Note: This is my second chapter of the story, introducing the main character.
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The Golden Wolf's Son
by: I. L. Murphey
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Chapter 2: A Boy Named Kenan
Fourteen-year-old Kenan Caraway has been watching the fish intently for a while. The hot sun beat down on his bareback, he was sweating all over. His shorts have been damp after many dives into the lake. The orange-spotted green fish swam around merrily just a few feet away from him; as it approached nearer, he pounced.
He threw his whole body forward and dunked himself in the cool water. He caught the fish in his hands but it slipped from his fingers and swam away.
"Damn it!" he swore.
"Not your lucky day, isn't it?" a sly voice called behind him.
Kenan turns around to see his companions around the same age as him sitting on the pier, watching him with amusement. The one was speaking is a boy with tanned skin and red spiky hair. On his right side is a girl with slant brown eyes and blue chin-length hair. A dark-haired boy sat on the red-haired boy's left side, and he has a bored, yet haughty expression on his face. All three of them are holding fishing rods.
"I almost got him and you saw that, Eddie!" Kenan said to the red-haired boy.
"Give it up, Caraway! The only way to catch a tobi fish is using a fishin' rod," Eddie argued.
"The only thing you'll catch is a cold," the haughty-looking boy said.
"Don't make me drag your carcass out of there if you end up dead," Eddie said, smirking.
"I like to see you try!" Kenan said.
Kenan then started wading out into the vast lake, going deeper every step forward. He heard his friends yelling behind him.
"What are you doing?!" Eddie shouted, sounding surprised.
"You're not supposed to swim farther into the lake!" he heard the blue-haired girl yell.
"Like he cares…" The dark-haired boy sighed.
"You'll drown!"
"Kenan!"
"If he can hear you…"
"Dammit, Kenan, I'm gonna get your uncle and you'll be in big trouble!"
The voices started to fade and he found himself chin-length in the water's depth. He was about to dive in when he heard a different voice screaming, "KENAN CARAWAY!"
He spins around to see another girl standing on the banks. She has short dark hair with some strands tied with beads and soft brown skin. She is wearing a yellow jumper over short shorts, brown sneakers, and an angry frown on her face.
"What are you doing? You're supposed to be practicing for the big race tomorrow and you're slacking off! And you!" She turns to the rest of the kids. "You let him swim farther into the lake!"
"We tried to stop him, Dayna, but he won't listen," the blue-haired girl said.
"Why do you have to be a spoilsport, Dayna?" Kenan asked as he treads on water. "I just want to catch some tobi fish for dinner… while I have fun at it."
"I'm not a spoilsport; I'm just concerned for you," Dayna told him. "No one is allowed to swim farther into the lake without an older companion! You'll either catch a deadly cold, or you'll be some big fish's dinner!"
"Awesome!" Kenan grinned at the mention of being a big fish's dinner.
"It's not awesome, at all! Kenan, please…"
Kenan ignored her, took a deep breath and dove deep into the lake.
"What an idiot," she sighed.
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When Kenan opened his bright blue eyes underwater, he could not believe what he saw.
Everything he saw is a beautiful shade of green. Sunlight pass through the lake like a soft glow, and colorful fishes swam by him. A delight excitement filled his heart as he absorbed this wondrous sight.
He spots a school of tobi fishes swimming nearby; he flapped his feet and swam towards them, his hands out and open for grabs. The fishes saw him coming, and they swam away, but he was quicker. He was about to grab a couple when something big, heavy and slimy wrapped around his ankle and dragged him down.
He gasped and some water got into his throat. He hurriedly kept his mouth shut and he looked to see what grabbed his ankle and he his widened with fright.
It was the biggest tobi fish he has ever seen. It looks like the smaller ones, except it has a bigger belly and greenish-blue scales. Its orange spots are as big as his fists. The big fish started dragging him deeper into the depth of the lake, supposedly to drown him. Kenan could feel his lungs starting to burst. He pounded on the fish with his fists but it will not let go; he is running out of time.
Then, something he never he expected, a huge bright flash of golden light burst from his hands and it the fish squarely in the face. He felt the tobi fish releasing his ankle, but it was too late; he is now sinking slowly deeper into the dark depths of the lake.
The last thing he sees is a figure swimming towards him before everything went dark…
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"Is he going to be all right?"
