Warning! This chapter is a bit longer than the others! Also a bit of language.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Izzy yelled to Wynter from across the yard, a smile lighting up her face as she clearly enjoyed the feeling of finally succeeding at the task she has been working on for the last half hour.
Wynter had Izzy and Khloe running the flying drills Mrs. Lin taught her and Dakota, the first time they visited Meridian. While Khloe took to the air like a matured bird, flawless and natural, Izzy was choppy. It had taken her nearly 15 minutes just to get her feet a few inches off the ground without instantly dropping back to the dirt, making it look like she was just jumping instead of floating. It was a slow process, to say the least but progress nonetheless.
Khloe flew up in front of Izzy, doing a ballerina twirl, effortlessly showing off. "You're doing great." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "You know, for an athlete I thought you would be better at this than all of us."
Izzy stared daggers at the Air Guardian, waving her off but as a result a line of fire followed in her hand's wake. Khloe had to drop down fast in order to not get burned, yet the tips of her blonde hair still got caught in the flames, singeing about half an inch off her braid. Khloe pulled the end of her braid up to her face as Izzy just snickered, almost falling out of the sky. Khloe blew out the fire like a candle so it wouldn't burn off more of her hair.
"That's what you get," Izzy said, pointing and laughing like a little kid once she got control over her flying.
Khloe growled, lunging for the Fire Guardian. "Ugh! You're gonna pay for that!"
"Should we stop them?" Wynter asked, as Khloe began chasing Izzy around the junk yard, each shooting their respective elements as one another. They ended up knocking over a huge pile of junk but neither one of them noticed, both too focused on killing the other.
"Nah," CJ sat on top an old car roof, picking at its rust. "You said we needed to practice."
"And I think that's the best way for those two," Dakota added. She then motioned for Wynter to continue sparring with her.
Wynter brushed it off before she took off after Dakota, aiming for her waist, just like Chance had showed them. Dakota had countered with a spinning move, lightly pushing Wynter to the ground so she landed on her stomach. CJ chuckled from her spot but quickly covered it with a cough when Wynter shot her a death glare.
The three alternated sparring partners every time someone would lose and after Wynter lost to Dakota for the third time, she yelled for Khloe and Izzy to join them, tired of hearing them bickering and setting things on fire. She knew if they kept that up the junk yard would definitely burn down and they would need to find another spot to practice. Plus, they didn't need the police investigating the yard fire; especially since Wynter's mom was a lead detective.
"Please put that fire out before coming over!" Wynter ordered, pointing to the pile of miscellaneous computer parts burning behind the two.
Khloe rolled her eyes but used a cool blast of air to extinguish the flames. "When did she get so bossy?"
-September 15th-
-Meridian-
After school, Hay-Lin had the girls once again come to Meridian to meet a few members from the rebellion of Silverden. She knew they will be working with them in the future so she thought the Guardians should meet them on good terms and not in the middle of a battle with a possible miscommunication. They met Wally, the rebel leader with magically abilities, Nyx, an excellent markswoman, and her brother Grix, a beast of a man with incredible strength. Once Hay-Lin finished introducing everyone she asked the rebellion members to help train the Guardians, to which they all happily agreed.
Not long after Queen Cornelia, King Celeb and Chance arrived and Celeb and Chance joined in the training session. The King even taught the rebellion members a few things from 'back in his day'. Until the King almost threw out his back doing a move that he could have easily done, if he was 20 years younger. The years of fighting were catching up to him. Cornelia pulled her husband aside, telling him to leave the training to their grandson and the rebellion, to which he reluctantly agreed to do.
Afterwards, the Guardian were split up for one-on-one training. Chance was instructing Wynter on how to use a sword. Wally was teaching Izzy the proper fighting stances and other hand to hand combat techniques. Nyx was explaining to Dakota about weapons and their correct uses. Hay-Lin was helping Khloe control her elemental power. And Grix was already sparing with CJ, swinging his battle axe anyway he pleased. All was going smoothly, that is until Khloe decided repay Izzy back for burning her hair at last week's practice.
As Hay-Lin was teaching her, Khloe deliberately directed a gust of wind towards Izzy as she was sparring with Wally, knocking her over and face planting on the marbled floor. Khloe quickly replaced the smile with innocent wide eyes and a gaped mouth when Hay-Lin looked back at her.
Instantly knowing what happened, the Fire Guardian pushed herself up, bee lining it to the cheerleader.
"What the hell was that?" Izzy demanded as she got up into Khloe's face, having to look down a bit in order to glare into her eyes.
Khloe kept the innocent expression locked on her face, cocking her head to the side to add to the performance. "It was an accident. I'm still learning after all."
By this point the others had stopped their individual practices to watch the fight unfold. While most were eager to see the dispute, Wynter and Hay-Lin were the only ones to become uneasy about the whole ordeal. Hay-Lin tried to step between the two but Cornelia pulled her back, shaking her head while pointing over at the Keeper of the Heart, telling her to let her handle it.
