Author's Note: This is supposed to take place before Mudslugs, but after Parent's Night. There will be different POV's from both the second and third person. I know that the comics are different, so I tried to bridge the gap.
Chapter 1: Earth-Part 1
You enter the hovel with firm steps. As the Earth Guardian, you know there isn't anyone inside. You would have felt them through the rotten floor. The earth never lies. In any case, there are gaping holes where the windows should have been, and the door is barely on it's hinges. Nobody lives here. There is only one room, with a dusty fireplace and one table by the wall. No chairs. No bed.
Fungus overtook the northern wall, but with a name like hale, you don't care. Mold was never a problem for you, not even as a child.
You just stand in the middle of the cabin, contemplating. Your guardian powers are evolving slowly, but surely. Everyone is feeling it. When in combat, you focus on your element, and that's fine. But when you have nothing to do, strange things happen. Objects move around your finger tips on their own. You could have sworn that your pencil flew into your hand that day in class.
You press your right palm against the wall, slender fingers spread wide. You close your eyes and let the knowledge come in. You see the tree that would later became thick panels: It was called the Yellow Crow Nut. It had tiny leaves shaped like arrowheads. In spring it grew numerous huge bright yellow five-petal flowers. It is dead now.
You exhale and press your back to the wall, slowly sliding down. Is Elyon dead? Is she alive? Not knowing is maddening, and just being in Will's presence makes you go off. The waves of hatred that consume you sometimes scare you as well as the other girls, because by now you are sure there is some sort of weak telepathy going on. You don't know who generates it, maybe Hay Lin or Taranee, but it exists.
That day, in Biology, everyone is there for a final exam. You have finished your quiz and essay. With the paper turned, you wait for the last half an hour to end. Clouds are gathering outside, and you think it may rain before noon. Suddenly, you look to your right across the room. Will is chewing her pencil and she hasn't even finished the first part. You think how much you hate her, how you think she should die, and indulge in a gruesome image- it is the privacy of your own imagination, after all. But Will's head snaps up, violently, her eyes like a doe's, and looking at yours. Two seats behind you, Hay Lin drops her pencil case on the floor with a sharp thud. Near the front of the class, Taranee, who most likely also finished, sits up, tells the teacher she has to go, and turns in the exam sheet. Then she exits the classroom banging the door.
In the cafeteria, gridding your teeth, you approach the four girls at a table. Caleb is there, and you chat with him. Irma is silent the entire time, but she pushes you rather hard in the corridor.
You can't believe you missed the obvious signs: who Cedirc was, who your principle was…You examine your fingertips. They are perfect in guardian form, as they are in human form. Maybe you should go find Irma and Hay Lin. You should be helping them, after all.