Elemental Aeon
Kesshou Uryou

Act I
Chapter I
Blaze

She was always a heavy sleeper, but only the dead could sleep through the conditions that had arisen in the night. The sudden sensation pressing down on her throat was impossible for even her to ignore. She jolted upright, sleep long forgotten. The tingly feeling conquering her throat was let out. She had given into the bout of coughs, and she clambered to her feet with a small hand clutched over her mouth. Her other arm was ushered in front of her, swinging back and forth wildly. If the flailing did nothing but help her avoid the walls and find the door, it had served its purpose. Through the drawn windows came a warm orange light, but it did not alter the fact that the room was mostly cast in shadows.

Coughing continuously, she received the false impression of a sudden and scorching fire in her lungs. From each eye a couple of tears escaped. She had choked on several things in the past, but now it seemed like there was nothing else choking her other than the air itself. With her mind spinning, she could still make out the screams coming from beyond her room. A great quantity of them penetrated her room through her bedroom walls. Those walls that were the only things between her and the town.

By some miracle, as it seemed to her, she found the door. She flung it open in an instant, but this was met with unfavorable conditions. With the action, the coughing increased even further. Sinking to her knees, her eyes foggily widened in fear. Down the long hallway, through a large window, she could see the fire from outside. Blazing and destructive, it was a formidable enemy she did not want to face. But the sight of it all clicked in her mind. This was smoke bringing her to this level of discomfort, this seemingly endless coughing.

The town had not been naïve. There had been numerous talks of sudden catastrophes that were randomly inspired. But this town was more isolated than others, cradled by forest on all sides. The people had been confident that it was safe here. And, of course, human nature dictates that something will not be truly believed until it has happened to the person in question. Then it's too late. This town was not safe from the fire's deadly embers. From one small spark, towns had fallen. It was not a far fetched idea to think that this town's fate had been decided in the same way. The problems of today, however, did not lie only in the fire. Any element was unpredictable, and any other disaster could have befallen the town.

She had received a few rather careless instructions concerning what to do in case of a fire, but she found herself frozen. Staring at taunting, dancing flames rising into the blackest of nights in her very own hometown sent her into an almost numb state. Perhaps it was only through some sort of delayed reflex that she knew what to do.

She grabbed hurriedly at the bottom of her loose ankle length skirt. She tore a large piece of the bottom off the cloth in a heartbeat. Her small hand grasped it tightly as it immediately was brought up to her face. She sunk all the way to the floor and crawled down the hallway with the all too present urgency. She moved as quickly as she could with one hand busy as it held the cloth over her mouth and nose. It was hard to move swiftly with only one hand available, but she tried her best. With the dread sinking deep into her chest, she made her way down that hall.

Once or twice, her skirt caught in some piece of furniture that adorned the hallway. She had always admired the selection, but now she knocked them over in her haste, ignoring the crashing sounds she left in her wake. Her mind could only process the sole goal of finding her family. Over and over again it replayed. Had a luxury such as a record player existed, her mind would be a broken one.

The rhythmic sounds she catalyzed behind her kept sounding as she past room after meticulous room. She paused for not even a quick gasp of breath in looking at them. It seemed minutes to to her, but maybe it was only a few blinks of an eye. Her perception of time had become so contorted that she couldn't tell how long it had been, but she found a sight that made her stop dead in her tracks.

All sense long forgotten, she remained still. Her eyes adverted in every direction immediately, and she could not even imagine calming down. Down this hallway could be her family. Their rooms were down there, but there was something in the way of reaching them. The fire was blazing right towards.

Once she collected her bearings and mind, she practically self-scolded herself at freezing up. Any moment of hesitation in the presence of fire could kill her. She had heard stories... She knew this house could not stand up to the sheer power of the element that was fire. Neither could she. And despite how her stomach was swirling out of control, at the thought, she knew she had to turn back without looking for her family. They may have faced the same dilemma she had and made the very same decision as she. They could be out there right now, waiting for her.

So she stifled the tears that were threatening to happen, from that thought, and she took off at her fastest sprint with both hands clutching the cloth. She was hit with coughing again and tearing eyes. The smoke collected higher up. She had already come to know this, but this was given as a very unpleasant reminder of the fact. Her torn skirt billowed behind her as she ran. The end of the hallway where her room was seemed as far off as it could ever be. She felt like she was making no progress. Behind her she could hear the fire feasting on a banquet, namely her home. It had an endless appetite, and it followed her far too fast for her liking.

She was coughing and wide-eyed now as she pushed herself even harder, literally almost crashing into the wall at the end of the hallway. She turned around for a moment, and what she saw then made her want to throw up. Running and dancing across the hallway wildly came the sickening sight of orange flames. This was her first real glance of the element destroying her home. Yes, the village's plight had been seen through the window, and she had seen it crackling at a distance before she ran back.

Irrational thoughts began to race through her mind. Each one became even crazier than the last. There was not a single coherent. She could not fight cringing back at the heat that was gushing from the area, and she had to take several steps back as the flames started dancing and fanning out even closer. She knew she had to keep going, and stop looking back. Well, her brain had interpreted this information, but she was still in the process of trying to move.

She ran into her room with fear churning her stomach rapidly. If it wasn't such a critical moment, she would have thrown up right then and there. But there was no time for that. She'd get out first. Then she could puke all she wanted. So, clutching her stomach with one hand (the other still holding the cloth), and she ran over to the window.

