Clouds in sky would pass the sun gently blocking the heat for a small period of time, cooling the ground. The weather was ideal for going outdoors. Raven flew down from the sky to Terra and her mother. They both just fade away and disappeared like shadows. At that point Raven knew this is where that memory ended and she awaited the next.
Walls of what seemed to be a home rose from the ground around her like a box folding into itself. Raven found herself inside a small but cozy house. The walls had closed off the wake of destruction she had just seen before it had fade away.
She stood outside a door to what she assumed was a small bedroom. She could hear two voices inside. Raven stepped through the shut door like a ghost going through walls and quietly observed the conversation.
"Mama, are you mad at me?" Terra asked. She sat on her bed looking up at her mother who sat next to her with her hands in her lap.
"Of course not baby," she replied sympathetically, "but I prayed this day wouldn't come. I guess its time you knew the truth."
Terra looked at her mom with curiosity. She had never seen her mother act this concerned before. She had always been loving and playful but now she seemed like a completely different person. Solid like stone. Unmoved by anything.
"Sweetheart... I'm sure you've been wondering... what happened to daddy?" She spoke slow and soft. It was as if she had to fight herself to get the words out.
"You said he went on a trip and would be back soon," Terra replied remembering her mother crying as she said those words.
Terra's mom smiled to hide her guilt and her eyes began you water the same as when she last told Terra about her father.
"I lied baby," she confessed, "daddy isn't on a trip." She began crying, "and daddy isn't coming home."
Terra was confused even more but seeing her mom bursting with emotion made her want to cry as well. She did her best to bottle up her emotions and listened quietly for her mother to continue.
"But... Then... Where IS daddy?" Terra respond trying to make sense of what her mother had told her.
"He's gone sweety," she wrapped her arms around Terra and continued to weep.
"What do you mean, 'gone?'" Terra shot back with frustration, "you said he would be back!"
"I know I did," her mother said holding Terra tighter, "but daddy was special. Just like you." Her voice grew more gentle like she was happy about that but concerned at the same time.
"Special?" Terra repeated as she began to tremble.
Her mother sighed and let go of Terra so she could look her in the eyes. It was a secret she wished she would never have to tell anyone but she had no choice now.
"You're daddy could do stuff like you can. Just like how you made that big bad bear run away... He could do the same." She explained, "when he first came to this town he had been on the road for a long time. He was starving and needed a place to stay so we gave him some food and a bed in exchange for some much needed help in the mine."
Terra looked out her window at the town. In the distance there stood a tall crane that would hoist people, minerals, supplies and many other things in and out of the mine. The mine was the main source of income for the town and without it the town would most likely fall apart.
"Well..." Her mother continued, "he was such a big help the town offered him a permanent job. I met him shortly after and we eventually got married." She reached for Terra's chin and turned her head gently away from the window to resume eye contact. She grew a genuinely warm smile, "together we had you... and everything was perfect."
Her smile then vanished after remembering what happened next. She looked away returned her hands to her lap and spoke softly, "one day in the mine... there was an accident. He was just trying to help the miners but people are afraid of what they don't understand."
Terra studied her mother carefully. She didn't quiet understand her mom at this age but she could tell from her expression that something terrible had happened.
"There was a cave-in. A few of the miners were trapped and he used his gift to free them. He managed to save them but in the process he detroyed half the mine and put even more people in danger," her voice grew dark and she began to get angry, "they called him a freak. Formed a mob and came after him."
Terra's eyes began to water. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.
"When I heard about the mob I went looking for him. But I never found him." She trailed off as she finished her story.
"So daddy... Isn't on a trip?" Terra asked having a hard time believing the story she just heard.
"No sweety," she replied, "it's been over five years since anyone ever saw him." Her voice sounded cold like she lost all hope of him ever returning, "but it seems he's not completely gone. He gave his gift to you." She then turned and grabbed Terra by the shoulders looking her in the eye trying to stress the importance of her following words, "promise me! Promise me you will never use his power!" She sounded desperate like it was a life or death situation.
"I..." Terra said confused.
"Baby! Swear it!" She sounded like she was about to lose her daughter too.
"I promise!" Terra shouted trying to get her mother to release her.
But instead of releasing her Terra's mother wrapped her arms around her tightly as if she couldn't bear to let her go.
Terra was young and didn't understand but her mother had told her something that stuck with her. The small piece of her father that remained with her was this gift. Something she could do that others couldn't.
The two girls sitting on the bed then faded away and the walls around Raven fell and ground beneath her turned to rock. She found herself in a small valley of rocks with mountains all around her. It was a secluded place where with a small amount of privacy. The more Raven observed this place the more she noticed... This was where the lake used to be.
