Forgotten Earth

Chapter 6

Gaia, Mira, and the red-haired boy sat in the back of the wagon while the blond-haired boy drove the horses up front. They sat in silence for the first few minutes of the ride.

"So, Gaia," Mira started. "Since you don't know us anymore..."

"I'm Flint!" the red-haired boy interrupted her. "I'm a Fire Elemental. And this is Alder," he added, looking fondly at the red fox in his lap.

Mira rolled her eyes at him. "I'm a Water Elemental, and this is Brooke." She stroked the penguin's feathers.

"Up there is Rai, and his bird Anila, who are Air Elementals," Flint said, gesturing to where the blond-haired boy was sitting. "Hey, Rai!" he called.

Rai glanced back and waved. Then he turned back to the road. Gaia looked around at her new companions. They were still strangers to her, but apparently she had known them for years. She could admit that though she had just met them, they felt more familiar than they should've. Like they were filling a gap she didn't know was there.

Maybe it was the empty where her home should've been.

Gaia shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it. She was here now, and she had to face it.

"What do you remember?" Mira's gentle voice interrupted Gaia's thoughts.

"I..." Gaia trailed off. How she was supposed to answer this question? "Where do you want me to start?"

Mira paused. "Everything you think we wouldn't know," she said after a moment. "I know it's probably a lot, but maybe I can help if I understand a little more."

Gaia sighed. "Ok. Um... I lived on a farm just over that hill," she pointed, "with my parents. We grew a few crops but it's mostly animals. It was pretty uneventful for most of my life. We just went to the market for anything we needed that we couldn't get ourselves, and to cities for more refined things. Sometimes we'd get news about Zuclor attacking again nearby since we live near the border.

"As I got older, I was sent to go to the market and eventually the cities by myself since Mama and Papa were always working on the farm," Gaia continued. "Last week I was sent to get a few items from Fidoan, and it seemed normal until I got there." Gaia paused before going into all the odd things that had happened. "First there was a weird ripple in the ground, which I guess was me? You said I'm an Elemental." Mira nodded, agreeing, so Gaia kept talking. She told them about the weird token, which they said was an Elemental sign. She talked about the weird X on the back of her neck, and the strange people in the market that felt wrong. The Elementals seemed to be worried about both the X and the people.

"...and there was a woman named Basira-"

"So that's when you saw her!" Flint exclaimed. Gaia stared at him. "We first heard about where you were from a message from Basira about an Earth Elemental named Gaia heading to the Zuclor border."

"How did she know I was an Earth Elemental??"

"Basira is a menya a'ka sowa," Flint responded.

"Child of the Sight," Mira translated. "She can 'see' Elementals."

Gaia blinked. She thought back to what Basira had been calling to her. Menya a'ka torr?

Mira had translated that into 'child of the earth'. Basira had told Gaia she was an Earth Elemental, Gaia just hadn't understood.

Gaia recounted the rest of her journey, meeting Saria and journeying with the soldiers, and finally the sword practice.

"I was invited to do a practice sword fight, even though I had no experience." Flint snorted at this, and Mira glared at him before gesturing for Gaia to continue. She blinked in confusion, then kept going. "Anyway, I actually did surprisingly well until the X hurt, and I dropped the sword. After they were done we kept walking and we made it to the market by my farm- where it's supposed to be, I guess. Then I went over the hill and Mira found me," she finished. There was silence for a minute.

"Did you almost beat the soldier?" Flint asked out of the blue.

Gaia blinked but answered "It was better than I expected, but no. I did block most of her strikes though."

Flint grinned. "Even without your memory you could beat a common soldier any day."

"You were a great swordsperson," Mira explained. "No one at Myrijoh could beat you."

Apparently in Gaia's old life, she was someone people noticed. She couldn't remember it ever being that way before.

Eventually, Flint switched with Rai and went up front. Gaia had been asking questions about her real life throughout the ride, and mostly Mira had answered with Flint pitching in a few responses. Gaia had already asked about familiars, since in her farmer life she didn't know anything. She learned that familiars found their bonded and once they were together they formed their bond which linked their minds. Elemental's familiars also got the Elemental's power.

Once a familiar and bonded's minds were linked, they could sense each other's emotions unless they were too far apart. They could also share hurt and know when the other was dying.

Familiars also had the power to speak telepathically, since they couldn't speak out loud. Brooke had demonstrated, and assured Gaia that she couldn't hear what Gaia was thinking too. It was simply a different way of communication. Bonded could also do this to their familiar but it was more sending thoughts than just talking in their mind.

Mira, Flint, and Rai also showed Gaia their tokens. They all had the same symbols as Gaia's. Mira's had the water droplet, then on the top the cloud, then clockwise fire then the rock. Rai's was the same but the cloud and water switched. Flint's was fire in the middle, then the cloud, then water and finally the rock. Mira explained that their Elements were in the middle, and then it went around clockwise from the top in order of most common. The order was Air, Water, Fire, Earth. No one had been an Earth Elemental for years, so Gaia's token was unique.

"What is Besnik like?" Gaia asked eventually.

"He's very loyal," Mira said after a moment. "He was always by your side when you needed him. And he obviously cares a lot for you."

"Besnik is also very thoughtful," Rai added. "He would always add good ideas to our conversations."

"He's also pretty playful," Flint called back from up front. "Like a big, smart dog." Gaia laughed. She had seen wolves before, and the image of one playing like a puppy amused her.

The hours on the road passed quickly as they talked.