I woke to a scream that matched one I had just heard. This time though, it was in the real world, and not too far away. I leapt up from the ground, startling Elm, who was peacefully munching grass. I grabbed my bow and my quiver and hopped on Elm, who instantly got the urgency of this, and started speeding across the terrain. We came to a stream, and I saw a figure rolling up a sleeping bag directly next to the water. It was Raine. Was that dream even real? I thought, but without further contemplation, and without slowing down, I reached out and grabbed Raine, tugging her onto Elm behind me. Raine just looked at me and clutched onto my waist tightly, fingernails digging into my skin.
I winced, but only said, "Hold on, but don't kill me with your death grip."
Raine loosened her grasp a little, but she still refused to let go. I sighed, and urged Elm on until we reached the clearing where the scream must have come from. A pile of sticks, moss, and vines lay nearby in a heap.
I slowed Elm to a stop and hesitantly asked, "Aspen?"
A slow creaking stretched across the moonlit clearing and Aspen's head popped out from under the pile. She took in a deep breath, propped her head on her chin, and said, "Oh, how nice to see you both. Would you please help me out from under here?"
I hopped off Elm and heaved Aspen out from the pile, Raine still sitting on Elm with a mildly surprised look on her face.
"Why, thank you. You're officially not a maniac to me." Aspen smiled, brushing herself off and fixing her hair.
"Oh, thanks I guess," I replied, raising an eyebrow sarcastically, but not in a mean way. This girl was kind of growing on me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Raine fidgeting on Elm, clearly uncomfortable and not quite trusting of him. Judging by the look in Elm's eye, the feeling was mutual.
"Here," I went over, and helped Raine down from Elm, both looking relieved.
"Thanks," Raine said in a louder voice than usual, and she huffed out a breath, looking really glad to be off Elm.
"So... I'm guessing you two also had a prophetic dream as well?" I ventured.
Raine nodded, looking terrified at the mention of the ominous dream. Aspen nodded as well, and she seemed to be mentally thinking about the random words we had heard.
"So if this was about four elements, then does that mean we need to find the air element? Because fate wanted to tell us what to do, I guess," I added.
Raine actually made eye contact with me this time, and she asked, "Well, how do we do that? It sounds dangerous, I don't know if I want to do that, or if I even can. I'm kind of hoping that it was just a joke."
"I doubt it is. Honestly, I'm up for this, I have nothing else to do right now..." I trailed off, thinking of burning my home.
Raine timidly put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked, seeming genuinely concerned at the sudden drop in my mood.
"Huh?" I jerked back to the present, "Yeah, I'm fine, just... thinking."
"Personally, I am okay with doing this, too. If we find the air elemental, maybe we can throttle her until she gives us clean air. Wait... how did she even go missing?"
In the silence that followed, I said, "I don't know, but having clean air would definitely be a plus. I don't think I've ever breathed clear air..."
"Same here. It happened when I was like... a baby." Aspen chimed in, still fidgeting with her flowers.
"This is probably the wrong time to ask, but, do you mind if you guys show me your powers? I'm really curious, and I need to know what is going on." Raine asked.
"Wouldn't Ash set the whole clearing on fire? We should go somewhere less... flammable." Aspen suggested, glancing briefly at the trees and bushes.
"Yeah, here, back to the stream." I added, and went over to Elm again. But after seeing Raine's expression, I reassured, "Don't worry, he's not taking us there. We can walk."
"Aspen," Raine asked quietly, "Did you build a shelter for the night with your powers?"
"Yes, I did. But as you can see, that didn't work out very well." Aspen responded with a sigh, shooting the shelter a rueful look.
We walked through the trees and back to the stream in awkward silence. When we got there, I stepped into the freezing water, wading in until I was almost up to my knees. Then I concentrated, not shutting my eyes since that seemed too dramatic. I felt a flame, deep inside me, and let it loose. On my outstretched hand, a small fire formed, dancing almost musically across my palm. It seemed to be going so well until the rest of me burst into flame as well, causing the water to hiss and steam with evaporation. In a few moments, all the water in the small stream had all evaporated, leaving me with nothing to counter my fire.
Raine jumped back as I burst into flames, unsure of what to do.
