Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER. Good enough for you J.K.? Like she would be reading this huh? ; )

A/N: Just keep in mind that this chapter is in a sort of dream world. It's not the real world for Harry, although he is going to have all the scars and whatnot when he wakes up. You'll see. Look for little hints on the ship or things to come. Guess what the hints are and I'll tell you if your right or wrong. Remember to review after you read. Until next time . . .

QUEST FOR THE ELEMENTS: PART ONE

BY:CHICANOSURFER01

"... FIRE, WATER, WIND, EARTH . . . A TEST . . . THE POWER YOU KNOW NOT WILL COME TO YOU . . . BUT FIRST YOU MUST PROVE YOUR WORTHINESS . . . YOU MUST FACE YOUR DESTINY . . . "

Unlike the other two nights, Harry didn't wake up this time. Instead he screamed back at the strange voices that were telling him this weird piece of information. Harry wanted some answers.

"What in Merlin's name is that supposed to mean? Show yourself! I'll take this so-called test of yours!"

"... So be it . . . " the voices said together.

Appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, four 'people', if you could call them that, stared down at Harry. Each seemed to represent one of the elements they were talking about. There were what looked like two men and two women, each looking as if they were made of a certain element. The women being wind and water, while the men represented fire and earth.

"Um . . . who are you people?"

"We are the elemental powers of the universe."

"Well, what do you want with me? What is this so-called test? And what's this power you speak of?"

"You have been chosen. You must face a different task from each of us and reach our jewels that hold the power of our elements." The strange figures said this while each holding out a different type of jewel with a specific rune. "If and when you complete the four tasks, you will have the abilities of our elements and what they create."

"Well, lets get on with it. I want to go back to sleeping peacefully."

"We will give you your battle gear, but don't count on sailing your way through these tasks just because you have them. The only part of your battle gear that you don't get is your staff and wand. Magic will not be used on these tasks. Only a quick mind and body can help you on this quest."

Moments after the elements told Harry this, the world around him changed into a deep green valley full of plants and trees.

"You will find the jewel of fire surrounded by its element. You must find the mountain of heat." Harry heard a strange voice, one of the elements, tell him this but he couldn't pinpoint where it came.

"What's a mountain of heat? Well, it has to be around here somewhere, and I'll find it."

Before setting out on foot, Harry looked down at himself and admired his appearance. He was wearing all of his battle gear in a sort of warrior or ninja knight style. His two swords formed an X on his back, with the handles coming out of the sheaths right above his shoulders for easy access. He could feel the light Dragon-hide armor under his amazing battle robes for some needed protection. There was only one thing different, besides not having his staff, about the whole setup. While he was wearing his two wand holsters, he had no wands. In place of the wands, he had a dagger in each holster that popped out and into his hand with a flick of his wrist. The daggers had not come from his family vault. Harry, after examining them, guessed where they had come from. On the grips were four small symbols in the color of each element on the handles. The symbols, Harry noticed, were the same as the runes that he had seen inside each of the elemental jewel.

"I guess these are a gift. I wonder why they gave them to me? That was nice of them." Finalizing the situation, Harry just shook it off and started walking.

After what seemed like half an hour of walking through endless green, Harry started to notice what looked like ash falling from the sky.

"How is this happening? Unless there's a volcano around here somewhere then - that's it! A 'mountain of heat' must mean a volcano! I figured it out! Oh shit! Ash mean eruption and eruption means lava, which I don't really want to mix with."

Looking around and thinking quickly; Harry cut down some trees small enough so his hands could fit around the trunk and gathered up some vines for his new project. Looking around, he had the fortune of finding some unusual trees with leaves as big as his whole body. Thinking about how unusual it was that he found everything he needed pretty quickly (about a half hour) he proceeded to get to work.

Having remembered the design from a model he had built while in muggle school; Harry began to build the frame to a man-sized glider.

'I hope this works. This is the only thing I can think of, to get over the lava and onto a part of the volcano's lava free spots.'

