A/N: Here's the new story I promised. Won't have much action until at least chapter 7 or 8 so genre is bound to be changing as the story progresses. Keep in mind I wrote this when I was 17 or 18, so still "young". I'm working on making the story better but without changing the plot. Not sure how this will turn out so feel free to tell me what you think of the story as it goes on (in a nice way, please, I have no time for flames... come on, there's just a way of saying things without sounding/being rude).
Also, sorry about the title. I know it's cheesy! ;-)
A soft wind was blowing as Lya walked through the forest, her blond hair floating behind her, her blue eyes scanning an area she had known all her life for any signs of danger. She knew there was highly any doubt she would encounter any type of danger here, the island was pretty safe, but one could never be too careful, her master always told her. And Lya trusted her master's words.
To an outsider's point of view, Lya seemed like your typical six-year-old child: blonde hair, always breaded, blue eyes like the sky, freckles on her nose and under her eyes. Nothing in her physical appearance let strangers know Lya had gone through so much in her short little life.
She had been left as an orphan at the three years of age, after a fire (of natural cause) had ravaged her entire village, killing her parents and seperating the toddler from her siblings. Frightened, the young girl had run away and hid in a cave outside her village. Trembling like a leaf, she had sat in the corner of the cave and waited. Waited for what, she wasn't sure, but it wasn't until the next day that Lya had finally found the courage to step outside.
She had immediately found her village burned to the core. Nothing was left of it and the little girl had felt all alone. A noise behind her had startled her. She had turned around to see an old man walking through the debris. He had stopped at the sight of her. She was frightened but the man immediately assured her there was nothing to be afraid of. He had taken her to his own village, far away from where she had lived. It was only when they had reached their destination that the man had introduced himself. His name was Dim-Dim.
Lya soon found out that the old man was not an ordinary man. He knew stuff. She often sneaked out of her room at night to spy on the strange man doing strange things in a room she was never aloud to go in. One night, as she was staring in awe at the old man's work, he had caught her.
"Come in, my child." He had said.
Shyly, Lya had stepped in the room.
"Close the door."
She had done so.
"What you have seen here is magic." The old man had said, turning back to a weird looking bowl on his table. "Take a look at it."
Lya had hesitantly walked to the table. Looking down into the bowl, she saw a tall woman with wavy red hair sitting at the front of what seemed to the small child like a ship. She had frowned.
"Who's that?" She had asked, confused.
"This is Maeve, my student. She travels the world now with her captain, Sinbad."
"She's pwetty."
Dim-Dim nodded.
"I know she is."
"Is it for weal? Is she weally in the bowl?"
Dim-Dim had chuckled.
"No. This is water."
And upon seeing the child's suspicious expression, Dim-Dim added:
"Come on. Touch it."
Slowly, Lya had brought her hand over the water. As she waved it over the bowl, a strange wind immediately began to rise in the room. Lya withdrew her hand, startled. She turned to look at the old man and was about to apologize when Dim-Dim spoke.
"Curious. Lya, do what you just did again."
Confused, she had listened to her master and waved her hand over the water. The wind blew harder this time and Lya began to feel a rush of energy run through her. She had looked back up at Dim-Dim who was no longer frowning. A large smile stretched over his face and enlighten his entire expression.
"My child, I believe we have found your element."
Lya had frowned, not understanding what Dim-Dim had meant.
And so had started her training. Dim-Dim had begun by showing her how to use her element: the water. She quickly learned how to control any body of water. She could stop it from flowing, bringing the ocean surrounding the island to a complete stillness. She could cause massive waves or simply ripple the water.
Then, one day, Lya had awoken to a strange voice outside her bedroom window. She had gone up and run out the back door to the garden to find her master with a tall and very pretty girl. She had stopped abruptly in her path.
"Lya, this is Maeve."
The young child vaguely remembered hearing this name and her face crunched up in concentration as she searched her memories for that name.
"The woman in the bowl?" Lya had replied, minutes later.
Dim-Dim had smiled.
By the time Maeve had joined them, Lya had turned four years old. Her powers had grown immensely in the last months and Dim-Dim soon went back to teaching her magic. Maeve sometimes helped but she spent most of her time locked up in her room, reading books. Dim-Dim had explained to the little child that Maeve was studying in a different way than she was. She needed to read books and learn difficult spells because she was on a mission. But when Lya inquired about the mission, Dim-Dim simply told her it was a secret. And, even after two years, Lya still had no clue what the secret mission was.
And so, on this beautiful summer day, Dim-Dim was busy giving a very important lesson to Maeve and had specifically asked not to be disturbed which meant no lesson for Lya. She had an entire day to do whatever she wanted. And what she wanted included picking seashells on the beach.
The beach was situated on the west part of the island. From the beach, Lya was pretty sure she could distinguished another island but Maeve had told her that there wasn't any island close to theirs. The next seconds was miles and miles away, so far away that even her old friend's magnoscope wouldn't have been able to see it. Lya had asked Maeve what a magnoscope was but Maeve had simply changed the subject.
The beach wasn't very long or big but Lya didn't mind. There was enough seashells to keep her busy for an entire afternoon and that is all that mattered. Maeve had promised her that would decorate her bedroom with them as soon as she had learned her spell. The little girl couldn't wait.
Lya sat down on the hot sand looked out at the sea. It seemed to stretch indefinetely. Waving her hand slightly, Lya caused a few waves to take form. She listened as they came crashing at her feet, the cold water tickling her toes. A shiver ran down her spine.
Tilting her head, she began to wonder where she was. Dim-Dim had found her some three years ago and yet, she had never felt the need to ask him where they were. Neither Maeve nor Dim-Dim had talked about it either, or at least, not when she was around. But she watched the small waves she had created settle down, she couldn't help but wonder where she was.
A branch cracked behind her. Her head snapped in that direction. A voice reached her ears. She got to her feet immediately.
