Foliage parting. A yellow octopus bobbing up and down. A woman in a blue jumpsuit running. The sloshing of water from the backpack on the woman's back.
Fi's hair fluttering in the wind. Excitement the foremost feeling. A smile tender, able to melt the iciest hearts, on her lips.
She had powers, she had a new friend and she had an inkling of a new family.
Fi concentrated on the water in her backpack. She was trying to come up with different ways to control it outside of a body of water.
She could do a sword but didn't know how to use one. Water couldn't bind her foes, as a traditional rope could. Focusing it to a tiny beam with huge force might work. Cutting with water was a very plausible thing.
Drowning the enemy was an option. That option however quite on the brutal side. Not to mention a slow method, which would leave her open for attack.
Using water to smack her enemy, possible.
Happy gaining powers, she thoughts her problems were over, but now she had a new one to deal with.
How was she to go about beating someone up without water nearby? She would have to carry water around wherever she went.
A branch hit Octo square in the face. Octo's form stretched. With a bang, he rebounded slamming into Fi's shoulder. Fi squinted in pain.
"Ow, careful Octo," said Fi. She pushed a branch out of the way reaching the agreed upon location.
She arrived at a small clearing with a similar vegetation to their campsite. A rabbits screech welcomed her to the clearing. Grunts of fighting could be heard.
Robin was struggling with the biggest rabbit. They were one big furball. He was basically completely inside the four-meter furball.
Sawyer was aptly dodging attacks from the smaller ones. Right beside him stood Blue, firing her rifle.
"Fi!" Sawyer yelled seeing her. Fi dropped her backpack. When it hit the ground it burst, leaving water floating in the air.
"Help me cover Blue," Saw said while grabbing one of the rabbits by the ear, melting it off. Fi bound to Blue's side breaking off three thin lines from the water ball.
At the flick of her finger, the water lines sped up. Careening through the air all three of them stuck the rabbit leaving neat little holes. Fi was surprised at how effective it was.
The surprise wasn't limited to Fi. The team impressed and the rabbits scared of the newcomer.
The hit rabbit spit up blood, its innards punctured. It struggled for a few steps. Its struggle moot, the rabbit keeled over never to move again.
The leader of the rabbits understood the precariousness of the situation. It made a loud screeching noise and all the rabbits started retreating.
"Get as many as you can!" Blue yelled aiming a shot at the retreating rabbits, felling one.
"Fi get the big one," Sawyer said rushing to cut off its escape. Robin was struggling to keep his grip. The rabbit got loose as Fi ran after it.
Fi used the same tactic as last time and three streams of water left for the rabbit. She jumped propelling herself with the rest of the water.
The leader's sharp teeth sunk into Robin's arm. Robin screamed, letting go of the rabbit. The rabbit didn't waste time and dashed towards the forest. A cunning dodge later it was past Sawyer herding its flock.
Fi angered by the rabbit's actions, dove into the furball with the speed boost provided by water jets. The fur around her crackling making her numb. She formed the water into a beam at the end of her finger jabbed her finger towards the rabbits head.
For a quarter of a second, the skull held. The rabbit had time to initiate an electric shock on the intruder, before the bone burst. The stream of water pierced the rabbit's brain killing it instantly.
The legs collapsed and the rabbits with Fi on its back tumbled forward. An intention on the ground after them.
The electric shock struck Fi. The rabbit had died during its attack leaving it only at quarter strength.
Fi crashed to the ground and covered her head in water to protect it. It helped only a bit. Her body was aching all over. A numbness spread over her torso.
Blood was flowing from her scratches. She checked her condition and found no major injuries. Fi let out a breath of air calming herself.
Robin ran over holding his bleeding hand. His face painted black with worry. Fi sat up and Robins expression loosened. Robin threw a glance at the rabbit and found it completely unmoving.
Sawyer and Blue soon joined the two. They started patching up Robin and Fi. No major injuries were on Fi, but Robin required the pod-doc.
"I'll take Robin back to the ship," Blue said standing up. She helped Robin up and draped his hand over her shoulder. Sawyer stood up about to interject, but Blue continued.
"You need to stay here to set up the Beacon. I don't know how to and we need to know the updated situation. The sooner you get it up the more we will know," Blue said and held most of Robins weight.
Sawyer thought it out and nodded.
"It won't take long for us anyway. One hour and it should be up. Then I can send Fi back to the camp." Sawyer said and tugged his backpack open. Fi shook her head, discontent with the idea.
"I will stay," Fi said staring at Blue. It looked like a child contesting their parent's orders.
The group looked at each other, not sure what to do.
Silence fell over the group. Fi had her hands crossed and stared at everyone in turn. Everyone turned their gazes away.
A smile spread on Fi's face. She pumped her fist in triumph.
"Good, it is decided then," Fi said shoving Blue and Robin gently.
The group gave up any idea of changing her mind. It was decided, by the authority of a young lady, foreign to this world.
With the two leaving Fi and Sawyer started working on the beacon. An hour later the beacon was set up. It was a black rod standing two meters in the air.
Hair-thin fibers spread under the ground anchoring it in place. The beacon was flexible yet durable. The beacon's fiber reached further, connecting it to a geothermal heat source. The beacon had many backups for its continuous function and would stand the test of time.
The beacon was ready for launch. Sawyer and Fi hand at hips admiring their efforts. They looked at each other and smiled.
"Are you ready with your names?" said Sawyer stretching his back. Fi mimicked his actions.
"Absolutely. I'll definitely name the rabbit Cracklefluff." Fi said hand on her chest. Her eyes glowing with anticipation for the beacon to launch.
"You do the honors, just like I showed you," Sawyer said motioning towards the beacon. Without hesitation, Fi stepped to the beacon.
A singular button was lit blinking with purple light. It was a small square on the sleek black beacon. Fi gave it a light punch and it activated.
Fi shielded her eyes as a bright light emanated. The glowing beacon sent out a pulse spreading in all directions.
The light soon calmed down. A notification popped up.
'You have connected to the network,' the message read. For the first time, Fi was online.