Recalling the Spirit #2 Chapter #15
Wow! So many reviews! Thank you so much for your support everyone! I'm glad that my story is liked! And so, for some odd reason I can't quite fathom, I am going to do something I haven't done in AGES!
REPLIES TO REVIEWS!
Alcapacien: You think they make a good couple (Tamiko and Akira). It is kind of obvious (to everybody but them) that they like each other. Honestly, sometimes the both of them can be a little thick headed. I LOVE Tamiko and Akira matched up! It's makes me so happy to write fluff, and I am the author! I own those characters so I can do whatever I want with them...muhaha. Thank you so much for your kind review!
Bandita286: Another really nice review! Thank you so much! You like Tamiko and Akira together too? I'm glad my characters had such a great impression on you! Thank you so much for your review!
Orion Kohaishu: Thank you! You have been supporting me for the longest time with this writing! I'm glad you liked my rather odd last chappie (I couldn't help but put fluff in!). Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter is to your liking!
MiMiPenguin: I think you are the first person to find out who the villain is. Congratulations! Don't tell anyone! All your other questions will be answered in time. Once again, I must say you are very clever. You are the only one that knows! (Other then myself. Of course) Wow, you are really good at seeing through plot twists. Though I hope some will still surprise you. I've got a lot up my sleeve!
Porifra: Have you ever heard of X/1999, by CLAMP? I styled Karma a little after one of the characters, in a way...kind of but not really (Hinoto). Truth be told, I wasn't even thinking of the character when I created Karma. Laughs I love when Karma teases Akira. "Tamiko IS Akira's girlfriend!" Thank you SOOOO much for the constant reviews. Every time I get one from you I get really happy! You are so kind and nice! Thank you!
Ridinggirl: Hey. I can speak a tad rudely to you because you ARE my friend. Maybe I will be able to send a realistic reply when I get a sane review. Just to let you know I LIKED the bobbing bird I was playing with when you were reviewing! It drank the water! Bobbity-bob! Bobbity-bob! --U I know there was a cliffie I was being sarcastic. LOL "I made myself flat!" "I thought you meant Emily!" Thank you for saying you liked my chappie.
M.S.K: Do more stuff with Tamiko and Akira? My pleasure! evil laugh Thanks for the review!
Aharah Musici: confused I don't understand your review. Did you like the last chapter, or no, or are you just encouraging me to update? Oh well. Thanks for the review!!!
If I missed you, I'm sorry. I'll reply to you in the chapter after this! I promise! Please tell me if I did miss you!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Miyazaki's work. Just in case you didn't realize yet. Also, I do not own the Hobbit, or X/1999, both of which I made a reference to.
Trust
(((BESIDE THE BATHHOUSE)))
Tamiko's eyes ran around the dark area, loomed over by the bathhouse, lit only by the small fire at their makeshift campsite and the balls of flame dancing in Akira's palms. There's something out there, she thought to herself, scanning the area again with her gold-flecked eyes. Her palms curled into fists, and she shifted into a better fighting stance. She whispered to Karma "Stay where you are, and don't move." The young girl froze, fear showing in her clear blue eyes. She couldn't see what was going on, but she could sense the fear coming from both Akira and Tamiko, and she had heard the crunch in the underbrush.
"Is it...him?" she whispered, trembling. "Akira...I'm scared..." Her young form shook, and she pulled Mathus towards herself, holding him tightly. The dragon allowed himself the indignity, because it would comfort his mistress, but he too was wary, ready to pounce, to protect Karma at any cost.
Akira muttered out of the corner of his mouth "Hush." He was scared, but more for his friends then anything else. If one of them got hurt, or worse... The flames hovering above his hands sparked and grew a little brighter.
There was another crunch, and everyone tensed.
"Please. Don't burn me!" The voice was gentle, sweet and pleading. A young woman stepped out of the shadows; with brown hair a little longer then chin length, and icy blue eyes. "My name is...Tsuba. I'm sorry for disturbing you." She was wearing an indigo outfit: silk pants and a sleeveless top. She looked about the same age as Akira.
