Element Academy

An Approaching Storm...Crystal

The sound of roaring water fills Crystal's ears and everything seems to move in slow motion. Page stares in wonder like everyone else, but a sense of anger and horror is building up in Crystal and it is making her want to vomit.

How could Talula do something like this? Is she that obsessed with attention that she has to go and put the entire camp in danger just so all eyes are on her?

Tallulah is just standing there beaming proudly as if she just won Miss Universe. Nick is the first to shake the shock off and calls for all the teachers and elders to meet immediately. He points to Tallulah and tells her to stay where she is, she just nods casually in response. The students cluster together as an eruption of whispering sweeps across the square. News is spreading quickly and people from older levels begin pouring into the square to get a look at Talula who is now seating on the edge of the pond wall.

"Crystal, we may not get a chance to talk to her after this," Page whispers to Crystal.

Crystal huffs in frustration, "I know."

Crystal quickly approaches Talula and pulls her into standing position. "What in the world are you thinking?! Do you understand what you''ve done?!"

Talula flips her hair, "Yeah, I saved someone's life and what did you do?"

"I would have saved his life if you didn't bend air at him!" Crystal hisses as she whispers, "Why couldn't you just bend water?"

"The camp needs someone to fight for, if the Chinese are as serious as I think they are they would still attack if the Avatar is known or not. Personally, I think it's better if they did know. "

"This isn't about you, this is about the future of the camp! And we don't even know if you are the Avatar."

"Why wouldn't she be the Avatar?" an elderly voice asks.

Pages and Crystal jump. Crystal quickly scrambles for a lie, something tells her that revealing she can bend air as well isn't the wisest choice. "Well, maybe she is just able to bend water and air."

"Impossible!" someone exclaims.

"There has never been someone who can bend more than one element other than the Avatar," Nick explains.

"Plus, Talula fits the heritage background," added Sonya

"The what?" Page asks.

"The Avatar has always come from a Asian background, " Steven explains.

"Guess that means you're out of the running," Talula whispers to Crystal.

Crystal rolls her eyes, yeah she's hispanic but what they don't know is that her great grandfather is from China. Hence, Asian heritage.

"You can never tell with people in America, with mixed racial marriages happening so much," Sonya comments off hand.

Crystal once again thinks of her great grandfather, "Are you sure 'bout that?" Crystal whispers back to Talula.

"Enough talking, we need to get Talula inside and discuss." And with that they usher her away.

"Well that didn't go as planned," Page says

"Did you know about Talula?" Kenai asks them.

"Well yes and no," Crystal admits, "We only found out about Talula being able to airbend a few minutes before everyone else did."

"Gosh, this is really weird," Taylor comments.

"Weird or not, we have less than two weeks to turn you all into benders and the Avatar is not going to stop us from doing that."

Crystal turns around to see an eighteenish year old dressed in dark blue walking towards them with a clipboard in one hand and twirling a pencil in the other.

He approaches Crystal without looking up, "Names?"

"Crystal Letterman and this is Page Brooks."

He looks down at his clipboard, "Crystal Crystal, ah yes, you and Page are set to clean the square tonight as a part of your financial aid."

"Ugh, that bites," Page complains. "I completely forgot about that whole chore thing."

"Come on, it can't be that bad, " Crystal says with a shrug.

Page shrugs, "Fine."

The lesson passes by quickly for Crystal, she is hardly paying attention to anything. How could Talula do this? A part of her is angry and the other part is worried, worried that Talula has taken on more responsibility than she thinks she will.

The day passes by just as quickly: lunch, a lesson on using small amounts amounts of water vs large amounts, dinner, and now chore-time...

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to clean the entire square!" Page cries out for the billionth time, picking up bamboo mats.

"You've been saying that for the last half hour," Nathan, an airbender, groans as moves the last of the jugs against the wall.

Crystal piles up her half of the mats next to the coyfish pond. "Look on the bright side, we have the organizing part done. All that's left is cleaning."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Andrea, another airbender, asks.

"Bending of course," seven looks of confusion greet Crystal, "Airbenders can bend the dust from the practice mats, earthbenders can bend all of the loose rocks and stones into the rock holding boxes, firebenders can keep the lamps lit because the wind is starting to pick up, and waterbenders and clean the bending jars and other equipment. Sound good?"

They all give their agreements. A gust of wind blows through extinguishing half of the lamps that are lining the square.

Tony, and earthbender sighs, "Why can't we use electricity?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Cassandra, a firebender, asks with a laugh. She reignited one of the lamps and quickly continues on to the others.

Another gust if wind blows throughe, extinguishing more lamps; Dakota, a firebender, reignited them. "Nature isn't going to make our jobs easy is it?"

"We better hurry up, I think a storm is coming."

Crystal looks around the dimly lit square at her fellow freshmen benders. They are all working hard, quick, and carefully as they bend. She laughs as Dakota scares Andrea with a flame by bending it past her to a lamp across the square. Seeing them all working so hard and coexisting despite their different elements makes Crystal happy, even if she isn't the Avatar atleast she knows she can still interact with the different elements.

They all jump as the sound of distant yet approaching thunder ripples through the air. They run to the shelter of their freshman rooms to avoid the coming storm.