Hands were together in a way of prayer, the thumbs playing a game of tug of war as Quake kept his eyes closed. He was standing in the middle of a circle of flat ground a little bit away from the village, but near enough to be away from danger. Below his feet was his element, earth.
Quake took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his chest rising and lowering with the rhythm as he felt the cold morning breeze in his multi-brown colored hair, his color coded cape flowing gracefully behind him. His eyelids opened to reveal bright and mesmerizing yellow eyes, possibly one with the sun.
" Quake, " chimed in a familiar voice behind him. Quake removed his hand from his chest and veered to his visitor. A warm smile appeared on his face. " Thunder, " he greeted softly. " You're here. "
The eldest brother simply sighed as he made his way towards Quake. " What are you doing here? Did I not tell you guys to go on without me today? " Quake asked him politely, his expression showing no signs of annoyance.
" They are on their way to the academy as we speak, little brother. I told them to go ahead me, that's all, " Thunder replied as he sighed in minor annoyance. " It isn't like I have to be there anyway. All I do is sit still and look pretty. "
Quake chuckled gently at Thunder's rarely shown childishness. Thunder shook his head a little bit before facing Quake once more. " I just wanted to see how you're doing, and if you need any sort of assistance, " explained Thunder. His eyes looked away from Quake's. " IF.... You need any sort of assistance. "
Quake played with his fingers behind his back underneath his cape as a habit. He smiled at Thunder. " As much as I would love for someone to aid me in this task, there is no one who is a trained Earth bender other than me in this village, " he admitted modestly. Now Thunder could see that his smile was a sad one. " I am the only one who can retrieve the green crystal. I'm the only one you can help you. "
That's where Thunder felt so guilty about. Having his brothers aid him so much than what he had wanted. He never wanted his family or friends to spoon feed him, or help him in any difficulties. His guilt was visible in his eyes.
" I'm deeply sorry, Quake. For putting you through this troubling time. I'm sorry I can't do anything to ease this burden I've put on you. I'm sorry- "
" What? No! Please, " Quake urged, shock in his eyes. He clasped Thunder's hands in his own, and looked at him in those eyes full of guilt. Quake gave him another smile of comfort. " You are my brother, my friend, my family. No matter what, I will do anything to help you through your difficulties. I know you hear it often, and maybe you're fed up of hearing it, but it's the truth. "
Quake let go of Thunder's hands and extended his hand out into the distance, facing the ground. Thunder watched as it glowed a majestic brownish yellow color and a substance flew into the palm, the fingers of the hand closing together to catch hold of the object.
Quake returned his attention to Thunder with another smile. He extended his hand in front of him, and slowly opened it. Resting on his palm was a small yet beautiful red crystal, though a little dirty, it was no less than lustrous. " Here, it's for you. It's to remind you how precious you are to me; to us, " he assured, putting the precious stone in Thunder's hands and closing them himself.
Thunder sighed as he moved his gaze from the stone to Quake. " Just... Know that this means a lot of me.. " he said softly. Quake smiled and nodded to him in response. Thunder nodded in return and slowly turned his back, walking back into the village.
..........
Solar read that day's newspaper as he walked along the corridors of the academy on the way to meet his friends. Beside him was Cyclone, counting the newly made sandwiches he had in a container.
He looked up from the sandwiches, satisfied at the fact that there were enough to go around. He expected a smile returning from Solar, but all he saw was a concerned gaze at the newspaper in hand.
" What is the matter, Sol? " he asked the younger. Solar hearf his slightly concerned question and looked at him, a warm smile on Cyclone's face.
" Ah.. It's nothing. It's just that there's been more attacks these days than usual, " he admitted. " In the last week, there have already more than 10 ambushes and attacks from bandits outside of town. 2 have been murdered while the rest were either heavily or lightly injured. "
Cyclone moved closer to Solar to read the article, worry taking over his smile. " What do you think they want from Rintis? " he asked. Solar shook his head.
" I do not know. I should report this to Pa and the masters. They might let us start a petroling duty at near sundown, " he suggested. Cyclone agreed with his suggestion. They were trained warriors, they wished to protect Rintis any way they could.
