CHAPTER 5
While Daniel is tormented on how to continue with Loralle, she had found Emily and taken her to the cave.
It was quite a surprise as Daniel hadn’t thought to dress himself yet. And when Emily and Loralle walked in, Emily pointed and stumbled over words, “You&h.e.l.lip;You’re the second son of the leader!”
This information, she had found out after Daniel and Loralle had left earlier.
“She’s your friend?” Daniel asked, a little surprised. How had she made a friend from the Fire Tribe?
“You tell friend.”
“Uh?” Ordering me around again, Daniel thought.
“Speak&h.e.l.lip;Tell.” Was all Loralle said.
Daniel sighed. How annoying!
“She wants to hurt you.” He said with a sneer.
Making earth jump up from the ground and hit Daniel, Loralle yelled, “Lie!”
Daniel fell and didn’t know that he revealed himself, until he saw Emily’s squeal and reaction of looking away and covering her eyes.
“Dammit, woman! Why’d you do that for!?” He yelled furiously.
“No lie!” She yelled back.
He put on the shorts quickly, before putting a hand to his face to where he had been hit by the earth. How embarra.s.sing! Hit by a woman! No wonder people are after her! They probably want to kill her!
Sighing in protest, he sat back down again and looked at Emily, “She wants you to ask to use the fire power, so sit down and focus on it.”
“&h.e.l.lip;She?” Emily said, looking at Loralle, a bit confused.
“Yeah, sit and focus on your fire power to ask if you can use it. Once you feel the urge to go to a certain location, you know you’ve achieved it.”
“More.” Loralle said.
Daniel scoffed, “Stop ordering me around! I’ll tell her more when she finished the first thing, alright!?”
Loralle slowly nodded, “Yes!”
He sighed again in frustration.
A thought had crossed his mind earlier, while she had left to get Emily, but like h.e.l.l he wanted to offer her a spot in the tribe!
Emily was silent all this time. Finally, she spoke, “You’re&h.e.l.lip;Female?”
Loralle nodded at her easily, but Emily was upset. All this time she had thought she had been a male! A dirty, weird male but one that was nice and not like other males. No wonder she had felt Loralle was different to others when she wasn’t even a male to begin with!
Being angry at being lied to all this time, Emily began to walk out of the cave, but Loralle stopped her, “I teach more, after.”
“What are you teaching her!” Daniel was now worried how his tribal members were being treated by this person!
Loralle made earth stick up from the ground and both Daniel and Emily scooted away in a hurry.
Putting her hand on top of the earth, Loralle said, “Touch.”
They both shook their heads in earnest. No way!
“Touch!” Loralle yelled.
Daniel narrowed his eyes, his temper rising even more and Emily tried to shrink, hoping not to be noticed.
Loralle’s patience had run out. Water shotted out from her hand and went towards both Emily and Daniel, roping around their wrists and forcefully bringing them to touch the earth, that was sticking out of the ground.
Both tripped over their feet and knocked into one another.
“Oww. Dammit woman! Never&h.e.l.lip;Ever!” Daniel cursed.
Emily, on the other hand, looked at Daniel with wide eyes...He saw those innocent eyes looking at his bare chest and went silent.
Loralle didn’t see their intimate connection, instead, she focused on the earth, asking it to let Daniel and Emily see the Fire Tribe down below them.
Both Daniel and Emily snapped back to reality when they saw this vision.
It was a stunning thing&h.e.l.lip;But hatred seeped into Emily"s eyes, easily seen by Loralle.
Loralle wondered why she couldn’t still see these visions without the hatred. What she had noticed, was that Emily hadn’t had that hatred, until she saw the vision. Daniel, on the other hand, didn’t seem to change very much.
Sighing, she made the earth and water disappear. It seemed like, if she uses it personally, it is fine. But as soon as they use it personally, when they haven’t been accepted by their own powers&h.e.l.lip;Hatred comes.
Loralle was certain, now, everybody would have to get acceptance for all elements for everyone not to gain any of the hatred! Having been approved for one element still didn’t mean a second elements hatred would be overcome without the approval&h.e.l.lip;Or...It was all so complicated!
She thought of what Daniel’s position was. He, being approved by fire now, didn’t have the fire vengeance but&h.e.l.lip;If he was to gain the earth power, without the approval, then he would hate all other powers again. Thinking thus far, Loralle couldn’t help but feel rather lucky that she had three powers for most of her life, without the approval and she still hadn’t been affected by the hatred. Why hadn’t she been effected so much? Was there another power that helped you accept other powers?
