Trials and Travels (Semi-lit)

[jaina]

Cielo

 

"No it wasn't hard Nerio," Cielo sighed in agreement, "but I'm not afraid of practicing, I'm afraid of killing people. I'm well aware of how easily my abilities can do it so I don't like to let my self cut loose." Nerio, she had to admit, seemed dedicated towards being incurably optimistic, something she was a bit grateful to at the moment, if begrudgingly so. "So what should we do now that we're done with food then?" Cielo asked, moving past her current issue, the balls in between her hands still maintaining their careful orbits and axial rotations.

[Nasa13]

Eirikr

 

Eirikr put his things back into his pack carefully. The rest of it, the rocks and things, he threw into the forest. He hated showing his powers. He preferred it when others thought his skill was just that, skill not powers.

 

"I will show you some of my power," said Eirikr standing up. "Though not even I know their full extent. You may want to get back."

 

He went down on one knee and placed his hands, palms up, on the ground. Using his power he drew the stone to his hands and arms. It flowed as fragments from the ground. The fragments layered on his arms into a series of serrations. Then he proceeded to form the stone into different blades, some ceremonial in shape, others for pure combat. Then he began to pull spires of razor sharp stone from the ground. He pulled them up at angles, in circles, and in rows as if aiming at a nearby foe. All of this he did without releasing the blades on his arms. After a while he began to add strikes to it all, hacks and slashes as if dueling with a foe. After he had exhausted his imagination Eirikr released the stone and allowed it to return to the earth. He sat back down.

 

"That is what I know I can do," he said flattening out the ground with his heel. "I never was meant for agility, you don't need it much when digging. But what is needed is a quick mind and sharp reflexes."

 

Even without his powers he wasn't entirely defenseless. He had taken steps though to ensure his combat abilities in the event he was unable to use his powers over stone. his right arm carried a series of clamps allowing him to use the head of his pickaxe as a blade and shield. So pulled the handle off the pickaxe.The haft shot away from the force he had applied.

 

"Sorry 'bout that," he chuckled as he mounted the head of the pickaxe on his arm. "Do you have a broadsword or falcata I can borrow?"

Edited January 29, 2012 by Nasa13

[BlueApollo]

Luna

 

You're...welcome? Luna projected at Loren. That was odd. She hadn't even gotten the message to him fully. Why on earth would he be thanking her for it? Oh well. These past few days had taught her a lot about other people. The peculiarity of the Elementians should not have come as too much of a surprise to her, but still...This wasn't the situation that she needed to be worried about. There were bigger fish to fry, especially one by the name of Zepheena. If only she could buck up the courage to do something about it. She knew she wasn't capable of breaking through that magical mental door the girl had. It was something that was beyond her skill. Maybe she could just ask Battlemate or whatever his name was to help her out. Yes! That was perfect. He would know what to do, she just hoped that he wouldn't refuse. Something told her that he would probably force her on a different path than she expected. Either way she would just have to be patient, whittling the time away before she would be able to see the mysterious Space Elementian again.

 

She blinked once, twice, a third time as she saw Zepheena headed towards her. She glanced left and right to make sure that she was the one Zepheena was addressing before the girl actually said her name. Luna didn't remember anyone introducing her or even saying her name when they were nearby. What if she had let some of her own thoughts slip into Zepheena's mind? Luna had grown sloppy over the past few minutes in her excitement. It only seemed logical that she would lose some control. She took a step back before she hesitantly took the girl's hand.

 

"P-pleased to meet you," she said softly, "but how do you already know my name?"

Edited January 29, 2012 by BlueApollo

[Rakashua]

Kai looked at Noe with genuine concern, she was shivering a lot. And while he was cold, he wasn't freezing. He may only have his monk robe-pants on, but underneath the sand was still intact as the robe was water resistant, a coincidence that being sand resistant to keep the sand out in sandstorms also made it waterproof. That and his body was still energized from the lightning blast, something that often turned into heat inside himself. He could control his energy, to keep it from coming outside his body as electricity he constantly burned it up inside himself, literally, to keep himself warm now that he was out of the nice warm desert, otherwise... he mused... he would think everywhere was cold... in comparison. But Noe couldn't do that and she looked extremely cold, perhaps even dangerously so...

 

Kai decided that enough was enough, it was obvious she was a little out of it, and was generally freezing herself, considering that it was the storm that had cooled her so, she needed to be by the fire, and she needed to dry off. In one smooth motion, Kai reached under her and scooped her up in his arms and started jogging back to camp, holding her to his chest so that he could share some of his warmth until he got to the fire.

 

Maybe she wasn't in control as much as he had assumed, unless she'd done this on purpose... but why would she do that? To get him cold? no... Whatever the reason, it didn't make sense that she would have done it on purpose.

 

"Don't worry, almost there," he reassured her, the concern showing in his voice. In another moment he'd reached the campfire and laid her down gently on a patch of earth he'd softened by separating the molecules with tiny air pockets, and he raised a portion for her head. "Here, this should help you warm up..." He moved his hand over the fire and out came three large and red-hot stones, which he placed on the opposite side of her as the fire, allowing the heat to hit her from both sides so she could dry out.

 

Meanwhile his stomach grumbled loudly and he scratched his head in embarassment... "I may have forgotten to eat today..." he admitted, and took the simmering soup off of the fire, spooning it into a bowl he quickly formed out of the rocks and a spoon as well. The others weren't around it seemed, they must be off training, or talking to the new guy, nothing to worry about. "Are you going to be alright? I could get you a blanket or new clothes, you should change out of the wet ones, you'd warm up faster." He said, matter-o-factly, not having drawn any social implications whatsoever.

[Lore_Master]

You're...welcome?

 

Loren merely shook his head and gave a small smile to Luna. She may have been confused by his choice of words... and that was alright. The reason he thanked maybe have been it was the first time anyone warned him, or urged caution. He had pretty much been by himself since this journey began, it was a nice enough gesture. He looked at both Luna and Zepheena, and wondered if he should stick around. When Luna asked how she knew her name, he chuckled slightly and said with a smile "maybe its because I said while looking at you?" He shook his head once more and took a step back, taking into account the other person that hugged Zepheena. "Maybe we should bring them back to the camp, see if either Kai or Aki know what to do? Suggested Loren as he rubbed his arms once more, hoping that the healing magic actually wasn't something awful.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Lore_Master

[BlueApollo]

Luna

 

"Maybe it's because I said it while looking at you?"

