A blurred version of the man in the trench coat appeared. Following the man, he started to fade in and out until he lost sight of him. Awaking from the dream Vidaj found his room filled with nothing but a flashing light bouncing against his walls. Well rested he glanced at the source. The name Briggs blinking across the screen. Eye bulging, and filled with anxiety a shadow glided down the hallway. Briggs was not going to be happy that he was late. Tearing down the streets he finally texted back.

When the bus finally pulled up to his destination, he skipped down the stairs and onto the road, where Briggs stood next to a bench.

Briggs greeted him coldly. "What took you so long?"

Vidaj knew Briggs's too well to fall for that one. "You should have sent a text message."

The wide gap between Briggs teeth filled his face as he shoved Vidaj. "You're lucky I wanted to share this spot with you or I would have been left you."

Vidaj studied the base of the mountain that stood a few hundred feet away in the distance.

Briggs marched forward with an intense focus that suffocated Vidaj. Vidaj had always known Briggs to be incredibly playful and sarcastic, but when he was focused on a task he could shift gears and really turn it on. "Well, let's get going. Jade Mountain isn't going to climb itself."

Seeing the mountain from below was amazing. The steepness and obscurity of the mountain's pathing due to the steepness and tight spaces made it unclimbable for most, but Vidaj and Briggs were not like most others. With their advantage he still knew what was in store for him. Breaking free from the thought of the overwhelming task ahead of him Briggs was already well in front of him. The asphalt road in front of the bus stop quickly transformed into a thin dirt-covered path that wound upward.

Briggs glanced back at Vidaj who had finally scampered to catch up. "I think we can get to the top by noon,"

Vidaj stared at his friend's feet, which emanated an invisible aura that he could feel with each step he took. There was an extra lift with every step that Briggs's took. That extra lift was what kept him from running out of stamina. Vidaj knew he had to match Briggs somehow. That's when he sprouted shadows around him. Without the extra insulation protecting him from the heat he was able to match Briggs's grueling pace. Vidaj's curiousity to constantly track their progress was now the only factor that kept him from moving any faster.

Briggs, on the other hand, didn't look back once; he was completely focused on reaching the top as quickly as possible. Even though Vidaj couldn't see Briggs's face, he knew that wide grin was running across it. Briggs always smiled when he was in the middle of a massive accomplishment, and his excitement inspired Vidaj to keep up with him. Vidaj yearning to keep up with his friend started to outweigh his curiosity.

At the top Briggs brushed his hands across his spiky hair. That was his weird way of celebrating whenever he finished a difficult task. Extending his arms out, he waved his phone at Vidaj, showing him that it was just short of noon. "Wow, we did it!" Pointing towards the edge of the cliff. "Great! Let's see if we can get a better view from over there."

Vidaj could feel the high altitude coursing though each deep breath he took. Briggs on the other hand was unaffected by it. This was no surprise to Vidaj who knew that Briggs's abilities naturally made it easy for him to adjust to the surroundings. Briggs tossed Vidaj his phone and posed at the edge. "I promised the girls I'd get a shot for them so make sure you get my good side."

Vidaj laughed as he snapped away. After a few shots, he handed the camera back to Briggs and looked over the edge of the cliff. Gazing down, he saw Lake Brand, which looked like a small pond from the top. There wasn't a single person in the lake below. It was no surprise though as it wasn't an easy place to get to even on foot. The rest of the area was covered with tall pine trees that seemed to span infinitely over the horizon. Each picture reminded him of those post cards he'd find at rest stops when on long road trips.

Briggs lay on his stomach peering over the edge of the cliff taking the view in. "Everything looks so small from up here. I can see the trees, but I didn't come all the way up here just to see that. We need a closer view. What do you think?"

Vidaj once again knew Briggs had that sly smile on his face. "I know what you're thinking," he pleaded, "but don't you dare, Briggs!"

"How high are we? Maybe four hundred feet? Five hundred? Ah, what am I saying? It makes no difference, does it?"

Vidaj walked over to Briggs, who was fishing around in his backpack for something. "What if someone sees you?" Vidaj asked.

"See me?" Briggs laughed. "I didn't get those waterproof packs for nothing. We didn't see anyone on the way up. And who would have the stamina to do what we just did in such a short time anyway?"

Surprised that he didn't piece it together from the start he questioned. "What about down below. Someone could see us."

Briggs had a daring look on his face. "No one's below. You know that saying about peer pressure? How does it go again? Oh, yeah, if your best friend jumped off a cliff, would you do the same? Well, let's see about that. Whether you jump or walk down, I'll see you at the bottom!" He winked at Vidaj and shouted, "Let's gooooo!"

