Cloud Shifters
Chapter 15: Challenge

“Do you think that more people will come to the Challenge Club today?” Sun asked anxiously. They brainstormed over Winter Break about how to change the Archery Club to include as much training as possible to help everyone achieve more badges. Treven suggested that they change the name, and everyone agreed on ‘Challenge Club.’ They spent most of their break planning lessons and making schedules for classes and badges that would ensure that they each establish eligibility. Vincent, Treven, Jade and Xeno formed an unofficial team and committed to becoming full-time members of the Challenge Club.

Over break, Cadin also found time for some blue Aura training lessons with his parents. Cadin found the differences between green and blue fascinating and started working some of the lessons into their Challenge Club schedules. The other Gladers were not as thrilled with the changes, stuck in their comfort zone; however, Sun supported the changes and the others grudgingly went along with it.

“It is good to have a healthy mixture of different color strength training,” Instructor Kade added when they showed him their schedule upon returning from break. “It probably should be done more often in Commons High. However, most of the cloud-lands now are homogeneous in color. Instructors are uncomfortable teaching what they don’t know.”

“Maybe you should set up some kind of instructor exchange program or something,” Cadin said while trying to string up an old crossbow that they found in the school storage.

“Interesting idea...”

“Ouch, what is?” Cadin pulled his pinched fingers out from the taught string.

“Your idea, just now.” Instructor Kade laughed.

“Right, instructor exchange. It would be helpful for the Club. Were you able to spread the word?”

They had asked Instructor Kade to inform the other instructors about the Challenge Club and to invite students from every class to join them, including upperclassmen.

“Of course,” Instructor Kade answered as he helped pull out the archery targets. They got to Yi’s Field early to set up.

“What about the third and fourth years?” Sun asked.

“Probably not if they are anything like Gregor. They will probably think the training is beneath them. But, it was still good to offer.”

Instructor Kade walked over the hill with Bart, their hands full of bows, arrows, swords and shields.

“All set?” Bart asked

“Almost, just have to tweak a couple of targets.”

“Thanks for offering me a spot on the team by the way,” Bart said shyly.

“No problem Bart. We are happy to have you,” Sun said as she re-positioned the targets exactly where she wanted them.

“That guy Gregor just has a big ol stick stuck up his…” Sun stopped short as Instructor Kade walked up to help.

“Now all that we need are students,” Instructor Kade said.

“And I think we have them,” Bart added as he pointed over the hill.

Lep led a large group of first years and some other students that Cadin didn’t recognize. Cadin suggested for Lep to stay back near the exit to help guide people to the field, or remind them if he needed to. Apparently, he had done his job well. Cadin heard that once the school announced the opening of the Games to second years, more people attempted badges during the Winter Badge Day than ever before. Many of those attempts had also failed. With over half of the first years and some second years making their way across Yi Field, Cadin guessed people were ready to put in some extra work.

He personally stepped up his game by registering for an advanced Cloud Shifting class the second semester after both Instructor Kade and Instructor Zephran recommended it. He thought about it over break and found that a level two cloud-shifting badge was good for both the Warrior Path and Academic Path eligibility.

The next month of the Challenge Club went well. A few of the kids that started with them on the first day did not show up again; however, many more showed up during the next few classes. They were up to forty-five, and they usually had to break the club up into groups and rotate stations. The training was a catalyst for Auras emerging. At least ten kids in Challenge Club had Auras emerge within the first month. Just that day Vincent had strutted over the hill with a new green Aura and Jade hanging onto his arm and looking at him with a dopey love-struck grin on her face.

“Wow, looking good,” Cadin said as Vincent approached.

“Yeah, it took long enough! My brother got his Aura well before Winter Break. I hope you guys hurry up and get yours,” Vincent said as he looked around at Cadin, Jade, and Treven. “It will be so much easier to earn badges once you have your Auras. I already feel twice or even three times as powerful,” he said as he puffed out his chest. Jade swooned, and Cadin covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

“So, what are we doing today?” Xeno asked.

“Actually, we will have a chance to earn a Warrior Path badge today,” Cadin answered.

“Nice!”

“Cool, what is it?”

“Hang on; we gotta wait until the whole club gets here.”