 

Luna almost breathed a sigh of relief. Good! So she hadn't managed to accidentally let anything leak into Zepheena's head. Well, at least she hoped she hadn't. She gave Loren a quick smile to say thanks before she let her visual attention to return to Zepheena. Her mind, though, was elsewhere.

 

You were so quiet I thought you thought those words, Loren Luna explained. She took a moment to make sure the words had made it to Loren's mind before she continued. Have I said anything else to you telepathically tonight, though? I've been a little off...a-and I'm just worried that I might be losing some control. Which isn't good, of course! As much as she was telling Loren, she didn't let the emotion in her mind betray her features. She kept her expression as calm and welcoming as ever, burying her worries and suspicions to the invisible world of her own mind.

[Lore_Master]

You were so quiet I thought you thought those words, Loren.

 

Loren chuckled softly, that was him alright, the quiet one. He knew that both he and Luna were mentally link, anything he was thinking would be heard by Luna, and vice verse.

 

Have I said anything else to you telepathically tonight, though? I've been a little off...a-and I'm just worried that I might be losing some control. Which isn't good, of course!

 

Loren remained silent for a moment, he could joke about how she 'accidently sent some embarrassing things.' But judging from how worried she was about this, he decided it wouldn't be the smartest thing he would do. Beside, this was the first time he was talking to someone... with his mind. There was no telling what an upset woman could do. "Don't worry Luna, I didn't hear anything else... and if I did, I wouldn't tell." Thought Loren as he gave her one last, soft smile before turning to the woods. "We should head back, they might be getting worried by now." He added.

[LoveLost]

Noe followed Kai as she realized how much her weather element hated her when her motions were confused and in turmoil. She was happy and then she was sad, but then she was lovey dovey, and then angry! What more did she need? Oh yeah, that’s right, a chill right before a battle! Oh happy happy joy joy.

 

But Noe couldn’t stay on that otherwise a storm would kick up again thanks to her untamed emotions. She had only been truly using her element since she had been found by one of the servants and that was maybe seven or eight years ago. She had just mastered controlling all types of storms in time to be able to graduate with the others. The one thing that they hadn’t taught her, was to be her own emotional control. She knew that somewhere in the distance, a storm was reacting with the pressures that were changing around her and causing some sort of angst for their enemies. At least that could give her comfort in knowing that they would be harder pressed to attack the young graduates.

 

Her feet kept moving automatically towards camp as she shivered and leaned slightly on Kai for support. She knew that he was tired and wouldn’t dare lean on him any more for propriety’s sake and for the sake of invading personal space. However, Kai didn’t seem to see this or realize this. In one swift movement, Noe found herself looking at the ground one moment to keep from running into things and in another moment looking at sculpted body of Kai. The scars that he had stuck out in stark contrast in the moonlight. The thing that embarrassed her though, was the slight scream that had escaped her as he picked her up. It didn’t help that she tensed when he picked her up, but to make things easier for him, she cautiously placed an arm around his neck. He started jogging and she kept shivering although it was far better than it had been moments ago for he was very warm to the touch instead of chilled and cold as she was. At that moment, Noe felt as though she would die as her heart raced while being so near Kai.

 

Her eyes closed as she was lulled for a moment by the rhythmic beating of Kai’s feet on the ground and her hand slipped down from his neck until she woke up as he placed her on the ground. But it didn’t really feel like the ground because it was soft and cushy like the beds back at the castle. Beside her was the fire and she blushed as she realized that Kai was strong enough to carry her, AND jog at the same time all the way back to the camp which was a decent way away from where they had been. She stayed where she was though and gazed at the fire, hiding the mixed emotions that she could no longer control.

 

Deep within her, Noe could feel the pressures of the air and world around her shifting to try and allow her to release the pent up emotions but she wouldn’t allow it. “Go away.” She whispered as a tornado spun high in the sky for a moment before dissipating with two others that had tried to join in on the fun. In the distance, winds could be heard tearing across the terrain and mountains but they were unaffected at the camp site.

 

Noe shivered uncontrollably even as she lay beside the stones and fire. It would take a bit for her to be able to warm back up. One bad thing about being a Weather Elementian, you could change the weather to fit your desires therefore no coping mechanisms to deal with environmental temperature changes had been developed within their bodies. Normally, Noe would have been considerate of that even if her temperature gauge was more developed than most weather elementians. She could withstand cold, but the mix of emotions, stress and Kai being so dadgum near her caused her body to react in a funny way.

 

When Kai asked if she was alright, she nodded her head and regretted that her long, raven black hair was down. It was now dirty as dirt stuck to it because of the water, but at least she was slowly but surely becoming warmer. “I’ll be f-f-f-f-fine” She said frustrated that her shivers weren’t gone yet. Her arms were wrapped around her and her knees brought closer to her to compensate for the loss of body heat. “thank you.”

 

Noe looked back at Kai for a moment and found herself smiling. The light from the fire reflected in her stormy eyes, the passion and changing nature of a weather elementian. “You really should take care of yourself Kai.” She said and was grateful that she could turn her gaze to the fire and was very grateful that no one was there except for Cielo, Leith and Nerio who were all being directed by Nerio to go to the other side of the camp to play extreme water ball before bed. They were truly alone, and she felt alone even though Kai was there with her. How many times are my emotions going to change in a moment?!

 

Nerio looked at Cielo with a triumphant grin. “Well we are water elementians are we not?” he said and quickly formed a massive water ball which he threw at his brother who dodged and grabbed the ball. “Off to the other side of the tents!” he shouted happily and quickly threw a ball of water at Cielo to get her into the game. He himself held several around his body. The rules were simple, anything in the shape of a large mass of water was legal. No swords, whips, staves, anything like that wasn’t legal in the game. You could use shields, although they couldn’t be reversed so that if the ball hit the shield, it would revert back to it’s owner.

