Chapter 7: Hurricane

The path was quite long, but Oscar was right; it reached so far out, Zephynn could now see the whipping waves and just how huge they were. It frightened him. He could feel the chaos in the winds as he approached. They could whip him off of his solid ground at any second and drown him in the waves.

He began to move slower as he felt the winds begin to brush around him from a distance. From where he was, he could tell the boundaries of the hurricane as they were on his side. He was about half a mile from the outer edge of its south side. He took a deep breath before continuing on. The waves began to pick up around him as he approached the edge of the hurricane.

The wind blew stronger about him as he came ever closer to the boundary of the hurricane. It was not, however, strong enough to blow him off of his feet. He came face to face with the boundary. He could feel the cold and powerful air of the hurricane in front of him. His hair was blown back by the wind. He took a deep breath and a few steps back. Then he charged into the storm.

The second he entered the storm, he was thrown off of his feet and into the water. A wave picked him up and carried him. He was submerged. He had no time to open his eyes. Suddenly the water spit him out. He flew straight back into the wind, which picked him up and threw him around. He hit something solid. Out of pure instinct, he grappled it. It was the path. A wave splashed over him but he held fast. He tried crawling along the path, but he couldn't get more than a few inches at a time.

The wind suddenly threw him off of the path all over again. He flew into the water. It took him a few seconds to get to the surface. The second he did, another wave hit him and he was submerged again with no time to take a breath.

In his mind, Zephynn was panicking. He was unable to see in the murky darkness of the ocean. His lungs felt like they were on fire. Everything else was freezing cold. He almost passed out. Then an upsurge of water spit him out of the ocean and into the air again. While he could breathe now, the cold was making him numb. As the wind tossed him around a bit more, he gritted his teeth and made a fist. Shivering as he was, he raised the hand over his head and opened it.

"Enough!" he said, exhausted but firm. West wind suddenly came out of his ring and surrounded him. The brutal north winds outside bounced off. Zephynn clenched his fist tighter as he found his way back to the path. His force field blocked out the waves and the wind. However, he could feel their pounding. It was far stronger than his shield. It was only a matter of time before it would break.

He ran along the path as hard as he could. If he wasn't mistaken, it would lead him to the center of the storm. The winds and waves made their efforts to smash into him and knock him off of the path. He could feel it through his ever weakening shield. Suddenly, he saw an area ahead of him that appeared completely calm. In its center, he saw a small shrine. He made the mistake of staring for a few seconds. A wave suddenly smashed into his shield. He almost fell off of the path.

He made a dash for the center. The wind hindered him as it began to pick up speed in breaking down his means of shielding himself. He reached down and gripped the hilt of Temphoros. Somehow the sword had stayed attached to him for the entire time. He kept running. Then a burst of wind hit his shield. He could feel it crack. He stopped, drew his sword, charged power, and spun.

His shield burst from the strike, just as an enormous wave prepared to wash over him. The sword strike cleaved the wave in two. Everything around Zephynn was calm for a few seconds, as if he had been a bomb in a seabed and the water had receded. Then he felt the pressure increasing again. He dashed for the eye of the storm again. The forces of nature closed in on him. He was almost there. Tidal waves suddenly formed from both sides. A wind shot him down from behind. He fell flat on his face. He looked up and saw the water getting ready to crash down upon him.

He made a desperate attempt to get up and reach the shrine, but the winds kept him down and almost blew him away. He was forced to grapple again, leaving him immobile as the waves came down closer… closer… closer…

Janice stared at the ceiling of the shack in boredom. She just didn't get it. Why didn't Zephynn want her along? Was she that useless? Thinking of the events of the past few days, she had begun to think so. She had been reckless and annoying and that was it.

She gave a heavy sigh and turned her head. Theseus looking out the north window of the shack nearby her, his forelegs on the windowsill and his hind legs on the bed. He had a distressed look on his face. His tail was waving in a way Janice had never seen before.

"What's the matter buddy?" she asked in a depressed manner. Theseus didn't respond. He kept staring. The basement suddenly opened up and Oscar walked out.

"Hey," he said, "Need something?" Janice sat up.

"No," said Janice. Oscar stared at her in concern.

"Is something wrong?" asked Oscar.

"Just that my dragon won't talk," said Janice.

"Oh," said Oscar, "He talks?"

"No," said Janice, "I can understand him though. He's uptight right now and I don't know why."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Oscar, "I am kind of worried about Zephynn though. It's been almost four hours."

"Why did he want me to stay here?" Janice asked suddenly, "I mean, I know I got hurt, but that was just once. I can help!" Oscar shook his head.

"When you make a deal with gods," he said, "It doesn't matter how good of a warrior you are. You play by their rules. I have a feeling those rules come into play with what he is doing right now." Oscar turned around to head back to the basement and noticed that the book Janice had brought in was still open to the page about Osimi.

"Hm…" said Oscar, "I've heard of this woman. She was an invaluable warrior for my father's army in the past. She died in battle."

"I know," said Janice, lying back down, "I want to be like that. I want to be a hero. I want to feel useful, like I belong somewhere." Oscar looked over at her. He squinted. Then he looked back at the book. He looked over at her again.

"What, is there something on my face?" she asked, rolling over. Oscar didn't answer. He quickly reentered the basement. A few minutes later, he returned. Janice hadn't moved. Neither had Theseus. He walked over to Janice. He was holding a glass of water.

"Come over here," he said, placing the water on a table. Janice stared at him. He motioned for her to come over. She slowly got up and put her feet on the floor. Oscar watched the water as she approached. He nodded as she came closer. The water was beginning to move up on the side of the glass towards her. She looked shocked.

"Another thing I know," said Oscar, "It was rumored that Osimi and Poseidon had an affair. Janice, I believe that you are a daughter of Poseidon." Theseus suddenly began to scratch at the window frantically. Janice was so shocked that she didn't even bother tending to her little friend. Oscar moved to look out the window. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong little guy?" he asked Theseus. Theseus kept scratching for a few more seconds before jumping off of the bed and tugging on Janice's pants with his teeth. Janice seemed to snap out of her shock.

"Theseus…" she said. Theseus ran to the door and began scratching at it. Janice's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Really!?" she exclaimed, "Let's go!" With that, she threw open the door and they both left. The door slammed behind them. Oscar was left utterly confused.

A/N: I'm back from face-palming myself to bring you chapter 7 with its own twists and turns. What has Theseus sensed? Why is Janice so eager all of a sudden? And what happened to Zephynn!? I know. Cliffhangers are evil. But oh well. And yes, I did rip off the crappy movie known as The Last Airbender in this chapter. Again, reviews are happiness. Please leave one for me so that I might improve upon my writing! :D