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Jaz was walking back home from his job. He was leaving a little later than most people who had dayshifts normally did, so he didn’t have to deal with much traffic. He had almost made it to the other side of town where he lived when suddenly his feet were cold and soaking wet.

“Oh no! Not again.” Jaz sighed and looked around himself, torn between bemusement and exasperation. There were several streams running through the town (because its convenient for me lols). To cross them, wooden foot bridges had been constructed. Jaz thought he had been stepping onto the bridge, but instead he had stepped right into the stream. The bottom of the stream was unusually bumpy, although he couldn’t see his feet—the wooden planks came to just above his knees, blocking his view of the stream bed.

“No one else seems to have this problem,” he said to himself. Sighing again, Jaz lifted his left leg slowly, careful to keep his mind clear. Once his foot was higher than the bridge, he focused on the wood, thinking of it as being solid. Gingerly, he put his foot down, testing his weight. The bridge held his leg up.

“Okay, good. Now the tricky part.” Now that he was concentrating on the bridge, it was completely solid and he could walk on it. But. His other leg was still trapped in the planks. He had to be very careful not to try to move much, because the wood was pretty tight around his leg and he didn’t want to lose his balance and make his situation any worse. But he still had to focus on the bridge, or he would fall through completely again anyway. However, this wasn’t the first time that Jaz had ended up in a situation like this. And not only a situation like this, but this exact one, although it had happened on various bridges. No, this was something that Jaz managed to accomplish relatively often, perhaps about two or three times a month. By now, he had learned to focus on the part of the bridge his foot rested on while ignoring the part where he was trapped, allowing him to pull his other leg to the top.

This trick had taken awhile for him to learn, but he didn’t think that anyone else with his power/skillz had picked up this technique. |Because no one forgets and falls through the floor like I do| he had to remind himself. Learning this skill had cost him, though. Jaz had managed to get temporarily stuck in many interesting positions trying to pull it off. Before he had thought of trying it this way, Jaz had had to content himself with walking out into the stream that the bridge didn’t span. This always left him even more wet and yucky than simply falling through though, so he had finally gotten desperate for another way to get out of it. |If I paid attention, I wouldn’t have to invent ways to get out of it,| he thought to himself, walking across the rest of the bridge, leaving wet footprints behind him. He was very glad that there was no one around to see him. One advantage to leaving work later he noted.

Finally, he made it to the cul-de-sac where his home was. Before going through the door, he took off his shoes and rolled up his pants so that he didn’t dirty up the floor. Jaz ( I <3s his name so much lol) lived in a small cottage on a plateau that overlooked the sea. It had everything he needed, though, including a kitchen, sitting room, bedroom and bathroom, and most importantly, a deck in the back. That was his favorite place to be, besides the hammock that he had strung up on the posts supporting the deck below (it works out somehow).

When he went inside, Jaz went into his room to change into dry pants. Then he took the wet pair and went to the deck to hang them to dry. He paused for a moment to gaze out at the shining sea, the sun just beginning to set colorfully. The water seemed unusually erratic today, he observed. It wasn’t even windy. |Oh well, the sea does what it wants,| he thought, going back inside. He spent the rest of the night cooking and cleaning; he had guests coming the next day right after work.

The next day, Jaz came home with his guests, Colg and Vitani. He put together dinner while they all chatted, and then they took it out to eat on the deck. The first thing Jaz did was to look out at the sea like he always did. He was so stunned by what he saw that all of his attention was focused on it and he fell through the deck. Halfway through he caught himself by remembering that the deck was made of good solid wood and could hold him.

Surprised, Colg had leapt up to try and save Jaz from falling through, but Jaz had stopped himself before Colg could do anything.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? You’re normally better than that.”

Vitani looked over at Jaz concerned, “You really should get a hold on your power. Five year olds have better control than you.”

Normally Jaz would be annoyed by Vitani’s jab, but this time he just ignored her comment. Instead, he allowed Colg to pull him back up through the floor of the deck. Standing once again, he just pointed to the sea in front of them. Colg looked in the direction he was pointing.

“Whooooooah.” Both of the guys were now staring out at the sea, speechless.

“What?” Vitani asked, still sitting down. “What is it?” She finally stood up and came to stand beside Colg. “Oh my.”

There was land peeking up through the water.

A week later, the three were standing on Jaz’s deck again, looking at what had once been The Great Waterlicktonshiric Ocean. Now, there was a giant land bridge in place of the water.

“There’s no way we are going to be able to ignore the other nations now,” Colg said sadly, knowing that the small island-turned peninsula nation would be no match for the other (bigger) nations used to warring.

Vitani shot a questioning look at Colg. She didn’t understand why.

Jaz saw her look and answered. “This world has been connected.”

**a/n: Jaz can go through non-living matter, so while he falls through the floor, s person can still grab him. He cannot make anyone go through something like he does if they do not have that capability. And we are not really going to go into whether or not any of this is physically possible. New world, new rules lols. About the last line—I just couldn’t resist! This idea didn’t really come from KH at all though, its just an obvious parallel/reference.

