“Two key factors when using Water are to make sure your body is relaxed and that your breathing is even. If it’s too fast or choppy, it can make it harder to use Water.” Tev nodded as Cain continued to talk.
“Water seems simple to most, but if you don’t have constant control over your breath and body, it’s easy to lose control. But the more you practice, the easier it will be because your body will naturally adjust when it feels you’re using Water.” Cain explained everything so well.
It was still a lot for Tev to take in. Especially when her brain would get confused with Air. Sometimes her brain would say, 'No, that’s not right', and cause a lag until she remembered it was for Water. But Cain stayed patient with her.
It was the next morning since she tried to use Water with Cain for the first time. They were on the move again, after sleeping and stopping to do morning tasks and for Tev, Zeru, and Cain to walk around again. They had formed a sort of routine.
Zeru and Tev ate the last of their food that morning, and Ms. Arcelia said they would pick something up in the Fire City. They were about halfway there, and Cain said he would share his food. Tev also thought she overheard Ms. Arcelia telling the men that there was food in the trunk.
“So, remember; relax, and breathe.” Cain instructed her, his eyes staring into hers. Tev nodded, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. It was blue from failed attempts. The first couple of tries nothing came out, and others it was just a squirt in the face for Cain.
It had happened a few times to where Cain would easily redirect it out the now open window when Tev lost control. Tev stuck her arm out and tried her best to relax her body and racing heart. She took even breaths and thought about a perfect sphere of water forming in her hand.
Tev thought about rivers and oceans and the water in her body. Then she saw water droplets coming out of her hand. Tev smiled, and Cain reminded her to stay relaxed and calm. She relaxed her face and focused again.
The sphere grew, and so did Tev’s pride. “Great job, now-!” Cain’s voice cut off when there was a particularly large bump. They all bounced, and Tev got distracted, losing control of the water. It was tossed in the air when the back wheels hit the bump too.
It was about to spill on Ms. Arcelia and maybe Cain, but something in Tev kicked in, and she took a quick breath and flicked her wrist. Tev pushed the water up and away from Ms. Arcelia, and with another move of her hand, she moved the water out the window.
Tev sighed, “That would’ve been bad. What?” Everyone, even Ms. Arcelia, was slightly gaping at her. “Look at your hair! It’s blue and white!” Zeru told her. Tev scrambled for her bag, pulling out her mirror. She couldn’t hold back the light gasp when she saw herself.
Her hair was a mix of deep blue and snow white. The groupings of colored hair mixed, outlining the color differences while mixing her hair nicely at the same time.
“You must’ve used Water and Air at the same time.” Ms. Arcelia said, her rather blank face returning. Tev wasn’t really listening to her though; she was looking at her eyes and her new appearance. Half of each iris was white, the other half blue, and the two colors faded into each other when they met.
“You moved the water very well, though.” Cain said after Tev put the mirror back. It raised a lot more questions in her head. “Thanks. It came easy somehow.” Tev ran her fingers through her hair. Would this happen every time she used two elements at once? Tev didn’t even know she could use two at once.
“I think that you saw something that could end badly, and your mind made the connections of how to move the water. Along with the support of using Air.” Cain told them, and it made sense to Tev. Ms. Arcelia was quiet again, and Tev noticed how she didn’t talk much, like she wanted them to figure out everything themselves.
A few silent minutes later, Zeru broke the quiet. Tev was glad to hear his voice; he had been a little less talkative lately, but Tev hadn’t found time when it was just the two of them to ask if he was okay.
“You should open a gift.” Zeru turned his head away from the window to look at her. “Oh, yeah.” Tev pulled her bag into her lap and opened the pocket with the gifts. She closed her eyes and chose a gift that seemed to be taking up a lot of space.
The gift wasn’t wrapped or in a box, but it was a leather cylinder with a leather strap attached. There was a white note attached with a gold ribbon. Tev turned the gift over in her hand and saw a symbol in the middle.
It was a circle divided into four quarters: each one dedicated to an element in its royal color. There were intricate designs of flames, wind, waves, and boulders stitched into the leather. Tev read the note and easily recognized the writing.
To my Little Dove, don’t forget to explore, and we’ll see you soon. Love, Dad. Tev smiled to herself. She saw a gold circle with a piece of leather attached under it and to one end of the cylinder. Tev pulled on the pin and opened the cylinder. She saw rolls of paper on the inside.
“It’s a scroll case.” Zeru and Tev said in unison, he had moved over to see what it was. They glanced at each other for a second before turning their attention back to the case. Tev moved her bag and set the case down upright.
