The Keepers of the Elements

Para

Pippy still couldn't grasp the fact that the Keepers were alive, let alone she was one. After she had breathed underwater, Tulii and Ash agreed that Huro was most likely the Lightning Keeper, which meant Alex was the Earth Keeper. Alex seemed happy about that, and Huro didn't care. Like usual. The only time he seemed to actually care was when he was with Tulii.

Okay, the princess might have spied on them. But it wasn't her fault! The two of them left by themselves and Pippy needed to make sure they weren't running away or something.

And after watching them spill their hearts out to each other, Pippy decided one thing. Tulii and Huro needed to get together. So she decided it was her responsibility to make... Sparky Elf happen. It would be glorious.

Before she could continue scheming, Ash tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey. We're going to test Alex and Huro just to make sure."

"Great!" Pippy stopped. "Wait. Please don't tell me we're going to electrocute them."

Her sister laughed. "No, Huro wouldn't let us. He said to just test Earth so then when that test is over we'll know who the Lightning Keeper is for sure."

"And we're going to test Earth... how?"

Tulii was suddenly beside them, tossing a stone in the air. "We throw rocks at them."

"Huh."

"Tulii, this is not a good idea!" Huro said. He and Alex were positioned several feet away from them.

Tulii threw the stone in the air and caught it again. "You're tough. You'll be fine."

Alex and Huro exchanged a look. And then the stones rained down.

Huro, not exactly feeling like dying, especially since everybody was seventy percent sure that he was the Lightning Keeper, dived away and took cover behind a tree.

Tulii threw a perfectly aimed rock at him that smacked right into his funny bone. "TULII!"

Alex, on the other hand, toughed it out. He was able to dodge most of the rocks, but quite a few hit him. And they were definitely going to leave a bruise. Pippy winced from where she stood.

"Uh... maybe Sparky is right?" She peeped. "Somebody's going to get hurt..."

Huro, who was kicking a tree while he clutched his arm, glared at the girls. "No kidding!"

Tulii and Ash finally stopped throwing rocks. "Fiiiiine."

Alex fell over in the grass panting. "This puts a dent on our friendship."

Huro stumbled over and laid next to him. "Well I guess Alex and I are best friends now."

"No way! Alex and I have such a strong friendship that not even a dragon can break it!" Ash snapped, defensively.

"Guess you're stuck with me, Sparky." Tulii smirked, helping Huro to his feet.

"Wait, what about me?" Pippy whined. "Do I just not have any best friend?"

"Nop-"

"You can be our fun-sized bestie." Tulii laughed, patting Pippy on the head.

"So are you... my king-sized bestie?"

Huro snorted and doubled over laughing. Tulii was laughing too. Soon, all five of them were in hysterics as if they'd known each other for years.

When the laughing finally died down, Ash looked at Alex and Huro. "You know... we never found out who the Keeper of Earth was."

"It is not me." Huro grumbled, rubbing his arm where Tulii had thrown the rock at him. "I'm the Lightning Keeper even if it means suffering through nicknames."

"Fine. You're the Lightning Keeper." Ash muttered something about "stupid automatically assuming boys". Whatever that was supposed to mean.

Pippy glanced at the darkening sky through the trees. She wondered what was happening back at the castle. "Please be okay..."

"Hey, Pip." the princess snapped back into reality. Everybody had drifted away from where they'd been standing before, except for Ash who was smiling at her. "Thinking about them?"

"Yeah... It's just... we left."

"I know. But they'll be okay! I know they will." Ash smiled reassuringly and reached out to pull her sister into a hug. "Now let's go. Huro's going to show us how to set up a camp."