Akira clenched his hands over the flame, though he still looked wary. "My name is Akira-"
"...and I'm Taiko." Tamiko interrupted sharply, surveying the newcomer with distaste. "What do you want?" The woman looked familiar...and for some reason her image gave her a bad feeling. The woman's eyes widened, surprised by such a sharp comment. "I...I got lost. You see, I'm a spirit, from another part of Japan, so I'm hopelessly confused: I've never been here before. I saw your fire, and I was hoping that I might be able to get warm." She smiled a pleasant smile at Tamiko, which made Tamiko raise her eyebrows. Who IS this woman, anyway? We don't know anything about her!
Tsuba stepped up to Akira, looking at the ground. "I...I hope you don't mind if I stay with you? Would that be all right?" She was rubbing her hands nervously, and sneaking glances at Akira from under her long eyelashes.
Akira grinned. It seemed like they were just attracting people to join their little group! Two people in three days! "Yeah, that's fine!" He glanced over his shoulder at Tamiko, who was surveying the newcomer. "If that's all right with you."
Tamiko turned away from him, and said coldly: "I don't care what you do. What makes you think you need my permission?" Her voice was sharp and frosty. She turned on her heel, and strode away from the fire. She stopped at the edge of the clearing, her back to him, her white-clad figure barely illuminated by the moonlight.
Akira gaped at her for a moment, surprised by her sudden mood swing. What's gotten into her? I've never seen her act this way to someone before! What does she have against Tsuba, anyway? One moment she's mad, the next she's shy, then she pulls something like this! I'm never going to figure her out! The bewildered Irish boy turned to Karma, who was still trembling slightly, Mathus draped across her lap. "What about you, Karma?" She winced slightly. "I...I...It's up to you." With that, she grimaced, as though she had made some important decision.
"All right then. You can stay." Akira said, distantly, still focused on Tamiko's odd behaviour.
Tsuba smiled shyly at him, then went and sat on the other side of the fire, opposite from Karma, who, in turn, shrugged, a little sadly.
Akira waited a couple of minutes, unsure of what to do, before he stood up and walked over to Tamiko. She didn't react to his footsteps, which was odd. He knew from past experience that she had really good hearing. He lightly put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, and, once seeing whom it was, looked away. Was he concerned about her? Well, then he could be concerned! He tried to catch her eye, and failed. "Hey...are you all right?"
Tamiko sniffed haughtily. "Why don't you go away? Go spend time with her." She snapped, pointing at Tsuba.
Akira frowned. "Are you mad at me?" But why would she be mad at him? What had he done? She had NEVER been this cold to him before. "Tamiko...what did I do wrong?"
Tamiko wanted to scream out: You accepted her! You accepted her in an eye- blink, and you didn't even trust me until a week and a half after we met! But she said coolly: "You're acting the fool. Now go away and leave me alone."
Confusion showed in Akira's features. "What are you talking about? Why don't you like her? She seems nice enough..."
Something twitched in Tamiko's features, and before Akira knew it, she had raised her hand, and hit him across the face with a sickening smack.
Akira gaped at her, feeling the stinging on his face. What...
Tamiko's voice, when she finally spoke trembled with rage. "YOU-ARE-AN- IDIOT!!!" She turned away from him, fists clenched, chin high, and back straight.
Akira turned away from her, both shocked and furious, strode back to the fire, and sat down beside Karma angrily.
"What did I do to deserve that?" he hissed at her. Mathus nudged his mistress, and mind spoke with her.
Really? She slapped him?
Karma opened her mouth to speak to Akira, even though she wasn't facing him, but the fire, turning her sightless face towards the warmth.
"She's upset with you." She murmured. Akira rolled his eyes. "No, really?" he replied angrily. "I never would have guessed!"
"No...listen. I haven't told you, but I'm not exactly a nine-year-old girl. All the predi...predi..."
