AAOOOSC! Wheatie Bits!

“AH!!!”

Nolan spins his arms in the air as he is leaning backward tensely with his eyes aimed downward.

Dangling furiously below him on his glider’s edge is the brown grizzly bear, struggling to climb up to his level.

“GET OFF!!!” He whips out another throwing stars and launches it at the bear’s furry back.

The bear roars in pain as the star strikes him. He retaliates by swiping his clawed paw at the forward leg.

“AHCK!” In searing agony, Nolan automatically dips backward.

Yet with the weight of the bear on the other side of the glider, he is thrown back up forcefully. He lets out a grunt as he is straightened up by the tight force.

With another thundering cry, the bear throws his clawed paw behind him, ready to strike back.

Suddenly, a torrent of golden wheat stalks blows straight at the animal.

“HUUUURRRAAAHHHH!!!” With his eyes squeezed shut, the bear reverts his paw at the blast and attempts to bat the fluttering stalks away.

Nolan’s eyes fly open at the sight. He turns to his left with shock to see the source of the strange attack.

Standing by the brick wall of the pizza parlour is Kale with an intrepid expression. He has his hands out in front of him, emitting the torrent from his palms.

“Get away from him!” Kale barks at the animal.

The bear instantly lets go of Nolan’s glider and lands perfectly on his four paws.

Kale retracts his emission, having cautious, keen eyes on the animal with his hands as fists.

The bear sharply faces the defenceman. “HUUURAAAHHH!” Filled with rage, he begins rushing up at him.

Kale’s eyes immediately fly open at the approaching, savage animal. “Oh geez—!”

He throws his hands in front of him and releases another stream of flitting wheat stalks.

The stalks blows around the bear, causing him to slow his stride and close his eyes. Yet he presses on, putting one paw in front of the other little by little.

Kale leans forward with lowered eyebrows, feeling his surge of power whip through his body as he attempts to strengthen his blast to place the animal in a stalemate.

“HIYYY-YA!”

Instantly, the bear is thrust out from the flying wheat’s path as a streak of orange lashes him. He crashes and rolls against the rocky asphalt, transforming back to his true self.

Carter plops on his stomach, lying still on the black ground with a contorted look of agony. “Uggghhh…”

A shadow slips up above him menacingly, causing him to peer up from the corners of his eyes. Two orange-tinted throwing stars are then pointed at his head with glinting, sharp points.

Looming above him with a shadow across his face, giving him a formidable mien, is Nolan. “If you wanna be smart, take this advice: leave.”

With a grunt of frustration, Carter pulls himself to his knees and slowly rises to his feet. He then peers behind his shoulder, spotting Kale.

Kale glares at him with a drooping wheat stalk in each hand, attempting to enforce Nolan’s statement against his returning feelings of angst.

A growl escapes from Carter’s vivid lips before he whirls around and storms away.

The two teammates watch the goalie flounce to the mouth of the alley and disappear in the radiant sunlight contrasting with the dim alley.

With the threat out of sight, Kale lets out a heavy sigh of relief and drops the wheat stalks, adding onto the collection of spewed stalks across the alley’s ground.

Nolan retracts his two throwing stars, keeping his stern eyes glued at Carter’s direction.

“We did it…!” Kale murmurs to himself with growing victory. “We actually won the fight!” A gawking smile appears on his face.

“I was gonna do it anyways,” Nolan remarks curtly at the mouth of the alley.

Kale reverts his eyes to the forward. "You have powers?"

Nolan whirls around, eyeing him with an indifferent expression. “What did you just see?"

"Oh yeah.” His smile becomes evident again with short chortles. “It's good to know that I'm not the only one with powers."

Nolan shrugs carelessly. "Sure."

Then an awkward silence fills the gap between the two teammates.

Kale scratches the back of his neck with raised eyebrows. "So, uh, no thank you?"

"I had it under control." Nolan crosses his arms.

