A few days have passed since the new team up between Terra and Seis.

At first they went towards the east coast. But then they realized that Star city was on the west coast in Washington state so they had to turn around. At first they rode on Terra's mobile earth rock but she got tired after using it for nearly three hours. They tried Seis's earth roller move but again, the power consumption left them down and out for two hours. Then they rode on top of a bus for a while.

Cash was limited.

They made decent time but they were still two states away.

It was during this great trip northwest that Seis had an idea to pass the time as they continued their journey.

Training.

-CS-

Terra was still slumbering on her side in a set of sheets and a patch of elevated earth. Just enough off the ground to be like a bed. Of course, being a teenager meant that she was liable to move around in her sleep. Terra had kicked off her sheets and was exposed.

A light top that was rolled up to show off her stomach and a hint of braless breasts. And panties that covered a surprisingly juicy rear end.

All of it exposed to her new companion, Seis.

The older boy's eyebrows rose. Along with his cock. It was quite the sight to see in the morning. Especially for a man who had forsaken company for months on end. Though the effect was diluted since Terra was drooling in her sleep with the dulcet tones of deep snoring.

Still, he couldn't be too distracted.

"Wake up!" Seis shouted.

"Wah!" Terra jumped to her feet. Hands glowing and ready for a fight. "What?! What happened?! What?!"

"It's morning."

Terra blinked when she heard Seis loud and clear. Her aqua blue eyes tracked over to the older boy, who was wearing boxers, and back to herself, clad in her evening wear. She screamed in shock and made another earth tent.

"What the hell?! Why'd you take my tent down, you pervert!?" She yelled from within it.

"It's time to get up and get started."

"It's like…seven in the morning!"

"Did you have anything else to do?"

Terra didn't say anything in response. It took a moment but she finally got dressed and pulled down her changing room. She gasped when she realized he was still sort of naked. "Why are you just standing around in your boxers?!"

"Sleeping in the earth makes you groggy and covered in dirt. Much like your clothing right now." Seis pointed at Terra's top and shorts. And yes, they were dirty.

Terra shrugged. "So? It's been awhile since I got to use a place with a shower. It's just dirt."

"And it itches." Seis began to walk towards the trees. "Come on. We'll wash in the stream and get breakfast started." He made sure to pick up his own clothing as well.

Terra followed right after. Her step was a little peppier as her eyes trailed down Seis's form. She made an appreciative sound.

That is until he took the boxers off.

"Uhm Dude…."

"Yes?"

"Do you not have a towel or anything?" It took a moment before she turned her face and body to the forest. That didn't stop her from sneaking quick peeks at him. It was hard to ignore the fact her new companion was washing his clothes in the river butt ass naked.

And it's a hard ass. Terra eyed how sharp and taut it looked. Her face exploded in red and she turned away. For the fourth time already.

"No, I don't. Do you?"

"Yes." She replied. "And you can't borrow mine."

Though she did feel a bit superior, thinking ahead and bringing a towel for her journey.

"You should take this time to get the dirt off you." Seis finally said, submerging his top.

And just like that, the superior moment was gone. "I…don't have that many clothes with me…and I think they're as dirty as this one." She muttered, poking her fingers together.

"Even more reason to dive in the stream. Our clothes and bodies can dry under the ascending sun and this place is remote enough that you won't get gawkers." He pulled the soaked clothing out and laid it beside him. He then inspected the sun with his hand. "Hm. It's not that hot today. I should get a fire going."

Terra looked down at herself. She could spot the patches of dirt, mud, and the odd splotches of who-even-knows. Being on the run she just didn't have the time to really care that much. There were bigger things to think about each day. Like food and fighting bad guys. And controlling her powers.

Though she could only imagine how her brother would take it if he saw her now. She smiled a little remembering him.

When was the last time I heard about Markovia? She was sure she saw a news thing about it. Maybe Brion was living the superhero life? Were her parents doing ok?

…Did they miss her?

She shook her head. That was why she was here with this guy. "So we're moving on again after this? I'm gonna need a little fuel if you wanna ride on the earth ball again."

He nodded. "Once the clothes are dry, we'll see about crossing the state line. That said, I wanted to know if you'd like to train together."