"Predecessors?"
Karma smiled. "Yes, that's it. All the predec..." her face went blank before she continued. "The...thing you said...all the former Dragons Of Britain are all with me. Are me. In here." She said, tapping her head. "So I'm a lot smarter then most people think I am. It's one of the characteristics of a Dragon of Britain."
"..." Akira was speechless...and confused.
"...So I know exactly what's going on. Tamiko's upset with you, because she's jealous."
Jealous? Tamiko? The Irish boy was shocked. "Wha...?"
Karma frowned, seemingly exasperated. "Just give me a minute. You like her, right?"
Akira flushed, but wanted to know where this was going. "And if I do?"
With a sigh, Karma continued. "Well, did you figure she might take offence to the fact that right after she had healed you, and you two...um...um..." she coughed, and continued, whispering "...That you just suddenly become friends with another girl. Just like that. Really suddenly. And not only that but also that girl likes you-"
"WHAT?!?!"
"...And apparently you weren't best of friends when you and Tamiko met either, and it makes her jealous because you and Tsuba seem to get along REALLY well."
"So what do I DO?" Akira grimaced inwardly. If only someone could see him now. Asking help from a nine-year-old!
"Apologize."
Akira gaped at her. "Apologize? Apologize! I just sat through a lecture to get THAT? I could've figured that out on my own!"
Karma shrugged. "Just wait until tomorrow. Preferably sunset."
"Why?"
"Because I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep. And you need sleep too. Goodnight." With that, the girl promptly rolled off the log, found a nice tuft of grass to lay her head on, and went to sleep.
Akira blinked, turned away from the young Dragon, and brought his gaze to the slumbering Tamiko; her back turned away from the fire...and from him.
I guess I'll wait.
He looked around, found a patch of long thick grass near the bathhouse wall, lay down, and was almost immediately asleep.
A powerful dragon spirit, such as the Dragon of China, is not really a spirit. There are no real ways to describe them, but 'gifted human' is most likely the best definition possible. Born by two mortals, they are raised like any other child. They are taught by their parents to speak, eat and read. They make friends, read and play. Each dragon is different from the other, just like any regular human is different from the other. There is one powerful dragon spirit per country, and each has it's own dragon, invisible to others in the mortal realms. The dragon acts as a mentor, guide, and most importantly, friend.
The dragon spirits are very difficult to find, since they learn once they reach a certain age, to hide their powers. When they are young children, talk of invisible friends, magic powers etc, are dismissed by adults as a child's fancy.
When a dragon turns twenty, their full power is released, and they are free to finally change form, to turn into a dragon.
The dragon spirits carry a bit of the pure blood of the dragons within them. It is guessed that a Dragon spirit arose a long time ago within each country to protect its people.
Humanity, long ago were made to forget about them, but, bit-by-bit, it leaked back, in a subconscious sort of way. In Japan, when you say you are twenty, twenty directly translates as 'the coming of age' year. There are tales of dragons guarding their treasure against certain, extremely short, intruders. The dragon is the strongest symbol in the zodiac. There is a show about special humans, called 'Dragons of Heaven' and 'Dragons of Earth', fighting for and against the destruction of life on earth.
Even in bits of history, it leaked back. The burning of witches and wizards? How it was the work of the devil? People had seen a Dragon of Britain use his power, and they were scared. Since they had been made to forget centuries ago about the existence of spirits, the magic scared and horrified them. Word spread about 'witches and wizards' and how they were servants of the devil, and how they would take the souls of normal people. The tale grew larger and more horrendous, terrifying people around the world. That's when the burnings began. They were a threat to mankind. They had to be done away with.
Tragic losses and deaths were caused then, the few actual dragons that were needlessly slaughtered far outweighed by hundreds of mortal deaths.
What is it about humanity, that it will always turn on it's saviours? That it will slaughter innocent lives?