He shaped the small trees to make them slick and easier to tie together into a decent frame. He carved two grips on the branch he was going to hold onto while gliding and proceed to tie a vine for his feet's resting place. After all, he didn't want his feet to slip off and go into the smoldering lava.

Having the frame pretty much done and sturdy, Harry collected four of the big leaves and cut them so that, once tied together, would fit perfectly on the top frame of the glider. Putting holes around the sides of the leaves with his daggers, he proceeded to tie them onto the frame.

"It may not win an award for design or looks, but I'm pretty sure it'll work and that's all I need."

Looking proudly at his handiwork, Harry decided to take the glider on a trial run before he went anywhere remotely close to the lava.

Climbing up the side of the valley, Harry came to a clearing that showed the volcano on one side of him and endless green on the other. Starting to run towards the green of the valley, he waited to gain speed before he felt a slight lift and jumped into the air. Sliding his feet into the vines he was using to hold them up, Harry was amazed at how well his glider was working.

He flew, just for fun, for about five minutes before he started to lose altitude and headed back to the clearing. Coming down in a spiral for a softer landing, Harry couldn't help the scream of triumph that escaped him when his feet touched the ground.

"Yes! It works! Only thing is having to land in as small of a spot as that rock jutting out of the ground."

Harry nervously started running. He jumped into the air again but this time towards the volcano.

As he started getting closer, Harry could already feel the heat on his face. Thankfully, his armor protected his body from most of the heat. Starting to spiral down was five minutes of pure concentration for Harry.

"Come on, come on. Just ten more feet to the rock.... I can do it... and.... NOW!" With that shout, Harry let go of the glider and landed on the rock.

He stood there a second, watching the glider burst into flames when it touched the lava.

"Just to think, that could've been me with it." Shaking off the thought, Harry proceeded to jump from rock to rock, the biggest one being the one he landed on. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but for some reason, (maybe his instincts) he was drawn to the left side of the volcano.

Getting closer, he noticed that the majority of this side was untouched. Harry thanked Merlin a thousand times over for his new battle boots when a bead of sweat fell off of his forehead and he immediately heard the sizzle when it contacted the rock.

Finally, Harry got to the volcanoes base on the left side. For some reason, the lava was avoiding this side and he wanted to know why. He started to explore the small, lava free area until he found something very interesting.

One of the rocks, that he had thought was just like the others, was blocking a cave entrance from his view.

"The jewel has to be in there. Why else would this be here?" Harry decided to go into the cave, not exactly sure of what to expect and not sure if he wanted to know.

Heat.

That's the first thing Harry started to feel. He knew he was inside of a volcano, but did it have to be this hot?

Walking into a big room, Harry could see a platform totally surrounded by lava, except for one little rock path. This was all irrelevant when he saw what was on the opposite side of the platform.

Spinning in the air, surrounded by flames, was the elemental jewel. Crossing the rock path at a run, Harry didn't notice it sinking into the lava after him. He stopped once he actually got on the platform with the feeling of being watched.

Turning around, Harry was being stared down by two men, much like the elemental man that visited him, seemingly made of fire.

Both of men each took out a sword that was, amazingly enough, engulfed in flames.

Pulling out his two swords, Harry got into a stance and nodded the men over, eager for a good fight.

"You wanna go to war? I'll take you to war." Running toward the two men, Harry seemed possessed. He swung a sword at each of his opponents but they were immediately blocked. It was Harry's turn to block attacks as the strange men attacked as a team.

The two men continued to work together and, because of this successful strategy, Harry was unable to follow with his own attacks.

Swords were coming at Harry so quickly that he had to rely on his instincts to block all the attacks. Thinking quickly and knowing he would eventually lose against the duo because of their great teamwork; He did something about it.

He dropped down to the ground after another block. Not expecting this move, only one of the two men was able to move out of the way quick enough before being tripped by Harry's spinning kick that was immediately followed with his dagger going in between the man's 'eyes.'

Greatly relieved that his combatants number was reduced to one, Harry turned to the other man with a renewed vigor. As the downed man vanished in front of Harry's eyes, the extra sword was picked up by the man's partner.