"Train? Aren't we gonna be on the move?"

Seis gave it some thought, rubbing his chin. "We can just train in underclot-"

"No."

-CS-

Underground…

It had escaped the hive.

The rest had stayed beneath the earth, deep and deeper in the crust. They would sleep until the Earth itself shook them awake. As for it, movement was constant lest it fall asleep again. Usually it stayed underneath the earth until the hunger set in, then it would travel above and take what it could to eat.

It listened for the prey to come around and sprung when there was enough to eat or if it was too hungry to say no.

It wasn't picky.

So today, it was moving through the elevated but much more rocky quarry looking for a population to feast on until sleep came for it.

It found something shifting the ground. Like behemoth footsteps rising and descending on the above ground.

It sounded like food…

-CS-

Terra flew next to Seis as they continued their way to Washington.

She was on her floating earth ball, legs crossed with her hands glowing, while he was using his earth roll thing. It looked neat to her, how he was able to kick up so much dirt and ground and just push it all back when he was done with it. Kinda like a neat freak.

And yet, she wondered why he couldn't fly like she could.

"Hey Seis." She called.

"Yes."

"Can you…not ride on floating rocks?"

"No, I can't."

"So you've tried?"

"No. But I know it's something I can't do. I honestly don't know how you do it."

She waved her hand, causing the rock to shake erratically. She steadied herself despite the blush. "Ahem. You just…control the rock? Make it rise or throw it. It's just making them move right? Just make it rise in the air and keep it there."

"Hm." He replied non committedly. "I can't do that."

"Oh. Well if you're sure."

He didn't respond that time. Terra decided to drop it for now.

She faced forward, trying to see what was down the road. She narrowed her blue eyes as she finally spotted things in the distance.

"We got houses coming up." She announced.

"Hmm." Seis began to slow down until his rolling earth came to a stop about a mile before the town limits.

Terra floated down next to him. "What's up?"

"The concrete of towns like this. It's not too bad but using my bending could cause too much trouble." He grumbled.

"Yeah I guess. But it shouldn't be too bad. I mean you can just put it back in place like you always do."

"This isn't like a battle where that kind of damage is inevitable. This is just me running through their home and tearing up their street just so I can leave it quickly." He looked out into the distance. "I should just go around it."

"What?!" She stopped him with a pull on his shoulder. "Dude! Just ride with me on the rock. I've already got our travel stuff so I can hold you too."

She even pointed to the large travel bag and roll that was Seis's and the stuff that was hers.

Seis looked at the rock and at her. He seemed really reluctant to get on.

"Oh come on. You're not gonna tell me you got a problem with a girl driving?" Terra asked.

"No. I just think me going around would be faster."

"It's literally not necessary. And we are on a time limit."

"All the more reason to let me go around."

"Ugh. You know what fine! See ya!" Terra raised her hand and was about to command the flying earth ball to keep going.

That she felt it.

The spike in power. The moment that left her hair blown up and her eyes aglow with power. Again, she hadn't meant to.

But she still did it.

Her reach extended far beyond what she intended. From underneath Seis, the earth obeyed her command. It began to split apart, foundations and thickly connected sediment, mud, and gravel pushed away from each other. It started as a small chasm but grew into a larger one that reached upwards toward the surface and the sky.

That is until the boy felt it as well.

Seis grunted and struck the ground twice with his feet. His own chi traveled down to meet the rising quake. As soon as he touched it, he felt Terra's influence.

He also felt something there. Not a direct feeling from her but an echo. An impression of her state.

His resolve landed smack dab into it.

Seis grunted as beads of sweat began to form and his body felt so heavy. He had known that Terra was strong for her age. Hell for her powers even. The amount of influence she could amass over the Earth dwarfed his own.

And yet, she wasn't a true Earth Bender.

This was all an accident. Nothing of her true will was causing this, merely a side effect or an unconscious release. And it's thanks to that he could exert his own influence and stop the fissure from reaching them.

Then he put the broken parts back together. A shifting of his foot and flow of movements from his muscles and body later and the foundation was back to normal. The parts he could reach at least but the central parts should be fine.

It was rough work but it was done.