Vincent, Xeno, Jade and Treven stayed and kept looking around to see if there was something different to the usual setup that might give them a clue as to which badge while Cadin ran over to help Instructor Kade and Lep carry over the rest of the equipment.

“All right, everyone quiet down, please!” Cadin said. He guessed that news about the badge had spread. “As you all know, to take advantage of entering the Qualifiers next year, we must all first establish eligibility by earning enough school badges. Today, we have some cool news Instructor Kade is going to tell us about.” Cadin sat down on the grass with the rest of the club.

“Thank you, Cadin. I have been talking to Headmaster Tripharian, and he has agreed to let us hold badge certifications for Warrior Path badges during our Challenge Club meetings!” Bart and Lep gave each other high fives, even though they both had known about it before this announcement. “This is open to the whole school, which means we may get more students to participate in the club. Yes, Vincent?”

“Can we go for any badge, or will there be a specific one?”

“There will be specific badge certifications that will rotate between Aura color strengths.

“What do we get to try for today?”

“Since this started as Archery Club, I thought we would honor Miss Sun and begin with the yellow Aura strength of archery!”

Sun blushed a little bit but took over with pride. “Alright, we have thirty minutes before the badge attempt, so let’s get practicing!”

Sun lined up five targets at twenty feet from the green line.

“To earn a badge, you must hit at least the outer red wrath’s-eye at the one hundred, one hundred and fifty and the two hundred-foot mark,” Instructor Kade told everyone. Cadin practiced along with everyone else and was doing fairly well after an entire semester of practicing with Sun. He did not hit the red wrath’s-eye every time, but he no longer missed the target completely.

Ten minutes before they were scheduled to start the badge certification, the older students trickled onto the field. Apparently, the badge opportunity appealed to many of the older Warrior Path students. Cadin guessed few ever had the opportunity to earn an archery badge in the past. Thirty extra students littered Yi’s Field when Instructor Kade called ‘time’ on the practice.

Headmaster Tripharian flew over.

“May I offer you my help, Instructor Kade?” Headmaster Tripharian asked.

“I would be honored. Would you like to say anything to the group before we get started?”

“Thank you, I would.” The students were completely silent as they waited for Headmaster Tripharian to speak.

“Welcome,” he said with a smile. “I fully support the Challenge Club. It’s a concept that I am a bit surprised we did not implement sooner. I am proud of all of you giving up your free periods to train so studiously. It is a beautiful day to get more metal on your arm guard!”

“Calm down please so I can tell you how you can earn the badge,” Instructor Kade said. “There are fifteen targets set up at the one hundred-foot mark. Each station has a set of three arrows that are distinct from any other set. Take note of your arrow markings when it is your turn. Each student will have three shots at each distance. Those that hit the red or black wrath’s-eye will move on to the next round. To earn a Warrior Path badge in level 1 distance weapons today, you must hit at least the red wrath’s-eye at all three distances. Any questions?”

“What if the bows do not have the proper tension or the arrows are bent?” An older, dark-haired girl asked.

“All of the equipment out here today has been personally inspected and tuned by Sun.”

“How can we trust that she knows what she is doing? She is just a foreign little first year.” Instructor Kade did not look very happy with the comment.

“First of all, never be so disrespectful to a fellow student again. If you had bothered to train at any of the Challenge Club sessions, you would know that Sun is probably the most knowledgeable person in all of Glade when it comes to archery. Secondly, if you miss the target, do not blame the equipment. Rather look into your training and change what needs to be changed to succeed.”

The girl did not respond but flashed Instructor Kade a scathing look.

“Let’s get started. You each pulled a piece of paper from the hat upon your arrival with two numbers on it. The first number in red indicates which group you will be shooting in. The second number in blue indicates which target station you will be shooting from. Anyone that acts in an unsafe manner will be asked to leave immediately. No second chances. Let’s have group one line up.”

Cadin looked at his piece of paper. He was in group two, position number three. He looked up to see Sun and Lep both stand up for group one.

“Good luck!” He called after them. Gur got excited and added a little squeak. Cadin laughed and patted him on the head. Gur had become more vocal over the past week, and Sara said he was trying to communicate. She suggested that they go and listen to other rock dragons so they knew what to expect.