Her one hand left her stomach to set to work with opening the drapes. She could only stare at the sight that met her. The small town was being devoured by the flames. She had to avert her eyes from the small child left behind near the exit of a house close by. She did not know this child. She didn't go out often as she was sheltered by her family, locked away most of her life. But she felt regret for not meeting this child who was burnt alive by the flames. It spread from his pants to his shirt to greedily feed on his hair. Orange and yellow and red and back again. She felt dizzy. But with her incessant coughing especially, she could not play this off for a dream gone very awry. This child's death only reinforced the fact firmly. Her home was being destroyed.

She didn't even notice the tears running down her cheeks. With a burning temperature sweeping across her body again, she turned startled at the flames that had entered her room. Her one hand worked desperately, but it was proving futile against the latch. She was already coughing, but with the drop of the cloth, it increased tenfold.

With both her hands free, the small fingers went to work. She whimpered under her breath in anxiety. Each hand only seemed to hinder the work of the other one. She took a deep breath that unfortunately only resulted in several more coughs. The flames were licking at her skirt hem and feet now. It was taunting and laughing at her. It thought she wouldn't get out. She had to. They'd slowly torture her to her own grave. Her wet green eyes were pools of a single and very frightening reflection. And all that could be seen was the hungry fire in that reflection.

She could not contain the scream of terror that resounded from her mouth when her skirt fully caught on fire. And from all the coughing, from all the smoke, and the all too warm sensations, her throat felt on fire too as it seared and fought at the action it was performing. She could feel the burns biting and stinging relentlessly on her feet and legs. And the fire was only spreading... She did not want to end up like that boy that died right before her eyes.

With eyes like that of a wild animal, her hand secured the final motion of opening the window. It was with relief that she climbed up with difficulty, desperately scrambling, groping the window sill desperately. The determination paid off as she threw herself clumsily through her one way out. The drop was none too pleasant. She landed with a thud on the bushes below. Yes, it was not graceful, but she was glad to be alive for the moment.

She realized her mistake rather quickly. It was like a slap to the face after committing a bad deed. The open window provided the fire an extra supply of fuel, namely oxygen. The flame was already jumping out the window. Standing up, she winced at the burns on her feet as she fled. With horror, she saw the fire on her clothes was fanning out at the movement of her running. Stopping rather abruptly, she spotted a trough used for the horse's water. Wild horses were not common in this forest inhibited area, but enough had been claimed by the wealthier residents in the town that a trough could be located on her now burning block.

Throwing caution to the wind, she fully sprinted towards it, squeezing her fists tight at the pain on her lower back. It was scorching hot. She felt like a branded animal. With a satisfying splash she landed in the water. Sitting upright after a moment, she moved her dripping wet hair out of her face. She choking slightly but her throat was glad for the moisture. This water could have been muddy, and she would find it pleasing. Sputtering out water from her mouth, she breathed heavily. She had never run so much before in her life.

The water was soothing to her newly acquired burns, but she had to get out of here. One look around told her that. She saw her house in the distance starting to collapse. She didn't want to look at the sight. She turned away quickly, scooting out of the water. Dripping wet and soaked to the bone, she spun around quickly, trying to figure out where she'd go now. She remembered her family, and she looked in a full circle around herself without finding a trace of them.. She let the tears come. Her feet took her where they decided. All around she could hear screams of those being burned alive or those trapped within a fallen building. She kept her eyes to the ground for the majority of the time. She didn't want to see anymore. Unfortunately she couldn't stop herself from hearing them all constantly. The people who were fortunate enough to escape even added to the commotion. They certainly didn't keep their wits about them by running around like chickens with their heads cut off, crashing and bumping into each other as they were.

Although she herself did stumble upon people and immobile obstacles, it was certainly the very last thing on her mind. She could never measure quite how long she had run, but it seemed an eternity before she tripped over the ground itself and consequentially fell towards it. Being messily spewed out in the dirt road was not ideal as the ever persistent flames were only growing. The sudden gusts of wind were not helping.

People took no notice of her being a breathing creature as they stumbled over her, a few of them falling down and getting right back up. She would have moved faster herself if she hadn't heard a couple coming out of a flaming building, ushering an injured child desperately. Her sensitive ears picked up that they were heading towards an impromptu shelter in the direction she had been going before she fell. She had been running aimlessly. She hadn't even knew there was a place for the town to gather in case of a disaster.

She got up with new determination, grimacing only slightly at the dirt that had annoyingly burrowed under her nails. She'd worry about that later, much later. At least now she knew where she could head now. And it was definitely where she was headed.

Despite not knowing exactly where it was that she was heading, she realized others had to as they all were heading in the same direction. There was also the fact she never let the couple who had disclosed the information to her out of her sight. They were on the brink of the horizon at the most, and in those instances, she hurried even faster than her already quick pace.

Along the short journey, she saw people jostling out of buildings, although it became fewer and fewer as she went along. The fire had spread faster than she could possibly travel, and in its wake, it had no doubt left death. It was inevitable.

The trip led her out of the burning town, into the forest that surrounded the village. The civilization had always been encased in a varied forest. To the south of the village, the forest was more humid, home to buckets more of rain. The east sported a drier climate with an expanse of tree suited for the conditions. The west was mild in all its attributes. Where they were heading though was the north, and it was an area of a slightly cooler climate. Fortunately, it was not too noticeable, and it even had a lake embedded in the northwest. During the winter, it froze over, cutting off a source of food, namely fish.

Fortunately, it was not winter, and the group steered directly northward out of the burning village, through a forest that was just starting to spread forward. Everyone picked up their pace accordingly. Being barbecued alive was not on the top of their priority list. And a fire had a very filling meal with a forest present.