 

The idea of the game, was to keep water elementians on their toes with their oponents. Everyone was against everyone and no one was a winner until other started to drop out. It was usually a game that Leith and Nerio played until they were so exhausted that they couldn’t even move. With Cielo, who was very good in her element(s), this would be the game of the century.

[Silver_Voices]

Zepheena turned back to Loren as he suggested they be taken to their camp. "We're going to your camp? You have a camp?" She turned to Isis. "Where did you go, anyway? Did you see their camp? Is that where you found Luna? Is there more people there?" Isis put a finger to her lips. "Shh... I'll explain later..." He looked at the two people, concerned. "So, you want us to join your camp? Or is it more than that?"

Edited January 31, 2012 by Silver_Voices

[Lore_Master]

Loren turned towards both Iris and Zepheena and coughed slightly to clear his throat slightly. "Its best if you come with us to our camp..." Spoke Loren before he walked through the underbrush once more. As he made his way, his mind returned to his sketches. It had been awhile since he had drawn anything... maybe if he did, he could relight the creative spark that had been extinguished before they left the academy. After what was around eight minutes of walking, he returned to the camp site. He saw Noe wrapped in a blanket, her hands around her knees. She must have gotten wet or something, like she was trying to get warmed up again. Kai was also there, so he said "We got two more unexpected guests... harmless ones..." After speaking, he walked towards the wind raft and digged around for his sketch book. After he found it, he grabbed a small leather pouch, filled with his materials. He opened the book, and the drawing he was most proud off... Aero. "Or should I call it Dark Aero?" Chuckled Loren, the only floating city was now in the grasp of the dark alliance... his home. Light Aero would never be his home, a sentiment that would probably be shared by hid grandmother.

 

The more he thought about her, the more memories started to flow though his head. She was the one who taught him the basics of controlling the wind, and even the very air. She was a stubborn old woman, never allowing anything to get in the way of what she wanted to do. She would often scare the older kids away from her home, she would often get her way because she 'payed enough due to Aero'. Despite her blunt nature, she was a kindly woman. She was even the person to convince Loren to be an artist.

 

"I guess I should be an artist first, elementian second?" Mused Loren to himself as he smiled once more, he felt more and more of his past self was coming back. He had been broken once, and he was coming together, and he felt it was for the better. He flipped open to an empty page of the book, and began to draw the fire in front of him.

[LadyNatasha]

~Aketsu~

 

Aketsu watched as Eirikr used his abilities. They were quite impressive; it seemed the young man was gifted. He had precision and strength, reflexes and accuracy. He would fit in well, if he chose to help them. But Aketsu knew he couldn't simply ask Eirikr to jump in and risk his life; he'd have to explain the full extent of their plans to him. Since Eirikr was willing to show his abilities, Aketsu made up his mind and nodded. Then Aketsu saw him mount the pickaxe head on his arm, and he found this interesting as well.

 

"Do you have a broadsword or falcata I can borrow?" Broadsword or falcata? Now there's a combination I haven't heard of for a while. Aketsu smiled. "We do have one broadsword, but I think you've proven your abilities. I thank you for cooperating; you know you can't be too careful these days." Then he cleared his throat a little and looked Eirikr in the eye. His voice became more serious. "In truth there's a bit more involved in our mission; we are most definitely going to be fighting forces of the Shadow Alliance, and we're not talking minions here. According to our resources, some relatives of royalty in the Shadow Alliance may be on their way towards Cumulus and headed in this general direction, and we plan to meet them in battle. We... hope to shed as little blood as possible, but we will do what we have to." He shrugged as though it was no big deal.

 

In truth, Aketsu had no idea that the people they would be fighting were just about their age. He was certain they would be fighting grizzled old warriors who had spilled innocent blood on more than one occasion. He never would have imagined that any of them were under sixteen, at the very youngest. Back to the present, he stretched out his arms and turned towards camp. "If you still wish to join us, which I hope you do, then feel free to sleep closer to the main camp and feel free to get to know the others. It's getting late, so tomorrow I'll officially introduce you to everyone. Right now I'm going to check up on my team before I get some rest." Whether or not Eirikr joined, Aketsu headed towards the main camp. He wanted to check on Kai; the big boom of thunder had set him on the edge.

 

((Assuming Zepheena and Isis went to the camp--if not I'll edit))

The first thing he noticed was that Noe looked quite cold and a bit tense. But Kai was there, so Aketsu assumed she must be fine. Aketsu hadn't even opened his mouth to speak when Loren appeared and announced the arrival of two more guests. Aketsu raised a brow and peered curiously at the newcomers. Loren definitely wasn't worried about them--he went off to draw--so Aketsu didn't bother asking him more questions, but he did look critically at the two. One was a blonde female with orange eyes. She looked suspicious, as though she was hiding something, but passive enough. The other had dark green hair and green eyes that suggested he might be a Plant Elementian. Aketsu smiled politely in greeting. "Hello. What brings you two this way?" Right down to business, as he was a bit suspicious about them showing up right after Eirikr--were they following Eirikr? Were they spies, or did they suspect he was a spy? Aketsu watched them closely, although he didn't look unfriendly.

Edited January 29, 2012 by LadyNatasha

[Nasa13]

Eirikr

 

"You know you can't be too careful these days." That was true. Eirikr didn't trust anyone really anymore.

 

He retrieved the haft of his pick from where it had landed. A few moments later he had pounded the pickaxe head back on to the handle. Then he followed behind Aketsu at a distance. He settled down in an empty spot near a tent where he had seen a girl with rainbow hair ((the princess)) enter. Using his pack for a pillow he watched what was happening in the camp. Aketsu had approached a new group of people. Odd, he hadn't heard or seen anyone following him earlier.

 

And then there was Noe. She was with a different guy. The same guy she had threatened him over earlier. Eirikr felt a flare of jealous rage at the sight. He had to try to win her over.

 

What part of her history makes her so nice to newcomers? Why does she hate me? Is it because I was so friendly? Gah! Girls, they confuse me so much!

