The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

14

"Scar." Jess says quietly, "Maybe you should take a breather."

"Good joke, let's go." He rolls his eyes slightly playfully, and motions for the others to follow him as he charges into the sea.

Louis follows his command.

"Surfer boy!" Jess calls once their deep into the water, Louis whips his face around. "You and Ellie bring your surfboard to Covia." She claps her hands, "Come on, hustle, hustle!"

"Uh, why?" Ellie asks, "Aren't we all practicing in a 'simulation' like scenario?"

"Not quite." Scar calls from upfront. "Your learning balance and Louis is learning patience. Both crucial in fighting."

"Alright," Louis says. "But Ellie, expect a tan."

"Vitamin C," Leo calls to the duo as we find our friendly, residential portal. "I'm starting to get used to this."

"Hear hear."

It's easier than it seems to slip into Covia without being noticed, given they stay off the perimeter of the palace where everything seems to be going haywire. The citizens don't look as wary as Scar perceived them to be, but nevertheless, there seems to be a silent tension sifting through the air.

"This is it. Our new simulation, I guess." Jess smiles, using the water to create makeshift waves for Ellie and himself. Slowly, her eyes sparkle brightly as her body lifts into a perfect arc. Her legs curve in a relaxed motion, she's learned to control herself, and the waves she makes are almost real. Satisfied, she drops back down to the ground.

Louis starts by showing Ellie the basic position in surfing. Your chest lays on your the board, and your weight is left is on both your toes which are the only part of your lower leg and foot that actually touch the board. "To get up, push up using your hands and toes. Use that arm power." He instructs.

Ellie does as such, but clumsily. "Finish like this." He says.

He turns around to see the newly formed battlefield between Leo and Jess. The fight has just started, with Leo charging straight into Jess' chest. Jess dodges, using the water in her favor. She lifts herself effortlessly off the ground in time, which sends Leo falling face-flat onto the ground.

She doesn't wait. Smart move. She lifts the rock off the ground to attack him. She smiles at it, Louis could only guess a deja vu coming to her. The rock works at first, hitting Leo in on his arm, then leg. It was simply too fast for him. Several small things make one big one, and soon, Leo seems exhausted, but suddenly, almost surprisingly, he grabs ahold of Jess' waist and pulls her down from the levitation.

She switches into self-defense mode, using her powers she pushes her lower abdomen in the air, allowing her to perform an overhead cartwheel, landing with her thighs on his shoulders. She tackles him to the ground.

He's faster, pinning her to the ground almost instantly. It's rehearsed, Louis can tell, but it's used in the correct context. His mind is running, filled with adrenaline. What's going to happen next?

She's channeling her inner willpower. What?

"I am the rock!" Scar yells over the noise of cheering. Louis shoots him a confused look which Scar returns with a shrug.

The silver iris in her eyes is glistening a luminous white. Like a flashlight in the dark. "What the-" Leo yells as his body begins to be lifted off her, Jess' doing, of course. He tries to stand up, but it's too late. She's won, throwing him off her, and now, the water is restraining him.

"I win." She pants, wiping the beads of sweat on her forehead, "Good fight, though. Just exhausting." They hug.

Scar proceeds to give them pointers. "Jess, work on your reflective ability, reaction time. It would've made you less exhausted." He sounded like a coach making a game plan, as if he was speaking to his team, "Remember our motive win the war, not beat a battle. So energy will be very much important."

The trio proceeds to a more elaborate fighting scheme, as Louis brings his attention back to Ellie, who seems to be struggling. He shows her a few, or a lot more times, almost over and over again, before beginning to show slight signs of irritation.

It was normal, but the team had no time for normal.

"Ellie," Louis says irritatedly, he was most definitely not patient. "Put your hands on either side of the board and do a handstand."

"How is that even related?" She was getting pretty discouraged too.

"Please just listen." He tries to make an effort but fails as his expression gets the best of him. Tearing through the fake layer of emotion like a layer of fondant.

"My god, Louis." She yells angrily. "I know I suck, but you don't have to rub it in."

"How is this my fault? I was actually trying. That's the point of this, right? To improve."

"Oh really, tell that to your face."

"Guys." Jess pauses but gets stopped by Scar, who basically whispers for her to let us settle our own differences ourselves because that's the only way that we'll ever become an actual team, that will work effectively together.

Louis and Ellie sat on opposite sides of his board, as he thinks quietly to himself. Is putting Covia at stake really worth this petty fight. He has pride for himself, and his irritated, but sometimes, energetic can only go so far.

"I know we're only thinking about Covia at the moment, but if we're really going to become a team, we should really learn to stand with one another." He whispers over to her.

"I'm pissed."

"I know, Ellie, I do. And I'm pissed as well, but think about it. When your pissed at the world, and not just me, it's the outcasts you and I will both run to. We should be a solid team, because if we aren't the world, this war, will topple us." He sighs, "Outcasts stay outcasts."

She smiles softly, "But outcasts can unite."

"Then they are no longer outcasts, am I right." He laughs, "I know I am, by the way."

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll really try."

"It wasn't just you though, these mistakes take two." Louis faces her, and she does the same. He repeats, "Mistakes take two."

It was then that Louis actually found himself trying harder than ever, and so did Ellie. He never did realize that destruction could just as much be salvation. It was simply the silver lining in every climax.

And he found that they both learned something new, and they both had made a newfound trust in one another, and the others. Because this war was simply theirs to fight, and with a force as strong as the Avinians, they simply had no room for destroying another along with an enemy.

Louis was proud of himself. And it wasn't just him.

[A/N]

P.S. I know a lot of people, including myself, dislike the almost fake-like sounding excuse of a friendship fighting then clicking back into their normal routine way too early and such, but I do understand the fine art of being reconciliatory, and I just wanted to show that it isn't just Covia that binds these teens together, but the fact that outcasts have to stick together to survive.