She was left confused, however, as to where this shelter could be. She could not recall any structures in the north, although she followed blindly on. There was one building that played at the brink of her mind, but it was far too ambiguous to even recognize in her state of mind. She'd find out soon enough.

Her feet took to a careful procession of steps as she continuously jumped over tree root after tree root. The twining vines, slipping and sliding past barks of old and new trees, inhibited the dark brown earth. The same ground housed countless small creatures that took to crawling past her bare feet. More than once her foot slammed into some obstruction whether living, namely a brusque spindling vine or root, or nonliving. In that case, it would be a inconvenient stone or clump of dirt. Her feet not only was bruised in companionship of the burns, but also caked in dirt.

They certainly went well with her scrapped clothing and cut arms and legs. Each time she passed too close to a branch, it had a chance of slicing across her flesh in an array of different severities. Most were barely skin deep, but others brushed further, contacting blood.

With these new sorts of souvenirs of her trip through the forest, she sighed with relief at noticing the forest was getting less dense, and if she was not mistaken, there was a clearing from the endless trees up ahead. It would make a spacious area that would offer a little buying of time if the area was to be surrounded by flames. As she followed the short line of people in her sight, they brought her to exactly what she had predicted. It was a clearing.

The small thought tugging at her mind then increased its force, and she realized exactly why they had ventured over here. There was that stone building, that opened up with heavy iron doors that then steadily descended into the ground, and the stones of which the building was made meet the earth in response. She did not want to go in there, and she saw other people hesitating, but all eventually went in, seeing the flames coming in their direction from afar. She too reluctantly went in. The dead were in this building.

Two people were holding the doors open for the survivors to enter through, and she followed the group of people in. Her momentary hesitation had left her behind a few people holding a closed coffin between them. She shuddered to think it was a new victim. Was her family in their own already too? How had they done it so fast? Were there many extra coffins just waiting inside or around the area? She couldn't see any so far...

She stepped in cautiously, twisting her head left and right for any sign of something dangerous. All she was getting was a dreary feeling. It was pretty dark inside as the light from the door only let in so much light. Torches were lit on either side of the long stairwell, and she was very thankful for that. Although the fire was more than likely taken from the destructive fire that had destroyed her life, she preferred not to think of it like that.

Her mud covered feet took each step slowly as the other people did. Once inside, people slowed their pace, taking in the area and probably letting everything sink in. The seemingly endless stairway finally ended in a spacious rotunda with several hallways leading from it in several directions. The group of people who had been in front of her stopped and dropped the coffin to the ground in the middle of the rotunda. One of the carriers bent over and opened it up. She was already prepared to look away in horror and disgust, but she was surprised at the real contents.

It was a coffin full of water. No wonder the carriers had been so numerous. She knew water from experience was heavy although those experiences had been few and far between. They must have struggled over here with its contents being what they were. As she scouted out an area to wait for any signs of her family, no matter how slim the chances, she overheard them saying it was from the northwest lake. Yes, it must have been a long and hard trek.

But when she thought about it, so had hers. If you could call it that.

--e--a--

She had eventually settled in a rather shadowed part of the round room. The still lit flames of the torches flickered over her face in the particular spot. The dankness of the area, however, left her wrinkling her nose. She drew her legs even closer to her body, in a somewhat vain attempt of heating her body up. Sure the flames provided minimal heat along with light, but it was not nearly enough. It didn't help that this was north of the town where it was slightly chiller. And it being fall, it was steadily getting colder. Although the lack of warmth was hardly all to complain about. The smell of the enclosed shelter was admittedly pungent and unpleasant.

Even though the building was made up of stones, a convenient material against fire, its visitors, rather refugees, had come in all vulnerable states influenced by the flames. With their coming, came dirt, grime, and ashes. She never wanted to see ashes ever again in her life, that's how many there were. Outside before she came in, and in here where she had confined herself to, the amount was overwhelming. Constantly seeing the black substance brought back the flames in a mental visual she was sure she could never lose. It was vivid to the last ember.

Even at her feet lay a pile of ashes. She had brought it in herself. This is what happened when your clothing caught on fire; it turned into ashes. She wanted to hate everyone for bringing in the rest of the black annoyance, but she had done the deed too so she held her tongue. Besides, no one she had known in the village had ever come in. Although the number of people had been very limited in the first place. With her family rarely letting her out (and even then with some sort of accompaniment), she was restricted basically to her family and dinner guests she doubted she could recognize. Others still of those guests had come from travels, spending a short while before heading off in their own separate directions.

She ran her eyes restlessly over the cobble-like ground, and the dank feeling was reinforced. Pooling, and running in small rivers, water was all around. She winced each time someone stepped in it, splashing the water in all directions. It was not the water she hated. It was why it was there, and how it affected the feeling of the room.

Of course, the water being present was self-explanatory. She was haunted with people coming in covered in flames. Several splashes of water later, the person either stood drastically burned or dead. Although those all who had died had been carried in so that those who had helped them had suffered horrifying burns. The only thing she could be thankful for over that was that the motionless bodies were brought out of her sight. The scent of death and the sight of it too would worsen the conditions even more as far as she was concerned. She would just marvel at the fact they had made it all this way while on fire. She hoped that would keep her distracted, but it was a daunting task to forget it all. She wasn't sure she could handle it.

And she just had to think about those coffins full of water... She had forgotten that the coffins hadn't come from nowhere. She had actually seen one of those coffins being emptied of their timeless occupant. She could barely even stare at the stored water anymore. The dead had lingered where the water now claimed its place.