"Bullshit," Izzy spit out, jabbing a finger in her face. "Everyone knows that was far from an accident. How stupid do you think I am?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow at the question. "Do you really want me to answer that?" Khloe asked, smacking Izzy's finger out of her face before taking to the sky, knowing the girl still wasn't the best flyer right now.
Izzy's eyes trailed Khloe as she looped around the pillars, corkscrewing and sweeping low enough for Izzy to try and swipe at her but Izzy didn't take the bait, knowing all too well what she wanted. Instead, she carefully flew up to meet Khloe in the air, floating eye level with the shorter girl. The two Guardians stayed up there, challenging each other to strike first.
On the ground, the three remaining Guardians just stared up at them, waiting for someone to make a move. However, it was Wynter who made the first move by flying up to them, leaving Dakota and CJ looking at each other confused before deciding to follow the leader.
"Please stop it you two," Wynter pleaded once she was at their height. "We shouldn't be fight with each other."
"Wynter's right," Dakota added, stopping next to Wynter as CJ stopped on the other side of Izzy and Khloe. "If this is gonna work, you two are gonna have to learn to get along."
"Ha! Impossible!" Izzy crossed her arms over her chest. "With Khloe's narcissistic personality, it's impossible for that to happen."
Khloe gasped, placing her hands on her hips. "Since it's so hard for you to be below someone when it comes to anything physical, you're just jealous I'm better at this than you are."
Izzy growled, propelling herself at Khloe but the three others reacted faster, Wynter and Dakota ceased her attack, while CJ slid in front of Khloe, setting her hands on her shoulders.
"Enough!" Wynter's voiced echoed off the silent room's walls. "This whole bickering act is getting old and childish! When are you two gonna realize that this is bigger than both of you?!"
"When this bitch realizes it's not all about her!" The Fire Guardian fumed, pushing at Dakota.
Dakota just tightened her grip as she tried getting out of it. "How are you any different right now?"
Izzy whipped her glare to the Water Guardian. "I'm not the one who started it!"
"But you are the one who is acting on personal reasoning," Wynter argued, picking at her nails as she feels like she is about to overstep. "You're pissed Khloe knocked you over so you want to get her back. That's not that different from Khloe mocking you over your flying ability. You both are acting the same way."
Izzy tensed but shifted away from Dakota, who had let the Fire Guardian go, in hopes she wouldn't attack Khloe again.
"I don't know what happened to make you two act the way you do towards each other but if you're serious about this Guardian thing- like I hope you are- then whatever it may be, it needs to be forgiven or forgotten or whatever. But it needs to not interfere with your Guardian duties."
CJ allowed Khloe to push her hands off her shoulders then the Air Guardian slowly lowered herself to the ground, shortly followed by Izzy and the rest. The Guardians were silent as they touched down, Khloe having turned herself away from the four.
"I wanna go home," Khloe's voice was quiet but was heard by the others.
"Khloe-," Wynter reached out to her.
"Open the portal!"
Wynter's arm retracted at Khloe snapping but she granted her request, after changing all of them back into their normal clothes she opened a portal that led to the junk yard. The girls watched as Khloe stepped through and disappeared to the side in the direction of her car.
"I think we all should go," Wynter suggested, the others agreeing.
They bid their goodbyes to everyone, leaving Hay-Lin to talk with the Queens and stepped through the portal as well. By the time the portal was gone, they saw Khloe's car was already a good ways down the street.
Without saying word to each other, Wynter, Dakota, CJ and Izzy entered their respective vehicles and drove off, putting off the situation for another day.
-September 20th-
-Locker Room-
Khloe and Izzy didn't speak to one another after that day, not even a quick quip to one another as they passed each other in the hallway. This worried everyone around them and not just Mrs. Lin and the Guardians. Roxy was the first one to point out the weirdness of the situation by cornering Izzy in the locker room after morning practice.
"I don't know what happened between you and the cheerleader," Roxy leaned her arm across Izzy's path, preventing the captain from walking away from her. "But it is fucking weird you two aren't talking or even acknowledging each other's presence. What the hell happened?"
"Nothing."
Izzy's blunted and monotone response got a snort from the goal keeper. "That's bullshit."
"I agree," Khloe's voice responded from behind Roxy, scaring the two. Her arms were planted in their standard spot on her hips, hair in a tight pony tail and eyes narrowed at Izzy. "And I would like to say something but…"
Roxy easily got the hint, grabbing her things before throwing a glance at Izzy, one that the captain knew all too well. Izzy stayed in her spot as Roxy left them alone.
Khloe waited a few minutes after they heard the locker room door shut, before she spoke, "I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Izzy head whipped to Khloe, eyes wide and mouth hung open.
Khloe rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, that's my job." She went to sit down on the bench slightly away from Izzy's locker. "I know what I did was childish, just like Wynter said."