A young woman, late twenties, with brown blond hair bent over a young boy in his crib. Her eyes were a bright, lively blue, and she had a dusting of freckles across her cheeks, due to her love of her garden and crops. "Hey, Aki-chan!" she said, picking up a three year old boy.
Am I dreaming? Akira thought wildly. But this seems so...familiar.
He squinted to get a look at the boy, and was shocked to see familiar features.
That's...me?
The young Akira smiled happily as he threw his arms around the woman's neck. "Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!" he giggled joyfully, proud of himself. "Hello to you too, Aki-chan." The woman laughed.
The windows in the small room were open, bringing the summer sun to illuminate the baby blue walls.
"Okay, honey, it's time to go to beddy-bye now."
"No. No no no no no." Akira whined strongly, grabbing fistfuls of the woman's denim dress.
The woman smiled teasingly. "Would you go to bed if I sang you a song?" she questioned, slowly and patiently loosening the firm grip of the child.
"Yes! Sing, Mommy, sing!!!"
He was desperately pulling at a cob of corn in the woman's garden. His mother's garden. A gentle, smoothly tanned hand snapped the branch off, and handed him his prize.
That's...mother! I thought I didn't have any memories of her!
He was in his dark room, at four years old. The small digital clock on the counter flashed 12:30 am in a bright neon red. Hearing a noise outside, he wormed his way out of his bed, and squirmed towards the window. Peering out, he saw a dark shape against the pure black of the shadows. He muffled a scream, at first thinking it a monster with a huge misshapen back. But as a group of clouds slid past the moon, he recognised his mother, a backpack slung over her back, looking tearstained and grief-stricken. She turned towards the house one last time, bit her lip, and ran down the road.
Young Akira stared, his eyes wide open, until something finally registered. "Mommy?" he whispered. He ran out of his room, up the hallway, down the carpeted steps, through the door, and into the front yard. "MOMMY!" he screamed. He began running down the front path, dirt and gravel tearing at his bare feet. "MOMMY! WAIT!" He tripped on a large rock protruding from the ground, and slammed face-first into the dirt. "MOMMY, WAIT FOR ME!!!" he sobbed, tears tracking a path through his dirt covered cheeks.
"MOMMY!" Akira yelled, sitting up. His face was dripping with sweat, and he was panting, almost as if he had run a long time.
He wiped his face on his sleeve and, sitting up, looked around. His hand fell on something hard...the Irish dictionary that he had given Tamiko. Is she...this mad? He questioned himself bewilderedly, as he picked it up.
The sun was just about to set, sending hazy light across the remains of the bathhouse, and both Karma and Tsuba were fast asleep by the charred remains of the fire.
He stood, looking for Tamiko. She was leaning against the bathhouse wall, gazing up at the sky. He winced, and then approached her. "Tamiko..." he said softly. She turned, but her features hardened when she saw who it was. "Don't call me that when SHE'S nearby." She hissed, gesturing at Tsuba. "It's Taiko!"
"Tam...Tai...Tami-chan, look at me!" he demanded, slipping into a bit of Japanese that he had picked up.
She looked up, confusion etched over her face. "Tami...chan...?" Her face suddenly hardened. "How dare you tease me like that?!? For me to think...even for a moment that...!" She raised her hand to hit him, like she did the time before, but he caught her wrist, circled his free arm around her waist and pulled her to him in an embrace. They stood in a frozen tableau like that, until Akira spoke. "Tami, please, here me out. I don't understand why you are so mad at me, or why you dislike Tsuba so much..." Tamiko opened her mouth furiously to speak, pushing herself away from him, but Akira hushed her. "Just wait a moment. Please forgive me, for whatever I did. Tami...I..." he choked on his words, unable to say what he wanted to.
Tamiko looked straight in his eyes, her own soft, and slightly sad. "Akira...don't worry. I forgive you."
Akira smiled in reply, and they both turned to gaze at the sunset as it painted light pinks and purples across the sky. Akira strove for something to say. "You know...that kimono looks really good on you." He said, not looking away from the sunset.