" I'll go with you after practice. Let's go meet the rest at the hall, yeah? " Cyclone said with his smile returning. It calmed the younger wizard and he nodded to the older.
...........
Quake was nearing the limit of his magic energy. He had searched the entire fields surrounding Rintis, and for the longest time, he had found nothing.
Shaking away the dark spots that constantly fight to cover his vision, he knelt down on unchecked ground and pressed his hands onto it. Squeezing his eyes tightly, he used few of what was left of his magic powers, concentrating just as much as he did before.
Using more than he should've, he slumped, his knees almost buckling. He had just barely caught himself with his hands that were off from the ground. His eyes were blinking nonstop to rid of the spots once again. Feeling like he had failed, he finally fell to his knees, disappointed in himself.
He sighed sadly, and pulled his overused hands to his chest, hugging them close. There was a little shine at the corner of his eye. Curious, he looked. His eyes went wide when he saw something fly towards his face. Though tired, he pushed his hand out to catch it firmly in his grasp.
Breathing heavily, he shakily opened his fingers to reveal what he thought was a miracle. In his hand was the green crystal, the Crystal of Mixture. It was right there, in front of his very tired eyes. Quake couldn't stop the heavy sigh of sweet relief from exiting his mouth.
" I... I found.... it... " He croaked out, his voice raspy from the lack of usage for so many hours. Excited, he slowly got to his feet to run back to his family, when he was suddenly sped past by a flying object.
Quake's eyes were wide at the sudden shock. He turned his head to see an arrow stuck on the ground a few steps behind him, clearing meant to hit him but missed by a few inches. Terrified, he drew his sword and hoped for safety.
Quake could now see figures jumping down from the trees of the forest near him and some walking towards him. He backed away in terror of the figures, grasping the green crystal with his remaining strength.
" What a beauty you have there~ Care to have us take a look at it? " said a voice that came from the unidentified group. Quake could tell the owner of the voice was smirking, he deepened his expression.
" Begone! You do not belong in these parts! " he warned, swinging his sword as a warning. The terrorists don't seem to be threathened by his actions, they smirked at his vulnerability.
" Ah, a feisty one. Haven't met these in a while. Oh well, it will be just as easy to kill either way, " teased the woman beside the terrorist leader. Quake could see that she had her weapon at the ready, and panicked. There was no way he could take them all alone, he had no strength left in him.
He couldn't dodge when a sudden fist collided with his face. Having the wind knocked all the way out of him, he stumbled and his body went limp on the ground, his eyes struggling to stay open. He could see one of the terrorists coming towards, he gripped the green crystal with whatever strength he had.
He could feel his fingers be touched by another hand, but he refused to let the crystal go. " Come now~ don't be stubborn, " said the terrorist, his eyes widened with evil. " You don't want to die, don't you? " Quake shivered at the threat, but still refused the let the green crystal go.
" HEY! " came a blood-chilling scream, a roar like a lion's. It easily sent chills down the spines of the terrorists. He turned to the scream, and saw Thunder, eyes like a devil's. His expression was clear with rage. Quake could only see so much as he couldn't turn his head.
He couldn't tell what happened next. All he could hear were strangled shouts and the sound of a sword being wielded. Hands were suddenly placed under his pits to hoist him up to a standing position. " Oh my god, he found it. " huffed a surprised voice.
He still refused to let the crystal go, and let out a small whimper. " Hey, it's okay, Quaky. It's us, you're safe now. We'll take you to Papa, okay? Please, let the crystal go for us, okay? " pleaded a soothing voice. Somehow, Quake was convinced, and sank completely into the arms that supported him. Then, he was carried away to somewhere safe.
He was placed into someone's arms who wore the colour orange, and a hand in the colour light blue was softly caressing his swollen cheek, giving comfort to him. " Get him to the academy infirmary now, " ordered a voice, and in a flash, he was rushed away.
The only thing he heard before he passed out was a voice shouting: " Stop! Enough, Thunder! "