The trails she had taken&h.e.l.lip;It seems they are all one sided, as afterwards people accepted her using the powers but for them to personally use them, they would have to take the trail themselves. Scratching her head, she continued to think...
It was like another inner problem of the elements, that they also didn’t want people to obtain more than one power&h.e.l.lip;
Not long after that, Loralle lost her train of thought to the complexity about it all. All she knew was that achieving the end of this hatred of the elements, it would take much longer than one lifetime!
During the time Loralle was questioning the entire populations time to change, Emily had overcome the hatred, as the visions had disappeared.
But she hadn"t gotten past Daniel’s bare chest. And with her staring at him, with her innocent, curious eyes, Daniel cracked a smile, already starting to show off!
***
Loralle had sunk into a sitting position, thinking, while Daniel explained a little more about what had happened to him. To be more precise, he was boasting!
He showed his fire power, wanting Emily’s approval. Beyond that, he told Emily about the warm water bath he had, stating that she will need his a.s.sistance to clean her body, when she returns. She went beet red hearing this, staying silent in embarra.s.sment.
Daniel wanted to waste more time, so he started to boast even more about who he was and what he’s achieved within the Fire Tribe.
As Loralle turned back to look at them, she wondered how they could communicate so well. It would be hard to say what was going through her head as she watched the other two chat.
But after some time, Loralle got over Daniel’s endless chatter. “No more. You, focus.” She said, as she pointed at Emily.
Daniel wasn’t happy getting interrupted, he was sure that he would have the cute, innocent girl wrapped around his finger at any time now. He made some low remarks of Loralle’s bossy nature, but didn’t continue his banter.
Emily’s eyesight reluctantly left Daniel’s, to look at Loralle and saw her resolve. Since they had spoken in more detail, Emily knew what Loralle meant and nodded slowly.
As Daniel and Loralle waited for Emily to find the yearning to the mouth of the volcano, Daniel couldn’t wait till Emily would come back!
He slowly turned to Loralle and got closer to her. “How about making a pool of warm water&h.e.l.lip;So Emily will be able to clean herself better when she comes back?”
“Pool?” Loralle asked, eyebrows raised.
Daniel smiled, already excited, “Yeah! So, it’s easier&h.e.l.lip;Instead of a small bowl&h.e.l.lip;.”
Loralle smiled. It was a good idea. Needing to wait for Emily anyway, she looked around and, suddenly, the earth shook as the cave became bigger. A hole was formed, large enough to stand in, then Loralle put out her hand. Warm water went into the hole and filled it up.
Daniel couldn’t hold in his excitement! “Wow! Yes! That’s it! Thanks!”
Loralle nodded, but Daniel didn’t see it as he removed his clothes and went in the hole with warm water. It was strange to him to see how the water was already warm. He’d been at the front lines of war before and was sure the water was always colder. What he didn’t know, was that Loralle is able to mix her powers now and water is easily heated by the fire power.
He couldn’t understand it, normally water was something each and every member of the Fire Tribe stayed away from. Since Loralle gave him that warmed water bowl, he liked it very much! Of course, it by pa.s.sed him that not only does he no longer contain hatred for other powers, but Loralle, being approved by those powers helped also.
Playing with the water, he saw bubbles and laughed heartily.
Emily had troubles concentrating due to this spectacle but when she had opened her eyes to see, she saw Loralle look at her impatiently. So, she tried again to focus.
***
Emily took longer than Daniel to find the yearning, but finally, when she did, she made a face full of horror. It had been all true! What they had talked about wasn’t a lie at all&h.e.l.lip;Why had she thought they had made it all up?
Emily had not taken them seriously at all!
“Ready?” Loralle asked.
Daniel heard Loralle, and looked at Emily sympathetically, knowing the pain he had endured and still felt. “Don’t forget to have your fire powers around you!”
“Wait! I don’t want to do this! This is crazy!” Emily shrieked in horror.
Daniel chuckled and quietly said, “That’s what I said!”
“No way! You&h.e.l.lip;Forget it! I’m not going!” Emily yelled, backing away from Loralle.
Daniel took a small amount of pleasure in knowing what was going on and got out of the small pool. Quickly, he took off her clothes and winked at her chocked face. “You don’t need your clothes.”
