| Phase 29 I woke to a pained groan. Looking over at Sig, I watched him roll around uncomfortably. I�d turned the bedside light away from him so it wouldn�t bother him, but left it on so I could see him easily. I touched his cheeks, then his forehead; he was a little warm still. As I placed my hand on his forehead, he stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked rapidly and squinted even though the light was on its dimmest setting. � . . .? Kris? That you?� � Yes, it�s me,� I replied softly, to keep from hurting his ears. � . . . My throat hurts.� � I�m sure it does. How did you manage to pack away eleven drinks and not keel over earlier?� � . . . Don�t know.� He paused. � . . . Eleven?� I nodded. � . . . I don�t think I ever got that many down before.� � Congratulations then. However, you�ll pay for it in the morning. Can you sit up? Without passing out?� � . . . I think so.� I put my hand on his chest. � No, don�t get up if you don�t think you can. I�m not going to get on your case if you can�t.� � . . . I can. Just . . . give me a minute.� I helped him sit, then handed him a glass of water. � Here. I don�t know how much good it�ll do you now, but it might dilute some of the alcohol and make a hangover less likely.� He drank it very slowly, taking his dear sweet time with it, and gave the glass back to me almost an hour later. � Thanks.� I set the glass on the nightstand and helped him settle into the covers again. I tucked them around his shoulders and felt his face again. He was still warm, but not as bad he had been. � I�m going to turn the light out, but I�ll be right here if you need me, all right?� He shook his head weakly, then winced at the pain it caused. � You don�t have to stay with me.� � No, but I�m going to.� I knelt on the floor, my arms folded on the sheets. I reached back and cut the light off, then laid my head on my arms. � And you can�t make me leave.� I stretched my arm out through the darkness and brushed his hair away from his face. � Don�t try to keep it to yourself, either. I�ll find out.� He sighed heavily and I waited until I heard the soft, rhythmic patterns of his breathing, proving that he was asleep, before closing my eyes and sleeping as well. *>*<* //� You have done very well in your training, Kris. Now it�s time to meet the other members of the team you are a part of.� I jogged along beside him. � Team?� � Yes. You�re an Element now.� � Is that good?� He laughed softly and patted the top of my head. � It�s very good. That me- ans that you have to answer to very few, but many must answer to you.� � It sounds hard.� � You�ll understand in a while and it won�t be so hard.� He stopped in front of a door, which opened for him. He stepped into the room and gestured for me to follow. � Come along, Kris. You may enter this room.� I stepped inside and was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the room. Okay, it was only three men. But I�d never seen them before and I didn�t know them, so I was frightened of them. I stuck close to Kahr and watched the other men guardedly. They stared back at me, apparently equally surprised. � Jesiah, Hyuga, Sigurd . . . This is your teammate, Kris. She is Wind.� The man in a black body suit with red lining and firey designs and a ruby over his collarbone pointed at me. � Her? But sir, she�s just a kid.� � Yes, I know. Do you have a problem with that?� � . . . No.� � Excellent. Any more questions?� � Are you serious?� asked the man in the black body suit with green lining and earthy designs and an emerald over his collarbone. � Quite serious. Why so surprised?� The man in the black body suit with blue lining and watery designs and a sapphire over his collarbone crouched down to look at me. � She is rather young, is she not?� I hid my face against Kahr�s leg and fisted the fabric of his pants. He put his hand on my head and pet me reassuringly. � She is, but her power is amazing. I don�t think she�ll cause you any trouble.� � Is she afraid of us?� the one in green inquired. � She�s very shy. She�ll be all right once you all get used to each other.� He knelt and picked me up, pointing out each of the men as he named them. � Jesiah is Fire, Hyuga is Water, Sigurd is Earth.� He then pointed at my black body suit with yellow lining and windy designs and a topaz over my collarbone. � And you are Wind. Do you understand?� � Yes.� � Good.� He set me down and remained knelt before me. � Now I have a bit of work to attend to. I want you to wait here and when I am done I will return and take you out to get dinner, all right?� � Okay.� We did the traditional hug and then he left, abandoning me with three men who I wouldn�t know from the next. I�m so bad with people it�s rather embarrassing. � Great,� Jesiah muttered. � Babysitting duties.� � I�m not a baby!� I snapped defensively. � I�m four! I can take care of myself without your help!� � Perfect. Saves me trouble.� � Jesiah,� Sigurd sighed heavily, � stop being so cruel. Why do you always have to pick on the new people?� � Because they�re incompetent.� � Incompetent?!� I cried. � What do you know? You haven�t even seen what I can do!� Jesiah snorted. � How could a kid your size do anything to me?� I didn�t want to reveal my strength so soon, but it couldn�t be helped. I had to defend my pride. I pointed at him, then lifted my arm into the air. He rose as well and struggled, but was unable to free himself. Then I gently set him back on the floor. I would�ve dropped him, but Kahr would�ve been angry with me. � How did you do that?� � As I said, I�m not incompetent.