The People

Part 19: Training

After an hour of talking it became dead silent. Everyone looked at each other trying to think of something to talk about.
"So...Um....Shall we begin our training?" Matt suggested.
"Yeah... I think that would be the best thing to do... However we are gonna have to go the the back yard... If there is any... And practice there." Tigey said looking at Matt.
"Wait! Wouldn't others see us? We would need to put something up so they can't see us... Plus the grass would be really high up and if we use fire is can catch it on fire... We can't." Summer said.
"Yeah we can... We need to flatten the grass and put up some type of wall... I will just put a bigger privacy fence up.." Tigey answered. "I will be right back... Imma go and do that... I will come and get you guys when I am done." Tigey got up and walked to the back entrance. She looked out onto the back to see grass taller than her, rusted, half torn down fence, thorn bushes and weeds scattered throughout the yard. She took a deep breath and began to work. Everyone was still inside the house silent as can be.
"Okay so.. How did everyone sleep?" Summer asked.
"Horrible." Everyone said at once.
"Oh damn.." Summer said in surprise.
"So I saw that Tigey cuddled up to you last night."
"Yeah.. She does that.. Helps her sleep.. Since she doesn't have that much fur she depends on my body warmth to keep her warm.."
"So you like cuddles then?"
"Yeah.. Why?"
"Nothing I was just wondering." Matt said shaking his head, while Daniele looks at him puzzled.
"Do you like cuddles?"
"Eh you know.. I do what I wanna." He tried to say cool, leaning back on the step.
"Oh.. Ok." Daniele said sadly and she looks down at her hands. Matt glances at her and gets all sad.
"No no.. I was joking.. I was trying to be cool.. Yes.. I do like cuddles."
"I thought you meant it... I was going to say." Daniele smiled.
"What were you gonna say?"
"I was gonna say that I don't wanna be with someone who doesn't like to be close and clingy... Doesn't show they love someone.."
"Wait! You like clingy?!" Matt asked in surprise.
"Well yeah... It shows how much you love someone.."
"Aww. I am not alone!" Matt says happily and he quickly hugs her. Daniele smiles and hugs back.

"Hey... Wanna go see how Tigey is doing?" Daniele said slowly getting up.
"Yeah..Sure why not.." Matt got up with her and they walked outside. When they walked out they stopped to see almost all the grass was pushed down, most of the bushes were gone, and that there was a tall privacy fence. They saw Tigey trying to uproot a bush with her mouth.
"Haha!! Tigey what on Earth are you doing!?" Daniele laughed as she saw her struggling. Tigey stopped and saw Daniele and Matt starring at her giggling.
"Oh stop it... I am flattening and clearing everything away before we start training.. I am almost done! I will call you guys out once I'm done."
"We will just sit here and hang out.. Is that okay with you?" Matt asked.
"Yeah it is fine.." Tigey said with a smile. She turned and began to try and pull out the bush. Matt and Daniele looked at Tigey with a smile on their face as they watch her struggle with the last bush. Daniele finally gives and starts busting out into laughter. Matt looks at her and smiles and turns to see Tigey starring at Daniele smiling. Tigey walks up to her and nudges her shoes.
"You gonna stop laughing or do I have to make you help me with the bush?" Tigey said giggling between words. Daniele tries to sit up but sees Tigey and falls to the ground again.
"Here.. I'll help you.. Just let Daniele finish up her laughing. Comon.." Matt and Tigey walk to the bush and grab a hold to the bottom of it. They pull as hard as they can, with some struggle. As Daniele calms down she slowly gets up, out of breath. She slowly walks over to them with a smile on her face.
"You guys... um... Need some help over here." Daniele crossed her arms.
"Shut up and just help us already!" Tigey demanded with a smile. Daniele laughed and walked over to them, grabbing a hold of the bush and pulling it with them. "Ready...1....2....3...PULL!!" Tigey yelled as they all started to pull the bush. They pulled as hard as they can three times, then the bush finally lifted out of the ground. Everyone got up to look at the bush, Daniele walked towards the roots and looked at Tigey.
"Well I see now why the bush was so hard to get out of the ground... It had really deep roots." Daniele smiled as Tigey walked over and looked at the roots with a annoyed face.
"Just get everyone out now... We needa start practicing." Tigey said walking by the oddly placed concrete circle. Daniele jogged towards the house as Matt went over by Tigey. Daniele walked into the house and saw everyone still sitting down bored and tired.
"Hey guys! Come on.. It is power practicing time!! Get off your lazy butts and come on!" Daniele said running back out giggling. Steven, Summer and Tony all got up and walked outside to see the yard, their jaws dropped in surprise and walked over to Matt, Daniele, and Tigey sitting in a half circle (Tigey on the left, Matt next to Tigey in the middle, and Daniele next to Matt on the right. In the middle were different types of stuff, water, some rocks, and some plants, some plants had leaves of different colors.
