Battle of the Mages
Arrival
Hot and wet...when did it get so hot and wet...Oh...
A pair of soft green eyes fluttered open; stared straight up into the sky, confused yet relieved to see a bright yellow sun shining in a clear blue sky.
So the storm's over...That's good...
"Ugh..." Kylie had to stop floating in the water for some moments. She was tired of being wet, especially when she had clothes sticking to her skin with no room to breathe. It was hot, which she found quite pleasant, but not when the sun rays treated the drops of water like magnifying glass and burned her skin...No, it was just the water.
Somehow I don't remember being near any water.
From her back, she floated to an upright position and found herself treading water. Easy, but she never quite remembered the last time she was in any water unless it was taking a shower. All around her there was water. Left, right, forward - oh wait. It wasn't all completely water. Not so far away she found a beach, a quiet beach, but a welcoming beach that said, Come, get out of the water. Relax. But Kylie turned her head in another direction, because right next to her was a little girl with long, light brown hair that floated just above the water.
"There you are," she whispered, swimming towards the sleeping angel. She smiled, for seeing a floating girl wasn't strange to her; she knew the small girl. The water was her element; therefore it took care and protected the girl when it was needed. "Come on, girl, let's get you safely to land," So Kylie reached out, and upon touching the young child, she dropped into the water, now supported by capable hands. One tug and - "Ow!" - her arm hurt! She bit her lip, just now realizing the long, deep gash that stretched from her shoulder to her elbow. She narrowed her eyes, not having suspected she was hurt that bad, but it shouldn't deter her from anything.
Once the touch of sand grazed the bare arms of the sleeveless shirted girl, she stirred finally in her unconscious nap, opening her clear blue eyes for the first time. Kylie was on her knees the second she heard the moan of the awakening.
"Hey, Tai, how are you feeling?" Kylie greeted cheerfully. She lightly touched the forehead of the girl, checking for any minor fevers she might have, only to feel 102 burning degrees, and the sun irritated her; she flipped over on her knees and hid her head in her arms.
"It's hot. I smell blood."
Kylie blinked. "I'll have to fix that...Are you hurt?"
"Would I be?"
". . ."
"How did you get hurt?" By then, Tai had crawled backwards, back into the water where it was cool and comforting. Kylie wanted smiled at her, because Tai had to be the most adorable girl she ever met, because she didn't like the heat, it wasn't her thing. But she couldn't stop the worry from growing in her chest. If the fever got worse, wouldn't being submerged in water be a bad thing?
"Get out."
"But it's hot!"
"You have a fever, get out."
So a pouting child crawled out of the water, onto the hot white sand of the summer beach, curled herself in the sand, and closed her eyes. Kylie didn't mean to be so demanding of her, but she didn't know quite what else to do. Keeping Tai cool should be top priority, and stripping her sleeve off and dipping it in cold water seemed fine to her. So she did just that, stripped a sleeve from her red, bell-sleeved shirt, and dipped it in the cold water of the ocean before placing it folded on Tai's forehead.
"Stay here and don't go into the water," she told her. "I'm going to go look around." Tai nodded in agreement, and stayed right where she was.
Two sea-blue eyes popped open, searching left and right as the young mouth grinned. He was crouched low in brush and leaves, he was looking for someone, and he knew he was close...very close.
"Got'chu, Sora!" cried a girl from behind. She tagged his back and jumped over him, disappearing in the dense foliage of brush and trees.
"Come on, Riku!" Sora cried, running after the red head that had just flown by.
"Where are you, Sora?" a voice called back from somewhere in the forest. Sora was forced to stop and look around for his other friend, the tall one that should have been following him the whole time.
"I'm over here."
"Thank you! Sora, that's very informative," grumbled a serious silver-haired boy. He stood from his place, looking around before jumping over a bush. He still couldn't find this Sora, but he had a good idea where the girl went.
"Hi, Riku!" chimed a voice from right behind. It was a second before the older boy jumped, spinning around and having half a mind to paint a tree with Sora.
"Sora!"
"What?"
"Don't do that!"
"Aw, you were scared?" Sora teased. Riku bit his lip, only because he was, but he didn't want to admit it. But who wouldn't be scared? Some strange child just appeared right behind him! "Where's Kairi, anyway?"
"Dunno..."
"Boo!"
It was one second more before both boys shrieked in fear and clung to each other, leaving a red head girl laughing like a maniac.
"Slow reaction time you guys!" she teased.
"Our reaction times are just fine!" Riku and Sora said simultaneously, both blushing and ready to refuse that they were scared...despite screaming at the top of their lungs...They were just making Kairi feel important!
"So, Riku," started Kairi, brushing leaves of green from her purplish clothes, "Did you find anything yet? I heard you yell."