He took this chance to look upon her naked figure and Emily finally noticed she had been stripped naked! “Ahh! Give it back!” She yelled, trying to cover herself.
Daniel looked at Loralle and nodded, “Just take her and bring her back, fast!”
Loralle nodded and put an earth and water bound over the horrified Emily and moved both of them out of the cave.
Daniel waited impatiently for them to return. When they did come back, Emily’s face made him wonder if he had looked exactly like that, upon his own return from the mouth of the volcano.
He got out of the small pool and pulled her into his arms, while she still looked stunned.
Looking at Loralle, he said, “I’ll look after her, you can go out.”
Loralle didn’t care that he had just ordered her out of the cave and just left.
Bringing them both into the pool, of nice warm water, Daniel used the same discarded cloth to wash over Emily’s body. To Daniel’s delight, when Emily found herself in his arms, she hadn’t raced to get away from him.
After she had become fully cleaned, Daniel took the chance to explore her entire body. He told her that he could make her forget about the pain from the volcano!
They both obviously forgot that just outside was Loralle, as they let out noises thinking that they were all alone. But Daniel didn"t care one bit about Loralle anyway, as he took Emily"s innocence. He hadn"t been with a woman for a whole month!
His father had told him he couldn"t have any more women enter his home, as it really isn"t how he"d like him to act as his son! Already his reputation as a "playboy" had circulated through the tribe and people had given him less respect because of it.
Nonetheless, Daniel violated his father"s rule and continued, unworried about what his father might say!
But Loralle didn’t care for the noises inside the cave at all. She had left the cave willingly, having attended to Emily’s wounds prior to leaving the mouth of the volcano. She wanted to figure out her next plan of action, what was her path now?
Knowing her journey was more complex now...Was there any use in going back to the Water Tribe?
Would Emily follow me to be accepted by earth?
Loralle shook her head, when they had finished on the top of the volcano, Emily had continuously screamed for a few minutes afterwards&h.e.l.lip;This was why they had taken such a long time to return to the cave, as Loralle had no idea how to calm Emily down.
For Emily to take a second power would be the last thing she would want to do.
And Daniel&h.e.l.lip;Loralle had no intention of even asking him because she didn’t even like him.
She was suddenly sad&h.e.l.lip;Was there not anyone that wants to see this hatred? Don’t they want to help themselves? Was this&h.e.l.lip;Was she completely alone in this?
She hadn’t really known what sadness was like till now.
Finding a friend&h.e.l.lip;Then having so many differences and paths&h.e.l.lip;
Before, loss was known but it didn’t matter, but now&h.e.l.lip;Will she have to go alone?
Loralle felt a tear drop fall to her cheeks and quickly wiped it away. Why? Why can’t anyone see? Am I delusional? Is what I’ve known all this time wrong? Am I, as they said...Crazy?
It was the first time Loralle felt wronged and useless!
I have all this power! But, what good is there in it when the people are still victims!?
Anger flashed in her eyes, her hands clenched together and she breathed deeply.
If people were too afraid to even take approval for the first power, how could they accept a second?
Shaking her head, she wished for an alternate path. She hoped, very much, that there was another way to extinguish the vengeance of the elements.
There must be another way!
It took quite a bit of time for Daniel and Emily to finally join her outside. They looked refreshed and happy&h.e.l.lip;
They were even quite close to one another, but Loralle didn’t notice.
“Sit. I take back&h.e.l.lip;Then&h.e.l.lip;I leave.” Loralle said, her voice far away.
They sat next to her, then they travelled, by earth, back to the bottom of the volcano.
None of them spoke until they had arrived on normal ground again.
Loralle didn’t even look at them when they got up, Daniel happily helping Emily stand.
“Bye.”
Daniel finally noticed Loralle, and said, “Wait! Stay! Be with the Fire Tribe!”
Obviously, he was in a very good mood! His intentions from before surfaced again, giving her another chance, even though he didn’t particularly like her very much. But for selfish means, he wanted to bring her back...
“No.” Was all Loralle said, before leaving.
Daniel watched her leave and somehow felt bad. He hadn’t even asked what her name was! But, he felt somewhat happy she had refused&h.e.l.lip;She really was a pain in the a.s.s!
He got over Loralle’s visit very fast, as he remembered the beauty in his arms.