 

He stretched out his legs, not noticing they lay in front of the entrance to the tent. Tomorrow he would leave early, the others would catch up. He had a destination, Cumulus.

 

"War calls," he murmured to himself, staring at the flames. "How shall they answer?"

Edited January 30, 2012 by Nasa13

[LadyNatasha]

~Yuaki~

 

"Yuaki, are you….are you lonesome?”

 

Lonesome. That was a funny way to put it. Guilty, ironic, scatter-brained, bored... but lonesome? No one had ever asked Yuaki if she was lonesome and she would have laughed if she hadn't been so busy trying to sort her thoughts. "Nah," she said with small smile. "Maybe tired, but not lonesome. How could I be when you're around? You guys are the best people I've ever met. I'm just trying to figure out who's who. I mean, I know who's who but sometimes I'm not sure what's politically correct to say and what's not. Y'know? I mean, I can come up to you and ask you anything about your past and your thoughts on anything and you'll tell me and you can do the same with me, but some of the others, their pasts might just be twisted with..."

 

Then she paused and found the question she was looking for.

 

"Why do you think people start wars, Isa? Why do people use each other and then throw each other away? Could you imagine if the Shadow Queen just kept to herself? There would be peace; the Shadow Alliance could go be powerful by itself and leave the Light Alliance alone. If I ruled one of the Shadow Kingdoms, I'd certainly want my people to live in peace. Isn't that what a good ruler wants? Peace throughout the land, with local criminals as the only trouble? Why would a good ruler send their own people out to fight and die just so that they could have more power?"

 

It sounded good; Yuaki liked it. She was on a roll, sort of, but her wise questions had no wise answers she could think of except that people were generally evil... she wasn't real good in the area of philosophy--leave that to Kai, she had decided long ago--but the questions were interesting enough and she was eager to see how Isa answered them.

No one from the Light Alliance could know what the Shadow Queen was really like; none of them had met her, and if they had then they had only seen her bad side. Yuaki had only seen bias in Sola, but then again she had only seen bias in Whisper as well. There, King Aslano was a cold-hearted murderer who didn't even respect the Shadow Queen's brother with a proper burial. He ruled his people with a fake smile and told them slanderous lies about the Shadow Queen all so that he could keep them ignorant under his hand as he desperately tried to thwart off the Shadow Queen. In Sola, the Shadow Queen was an impending evil, an ultimate doom, a shadowy hag that would stop at nothing to gain power and wealth and wanted to exact revenge for none other but her brother, no matter how many minds she had to break and how many bodies she had to torture. In Sola's eyes, she didn't care a bit about her people and mind-controlled the royalty of those who were 'loyal' to her. At least, that was the general bias. Isa was more educated than that, but she had never met Queen Zillah and Yuaki doubted she ever would--she wouldn't live that long. None of them would, and that thought once again made Yuaki wonder if she really was making a difference by traveling with them. They would live, they would die, and Yuaki knew she might just die with them... was it all worth it?

[Rakashua]

Kai smiled at Noe as she suggested that he take care of himself. He knew what his limits were, he would do so when it was necessary. It wasn't like he neglected himself, not much at least, though he admitted to doing it at least some.

 

"I'm a leader Noe," he replied with a soft smile as he sat down on the other side of the hot rocks and stared at her kindly, "I take care of everyone else first, I eat last, sleep last, wake first, work hardest. But as in all things, there is a balance, I don't ignore my own needs in a way that would make it a detriment to those I lead or to myself so that my leadership is affected." At least... that was Kai's ideal of leadership. It was virtually quoted out of a philosophy book he'd read, and it seemed right to him, he was happy to do so...

 

He took a few bites of soup, it was delicious, and he was starving.

 

"I know my limits," he was quiet for a moment, "when I need to give myself a break I will. I spent most of my life living in the desert, heat, pain, thirst, hunger, and strict mental discipline, those were a part of my life every day. I can ignore pain to the extent that it would allow me to walk over a fiery bed of coals, or through a field of razor bushes that my master would construct. He loved me, in his own way, and so he put me through more than the others, so I would be prepared to come here... to fulfill this mission." Kai gave Noe a sad smile, "and he did prepare me, for battle, for torture, anything... but not friendship, I never made friends, I was always set apart, on my own, secluded..."

 

Kai stared off into the distance for a while, into the past, his past, and his time in the monastery, and all the things he was now realizing he'd never had because of it, things he didn't even know he had missed out on. Then suddenly he turned back to Noe with a question in his eyes.

 

"Are we... friends?" He asked, and for once he looked uncertain, for once he looked desperate to hold onto something that he could not define or completely understand, a feeling, an emotion, something he'd learned to ignore and shove aside for the good of getting his work done, in order to survive. But now he was as starving for that feeling as his belly was for the food he was eating, and he felt it around Noe, more than the others, and he liked it, whatever it was called. He so desperately hoped she felt the same, then... maybe they were friends, and he could feel balanced again... as it was... he felt off balance whenever he was around her because the feeling plagued him, and urged him to respond to do something... but it was like being shouted at in another language... he didn't know how to do what the voice said, or even what it was saying... he only knew how it felt, good, peaceful, balanced, and chaotic... all at the same time.

[LoveLost]

Isa watched Yuaki very closely as she spoke. It was good to know that her friend wasn’t lonely, but there were several things that seemed to be on the girls heart. Isa had watched Yuaki and the two had developed a wonderful friendship so Isa knew that she could be open with her about her opinions and ideas as well as her loves and hates.

 

The shock of Yuaki’s questions made Isa silent once more. She wasn’t an overly talkative person, but for her to have to think about things before she answered was something that was an indicator of care for the person that she was answering.

