

Skye had put a great deal of magic into the ground, but was still pumping out more. As the rocks and dirt vibrated with her control, an earthy smell invaded everyone’s nostrils ten-fold. Skye wasn’t just taking the heavy metals out of the ground, she was removing it from the barley seedlings that had been slowly absorbing the minerals around them.

If she would’ve left them as-is, when the harvest came, they would have to scrap the entire field. As Skye cleansed the ground, a tiny fissure opened up, and liquid metal spilled forth. It was easier to gather and shift it while in a heated state.

After plutonium breaks down into uranium, uranium can be broken down into lead. Once the toxic elements have been broken down and filtered out, all Skye was left with was basic lead. Of course she had to do a bit of re-structuring to get it to the useable, non-toxic kind, but she needed it for later...

“How are ye getting’ it hot? Yer no Flame Mystic,” Amara asked with obvious astonishment.

Skye pulled a face; “Tis a bit hard ta explain. I make the molecules move around really fast, and that causes friction. The friction heats the element ta whatever I want it ta be, then I can mold it, combine it with somethin’ else, divide it: pretty much whatever I want wit it.”

“That is Amazin’! And ye can do that with any element?!” Gavin exclaimed.

“Well, Ima not sure if it tis every element, but I havena come across one I couldn’t manipulate. The only thing is I canna directly affect the air. Don’t have that magic yet.”

“What do ye mean ‘yet’?” Gavin asked.

Skye quirked an eyebrow at him; “Ye do know that Ima the Catalyst, right?”

Gavin’s jaw dropped as he recalled Amara saying something about a catalyst, but he had assumed that she meant something science-related. As her balled-up fists went to her hips in a very ‘Peggy’ fashion, Gavin braced himself for Amara’s chiding..

“I told ye that the other day! Were ye not listenin’ ta me?!”

Gavin rubbed at the back of his neck; “Well tis hard ta hear ye when ye come in hollerin’ about somethin’, and Ima workin’. It takes me a few minutes ta stop.”

Amara’s expression grew harsher; “I told ye that twenty minutes into the conversation! Ye were tinkerin’ then!”

With no comebacks or excuses, Gavin apologized to his best friend for ignoring her the other day. It wasn’t like he did it often, but it was rude none the less. As she forgave him, the ground shook again as Skye shifted the massive pile of nearly molten lead back towards herself.

Stepping backwards, Skye lifted her hand, then motioned towards the wall. The lead slammed against it, then spread out in every direction. Seeping into the cracks in the wall, and boring into the ground.

Once it had spread out far and deep enough, Skye solidified it. Creating a lead wall that would stop future leaks until she could fix the real problem. As she wiped her hands together, she turned towards the group and said; “That should do for now. At least until I can clean up the source.”

Malcolm scoffed loudly, drawing everyone’s attention; “Yer daft! No one person is capable of clearin’ away all the toxicity that twas in this field! Especially not that fast! We’ve been-”

“I can test the soil for toxicity!” Gavin volunteered hastily.

“Won’t that take too long? Do ye need ta go back ta yer lab?” Murdoc asked with confusion in his tone.

“Na, I can test the pH ta see if it’s still toxic,” Gavin said as he pulled a pH strip out of his bag.

After he dug into the cold ground a bit, Gavin grabbed some semi-moist soil, then pressed the pH strip to it. He waited until he knew that the strip was ready, then looked at it..

“We got a seven point one! We’re good!” turning to Skye, Gavin grinned broadly; “Ye seem ta live up ta yer reputation.”

“Not that ye would know what that tis because ye didna listen ta me,” Amara stated in an irritated voice.

“I said I was sorry-”

Gavin tried to apologize again, but Malcolm cut him off; “That canna be true! Tis impossible!”

Skye narrowed her eyes on the old man; “Ye know, I can explain the process to ya, but it doesna help if ye don’t know what Ima talkin’ about.”