They had sat with Gur on the rocks at Mist Lake, Cadin worrying at first that his baby dragon was going to recognize his family and leave him, but that did not happen. Gur got excited about the many clicks, squeaks, and growls that were coming out of the other rock dragons, and he tried a few new noises out while they were there. He now had quite the repertoire and was not afraid to use it. It hurt Cadin’s ears when his dragon “talked” right next to his face without any warning.

The other people in group one from the Challenge Club were the twins from Nightan’s class, Lexi, and at the far end in position number fifteen was Xeno. Gregor’s crony was also in the group and standing to Sun’s right. Sun did not seem bothered that a large unfriendly third year was casting his shadow over her space. She had explained her competition mode to him once as ‘tunnel vision,’ not seeing anything but the target.

Instructor Kade called ‘begin’, and Cadin was thrilled to see a black wrath’s-eye from Sun and a red wrath’s-eye from Lep with their very first arrows. Xeno came close, and one of the twins hit the red wrath’s-eye as well. Everyone finished their set of three, just in case it was too close to call, or out of courtesy to the other students. Xeno and the second twin hit their second shot, along with a couple of older students, and Lexi was the only one to hit on her third shot. Gregor’s friend was mad and about to throw his bow when Headmaster Tripharian caught his eye.

Instructor Kade walked with Headmaster Tripharian up to the targets after announcing ‘bows down.’ At each station, they would look closely at the target and where the arrows hit. After Headmaster Tripharian announced ‘wrath’s-eye,’ the archer from that station would have a seat to the left and wait for the next round.

Cadin was in the second set and wiped the cold sweat from his palms before he stepped up. He looked down at the set of arrows at his station. Each had three blue stripes near the tip, and two yellow feathers with one red feather in the center. The yellow feathers reminded him of Sun, and he remembered everything that she had taught him in the club.

“Good luck, man.” Cadin looked up to see that Treven was in position number one to Cadin’s left.

“Oh, thanks. You too.”

“Everyone take your place!” Instructor Kade called. “Begin.”

Cadin took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he picked up his first arrow. He fitted it into the notch and zeroed in on his target. He raised the bow and pulled the arrow back towards his mouth. Sun and Lep cheered for him from the sideline. He tried to concentrate on the target, but his heart beat madly and he was having difficulty keeping the arrow steady. His arm cramped right before he fired. His arrow quivered just outside of the red wrath’s-eye.

He shook his head and stepped back for a second.

“That’s okay, Cadin!”

“You still have two shots left!”

“Oh, you gonna go cry to your mommy!”

Cadin turned to see that the last comment came from Gregor, who was sitting in the crowd awaiting his turn. Focus! He pulled up the second arrow and remembered what Sun said about releasing the arrow on the exhale. He pulled the arrow into position, focused on the target. He tuned out all the chanting and cheering from the sidelines and just concentrated on his breathing. The arrow lined up with the center, and as he exhaled he released. This time he watched the arrow fly as if in slow motion soaring through the air and landing in the red.

Noticing that Treven too had hit the red, Cadin gave him a thumbs-up before pulling up his last arrow. He didn’t think about it nearly as much as he did the first two arrows and just let it fly. It too hit the red wrath’s-eye and Cadin celebrated by giving a little wave over to Sun and Lep, and then extended it just a bit to include Gregor. Gregor spat at the ground in Cadin’s direction, and Cadin shook his head and watched the rest of his group finish up. He realized that most of group two was made up of Challenge Club members, and most of them got at least one wrath’s-eye.

When Headmaster Tripharian announced ‘wrath’s-eye’ at his target, he celebrated with the rest of his group. Thirteen of Cadin’s group moved on, and one of the kids to not make it was a young girl from Nightan’s group that had just joined the Challenge Club at their last practice. She looked a little upset as she went and sat back down in the big group. Cadin caught her eye and gave her a wave. She smiled through her tears and waved back.

“Nice job,” Lep said as he punched Cadin’s arm in a friendly manner. This jostled Gur, who slept through the entire first round. Gur hissed his annoyance at Lep as he stretched and sat up.

“Sorry, Gur.”

“You did great too, Lep. And Sun, you were amazing!” Cadin said

Sun beamed a big bright smile and then considered the crowd and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Cadin asked.

“Oh nothing, I just have to mentally prepare for round two. You guys should too. Just sit and clear your minds.”