She pulled lightly on one ring of paper. She noticed they were separated by three thin dividers of leather. Tev had pulled out the outering and set the case to the side before unraveling the off-yellow paper.
She laid it out on her legs. It was a map of the world. It showed the main places where each element was found. There was a key and compass on the bottom. At the top of the map was a white and grey mass with little scribbles of drawings like trees, mountains, and towns. Smaller words read the things out, but in a large gold font, it read, Air.
They were in the north. To the side, the east, was a green and brown mass; it was the same as the Air part but detailed for Earth. The south was for Fire and the west was for Water. Tev made a mental note to investigate the map more later, but she wanted to see what else was in the case.
She rolled the map back up and put it into the case. Cain got up, and Tev and Zeru moved over for him to sit with them. Tev pulled out the next paper, or, as it turned out, papers. There were four slightly smaller maps than the first one.
Tev smoothed them out on her lap so that they would all stay unrolled. She took a moment to realize that both Cain and Zeru were sitting right next to her, looking at the maps. Tev put her focus back onto the papers.
The four maps seemed to be like zoomed-in maps of each element's territory and bits of surrounding land. “The maps align.” Cain said, and Tev gave him a puzzled look. He gently picked up the maps like he was picking up sheets of glass and rearranged them to look like the first map.
“Oh!” Tev said. The four maps had the roads and paths marked and more landmarks than the first one. Tev once again mentally noted to study the maps more later. She did the same with the four maps as with the first one and then pulled out a paper from the third section.
The rings had gotten smaller as they moved into the middle of the case. The case wasn’t too big, about the length of her forearm, but papers and maps are thin, so it could hold more than it looked like it could.
When Tev spread the paper out, she almost teared up. It was a drawing of her family. Tev recognized her mother’s art style. Lyra liked to draw as a hobby, and she was rather good at it. In the back of the family photo were Lyra and Rabi; next to them were Neven and Fei. In front of them were Tev and Kalani, followed by Aella, Caelus, and Celestine. In front of the three of them were Vega, Tempest, and Era. Abel was standing with the help of Vega and Era holding his hand.
They were all smiling and happy—Tev’s big, beautiful family. Tev saw her hair fall next to the sides of her face. She didn’t want to cry, not in front of everyone. Tev quickly put her head up, slightly startling Zeru and Cain.
Tev rolled up the photo and placed it back into the case. She was about to close it when something glinted against the rays of the sun. She opened the top back up, getting curious looks from the boys. Tev reached into the final ring, the middle.
She pulled out a shiny, smaller cylinder. One of the first things she noticed was the colors. It was decorated with the royal element colors. Starting with gold that faded to bronze, silver, and then obsidian black. Tev noticed little carvings along the cylinder, white on the gold, green on the bronze, blue on the silver, and red on the black.
Tev ran her finger over the carvings. Then there was a sudden jerk in the carriage, and Tev was pushed forward and had to scramble to not drop the cylinder. “Put that away for now, Tevolia.” Ms. Arcelia said her voice was too urgent for Tev’s liking.
Tev quickly put the odd thing back into the case and put the case in her bag, not wanting something bad to happen to it. “Stay in here while I go see why we have stopped.” Ms. Arcelia got out of the carriage and shut the window and door.
Tev, Zeru, and Cain stayed still and silent, listening carefully. Tev could only hear faint voices, not whole words. Suddenly, the voices rose, and Tev could hear Ms. Arcelia’s voice amongst them. Soon, she couldn’t identify Ms. Arcelia’s voice and only heard shouts.
Suddenly, the carriage rocked like something hit it. Tev gasped, and the three of them exchanged nervous looks. Cain put a finger over his lip, telling them to be quiet.
Tev leaned over to try and look through the window; she didn’t see anything for a moment before there was a blast of fire that went past the window. Tev’s eyes widened, and she looked at the boys in alarm.
The shouts got louder, and they saw more fire and some water blast by the windows. Tev didn’t know about Zeru and Cain, but she was heavily confused and worried.
Tev held her bag close to her chest as she waited for it to be over. It had quieted for a moment when the carriage was hit again, but with a lot more force. The carriage tipped over on its side, and they all slid in their seats. Tev hit Cain, and Zeru hit Tev.
It tipped back normally, and Tev heard a voice that sounded like Ms. Arcelia yell, “GO!” There were sounds of the horses, and the carriage sped off quickly. The three kids were pressed against the wall as the carriage gained speed.