He took a deep breath and stretched his body. That was a lot of chi he used in one sitting. A stronger workout than what he usually got up to that's for sure.

"You did it." A small crash made him open his eyes.

Terra had let go of the flying earth mound and was just staring at Seis in shock. She was even trying to point at him.

"You stopped me. I thought it was a fluke after that hideout but it's really you. You can stop my powers."

"Somewhat."

Terra then hunched in on herself. "So you've known. "

"...Yes."

"And you didn't say anything?"

Before Seis could say anything, a rumble started.

It came quickly then stopped. Seis and Terra looked around and then at each other.

"Wasn't me." Terra said with a blush.

"And not me…" Seis narrowed his eyes and looked down. "Move!"

The older boy dived at Terra, ignoring her shout of surprise. Just as they cleared away from that spot, the ground exploded. From out of the dry dirt, a giant menace bursted free and roared.

It was... It was…

"A giant scorpion?" Both Seis and Terra asked aloud. The impromptu tackle to get away had left the two in quite the position with Seis on top of Terra. Or to be precise, on top of her back.

"You can get off me now." Terra said. She didn't need his crotch so close to her.

"Sorry." He helped her up.

The big behemoth, its pincers easily the size of an eighteen wheeler truck and able to slice one in half, snapped its claws as its attention came to the two teenagers. It had been looking to swallow them whole as the first meal but missed.

It would not miss again.

"It's after us." Terra said.

Seis glanced behind him before facing forward. "We need to keep him out of the city." He looked at its rising dagger tail, shaking with fierce intention. "You go up. I'll mess it up down here!"

"Kinda figured!" Terra snapped her goggles. The two took off in runs. Terra went right, summoning a rising earth mound while Seis began running and sliding to the right.

The Scorpion's tail snapped at the place they had just been. Its razor tip stabbed into the dry crust of ground while triggering another shake of the area. Seis managed to balance himself before the echoing vibration launched him off the rolling earth.

Terra flew up in the air, past the beast's line of sight. She then summoned more earth mounds and began to chuck them at the Scorpion.

The bowling ball sized chunks merely grazed off its side, giving the Scorpion a small irritation. That is until Seis landed a good few feet away and summoned a spike from the ground. However, his aim was off and the attack merely grazed the side of the giant insectoid.

It roared in pain and concentrated its ire at Seis.

The boy raised his arms in preparation. He needed to dodge and get another spike up.

Flash!

The tail sprung at him. Seis took a step back and summoned an earth wall.

The tail easily broke through it.

"Guh!" He was thrown back from the force of the hit and the scattering debris.

"Hang on!" Terra came flying in. Surprising Seis, she grabbed the top of the collapsing earth wall and held it in the air. With a grunt and yell, she threw it at the Scorpion's head.

It slammed into the eye stalks and knocked the behemoth back.

Terra began panting but rallied herself.

"Terra!"

She looked down at Seis.

"Can you do that again but make it fall on the beast?!"

"Uh..Yeah! I think I can!"

"Stall him for a moment! I'll get you some ammo!"

-CS-

He wants me to stall this thing?! I just threw a bigger rock at it and it only stumbled!

Terra kept floating in front of the Scorpion. It was still stunned from the hit but the moment it focused, it would see her and only her.

She wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. Markovia was still in danger. And yet, she felt bad for thinking this.

The blonde felt this was her fault. Her powers had to have triggered all this, just like they always did. She had to clean up her own mess. At least she had help this time.

Her morose thinking was broken as the Scorpion roared and began its attack. That at least gave her something else to focus on.

Terra kept one hand on the flying rock and dodged the strikes. Left and right she moved out of the enemy's way and with each dodge, it was becoming more furious.

Terra couldn't help it. She rose over the Insect's head, still moving as fast as she could. She blew a raspberry at it.

"Can't get me!" She yelled.

The insect didn't like that and tried to strike her with both pincers.

That time, it worked.

"Waaah!" Terra's ride had been destroyed. A moment she was in the air, weightless and holding her breath. The next she was plummeting to the ground.

She was screaming her head off. And in that moment of fear, her powers responded.