"Sit down and complete the circle please." Tigey said calmly with her eyes closed. Steven sat by Tigey, Tony sat by Daniele, and Summer sat in the middle, across from Matt. "Now everyone... Close your eyes and breathe into your nose and out your mouth... This will put your body into a relaxed state." Tigey said calmly. Everyone closed their eyes and did as they were told. "Good... Now... clear your mind out of any thoughts... Don't think of anything... Just listen to the birds and the sound of the leaves rustling." Tigey said even softer and more calm. Everyone did as they were told and emptied their mind out of any thoughts, and just listened to the surroundings. "Good... Listening to the surrounding will get only three of you to activate your powers, natural powers... These consist of the main elements... Earth..." As Tigey said this surrounding rocks lifted and moved around Daniele, Matt, and Tigey. The little pebbles lifted and went around Steven, Summer, and Tony. "... Water..." Tigey said and the water lifted from the ground and most of it split and went to Daniele, Matt, and Tigey. The little droplet of water split off and went to Steven, Summer, and Tony. "...Fire..." The little fire that was made moved around Matt, Daniele, and Tigey, while the rest went around the others. "... Air..." The wind from the trees went around Tigey, Matt, and Daniele, and only a little went around the others. " These are the main elements that create all other powers... The others involve Electricity..." Electrical surges came from the sky and went around everyone equally. " These elements are found in everyone... Some are stronger than other... Some not so much... There is Ice... "It became colder around everyone and icicles formed and floated around them all. "Depending on your personality... some element form best around you... Like Energy... "Energy from the trees, ground, and sky formed around everyone, however, more formed around Tigey, Daniele, Summer, and Matt. "More powers can be seen in the happiest and brightest of people, mostly in the brightness of their smile, the kindness of their heart, and the complexity of their minded...like light..." Light from the sun dimmed as most of it formed around Tigey, Summer, and Matt, but most quantity went around Daniele. "However others...Can be seen with more evil intentions, the dimness of their souls, the weakness of their hearts, the simplest of their minds, and the wrongness and strength of their anger... Darkness..." Shadows from the ground formed mostly around Tony and Steven, some of it went to Matt and Daniele. "Lastly the one main thing that sneaks into everyone, that can be used to corrupt others, that can be used with responsible and good intentions...Poison..." Juice from some of the darker looking plants oozed out and went around everyone equally. "Now... Slowly open your eyes and take a nice look around... be sure to maintain the breathing pattern you have now... and keep your mind empty.." Everyone slowly opened their eyes and slowly turned their heads to see Matt, Daniele, and Tigey had the most powers around them, Summer and Tony had equal amount while Steven had more negative powers around them. "Now as you can tell... Your personality can say a lot about you when it comes with certain powers.. Daniele, Matt, and me have more positive energy at the moment... And as you can see that all of us have some bit or a lot of negative energy... It seems like Tony and Steven can work better with darker magic and dimensional powers.. Summer is in the middle.. She can chose whatever she pleases... It will create more balance to the group if you joined Tony and Steven but you have an equal amount of positive and dark... I think that will be able to work.." Tigey said with a smile.
"Thanks... There are times though where I won't be able to stay positive or negative.." Summer looked down and the darkness grew larger as the positive energy and light diminished.
"Hey now Summer... It doesn't mean get sad over it... It just shows that you can choose what you can lead to... Right now you are sad and you are being negative... You can switch moods easily.. That doesn't mean be sad over it.."Tigey said calmly. Summer looked up at Tigey and the darkness slowly went away and the light energy grew and she smiled.
"Thank you.." Summer said with joy
"Now... Since you know how to clear your mind and you need to be able to summon the power you want without thinking about it.. Everyone... I want you to try and remove the elements around you.. Again without thinking about anything... Keeping your mind clear of any thoughts... Feel the power and magic serge through you and be able to move the elements around." Tigey spun in a circle bending the elements around her, She shot them straight passed Matt's face hitting the target on the tree. Everyone looked at Tigey them at the target as Tigey continued to to shoot the different elements at the target, showing new moves as she did. She lastly soaked the icicle into her skin and shot it in front of her. She ran up the frozen slippery path and slide throughout the yard. She slide pass everyone and shot out icicles from her palm, which went directly in to middle of the target. She ended the ice path and used the air to land her to the ground.
"Now... You all have the ability to to what I have done... I want you guys to bend the elements around you and hit that target... Steven... How about you... You seem to have the lesser elements than everyone else... Let's see what you can do... It should be easy.." Steven looked around embarrassed belong belief. He looked down and twittled his fingers into a circle, all the elements formed into balls. He looked up and then at the target.