“Holy seagulls, what’s happening?!” Tev yelled; other shouts echoed behind them. “I think we were attacked!” Cain yelled back. “Did you guys see the other elements?! Who were we even attacked by?!” Zeru joined in the yelling.
Tev had a faint thought cross her mind: what if it was someone else who had all the elements? But she couldn’t think about that for long because they were all slammed to the right and toppled over each other.
Trees raced by in a blur through the windows, and Tev wondered how they could be going this fast. She carefully but quickly moved onto the other side of Cain, oddly feeling the force of air wanting to keep them stationary.
Tev pushed hard to open the windows, wanting to see what was happening. When she finally got it to budge, it flew open and was torn off by a low tree branch. Tev cringed, hoping Ms. Arcelia wouldn’t be too mad.
“Be careful, Tev.” Zeru told her as she got her hand ready just in case she had to bend the air around her to not end up like the window.
She poked her head out and had to squint through her flying blue and white hair. Tev was facing to look at the end of the carriage. They were speeding down the dirt path, but Tev was sure she could see some sort of dark, blurry mass following behind with a little glowing light.
Was it Ms. Arcelia? Or one of the men that was always with her? Were they coming to stop the carriage?
Tev turned her head around to look in front of them, yelping as she narrowly dodged another branch. In front of the carriage, Tev could see the two horses dashing down the path. She was about to look back behind them when she was yanked back into the carriage.
“Get down!” Cain yelled as Tev landed on him. There was a flash of light in the windows, and the carriage was hit again. They all screamed as they rolled off the seats and onto the spinning floor. Whatever had hit them had hit them hard, and Tev could tell that the carriage was sliding around somehow.
Tev tried to think if there was something she could do to stop the carriage, but nothing powerful or fast enough came to mind. Tev and the boys were pushed back and forth between the seats. They were hit again, and the carriage lifted into the air and spun around. Tev was sure the horses weren’t pulling the carriage anymore.
Their bags lifted in the carriage with the kids. Tev was trying to keep everything inside of her while she tried to find something to hold onto. “Tev!” Zeru yelled as Tev’s stomach made a sickening drop from her throat to her feet.
Zeru was reaching out to Tev, and she grabbed his hand. “Make a burst of air!” Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that? “Okay!” They linked hands with Cain, and Tev and Zeru focused on each other and breathing.
They synchronized their Air and with an agreed look, a sudden ring of air burst from around the two of them. Tev took a deep breath in, compensating for the long breath she let out for the ring, and watched as the air cut into the wood of the carriage, snapping it.
They were plummeting to the ground. “Fly!” Zeru yelled, and they both shot up, pulling Cain with them. “Our stuff!” Cain yelled as he watched their bags fall straight down. Tev thought about her gifts and her poor Jack.
“Hold Cain!” Tev let go of Cain and ignored the struggle Zeru had to not drop him. She flew straight down, pinning her arms and legs to her sides; she neared the bags, and they neared the ground. Tev was close enough to hers, and she grabbed it, pulled up a little, and quickly caught Zeru’s and then Cain’s bags.
She turned back up, trying to support all three bags. Tev spotted Zeru and Cain; Cain was supporting himself now with two orbs of water under his sandals. They met her in the middle to grab their bags.
They all slid their arms through the straps. “What do we-” Zeru started when he was yanked down with a yell. “Zeru!” Cain and Tev yelled; Tev was about to go down and follow him when Cain was pulled down too.
“Cain?!” Tev watched as he fell like Zeru did. She was confused and turned to finally fly down to see why they were falling when she felt a tickle around her ankles.
She looked down to see two vines wrapping around her ankles. “What the-?” Then she too was pulled down with such force that it knocked her breath out and she stopped flying.
Tev breathed heavily to get enough breath in to use her Air to try and push back up. She grunted as she pushed as much air out of her palms as she could, but the vines only gripped her ankles tighter and pulled her down harder.
Tev yelled and looked down at the nearing ground. There were two pink things on the ground and another under where she was bound to fall. She didn’t have time to try and think about what it could be before she collapsed into something, and the view of the sky disappeared.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YxtEf1MBT
---AUTHORS NOTE---29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC3ZOEpI6g
Hi! I hope you liked this chapter! Sorry it's a little on the short side, it felt a lot longer but I feel like this was a good spot to end it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxauMGyUix
That's all, so I hope I see you in the next chapter and have a wonderfully fantastic day/night/endless abyss!29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfi3ks3drJ6