She shook her head lightly, trying to clear her mind. It had become worse as days turned to the next. This was her third day now, and only when it was necessary did she clamor to her feet in search of food. She liked to sit in her own little space, away from all of those she didn't know. This was no exception for a small group of children that had situated themselves only about ten feet away. They thankfully were mostly quiet in each other's presence and kept to themselves. She had noticed, however, that they sometimes glanced her way.

There really weren't many options for her now. The possibility that she was an orphan was unbelievably high, and she had to do something about it. A few traders had come by offering future positions in their trading circuit. Some orphans had been interested it that field. Others had been focused on the merchants offering apprenticeships. She had heard that also representatives from the two closest orphanages were coming by. Signing on the line for that orphanage contract meant that she would have to work away her life until she came to age to get a dirt poor job. She didn't exactly want that although that route had guaranteed housing and food. She really was at a loss as to what to do now. However, there had been more pressing matters like food to look into.

She was leaning against the wall as she always did now, unhooking her arms from around her legs to grab a small bite of bread. It had been given to her by a man making his rounds with food. She tried her best not to wolfishly devour it, but it proved difficult. She was not getting enough food for her complaining stomach, but there really was not much of a remedy for that. She knew supplies were very low even when people had finally come by to assist them in their dreary situation. Travelers and traders came this way all year around, and before she had heard the adults speak optimistically of their eminent arrivals. Others still had cursed the slow coming of the visitors, ever pessimistic.

People had looked forward to the arrival so much because many had saved coins before they fled their houses. It was funny those same people didn't have all the members of their family accounted for. She, however, had neither family nor coins to speak of to her great dismay. She had only been able to hope like the others who were just as unfortunate that the visitors would offer free supplies. Whether out of pity or goodness, she would take anything. Some had been more stubborn, but at that point, the world stubborn was not in her vocabulary.

It felt like it had been forever, but people did come. Vast groups of them came. Some were simply travelers, moving from one province to the next for the upcoming holidays. Some were parts of various trading groups who felt they needed to offer supplies at huge discounts. One group she hadn't expected was supposedly an element support group. Or rather that was she had heard people mummer around her. It came to her attention that perhaps they weren't just that.

They did, although, bring many supplies with them, food being the number one priority on her list. She had ventured over cautiously to a woman giving out food to survivors and had happily accepted some decently fresh fruit. Never had a peach tasted so sweet.

What set them apart was that they were obviously very inquisitive, and they got very personal. When she had received the fruit, the woman had asked what her past condition and present one was. She had wanted to know if anyone had been seen counteracting either of the two elements, the wind, she said, was obviously the second one. She had barely even remembered the wind, so horrible had the fire been. But about this received set of questions, she would realize much later that she had been asked because of strategy. There was a much better chance that a child would answer truthfully and not suspiciously. She had.

She had told the woman she had been very well-off and now she knew no one of relation that was alive. That and she was starving. And, of course, she hadn't seen a single person doing anything against the fire or wind. The woman frowned thoughtfully at that. She, being totally oblivious as she often was, nearly forgot about the series of questions. Her mind had latched itself upon the concept of getting something in her stomach. She took her food, and she settled back in her designated spot, hoping to achieve a new companion: a blanket.

She was still without a said blanket now, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small group of strangers beginning to hand out more. She could only assume they were a part of the group that had came claiming they were there to get the town on a jump start on restoration. And that group would be the element support group. She didn't jump to her feet like many others at the free item, and she opted to sit back and wait for them to come to her if there were any left over to do so. She wasn't desperate enough that she'd go like an animal into that jostling crowd. She'd like to continue healing the old scraps and bruises. She didn't want to add to the collection. She only had so much nutrition to cure herself with as it was.

As it turned out, patience was perhaps the best method. She had a small run in with luck, and she didn't have to wait all that long. A man was holding a few warm-looking blankets in his arms, whom she saw was accompanied by a younger person, a teenager at that. Together they were stopping by and engaging in short conversations with people who had not jumped at the chance for blankets like herself. The two of them had picked an opportune moment when most people were distracted by the first few people who had been giving out countless blankets. It's true that they had far fewer blankets between the two of them, but they had significantly less people to attend to. She sat there, clutching her legs, hoping they would make their way to her, and her wish was granted.

"You wouldn't happen to want one of these, would you?" The first thing she had seen was their feet, and then as she looked up, she set her sights on the two males she had sighted earlier. And what she wanted to see most of all was in their possession yet. Actually there was more than just one unclaimed. There were still a few left. She was fairly certain she was getting of one of those that were remaining.

"The blanket? Yes. Please." The cold was far less as persistent as a rumbling stomach, and she managed just fine to remember her manners sufficiently enough this time.

"Here you go then," the teenager's smile was infectious, and she let a small smile slip across her face. She scooped up the wool blanket as it landed gently in her lap. She took no hesitation in unfolding the material, wrapping it around her lower legs before pulling one edge around her lower torso. She expected to see them already gone when she looked up after the deed, but she was surprised. They didn't look like they were quite down.

"Um, thank you?" That was all she could draw from the situation, and yet they made no move for leaving. She herself didn't feel very convinced at those words.

"You're an orphan, aren't you?" She looked at the man incredulously. Was it really that obvious?

"Yes, I'm an orphan." She spoke tentatively despite that she was naturally trusting. Everything was beginning to surprise her. She resorted to bowing her head maybe out of respect to them or just shyness. Not that she was shy, but she never had much opportunity to socialize as someone as young as she should. She had had to settle with that. There wasn't much she could have done.

"Why aren't you with those other children?" She followed the man's hand gesture, landing her gaze on that group of orphans. Why wasn't she? She had already gone through that.