Tamiko was shocked. She considered putting her hand to his forehead to see if he was all right, but couldn't seem to move her arm.
"Um...thanks." She muttered, looking anywhere but at him, embarrassed.
Silence.
"You left this just lying around. I thought you might want it back." he finally said.
He handed her the Dictionary she had left by his sleeping form. She bit her lip, and tried to swallow past a sudden lump in her throat. "Akira...I'm sorry I hit you. And..."
"You desperately want me to forgive you?" He said, turning to her with a teasing grin.
"No. You have to realize you deserved it."
"WHAT?"
"You must admit, you are acting a bit dim."
"DIM? Hey, I thought you said you forgave me?"
Tamiko stuck out her tongue. "I did. But you're still so thick sometimes." she informed him, sighing.
Akira chuckled. "Hey, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't!" The comment made her smile, though it seemed whatever was worrying her wasn't gone completely. Akira paused for a moment, wondering if it was any of his business to ask what was wrong, then realized that maybe she needed to talk about it.
"What's bothering you?" he said softly, gently putting his hand on her arm. She jumped at the touch, surprised, but relaxed. "They're trying to use me," she whispered, quivering. Akira looked into her face. She was good at hiding her emotions...very good. But he knew her too well. He recognised how she felt, from the look in her eye, to the way the talked. Right now, her voice shook ever so slightly, and as he looked into her gold-flecked eyes, they showed a hunted, scared look. She was afraid. She whispered, trying to quell the shaking: "My father is the Dragon of Japan, and They're trying to lure him by using me. They control me...and I'm scared."
On an impulse, Akira pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her. Tamiko rested there for about a minute, and then pushed him away. "I shouldn't have told you." She said ruefully. "Now you're going to think I'm just some weak woman who sobs when the slightest thing happens-"
Akira grinned lopsidedly. "You, weak? Never."
Tamiko was speechless. "..."
The sun completely set, the moon rose, and, once again, the couple were completely frozen, both unsure of what to do next, how to react. The atmosphere was heavy. It felt like this uncomfortable moment would last forever.
But it didn't.
"Tamiko and Akira, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-"
Akira whirled around, to meet a wide-awake and grinning Karma, sitting on a log by the makeshift ashes of their bonfire. Her midnight black hair was tangled and knotted, small bits of wood and grass sticking out from the depths of her thick, long tresses, and her plain white cotton gown and dirt- and grass-stains all over it. While the two teenagers had been talking, she had woken up, one of nature's early birds, and heard the couple talking. Naturally, she had a childish impulse to embarrass Akira to no end.
"Karma! Tamiko and I...we weren't...I don't..." he stuttered, flushing. Finding himself incapable of phrases more then two words long, he changed his tactic, and growled at her menacingly. "You..."
Karma's blank eyes went wide. "EEP!"
He lunged at her, and she ducked, smiling. With a grin, Akira reached for her revengefully, and began tickling her. In seconds, Karma was curled up in a ball on the ground, laughing like there was no tomorrow. Catching a breath, she gasped "Nooooo! Stop it!"
Tamiko desperately tried to stifle a giggle by forcefully covering her mouth. She seemed to be succeeding, until Akira slipped on the dew covered grass and fell. She burst out laughing then, unable to stop. He got up, and stared at her. He had never seen her this cheerful. "What the..." he started, drifting off when he saw tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. Tamiko tried to make an effort to speak. "I'm sorry...it was just-"she started to giggle again. "...so...funny!" She exploded into peals of laughter. Akira chuckled, and then started to laugh whole-heartedly. Gasping for air, Tamiko fell, pulling Akira down with her, so the pair were rolling on the ground laughing like complete and utter maniacs.
"Oh! Good morning! I did not expect you to be awake so early." Tsuba sat up and stretched. Tamiko stopped laughing suddenly, stood up, and said softly: "Oh, so sorry. I did not mean to disturb you. By all means, go back to sleep." Her voice was bordered on dangerous. Her eyes, only a moment ago full of laughter, were cold and sharp. Her eyes met with Tsuba's, which narrowed slightly. There was tension in the air.
