The Quest of the Elements: Misty's Journey

Chapter Ten: Torn Friendship

The next morning, the team woke up to rain drops falling on them.

"Really? Out of all the times to rain, the weather chooses now?" Kendall complained.

The girls got up and went walking around, thinking of finding the rest of their crew. Soon, the morning passed and it was early afternoon. It was still raining, but it was getting harder.

"I'm bored! It's cold, and wet, and miserable!" Scarlet whined.

"Scarlet. You know rain can actually be a lot of fun if you know how to make it fun." Ava said.

"Oh yeah? How? By splashing around in puddles? Catching raindrops on my tongue? All that lame stuff?" Scarlet asked, unimpressed.

"Well, those things are very common, but there are other things too." Ava said, a hint of mischief in her voice.

"Like what?" Scarlet asked.

Ava bent down and picked up a mound of mud. She bunched it together and threw it right in Scarlet's face.

"Rain makes mud. Mud makes mud pies you can throw at unsuspecting people!" Ava said while laughing and playfully taunting Scarlet.

Scarlet whipped most of the mud off her face, found even more mud, and threw it at Ava's clothes. They both laughed.

"Or you could tell ghost stories. They go great with this type of weather, especially when there's thunder and lightning for the dramatic effect." Vivian said.

She started to tell a scary story she had been told by her Earth friends. The ones she had before she moved. "Once, there was a little ghost girl who lived in an abandoned house. Her name was Lola." Vivian's voice was ominous and full of mystery. The wind blew harder as everyone was listening to Vivian's story. "And her only friends were the dolls that were scattered about the house. She was super powerful. Almost no one could escape her grasp once she's chosen to come after them. As soon as she catches you, she turns you into a doll. However, there is one way to make her go away. And that was to burn all of the dolls. It's a very difficult task, so do it at your own risk."

"Wow, Vivian! Where did your friends hear that?" Kendall asked.

"Well, we were having a sleepover and we told each other ghost stories." Vivian said.

"I never knew you had a creepy side." Scarlet said.

"Hah! I've done worse! I set up a bunch of pranks on April Fools Day! My family and friends all wanted to hide from me until the day was over!" Ava said, laughing.

"Oh Irene, Ava!" Sophia shouted. Laughter arose in the air.

"I guess you're right, Ava. When we're finished with this job, you have to tell me about the pranks!" Scarlet laughed. "You guys are a lot of fun! You sure are better than my stupid sister." Scarlet got that angry/sad look again.

"So.. what happened?" Lucy and Jess wanted to know.

"Why do you hate your sister so much?" Vivian asked.

"Do you guys really want to know?" Scarlet asked with a rough voice.

"Yes." Everyone said.

"Fine. Well, I used to be part of a Zarian tribe that no one ever liked. I had a sister. Her name was Alice. We used to have tons of fun together until she found the sacred sword of Zaria lying deep in the wood of the ancestors. After she found it, she's been ignoring me. Everyone seemed to pay every single piece of respect and honor toward her even though she was the SISTER of a girl in a tribe that NO ONE liked. And, yes, I was part of The Embers. You know, the tribe full of delinquent fire elements that were always causing trouble? But it's not like it was my fault! I was born into that tribe. And when I did something for them, like hunt food for them, they would never seem to care at all! Once, I even went into The Wood of the Lost Spirits, the most dangerous place in all of Zaria, to see if anyone would notice. When I got back, I saw Alice having a party all for herself. She was showing off that dang sword! To make this story shorter, they didn't care that I was gone."