Once Touched, Twice Shy

(This is a sequel to Just Touched)

“Oooh, look at this one!” Astra said, holding up a juicy, dark blackberry.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding supportively, “That’ll look nice on top of one of Mel’s tarts.” I held out the basket full of the berries we had already collected and Astra dropped the big berry into it. I placed it back on the ground, turning back to the tangle of thorns in front and to the sides of us.

Suddenly a branch snapped a few feet away. Astra and I both immediately dropped into a crouching position, bracing ourselves for whatever was hiding in the bushes. I glanced at Astra, silently reminding her not to use her powers in case she hurt whatever, or whoever was hiding in the bushes. A branch moved, cearly being moved by something, and I reached out with my hand and flicked my wrist, creating a glowing forcefield around whatever was approaching us.

“Holy Normalicy!” A vaguely familiar voice exclaimed, clearly having noticed my shield. Astra got up and pulled the branches aside, which revealed a very surprised Thomas, the son of the famous Royal Guard and Touched-hunter, Jefferson. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What are you doing here? How did you fing us?” I asked, my voice acusitory. Thomas hit my shield with his fist, his frustration eveiden on his face. He glared at me, the initial shock of capture obviously now worn off.

“By accident, if you’d belive it.” Thomas said, his voice bitter and cold. “I saw separated from my scouting group and then I heard you two talking.” Astra turned to my with a worried look on her face.

“Mai, what if they’re near? We need to warn the others. No one is prepared for something like this.” She said, wringing her hands nervously. I sighed, wondering what Thomas’s ‘scouting group’ was really doing out in the middle of the woods.

“We were just looking for better grazing grounds for a near-by village.” Thomas said defensively, still glaring at me.

“Excuse me?!” I said, turning to him sharply, a confused frown on my face. I didn’t think I had said anything out loud. Thomas’s face pales and his glare melts into a weird mix of fear, embarrassment and worry. I squint at him, studying him. I first look into his grey eyes, going down to his dark-blue Guard’s uniform and then up to his hair. It was a light blond, but it was so light you could’ve called it white…. I gasped as it hit me.

“You’re Touched!?” I said, my voice raising an octave in shock. Astra’s eyes widened as she took Thomas in as well, her mouth falling open.

“I- um… it’s not….” Thomas said, stumbling over his words. “Yeah. Fine. I’m Touched.” He said almost as if it were the worse thing in the world. He looked down and scuffed his boots in the earth next to my shield, kicking some soil onto the glowing engery field.

“But-... HOW?!” I said, looking at him in utter astonishment. “What happened to all that ‘Be safe, be normal’ stuff?”

“YOU should know.” Thomas said quietly, his voice filled with contempt. “I- I tried to resist but… it was so…beautiful.” He said at last, his voice low with shame and defeat. Astra was watching him carefully.

“What was it?” She said, her voice soft and non-judgemntal.

“A bird.” Thomas said simply. Astra nodded, knowing it was often something different for everyone.

“For me, it was a fruit. A delicious-looking, bright pink fruit. And it smelled amazing. So I ate it. And then this happened.” Astra said, gesturing to her hair. I looked at Thomas, gauging his reaction. He looked up at Astra sharply, his face a mixture of conflicting emotions. I decided to step in, hoping to ease the conflict in him.

“It was a flower for me. I saw it one day when I was out collecting firewood. It was never the same colour twice and it kept shifting hues, almost like water moving and sparkling. I just had to touch it. As soon as I touched it, it withered and a tingly, warm feeling shot up my arm. I knew that I had been Touched then and I saw the scales on my hands beginning to grow.” I said, holding out my hand so he could see. 

There was an unwritten rule amongst the Touched; you always had to help any newer Touched come to terms with what was happening. Most Touched knew as soon as it happened, and with that instinctive knowing came the understanding of your speciality. But for some, it took a bit longer to find out their speciality, and sometimes, as was the case with Thomas, the newly Touched had a denial thing going on.

“It was a really friendly, cool-looking bird.” Thomas admitted, still not looking at us. “And then I touched it, and as soon as I did I knew that I had done the very thing my father and I had warned about our whole lives.” His voice was quiet by this point, the shame making his shoulders sag a bit. I studied him for a moment, deciding if I should offer to bring him to the Touched base or if we should send him back to try and find his scouting group.

“Please don’t send me back.” Thomas, said, looking up at me, his gaze worried and shameful. I sighed and looked away, annoyed that he could now read my mind.

“Well, someone has to do SOMETHING about that scouting group.” I said, looking between Astra and Thomas. Astra’s eyes widened, and I could tell she had forgotten about the danger.

“I should go and warn everyone.” She said, hurrying off into the bushes.

“Wait!” I called, but it was too late. I sighed again, turning back to Thomas.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to take you back now. I guess you’re not really a danger to us now that you’re one of us.” I said, waving my hand and letting the shield around Thomas dissolve. He looked at me warily, almost as if he thought I might try to bite him or something. He rolled his eyes, obviously reading my thoughts again.

“You need to stop doing that.” I said, putting my hand on my hip and raising my eyebrow critically. He made a face at me and stepped past me into th clearing Astra and I had been collecting berries in.

“Well, I can’t, so maybe one of your… friends could help me.” He said, picking a berry and popping it into his mouth. I just glared at him, thinking nasty thoughts at him. He rolled his eyes and popped another berry into his mouth.

“This way then. If you want to come to the Touched HQ.” I said, turning around and heading towards the camp, not bothering to glance back to make sure he was following. 

We walked in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from Thomas as he crashed and stumbled through the undergrowth. Eventually we made it to one of the entrances of the cave system the rest of the Touched lived in.

“Welcome to your new home” I said, spreading my arms wide and stepping boldly into the darkness, leading him to his new life as one of the Touched.