Like two female wolves fighting over territory. Akira mused. What is WITH those two! I've really got to ditch Science and take classes on women. Jeez, talk about mood swings!
Everyone was rather quiet during breakfast, which consisted of berries, (it still was odd for Tamiko and Akira to have their first meal of the day in the beginning of the night) except for a couple outbursts from Karma, which where protested by Akira. Even that was pretty monotonous. Each time, the outburst basically went along the lines of:
Karma: Akira and Tamiko, sitting on TV! H-
Akira: Karma, watch it! blushing
Karma: Oh, you LIKE her, you LIKE her!
Akira: KARMA! I am going to-
Karma: Ooo la la!
Akira: KARMA! ONE MORE COMMENT LIKE THAT AND YOU ARE GOING TO RUE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN!
Karma: Eep!
There would be complete silence for a whole two minutes, until Karma brought up another of her childish chants. Then the whole thing would basically repeat, differentiating only in Karma's chants and Akira's threats. Other things, like Akira's frequent colouring, and Karma's obvious glee, remained exactly the same.
Tsuba cleared her throat. "So...um...what are your friends like, back where you live, Tamiko?"
She had said the wrong thing.
"Are you making fun of me, Miss Tsuba?" Tamiko questioned her quietly, her tone sharp, and her eyes narrowing.
Tsuba looked confused. "Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to!"
Tamiko opened her mouth to reply, but looked over at Akira. Sighing, she muttered: "I'm sorry. It's all right. Just please don't inquire along those lines again."
The deadening silence fell again.
Akira rolled his eyes, tired of just sitting around doing nothing. He thought of Tamiko, when she was being controlled, and how much that had hurt them both. Whoever was doing this HAD to pay. "RIGHT!" he said decidedly. "I can't take this! Look, we've got to go after these people that are taking control of everybody, right?"
"Why?"
Akira's head snapped up, to stare at Tamiko, whose eyes seemed rather glazed. "Why? WHY? Because They're CAPTURING people."
"And so we're going to rush off, having no idea what we're going to do? That's so...illogical."
Akira was speechless. This wasn't like the girl he knew.
"Why do you want to go after Them anyway?"
Akira's fists clenched.
"BECAUSE THEY HURT YOU, ALL RIGHT!!!" It came out before he could stop himself. Something cleared in Tamiko's gaze, and now she looked slightly bewildered. "Akira..."
Akira flushed slightly. You stupid loud mouth! He cursed himself inwardly. His gentle side flipped over to his gruff side without warning.
"Shut up"
"...what are you talking about? Who hurt me?" She turned to Karma, one eyebrow raised. "What's he going on about?"
Akira's eyes widened angrily. He was furious at himself for weakening against Tamiko this past while. He realized that she had been stressed ever since they met, but he thought that maybe she wasn't as angry and as defensive as she pretended to be. He had thought she was different deep down, but she was as big a jerk as always. Taking advantage of him when he was trying to be nice...pretending she was innocent...
"What's this crap?!?!?" he yelled. "You know EXACTLY what we were talking about! Stop being a STUPID JERK and explain what you meant!"
Tamiko looked even more lost. "Um...I don't know."
He turned to Tsuba angrily. "DID YOU SEE THAT!" he shouted.
The woman blinked. It was obvious that she had been focusing on other things. "See what?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
"GAH!!!" Akira yelled, throwing up his hands in the air.
Everything was quiet, until Karma rose. "Akira, may I please speak to you for a moment?"
Akira rolled his eyes, sighed and followed Karma to a spot far away from the two women.
"What?" he barked, still not over his anger completely.
Her sightless eyes shone with unshed tears. "Please...don't do this. Don't be mad at her. She couldn't control herself. Please, don't be mad."