The remainder of the first round concluded with many of the Challenge Club members making it through. About half of the second year, students and two-thirds of the third-year students including Gregor made it through to the second round.

Sun and some of the other students moved the targets back to one hundred and fifty feet and the second round was under way. Cadin put his hand over Gur for a few seconds to calm him down.

“We need to focus now,” Cadin whispered to Gur, who seemed to understand. Gur stopped pacing and anchored himself to Cadin’s shoulder and stared out like he was on guard duty.

Lep, Vincent, and Xeno were also in the first group. Cadin felt Gur focusing as he pulled up his first arrow. Gur’s claws dug into his shoulder as Cadin tensed up, pulling the arrow up close to Gur’s perch. Normally Gur liked to play with the feathers on the arrow and would even strum the string with his claws, but not this time. The dragon just sat and focused on the arrow as Cadin focused on the target. He watched as the arrow soared and broke the edge of the red, sitting half in the white. It still counted as a wrath’s-eye if any part of it was in the red, but he would like to get a more solid shot in to get him through to the final round.

His next shot was even further off the mark, hitting all white several inches away from the red center. The third shot hit right next to his first, just inside of the red wrath’s-eye. Cadin breathed a little easier but was not thrilled with that round. Lep was too far from Cadin’s station to see if he got through or not, but he could see that both Vincent and Xeno had a red wrath’s-eye. Only seven of the fifteen made it through to the final round including Cadin, Xeno, Vincent, and Lep.

“I got a black wrath’s-eye!” Lep told Cadin as they sat down, this time to the right, on the opposite end of the stations from where Sun and the other archers from the first end awaited their turn.

“Awesome! I only just made it in the red.” Cadin told him.

“Even if you do get this badge,” the older, dark-haired girl interjected, “you first years have no chance of qualifying. You have too much to do in too little time. I don’t even know why they changed the rules now. You will just get your hopes up, and have them crushed by older and more experienced students.” She flipped her hair out of her eyes as she turned back to the competition.

“Who are you?” Cadin asked

“Not that it is any of your business, but I am Araina, and I am the leader of my all girls Com Games team.”

“Hi, Araina,” Cadin said as politely as he could towards the stuck-up girl. She even had nails painted to match her outfit. Who does that? Cadin wondered as he continued, “I’m Cadin and this is Lep, one of my teammates, and this is Xeno and Vincent. They too are on a team of first years, and I see no reason for you to put us down, simply because you are older.”

“Hey,” she said without looking at any of them and keeping her eyes on the archery field, “I just want to give it to you straight since obviously none of the teachers will.” She had a hard look on her face as she glared at Instructor Kade and Headmaster Tripharian, who had started up the second group made up of mostly second and third years.

“My girls and I practiced all of high school together and even we have had to wait until our fourth year to compete in the Qualifiers. Whatever,” she said with a wicked smile. “My whole team is amassing enough badges this year, so we can focus purely on the Qualifiers our senior year. Some of us need just one more Warrior Path badge—even if it is archery.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Cadin said, trying to end this unpleasant conversation.

“Please, I don’t need luck! Unlike some people here I rely on pure skill. But it will take more than just luck to get a second-year team through qualifications. Heck, I would bet three betos that not a single second-year team makes it through to the Com Games.”

“I will take that bet.”

Araina turned to look at him, as if surprised to see an actual person at the other end of her conversation. “You are going to bet me three betos that one of your little groups will make it through the Qualifiers next year?”

“Yeah,” said Cadin, looking straight back into her dark eyes, “I am.”

“Oh, please. Like you even have three betos to bet.”

“You are not backing out already?” Vincent asked, jumping in. Cadin was surprised that he hadn’t said something earlier. She seemed like just the type of person that would really get under Vincent’s skin.

“It will be the easiest money I ever made.”

“Three betos then,” Cadin said holding out his hand to shake on it. Araina looked at his hand like it was a mutant cloud-worm trying to bite her.

“I agree to the terms, but I will not shake your hand,” she said.

“Fine,” Cadin said.

“Oh, and I want three full beto coins. I will not walk around with thirty aros weighing down my beautiful celebration outfit.” With that, she got up to congratulate two girls that just finished the second round.

“Wow, what a piece of work she is,” Xeno said quietly.

“Yeah,” Vincent said. “What an attitude.”

