The Emerging Part I: Dream

“Vaiqon!” Hawk exclaims in greeting to the old man as he, Pork, and Fox approach the stage next to the obstacle course upon which Vaiqon is standing.

Vaiqon looks down at the three boys with a warm smile, “Yes?”

“My new friend here would like to attempt the course,” Hawk says excitedly.

Vaiqon glances to the boy Hawk gestures towards his right. Vaiqon sees the boy has close-cropped black hair, fair skin, and piercing blue eyes that observe everything. Vaiqon smiles again, “Very well, son what-” Vaiqon pauses as he briefly looks deep into the boy’s eyes and senses the harsh realty of the boy’s aura the boy has had to persevere.

“Oh, I am so, so very sorry for your loss,” Vaiqon states with the sincerest tone he can muster.

Fox stares at Vaiqon with a dumbfounded gape wondering to himself, ‘Can Vaiqon really know what happened to my family? There’s no way.’

Vaiqon shakes himself inwardly as he then asks, “And what is your name, young man?”

Fox shakes his head outwardly as he responds, “Fox, sir.”

Vaiqon chuckles, “Oh, Fox, you do not have to refer to me in such a formal manner. You may refer to me as Vaiqon, as all of my friends do.”

Fox smiles briefly before Vaiqon then gestures towards the front of the obstacle course near the beginning of the Wall Climb.

“If you would please await your turn behind those that have already gathered, Fox,” Vaiqon delicately commands.

Fox nods then scurries quickly away to the end of the line that has begun to stretch and wrap its away around the obstacle course and inner ring of the Trading Circuit.

Hawk and Pork walk up the stairs to join Vaiqon as his voice concludes, “...-gin whenever you see fit, and you have no time limit,” to alert the first competitor to attempt the course.

Vaiqon, Hawk, and Pork watch as potential victor after potential victor fails again and again, the line shortens quickly. Hawk notices many fail at the Wall Climb, the height alone of the ten foot wall unsettling enough to force many of the children into nearly catatonic states before they run away.

Some of the competitors conquer the Wall Climb, and attempt the Log Roll, but none succeed to the third most terrifying obstacle. Hawk and Pork watch as the last potential victor before Fox is drenched in the pool of water for the third time. The girl’s anger palpable on her face as she pouts then runs away in defeat.

Vaiqon feels sadness in his aura as he then turns to face the final potential victor. He nods to Fox as way of saying, “You may begin whenever you wish, and remember, there is no time limit.”

Fox nods in understanding and stares at the Wall Climb. He quickly finds the nails snaking their way up the wall and quickly ascends the Wall Climb without much fanfare. When he walks down the stairs that lead to the Log Roll, his mind works furiously to determine the best method of traversing the pool of water.

He nearly trips over a rather substantial rock. He looks down at the rock the size of his two feet combined. He sees numerous rocks the same size all around him. He smiles as he then approaches the pool of water and notices the rather shallow depth.

He walks all around gathering as many rocks as he can carry, and approaches the pool of water yet again. He carefully places one rock in the pool of water and sees the rock is just big enough to protrude through the water’s surface so that he can easily step on it without becoming wet.

He then quickly scampers across the pool, ducking under the log that stretches across it, and steps on the other side of the pool without so much as a drop of water touching him.

He casually glances at Vaiqon, Hawk, and Pork and sees expressions of slight awe upon Vaiqon’s face, anger upon Hawk’s face, and astonishment upon Pork’s face. Fox shrugs at the varied emotions as he then stops just at the edge of the Evko Jump.

Fox nearly gapes at the size of the Evko Jump, until he remember seeing a long, limber stick sitting just at the edge of the pool of water of the Log Roll. He quickly runs back to the Log Roll where the stick remains lying on the ground. He grabs the stick and runs back to the Evko Jump.

He tests the strength of the stick by planting it firmly in the ground, and trying to snap it with all of his body weight. When the stick does not so much as even crack or pop, he sets the stick down and begins building a mound of dirt at the edge of the Evko Jump.

When the mound is six inches high and he has made a impression in the dirt of three inches, he grabs the stick again and runs back to the pool of water of the Log Roll. With a running start, he plants the stick into the depression at the forefront of the mound and vaults himself over the Evko Jump, landing on his feet perfectly.

He smiles widely as he hears applause from the stage. When he looks over, he sees Vaiqon clapping ecstatically, his face cracked in a wide smile, Pork clapping haphazardly, his face still betraying astonishment, and Hawk frowning, his earlier expression of snarling anger even deeper now.

Fox shrugs as he then walks up the stairs to the stage to join Vaiqon, Hawk, and Pork.

Vaiqon pats Fox on the back and Pork lively recounts Fox’s defeat of the course as if no one can believe what they did indeed witness Fox perform. Hawk, however, merely glares at Fox.

Fox snarls back, “What?”

“You cheated,” Hawk states.

Fox raises an eyebrow, “How? I didn’t have help from anyone else. I just used my mind rather than my body to beat the obstacles.”

Hawk scoffs, “I don’t mean that. I mean you didn’t even do most of them, not right anyway.”

“Do tell me why my way was not ‘right,’” Fox says.

Hawk shakes his head, “You didn’t roll on the Log Roll, and you didn’t jump on the Evko Jump! The way to do the obstacles is in the name of the obstacles!”

Vaiqon silences Hawk and Fox with a quick slap in the back of each the boys’ heads. Pork chuckles and is met with a slap to the back of his own head. He winces and straightens in shock.

“Fox did not cheat, Hawk,” Vaiqon starts. “I never stated how the obstacles should be complete, just that they be completed. The fact that Fox performed rather unorthodox methods is exactly why he was able to defeat the course so quickly. Even faster than you time, Hawk,” Vaiqon says with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Hawk gapes, “Fox beat me?”

Vaiqon nods.

Hawk turns back to Fox, “Very well, congrats, Fox,” Hawk says extending a hand to his new friend.

Fox casually takes the hand as he stares deep into Hawk’s eyes. Hawk stares right back as Vaiqon then grabs both boys’ shoulders and motions for Pork to grab onto Hawk’s other shoulder.