"Why not? She's being an idiot!!!"
"Did it ever occur to you that she builds walls?"
"What?" Akira sometimes found it hard to follow Karma. Her eight-year-old terminology wasn't the greatest. "Like, stone and cement? What the heck does that have to do with anything!!!"
If it were possible for Karma to sweat drop, she would have.
He's clueless, the third Dragon of Britain thought. Her ancestors were speaking in her head. Really and truly dim, she agreed.
"No! She builds...defences. In her mind. To keep other people out. She grew a tough skin."
"So, you're saying...she does this...acts like this...to protect herself from everyone?" Akira queried.
"So she doesn't get hurt, yes."
"Tamiko...that's why she doesn't trust people! But..."
Karma rubbed her temples. Here it comes. I can FEEL it. I know EXACTLY what he's going to ask...
"What do walls have to do with anything?"
Karma put her hand to her forehead in the universal gesture for 'oh god.'
"They don't." she managed finally.
Akira nodded. "Hey...thanks." He turned to rejoin the group, when Karma reached out and grabbed his wrist. He whirled around, and caught the beseeching look in her eyes. "Akira...big brother...please...be careful who you trust." A shiver ran down her spine
"Um...okay. Thanks Karma."
He turned and left her, sitting back with the two women, apologizing for his earlier outburst.
Karma sighed, and Mathus wrapped around her shoulder. "That's destiny. What's going to happen will happen." She whispered to him.
She absentmindedly stroked the dragon. "I guess I won't be able to see them get together."
A small smile crossed Karma's face. Those two would end up all right. She drifted off to sleep.
Tamiko gazed into his eyes for a moment, then a hint of a smile touched her lips. She turned away from him, leaning against the bath house and closed her eyes. Akira followed suit, leaning against a tree.
Tsuba smiled secretly as she curled up on the ground. She stared up at the sky and thought.
Elementals are completely human, but are able to harness the power of one element. There can only be one person for each element at a time. Their element is reflected in their childhood. If looked at closely, it is easy to tell. From a child who is an excellent swimmer, to one who will always sit in front of a crackling fire, to one who will be lulled to sleep by the soft whirring of the fan as it blows wind across their face...
Water, Fire, Wind.
Until they learn to control their element, the element is affected by the Elemental's emotions. It has been known for a child to scream at its mother, and a terrible lightning storm would short out hydro in other parts of the world. For a boy in Australia to cut himself, begin to cry, and simultaneously, the Earth's plates would shift and an earthquake would cause massive damage in Tokyo. For a girl to lose a toy in the United States, throw a fit in frustration, and a tree would tumble over in Russia.
Electricity, Stone, Wood.
For a teenage boy to be burned by fire (his worst fear) during a fight, and hail the size of baseballs would fall elsewhere.
Ice.
Each element is given control of one island in the spirit world. What an element chooses to do with is it's own choice.
When there is a battle between elements not yet grown into power, someone is bound to get hurt.
When there is a battle between full elementals, someone will die.
Always.
Tamiko jolted awake. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Forcing herself to wake up completely, she stood, alert, and decided to look around. When she came over to check on Karma, she gasped, and then hurriedly looked over where Tsuba was sleeping.
Had been sleeping.
"Akira, Akira wake up!" Akira stirred as she shook his shoulders. "Akira! Please!!!" she whispered, more urgently. His eyes opened slowly, gazing into Tamiko's worried face. "What's wrong?" he whispered back, groaning. It was barely noon! "Karma's gone!"
He was suddenly wide-awake. "What?" he yelled, getting up, panic shown in his features.
"And so is Tsuba."
I'm sorry about the utter and complete weirdness of this chapter. My sincere and utter apologies! Please, no flames!
I know this chapter had no action and I am very sorry. However, the next chapter will be action packed, and most likely one of the most violent chapters I will have written. But they will get steadily MORE violent, which is why I rated it PG.
Completely wonky chapter.
Anyhow, chow!
Jo-chan