Cadin and Lep laughed with Vincent while Xeno just shook his head. They watched Araina sit down with the other two girls a good distance away from them. They were giggling.

“She won’t be laughing when she has to pay up,” Lep said.

“Look, Sun, Bart, and Jade are going this round.”

Sun hit a red wrath’s-eye her first shot and two black ones for her second and third shots. Jade got a nice red hit on her second shot but barely hit the target with her third arrow. Bart’s arrows were all close to the red, but Cadin couldn’t see if any of them actually hit.

“Come on Bartholomew!” Cadin shouted as Instructor Kade bent down to inspect his target.

“Wrath’s-eye,” Headmaster Tripharian announced after conferring with Instructor Kade.

“Yeah, Bart!”

Only five made it through from the group, and they celebrated as they joined the others waiting for the final round. Treven and Gregor stepped up in the final group for round two, along with Lexi, a few other Challenge Club kids and the rest of the second and third years including Gregor’s other two teammates. Sun sat next to Lep while Bart took the empty spot by Cadin.

“Nice grouping on that last set Bart.”

“Thanks, man, I was nervous.”

“Just one set left.”

The last group did surprisingly well, and nine of the fifteen made it through to the finals, including Treven, Lexi, Gregor and his friends.

“Okay, we have twenty-nine students that have made it to the final round from our original seventy-five or so,” Instructor Kade said as the targets were moved back to the two hundred-foot mark. “We will have two groups for the final round. Anyone with a black or red wrath’s-eye in this round will earn a Level 1 Archery Warrior Path badge. Good luck to all of you.”

Cadin pulled out his new paper from the bowl: Group 2, position #14. Cadin breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t in the first round. Most of his friends were. Sun was in position one again, with Araina’s friend to her right in position two, Treven was third, while Lep stood up to the fourth position. Xeno, Bart, Jade and Vincent and Araina were scattered down the rest of the line. Cadin sat by himself as they got started, and Gur started his pacing again.

“Your lizard looks as nervous as you do, firsty,” Gregor said getting up and sitting down next to Cadin.

“Not right now, Gregor, my friends are going and I want to watch and prepare for my third round. And Gur is a dragon, not a lizard,” Cadin said without looking up.

“Sorry about that,” Gregor said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “I guess what they say about pets taking on the look and personality of their owners is true, and I just thought he looked more like a spineless lizard than a dragon,” he said with a chuckle. “My bad.” He stood up and moved to the other side of the field. Cadin didn’t let what Gregor said get to him. Instead he cheered for his friends and other people from the Challenge Club that had made it into the finals while trying to focus his breathing and energy to prepare for his turn.

Sun was the only one to hit all three arrows in the red. Instructor Kade raised his hand and announced ‘tripple wrath’s-eye.’ Others missed the targets completely at the farther distance with one or more of their arrows, and one of Araina’s friends had hit the target of the angel to her left by accident. Needless to say, Araina’s friend did not get a wrath’s-eye and ran off crying when Instructor Kade and Headmaster Tripharian announced ‘no hit,’ while crossing their arms. Cadin cheered when both Treven and Lep got the hands up wrath’s-eye from the instructors. Araina hit a wrath’s-eye and looked smug as they announced it. Neither Xeno nor Jade could hit the red, but both Bart and Vincent finished up the line with wrath’s-eyes.

“Last group, you are up!” Instructor Kade said.

Cadin put his hand over Gur and walked to his position. There was no one to his right to fill in position fifteen. There were two older girls to his left so his end of the field felt calm and peaceful. Cadin pulled up one of his arrows and ran his fingers gently over the blue and green feathers. Feeling confident, Cadin loosely set his arrow and waited for the start of the final round. Instructor Kade said ‘begin,’ and Cadin looked downfield. The target looked far away and Cadin’s confidence wavered. Cadin heard someone curse down the line, but tried to block everything out. Gur was silent on his shoulder and did not make a move as Cadin pulled his arrow to the ready. The arrow moved ever so slightly with his breathing. The first arrow hit all white.

Cadin pulled his second arrow, his line of sight moving with his breathing, and the small target dancing in and out of line with his arrow. The second arrow hit near the top of the red wrath’s-eye, but he didn’t think that it hit. Pulling his third and final arrow to the ready, Cadin took a deep breath before sighting down the shaft of his arrow at his target. He saw the arrow line up perfectly with the small black circle for just a moment and let the arrow loose. Quivering, the arrow settled into the target, surrounded by black. Cadin hit the center and pumped his fist in the air in celebration. Gregor, on the other hand, was throwing his fists in the air in frustration.