"I don't know them." This conversation was getting a little less awkward, but it just may get more strained as time went on.

"Are you going to sign an orphanage contract like them?" She started to stare with scrutiny then. Those orphans were going for the contract. Did she want that too?

"I'm not sure. There's a lot of choices." She could of swore the teenager's smile grew just a bit wider at her words.

"You wouldn't mind one more offer, would you?" She numbly found herself shaking her head.

She expected one of them to explain right away what this offer was, but she didn't receive words. Her gaze had rested on the ash and water laden ground before the latter stirred. In a fixed strand, the water wound its way up from off the ground into the air. It twisted like a dying animal before her eyes before worming its way towards the man's outstretched hand. His palm closed, and the gasp dying to escape her lips finally did. Out of his fisted hand, the water seeped slowly before it increased in speed. It streamed out in a controlled spectacular array. The water landed in several small droplets around the three of them.

"You're- you're one of them!" The words were out of her mouth without a thought, accusing him of exactly what he was. There was a pause, and she let it sunk in. He was a part of this group of people who went and helped those affected by disasters created by the uncontrollable elements. And that group asked a bunch of questions that were really unnecessary for their job. They supposedly knew a lot about the elements... They wanted to know all about the elements here... Were they all elementalists?

"Do you want to become one too?" The pause was broken by the man's words, and she gazed back at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Once again, taken by surprise, she couldn't think of anything to say. Well, anything intelligent.

"You are a water elementalist."

"I'm not a water elementalist. No one in this entire province is an elementalist!" His words were still sinking in, but she had to deny it. He was accusing her of something she wasn't allowed to be. Something terrible.

"Yes you are. You aura is mixed with the element of water." He said it calmly, but she was stubborn in knowing he was wrong.

"No it's not. People would know that. I would too, and I wouldn't be here. You shouldn't talk anyway! You all should be removed from here." She clutched her new blanket in her fists.

"You want to rid what you are. Irony never ceases." He had her getting angry while he stayed calm. She knew about his type of people, and she'd tell him that too.

"I know what you're like. You should all leave before I tell someone about who you all really are. We don't want you here."

"And who will you tell? You hang away from everyone like they are a disease. And even if you do tell someone, who will believe you? You have no evidence."

"They'll believe me..." Her volume slipped lower, and she lost some of her confidence.

"Just listen. You are an elementalist. No one knows it because you probably didn't have any signs of it at your birth. There are rare cases of late bloomers."

"No, that's impossible." She would deny this for as long as she needed to.

"How about this? If I could prove to you that you are an elementalist, would you consider coming with us?" She squeezed her hands shut hard, and she considered it. She had heard about them, who hadn't?

Elementalists. They were people who had one or more of the elements under their own control. Some of them were out for hire if the area was under excessive abuse. Others were trained under highly experienced elementalists for reasons that she was not aware of, but people were convinced money was the root of this course of action. What kind of elementalists were they anyway? This group was somewhat large, so she doubted they were of the first type who sold their talents. They hadn't made a penny since they stopped here at the very least. Well, as far as she knew.

"What do you do? What kind of elementalists are you?" The two of them found a smile at this.

"Every one of us here is a small part of a very large group. We train our own respective elements in order to finally subdue the elements completely."

"You mean, you train your elements to end all the bad things the elements are causing?"

"You caught on," the teenager remarked. It had been his first words edgewise in a while, and he didn't let it die just yet. "You're smart for your age."

"She is, but I remember you being smarter." The sheepish grin was given in response along with waving a hand as if were to cancel out his words. She had almost thought they had forgotten about her, but then they directed their sight at her again.

"Do we have a deal?" He extended his hand down towards her. She was still sitting against the wall. She said nothing to him, but she took his hand before she let him help her up. He didn't let go of her hand immediately once she was balanced on her feet, however, and he took the liberty of shaking it. And even then, he didn't release his hold. He shifted his hand over hers, and it gripped it firmly. She looked up at him in curiosity before settling on staring at her hand which was feeling strange.

First it was a slight sensation, but then it was searing. She emitted another gasp of breath, and she clenched her free hand. Right before her eyes, the places she could pinpoint the pain to was flaring up blue until a soft and very soft blue glow surrounded her hand. His grip on her hand lessened, and it was very loose when he spoke.

"Focus on that drop of water right there by your foot." She looked down, and she thought she'd get a migraine by the intensity she was creasing her forehead with. "Not that much." He laughed, and she blushed lightly out of embarrassment.

"Now, touch the tips of your fingers together." She did as she was told, and she waited impatiently waited for something to happen. He said he could prove it to her, and now she half believed him. It was not every day her hand glowed. Actually, it had never glowed.

"Slowly lift your hand. Move it in a series of directions if you feel confident." His hand raised first, and hers did too. Nothing happened. "Don't lose your focus. Concentrate." She once again stared hard at the lone droplet. This time she lifted her hand, and it moved. It slid up right before her eyes much like he had down with his strand of water. He let go of her hand and took a few steps back. The teenager was smiling warmly. The droplet was still swimming in front of her eyes, but she her fingers split apart, and the water drop fell downward.

"That was good for your first time," the teenager commented. She didn't meet his eyes. Rather they closed as she fainted.


--e--a--

Her eyes blurringly met another pair as she reluctantly opened them. The strange pair of orbs betrayed curiosity in their prison of amber. She could not yet focus fully on the beholder, but the face looked young enough. She managed to control her eyes enough to blink up at the unknown set. It was then that the pain registered. The hiss escaped her lips, and the owner of the unknown eyes dipped lower, hardly blinking, staring intently at her. She felt like she was an experiment under close observation. She wanted to speak up and say for the person to stop staring, at least so openly, but the pain was a bit too distracting.