Terra stood in the center of the dry lake, next to the deep crevasse she had created as a small child, trying to focus. She was wearing a black t-shirt with cargo shorts and sneakers. It looked like she had grown a little taller and she seemed a little older. Maybe nine or ten?
After standing still for a moment she would raise her hand over rocks and try to make them move. Her hand would glow yellow and the rock she was focused on would hover off the ground before her glow would fade letting the rock fall back to the ground. She would repeat herself over and over trying to figure out how to control her fathers gift. Terra would let out a sigh of frustration on every attempt. Figuring this out on her own seemed nearly impossible.
It was obvious to Raven that in the following years since Terra spoke with her mother she dismissed her mother's warning and began to explore the side of her that been been left by her father. Raven watched in anticipation to see if she could learn this power of hers.
Terra's face grew angry as her frustration grew and she grit her teeth as she raised her hand one last time to the same rock she had been lifting earlier. Her eyes began to glow yellow as her hair defied gravity and her hand glowed brighter than before. The rock hoisted into the air and with an angry yell Terra whipped her hand towards a tree on the other side of the soft sand that had once been a beach. The rock went flying through the air at incredible speed smacking against the tree with a loud knock.
Terra began to breathe heavily as her glow faded. Her face remained angry for a moment before she relaxed, realizing she finally got it. She grew an excited smile and jumped into the air throwing a fist above her with shout of joy but when she did the ground next to her shot into the air next to her fist and came crashing down at her side with an earth shaking thud nearly knocking her over into the depths of the giant hole next to her.
She let out a small cry of terror as she regained her footing and stared at this rock just as big as her that she had pulled out of the ground. She may have finally figured out one part of her power but she still had very little control over it.
After she shook off her shock from nearly crushing herself and sending herself down into a bottomless pit, she turned to head to the treeline, thinking this was a good time to stop... but she saw something that scared her even more after she looked towards the tree line she was heading to.
Raven looked in the direction Terra was facing and saw a few kids dressed in summer clothes just like Terra. They were watching her in awe. Raven looked back at Terra to see what she would do. When Terra made eye contact with them they panicked and began sprinting into the woods.
Terra began to panic as well. Her secret wasn't a secret anymore. The fear pulsed through her entire body as her hair began to float again. The ground beneath her pulsed with a shock wave and the ground shook with a small tremor. Her head began to ache but no where near the pain she remembered from the lake.
Terra took a deep breath and tried to calm down. The small tremor under her slowed to a stop and her hair fell naturally. She began walking again with a look of deep concern on her face.
The scenery changed again. building shot out of the ground all around Raven and more walls folded into a room around her. Raven was now in a classroom of the school Terra attended. Terra wore her school uniform and had a look of worry on her face as she stepped into class. The whole class was staring at her and the worried look on Terra's face grew more intense.
Next thing Raven knew the school bell was ringing and Terra was leaving the school in a hurry. She was almost speed walking home as she walked past the massive crane for the mine nearby.
"Hey Terra!" one of the students called to her as she walked. Terra began to panic as she turned to face the young boy. He was the same age as her wearing a similar uniform except it was meant for boys, "hey!" He said again catching his breath as he caught up to her, "listen... so... uh... I know I might sound crazy but a couple of kids at school said they saw you over the summer out in Rocky Valley and uh..." He stopped short wonder if he should even should even finish, "well... they said they saw you doing some weird things..."
Raven realized some time must have passed allowing summer break to end. Giving the rumors of Terra's powers to spread through the town before the first day of school... Which must have been this day.
Hearing the boy aound so sure about the rumors he's heard about the girl in front of him made Terra's heart began to race and her face showed signs of panic.
"They said you were moving rocks without even touching them!" He sounded excited like he was meeting a celebrity.
Terra began to get gripped with fear and her head had a slowly increasing pressure in it. She's learned what that meant and knew what was about to happen.
"They're lying. I didn't do anything like that. I CAN'T do anything like that." She sounded extremely defensive like she was accused of a crime.
"Aww man!" The boy said disappointed, "that would be so cool if you really could!"
The pressure in Terra's head vanished and she relaxed as the shock from seeing how accepting this boy was of her possibly having powers.
"Well..." Terra began. She thought maybe her mom was wrong. Maybe she could be accepted even with her gift.
"So you can?!" The boy said perking up again, "No way! Can I see?!" He looked like he had stars in his eyes with how exciexcited he was getting.
Terra looked around to see other kids from school were watching from a distance just like they did from the trees. She might be able to trust this one boy... but she didn't trust any of the others. She looked back at the boy and spoke firmly.
"No. I already told you, I can't do anything like that." She sounded like she was trying to end the conversation.
"Oh come on... Please?" The boy insisted.
"No." Terra repeat herself.