"Nah. This kid was just being an idiot," he answered and punched Sora, who whined and grabbed his painful shoulder.
"He was scared!" he told in such a whiney voice, Kairi giggled, and Riku glared.
"I was not!"
"Were, too!"
"Awright, stop it, you two," Kairi demanded, taking charge just as always. "We're here for a reason. Now stop scaring each other and put that reason to use!"
"Yes ma'am!" both agreed with salutes. Kairi giggled once more, and waved, leaving them as she went to go explore more of this lovely green forest.
Kylie felt sick to her stomach when she went into the forest, like something was pulling at her insides. It wasn't such a bad feeling, she just felt a little strange as she followed this feeling in her stomach. It was almost just how she felt when she first met Tai...but it was different this time with the different levels of energy. She felt three of them, two of which she could pinpoint, but the other kept coming and going. It wasn't long before she saw two boys searching casually for something. She caught them as the brown haired boy picked up a stick and showed it to the silver haired boy, but the silver haired boy shook his head and told the brown haired boy to put the stick down.
Oh, it was those two.
"We need something like this," said the taller boy, picking up a log.
"But you can't roast marshmallows with that," said the other.
"Well you need a clean stick unless you like dirt in your mouth."
"I can wash it off in the ocean!"
"And then you get dirt and salt in your mouth. You must like salty, dirty marshmallows."
"Do not!"
"Are you two arguing again?" wondered a voice from the brush. Kylie realized that this was the energy that kept appearing and disappearing so easily. She thought it'd be an adult figure, or at least someone older, but this kid was pretty good. She felt power from the red head, and decided this was the moment to make herself known.
"What was that?" Kairi wondered, turning her head. Sora and Riku both felt it to, a strong energy to the west. From the brush entered a black haired beauty with bright green eyes, wearing a ruined red shirt, and a long gash that reached from her shoulder to her elbow. Sora and Riku both stood in front of Kairi, but she pushed both of them out of the way so she can see the girl. "Oh, she's hurt!"
She couldn't have been too much older. The black haired beauty seemed mature, but still had the features of a kid, and she wasn't too much taller than Riku was. Her energy was soft, but she couldn't hide the sharp and dangerous aspects of that energy, as hard as she tried. It was Kairi that accepted her to be safe first, before Sora, but Riku hung back.
"Who are you?" asked Sora curiously, looking up at the black haired girl.
"It's important to introduce yourself first," she said, staring at the boy. Sora blushed, scratching the back of his head. Riku raised his eyebrows. She was smart.
"I'm Sora!" Sora introduced. "That's Kairi, and Riku over there," he decided to introduce, too. Kylie nodded, hissing when suddenly the gash in her arm hurt again.
"Ooh, sorry!" Kairi apologized. She was tugging a cloth around the girl's arm and had accidentally pulled too tight. "Ohh...There!" she finished, looking at her successful bandage job. Kylie looked at it, picked at the tie, then pulled away the blood stained bandage. Kairi gasped as, lo and behold, there was no gash! And she couldn't do anything more than blush and hide her face.
I knew it!
"Kairi, I don't understand the point of the bandage if it's just gonna go away," Riku said calmly, flicking his hair back. Sora nodded in agreement, grinning widely from ear to ear, clearly proud of Kairi's "talent".
"Please!" the beauty suddenly burst. "My name is Kylie, I just washed up on this beach, and I know you're the Earth Mage, please, please, help my friend, Tai!" It was all so sudden, so strong, and so heart felt, all three kids were stunned at the sudden request made by this angel. "She's by the ocean."
Tai struggled to get to her hands and knees, not faring so well in the heat. Beads of sweat had already formed at her hair line, dripping from her forehead, and disappearing into the red cloth of whatever was left of Kylie's sleeve.
"So hot..." she whined bowing her head to the ground again. She pushed backwards, hearing the comforting rocking of the ocean behind her. It spoke to her, really spoke to her, telling her to come and join the waves where it was nice and cool.
"Kylie told me to stay where I'm at."
But it's so hot.
Tai was whining still, burying her head in her lap and her long brown hair in the sand. The heat was terribly uncomfortable, and having a mass amount of hair did not help. She felt the water inching toward her feet, her bare feet, licking at her toes. It tickled, but it made her want to be closer to the water; in the water.
"Kylie!" she whimpered, hoping Kylie could here, wherever she was on this bloody island.
"I'm here, Tai!" came Kylie's voice, "I brought someone," she added, before anything happened. Kairi set herself down in front of Tai, taking her head in her hands. Tai gasped and pushed backwards, falling on her butt when she tried to stand. Sora looked at Kylie, Kylie shook her head, and Kairi just sat confused.
"Your name is Tai, right?" Kairi asked, moving a little closer.
"That's what Kylie calls me."
"Tai, show me how old you are."
