December, 2011

  It was early in the morning as Collin and Helena trudged through the snowy forest with two guards. This is the first time Helena joined him on a mission, guess she really wanted to help find this Phoenix that escaped from the Wildlife Sanctuary. As they walked he noticed the scorch marks on the trees as the wind howled. Poachers from the Supernatural Community are already looking for this mythical bird.

  "Are you feeling better?" Helena asked him.

  Collin hesitated before taking her hand. "Sorry and yeah, thanks."

  It's only been a week since the dinner party and truth to be told he was mentally exhausted. When he got his mission scroll he couldn't look Casper in the eye and that filled him with anxiety. Did Collin unknowingly make a deal with the devil? What would happen if he stopped being a Maverick? His siblings are great people.

  But why did the Jaeger sword reject them? Maybe the sword needed someone gullible and Casper...Casper loves controlling everything. Just then they heard gunshots and ran towards the sound as a glowing red bird zig-zagged through the treetops. Three men had shotguns as tree branches fell onto the snow.

  "Freeze right there!" yelled one of the guards as she unsheathed her sword. "You are under arrest for your misdeeds by King Casper of the Xenovia Kingdom and Sir Collin of the Nightingale Council."

  The Phoenix squawked as the poachers turned to them with scowls on their faces. Collin noticed that one of the men had a snout and pointy ears, the second man had blue reptilian skin and long hair, and the st man had bck fur and a scruffy tail.

  "Bruiser, go after the Phoenix!" shouted the man with the snout. "We'll take care of these goody-goodies."

  Without another word the guy with the tail fled while the reptile guy raised his shotgun. This made Collin frown in disbelief as the guards got into a stance. At first he wasn't worried because he thought this was gonna be an easy mission. But having a gun pointed at him made Collin's mood worse as he shed out. In a fsh he used his telekinesis to trap the poachers in a snow wave, all of them were buried up to their necks.

  "Thank you, Sir Collin!" both guards said.

  "Nobody should be getting shot while I'm here," Collin answered. "Just stay with the poachers, we'll bring back the Phoenix."

  They walked in silence as his emotions faded. He could feel Helena staring at him and wasn't sure if that was a bad or good sign. With a girlfriend that could read minds most people would be freaking out, one misguided thought and your screwed. Can't keep any secrets to save your life. But luckily, Collin made Helena promise not to use her powers on him.

  "I think we need a better viewpoint," his girlfriend suddenly spoke as she flew into the air.

  Before going on this mission Collin was given some fireproof gear and suet for the Phoenix to eat. It's been a few minutes and they didn't see the bird anywhere. Maybe, they needed to lure it out? He took the wrapped-up suet outta his pocket and tossed a few pieces around the area. After a few seconds Collin heard a squawk as a bzing fireball crashed into Helena.

  "Helena!" Collin shouted as the Phoenix circled nearby. Another fireball was shot as he dodged the attack.

  "Don't worry, I'm fine!" Helena smirked as the fire surrounding her was extinguished.

  The phoenix was looking at them with curiosity as his girlfriend pulled out a bo and swung it towards the bird. It dodged the weapon easily and spat fmes at Helena who blocked the attack.

  Collin took the time to unwrap the other half of the suet and wave it in the air. "Yo!"

  After seeing the bait the phoenix flew past Helena and shot fire at him. He dodged again as the bird did a loop-dee-loop and sshed down with its talons, the wound on his arm was painfully deep. The phoenix squawked as Collin pulled out a bo and tossed it. Just like before the bird twisted outta the way as it grabbed Collin by his coat and lifted him off the ground.

  He got dragged through the forest like a ragdoll and almost smmed into several trees as Helena chased after them. After struggling outta his jacket he fell to the ground and nded in a pile of snow next to burnt tree branches. Blood dripped from his wound onto the snow as the pain slowly disappeared. Collin climbed outta the snow just in time to see the phoenix circle back with a pyful squawk.

  Every part of his body felt numb as the bird got closer. This wasn't the first time he was attacked by a mythical animal and just like Idris he needed to earn this bird's trust. Suddenly, Collin rips the suet in half and goes down on one knee with his arms out like an airpne. He remembered seeing something in the Tamer's Codex about not spooking or irritating. If you wanna show a mythical animal you mean no harm squat in a submissive pose.