He drops his hand and lets out a slight scoff. "Yeah, you sure did—” He throws his hands out from his sides. “He was about to clobber you on your glider!"

An irritated scowl grows on Nolan’s face. "I said I had it under control.” He then breezes past the defenceman, heading back toward the door to the pizza parlour.

Kale follows him with his eyes, gaping at him with an offended expression. "You're welcome!" he shouts out at him mockingly.

"I didn't ask for your help," he spits back at him, flicking his eyes to their corners to catch a glimpse of him.

A pang of hurt zips through Kale, twisting inside of him with frustration toward Nolan’s obduracy. He then lets out a huge, exasperated breath. "Nolan! Wait!”

With that, Kale jogs up to him and halts in front of him. He grasps his shoulders tightly, halting his storming. “Okay, look, I hate how we started off. We went off the wrong foot and I really wanna fix it.”

He loosens his grip. “I don't wanna make a negative, misleading impression on the first day of being a team. So I just wanna say that I'm sorry: Sorry for all the rude things I did to you.” He drops his hands and clasps them in front of him, giving him a genuine sorrowful expression. “Do you forgive me?"

With an apathetic expression, Nolan flicks his eyes from Kale’s voluminous hair to his black shoes. He then lifts his eyes to the defenceman’s eyes; a closed smile grows on his face as his eyes sparkle. "Call me ‘Pat.’"

Kale raises his eyebrows, stunned at his answer. "So is that a ‘yes?’"

He shrugs with a roguish expression. "Take a guess." He then reaches into his jeans’ pockets and pulls out his smartphone. "Want my number?"

An opened smile appears on Kale’s face. "Oh, yeah!" He excitedly pulls out his smartphone.

Nolan taps on his phone and hands it to him. Kale receives it and inserts his number into his phone.

“Thanks!” Kale hands him back his phone. “I’ll text you when I can!”

Nolan silently slips his phone back into his pocket as his blushed cheeks suffuse more in their rosiness.

"But I'm glad we're back on good terms,” the defenceman continues on. He then pauses as he mentally spots a flaw in his statement. “Well, more like on good terms for the first time.” He lets out a chuckle. “Thanks."

"No prob," he tells him back sweetly.

Kale slides his eyes to the left, eyeing the mouth of the alley behind him. "But who was that attacking you?"

"Some guy named ‘Carter Hart,’” he hears the forward answering with disdain. “He claims he’s the new goalie for the Silvertips."

"Oh.” Kale turns back to face him. “Why did he attack you?"

Nolan shrugs with a roll of his eyes. "Beats me. But I'm not worried about it—that's his problem." With a flick of his wrist, he resumes his movements, this time sashaying. "Now let's go have some granités for dessert!"

Kale begins strolling next to him. “Granit-what?”

“Granitas.”

He knits his eyebrows at the foreign word. “Granita what?”

“Granitas.” Nolan turns to him with raised eyebrows. “You don’t know what that is?”

Kale shifts his eyes from side-to-side. “Uh, no…”

“Okay—” He whisks his hand, signalling his friend that it is acceptable to not have his extensive dessert knowledge. “it’s a frozen dessert that’s between a sorbet and sno-cone.”

Kale makes his mouth into an “o” ahead of him. “Oh, interesting.” He turns to him with a concerned expression as the two halt in front of the door to the pizza parlour. “You don’t want pizza before dessert though?”

Nolan reaches out to the door and holds onto its handle. “Pizza is not dessert. I want dessert. I already ate, remember?” He opens the door, exposing the friendly chattering and doughy aroma from the other side.

Kale’s eyes light up at the memory. “Ah, that’s right! Sounds like a plan!” He ambles past him and through the doorway. “I wonder how these ‘granités’ taste like…”

Nolan twirls inside, letting go of the door, and follows in after him. “Trust me, you’ll love ‘em.”


The End.

Notes

E.1 "Newest Of The Prairie"
Part 5/5
Episode 1/10