Byron Rassek emerged from the shrub holding the ball. "Got it!" they called out. They ran from the bush back to the playing field and kicked the ball to their teammate while they were still out of bounds. it was thursday and the game of the day was soccer. While playing futbol, they were exhausting themselves and before the sun had set, their games were over.
All of the kids were laughing and playing around with each ither, but Byron was more conservative with his energy and communication. He nodded at a couple people, but did not join in on their conversation. Byron was reserved because he would often try to thought-speak to the ither children, but found them unable to hear his voice. This made his respect for them falter because he knew he was different. He could hear people from other realms all of the time and he had even honed the ability enough to transmit messages to his cat, who was magically adept.
Cats are beings of raw power and acute awareness. Their natural abilities reflect this, with a list of offensive and sensory abilities. Cats are also very stealthy and they can hide their presence to magic, naturally learning to do so while they are hunting. The moment right before they strike their prey, they are nigh invisible to all planes and energies.
Byron had learned from his cat, from moments of deep awareness to the point that the cats state impressed itself upon Byron's energies. Byron often watched his cat and practiced his own abilities to enhance his sight to see magical aura and residue, although he'd only ever seen aura before.
Byron withdrew from his school's yard to his home, he lived only a block away and he could cut through a yard to halve his time walking home. So he did cut through that yard and he still would today. He does things of similar nature all of the time, even to the point that he will walk across someone's path if it saves him time.
While rough around the edges, Byron is essentially kind and his demeanor means well. He only dislikes things that feel draining or beyond the moment's value. He has high value of each moment, but sometimes things can feel like they are too much and that leads Byron to shy away from some activities, such as the general laugh and play of his peers.
Regardless, Byron was raised in Delavan and it is a friendly city, so Byron is too. He has many friends and even a few that could be his concubine, should he have paid more attention to love affairs. Byron was a special student and received high marks across the board. Some of his teachers would flinch when his voice played through their head, making Byron believe they were aware of his voice and magically aware, but no one ever spoke back.
When he retired home, he found his brother, Zasfesmel. "Hey Za." Byron said.
"Hey Bry." Zasfesmel said.
"Want to go out in the woods?" Byron offered.
"Sure. Im taking my bike though." Zas said.
Byron nodded and pet his cat, Sassy, on the way out the door. They headed around a parkinglot to their parent's garage to grab their bikes. "You sure these things can off-road?" Byron asked.
"I'm sure." zasfesmel said, hopping on his bike.
They pedalled down the road and into the woods, slowing down because of the dirt.beneath their tires. "I wish these things had a motor!" Zas said.
"Or that they could fly!" Byron said.
"Yea. We would be like owls!" Zas said, riding over a bump.
"Have you seen all the owls around the deaf school this year?" Byron asked, wondering if Zas had even been down there.
"Nah. I saw one perched on a street lamp though." Zasfesmel said.
"Where do you want to go?" Byron asked.
"I don't know. Maybe we could just explore." Zas said.
"Explore what? Everything looks the same out here." Byron said.
"Maybe we will find a river!" Zas hopefully said.
"No, maybe we will find a bear!" Byron joked.
"Dont freak me out." Zas said.
"Sorry. We'll be fine." Byron said.
Little did the boys know, they would not be fine. There was an escaped criminal from Azkabahn within these woods. Wizards and Sorceresses searched with their brooms and wands in tow. They scoured the forest, but had found nothing.
Thats when Zas noticed a cave jutting out from the ground about twenty-five yards away. "Whats that?" he said.
"Huh?" said Byron, turning his head towards where his brother was looking, but before his eyes could even move he saw a dark shadow leap across his brother and knock him from his bike.
"Zas!" Byron said, reaching out towards his brother.
But it was too late. His brother lay on the ground, neck crooked and blood pouring from his chest. Byron turned his bike to come to a halt, looking as the silver creature ran away into the woods.
"Zas!" Byron called out, getting off of his bike and running towards his brother.
There was no response, his brother was out cold and his eyes had hazed over. It appeared like he was dying. Byron tried to help his brother when suddenly, Wizards and Sorceresses desfended on their brooms. "Which way did it go?!" One Wizard called out.
Byron pointed as two Sorceresses came to his brothers aid, using a visible bubble of magic to stpp the bleeding and another that enveloped his head in a soothing and healing aura. "What are you doing?!" Byron asked, still near his brother.
"We are helping him, Whelp. Im surprised you can see our magic." one Sorceress spoke.
"I dont just see it, I Feel it." Byron spoke.
"Huh?! A magically aware child within our boundaries that we don't know about?!" the other Sorceress spoke.
Suddenly, Byron's travesty was filled with excitement as he said,"Yea! I can even see energies like this!" Byron said, beginning to squint his eyes and contort his brain into a spell. That's when his excitement was replaced with dread, for he saw black misty, mucky aura coming from his brother's wound and filling his body.
"What is that?!" he said in astonishment and horror.
"Boy. You are a cat. You can see the curse? Tell me its not in his body. Tell me we got here in time." The first Sorceress spoke.
"I dont know! It looks like its spread all throughout his body!" Byron spoke as the aura got darker and heavier, settling into his brother's skin.
"We can revert him." The first Sorceress spoke.
"No. Too much time will pass before we get there." The second Sorceress spoke.
"Not if we leave now." The first Sorceress spoke.
"We can't! That wound is still open and he will bleed to death." The second said.
"We don't have time, let's go!" The Sorceress said.
The first sorceress motioned for Byron to come with her as she called her broom from across the forest glade. She stepped over it and patted the back," Let's go kid. "
Byron stepped on the back and held on to the Sorceress with both arms. "You can fly?"
"I can fly!" said the Sorceress, lifting straight up into the air and turning in the same direction as her accomplice. They took off at breakneck speeds but accelerated so efficiently that nothing even jostled on their brooms.
They flew over the glorious forest and the town became closer in view as they flew towards the deaf school. "Ready?" asked the woman flying the broom.
"For-" Byron started saying as they flew into an invisible bubble that withheld an entire reality from the world. A spectacular castle-like dormitory nestled over a large victorian village. "What..." Byron finished his sentence after the awe passed.