 

“My dad always said that people started wars because of tension, laziness, or revenge. The old stories say that the shadow elementians found themselves enjoying their possession of a large part of land and wished to build more of their kingdom on lands belonging to Natura where the shady trees were. Natura called on the help of Solis to defend their lands and they were defended but things quickly grew ugly. Shadow and Light wished to both prosper themselves without consideration to the other elements who only wanted peace. Solis screwed things up and so did Whisper. But in the end, the Shadow Alliance was formed because ultimately, the Shadow elementians wished to control all of the other cities because they thought that they could do better. Light wanted everyone to make up their minds for themselves. Freedom and slavery through a dark world. “

 

Isa looked at Yuaki and knew that her own opinion had to come into play. “I don’t know the queen, but I am sure that most of this is based on the old war, and also her anger towards my father. My dad isn’t perfect, no one is. He blames himself for this new war more than anything and it’s the reason that he is sending us out. He believes that we may be able to do good rather than continue the war and not by doing anything to the queen.”

 

Isa looked out over the meadows that they were facing as they stood. “You know, I wonder the same thing though Yuaki. Why doesn’t Zillah just retract her war declaration and continue to rule her people as the “good woman” that most consider her to be. At least those spies that we have. I guess those of us in the royal court are the only ones that hear their testimonies. They call her fair and strong willed…” Isa sighed and then smiled. “it almost sounds as if you are trying to either a)defend her, or figure her out for yourself.”

 

 

Noe was touched by how much Kai took his leadership into play with his daily life. It was something that she admired within him and appreciated very much. He was a devout leader and was willing to protect the others and maybe even he. With a little bit of concentration, she sat up even though she shivered every now and then. “You are really kind Kai.” She said and turned towards him, her legs stretched and extended towards the warm stones.

 

With surprise, Noe realized that Kai asked a question that he seemed incredibly insecure and unsure about in every way. “Kai, I would hope that we were.” She said and blushed slightly as a shiver went up her spine. In a nervous motion, she swept her hip length hair around to the front of her so she could start pulling grass and dirt out of it now that it was drier than it had been a few minutes ago. “Why,” she tilted her head to the side as she looked up at him the moon now reflecting the innocent nature that she had instead of the passionate weather elementian that was her temperament. “Why do you think that we aren’t, or what would prompt you to ask that?” she questioned and then flushed slightly knowing that she had been way too forward with him.

 

Her feet warmed up quickly with the stones there and she soon shifted so that her feet were tucked underneath her on the cushy, comfortable earth. Just the thought of earth being comfy made her giggle but her giggle led to a small cough. Her hands methodically pulled at grass in her long, thick hair which was getting irritating because of all of the dirt there. She wished that it would just get out already!

 

[LadyNatasha]

~Yuaki~

 

Yuaki listened with interest to what Isa said. It seemed at first that Isa was avoiding the question; she was giving a lesson in history, a lesson that Yuaki had heard may times before when she was young but from a different point of view. Still, she listened and watched Isa curiously. She wasn't surprised when Isa said that King Aslano blamed himself for the war; Aslano was a good man who tried hard to rule his people with a just hand. Yuaki imagined perhaps Queen Zillah wouldn't like him to take blame for the war, that she'd want to take 'credit' for starting the war... but she didn't know Zillah personally. Not everyone got to speak with the Queen for more than five seconds. But she didn't think it was wise for Aslano to try to stop the war without killing the Queen; so long as Zillah had power, Yuaki believed the woman would stop at nothing to get revenge. Then again, that was just a theory and based off many things Yuaki had heard about Zillah, and possibly one personal experience.

 

“You know, I wonder the same thing though Yuaki. Why doesn’t Zillah just retract her war declaration and continue to rule her people as the “good woman” that most consider her to be. At least those spies that we have. I guess those of us in the royal court are the only ones that hear their testimonies. They call her fair and strong willed…” Yuaki sighed in thought. “It almost sounds as if you are trying to either a)defend her, or b ) figure her out for yourself.”

 

Yuaki raised her eyebrows at that. "It sounded like I was defending her?" She was surprised. "I just asked why she doesn't make peace and then said I would if I were in her position." Yuaki thought over her words, trying to figure out where she sounded like she was defending her. Then she shrugged and shuddered both at once. "I just don't want to meet her in person. I think that would be the most nightmarish battle ever, especially since we're heading towards her playing field, away from Sola. I think she wants what's good for her people but wants revenge more." And that was as far as Yuaki wanted to go with that conversation. She never really liked talking about Whisper or anything associated with it, as she always felt like everyone was just looking for that fault in her. It was ridiculous, but in her mind she could almost imagine that they all already knew her secrets and were looking for her to slip up so they could blame her... well, everyone but Isa. Isa amazed Yuaki sometimes, especially since her change in personality right before they left. But back to the present, Yuaki didn't want to end on a bad note.

 

"Thanks for listening, Isa. I guess I'm going to go to bed." She turned and automatically looked at Isa's tent. From where she was she couldn't see in it, but she saw the shadow of someone at its entrance and immediately she felt defensive for her friend. What kind of person would sit right there up against it? The shadow looked male and too bulky for Loren or Aketsu. Yuaki marched up to the entrance and was surprised to see the new guy blocking it with his legs. It looked like he was quite comfortable. Yuaki crossed her arms. "Hey Axehead, why don't you move your feet before I move them for you? Can't you recognize a girl's tent when you see one?" She hardly noticed the other two new people and instead remained crossing her arms with a harsh look, although she wasn't actually angry; the new guy was almost as cute as Kai (almost, mind you) and had a quieter look to him. Yuaki simply used the moment to assess him. He looked like he worked hard and was used to traveling, and he was using his little bag as a pillow. The nickname she gave him was due to the pickaxe that was slung at his side, and with an eye for weapons Yuaki could immediately tell it was well taken care of.

[Rakashua]

Kai just sat there for a moment, eating, and thinking, watching Noe pull things out of her hair, until he realized how stupid he was being for not realizing he could help.

 

"Here, let me..." He said, closing his eyes and extending a hand in Noe's direction. Forcing the now drying dirt out of her hair would have been easy, pulling it out without pulling her hair, was significantly harder, but he did so successfully, even if it took a moment... and it gave him another moment to think. He decided just to ask, she surely knew the answer to his problem, and to him... it was nothing to really be embarrassed about.

