The Elemental Warriors: Chapters 11-15

Sage
=== Things Go Extremely Wrong === You would not want to hear the string of animal curses Coral unleashed after she turned into a seagull. I mean, yeah, great, I can understand animals! Super helpful when there are squirrel warriors that would make good allies or something. But really, it’s a crummy ability, and why, oh why, couldn’t I just like turn that ability off or something?

I really hope Luna didn’t hear what Coral said, but she must have (or maybe she just knew), because she told Seagull Coral, “Do not worry. Once you go on your next quest, it will be a much better animal that you can also shapeshift into. And you will find that seagulls can be… quite useful.”

From the way she said that, I think she was probably going to say ''helpfully annoying or able to go through small spaces''. It was hard to tell.

Ethan called up to the super-scared, constantly-flapping-wings Coral, “Hey, come down so I can show you my thing!”  Coral didn’t understand him, so I told her what he said in the animal language. She turned into a human in midair, but instead of crashing to the ground, she was slowly let down like she was levitating. I had no idea why until I noticed Sky furrowing her brow, concentrating on Coral. Weird. She hadn’t been able to do that on the first day, and believe me, she tried.

“Impressive,” Allen noted. “Yeah,” Sky said. “I figured out that controlling air can go into levitating, flying, and telekinesis, since it means I can move the wind around people. Don’t ask how I found out I could fly.”  I was wise enough not to.

“Anyway,” Ethan said. “Let me show you my shapeshifting form.”  He was wearing a smirk so wide, even though I already knew that his form was just as lame. Coral got the idea. She sighed and rolled her eyes but moved closer to him. Ethan scrunched his eyelids together, took a deep breath, and…

Nothing happened to him. Ethan opened his eyes and looked down. He squawked, “What the heck?” and jumped back. I heard Paul snicker and Allen say, “Smooth, dude.”  Just then Luna stepped into the clearing. I hadn’t noticed she was gone before, though I did remember hearing some strange noises from the direction she came from. She looked tired, but nonetheless her eyes widened to the size of pancakes (really big ones) when she noticed Ethan panicking. Luna rushed over to him.

“What happened?” she asked him like he was a three-year-old who had scraped his knee. Ethan frowned. “For some reason I couldn’t shapeshift.”  Luna’s eyes grew even wider. She walked over to where Intu was standing. They quietly talked for a minute. Luna nodded. Intu told us, “We’ll have this problem solved soon,” and the duo walked out of the clearing together, leaving the Warriors and Guardians with no one but Sola.

We were in awkward silence for a few minutes, and then Sola said, “Well, it appears we have nothing else to do. So let’s go into partner work…”  We grinned. It was nice to do something instead of just waiting around…

Ember
=== My Little Sister Brings a Friend Over === Doo doo doo doop de dop! We’re continuing our string of public service announcements with this cautionary tale! Yes, I know. To all the Team Ember fans out there, there WILL be a chapter where I actually do something. There will be a quest in here somewhere. But for now, here’s another announcement so we can… I dunno, try to figure out how to keep Ivy and Ash out of our way.

''''

Yep, that’s right. Anyway, at some point after Coral’s quest, Ivy had a sleepover. Can you guess who with?

Yep. Ash and Ivy are pretty much best friends. They were up all night, talking in a bathroom for some reason. As far as I could tell, they were painting nails, trading secrets, and raiding the kitchen. All. Night. Long. And then until 4 AM.

They kept waking me up. Usually it wasn’t because they were jumping on my bed giving me the Heimlich with their feet (usually), but because they were being really extremely loud. I share a room with Ivy, and they were ‘sleeping’ in said room, so most of it was courtesy of my mom saying they couldn’t sleep in the basement. But why, oh why, did they have to be yelling at the top of their lungs?

One time they were yelling explicitly about me, waking me up slowly but surely. I was still the entire time. Just as I was about to yawn loudly and check my watch, I heard them talking and suddenly hoped with all my might they didn’t hear me waking up. Here’s what they said:

Ash: Sky’s been acting really weird lately. And tired. I wonder why.

