Juryokine

Chapter Six

Toke woke up bright and early the morning of his twentieth birthday. As soon as the first few rays of dawn poked their way through his blinds, he was practically leaped out of bed, and twenty minutes later he was showered and dressed. This was it. This would be the day he changed Yasmik.

He didn't find out until later that there had been another Gravity Storm that night.

"It was northwest of Jaggin Heights," Wayli told him, sounding so giddy he almost thought she was happy about it.

"Did they feel it inside the city this time?" Toke asked. He knew he shouldn't think about it too much, what with his presentation only an hour away, but he couldn't help but be curious anyway.

"No," she shook her head, "they say it didn't even touch the mountain. They only knew about it because someone got caught in the very edge of it."

This time, Toke dropped his fork onto his plate in shock. "Somebody actually got caught in one again?"

"Well, only the edge of it," Wayli clarified. "It threw him right out, so he turned and ran back to Jaggin Heights. Nothing but a couple cuts and bruises."

Toke nodded, sighing a little in relief. Even if he didn't know him, it was good to know he had made it out all right. The last one hadn't been so lucky.

"I think it was the mountain," Wayli went on, scooping up her eggs and making a toast sandwich with them. "The Storm was at the base of it, but the city was so high that it was out of range."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Toke nodded his agreement.

"But you've gotta admit, it's pretty scary." If Wayli actually thought it was scary, her smile didn't show it. She looked positively thrilled with the whole situation. "They're getting closer and closer to towns. What will happen when they finally hit one?"

"A big mess," Toke said, ruefully.

"By the way, happy birthday!" she exclaimed, all of a sudden. Her face lit up even brighter, as if they hadn't been discussing such a morbid subject only moments before. "When's your presentation?"

"In an hour," Toke answered, a grin rising to his face. "I have to meet Professor Navras in about fifteen minutes."

Before he could react, Wayli lunged across the table to give him a hug— or, as close to a hug as she could manage from that position.

"Good luck," she said when she'd released him and sat back down. "Don't you dare move out without coming to say goodbye first!"

"I won't, I promise," Toke said, his face turning red behind his smile. He scooped up the last of his eggs. "I should go."

"Good luck!" Wayli called after him.

Once he was out in the hallway, he clenched his fists as his heart skipped with excitement. He hurried back to his room to brush his teeth, trying to ignore the way his stomach turned nervous back flips. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much breakfast. No, no, Professor Navras would have insisted that a proper meal was necessary. It would give him plenty of energy, and keep his stomach from growling during his presentation. Speaking of his presentation, perhaps he ought to go over it one more time for— oh smite, was it that time already? After rinsing his mouth out so quickly that he almost choked, he ran out of his room without even bothering to lock the door behind him.

He dodged and weaved his way through the crowd of students, cursing at them in his head. They didn't understand how important today was. They weren't turning twenty today. He cut off that line of thought halfway to the workshop. Getting angry would only distract him from the task at hand.