 

"Noe," he said, opening his eyes, "I know a lot about you, I know where you struggle and what things you're good at, and you know what things I'm good at, but... I don't tend to let people know where I struggle." He began, "it's not good for a leader to show weakness, not publicly to the whole group, but it's also not good to let that weakness go on being hidden and not deal with it, so let me tell you."

 

"You know I don't understand how to... interact socially, with so many people like this. But right now, it's more than that." He paused, trying to come up with a good way to explain it to her, after all, she was the thing he was having problems with.

 

"When ever I'm around you, or even sometimes when I'm not. I feel... weird. Odd, unbalanced, and I find myself thinking about you, and wondering things, like, what you would like to do, what you've told me about your past, an so on, and this happens even when I'm training and trying to concentrate... and it throws me off balance because I don't know why." He sighed, setting his empty soup bowl down.

 

"I mean.. it feels... good, but I... can't make it go away, and I can always make feelings go away if I have to, that was part of my training. But, when I see you smile, I smile, and... I find myself doing stupid things... like the lightning, as if I'm showing off for you... and I have good reasons for it, logical reasons... but... I can't simply explain it like that..." He sighed again, obviously confused and a bit frustrated with himself. Not being able to control something about himself was NOT something Kai was used to, he was always in control, and it meant a lot to him to be that way at all times.Being emotional was also not something Kai was used to, of course he knew what they were, and he knew he had them, but... he could usually ignore them... not like this...

 

"My only conclusion is that it's because you're a girl, and 'girls do weird things to you, you should be cautions around them' master Wu said, so I'm assuming it's something like that. And so I'd really appreciate it if you could explain it to me, he did say I should find a girl and ask her if I had questions, and he also said something about how I should ask but I don't remember all of it. So, can you give me the answer so I can figure out what to do with this weird feeling that keeps bothering me all the time... I'm not sick or something am I? Or going mad? I think he did say something about girls and madness but I actually didn't find the topic very interesting so I wasn't paying perfect attention..."

 

Kai admitted, eager to discover what it was that was wrong with him so he could fix it and stop being bothered by it.

[Lore_Master]

Loren was almost done with his sketch of the fire, and he used Noe as a basics for a girl trying to get warm. The area around the fire was sketched in a way that signified the dark, only the embers lit up parts of it. All the meanwhile, he overheard Kai and Noe's conversation. It was rather sweet, in a oblivious kinda way.

 

"I mean.. it feels... good, but I... can't make it go away, and I can always make feelings go away if I have to, that was part of my training. But, when I see you smile, I smile, and... I find myself doing stupid things... like the lightning, as if I'm showing off for you... and I have good reasons for it, logical reasons... but... I can't simply explain it like that..."

 

These were the words that made Loren shake his head slightly. Sure he got awkward around girls as well, but it was also around strangers and even friends. He just couldn't believe how dense Kai was when it came to social interaction. He decided to take matters into his own hands, if he wished to finish his sketch without driving himself into a wall. He ripped out a fresh piece of paper, and began to write.

 

Kai.

 

These 'strange feelings' you have are the sign that you have a crush on Noe. I'm not going to say anything else, just know that your falling in 'love'.

 

Loren

 

P.S Burn after reading

 

He was doing this to help Kai out, and partly because he couldn't take another minute of this. He got up and walked over to Kai, holding the folded piece of paper. "Hey Kai, i'm really sorry to bug you guys, but you dropped this during unpacking the camp, it seems improtant." said Loren as he gave the piece of paper to Kai. Hoping he would take the hint, he walked back with a smile on his face, he felt like he had done something good for the team...

[jaina]

Cielo

 

Cielo was surprised as she was quickly pulled into the game Nerio and Lieth were playing, with a sizable ball of water coming at her. Picking up on the rules quick enough, she swung the ball around herself in a tight loop, adding more water too it before launching it off at Nerio. She quickly found herself smiling and her moodiness dropping away as she joined in. Soon enough she had several of her own rather large sphere's of water orbiting in tight circles around herself. She used them to intercept some of the balls that came head on at her before heaving them off at high speed to try and hit one of the other two water elementarians.

[LoveLost]

Noe looked at Kai when he told her to let him do something. He reached towards he causing her to lean back slightly for a moment before she realized that the dirt in her hair was slowly but surely being removed. A smile spread across her face and she giggled slightly at the revelation that he could do something as fine as that. With the dirt out of her hair, and most of the grass, she was able to run her fingers through her hair swiftly to help it dry. The only problem, was that now she looked like she had a fluffier amount of hair than she really did. She left it alone though since Kai started talking about having a weakness.

 

"Thank you for trusting." she said quietly before he started on what his weakness was. It was an honor, at least in the tradition of the Cumulus Weather Elementians, to be very grateful when one shared their secrets with you. Usually the secrets were based off of techniques, or sometimes they were based off of how a storm reacted with ones emotions.

 

She thought that Aketsu had been working with Kai on his social skills. She would have to ask him about that, but no, Kai actually started talking about something else. They were feelings that he couldn’t control and they were regarding her. She was throwing him off balance? He was curious about what she liked and what she wanted to do? Her face clearly showed the shock and surprise that came from hearing that a man liked her, especially one as handsome and cute as Kai. But….but…. why?

 

A small chuckle escaped Noe when she heard him state that his move with the lightning was stupid, but that he was showing off to her? Now that was insane! Who would show off…okay, that’s right, Kai would. He was just that kind of person.

 

As he spoke, Noe started to feel guilty for even existing and coming on this trip. She was distracting Kai to the point where he was making foolish attempts at showing off and to her of all people! She was just a common servant girl with an ability for controlling all types of storms, big or small. It wasn’t anything significant so why would someone of such importance as to be known by the king, like her?

 

But then the kicker came. He wanted HER of all people to explain to him why she was causing him this distress. Before she could answer though, Loren handed Kai a piece of paper stating that it was rather important. She was glad that Loren interrupted because she could then gain her wits about her for her heart was racing faster than a rabbits, but at least she wasn’t shivering as much as she had been before.

 

“Kai, you aren’t mad, or sick. It’s….well, it’s…. I don't think you'd understand especially since your master didn't allow you to associate yourself with the opposite gender that much.” Noe regretted it, but she felt the same way that he was explaining his feelings about her. It was thrilling that he liked her, but maybe he loved her? She didn’t know…but how could she of all people explain that to the person that she liked?