"A little help, water girl?" I asked apologetically.
Her face showing terror, Raine put her arm in the dry river and her forehead scrunched up as she concentrated. After what felt like an eternity to me, the stream began to fill up again with fresh cold water. Raine stumbled back after she had filled the stream up, looking exhausted.
"I think that's literally all I can control with my power right now," Raine added sheepishly, "Earlier, I got dragged around by a ball of water I tried drinking from."
"Oh, that's nothing. You don't want to know..." I added at her questioning face.
"That's okay. I caused an earthquake back home and my tribe kicked me out. My brother and sister were really scared, but I'm not seeing them again, so it's fine. I don't care, the tribe was terrible anyways."
"I set my home on fire, and ended up turning an entire forest into ashes." I offered.
"My dad is dead, and it's all my fault." Raine choked out, her voice growing small again. "I flooded our house the day I got my power, and now he's gone." Tears began streaming down her face and she sat down beside the riverbank.
Silence laced with guilt and understanding followed, and Aspen and I sat down on either side of her.
"I'm sorry for your loss. I don't remember much about my parents. Come to think of it, I don't really know where they are now..." Aspen comforted, trailing off thoughtfully.
"I don't know who or where my father is, but my mother raised me until I was nine, and then disappeared, leaving me by myself for these last few years." I shrugged, then realized what I had just said. I don't even think about Mother when I am by myself. Why am I telling them this?
Before I realized what was happening, Raine pulled Aspen and I into a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry guys. Why is this happening to us?" She asked somberly.
"Owwww... I haven't been hugged for years, I think I'm out of the habit..." I trailed off. Aspen looked uncomfortable as well, but she patted Raine's back while squirming around a little.
"I'd like to talk more about the dream, but I don't want to disturb this moment, which I guess could be described as sweet." I said, trying to lighten the mood, although I was mildly oblivious about what in the blazing world I was talking about.
Raine looked down as if ashamed of herself for making us uncomfortable. I suddenly felt bad, after all, she had just hugged two girls she had barely known. Raine nudged herself backward away from us and said nothing.
"I didn't mean..." I added hurriedly, trying to patch up the mess I had just made of this conversation.
"It's okay, I know you've been through a lot," Raine said in her calm and quiet voice, sympathetically nodding at me.
"I think we all have." Aspen said.
Raine's eyes started to well up again at the mention of the hard times she'd been through.
"Well, who's up for breakfast?" I asked trying again to lighten the mood, "If either of you are vegetarian, sorry, I can't help with that."
"That sounds really nice," Raine whispered, "I haven't had anything but dry bread for days, but I did gather some berries. Aspen, since you're the elemental master of earth, do you know if these are poisonous?"
"Yes, they're fine, although they may taste slightly leafy." Aspen answered.
Raine glanced at me, and I said, "You guys can eat those as snacks if you want, but I can get us some real food. Seriously though, any vegetarians?"
Ignoring my second question, both Raine and Aspen looked at me quizzically. Aspen asked, "Really? You would do that for us?"
I blanched, "I mean, I don't need to, but it's too much food for one person, so..."
Raine let out a giggle at that, and she replied, "I'm not a vegetarian."
"I don't eat meat as much, but deer works." said Aspen, still looking at me with a smile on her face. Geez, she can read minds.
"Alright, I'll be back soon." I flashed a smile at them and headed off into the forest.
It was weird hunting on ground I didn't know, and in trees I had never climbed before, but I managed, spotting a deer grazing nearby. The thrill of the hunt ran through me again, seemingly more intense than before, now that it wasn't just for me again. I knocked an arrow in my bow, crouching on a tree branch above the deer. After a moment, I let the arrow loose, and it flew straight and true into the deer's neck. I hopped down, and performed the same ceremony on the deer as I had just the day before.
Just then, the bush next to me rustled, and I stood up, knocking another arrow in less than a second. But it was only Raine who popped out with a cheeky smile. "Nice catch," she said, and I lowered my bow.
"Thanks," I said, lifting the deer over my shoulder, tucking my loose hair behind my ear.
"I left Aspen back by the stream. She fell asleep," Raine said, "I made her a new shelter with some mud as concrete for her branches and moss. I hope it works out better for her."
