The Elementals

Switch It Up

~

Hours later, the plane comes to a very shuddery stop. I'm jolted from my position, and then the door to the luggage vault slams open. I sigh heavily, and look up at Caelum, trying to seem as bored as possible.

"Should I even ask where we are, or were you gonna do the same thing?" I yawn.

Caelum glares at me and I shrug innocently. Coal and I stand, walking out the door and down the stairs from the plane. My face is blasted with an icy wind and I shrink into my collar subconsciously. Snowflakes bite at my cheeks, the flurries swirling in the air and howling in between the mountains.

"What the heck?" I shout to Caelum behind me. "Why are we on a mountain?"

Again, he glares at me, but there's a tiny bit more confusion than there was before. He shakes his head, and I jump down the last few steps to the snow covered ground. My foot skids on the slippery rock, and I tilt back and forth, off balance.

"Careful Flippers," Coal says, steadying me. "We don't want you falling down the mountain."

"You mean you don't want me falling down the mountain." I correct him. "They look like they'd enjoy watching."

It's true. They others are regarding me like I'm a horrible thing that deserves to be thrown off of a cliff. I try to ignore they're distrustful stares and shiver against the chill biting at my skin. I can't do anything with the snow because I'm pretty sure if I collected the flakes Caelum wouldn't hesitate to lift me fifty feet in the air and then let me drop.

"Why does it have to be so cold?" I look over at Coal and immediately feel guilty for complaining. He's easily doing just as bad as me, if not worse. While I'm quivering to keep warm, his teeth are chattering uncontrollably. Despite this, he still manages to smile at me weakly.

"Want my jacket?" he offers.

"No!" I exclaim, struck by how nice he's being. I realize I sounded harsh, and try again. "You'll freeze to death. Do your fire thing."

"How do you think they'll react if I light myself on fire?" Coal points out and I sigh angrily because he's right. "Besides, I'm too cold right now. My powers don't work, I've tried."

I step closer to him, and then before I can change my mind, press my shoulder against his. I'm surprised to feel his body is really cold, and I get even closer, trying to give him any heat I can. Again, Coal tenses in surprise, but quickly returns to his normal state. We stand there, doing what little we can to fight the blizzard.

"We should probably follow them," I say, watching as the other fade into the whiteness. "Don't wanna get lost out here."

Neither of us moves.

"I wouldn't mind getting lost." Coal says, staring straight ahead.

I stare at the ground, a smile fighting its way onto my face. Finally, I take a step forward, but not before whispering, "me neither," just loud enough so that I know Coal heard.

We catch up, though we trail behind the others, kept back by the sight of the clones up front. Tide3000 is holding the blizzard at bay, while Coal2D2 is melting the ice on the rocks. Terra occasionally calls out a warning to avoid a cliff or a boulder. Oh'Rian is finally getting the hang of her powers, and is helping Tide3000 tame the wind. It kills me, the way they work so well together, like there really is no difference between the clone and me.

~

"Hey," I say after a couple of hours trekking up the slope where the sun is now barely visible sinking behind the mountain peaks. I turn my head to Caelum, who is apparently my bodyguard. "If we're the clones, then why aren't we leading you to the base?"