 

Nerio had a hard time trying to keep track of both Cielo and his brother. Both were quick and both seemed to have a vendetta against him. When Cielo first started, the largest water ball that he had sent her so far, came back at him and he was able to dodge it and swing it at his brother, but when she sent another, it hit him square in the middle of his back causing him to dance for a moment before picking back up speed to avoid a dangerously shaped water ball from his brother. Nerio pulled out all the stops now since there were three of them and did much as Cielo did. Varying sizes of water balls rotated around his midsection in varying distances from him. When a water ball flew his way, he did his best to send water towards another. In a moment’s decision, he decided to try a new tactic that he had been thinking of over the week. He took a ball of water and spread his fingers out causing the water to form into several droplets. He solidified them partially to allow them to be harder, but still be absorbed by another’s shield or technique. With a push from his legs, he jumped over a ball of water and sent the droplets towards Cielo to see what she would do.

 

 

Marcu watched Sky go back into the tent that they shared and sighed. She was such a kindhearted and good woman that he didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. But such were the risks that were to be taken when one had promised themselves both to country and to one another. When he was sure that she was asleep, he listened to the conversations going on until he felt himself grow tired. Their group was very small, but they were the best of the best of their individual elements and some were powerful enough to be dual elementians. It helped that they had a being as old as the creation of Element there to fight with them and beside them to bolster them against their enemies.

 

With a sigh, he pardoned himself from the young lord and stepped into the tent where he had suspected Skylar to be, but she wasn’t there. He closed his eyes momentarily to locate the fire in the ring that he gave her. Not only was it something that looked different and beautiful, but he could always know where she was as long as she wasn’t too terribly far away.

 

His long legs took him to where she was, laying underneath the stars just staring at them. “You are supposed to be asleep.” He said gently as he sat down beside her and looked up as well at the stars that he had become so familiar with in their travels together.

 

Edited January 30, 2012 by LoveLost

[Rakashua]

Kai took Loren's note with a strange glance, he didn't have any paper to drop in the first place, and he was about to reply that it couldn't be his... when he saw that it was a note to himself, and he nodded taking it and glancing at it before setting it on one of the rocks with a shrug and watching it incinerate.

 

He turned back to Noe as she spoke and took on a new stance that no one here had ever seen him take. He crossed his legs underneath himself and sat up straight, raising a small support for both his arms so he was almost sitting in a constructed chair. Then around him formed the symbol of light and the symbol of darkness except the two were intertwined.

 

He then smiled, "Alright, I'm ready to learn, don't worry, I'll be able to understand it, I have learned many many things, and I'm sure you can explain it just fine. I have done so much teaching since I was here, I'm happy to be a student again."

 

He took the word Loren had used, falling in love, love, that word, he understood the concept, but not how it applied to his current situation, so of course that must be what Noe was going to try and explain to him.

 

"First though, you don't have to start at the beginning, I already know what love is," he said in reference to the note, "but according to Loren I've 'fallen in love' which is the part I don't understand, since love is an emotion, it's not something you can 'fall' into, which means it's a metaphor... for..." Kai paused to think for a moment, eager to show that he could understand this if he really tried to, and he really wanted to. "For exactly what I said, I can't get rid of it, and it's constantly distracting me, so it's more apt to say that love fell onto me, not me into it."

 

Then, with a smile another thought occurred to him, "Is it like Aketsu and Isa? I know he mentioned once that he was 'in love' with her, which could mean that he fell in love, for her, or with her, however that works, and since I have noticed that he also behaves strangely when she is around, our conditions must be similar right?" Kai was proud of his deduction, he was happy to give Noe such a large amount of things he already knew to help her explain it to him, and there was that feeling again, that she was teaching him something and he liked it, hopefully now... she'd tell him what to do with it.

 

"So, assuming this isn't a bad thing then, which it musn't be, though the effects are at least... strange, what do I do about it, or we I guess, since it seems to always involve two people, specifically a guy and a girl." He nodded, waiting for her answer.

[Nasa13]

Eirikr

 

"Shut it kid," grumbled Eirikr looking at the girl. "Can't you see I'm trying to rest? Go away, and learn to respect you elders."

 

When the girl remained where she was, he relented. Some what. He moved about two inches to the side. How dare she wake him up again. It was the second time that evening.

 

"There, happy," he asked, cranky now that he would have to wait longer to go to sleep. "Besides it's a pickaxe, not an axe. The name's Eirikr, how about yours?"

 

The girl was okay looking. Cute, but not overly beautiful. Possibly a servant or someone to that effect. Yet she spoke with authority, which was strange for such a young looking girl. Just not enough to warrant his obedience, and barely his attention. He wouldn't move so easily.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Nasa13

[SkySong278]

"I couldn't sleep," Sky said in reply as she kept her attention on the stars in the sky. "I had some nightmares and couldn't go back to sleep. I thought that looking up at the stars and feel the night breeze would help." Then she sighed a bit before adding, "Sorry if I worried you at all." She figured that she hadn't but it was always good to apologize for it just in case. "Can you help me locate Cassiopeia and the other constellations? I was only able to find the big and small dippers along with Orion's belt," she said as she glanced over at him before having her attention be back on the sky.

 

It had been awhile since she last looked up at the sky to find the patterns that the stars made. She could have easily forgotten how to locate Cassiopeia, Andromeda, etc and it was also nice to be doing this with him again. She had stargazed with him during some other travels that she had had with him in the past and she had forgotten just how relaxing and peaceful it was to be around him. She moved a bit closer to him as she laid there in the grass on the hill beside him and continued to look up at the stars as she waited for his response to her question.

 

As she continued to wait for his reply, she wondered just how long it had been since they last did this together. "How long has it been since we last did this with just the two of us?" she asked him curiously as she shifted her gaze from the stars to his face. After trying to look into his eyes in the dark for a few minutes, she had her attention go back up to the sky and tried to locate the other patterns again that she hadn't found earlier before Marc came out to join her.

