The Elementals

Have I Mentioned How Much I Hate Trust Exercises?

"At least you do things," Oh'Rian says wistfully, after I complained about having to train. "We just learn what all the protocols mean and things like that."

"Who is we?" I ask, trying to picture Coal and Sparky crammed into desks.

"Stella, Terra, Maple, and Steel," Oh'Rian says. "And me of course. Terra and Steel occasionally get to fight, but it's mostly memorizing numbers and codes. Sparky works on their broken gadgets in the corner."

As much as I hate to admit it, I do feel lucky not to be in there. I don't have the patience to listen anyway.

"But Owen acts like he wants to kill me!" I whine.

"No offense, but how is that any different than you're normal life?"

I roll my eyes, but still smile.

"Well he seems nice enough to me," She says carefully, a puzzled look on her face. "A little quiet, but not at all like you say he is."

I highly doubt that, but I just nod. "Then I just have a talent for annoying people with my mere presence."

"Yes, but we knew that already." Oh'Rian laughs drily as I flop face first onto the unmade bed on the boat. "Tired?"

"Yes," I groan, wiggling under the covers. "Goodnight."

This time is the worst yet. I can't see anything. I blink my eyes open and closed, but everything is just black. I can feel the dirt under my feet but no matter how hard I try, I just can't see it. Real terror grips me. I hear sounds and twitch, spinning towards them, but I still can't see their source.

"Hello?" I whisper, scared to be any louder in case something finds me. "Can anybody help me?"

"Tide, I can."

Not you.

Anybody but you.

"Go away!" I shriek. "Leave me alone Caelum!"

I turn around in circles, ready to kick out, but hoping I won't have to. My heart is thumping, my palms are sweaty. I don't know where I'm going.

"Tide!" I freeze, as Caelum shouts at me fearfully. "Don't move another step."

"Why not?" I ask, voice shaking. "Why should I believe you?"

"There's a cliff," Caelum says slowly, "Right in front of you."

I jump back a little. I kick my feet at the ground, hitting some rocks, and they make clattering noises, sounding like their tumbling down a steep slope.

"Where am I?" I ask, my voice echoing.

"I don't know," he answers, sounding as scared as me for a second. "But there are cliffs all around you." Then he says with assurance, "Just follow my directions. Take two steps to the left."

"Why should I believe you?" I repeat.

"Because I'm the only person you can right now," he says.

I frown. I hate it when people are logical when I'm freaking out. It's like that time we had a clinic at the orphanages where you had to jump into each other and they would have to catch you. Yeah, let's just say they never did that clinic again.

"Okay," I say cautiously, "My left or your left?"

"Yours."

I shakily take two steps left, as instructed. I don't fall off a cliff, so that's good.

"What now?"

"Five steps forward and then turn right."

I do as he says, taking each step like I could activate a landmine.

"Good," Caelum reassures me. "Now walk straight."

I move forward, holding my hands out like a zombie, in case I run into something.

"Turn left. Walk straight six steps." He counts down with me. "Three, two, one. Now turn right, forward, then right again."

His voice is getting louder. "Am I close?" I ask, wanting whatever this is to end. Believe me, I tried the whole pinching myself thing to wake up.

"Almost there," he says, and somehow I can tell he's smiling with relief. "Two steps left, and four more straight and you're here."

I'm so happy to be done that I rush the last bits and trip.

"Whoa," Caelum laughs and I feel his arms grab me before I collapse. The sound is so familiar; it's easy just to fall back into him.

"I can't see," I whimper. "I can't see anything."

"It's okay, I got you," he says, but his voice is getting kind of echo-y, farther away. "You'll be fine." I barely hear the last part, because then all sounds and feelings rush away into a cold, sightless blackness.

I wake up, a weird feeling inside of me. I open my eyes, and then realize they are already open. I can't see anything. It was real, the dream was real! A small shriek escapes me but I quickly stuff it down. I start to whip my head wildly around, my breaths getting shorter with stress. My hands claw at the covers as I try to figure out where I am. I can hear myself breathing raggedly, and my heart starting to beat faster, pounding inside my chest.

"Flippers?"

I see a light. I sigh with relief and slouch down as I see Coal approaching, a small ball of fire in his hand. It's only dark because it's night. We're on the boat. I feel stupid, but the fear is still there.

"You okay?" He asks, a worried expression on his shadowed face.

"Yeah," I rasp the word out, mouth suddenly dry.

"You're a terrible liar," he says, sitting down at the end of the bed, leaning against the wall and looking at me skeptically.

"I am not!" I persist, falling back into the old argument.

"Just go back to sleep Flippers." He says, "Whatever woke you up is gone now."

After pausing a moment to decide whether to object, I lay back down, fatigue taking over. A minute or so passes by and then the light goes out. My pulse jumps as the blackness comes back.

"Coal?" I ask, trying to keep the frantic tone out of my voice.

"I'm still here," he says. "What is it?"

"Can-" I swallow. "Can you..." I hate it. I hate the fact that the thought of him leaving me in the dark makes me scared.

"Can I what?" I try to detect any hint of sarcasm in his voice, but find none. All that's there is mild concern.

"Stay?"

It makes me feel light and fluttery inside. This is going farther than I planned. Hey, can you stay with me while I sleep? Only as friends? Thanks a ton. Yeah, right. If only it were that easy. Things just don't work that way. There's a pause as both of us process this development.

"Sure." He replies, and a flood of relief and gratitude washes over me.

"Thank you." I whisper, and close my eyes.