I'm free! Just me and the clouds, doing whatever. But then I remind myself I have a companion. To me, Rollan and I seem like a brother and sister, not a fighting team; I just don't get how all the other spirit animals can do it. They can share everything and get along fine. It's just confusing.

"Essix, Essix!" a voice yells from below, 'That would be Rollan' I think 'I wonder if I should try to do what he says?' I shake my brown-feathered head vigorously 'No, then it wouldn't be fun' I swoop down like lighting without the thunder and delicately landed on his shoulder. "Finally" he said, and marched off through a large door.

The training room is like a square-shaped cave with a high roof for flying spirit animals, the floor is usually smothered with equipment, but today, right in the centre, were podiums that were different sizes and shapes. Meilin, Conor and Abeke already had their sprit animals out and were waiting near the first podium. "Trouble?" the blonde haired boy called Conor asked, Rollan only shrugged his shoulders in reply, the sudden movement caught me off guard and I landed on the floor, luckily on my feet. Rollan mouthed out the word 'Sorry' and went over to join the others. Leaving me to talk to the other spirit animals, which I never really did, I was like the outcast because I was the only one who could fly, but then Rollan is also an outcast, the only one without a family. I guess we are alike in one way; maybe I should try to bond with him. Or, maybe not. Without thinking I flew onto Rollan's shoulder, he doesn't give me a single glance but keeps talking, good, at last a conversation I want to hear. After a few minutes, Tarik appeared "Sorry I'm late" he said "Let's get started, you four stand here and tell your spirit animals to go over there, good, good. Now you might be wondering what we are doing today, well I'm here to answer that question" Tarik glanced quickly over the four children standing in front of him before continuing, "We, or so to speak, you are going to try to climb these podiums with the help of your spirit animals, the quickest time wins, Abeke you are first, please tell Uraza to climb to the top, thank-you." Uraza only had to take three leaps before she reached the top; Abeke was going to be hard to beat. "Ready, set, GO!" with ease Abeke climb to first few podiums, but when she about to jump to a higher one, Uraza let out a roar that shook the podium she was on. With the extra help, Abeke quickly made to the last podium. "You were great" Tarik complimented "Next!." Meilin was already a skilled climber and gracefully leaped from podium to podium, she only needed Jhi's help to get to the very top. Conor was a little different, Briggan howled from the very start and Conor used it well to get to the top. Standing on the highest podium was terrific, I could easily see Rollan at the bottom and the others watching intently, this time we were going to win. Rollan was making good time, jumping on the lowest ones with ease, while jumping for a higher one, I let out a shriek that made Conor and Meilin cover their ears, they were both looking at Abeke with confusion. Rollan instantly picked up the pace and flew over the podiums like a bird. When he reached the top podium, I jumped up to his shoulder, glad to be off that freezing cold stone. "Now, as you can see, Essix did something very different" Tarik said suddenly, "What do you mean?" said Abeke "I mean, Essix didn't stay on the podium like all the other spirit animals did, she went onto Rollan's shoulder." This time it was Meilin you spoke "How were we suppose to know that?" Tarik grinned "You weren't, it was a test for your spirit animals. They could have gone into their dormant state, but they didn't

"And because of this, Rollan and Essix win,"

"But isn't that unfair"

"No it isn't, because they also got the quickest time, Abeke you were a second to late"

"But-" Abeke tried to speak, but Tarik silence her with a wave of his hand "No 'buts' just do, training session is over"

"At least you could get your spirit animal in the dormant state" yelled Rollan from the podiums, Abeke shrugged and left. At the bottom Rollan gave me a quick rub on the neck, and said "Let's go." But I wasn't done yet; I jumped off Rollan's shoulder and stared at him from the ground. "What is it?" he said, dropping to one knee, I kept staring at him, but he only stared back with confusion in his eyes. I hopped near him and touched is arm with my beak, and with a blinding flash, I was a tattoo on his arm. "Ouch" he said under his breath and with a large smile he walked to his room.

The End