Flustered, Malcolm went to start yelling, but Skye cut him off by adding; “The only one who knows what I do just told ye I fixed it. Now, askin’ him ta test other patches of soil, that’d be one thing.. But I willna stand here and listen to You call me a liar, got it?”

As she’d spoken, Skye had walked over to the cantankerous old man. Her golden eyes were sharp as they pierced through him. Making Malcolm shrink back. When she’d finished anger flared in his eyes as he started to say; “How dare you! I’m a member of-”

“A member of the Highlanders’ Council, yeah, yeah; we know. Ye keep sayin’ it like it matters ta me,” Skye paused as she took one final intimidating step towards him; “The only thing that does matter is respect and manners, and you, sir, have neither. Ye shouldn’t expect what Yer not willin’ ta give.”

Malcolm’s face turned red from anger and embarrassment, which was comical to Amara and Murdoc, but Mickey felt uncomfortable. Seeing it, Skye turned towards Murdoc to change the subject; “By the way: Ima need a favor if ye want me ta clear those other fields.”

“Ye see! She’s not a benevolent saint or god! She’s a bloody extortionist!” Malcolm hollered.

Tidas could see that Skye was at her limit, so he stepped in; “So you want my wife and the rest of the RMC to fix your fields, fix an ancient and deadly power source, and kill the monster in the north for nothing but a roof over our heads, and a signature? ...How are you a councilor again?”

Malcolm was ready to explode, but Murdoc cut him off; “No, Ima sure that’s not what Malcolm meant-”

“Sounded like it ta me,” Amara muttered, but Murdoc ignored her.

“I tell ye what: ye get this waste of space away from me, and we’ll talk,” Skye said while gesturing to Malcolm.

Before Malcolm could dig a bigger hole, Murdoc and Mickey practically dragged him away. Skye looked to Amara with a small grin; “He is such an arse! Ye know I was lyin’, right?”

“Of course, but I take it that the request was real?” Amara inquired as she happily watched the two arguing with Malcolm as they disappeared from sight.

“Aye. I was gonna ask if I could use one of the Barrens after I fix them for a couple weeks. Oh! And I need ta borrow some seeds, too. I’ll replace them after the two weeks.”

Amara looked at Skye with a surprised expression, then chuckled before she said; “Oy, is Malcolm gonna look like an Arse when he hears what ye requested! Hahahahaha!”

Tidas grinned as Amara, Gavin, and Skye laughed, but he was stewing inside. He didn’t like Malcolm to begin with because of his attitude. Plus, the conversation that he’d had with Mickey earlier had greatly unsettled Tidas to the point of wanting to assign a Tamer to watch him.

‘What could they want with armor? Whose armor? Does he want mine or Skye’s because they’re made of dragon leather? To what end? What would be the purpose?’

As thoughts piled on in his mind, Tidas snapped back when Skye said; “We should head ta the next field. Murdoc can catch up once he gets rid of the baggage..”

************

After Murdoc left the two, Mickey made his way down to the RMC bunker..

‘I don’t want ta do this.. I wish Malcolm didna make me.. They’ll hate me now.. But there’s nothin’ I can do.. He’ll kick Petrie’s family out if I don’t...’

As Mickey walked into the bunker absentmindedly, Arthur saw him and stopped him; “Hey there, laddie! Do you need something? Murdoc and Amara took the General and Commander to a hospital somewhere, and we don’t know when they’ll be back.”

Shocked that he’d gone inside without realizing it, Mickey sputtered; “O-Oh, aye. I just wanted ta talk ta Skye about somethin’. I-I’ll come back another time..”

“Okay! Have a good walk back,” Arthur said as he waved, then went back to his business.

Mickey turned around with a sense of relief.. Until he looked at the side of the doorway. Knowing it was his only chance, Mickey swallowed hard, then headed towards it. Half a set of Alconian armor was sitting against the wall unattended..

As he went to walk out, Mickey acted like he tripped on his shoelace, which he’d intentionally left untied in case this was the scenario he was stuck with. Bending down, he tied it, then slipped a gauntlet into his furs before walking back out the door..