Instinctually, Tai held up nine fingers, but after a moment of looking at them, she put down four of them, and showed only five, but still she was confused.
"I use two hands..." she told herself, lifted two more on her right hand, "...but that's too many..."
"She's seven?" Kairi asked, looking up at Kylie. Kylie shook her head again.
"She's nine. Tai, how many fingers am I holding up," she asked, now kneeling in Kairi's place.
"Three. I smell blood."
There was a strange silence between them all, Kairi looking at Sora, Sora looking at Riku, Riku looking at Tai. It was strange to them that a nine-year-old would be so attuned to the smell of blood, especially the little blood on the cloth Kairi had decided not to leave in the forest. Maybe it was just the fever.
"...I'm holding two, but close enough."
"Kairi, help her already," Riku nudged, pushing Kairi closer to the youngest of the three around them. Kairi nodded, and kneeled in front of Tai, but the little girl still tried to move away.
"Kylie, blood..." she whimpered. Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout, but Kylie merely looked at her. There was no danger, so Tai was fine.
"Kairi, give me the cloth," Riku said, holding his hand out. Kairi did just that, and instead of moving straight for Tai again, she took a moment to bathe her hands in the ocean.
"Tai, please don't move, it'll be okay. I'll just..." She reached out and touched once more Tai's forehead, hoping she wouldn't move again. This time Tai stayed calm when she felt the cool of the salty ocean on her forward and maybe possibly gentle energy from the red head girl. When Kairi pulled away, Kylie touched Tai's head, feeling a perfect 98°F of normal human temperature. "Now show me how old you are," Kairi said again. This time, Tai held up a perfect nine fingers.
"All better!" she chimed.
All this was cool and all, but Riku wasn't convinced they weren't really dangerous. One girl barely noticed a long gash in her arm, the other could smell blood as easily as if it was right under her nose. And even as he felt both their energies were quelled, there was no telling when blood would boil and the island set fire.
"Okay, now that we're all better, who are you two and what are you doing here?" he asked, then suddenly blushed hotly when Kylie's vision was on him.
"Riku!" both Sora and Kairi scolded. Kylie looked at them, and the blush toned down.
"I just wanna know."
"I understand your hostility, but there's no reason to be scared," Kylie answered.
"I'm not scared!"
"You are."
"Am -"
"Riku!" Sora and Kairi yelled again, and he quieted. Kylie looked at Tai, Tai brushed her arm across her forehead. She was still hot, and looked longingly toward the water. Kylie wondered if Tai remembered anything. She recognized the reaction from when Kairi touched her, but she was unsure, because the reaction towards blood was different.
"Tai, you answer them," she said, "You know, right?" Tai looked at her funny, unsure now of what to say. There was a long pause between them, mostly of confusion, and the one with the most confusion was the youngest, Tai.
"I don't remember..." she told them. Kylie blinked more than just once. That proved she didn't remember anything.
Good. That means we can start over.
"You don't remember either, huh?" Kylie lied. Tai nodded. Sora, Riku, Kairi, all exchanged glances. "May we...buy a house here?" Kylie asked them. All of them looked at her. "Since we don't know where to go, I'd like to live here, would that be alright?"
"I don't know," Kairi said. "I mean, I don't know how you can, but you can come with us. I live with the Mayor, so he might be able to do something about it."
"How old are you guys, anyway?"
"Me and Kairi are eleven," Sora answered. "Riku's twelve."
"Oh. So about that house..."
"Oh! Come! Follow me!" Kairi piped, leading the way across the sand. The dock was where she was headed, where three boats had stayed. "We have to go to the main island, that's where our houses are. The Mayor looks over everything from the top of a hill, and…" Kylie followed Kairi happily; already she liked the little red head. She was cute, and smart. Sora followed after, tagging along by Kairi's side. Tai watched, not looking forward to walking. It was hot; she hated it when it was hot.
"Hey -" Riku started, but he was quickly cut off by the little girl he was speaking to.
"Your energy is tense, too, I can feel it," she said. Riku raised an eyebrow. That wasn't the first time he was told he was a tense energy. Kairi and Sora told him that all the time and now an outsider was telling him. It must have been true.
"Then what's my energy?"
"Scary..." she answered. Riku puckered his lips. That was a first.
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
"Not that I know of."
"Then I can't be that scary, come on," He held his hand out to her. Tai looked at it, confused for a moment, but then reached out. His came closer with insistence, but still she hesitated. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing is," she said, taking the hand. He pulled her to her feet, practically dragging her towards the boats. She stumbled along after him, hanging on barely to his strong hand as he led her to his boat. Together they rowed after the others toward the mainland.
Though it wasn't necessarily my wish to start over, I'm glad we were able. And maybe this time, I can give her the stars. Tai, just wait a little longer, and I will promise the stars to you.