She, however, drew the line when she glimpsed and consequentially felt the person poking her arm. The young person drew back enough for her to know this was a young boy, most certainly not old enough to be a teenager yet. Based on the look he had given her, it looked like he deemed her as a possible threat of some sort, but she wasn't about to know why that was. She heard a feminine snort, but it sounded a bit too far away to be the person who was so rudely poking her. Besides, a second sweep of her eyes definitely confirmed this was a boy. A rude one at that.

She bit her lip harshly, noticeably wincing as she propped herself into a half-sitting position with one arm. The person before her fell back further in response, increasing the distance between them to her utter relief. The person was far enough away now, and her eyes cleared for her to identify the stranger to be around her age. She didn't dwell on it long as her free hand found the back of her head quickly, nursing it softly. Sitting up abruptly had just made her vision swim again.

"Don't be an idiot. Lay back down. You shouldn't be moving too much right now." Her eyes worked mechanically around her, but she still sunk back down in submission. Her head hurt hard enough as it was, and she did see much point in refusing this second stranger's request. Although this didn't change the fact that she wanted to know who the other person talking actually was. The voice had been distinctly feminine, and the only person she could see was a male. It was probably the one who had unceremoniously snorted.

She heard the light footsteps made on the floor that was also placed beneath her. Her mind put two and two together and she knew she was on a wooden floor of some sort. The footsteps sometimes produced a sort squeak. Perhaps each high pitched noise was produced on a loose floorboard. Her thoughts quickly stopped at this conclusion, giving away to the pain. She closed her eyes momentarily, but she opened them again to meet with different eyes. The owner of the set was standing with only their head directed downwards, making the most confident eye contact that she could ever remember having.

This girl was definitely older than her. She had to at least be a preteen which would make the stranger a couple of years older than her nine years of age. Her eyes flickered to the side and at the boy again. The boy, however, still registered her age in her mind. She could not estimate ages too well in her state, but she held on to her guesses.

The boy made his way into her direct visage again, making her put her thoughts of age aside. She saw his mouth open before the words came out, and she mentally prepared an answer. However, he seemed to think that introductions were beyond him. Instead he came up with a question she hadn't been expecting. She didn't like to be caught off guard.

"What's your ability?" He seemed to be the type that tried to get straight to the point. She blinked, clutching her head for all she was worth. She had to think about this answer. Her memory almost as blurry as her eyes had just been. She finally managed to recall most of the fire incident and her eyes widened at the memory. Her family and town! But what had happened after that? She looked up again at the boy's expectant face and the girl's apparent nonchalant feelings on the current matter. She decided she'd better figure out what her ability was. She didn't know who they were, but she had a handicap, and she didn't want to anger them.

"What do you mean ability?" She answered at last, trying to stall for even a moment. She was childishly annoyed at the scratchiness of her throat. She hadn't used it for a while then. Or maybe the smoke had done it. She remembered the smoke very well.

"Your element, of course. Did you really hit your head that hard?" She couldn't tell if that was a a bit of a snobbish side showing or if the boy was simply lacking manners. She wanted to scratch her head, but she found that wouldn't be a very smart idea, and she settled in blinking at him some more before answering. It took a little bit of time for her head to produce the answer.

"Someone said I had water...?" She couldn't keep the question tone out of her voice, but the boy seemed to ignore it. In compensation, he was already looking disinterested instead. The girl was simply raising an eyebrow down at her. She, on the other hand, was left mostly trying to remember who had said that to her. If she thought hard enough, she could picture the water running on the dirty floor of a stone building... She had done something with that water, but she couldn't remember what. And why was she here?

"That's too bad. That's the weakest element. I have fire and earth." She looked up at him, unable to stop the semi-glare. Yes, he didn't have much manners. He stood with his side facing towards her, arms crossed at his chest. She couldn't help but feel slightly offended. He had interrupted her thoughts too.

"Really now? Last time I heard you collapsed trying to use earth. You really can only use fire." The dark locks of her hair moved correspondingly as she swayed her head up and back down again. She took a good look at the girl on the wooden floor stiffly. The younger girl's head was still throbbing especially with each heartbeat, but she was happy someone had put down the boy at least a little in his egoistical ways. "What's your name?"

She looked up into the eyes of the older girl, only to fall into an intense gaze. She collected her wits hurriedly, giving off an uneasy smile.

"Kinomoto Sakura," she answered at long last. Sakura had half a mind that they thought she didn't know her own name. "What about you?"

"I'm Rae Meilin. This is Li Syaoran." Sakura absorbed the new knowledge with a small, slightly more comfortable, smile.

"What is your... um ability then, Rae-san?" Sakura asked the question innocently enough through the pain, but Meilin only let her expression turn very sour, very quickly. Sakura felt like wincing, but she wasn't sure how Meilin would react to that.

"That's all you people can think about, isn't it? I'm so sorry for disappointing you, but I don't have any." Sakura felt her smile slip. That wasn't exactly how she wanted to start off with a complete stranger.

"Oh." That was all she could say. Meilin scoffed under her breath before casting her gaze at the state of Sakura. She sighed before adopting a slightly concerned look.

"How's your head? You remember being out in that fire, don't you?" Sakura was a little confused at her question of concern, but she knew it was better than to ask. "You have some nasty burns, so you should remember. We got them wrapped up while you were out."