Just like he promised in just a blink of the eye, he was gone. Peering over the cliff he vaguely saw Briggs rapidly free falling toward the lake. His eyes skimmed over the trail behind him as he the thought of walking back himself quickly started to make less and less sense by the second. Putting all his stuff in the waterproof pack he peered over the edge again. His heart pounded like a drum. Shaking off his fears he knew that the more he thought about it, the more likely he was to chicken out. Vidaj took several steps back. Without any further thought he ran toward the base of the cliff and dove headfirst.

The force from the wind bore down on his face heavily. His eyes felt like they were being pulled in through his head every time he tried to look down. The wind whipping against his ears made it so he could barely hear the thoughts in his head. Clearing his mind as best he could he focused on transforming into a shadow. Instantly, the whiplash feeling and loud noise of the wind were gone. Unable to move in the shadow form he let gravity do the work. The dark shadow he had become allowed him to hear birds flying by, the bristling of the pine trees blowing in the wind, and gave him a clear peace of mind.

Looking down, his shadow form allowed him to see that Briggs was just below him. Briggs was within a few dozen feet of the water when he had drastically slowed down. Briggs was so slow that Vidaj could have sworn he was hovering from his point of view, but exactly what was happening. That much was apparent from his aura. Briggs had manipulated the gravity around him. When Briggs finally breached the surface of the lake he slowly dropped in like a submarine.

Vidaj continued to free fall with no signs of slowing down. In fact, he was picking up more and more speed. By the time he approached the water all his fears and anxiety had escaped him. There was nothing but a sense of calmness. A few seconds later, he made contact with the water. As with Briggs, there were no large splashes, no loud noises, just pure silence as he slowly plummeted through the surface. After a few seconds, Vidaj emerged in his human form from below swimming toward the shore.

Once he caught his breath, he stood up and leaned over the dock, where he stared at his large brown eyes and long, skinny face reflected in the water. Though he was still exhausted from the jump, his face held the same calm expression. Suddenly a drop of water hit the reflection, distorting it. Puzzled, Vidaj stared at the water until the reflection changed, showing Briggs smirking while extending his arms behind Vidaj. Before Vidaj could react, he was falling into the water.

He resurfaced to the top and hung at the edge of the dock as he looked up to Briggs, who stood on the dock right above him, laughing loudly.

"Hey, buddy. I thought you were more mindful of your surroundings than that."

Vidaj pointed up to the sky. "Yeah, you got me good. I was staring at this reflection in the water—something in the sky. You see it right there?"

Briggs looked up curiously. "Right where?"

"Yeah, right there. No, not there. Don't you see it to the right?"

Briggs stretched his neck upward as he stood at the edge of the dock, his spiky hair now flattened from the water. Vidaj quickly grabbed his leg and pulled him into the lake before reaching up and pulling himself onto the dock. Briggs screamed in shock while making a huge splash into the water. Sprouting water, he resurfaced at the edge of the dock.

"All right, you got me back. I can't believe I fell for something as obvious as that!"

Vidaj laughed and jumped back into the lake, creating a large splash of water. Briggs fell back from the force of the water but quickly reemerged with a huge grin. "That was a nice little wave you made there," Briggs said, "but I consider that a declaration of war!" With that Briggs waved his hands in a circle causing a vortex for form through the way. From it a wave the size of Vidaj erupted. With little time to react Vidaj focused as quickly as he could on becoming a shadow, narrowly doing so to escape the waves force. Successfully dodging the wave, he morphed back into his human form. To his surprise Briggs had prepared a second wave. Unprepared this time Vidaj was swallowed by the force.

Vidaj spat out a mouthful of water. Though dizzy he righted himself and transformed back into a shadow. This form of his shadow was solid and able to wall off a part of the water in the shape of his body. Angling his shadow, the water gushed forward and smashed against Briggs. It wasn't long before the boys were firing barrages of waves back and forth. Exhausted, but unwilling to admit defeat both boys huffed in their water form of punch for punch.

The sun was dwindling down when Briggs rasied his hand in the form of a cease fire while huffing. "Maybe we should take a break and get some food. What do you say?"

Panting from exhaustion himself Vidaj wasn't willing to let him off that easily. "What's the matter? Is the water too rough for you?" His stomach growled loudly. Embarrassed, he responded "On second thought, maybe I am a little hungry."

Burnt out, the boys mounted the docks. Vidaj was rarely excited for anything, but whenever Briggs led the way on these explorations it always brought out a certain joy in him that not many others could.