"Oh, my god, what if he never wakes up?"
"He's alive, look he's stirring. You can let go of my arm now, Maya."
Kenan slowly awakens and he brushed his golden locks from his eyes. The first thing he sees is familiar chestnut eyes looking down at him with concern.
"Are you okay?" Dayna asked.
"Oh, god! If I really did died and gone to heaven, why is there a devil standing above me?" Kenan groaned.
Dayna angrily hit his head, but just hard enough to knock him into his senses.
"Ow! Jeez, what was that for?!" Kenan asked as he sat up, rubbing his head painfully.
"That was for frightening me to death! When you didn't show up, I thought you drowned, and it's a good thing Eddie came to save you! You gave me a heart attack, you idiot!" Dayna started hitting on his head again.
"Hey, watch where you hitting! Ow!" the golden-haired boy tried to block her punches.
"Dayna, you can stop hitting him now," Eddie said. "Man, you are so mental! So did you catch any fish?"
"Fish!" Dayna said hysterically. "Is that what boys can think of? He almost died and you can only think of is catching a fish!?"
"Chill, Dayna. You should have seen it, it's the most humongous tobi fish ever! It grabbed ankle and it tried to drown me," Kenan said.
"How did you escape?" Maya, the blue-haired girl asked.
"There… there was some bright flash of light that shot out of my hands," Kenan explained slowly, trying to remember what happened. "I was so frightened, and the light came out of nowhere and it hit the fish. I never shot light before…"
An awed silence fell to the group. Everyone's head was hanging open.
"But you have many incredible abilities… powers, you know," Maya spoke. "You can leap farther and higher than any of us, and you can summon the glowing orb thing too."
"True." At this, Kenan holds up a hand and a glowing bright orb appeared floating above his palm. "I can do those things you mentioned. But what I did in the lake was new. I don't know why I have these powers, but it keeps cropping up whenever I feel angry or afraid."
"I think I did remember seeing a light," the dark-haired boy said quietly. "Just a faint flash of it; that is what made us worry. Do you think you can show us what you did?"
"I believe that's enough light show for today," Dayna said. She threw Kenan's brown long-sleeved shirt at his face, which made him lose focus and his glowing orb disappear. "We better leave now, Kenan. We got the Cheecrodile Race tomorrow and you need a lot of rest."
"Sure, sure," Kenan agreed as he put on his shirt.
"Just you wait, Kenan Caraway," Eddie began, as Kenan put on his shoes. "Once I beat you in the Cheecrodile Race tomorrow, you will be licking my shoes clean for a month."
"Yeah, but if I win, you have to eat my underwear," the golden-haired boy smirked, and then added, "With ketchup."
"Come on, Kenan!" Dayna called as she began climbing up the stone steps that leads them to the trail toward their village.
"Coming!"
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Kenan and Dayna walk away from the vast green lake and through the vast field of heather. Ahead of them is their village, Heather Village. It was called that because of their fields of beautiful heathers. The village is small yet it was rich on agriculture and fishing industry. Beyond the village is train station that brings visitors to other villages and huge towns.
Kenan and Dayna dreamed of leaving Heather Village and venturing the outside world. Kenan's parents, from what his uncle (the only relative he is living with) told him, are adventurers and they traveled to many far away places. Kenan never his knew his parents. His father left for the Scarlet War, and his mother went missing and her brother raised Kenan by himself. It is another reason to leave Heather Village, to find his parents.
"Honestly, I don't know what has come over you," Dayna shakes her head. "We could have practice together for the race; instead you run off and decide to fish with the guys you are supposed to compete against in the race."
"Aw, will you zip it, Dayna? I just want to have fun," Kenan said.
"You have knack for getting in trouble. Your mother wouldn't approve of your behavior if she was around."
"Maybe I wouldn't be like this... if she were here!"
Then they both stopped walking and Dayna noticed how downcast Kenan looked. She felt bad for scolding him and mentioning his mother, so she has an idea for cheering him up.
"Hey, Kenan?" She spoke up softly.
"What?" he asked grumpily.
"If you're not too mad, perhaps we can go buy some jelly-rum ice cream?"
At the mention of his favorite snack, he started to smile.
"I'll pay for it."
His smile widens.
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Please review and tell me what you think.