"Round two then? Bring it on you damn flamer!"

This time it was Harry who had to block the first attack. There was a visible difference in the battle now that it was a one-on-one situation. The attacks were shared but so were the blocks.

The 'Flamer' as Harry had taken to calling it, (for lack of a better name and the double meaning) launched a series of attacks that caused Harry to back up. Ending the volley with a throw to the face, the man almost took Harry's head off.

Infuriated by the slash on his cheek, caused by the tip of his opponent's sword, Harry screamed what sounded like a war cry. He charged for his opponent with a barrage of attacks that ended with the other man on the ground and his sword at his throat.

"Round two, Over. Harry two, 'Flamers' zero." Harry announced his win as he drove his sword through the Flamer's neck.

Watching as the man slowly disappeared, Harry turned and faced the jewel.

Picking up the dagger he had thrown at the first man, he instinctively sliced at the fire around the elemental jewel. The flames instantly dispersed into nothing, leaving the jewel floating in the air.

Grabbing the jewel from the air, Harry immediately felt a burning on the left side of his back, by his shoulder. Looking at it, under his clothing, he noticed the rune that was in the small jewel was tattooed there.

"Why did that happen? Does this have to do with the fire element?"

"Congratulations on your achievement warrior. With that marking and that jewel, you have just received the element of fire." Disregarding the warrior part, Harry immediately asked for his next task.

"Patience young one. Your next task will be found in Waterfall City. You will be explained the next chapter of your quest there."

With those final words Harry disappeared from the heat of the volcano.

(A/N: I was gonna stop it here, but thanks to your reviewing, I'm going to go on with the next part of Harry's elemental journey.)

Reappearing moments later, Harry found himself in shin-high water. All Harry could see were waterfalls everywhere with the occasional island of sand and trees. In a way, this reminded Harry of a post card with paradise written in the corner. For that's exactly what it was. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing and the water was warm.

"You must overcome the physical as well as mental challenges that this task will cause you. The jewel is located in the largest and purest waterfall in Waterfall City, that same waterfall just happens to be the provider of all of the smaller waterfalls. Get there to complete your task." Harry again could not pinpoint the voice, but was happy that this task seemed easy enough. All he had to do was find the waterfall and he should be okay.

He guessed that since all the other waterfalls were created by the water from the one he was looking for, then it would also be the highest. Looking up at the mountain of waterfalls, he could distinctly see where the waterfalls began and where the mountain's highest point was.

"I guess I better start hiking up the mountain. There's never a better time to start than the present."

Just as he started to walk up an angled side of the mountain, Harry heard the scream of what seemed like a terrified woman. Running toward where he heard the scream, he ended up on one of the larger islands on the edge of its small forest. Hearing the scream again, he sprinted into the middle of the forest where he found a small clearing.

Here he found a woman trying to escape from the grasps of two men. Once Harry noticed that they were trying to take advantage of her, Harry screamed at them to leave the woman alone.

"WHY DON'T YOU GUY'S PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE AND LEAVE THAT WOMAN ALONE!?" The men immediately let her go and turned to face Harry.

"What are you gonna do about it? Kick my ass? Go away, hero, no one wants to play your games here. Leave us alone. We're busy."

"I'm not leaving. Not until I see to it that this lady here is safe and won't be bothered by you ever again."

"That's it. You've gotten on my nerves and that means pain for you Buddy."

"Bring it on!" was Harry's only response.

Getting off the ground, the man finally let Harry get a good look at him. The man was about 7 feet, four inches with hands made of metal and the body of a body builder.

Harry wasn't sure what to do, but looking around at his surroundings, he formed a simple but hopefully effective plan. Mistaking the look of surprise on Harry's face for Fear, the man smirked.

"Scared of little ol' Balrog now are we? Don't worry about it. I've killed tougher men than you."

Harry put on a smirk of his own and, as part of his plan he only pulled out one sword. Stopping about five feet from Harry, Balrog asked, "What are you gonna do with that toothpick? Poke me? HA HA HA, right. Let's get this over with."