� I went to the farthest corner from them and sat down, crossing my arms over my chest and putting my darkest look on my face. � Now if you�re going to make fun of me and treat me like the �baby� you think I am, just stay over there and leave me alone.� � Kid, this is my room.� I drew an invisible fence around my corner, giving myself room to lay down and roll around. � And this is my corner. Stay out of it and we�ll both be happier, all right?� � Are you ordering me around, you little ankle-biter?� � Yes, I�m ordering you to stay out of my corner.� He came over and tried to forcefully step into my space, but an invisible dome shield protected me and my area. � What?!� � See? Now leave me alone.� I watched him stalk away, then slowly drifted to sleep. When I woke, I was being cradled. I looked up at Sigurd. � Why are you in my corner?� � I�m not in your corner. You sleepwalked over here and climbed in my lap. You�ve been with me ever since.� I thought about going back to my corner, but decided that it was too far away and that Sigurd�s lap would do just fine until I felt like moving. When I woke up this time, I had just been transferred to someone else. I yawned and blinked sleepily at him. � Hello,� I said quietly. � Nice of you to join us,� Kahr replied with a smile. � Are you ready to eat or do you want to go to bed?� I stretched in his arms and yawned again. � I�m hungry. May we eat?� � Sure.� He looked over at the rest of the room. � Why don�t the rest of you come along? I know none of you have eaten all day.� So they joined us. Kahr set me down as we entered the more populated halls and made me walk. Well, I had to run to keep up. But I was so used to having to do that anymore that walking was hardly something meant for more than the personal rooms. I was usually running everywhere else because I had to get somewhere and had little time to do it. Then a frightened mind caught my attention. I stopped and turned that way to �listen�, then rushed off in that direction. Kahr called after me, but I didn�t stop. I ran around the corner and found two young male cadets with an even younger female cadet pinned to the wall. She was scared and tried to get away, but one held her arms against the wall and the other had his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. � Let her go!� I commanded. They looked at me. � What are you going to do if we don�t, baby?� one sneered. � Cry?� The other snickered. I placed my right hand against my left shoulder and lifted my left arm into the air slightly, my forearm and hand at a ninety-degree angle from the ground. I fisted my hand, then flattened it. A ball of yellow energy began to form slowly. I fisted my hand, then flattened it. A ball of yellow energy began to form slowly. I drew my arm back, aiming at the ground. � Anemo Flare!� I dropped it and the ball spun upward into a tornado and flashes of lightning zipped through it, then out at the male cadets. They collapsed upon being struck and I went to the female cadet. � Are you all right?� She sank down the the ground and sat there. � Yes, I�m fine. Thank you . . . Are you an Element?� � Yes.� Familiar footsteps ran over and Kahr reached over me to help the woman stand. � Are you all right?� She nodded as she got to her feet. � Yes. Thank you, Commander.� � Are you sure? Why don�t you go to the medical bay?� � Yes, sir. Thank you again.� She tottered off. � Do you want me to go with her?� I asked. � That would be a good idea,� Kahr replied. � But could you wake those cadets up for me?� � How?� � Your choice.� So I went over and kicked them in the ribs. As they blinked in confusion, I snapped, � If I catch either of you doing that again I�ll castrate you myself!� With that, I turned and headed after the woman. I kept her company all the way to the medical bay, then escorted her to her room. From there I went in search of Kahr. I couldn�t find him right away, but I found Sigurd, who was actively searching for me. I trailed his thoughts past a few lounges and a cafeteria for the cadets to a cafeteria for officers. Outside the door, I finally sensed Kahr. I entered and went for the table they were at. � There you are!� Kahr lifted me onto the empty chair beside him and I noticed Sigurd heaving a relieved sigh. I looked over the empty tabletop. � You waited for me?� � Of course we did. We couldn�t eat without you.� I could see Jesiah wanted to say otherwise, but he kept his mouth shut. Kahr picked some invisible pieces of lint from my suit. � What do you want to eat, Kris? You can have anything you like tonight.� � Cake and ice cream?� He laughed. � How about something more nutritious first? Then you can have cake and ice cream.� � Okay. Um . . .� I mentally went through the menu I�d read beside the door when I arrived. � The steak and salad?� � Sounds good.� He ordered and the food was delivered within ten minutes. We ate slowly, chatting about the conflicts going on in the ranks. To everyone but Kahr�s surprise, I was very aware of the problems and had the latest news, which Kahr paid close attention to. � How do you know all this?� Hyuga inquired. � I haven�t heard anything like that.� � You aren�t nosy,� I replied. � At least not as nosy as me. Especially when it comes to affairs like this. I don�t like how unstable the military has become. We would be dust if someone were to find a way through the Gates.� Sigurd nodded. � So that�s the latest development? How . . . disturbing.� � I don�t like it either. If this keeps up, there may just be assassinations going on everywhere.� Kahr looked at me. � Is that why you�re so worried?� � You have a lot of pull here,� I answered. � If the assassinations do start, we�ll have our hands full.�// <--Phase 28 Phase 30--> |