cascade | kotlc

9. Here, With You

 "Anyone else getting tired of the Black Swan bossing us around?" Keefe asked after they'd de-furry-pajama-ed and regrouped in the common room of the boys' treehouse. June insisted the boys remain at least thirty feet away from their own waterfall.

The room was decorated like a campsite, with indoor trees, a ceiling linting with stars, and an enormous fire pit in the center. The flames burned in every color of the rainbow, and June stared at it. The fire seemed to call to her with its radiance, just like the air did on windy days and how the sky did when the sun rose. It almost ached, to see such a beautiful fire, controlled to burn how the gnomes wanted it, after Fintan had burned down Oblivimyre and Eternalia.

It was a nice reminder, she supposed. Fire was only a weapon if you wanted it to be.

"I think they just want to make sure everything goes right when we rescue Prentice," Biana said. She was working with Della by the window, learning to hold her invisibility in shifting light. June was practicing her gun aim at special bulletproof targets Mr. Forkle brought in. Needless to say, her aim was perfect.

"It is annoying though," Sophie mumbled, following Fitz to a clump of boulders that turned out to be beanbag chairs.

June sighed, pressing the trigger and hitting the rightward target's heart. Another shot, and a bullet lodged in its throat.

She glanced at Fitz and Sophie every few minutes. They were Cognate training, sharing all of their secrets, right in front of her. It was kind of tactless of her sister.

She sighed, trying to clear her jealousy. She knew Fitz would never dump her, but it still clenched at her heart.

After all, Sophie did have a crush on Fitz, and she still acted all nervous around him. It was... incredibly obvious.

Bang. The target's left eye exploded. June blew at the wisps of smoke rising from the muzzle, watching the thin streaks of black air disappear as they faded away into the fire.

"Can I enter your mind?" Fitz asked.

"Dude, do you realize how creepy that sounds?" Keefe interrupted.

June took aim at the target's right eye and fired. It turns out the targets weren't so bulletproof as it toppled, blown into pieces by the bullet.

"Pretty soon, she won't be hiding anything from me either."

"Yeah, and I can feel how not excited she is about that all the way over here."

She walked to the fallen target and frowned, before setting it aside and returning to her line, setting her sights on the left target, aiming for the knees.

Fitz turned to Sophie. "Is that true?"

"You make her super nervous," Keefe answered for her.

"I take it that's a yes?" Fitz asked.

Bang. Bang. Two flawless shots, directly to the kneecap.

"Well... yeah. But, have you met you?" she asked. "You're, like, Captain Perfect! And I'm-"

June aimed for the heart again.

"The most powerful elf our world has ever known?" Fitz finished.

She missed, for the first time. The bullet skipped over the grassfield and embedded into the wooden walls.

That... really hurt.

She took aim again.

"Grady's way more powerful tha me."