When Balrog started to run toward Harry, he turned and ran also. Balrog, following because he thought Harry was running away scared, was surprised when Harry ran up a slightly angled tree and flew ten feet into the air. While on Harry's way back down, he had his sword out as if to aim at Balrog's head, and then he executed his plan.

As soon as Balrog blocked the sword's attack with his metal arms, Harry flicked his open wrist for his dagger and stabbed his opponent in the chest, aiming for his heart. As soon as that was over, Balrog's accomplice let go of the woman and ran away. Harry didn't what to allow this coward to flee since he might come back for the women; so he threw his sword, as if it were a lance, straight into the man's back.

After Collecting his sword and dagger, Harry went up to the woman to check if she was alright. On his way over to her, Harry noticed for the first time since he'd seen her, how beautiful she was.

She had a mane of dark black hair, bright brown eyes, and a very sexy tan. She had curves any woman would kill for and was very...Well... let's just say developed. Before Harry had a chance to say anything, the still crying woman launched herself at him and kept on thanking him over and over.

"Shhh, it's OK now,"Harry soothed her, "they're gone and wont bother you anymore."

Once Harry noticed she stopped crying, he held her at arms length and introduced himself.

"I'm Harry, what's your name?"

"My name is Tina. Thank you so much for saving me. I don't even want to imagine what they would have done if you hadn't come."

"Well, it's all over now. They won't be bothering you or anyone else ever again. Do you want me to take you home? Where do you live?"

"I live on the other side of the island with my family. Do you think you could come with me? I still don't feel very safe."

"Yeah, sure. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

While walking, Harry found out, thru small talk, that Tina lived with her parents and five brothers. One of her brothers had died last year so now there were only six of the original seven kids, in which she was the youngest.

Continuing to walk, with Tina still clinging to him, Harry started to lose sight of his task. Actually, if you asked him, the only response you would get was "What task?" which was a very major problem. In fact, arriving at Tina's house, She asked him, "Would you like to eat dinner with my family and I? You don't have anything to do, do you?"

Harry, looking confused for a second, answered with, "Actually, I don't think I have any plans. I just noticed that I'm pretty hungry and that dinner sounds great."

A/N: How bout that cliffy! Big thanks to Lady of Masbolle, voxenking, shdurrani, n6uos, Tuxedomac, Sierra Potter-Malfoy, OrionTheHunter, Lady of the Dragons2, and Oneeyejane for reviewing. Make sure to keep up the good work on reviewing guys. I'm making each chapter longer as a thanks. RnR

Lady of Masbolle: Sorry about the spelling mistakes, but I do type these after work, starting at 11 PM at the earliest. For some reason my spell check isn't working on every mistake. Don't know why, but I might just get a beta or something.

Dr Gero: I'm pretty sure there are other stories that involve harry getting a staff, but I couldn't name any off the top of my head. Yes, I do plan on training him to use the staff as a weapon. Maybe not until later and maybe with someone to teach him, but I'm not sure yet. You'll see how I disguise the staff in a couple of chapters. Oh, and have you ever Beta read before? I think that I might need a Beta pretty soon. As you can tell, I do have spelling mistakes and need someone to help me out. Tell me about it in your next review.

Lady of the Dragons2: Harry just started his summer remember. It's currently only the fourth day of summer and the Dursleys just left. I had actually meant to put in that the food was actually left overs but when he does run out of food he has left over pounds from his shopping spree to spend. He should start his correspondence with his friends in two or three chapters, depending on how far I am into the summer. Thanks for the compliments, action is what I like to write best so I like putting harry through hell and back.

For those of you that have been asking...Don't get freaked out by the end part of this chapter, it's in a sort of dream world. Yes I will be making this Harry/Ginny, it's actually my favorite ship. I just wanted to keep my options open if I decided to do something else. Just to tell you guys, I've been leaving little hints of what's to come hidden into my writing. At least one during harry's animagus training and at least one in this chapter.

You see that button right there? Push it, push it , oh come on, PLEASE :)