The earth pulled up, making layers with different thickness and a changing slope. Soon she found herself rolling down a makeshift hill. She didn't go all the way down since the Scorpion struck the hill, launching her in the air again. This got Terra out of her fear.

With a grunt of effort, she pulled a group of rocks toward her. A new flying mound was created and she was back in business.

"Ok, taunting bad. Taunting giant monsters bad."

"Terra!"

She looked over her shoulder. Seis was down there waving at…a giant spike. It was bigger and definitely pointier than the last one he pulled up. Like it was carved to be the sharpest pointy stick.

"You have to drop it on him!"

She looked at it then at the Scorpion. Who was also looking at the spike. Uh oh.

It must have sensed danger. It charged at Seis, its eight legs moving fast and breaking the landscape.

"No!" Terra commanded her ride to get there first. She managed to get neck and neck with the beast until-

"Hrrragh!"

With a roar, Seis summoned another wall. No, it had to be a small mountain. It was right under the Scorpion and utterly destroyed its rampage pattern. It tipped the thing too far on one side and it fell right on its side.

That gave Terra just enough time to swoop in low and reach out for the Spike. It was hard. She was working double time keeping herself afloat and trying to grab the huge piece of rock. She gritted her teeth and had to clench both hands for moments before it even began to move.

"Will you…just…move!" She roared as she pulled.

The curated weapon was finally pulled from its root and rose into the sky. It still was tough on Terra to carry it but carry it she did.

Turning back to the battle, she saw Seis moving as fast as he could in a wide circle. He kept pelting the enemy with car size boulders when he could but he mostly kept moving.

Especially since the Scorpion was looking ready to do something crazy.

"Seis!" He looked up. "Keep that thing in place!"

He nodded before jumping out of the way of swipe.

Terra dragged her giant spike higher into the air. When it felt like she was high enough for maximum damage, she took careful aim.

Seis, down below, did his part to stop the Scorpion. He slammed both feet into the ground and made a pull apart gesture. It caused a rumble in the ground that loosened the ground, causing the Scorpion to fall forward and it began to sink into the ground.

With the beast stunned, Terra dropped the spike.

The Scorpion was so caught up in the foe in front of it that it didn't even sense or hear the end coming for it. Just as it prepared to attack with the tail again, the spike punctured its body and staked it to the ground.

It made a death rattle and tried to get free. It was useless

The beast died a moment later.

-CS-

Later that evening…

The after effects of the battle had been routine. Cops and reporters from the city had come around to inspect what the hell happened. Terra and Seis explained as best as they could but had to wait for instructions on how to get rid of the giant beast. They also had to fix up the area but that was done in record time.

They had asked for a ride beyond the town. A helpful trucker going that way got them to Utah's state line and they continued on from there.

They traveled north westward well into sunset and decided to hunker down in the forest. A campsite was made up along with a fire pit. Seis took his time doing some meditation and minor earth moving underneath him. Terra had taken out a walkman cd player and had been listening to it for half an hour.

As dinner finished cooking, the two ate in silence and passed the time looking at the stars.

Terra knew that they were tiptoeing around what had happened today. But something needed to be said.

"So…" she called out, breaking his meditation, "I'm sorry for what happened today."

"It wasn't your fault, Terra."

"Dude come on. You saw what I was about to do."

"And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been obstinate." Seis grimaced. "I shouldn't have been so stubborn in relying on my own power. Delaying us like that was all my fault and you getting ang-"

"Dude. My powers have been haywire longer than I've met you. If anything I was due for them to screw up. It's just…they've never done that much screwing up."

They both quieted down after that. Again, they were in a deadlock, this time of guilt.

Seis went back to the stew for one more stir. It was ready. He prepared two bowls for both of them.

Terra took it and looked it over. With a sniff and a sip, she found herself licking her lips in appreciation. "Not bad. Wish I could cook like this."

"It'll take time but I can show you." She looked at him. "Do you wanna try?"

"...Sure. And I'll show you how to fly on rocks."

"I think out of both of us, you're more likely to get this right."

Terra narrowed her eyes as she took a few more sips. "Are you scared of heights?"

"No."

"Dude! You are!"

"Am not!"

The two teens continued their banter well into the evening. Tomorrow, a promise to learn and the chase to help a nation continues.