Chapter Text
Taylor had first noticed the feeling in the hospital. Her stay hadn't been that long, fortunately—they'd needed to monitor her overnight, and test her for sepsis, HIV, and hepatitis, but she'd been out of the hospital and back home the next day. Her dad had spent three days trying to fight with the school, but eventually he'd folded under the pressure of the hospital bills, and the fact that no lawyer seemed willing to touch the case without upfront payment, and they didn't have the time or money to drag Winslow into an extended lawsuit. At least Taylor had gotten the next two weeks off school, so she could 'recover from a traumatic experience.' She didn't want to think about the fact that she was nearly half-way through that time already, and expected to head back to her own personal hell on Earth next Monday.
In the hospital, she'd first felt a strange pressure in her chest, but she'd ignored it—she also felt pain on her legs where she'd been cut, and aches on her hands and shoulders from where she'd tried to stretch. When she got home, she'd hoped that the pressure would fade away, like the other bruises and pains, but it didn't. In fact, it had only seemed to grow stronger and stronger, to the point where she almost mentioned it to her dad, almost went back to the hospital to get it checked out, but something stopped her. It was on her fifth day out of the hospital that she realized that the pressure wasn't something natural—it didn't change or increase when she touched her chest, nor was it painful. It was just… there, like something wanted out.
Finally, she gave in. Not even quite realizing what or how she was doing it, nor even realizing that she'd been resisting the urge before, Taylor reached inside herself and used her power. There was a chime that rang out in her ears, even though she knew it wasn't a sound that anyone else could hear, and then one wall of her room—previously blank—now suddenly had a large wooden board on it.
The board was made of one expanse of lacquered amber wood, the grain standing out in stark contrast through whatever stain had been applied, and it was surrounded by a dark and matte metal rim. Above the wooden board, affixed to the iron rim, was a golden plaque. In big letters, engraved in a gothic blackletter type, were the words Quest Board. Hesitantly, Taylor reached out to touch it, and felt the coolness of the metal plaque, and then the smooth expanse of the wooden board itself.
There was only one thing on the quest board itself, a piece of parchment that had been somehow affixed to the board. She knew it was parchment and not paper, somehow—the thickness, the pale yellow color, and even the texture when she pulled it from the board. It came easily, without even a pretense of sticking, but when she tried to put it back it stuck in place just as easily. She pulled it back off, hoping to examine it better.
This was a power. She had powers. It didn't seem like a particularly useful power, not yet—the ability to manifest a wooden board? And she was pretty sure she couldn't do it again, that she could only ever have one board out at a time. And yeah, it would be just her luck to get powers only to realize they're absolutely useless, but—something told her there was more to it. There was more to her new power than it seemed on the surface.
She looked down at the piece of parchment, which had lines of text on it written in the same blackletter type. It was a little difficult to read, at first, but she puzzled it out.
Quest: Accept your first quest from the Questing Board.
Difficulty: Bronze
Taylor's brow furrowed. "How do I accept a quest?" she asked, looking down at the parchment. As soon as she said the word 'accept', the black letters on the quest turned a bright bronze color, and a moment later the ink seemed to fade away.
There was a strange 'clicking' sound that wasn't quite a noise, and she somehow just knew that it was only in her head. It was fast at first, and then gradually went slower and slower, and then it came to a stop. There was another phantom sound, this one a 'thunk' of something slotting into place, and then new words formed on the parchment, in the same script but now a faded bronze color.
Bronze Reward: Weather (Ability, Thinker) <Ordinary>
You are able to accurately tell the weather of a given area for the span of a week.
Taylor stared at the words. What did that even mean? Was that a description of a power? She thought about the weather in Brockton Bay, and suddenly she just knew—it would rain at her house next Thursday, from 11:31 am to 4:33 pm. On Friday night, the temperature would drop below freezing for exactly seven hours and thirteen minutes. It was currently sunny and 43 degrees Fahrenheit, although it would feel like 39 with windchill.
And it wasn't even like that was overwhelming to keep in her mind—she just knew all of that, could access it as easily as she could blink or breathe. It was absolutely, undeniably a power—and it was also one of the weakest powers she'd ever heard of. Maybe a hundred years ago, that would be useful, but her power could more or less be replaced by just checking the weather forecast in the morning.
Before she could feel too disappointed, though, she saw that there was another piece of parchment on the Quest Board.
When she pushed the completed quest onto the board, now just a description of her 'weather' ability, it stuck in place as she'd hoped—she didn't want to lose track of the pieces of parchment, not until she could experiment some more with what they did. Now she turned her attention to the next quest that had appeared, taking a moment to decipher it.
Quest: Go downstairs and eat breakfast.
Difficulty: Bronze
"Accept," Taylor said, under her breath. It didn't do anything, though—not until she reached out and touched the parchment with her hand. This time, the text still turned bright bronze, but it didn't fade away immediately. Instead, it just stayed there, and she realized it was probably because she hadn't completed the quest. She left it on the board and, as the quest had commanded, walked downstairs. Her dad was already sitting at the table, a bowl of cereal in front of him and the Brockton Gazette in his hands.