Ivy:  So is Ember… I wonder why.

Ash: Maybe middle school is that weird. I want to stay forever young.

Ivy: Nah… there’s gotta be some drama behind this.

Ash: Maybe they’re both dating jerks!

Ivy: Well… I asked Ember why she was acting so weird a few weeks back. For some reason she started acting all offended.

Ash: Typical.

Ivy: I know, right? Anyway, I shot a bunch of random things at her. Then I guessed something crazy, like being part of a secret superhero organization, and guess what?

Ash: (smiling ear to ear) What?

Ivy:  She froze up for a second! Her eyes got wide as plates, dude! You could tell I had guessed correctly, ‘cause she always does that when I do!

Ash: (raising an eyebrow) No way that’s true.

Ivy: (nodding) It is.

Me: (jumping out of bed) It’s not true, Ivy, and you know that! Why the heck would you tell that to Ash? If I catch you telling one other person these lies, I will hack into your school computer account and make every single aspect pink and unicorns!

Ivy is not very adept at navigating her laptop. I wouldn’t even try to do that because 1) I couldn’t and 2) I would get in huge trouble even if I only tried to.

Ivy: (in fake shock) Are you threatening me?! You wouldn’t dare! (turning to Ash) So, you will help me spread rumors about it, right?

Ash: (grinning evilly) Why wouldn’t I?

Sky
=== I Rescue my Archenemies === It was maybe November or December when we got our next quest. But this time, it was a lot different.

When we arrived at training one evening, Luna and Intu weren’t there, but Sola was. She told us, “Luna and Intu are unavailable tonight. However, there is a monster on the loose today, and I want one of you to stop it.”  We glanced at each other. Weren’t we only supposed to go in partners…?

“The monster goes by Figuranado, and its true form is unknown. It can shapeshift into anything it wants to, but some forms can leave him powerless and unable to transform back once he uses it. He is not very critical, and will do anything to defeat you. The person I have chosen for this quest’s job is to outsmart Figuranado into changing into said forms so that he is forever powerless,” Sola continued. So we weren’t killing him. Well, were we? I think we could. If we were told otherwise, I really hoped Ember wasn’t picked for the quest. Man, this was confusing.

Sola caught me off my train of thought, saying, “Sky will go on the quest by herself.”  Hearing my name, I glanced back at her, surprised when the sentence was completed.

“She must head north from here,” Sola continued. “Once she is done, she will use the elevator to come back and head south.”

“But how do I know which way is-“A broken-looking compass appeared in my hand. Okay… “See you later,” I told everyone as I headed north, according to the old compass.

I kept heading north, maneuvering around the occasional tree blocking my path. At some point I ran straight into a piece of metal when I wasn’t looking.

I pressed a hand to my forehead. There was going to be a goose egg there. I backed up and looked at what I had bumped into. It was a set of elevator doors, not unlike the one Coral described when recounting her quest. Where had the buttons been…? I glanced around and saw the arrows floating a few inches from said doors.

I muttered some things in Spanish that the elevator door’s mom would not appreciate and pressed the UP button.

After a little playing around (and meeting a very confused five-year-old who mentioned having a level ate), I came to a level that looked like the 20th level of an 18th century apartment building. I knew it must be the evil lair of Figuranado. I knocked on the door hastily, just in case someone besides Figuranado was living here. No answer.

I wiggled the doorknob, but it was locked tight, surprisingly. Finally, I sighed and slammed my shoulder into the center of the door, which splintered into bits. I crashed to the ground from the force.

I may have blacked out. It wasn’t very wise of me to do that.

When I woke up, there was a really ugly man hovering (well, not really) above me, looking expectantly at me. I sat up groggily. I was in a small room, the walls and floor splattered with blood and covered in bits of wood, the latter probably from the door. I didn’t want to know what the blood was from. Then I noticed two girls sitting in a corner, tied to chairs that were tied together. When I saw their faces, my stomach tightened.