  When Collin finally looked up the phoenix was staring at him with a tilted head. He slowly put his hands together as the bird ate the suet outta his hands. A few minutes ter, they reunited with the guards who had the criminals in hand-cuffs. Collin cradled the phoenix in his arms as Helena kissed him on the cheek.

  Later that night, Collin, Helena, and Rafhael went on their first date. It was 8:15 at night as they walked through the outdoor mall. They were dressed in winter clothes and boots while carrying shopping bags. Since it was almost Christmas he thought it was a good idea to get gifts for everybody they care about. After talking about it Collin and Rafhael decided to take Helena to Pandora, she got a beautiful charm bracelet and was very happy.

  "That thai food restaurant was really good and I absolutely love the gift you guys got me," Helena said with a warm smile.

  "No problem," Rafhael answered and kissed Helena on the cheek.

  Collin nodded and touched the checkered scarf around his neck that Helena got him. "We wanted to make this first date special."

  An hour ter, they arrived at Lucky Star Folly which was a popur bowling alley. Rock music was pying over the loudspeaker as neon lights twinkled. This pce also had an arcade, race track, pool tables, and a ser tag area. It was crowded tonight as Collin bought tokens before walking over to Rafhael and Helena who waited at the bowling nes.

  "Who's going first?" Collin asked. A few minutes ter he watched his boyfriend roll his ball down the ne as a strike fshed across the screen.

  "Sweet!" Rafhael raised his arms in victory.

  It was Helena's turn next as she rolled her ball down the ne and got a deadly 7-10 split. After seeing his girlfriend strike out it was his turn as he picked up a polka-dot bowling ball and rolled it down the ne. Funny enough, Collin got the same score as he walked back to his seat. After pying pool and ser tag they went to the arcade. He and Rafhael pyed skee-ball with Helena, wack-a-mole, hammer game, Pac-Man, basketball ball, Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, air hockey, boxing game, and Donkey Kong.

  After winning a bunch of tickets they went to the ticket machine and the prize booth. The number they got from the ticket machine was 500. Collin noticed the prize shack shimmer as the employee grew twisted horns, sharp teeth, and extra arms. At first he only saw 4 shelves but then a 5th shelf appeared right above the other ones.

  "Teen Wolf is getting a second season and they need extras," Rafhael expined as they stood in line. "I'm going to audition in the summer."

  "Do you want to be an actor?" Helena asked.

  "I don't know, maybe? But if it doesn't work out I can just help at my family's shoe store," Rafhael gnced up from his cellphone.

  His boyfriend continued. "Be right back. I'm going to the bathroom."

  They watched Rafhael leave as the line got shorter and shorter. After taking a photo with Helena and choosing a filter Collin pulled up his stats.

  [ Name: Collin Saint Rex

  Race: Human

  Sex: Male

  Blood type: AB +

  Title: Maverick

  Css: Knight

  Level: C

  Training Points: 100 ]

  "What stats should I level up?" he asked his girlfriend.

  Helena hugged him and answered "Strength and TrueSight."

  Soon, it was their turn as they gazed at the prizes infront of them. Were these prizes enchanted? A few weeks ago, Collin went to the Boon Market with Noah and Kimberly to trade in those boar tusks. Since it was a rare ingredient the guards were given a rge bag of gold. Even though the market had unique stuff Collin didn't see anything he wanted.

  "How can I help you?" the employee said.

  "I would like that prize on the 5th shelf," his girlfriend pointed. "The rock'em-sock'em robots."

  "That's gonna be 300 tickets," expined the employee as the box floated off the shelf and nded on the counter.

  After handing the employee their note they had 200 tickets left as Helena took the box with a small smile. It stopped glowing and the words on the box caught his attention. 2 miniature golems, 2 remote controls, and a manual. Epic boxing game. Hours of enchanted fun. Be the best of the best. Rated E for everybody.

  "We use to py this game a lot when we were little," Helena told him.

  "Hey!" Rafhael shouted as he jogged over to them. "Go-karts?"