Wizards of the Elements (ON HOLD)

Fangs

Cole sat beneath the shade of a hawthorn tree. The strong, sweet smell of it wafted through the early morning air. He took a breath in through his nose. He loved that smell. He closed his eyes, he felt so relaxed. When he woke up it was noon. He stretched and yawned. He saw Lloyd kneeling in the tall grass several yards away. Curious, he carefully crawled forward. As he got closer, he realised he was crying. Cole stopped. Lloyd's fingers had been dug into the ground, tears were flowing down his face, his face was scrunched up in a pained expression, and he occasionally let out small whimpers. Cole crept closer to him, careful not to disturb him. But while Lloyd didn't seem to notice anything, he made sure to keep out of sight. Suddenly the blonde let out a gasp. He looked up to the sky, the light glinting off of small beads of sweat on his forehead. His hands were shaking and his breathing was raspy and irregular. His emerald eyes shone from the tears. He lay down on his side. Then he began sobbing. Cole sat there, pity flooding his mind. He tried to back away, but fate wasn't having it. A stick broke under his shin. Lloyd shot up. 

"Who's there?" he cried, quickly wiping away the tears. Cole sighed quietly and emerged from his hiding place. "Oh," he said, curling up into a ball. "It's you." 

"Yours truly," said Cole. He scooted closer to his friend and wrapped his arm around him. Lloyd laid his head down on his shoulder and cried. After he had stopped crying. Cole took the opportunity to change the topic. "Did you hear that Kai revealed his powers?" Lloyd nodded. 

"I was there," he said. "He did it to scare off Malfoy." Cole laughed. 

"That does sound like Kai," he chuckled. Cole reached out and touched Lloyd's hand. To his surprise, Lloyd winced in pain and quickly moved his hand away. Cole looked at him curiously. "Are you okay, Lloyd?" Lloyd nodded. 

"I just miss home," he said. Cole sighed.

"Yeah, me too," he said, though he knew from experience that Lloyd was hiding something from him. "Are you going to reveal your powers eventually?" Lloyd looked at him like he was crazy. 

"No," he said sharply. "I could hurt someone. And every time someone finds out about my powers they try to steal them." Cole smiled a bit at that. 

"Or they kidnap you," he suggested. Lloyd giggled. Cole loved it when he did that. "Alright, we should probably go inside." Lloyd nodded, his smile faded slightly. They walked through the tall grass, Cole's arm still wrapped around his friend. As they walked, Lloyd began biting his nails. Cole knew what this meant. He stopped and put his hand on his shoulder. Lloyd turned and looked at him, the spikes on his black choker gleaming under the sun's rays. 

"What?" he asked, turning to face him. 

"You're biting your nails," he said, his voice full of concern. "You only do that when something's wrong." Lloyd hung his head. "Lloyd, what's wrong?" Suddenly Lloyd looked him directly in the eyes. 

"Nothing's wrong!" he yelled. Then he winced. 

"Lloyd..." Cole started to say.

"No!" Lloyd yelled. "I don't need your help!" He pulled up his green hood and ran off towards the castle, leaving the Hufflepuff standing in shock. He stood watching Lloyd run off in his oversized green hoodie. He was pulled back into reality by the hooting of a snowy owl heading towards the castle. Cole scowled and stormed back to the tree. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. What was going on with Lloyd? His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. 

"Hello, Cole," said Susan. "You look thad. Ith thomething wrong?" Cole opened he eyes and saw her round, smiling face. Cole sighed. 

"Something's wrong with Lloyd," he said sadly. "And I don't know what it is." Susan frowned. 

"Oh," she said. "I'm tho thorry." A jolt of pain phased through his body. He gasped in pain. "Cole? Cole what'th happening? Cole!" But he couldn't hear her. He was too focused on the pain that was enveloping him. It felt like a surge of energy was coursing through his gut, begging to get out. Elemental energy, he realised. It's elemental energy and it needs to be let loose, said a voice in his head. But you can't let it out, said another voice. You'll be judged, feared, and taken advantage of. After a few minutes of excruciating pain, it finally subsided. "Oh my god, Cole! Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "But I have to go, I think I know what's wrong with Lloyd." He ran up to the castle. As he entered the doors he looked around, wondering where Lloyd could have gone. Then he saw a redheaded girl who looked familiar. Ginny! he realised. That's one of Lloyd's new friends. He ran up to her. "Hey, Ginny," he said, trying to sound friendly. "Do you have any idea where Lloyd is?" She turned to him and he was shocked to see a bruise around one of her eyes, as though she had just been in a fight. "Oh my First Spinjitsu Master are you alright? Have you seen Madam Pomfrey about that yet?" She shook her head. 

"No, I haven't seen Madam Pomfrey yet," she replied. "And what's a first twistitsu master?" Cole chuckled inwardly. That's what Kai first called spinjitsu, he remembered. 

"He's like a god where I'm from," Cole explained. "But have you seen Lloyd?"

"I haven't," she said. "But knowing him, he's probably moping in that corner of the library." Cole nodded gratefully. 

"Thank you!" he called as he ran off. As he ran, short spasms of pain coursed through him, but they weren't big enough to stop him. He arrived at the library out of breath. Wow, he thought. I'm really out of shape. He looked around and saw Lloyd sitting alone on a bean bag chair in the corner. Cole walked quickly over to him. "Hey Lloyd," he said. Lloyd looked up and frowned. 

"Hey Cole," he mumbled while biting his nails. 

"I figured out what your problem is," he said. Lloyd looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

"You did?" he said doubtfully. Cole nodded and sat down next to him. 

"Your elemental powers are building up inside of you," he said in a low voice. Lloyd looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. "I know because..." He paused, unsure of how to say it. "Because it happened to me, too. But you're so much more powerful than I am, and you already have to deal with suppressing your oni powers, so I can only imagine how much worse it must be for you." Lloyd hugged him tightly. 

"Don't remind me," he said. His grip suddenly tightened and Cole heard the blonde gasp softly. Cole wrapped his arms around him. 

"Just let it out Lloyd, it's causing you too much pain, just let it out!" he begged. 

"I can't!" he cried softly. Moments later, his grip relaxed and his arms went limp. "Cole..." he muttered. "Cole it hurts so much!" Lloyd looked up at him. Cole smiled. "What?" he asked. 

"You've got fangs," he said. Lloyd's hand shot up and he covered his face. "No, no, no, it looks cool. If we're gonna be living in this universe, might as well take advantage of the fact that everyone here is fucking weird." Lloyd laughed. 

"Okay," he said between laughs. "I'll keep them."