***For future reference, Jaz = dark brown hair about 3-4 inches long, black eyes, and freckles

Jaz was sitting in his hammock set up under the deck while Colg and Vitani were sitting in chairs at a fold-up table. The three of them were playing cards (the table was set up next to the hammock so Jaz could play from there). They were deliberately not talking about the changes caused by the new land bridge. (Let's say this is about a week later or so?) Soon enough they would be at a meeting talking about what this country should do. There was going to be a town meeting tonight, and in two days, the King would hold an official council with his advisers and the input from the reports of the town councils being held nationwide. Jaz, Vitani, and of course Colg were going to be at both of those meetings. Suddenly, their card game was interrupted by a stranger coming into Jaz's backyard. He looked extremely nervous and uncomfortable and he was hold his stomach like it hurt. He said he needed directions.

"Um well that depends. Where are you going? And who are you anyway? What are you doing in this town?"

Jaz, Colg, and Vitani watched in amusement as the creepy stranger left, claiming to remember where to go again. Vitani and Colg, went back to their cards after a moment. Jaz sighed and got up from his hammock.

"Just don't break anything while i'mn gone."

He put on his shoes and trotted to the front of his house. It was custom that the owner of teh house provide hospitality whenever it was requested, and Jaz felt that he was bound to help the stranger. Besides, he had to give the guy credit for actually coming up to them for help. He felt that he had earned his help, even if he hadn't come to his house.

When he got to the front yard though, his feelings changed though. The guy was standing at the edge of the yard. Jaz could see blood seeping through the cloth of his pants at the knee. "Aww man. Why, does he have to be so awkward though?" He continued to trot over to him.

"Hey there, goombah. Uh, why dont you come in and get some water and clean up your leg, then I can take you wherever it is you were going."

Jaz herded the other back towards the front door, before he could make any excuses and escape.

A/N: goombah: the honorary the islanders used for strangers around their own age; equivalent to pal, buddy, comrade. its s customary thing they use as manners

Jaz sighed in exasperation.

"It'll only take a minute." Then he thought, perhaps the boy had come with a group of people to the town (i'm sure theres a better way to say that lol). "Or, we could go get your group, if you came with anyone. It's around lunchtime, so you should probably eat anyway. Everyone could come back here and you can clean up while we get food." He thought to himself for a moment. "I'll just have Colg and Vitani get something from a vendor. It would be faster than trying to cook something."

Jaz nodded his head. He had already decided on the second option. Even if the boy came alone, he should still eat here. But Jaz couldn't come up with any other reason for his hesitation to accept the offer. No one refused an offer of hospitality on the island. And everyone knew that (*hint*hint*). He could only be hesitating because he had left someone behind to ask for directions. In that case, Jaz was obligated to help them too.

*lmao nice nice*

"Well fine then, come on in."

Jaz took his elbow and led him into the house. Jaz left the guy sitting at the dining table while he went to get a clean cloth and some bandages. He came back with the items and set them on the table for the stranger to use. Then, he went to the kitchen to start some food.

"What's your name by the way? I'm Jaz."

*****

Colg and Vitani were still playing cards below the deck. After Jaz had left, they started talking about more important matters, like why the ocean had receded enough to create a land bridge. Colg was worried, because they needed to find out soon. There were religious nuts all over the place claiming that the world was ending and only by following them and givin them lots of money could they be saved.

Meanwhile, someone far away knew the answer and was on his/her way to share the news. (dundundunnnnn)

**a/n: on the island, it is custom for one seeking help to introduce themselves first, so that the one aiding them is aiding a named friend, not stranger. Since Draper did not introduce himself, Jaz pretty much immediately knows that he is a stranger to the island.

Jaz acknowledged Draper's thanks with a nod. Then he went to the cabinets above the stove and took out some food. He guessed from the condition Draper was in that he had been in a hurry when he came here, and he probably didn't want to wait around for Jaz to cook a meal. Instead, he sliced some bread and put it on a plate along with some cheese and fruit. He also took out some smoked fish and put it on a separate plate for Draper. (separate plate in case hes a vegetarian lol). Jaz laid out the food on the table beside Draper, who had finished bandaging himself by this time. Then, he got out two cups and filled one with water and one with tea and put those on the table in front of Draper as well.

"So, what are you doing on this part of the island? And don't worry if you haven't been this way before. I know quite a bit about the area, so I can (trying to avoid saying "hook you up" lmao) get you wherever you need to go, and even give you a few connections if you need them. It's nice to have visitors; I know that we're pretty separate from the rest of the world, and even the other side of the island, and I think it's a shame. It's such a nice area, it shouldn't be kept so secret"

Jaz chuckled (haha chuckled is such a funny word) when he saw Draper's reaction to the drink.

"It's just tea, but it's made from a plant that only grows on this island. Only on this side of the island actually." Jaz was very proud the plant was native only to his side. "Anyone who has had it claims its the best tea in teh world. Anyone who actually drinks tea that is, and some who dont i suppose. Although, i cant really validate that because its the only kind ive ever had really. We have some other tea plants (thats right, tea plants) on teh island what ive tried, and i think this is the best out of those. But ive never had tea from a foreign country."

He glanced out the window and noticed what time it was. "Umm, i can pack that up for you if you want, along with some tea. Since you said you're meeting (haha i had meating...go me) some people, i dont want you to be late. And i can help get you there too.

*i was gonna show draper his power here, but oh well, next post lols*