"I remember most of what happened in the fire, but my head is still hurting, and I have a mixed up memory. How did I get here? Where is this?" She tried looking around again, and she had the sudden feeling that the room was... moving? And was Meilin suddenly looking devious?

"Welcome to your marvelous, first class stagecoach. Actually, that's a lie, but Clow-kun did it again. He's bringing in orphans with any ability under the sun. He makes everyone believe he can fix nature by raising up more of them. All he's really doing is getting rich off of suckers like you two." She curled a strand of hair around her finger.

"It's Clow-sama to you, Meilin. You shouldn't call him that. You're just jealous that he has control over all four elements." Syaoran defended, casting a strongly disapproving look at her while still looked childish doing it. It was like he was trying to be an adult, but he couldn't change his age without time.

Meilin huffed as her response, but Sakura could only be amazed at his words.

"Really?" She interjected, forgetting that she didn't receive a direct and straightforward answer, "All four of them?" Meilin rolled her eyes.

"Close your mouth, girl. You'll let flies in." Sakura cooperatively closed her mouth with a click as one row of teeth met the other. However, Meilin's words made no effect on her astonishment, and she was greatly pleased when Syaoran confirmed his statement.

"Hai. Fire, earth, air, and water. He's got the weak one you have, but he also has the real strong ones like mine. Especially fire. That's the strongest." Sakura stared at him, miffed about his insistence of bringing that up. Unfortunately, she knew nothing about the elements so it was impossible to deny his statement.

"Honestly, Syaoran. You're so vain." Meilin muttered, but the other two could not make out her quiet words over their own conversation.

"Why is water so weak?" As much as the words annoyed her, she was still feeling puzzled as to why it was true.

"Because water just is. That's the way it is. Everyone knows it too. Whoever has water is almost always weak. They're just dead weight."

Meilin sighed, crouching down on all fours to glimpse out of a small hole in the low wooden door. The hole was perfectly cut, and it was definitely done on purpose. She had done it herself with a rather sharp knife. She closed one eye as she brought the open one towards the hole.

"Huh? What makes the people who have water weak too? I don't get it."

Meilin's eye blinked a couple of times as it looked through the small circle. She satisfyingly found that no one was in her line of sight. The room was actually more like a wooden cart used for carrying supplies. Or in this case, people. It had a worn out, practically musty, smell that Meilin had found herself cringing at, but by now, she had gotten used to it. The cart was almost entirely closed off from the outside save the back of it. The back of the cart had a low set of doors to prevent cargo from falling out. With the carts being used for people, they had put up a set of curtains to cover up the wide open space from the top of the doors to the ceiling.

"Because they have water!" He insisted. "Water is weak, and lots of people hate it like me." Sakura tilted her head at his words.

Meilin now stood up, and she drew back the curtain, leaning her upper body over the pair of low doors. The breeze felt nice out here. Her hair and her dusty face relished in its soft caress for a moment before examining her surroundings. They were leaving the heavily forested area. They were leaving this goddamn province behind. Just like countless others. It wasn't anything special. Although she had to agree with their policy on elementalists. Elementalists, of course, being those she shunned: people with the ability to control one or more of the elements. Come to think of it, she may have preferred growing up here than in her own hometown. With the regulations here, she wouldn't have had the same pressure, same disappointments.

"Why do you hate water?" She spoke again as if it was an after thought, "Because it's weak?"

Meilin stopped her enjoyment of getting some fresh air at Sakura's words. She closed the curtain abruptly, grabbing Syaoran by his hair and dragging him a foot. He had his mouth wide open, already prepared to answer Sakura's question. Now he was squirming, obviously in discomfort. Sakura was impressed that Meilin could get a strong enough grip in his short hair.

"What did I tell you?" Syaoran looked defensive at Meilin's question. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

"I'm not stupid. I wasn't going to say that." Meilin gave him a disbelieving look for a moment before prodding him with his foot.

"Sure." She didn't sound convinced. "Just make sure you remember. Be careful." She gave him a light kick on his back without paying attention to his glare. She looked back at Sakura who, sure enough, was still laid out on the floor. She really hadn't moved.

"He had a bad run in with water. That's all you've got to know." Sakura broke the eye contact, feeling just a bit guilty. But then again, hadn't fire killed her own family?

"My family was killed in that fire." Sakura whispered, but she didn't shed any tears. The three days had helped to let her get used to her status as an orphan.

And this was a big step. This was the first time she had outright said they were killed. She was already moving on, but then again... She felt like she didn't want to. She didn't want to bury the past and just start over. What would she do now? She still had no idea where she was or why. Maybe if her memory wasn't so hazy...

"Girl, don't you think we know that? Clow-kun told us. Well, he told Syaoran. I can't believe he entrusted him with your welfare. Good thing I'm around, or you may have somehow fallen into some ditch by now."

"Hey!" Meilin ignored his outburst and opted instead to kneel beside Sakura who stared up at her curiously. And perhaps she was a tad bit worried. Meilin seemed very unpredictable.

"It's getting sort of annoying talking to you on the floor. I told you not to move, but I think the dizziness should be about over. Ok?" Meilin had a lazy look about her as she asked.

"Um... ok." Sakura left it at that, and Meilin dragged her carefully towards the front wall of the cart with the bundle of sheets she had been laying on in tow. She slowly propped her back against the wall. Sakura's vision swirled again, but this time she found it cleared after a frenzy of blinks.

"Of course your head will still hurt, but I think it's an improvement," Meilin spoke, extending a hand out in the direction of Syaoran. She brought her fingertips together several times before Syaoran responded by throwing over a pillow. Sakura let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. It was just that that hand gesture seemed awfully familiar. Meilin took no notice of Sakura being slightly startled, however. She just set the pillow in Sakura's lap.