I laughed, not a harsh laugh, but a happy one. What is going on? I haven't been this happy in literally years! I thought in happy astonishment. I walked back to the river with Raine bouncing along at my side and sure enough, we found Aspen sound asleep under a tent of branches, vines, moss, and mud. She snuggled into the sediments, lightly snoring. I quietly set the deer down on a flat stone by the river, and started preparing the food. It was a somewhat gruesome process, but when you knew what had truly happened to the spirit belonging to the animal, it wasn't that bad.
Raine stood next to me for the entire process. "You look tired," she remarked after I had finished prepping the deer.
I sighed. "I suppose, although I slept more yesterday than I have in a while. I'm fine. You're the one who looks half asleep."
As if on cue, Raine let out a huge yawn. "I'm fine," she said, "I do want to practice something though. Want to practice our powers together? Earlier, I tried waking Aspen up. I even dumped water on her head, but she is completely knocked out."
"Sure, and yeah, it's a good thing we're doing it together, since I suppose we're opposites." I remarked, placing some large leaves over the meat to keep bugs away. I stood up and followed Raine into the water, although she went much deeper than I did.
"I tried doing this earlier," Raine told me. Swirling her hand just over the surface of the water, the water began to follow her movements. As Raine began to move her hand faster and faster over the surface, a small sea twister formed, and slowly started to grow in size.
"Woah, that's cool. Can I try something with it?" I asked, not wanting to interrupt.
Beads of sweat started to form on Raines head, "Help," she squeaked out at me, "Please. Get. Rid. Of. It. Now." She groaned again, her hand shaking furiously.
I put out my hands, cupping them around the twister and slowly brought heat into them. Hissing steam came out as I slowly squeezed the twister into nothingness. Then, trying to get the heat to go away, I put my hands in the water.
"Ah!" Raine squeaked, as the water heated up.
"Ack! Sorry! Sorry!" I rushed, yanking my hands out of the water and waving them in the air. After a moment, the heat went away, and I sighed with relief.
"Did you want to try something?" Raine asked curiously.
"Yeah, I was going to try tracing my finger through part of it and seeing which element would overthrow the other." I told her.
"Oh! Okay!" Raine said, "I can control a bubble for longer." Without another word, she scooped up some of the stream's water and stretched it out. A light shining bubble appeared and Raine held it out triumphantly. "Go ahead," she said.
"Alright..." I let my finger blaze again, and touched the side of the bubble. It burst, splattering both our faces with tiny droplets of water.
"Maybe that wasn't the best approach... My finger just popped the thin bubble, the fire didn't overpower the water." I said, thinking, "We need an equal amount of both, I think."
"How do you feel about creating a tiny shield of fire, just for a second?" Raine asked, thinking hard. "I can do the same thing, and we can make them clash?"
"Okay, fire is easy to make, just really hard to figure out and control." I moved a small distance away and concentrated. Still not closing my eyes, since that's way too overrated, I let heat come to my palm, and let the flames come with it. I then reached up, and spread my hand across the air in a huge arc, letting the flames lace through the air and forcing them to stay put. Don't you dare move, fire. Don't. You. Dare. I could feel my hair floating off my back slightly, tension radiating off me.
Raine stepped back as heat blasted into her face. Putting her hand in the riverbank once more, she raised the water in an arc over her head. Sweat dripping off her face, she rolled the water into a sphere shape and flattened it. The aqua colored water shone in the sun. Raines face scrunched up even more, and she shoved the shield towards mine. I pushed mine towards her's, and they collided.
As our elements combined, a light started to shine from the middle of both shields. Both shields spun furiously, merging together, and creating an even brighter light. Just when I thought they were going to explode, the two shields fizzled away. What was left of the light rained down on us in tiny glowing shards.
"What just happened?" I asked in awe after a moment.
"I think that when our elements collided, they formed something. Does that mean when all four elements combine they form something too? It makes sense right? Elements do make up life. Great. I feel like I sound crazy now," Raine said, pondering the situation. "We should definitely try again with Aspen."
"I guess. It's not crazy, it makes sense. Now, let's eat, I'm starving." I responded.