"Hey, dad," she said, pouring herself a bowl of lightly frosted corn flakes, and then took the milk and splashed it in.
He looked up at her. "Good morning," he said, with a tired smile. "Are you feeling alright?"
She shrugged. "As well as I can, I guess," she said. "How are things going with the Sparrow Street deal?"
"As well as they can," he said, in a sardonic tone. Taylor gave that the chuckle it deserved.
She didn't mention the quest board, or what had happened to her in the locker. He didn't mention that she still had dark circles under her eyes, or that he'd likely been woken up during the night when she'd screamed in her nightmares. They made casual conversation that didn't mean anything at all, and then he had to go to work. Normally she'd be going to school, but she had the next week off to recover from what happened to her.
As soon as she finished the last bite of cereal, she heard that clicking sound once more, like a great wheel spinning around. This time, when it slotted into place, she felt something new—a bit like a muscle she could flex, but at the same time entirely different. Words weren't quite enough to describe it—it felt cold, and a bit like putting on a coat, but that wasn't quite right either. A part of her wanted to activate whatever it was immediately, but she knew better.
She raced upstairs, wanting—no, needing to see what the quest said. As soon as she got in her room, she saw that the silver words had been replaced with faded bronze text.
Bronze Reward: Shadow Cloak (Ability, Stranger) <Common>
Cloak yourself in shadows to make yourself harder to perceive and muffle the sounds you make to enhance your stealth capabilities.
As soon as she read that, it was like everything fell into place. With a thought, she drew the shadow cloak over her body. It felt a little like pulling a bodysuit of silk around her whole body, and when she looked at her hand she could see that the edges of her form wavered like the edge of a shadow. Her steps were muted, and when she clapped her hands the sound was only just audible.
It wasn't much, as far as powers went, she supposed. A little less noticeable, a little quieter. But it was undeniably a parahuman power, and she could already see all the ways it could be useful, in the way that her Weather ability really, really wasn't. She waved her hand through the air, watching the way the cloaking shadows rippled as it moved, and she couldn't contain the smile that came over her face. She'd been disappointed at first, but even if she just got minor powers like this, so long as she kept getting quests, she would in theory just get more powerful. Vaguely, she remembered reading about so-called 'snowball' capes—it was in reference to Dauntless, the rising star of the local Protectorate, if she remembered correctly—which meant capes whose powers got cumulatively stronger. A bit like Tinkers, they usually started off very weak and vulnerable, but if given enough time they could be serious powerhouses. Everyone knew that Dauntless was projected to reach Triumvirate tier in the next decade, afterall.
It was a bit intimidating to think about. Taylor did her best to remember that she only had two powers right now, one of which was basically useless, and there was no point in getting overexcited when she didn't know all the limits of her power—for all she knew, she could only have three powers at a time or something.
She looked back at the quest board, and wasn't too surprised to see that there was already a new quest there.
Quest: Use your new ability to sneak up and catch a bird, rodent, or other small animal.
Difficulty: Bronze
"What the fuck?" Taylor said, her brow furrowing. "Uh, accept, I guess?" She pulled the parchment from the board, tucking it in her pocket. It felt… weird, but then again, that was kind of the nature of powers.
She slipped downstairs and looked out her back door. She wasn't sure if she was hoping that there would be an animal there or not, so she didn't know if she felt relieved to see the squirrel that was making its way across the yard, moving in short staccato bursts and probably looking for fallen seeds. She pulled her new shadow cloak over herself and, making sure to stay quiet and make no sudden noises, slipped out the back door.
Under normal circumstances, she was certain that she wouldn't be able to even get close to the squirrel. Now, though, with her body cloaked in shadow, it was as though her entire presence was muffled enough that the squirrel barely even noticed her. She got within ten feet, then within five, gradually slowing down as she approached, keeping a careful eye for the moments when its head perked up and it seemed to almost detect her.
When she was within two feet, she struck. One hand lashed out and wrapped around the squirrel's belly. It was warm and squirmy in her hands, and as soon as she heard the clicking of the quest completion she let the squirrel go, where it promptly dashed away. The parchment in her pocket warmed, and she pulled it out to see the faded text describing her new ability.
Bronze Reward: Silent Steps (Ability, Stranger) <Uncommon>
You naturally walk silently and softly like an assassin or a cat.
Taylor felt her brow furrow. Under her breath, she said, "Why do I need two different stealth skills?"
The answer came to her in a moment, and then she was dashing back inside toward her quest board. Sure enough, a new quest had appeared on the board. For the first time, the difficulty was rated as something other than Bronze, and reading it over she could see why.
Quest: Something is rotten at Winslow high. Sneak in after hours and reach Principal Blackwell's office.
Difficulty: Silver
It was probably a bad idea. It was definitely illegal. Even with her new powers, she couldn't at all be certain that she wouldn't be caught. But honestly? None of that mattered, not when she was caught between her bullies and an institution that had, again and again, ignored any of her attempts to get justice or even any help at all.
She couldn't go now, though, not while school was still going on. She'd have to sneak out tonight, if she wanted to do it. After all, there were going to be low clouds coming in this evening, blocking out the moon and stars. Perfect conditions for her shadow cloak.