Fifteen people earned the archery badge; eleven were Challenge Club members.

Headmaster Tripharian melded the metals himself and shook hands with each person that earned a badge.

“I would like to say that so far, the Challenge Club has made a good impression on me. Keep working hard toward your goals.” With that, the Headmaster walked off the field. Cadin looked down at his new red badge that Gur was now trying his hardest to take off.

Cadin smiled as he plopped down next to Bart where Yi Field abutted the school forest. Taking a level two cloud-shifting class had many challenges, especially being the only student without wings, let alone an Aura; however, it also had its benefits.

“Any new ideas today?” Cadin asked. He was the only one in the Challenge Club that took a class with Bart, so they could relay messages better and observe older students, and strategize what younger teams would need to do to beat them.

“Well, I still think that the biggest challenge for a second-year team challenging third and fourth-year teams in the Qualifiers next year is a lack of flight experience.”

“Yeah, but there is not too much we can do about that, except practice when we get wings. Besides, we have you.” Cadin peeked at Bart’s back. “Your wings should be sprouting any time, right?”

Bart hunched down and let out a sigh. “Man, I hope so. I am one of only a few second years that didn’t get them over break.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” Cadin said softly as he gazed out at luminescent glow emanating from his fellow students.

“Everyone, up!” Instructor Russ barked as he approached. The advanced cloud-shifting instructor was large in every way, standing taller than most angels and with what Cadin assumed were pumped up muscles under his slightly flabby skin and barrel belly. “Circle around!” Everything he said was loud, and rough, matching his exterior, though Cadin knew that Instructor Russ, despite outward demeanor, was actually a very nice and patient angel. He accepted Cadin into his class, no questions asked, not treating him like a lost little cloud-raven like a lot of the older students did.

Cadin and Bart found a spot where they could see Instructor Russ as he summoned a natural cloud over to him.

“Weaving is a necessary level two skill,” Instructor Russ boomed as he stepped up on the fluffy cumulus. “We don’t fall through the clouds when we cloud-walk!” He unnecessarily stomped his very large feet. Wisps of cloud flew up around his tree-trunk legs, but he stayed atop the little cloud, hovering a few feet above the ground. “However, cloud-walking will suck your energy dry after a while, especially if you are not moving around.” The angel made a motion with his hefty arms as if hugging the cloud closer to him. “So, when we need to stay in one place that is not a cloud-land for a while, we weave!” He reached into the cloud, his green Aura flaring, and started making quick motions that were obscured from view.

“Now, what I’m doing is essentially cloud-shifting many lose tendrils, and weaving them together to form a cloud-nest. It is important to not fully harden the cloud or you will expend all of your energy to form a small cloud-land that will be too small to rest on.”

He lifted a piece of the cloud he was working on so the class could see. “The consistency you are going for is rope-like. My sisters always said it was like braiding hair if that helps anyone.” He stepped off the cloud and made a pushing motion with his hands. The excess cloud blew away, leaving a thatch of woven cloud.

“Everyone feel and stand on it before it dissipates. They don’t last long without the rest of the cloud.”

Cadin stood in line behind Bart and felt the slightly firm ropes of clouds that undulated under his touch. “Awesome,” He said as he climbed on top of it next to Bart.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how it’s gonna help us.”

“Oh, you won’t be complaining about this skill after you get your wings and need to rest for a bit mid-flight!” Instructor Russ’ voice boomed.

Bart was so shocked he took a step back and stumbled off the nest. Cadin jumped down to help him up.

“Finish looking—and start trying!” It was a common saying in the class, and many of the students had taken to finishing the sentence after Instructor Russ started it. “Yes, and maybe after you all get some good weaving practice in, I’ll set up a couple more complex Cloud-Wheels for you to test last week’s skills on.”

Most of the class cheered, Cadin and Bart included. The previous week they had worked on the skill of the cloud-shifting their way around a Cloud-Wheel, a ten-foot tall hollow wheel, with various hand and footholds along the interior. Your job is to navigate your way along the entire interior of the wheel without falling, Instructor Russ had informed them, a gleam of pride in his eyes. Everyone in the class had made it around ‘Wheel 1.0’, as Instructor Russ had called it. He had promised the class more challenging versions to come.