[LoveLost]

Noe listened to all that Kai said and watched him create his own little studying thing? Was it really that or was her mind trying to compensate for being so caught off guard that even the weather didn’t know how to react? She was actually glad that the tornados stayed were they were in the distance but her confusion added to their power and she could feel the strength that they held even this far away, at the limits of her abilities.

 

Kai spoke of what Loren had said and she blushed knowing that Loren had given him that note which had obviously stated something about what they were talking about right here and now. Luckily for her though, Kai seemed to put things together easily and faster than what she thought he would. He was eager for her to teach him and the way that he acted as a child ready for his favorite class, made her smile and blush a light pink at the same time.

 

For a long time after her spoke, Noe didn’t know what to say. He wanted to know what they were supposed to do when she herself wasn’t even that sure. Aketsu and Isa were pretty much the experts there except for Z’fan and Battlemate who had been, or at least she assumed they had been, mates for most of their elongated lives. Kai was asking her what to do, but it was more in a way that was informative, not really as though he knew what the implications were.

 

“It's......oh gosh this is sooo embarassing....” Noe looked at the ground with a distracted gaze and was glad when she heard Isa chewing some guy out for insulting Yuaki. “Uhm, well, I don’t know…I mean I do….it’s just that it’s so forward…at least your manner….I just….” Her heart was racing so fast she thought that it would jump out of her chest. She felt the same way that Kai did and she wasn’t sure that he understood everything, but it was so hard to explain it without putting her own cares about Kai into the situation.

 

“It isn’t a bad thing…and I guess our situation is similar.” Noe cleared her throat nervously and fiddled with a smooth lock of hair that she kept twirling around her hair. “But mainly, it’s the guy that, oh you wouldn’t get it Kai! It’s nothing against you, it’s just that….well….okay fine!” she seemed angry at herself not at Kai. A loud boom of thunder was heard, but there was no rain in sight. A thunderstorm, great.

 

“We are exactly like Aketsu and Isa, except they are both royalty. I am a servant and you are someone that is highly regarded by the king.” Noe was rather upset about liking him but only because she knew that he didn’t understand. It was very frustrating and she hated that she was taking it out on him, but at least the thunderstorm was helping her.

 

“I’m, I…..it’s just that….i like you a lot too which means that we are exactly like Isa and Aketsu so take it as you will.” As she spoke, she locked her gaze onto Kai’s interesting eyes that were colored like his two elements. One was an earthen tone and the other like that of a lightning elementian. When she was finished speaking, she broke her gaze from his and looked down at her hands ashamedly.

 

Isa watched her friend walk away and decided that she needed something from her tent and came upon the scene of Yuaki with the earth elementian there in front of her tent. Isa listened in and immediately, light from her body illuminated the area as she concentrated the moonlight to make it harder for the new comer to see. “How dare you you rotten excuse for a mole rat.” Isa said as she stepped forward from behind Yuaki and transferred the light to two poles that were outside of her tent. They both held the light and it was evident that Isa was not happy.

 

“How dare you insult one of the several that have seemingly allowed one as rude and uncouth as yourself to even be in the presence of more nobles and future queens and kings than you have seen in your lifetime!” To show her anger, a large ball of light grew in her hand and she happily watched it disappear then appear on Erirk’s legs. If he didn’t move soon, he would have a good burn. “I suggest you learn your place if you want to stay here. Insulting us, and hurting us will get you nowhere.” She growled as she shoved Yuaki into the tent that they shared and quickly grabbed the leather gloves that she wore around her hands when dealing with large amounts of light in various ways.

 

When she came back out of her tent, she glared at Erkir and smiled delicately, but the smile didn’t reach her dangerous, and angry rainbow eyes. “if you are still in front of my tent when I come back, a burn won’t be the only thing that you will receive.” Isa looked in at Yuaki and told her quickly “If he tries anything, just call me. Light IS my element ya know.” She smiled and made sure to keep the tent door open so as to not make the earth elementian feel as though he couldn’t speak to anyone. With that, she walked all the way to the meadow that they trained in and slowly slipped on her gloves.

 

 

Marcus frowned when he heard that Skylar had had nightmares. More than likely they were about the next day which worried him. She shouldn’t be thinking about things in that way because they were all going to be arlight and were all going to survive. It wasn’t that hard to guess what she was thinking, but he leaned back against the grass to look up at the sky with her.

 

The stars were always the same and never changed. He was able to point out the stars but didn’t respond for some time until she asked him a question. It shocked him when he really thought about how long it had been since they had stayed together like this. “I guess it has been longer than it should be. Even with our home so far away from Whisper, we still don’t get as much time to each other as we should.” He sounded slightly ashamed but distracted himself by pointing out the constellations. “Do you see any others that you wanted to point out?”

 

Edited January 30, 2012 by LoveLost

[Lore_Master]

When the group finally broke for the night, Betzalel merely sat cross-legged as he began to meditate. He often did this to prevent himself from waking up in the middle of the night to feast on some of the animals in the area. It also gave him some time to send out some 'feelers', little shadow creatures of his own design to spy on places of high priority. They had limited intelligence, so they could adapt to the situation. And if they were discovered, they explode and cause a wave of psychic energy to hit the witness, making them believe that it was just their imagination. Right now they were scouting the city of Cumulus, trying to see where the best escape points were. Once the final stages of the plan were complete, he would be pretty much abandoning the rest of the group. The knowledge of escape routes would guarantee that the rest of the groups escapes safely. He growled in a low, menacing kinda way, all this thinking was hurting his head. He hadn't had a dragon's feast in so long.

 

Loren, all the meanwhile decided to leave those two alone. A smile was on his face... but it was a bit of a lonely one. It seemed like everyone was growing closer together, some were even falling in love... and for the most part, he was okay with it. He personally believed that he was meant to take a different path then them... he didn't know what that path would be, but he was reluctant to share more details about himself them necessary. Before he could make his way out of the camp, he saw a confrontation between Eirikr, Isa and Yuaki. He watched as Isa got extremely angry at Eirikr. He shook his head and merely began to walk off once more.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Lore_Master