Practice Makes Perfect

Toralei trudged out into the field, looking around. Well, at least there was no one there. Shaking her hair out of her eyes, she closed her eyes tightly and scrunched up her face, no doubt concentrating about becoming an animal. Minutes passed, and finally something happened. She'd had a major change in her senses. She could hear faint footsteps over by the building, and could smell mice and birds. Shaking her head, she opened her eyes, her face bright red. Her head spun from concentrating so much, and she felt sick to her stomach. She stumbled over to a tree and hunched down, her insides churning violently and uncomfortably. "Ugh...bloody hell...my power side effects suck...." she growled. Her extra senses vanished, leaving her weaker.

Dylan walked out onto the football field unsure of what he was doing. He hadn't really explored the sports fields yet and he figured that now was a good as time as any since he had nothing else to do. What he didn't expect to see was a girl leaning heavily on a tree, face red from effort. She looked like she had just ran a marathon. Running over to the girl, he yelled," Hey! Are you okay over there?"

Toralei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, the weight that was pushing her down vanished and she felt a lot cooler. Taking another deep breath, she looked at Dylan and smiled. "Yeah, I am. Thanks for asking." she replied, blinking. "I'm Toralei Silver. Who are you?" she asked after a minute.

"I'm Dylan." The young winter said extending his hand. " What is your name?" Dylan studied the girl. Definitely not new. No obvious powers. What could her power be? Hopefully not mind reading.

Toralei shook the boy's outstretched hand and tilted her head. "Toralei Anne Silver. Nice to meet you Dylan!" she replied.

"Well nice to meet you Toralei. So, what are you doing out here? You looked like you were about to pass out when I saw you."Dylan knew it was most likely power related. He wondered what her power was. So, being dim, he asked,"What is your gift."

Toralei flushed and looked down. "I was..well,uh......" She shook her head. "Trying to shape shift." she replied.

"That's cool. What were you trying to shapeshift into?" Dylan said, thinking about how cool it would be to be able to shift into animals.

"Something carnivorous, I guess. Nothing specific." She adjusted her tank top and tilted her head. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your power?" she asked curiously.

"I can make things from any material as long as it retains the same mass." As an example, he took a surikan from his pocket and started to shape it into different things. First he made it into a cat, then a dog, then a miniature statute of liberty. All of the objects weighted exactly the same, one pound.

Her eyes widened, and she grinned. Leaning against the tree, she gazed at the objects. "That's awesome!" she cheered happily.

"Yeah. If I try it with something too big then I pass out, possibly die or worse." Dylan gave a meek smile. The last time he had lost control was not a good experience. "So, how exactly does your gift work?"

"Well, I have to concentrate really hard about what I want to transform into, and I usually get migraines and stomach aches, like you saw back there.." she explained.

"That is some serious drawbacks. Does it happen with all transformations or just a few?" For some unknown reason, Dylan was very curious. This was the first shapeshifter he had ever met. If he had to fight one better learn all he can.

"All." was her only reply. She stood up straight and smiled. "This has nothing to do with powers, but which house are you in?" she asked.