Ava and Addison. What were they doing here?! I wouldn’t put it past them to side with this monster.

Those two had cost us two years of misery; all of fourth and fifth grade. Bullying, excluding us, taking Coral and trying to make her hate us in exchange for popularity, the whole package.

Well, actually, Ava had done most of the dirty work. Addison was just her minion.

Ava whimpered. I noticed she had a gag on. Maybe she was worried that I was going to destroy her (I was glaring at her). Or she was upset that she couldn’t bring her phone here. Probably the latter.

I stood up and started a small whirlwind circling around me. It drained a considerable amount of energy from me, but it seemed to intimidate the man. “You’re going to regret this,” he growled as he backed away.

I forced a bout of wind at him like a softball pitcher. The man’s head blew back and hit the wooden wall. He had a concussion at least, but there was no time to waste. I was about to dash out of the room, but suddenly I felt the twin lasers of eyes baring into my back.

I turned around, and there they were, staring at me with helpless eyes. Ava and Addison seemed to be silently pleading with me, and eventually I had enough heart to roll my eyes and say, “Fine. You’re coming with me. Don’t expect this to be a limo ride, though.”

And a limo ride it was not. It took at least five minutes for me to drag them ten feet to the elevator. I untied their ropes while waiting for the elevator to get to level 4, and by the time it dinged, they were standing next to me and ungagged.

Addison brushed herself off and cursed. “What was that guy doing?! He was supposed to help us!” she mumbled. Ava was tapping away at her phone, then she frowned and threw it to the floor. “No wi-fi?!” She shouted. I sent an unimpressed look at her.'' Duh.''

Addison frowned at me. “What are you doing here?” she asked me.

“I’m saving you,” I snapped. “I have to kill that craphead that kidnapped you, or else he’s going to do more damage than kidnap and kill a couple of kids that don’t even want to help this world.”

Ava and Addison were taken aback. “What the-“ Ava murmured.

I made a little tornado in the palm of my hand. “Look, I can do this, and-“

I couldn’t finish my retort. Addison thumped to the floor, knocked out. By what, I couldn’t tell.

But something was definitely wrong.

Addison
=== A Cat Appears out of Nowhere === When Sky conjured up that tiny tornado, I passed out. I had already been drugged and I was really sleepy.

And the shock did not help one bit.

Seeing that tornado conjured up too many memories of everything.

Why I was here.

What I could do.

Who my mother was.

The rush was so strong, I passed out.

Before I could hear myself thump to the ground, I was dreaming.

''Yesterday, in the kitchen. Dad was off somewhere, and I didn’t have a clue where. We were off on winter break, which made it even stranger; Why was my father gone on December 23rd? It made no sense.''

''                When I was off stewing and stress eating about where he could be, my mom walked into the room. Something was off about her, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. Was she paler than usual? Maybe she was-''

''                “I feel something powerful in you,” she whispered. What was she talking about? “Addison, I need to show you something,” Mom told me. I was suspicious, but I let her pull me to my room.''

''                Winds swirled around the room and gathered into a tiny tornado in my mom’s palm. I jumped back. Tornadoes were dangerous! And why-''

''                “I know what you’re thinking,” Mom told me. “And no, I’m creating this. I was given this power when I was your age, and you may have received some part of it.”''

''                “What about Dad?” I asked. Mom snorted. “He doesn’t have a clue that I was once a Warrior. But that’s not the point; you need to focus on yourself.”''

''                Well, that seemed selfish. But I didn’t argue. Instead, I asked, “How can I use… whatever you’re telling me about?”''

''                Mom sighed. “I was going to try that  in a couple of hours, but fine. It doesn’t make much of a difference. All you have to do is focus on the tingle in your bones, the blood coursing through your veins. The power might emerge.”''