"There you go. I'm not a nurse, and I'm not going to act like one. So don't expect me to baby you. Or for him to wait on you hand and foot either." Sakura held the edge of the pillow and played with the fabric before lifting it up to put behind her head. She accepted her words with an almost indistinguishable nod.

"Hai." Meilin seemed satisfied with that as she got up. She carelessly swept her hands across her outfit in an attempt to get rid of the clingy dust. It was expected to be there. This wasn't exactly what someone could call first class traveling. What she had said with sarcasm before had definitely been a lie.

She retreated into a corner of the small area, where it was noticeable darker. Syaoran probably took it as his initiative to settle down in an bundle of sheets, leaning much alike Sakura against the right wall. He had one foot tucked away in his dirtied sheets, but the other one was sticking messily out. Sort of like his hair, Sakura noted.

"Meilin, where are we?" Meilin had picked up a leather bound book and had laid out a jar of ink and quill. Now she paused in lowering the tip to the open page. She looked up slowly, shaking her head.

"We're leaving your home. We're moving on." Meilin didn't direct the answer back to Syaoran who had asked the question in the first place. Instead she looked over at Sakura.

"My home? I have to get off! I need to go back there." Sakura had no idea where exactly they were, only they weren't too far yet. Meilin had said they were just leaving. It couldn't be too far back.

"You're not going to run back with your head still bruised like that. You'll probably faint. Again." Meilin gave her a soft smile. Sakura wasn't sure if it had any secret meaning behind it. Meilin leaned forward and continued to smile.

"Besides, you're on board now with your own decision. No going back whether you want to or not." Sakura felt her stomach drop at that. No going back? And she had decided to come? What exactly was she forgetting here?

"On board of what, Rae-san?" Meilin raised an eyebrow at the way Sakura addressed her. She obviously didn't expect something so formal once she had started calling the younger female by the name of "girl".

"Why you're a new inductee of Clow-kun's project of course. You'll be spending the rest of your childhood working your way up. In fact, you'll be spending the rest of your life in his program. And if you ever get to be the top Water apprentice, you get to go off and die. Makes you wish you hadn't hit your head, huh? Or pretty much having ever agreed to this in the first place."

"What does that have to do with anything?" The prospect of dying didn't go over too well with Sakura, but she instead focused in on Meilin's latter words.

"Maybe one day I'll tell you. If you get far enough, that is." Sakura felt a bit more than just cheated with the answer she received. Meilin only smirked down at the book in her lap. A quiet snore brought both of their heads in the same direction.

"Uh. He can be so weird sometimes." Meilin rolled her eyes at the sight of him. Sleeping half in and yet half out of his covers. One stray arm was flung across the wooden floor. His eyes were temporarily closed for the moment. There was that methodical rising and falling of his chest.

"But if he's asleep, that's not so bad. I have something to tell you." Sakura redirected her eyes at Meilin. It was sort of hard to tear her eyes away from the cute sight. But she did, especially when she felt Meilin's hand on her shoulder. The older girl leaned down, whispering close to Sakura's ear. A very quiet whisper.

"You never saw me. I never existed. The only person you've seen since you've woken up is Syaoran." Meilin stood up, with a finger pressed against her lips in a sign of silence. Sakura looked beyond confused, but Meilin stared her down. "Remember that."

Sakura watched her retreat to her corner, and she dipped her quill in ink again. She looked up meeting Sakura's eyes suddenly, tilting her head to the side. Sakura took it as sign to stop staring at her. Although she could not imagine why she had to pretend why Meilin had never existed, she decided to comply for at least now. She slid down the wall and cuddled up in her sheets. The thin mattress that she had awoken on wasn't of the level of comfort she was used to. She'd have to get used to it. She'd have to get used to wherever they were going too. She wanted to remember what had happened, but she wasn't sure she ever would. Had what she forgotten placed her into this mess? Into this cart that occasionally hit pebbles in the earth road?

She looked over at Meilin again who was calmly writing. It was probably her diary, she thought. That made sense enough. There was no need to look into things when her head was throbbing. It was nearing the end of summer now, but the warmth was definitely still present so that the blankets were enough for her. She didn't feel that they protected her from other forces though. She felt alone.

But worries were forgotten as her own eyes dropped. It was still early evening with light out still, but fall asleep she did. And she fell completely into the helplessness she had just worried over.

Meilin put down her book, surveyed the pair of sleeping children, and sighed. She'd have to make sure Sakura didn't talk. She hoped it wouldn't take too much trouble. She didn't need any more problems. She had a lot of work ahead of her. Lots to plan. She put her book down as she got to her own feet. Her footsteps echoed on the floorboards, but nobody was awake to hear them.

Alright, this is a huge stretch for me. For one, it has a whole new world. Secondly, it's a long fic. I'm thinking twenty-two or more chapters at this point. And if this chapter was any indication, this is going to be long not only in the chapter sense. I almost want to apologize for that. I didn't even think it would reach eight thousand words, but you know how it is. Or maybe you don't. Next chapter will be a while though hopefully nowhere near as long as this one took me. I got this fic idea in November, and I know for sure that I started writing it in December.

Any who, this is a Fantasy/Romance/Action/Adventure/Drama type of story. You can probably expect to see more genres though, knowing me. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, but I hope even more that it hasn't scared you off. Tell me if it has by reviewing, and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. It just doesn't help that I'm too busy for my own liking. Please be patient. This is a huge story, and it takes time. I just promise an original story if you keep reading.