"But why? It's so cool. I've never met someone with cool powers," he was being unusually persistent.
"I said no!" Terra began to get frustrated and started walking away because the pressure in her head began to return.
"You don't have to be so mean about it!" The boy spouted back, "all I'm asking iis you move one little rock for me!"
"NO!" Terra's anger grew and her head stung with a sharp pain. She fell to her knees and the ground shook violently as she landed.
Everything around her started shaking. The crane nearby began to pitch and yaw, whinning with every small movement.
Shouts of fear and panic could be heard from the tunnels below the crane and all the kids watching from a distance began to scream in horror.
Terra gripped her head as her books fell to the ground next to her.
No. No, no, no, no, no. She began repeating in her head over and over. She got up and started running as fast she could get away from the area.
The ground under the crane began to cave and the front of it fell forward before catching itself in a more compact and sturdy piece of gravel.
As Terra sprint as fast as she could the pain in her head was droning on. She just wanted to get as far away as she could before anything else could happen. As she got further away the ground near the mine slowed and stopped shaking.
Raven breathed a sigh of relief. The entire situation had her tensed up and she was gritting her teeth hoping nothing bad would happen.
The sight of the crane and town fade away and the field that Raven had seen earlier from Terra's first few memories reappeared with Terra waking up in the middle of it.
Dark clouds were above her and rain was starting to fall softly. The distant chants from a group of angered people was growing slowly. Raven watched on as she feared what was about to happen.
"Terra!" Terra's mother shouted. She found her in the field just as she did when she was a child.
Terra was getting back to her her feet before her mom stopped her at her knees and held her tightly. After a long moment as the angry voices grew louder she looked Terra in the eyes as if saying goodbye.
"Sweety you have to listen to me," she sounded serious. Desperate was an understatement for the way her voice sounded, "you have to run. Get as far away as you can from here. Its not safe anymore."
"Mama?" Terra said still dazed from waking up in the field. She was trying to figure out what was going on.
Her mother gave her one last long hug and ran off into the distance towards the shouting.
"Please! Please don't do this!" She screamed to the mob, "she's just a child she cant control it!"
"Mama?!" Terra shouted. She stood up, looking up at her fearless mother taking on an entire town of angered people.
The crowd heard Terra's cry for her mother and they began to rush towards her.
"Baby RUN!" Her mother screamed as she was overwhelmed by the fear stuck town. The fear powered their anger that drove off her father just as it was driving off Terra.
"MAMA!" Terra yelled as she began to cry. But her tears were then swarmed by pain.
Her gripped her head once again. This pain. This is the pain she remembered from her past. The feeling of spikes driving out of her skull. She fell to her knees once again and sent a wave of rocks in every direction within a 12 foot radius. The earth rumbled and shook aggressively. It shook like an earth quake was ready to explode from under her.
The mob of people stopped in their tracks. They didn't want to pursue someone that could make the very groud the stood on shake under them. They watched carefully from a distance to see what would happen next.
Terra gripped her temples as if trying to stop these painful spikes from exiting her skull. The pain was growing. it was more intense than before. She looked to the sky and when she opened her eyes the mob could see the terrifying glow of yellow from where they stood. Her hair began floating and she let out a deafening scream.
The ground stopped shaking.
The mob looked on as this girl continued to scream, piercing their ears. They started moving towards her slowly.
Terra's scream faded. But her eyes continued to glow and she continued to grip her head. The mob stopped in their tracks once more as they watched the rocks around Terra begin to levitate, spinning slowly in orbit around her.
The fearful anger of the people had turned to pure fear as they rocks began to pick up speed and as they did Terra began to levitate off the ground herself. She was the center of this hurricane of stones and the stones began to get bigger with each passing second.
The ground began rumbling again but this time it was deep underground. The surface was just a causality in its wake.
The mob didn't want anything to do with this anymore and began running for their lives dragging Terra's mother with them.
"LET GO OF ME!" Her mother shouted, "SHE NEEDS ME!"
But the mob paid her no attention. They dragged her off thinking she would only be killed in her daughters wake.
Terra looked through the spinning debris of rocks to see her mother being dragged away. She began balling as the pain in her head continued to tear into her. The more she cried the faster the rocks orbiting around her spun. She couldn't take it anymore.
She let out one final cry of pain, sadness, and regret. The deep rumble turned into an explosion of rock sending massive boulders in every direction. The pain was so intense she blacked out. And the rain continued to trickle down on her as thunder rolled across the sky.
When Terra awoke what she saw was something like armageddon. There was no one around. No signs of anyone. When she realized she was all alone she began to panic.
She searched the rubble for her mother but found nothing. She began to cry, cursing herself for not listening to her mother when she should have. So she forced herself to listen to her mothers final words to her... and she began running as far away as she could.