“Finish looking...” Instructor Russ called.

“And start trying!” Several students yelled back.

Cadin and Bart made their way to one of the natural clouds and attempted their first weaving.

A tingle ran up his back and Cadin smiled at the thrill of connecting to a cloud. Each one felt unique and Cadin took a moment to understand the flavor of the little cumulus under his fingertips. This one was full of water, and would probably have started raining soon if he wasn’t about to capture some of the moisture and cloud-shift it to the center of his tendrils. Cadin smiled as he gazed up at the bright sun, heat washing over his face, while cool water played across his hands.

“I love this,” Cadin said to no one in particular.

Bart grunted, concentration furrowing his brow.

“Excellent!” Instructor Russ said as he rambled over to their cloud. “Why don’t you hop on your nests to test them out?”

“Uh, okay.” Cadin hadn’t particularly been focusing on what he was doing, just vaguely guiding the cloud into what he imagined to be a good bird nest.

“Right,” said Bart as he stepped up onto his half of the cloud.

Cadin tried not to focus on Bart wobbling all over the place as he climbed up.

“Good, now sit down, so I know you are not cloud-walking and are dependent on your nest holding you up.”

Cadin sat down and felt a little motion sick as the water in his weave undulated back and forth. His nest popped him up a bit as Bart plopped down hard on the other end of the cloud.

“Uh,” Bart said as he tried to pull himself up with the edges of his nest. Cadin could see that he had sunk down in the middle but had not fallen completely through.

“Not too bad by either of you for your first attempt,” Instructor Russ said as he reached into their cloud. Cadin instantly felt the change in energy as the large angel connected to their compact cloud. Strong, Cadin thought, as Aura energy rang through his nest—Instructor Russ was feeling, but not shifting. “Cadin, a little too much water in your ropes, I think. After a few minutes of sitting on that, you will get cold. Bartholomew, work on a tighter weave, especially in the middle.” He nodded to each of them and moved on to a cloud occupied by several noisy girls.

Cadin was exhausted by the end of cloud-shifting class, but he couldn’t resist attempting the 2.0 version of the Cloud-Wheel after Instructor Russ explained the differences.

“A bit bigger, but the real difference is what you will replace on the interior. There are a few obstacles for you to overcome. It’s not easy when you are hanging upside down, and there are fewer solid hand and foot holds. In their place, you will replace some natural clouds that you will have to cloud-shift as you go.” A large smile spread across his broad face as Instructor Russ gazed upon his creation. He turned to them. “Well—finish looking, and start trying!”

Cadin got excited by the challenge of puzzling his way around the wheel without falling. He had reached the top and was dangling upside down when he tried to reach over a large block-like obstacle and felt his energy bottom out as he attempted to cloud-shift a handhold. He tried to flip as he fell, but still landed awkwardly on the cloud-padded bottom.

“Nice try, man,” Bart said as he came to help. “Want to stand in line for another go?”

“No, man—I don’t have any energy left. But I’ll stand with you if you want to go again.”

“Cool, let’s go.” Bart ran it twice more and got slightly further than Cadin before falling. “I think I know how to get around that obstacle that got me last time.”

“Avoid the pointy part,” Cadin said with a laugh as he watched a second-year girl with newly sprouted wings fall at the same spot with two large spikes blocking her way.

“Duh,” Bart said. “But I think I can use the spikes instead of avoid them. Watch.”

Bart stepped forward to take his turn and methodically climbed up the inner curve—shifting hand holds as needed. He swung over to the side of the block that had stumped Cadin and continued towards the two large spikes. Instead of staying head forward, which was beginning to be down as he rounded the top of the curve, Bart flipped around while holding onto the top of the wheel and stood on the long edge stepping down around it.

“Oh,” several kids watching said.

Bart finished and received an applause from those watching for being the first to complete version 2.0.

“Nice!” Cadin said as he high-fived Bart. “I don’t know how you still have any energy left!”

“Thanks! That was a thrill.” Bart huffed as he sat on an open patch of cloud-grass. Cadin sprawled out next to him, trying to recover a bit before his next class.