Izzy collected herself, leaning back against her locker. "Then why did you do it?"
"I don't know," Khloe shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I… you're the only one who fights back against what I say or do. Everyone else either obeys or just avoids a fight with me but not you. Why?"
"Cause it pisses me off how you treat everyone like they're your slaves," Izzy easily answered, watching Khloe look everywhere but at her. "I don't see why you need to do that."
Khloe finally settled her eyes on her clasped hands in her lap, knowing Izzy had a point; there wasn't any reason for her to treat everyone the way she does, she knew that but she couldn't explain- to herself or to Izzy or to anyone- why she even acted that way. Especially, when she didn't used to be that way.
"I've known you the longest," Izzy stated as she pushed off the lockers to sit down next to Khloe. "And although we have never gotten along as kids, I know that you weren't always the cold hearted bitch you pretend to be. So can we please stop fighting or at least stop the stupid little pranks?"
"I think if we stopped fighting all together people would think we were friends or something," Khloe joked, looking over at the Fire Guardian, who just busted into laughter.
"They'd think we've lost our minds."
With that Khloe joined in the laughing, nodding her head.
The two girls settled, for the first time, into a comfortable silence until Izzy saw the time from the clock on the wall. She shot up, scaring Khloe in the process, and franticly grabbed her things, shoving them into her bag.
"We're so dead," Izzy mumbled, making a 360 to make sure she had everything. "We need to go!"
Khloe looked at her phone and realized why she was panicking but she was a lot more relaxed as she directed Izzy out of the locker room and to the art room.
-Art Room-
CJ was at her normal table in the back of the art room, actually on time since she promised Mrs. Lin, she would try harder to be on time, when Dakota and Wynter sat in front of her, to which she didn't think much of. Until Dakota had gotten her art supplies and then spun around on her stool so she was facing CJ. Said girl didn't move her head, only her eyes to look at the girl staring at her with great curiosity.
"Yes Dakota?" CJ shifted her eyes back down to her sketch book.
"I have a question for you."
"I figured. What is it?"
"What's your relationship with Isaac?"
CJ looked up at Wynter, who had turned around at the question, both wondering if they heard right but in returned just shrugged her shoulders. Then looking over at Dakota, CJ saw the Water Guardian was in fact being dead serious.
"I'm surprised you don't know," CJ commented, purposely avoiding her question and eye contact. "Considering how big your crush is on him."
She had to cover her mouth to hide the smirk that found its way to her lips upon Dakota fumbling with the pencil case in her hands, tripping over her words trying to explain how she didn't have a crush on the tall boy.
Wynter just sat back with a smile on her face at the interaction; an interaction she never thought she would witness if it wasn't for the whole Guardian thing going on. Especially, since her best friend thought the girl was scary only a couple weeks ago. Though Wynter had a feeling Dakota still thought that but her curiosity definitely gotten the better of her.
CJ chuckled but took pity on the girl. "He's my cousin."
Dakota froze at the reveal and Wynter let out a snort. "Oh… he's-he's your cousin."
CJ nodded her head, amusement playing on her face.
Dakota's head whipped to her best friend. "Did you…" Wynter slowly nodded with a small smile. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"
Shrugging her shoulders again, Wynter said, "I didn't think you would confront her about it."
The girl dropped her head onto CJ's table, groaning before quickly picking her head back up. "I'm sorry for…"
CJ cut her off. "Don't be, I definitely got a kick out of it."
Dakota was saved from farther embarrassment by Mrs. Lin telling everyone to take their seats, minutes before Izzy and Khloe entered the room. "Alright class, today we are starting a new project, one where you all will working in groups of 4 or 5 and I will be the one choosing the groups."
Students grumbled, knowing that they wouldn't be able to work with their friends, to which Mrs. Lin smiled at, feeling like she just won a battle against Phobos.
"Also no one is going to be working alone either." This time she looked back to CJ as she said the last condition.
After Mrs. Lin called out all the groups and the students got with their respective partners, the Guardians weren't at all surprised to find they were grouped together. Khloe and Izzy made their way over to the rest, with Khloe just shrugging at Hannah while giving her an apologetic smile, knowing her friend has been grouped with some annoying gamer kids.
"Are you two good?" Dakota asked, noticing the mood shift between the pair.
"Yeah, we're good," Izzy said as Khloe nodded.
"Good," Wynter smiled, clearly happy with the two making up on their own accord. "Now, let's get started on the project. Any ideas?"
Dakota, Izzy, and Khloe shook their heads no before they all got the same idea. Their focus landed on CJ still drawing in her sketch pad, not all too interested in the rest until she sensed their stares.
"What?" She asked, annoyingly, knowing where this was going. She rolled her eyes, sighing. "This is gonna be a long project."
The others just laughed as Mrs. Lin looked on from the front of the class room, happy to see them getting along.
The girls are slowly starting to get along!
How are you liking it so far?
Thank you for reading this story! I hope you are enjoying it!