''                I did as she asked. It took ten minutes, but after a while, there was a flash of blinding energy and-''

''                “Hmm, interesting,” my mom said as she surveyed me. Why was everything suddenly slightly bigger? “I thought maybe invisibility or telekinesis, but shapeshifting? That’s unexpected.” Shapeshifting? Was I actually-''

''                I looked down at my body. Instead of pants and sneakers, I found snow-white fur with gray spots and paws.''

''                Darn! I had the body of… something. Something furry. Whatever it was, it wasn’t me.''

''                “I did use my shapeshifting forms a lot-especially my leopard form. Maybe you can shapeshift into something else?” Mom wondered.''

''                Well, how was I supposed to do that?! Hmmm…''

                I focused on one thought I was having: Turn me into a lion.

''                I’m not sure why I picked lions. I like them. ''

''                Well, anyways, another flash appeared, and I was staring at the body of a lioness. Awesome!''

                I tried a couple of other kinds of cats (puma, lynx, tabby) ''when I decided it was time to do something else. Maybe a reptile. Okay, I thought. ''Now turn me into a lizard.

''                Nothing happened.''

''                “You tried something else, didn’t you,” Mom said as I shifted into human form and nodded. “Then that must be the extent of your ability. I bet you can only turn into… cats. Not particularly fierce, but I bet you could do something with the ability.''

''                “I need you to go to an old friend of mine. Well, not really a friend, but an acquaintance. He’s very skilled at shapeshifting, and he can teach you how to use your power. You can find him with directions, but I haven’t prepared those- I expected you to have a power other than what you apparently have. I’ll have them in a few days, but you need to sit tight from now on. And practice- just don’t let your power take over you.”''

''                I gave her a thumbs up. That was a lot of information to get in five minutes, but I wasn’t complaining. Having a magical power given to you by your mom was pretty cool. “What’s this guy’s name?” I asked. “Figuranado,” Mom told me. I nodded, but inside I was wondering who the heck had a name like that. His parents must have been jerks. ''

''                “He’s working with me on… a project.” Mom told me. “You’re part of it, but you don’t need to know how right now. Just give him this note from me”-she handed me a Post-it with something on it- “and tell him that Laura sent you. You might want to bring someone you trust with you, but some people he won’t trust. Be careful.”''

''                She walked out of my room right then and there, like my life hadn’t just changed forever.''

                “''Dar una buena acogida'', Sleeping Beauty,” Sky said as I sat up with a jolt.

“I need to go back,” I told her, remembering why I was in this elevator. I needed to get back to Figuranado.

But how…

Oh. Duh.

''A kitten. Any kitten except a hairless one.''

I crawled out a crack in the elevator. Sky yelled something, but what she said was inaudible to my small Siamese ears.

I needed to get out, fast.

Addison gets in Mortal Danger Again
“We need to go after her!” I shouted as Addison crawled out the door of the elevator. “How?!” Ava yelled. “The elevator’s still moving!” She was right- I was ignoring the sickening stretchy sensation of going down in an elevator. “And by the way, where did Addison go?” she asked me. “And where did that kitten come from?!” I gave her a look that said ‘The kitten is Addison. Duh’ and she managed to piece it together. “Addison turned ''into ''the kitten?” she asked me, puzzled.

“She must have,” I told her. “The kitten stood just where Addison was, and, given the experiences we’ve had in the last few months, someone must have given her the power for some reason”

“Huh” was all Ava had to say. “But who?”

“Heck if I know,” I admitted. “But that crash might have done something to her head, and I bet she’s not on my side. But I know firsthand that just because someone acts suspicious doesn’t mean they’re the bad guy.”

Ava was quiet. Finally, after a couple of minutes, she said, “Well, she’s still my friend. I don’t want to just leave her in the elevator shaft for the rest of eter-“ Suddenly, there was a loud bump that sounded like it was coming from above the elevator we were in.

Ava was terrified, squeaking and squealing and holding on to the bars on the wall like her life depended on it.. I told her, “I don’t know what made that sound, but let’s go be action heroes and prove you’re not worthless in this mission.”