He turned to go home, with his arm still around Emily...He was just going to hide this new addition for now...
Emily was glad to see Loralle leave&h.e.l.lip;She really regretted going through all that pain&h.e.l.lip;
But&h.e.l.lip;She did get something today! Looking at Daniel, she smiled, she was his woman now! She no longer was one of the low, commoner people, who had to work so hard to keep living. Emily silently looked forward to a better life!
...Which had been another reason she had stayed close to Loralle. She had thought that her power would have meant that she had been a n.o.ble. But, what she hadn"t thought, was that she was, instead, a totally different gender!
Loralle was out of the Fire Tribe within the hour and recklessly went straight towards the giant cyclone far, far away.
It really did make her sad that she felt like she wasn’t leaving anything behind. Again, she had no obligation to stay. In fact, she wanted to leave there as fast as possible!
Even finding her mother was far from being a priority now&h.e.l.lip;
Thinking earlier, she had made some decisions. After making these decisions, Loralle found that she had felt so much better!
She was going to find another way, as soon as possible, to free everyone. And doing that, will take time, and war can’t be held out for too much longer. She will concentrate on gaining approval to the other two elements&h.e.l.lip;Then&h.e.l.lip;Well, she’ll think of something!
There must be a way!
She could not believe everything was a lie! If she was the only one that could see this and be able to do something about it&h.e.l.lip;Then there is no giving up!
Maybe...She thought, maybe I have another power! One were I don"t give up!
***
Within the next couple of weeks of Loralle’s travel, the protectors that had finally found her, had lost her again, not knowing that she had left the Fire Tribe.
Her tracks had been there for them to see but...The inevitable happened! They were finally caught by the Fire Tribe!
Not being immune to fire, it was easy to integrate them within their own village, but only one had succ.u.mbed to talking.
Watching John and Sam die in front of him, Rick cried out why they had been in the Fire Tribe. After discovering that, ‘The Powerful Water Tribal leader’ had been in the Fire Tribe, the interrogator"s didn’t know how to respond.
They were worried, until Daniel found them and told them about Loralle. He didn’t keep any information back and they were all shocked!
Utterly and completely...Shocked!
Daniel is saying he&h.e.l.lip;Lived through the mouth of the volcano!?
But they had to believe him, he showed his extreme fire powers to them! Even seeing those powers, they still couldn’t believe it!
Not only that, ‘The Powerful leader of the Water Tribe’ didn’t destroy the Fire Tribe, that the person had said themselves that they didn’t want to fight!
They couldn’t believe their luck! The Fire Tribe were that happy that they didn’t kill Rick, but just left him in the prison.
Word got out and a festival took place, they were alive and they were going to stay that way!
But&h.e.l.lip;With this festival&h.e.l.lip;Daniel finally started to understand what Loralle meant by the hate. The festival was filled with people that hated the Water Tribe.
To confirm, Daniel went up to strangers and brought up the topic of the Water Tribe and saw it in their eyes&h.e.l.lip;.
Was it this, that she was talking about? He questioned.
It was strange&h.e.l.lip;He didn’t feel so much hate anymore, although he couldn’t say it was completely gone&h.e.l.lip;He felt more wronged because of all the deaths that the Fire Tribe had because of the Water Tribe. He knew, though, this was a different hate. The hatred before was unquestionable, it was set in to his mind whether he had liked it or not. This time he choices to hate the Water Tribe, still following the want to completely destroy them.
And Loralle wanted to change it all&h.e.l.lip;
Suddenly, he felt really sorry for her. His mind could finally see there was a problem with everyone but the idea of war still didn’t change from his heart.
And now she was gone&h.e.l.lip;What is she going to do? Why was she so fixated in trying to ‘help the people’? Would she understand my feelings even now?
Sighing, Daniel couldn’t help but relax. He wasn’t used to being so serious&h.e.l.lip;
His life had been quite pleasant and easy, he hadn’t cared too much for anything&h.e.l.lip;Except one thing, he really enjoyed the small pool of warm water, so he went to Rick to get him to secretly make him one. Finding out that Rick couldn’t make the water warm, Daniel had to continuously warm the water with fire, which annoyed him. But, it was only him and Emily that enjoyed the lovely small pool, as no one else wanted to see water, yet alone be in it. He didn’t care much though, he happily continued his life of being a "playboy" and helping with the war against the Water Tribe.
***