It had been three and a half years since Evren became aware of himself. He had been experimenting with various methods of applying his ability. He didn't understand why he was so smart for his age, but he had some theories.
Lightning had struck him as a baby, for one. His ability was based around lightning and heat, for two, and for three, both. He also noted that, over the years, he had been struck maybe fifteen more times. He didn't note any increase in intellect after the first time.
Evren bit his lip and rubbed his temples. "Why, why, why? Why am I this smart and so little? Am I just an anomaly? No. That doesn't sound right."
Evren smiled. "Sound. No. The sound is right. Sound is exactly why. That's exactly the answer I'm looking for!"
Evren ran and asked his parents a few, seemingly random, questions.
"What is the best way to grow radishes?"
"What time is the best for sleeping?"
"How do you butcher a rabbit?"
All the answers he received were already known. He had known all the questions he asked; it seemed he had already known them somewhere back in his mind, like they had been trapped there for years on end. It seemed to click that his ability wasn't average.
Evren went to bed "I see, I see!"
After waking, he rushed to his room and began coloring with the ink he borrowed from his mother; she used to want to be a map maker before having a child. The paper was easy to get; the man from the mill made it for only a copper for a stack of 10. His parents weren't poor, so Evren could get 10 papers a day if he asked.
When he got done, a really scrappy drawing of lightning was on the paper. He spent the time drawing it because he was bored. He got up and went outside again, hoping to see a storm roll in. Instead, he was greeted with a wind coming from above. It was Orin coming in after hunting for the day.
"Evren! How are you doing? I just caught a deer to butcher and sell."
After his dad landed on the ground, Evren ran up and hugged him."Yay, that's amazing!"
Evren's mom walked outside, and the two parents shared a kiss. Evren made a face of disgust and ran off to the fields to play. He met up with a group of kids he deemed "the booger pickers."
A ball rolled over to Evren as he approached.
"Hey Ev Pass the ball," a slimy kid began walking over; he just looked dirty.
Evren kicked the ball back over with his leather boots. He accidentally knocked over one of the younger kids, about his age, and caused them to cry. Evren walked over to apologize, but the others stopped him. An older kid responded, "Don't bully little Emmy."
The older kid pushed Evren to the ground. Evren didn't retaliate; he knew it wouldn't be any good for him.
"I didn't mean for her to fall." Evren got up and walked towards her, despite the other kids trying to stop him. "My bad, I was just passing the ball."
Emmy stopped the crying awhile ago and laughed while standing up. "I'm okay!"
Evren smiled and began playing; everyone seemed to not care anymore about what happened.
When the time came to go home, Emmy came up to Evren and hugged him. She smiled and said," Don't worry, Emmy is fine. We are friends now."
Evren smiled, and they both went their separate ways. When he got home, his mother and father were talking about his future. Evren waited in the doorway and listened in for what they were saying.
"I think he is really smart; he could be an inventor. The fact that he could use his powers so early makes it even more apparent."
Evren listened in for what his mother was going to say. When she spoke, an emotion hit him hard."I'm worried."
Evren had never experienced this before, but he immediately understood what was going on. He was worried about what he would do with himself, if his mom didn't like him, or if he even mattered. It was his first time ever worrying. It grabbed his heart, and he grabbed at it as well.
He listened for the rest of the response from his mother."I'm worried about him making friends and getting along. with kids his age."
Evren felt another emotion of relief. He had made a friend today, so his mother would be proud. He readied himself and walked in, and he shouted, "Mom, I made a friend today!"
The look of worry immediately left her face as she saw the chubby face of Evren. "Honey! Thats good. What's their name?"
Evren hugged his mom. "Emmy."
Lillia accepted the hug and lifted Evren up off of his feet."Oh, that's lovely!"
They all sat around a table and dug into the deer soup on the table. There were no questions asked, and they all ate happily.
The next morning, Evren went out with his mom to the marketplace. There were various stalls that lined the street, but not many people, as this was a small village. He picked up various conversations here and there, making sure to recall them to test his memory.
His mom scratched her head and sighed."I can't find Gerald anywhere, it looks like we aren't going to be able to get paper for you."
Evren smiled and pointed towards the other side of town.
"He's down there, he moved his stall because there was a new stall up here."
"Where did you hear that?"
"From David. When we walked by."
"Wow, you have good ears!"
"I got them from you. Dad says you can hear really well."
"Well, I can't hear well in a town like this, but I can hear well in a quiet forest. You see, your mama is a half-elf; I don't look the part because I took after your grandpa.
"Half-elves sound Interesting"