"Matt, I want you to scoot closer to Daniele... I don't wanna hit you." Matt floated over to Daniele and they greeted each other with a warm smile. Steven floated the Earth element in his hand and threw it at the target. He took two, spun in a circle and flung the other two elements at the target. He began to do more complex moves and then flinging the other elements towards the target. He ran out if elements and looked at Tigey.
"Well done.. First time working with an element and you already know how to form them into shapes... I will teach you how to use them for more different scenarios.. Tony.. You are next... I will be going in order so everyone be prepared.. Please... Tony... Show us what you have."
"You didn't even give us any practice time!!" Tony said loudly
"Well.. Yes I know... This is just to see what you can currently do without any practice... so I know what to work with.." Tigey said with a smile.
"Fine..." Tony sighed with disagreement. He moved his arms in a circular motion, quickly moving the elements around him. He mixed them together to make a power ball and he shot it at the target, making a big hole through the tree.
"Impressive... Your powers seems to be controlled around anger... So I will help you control your anger and use it... Summer... Your turn... Don't be shy... Don't be nervous... Just try your best.." Tigey said turning to Summer and walking in front of her. Summer looked down and looked at the elements around her, she thought for a few on what to do and she took the water, energy, and earth, and mixed them together and brought them to the tree and filled in the hole that was left their. She molded it to the shape off the tree and hardened it to make it part of the tree. She then too the electric, darkness, and fire and brought life to the tree, which formed are dark decrepit tree and slowly moved back and forth. She took whatever was left and shot it towards the tree target.
"Nice!! I am very impressed... You used the powers for a more purposeful use... I will have to teach you the other way to use the powers for more beneficial use... You will become the healer of the group.. Now... Daniele and Matt... You two I know that with all the elements surrounding you, that you guys have a lot of potential... You guys can be the attackers of the group... Steven and Tony can be the defenders... So I will let everyone practice on their own in different parts of the yard... I want everyone to sit somewhere in the yard and I want you to try and conger up the elements..." Everyone started to leave to separate parts of the yard. "Except... You two... Daniele and Matt... You two I wanna talk to... Come here... It isn't bad or anything..." Daniele and Matt looked at each other and floated to Tigey. "As you can see... You are already learning how to float... Which is fantastic... Without even trying you have taught yourself the most easiest power to do... You guys can do a lot... Without even really trying... Which... Again... It just absolutely amazing... I will be with you guys everyday for a couple hours to help you... But for now I want you to calmly practice in a nice cool place... Practice with each other... Practice working together... Or just do it on your own... No matter what you both with me great... Now go on.." Tigey smiled and gestured them, with her head, to go on ahead and go somewhere. Daniele and Matt went off together by a nice shaded place and sat down, as they sat down the elements moved with their body formed to the new sitting position.
"I think it would be better if we worked together... We could be more powerful... We could help each other... With, of course, on some times where we have to work alone and fight our own battles..." Daniele said calmly and glance at Matt to see him starring at her with a smile.
"I think it is a great idea... We can spend more time with each other and know more about us..." Matt said scooting a tad bit closer, Daniele crunched up a little bit and glanced at him again. "Is everything okay... A-are you scared of me??" Matt tried to touch Daniele's back. The elements shifted around his hand and connected with his elements.
"Yeah... Everything is just fine... Just this whole situation with the powers... It isn't you at all..." Daniele said even quieter making sure nobody but Matt heard her. Matt pulled her closer and hugged her, the elements joined together and made a bigger circle."Thank you for the hug... Do you wanna to practice some element bending?"
"Sure!" Matt said with a smile. The turned to each other and smiled.
"Um... Have you ever watched Avatar?"
"The Last Air-bender!? Yeah! Why?"
"Well... I was just thinking that... This is close to like that... We have powers now and we can use then like Aang did!" Daniele said excited.
"Now that you mention it... This is a lot like Avatar... Except with more people... Now since you put it that way... This should be a little bit more easier.."
"I am surprised you have watched that... Not that many people have and they look at me funny when I ask that question.." Daniele puts her head down and Matt lifts it up and smiles.
"You are fine... I didn't really know that many people who liked Avatar anyway... So it is nice to meet someone who likes to watch it.. Anyway... Lets begin.." Daniele smiled and slowly closed her eyes and held out her hands, and she felt warmth right on top of them. She peaked out her eye and saw Matt's hands on top of hers.
"Hehe hey... No peeking.." Matt looked at her and smiled, he took one hand and closed her eyes. They sat there and sitting like this, and the elements began to float them into the air.
"What element are you gonna soak in? Imma do light."
"Will it be okay if I do...um... Dark?"
"Sure... Then after that we can switch... I have some dark element here and you have light too... We can switch off.."
"Agreed.." Daniele controlled the light element and cut it in half and absorbed it, her eye started to glow a light yellow. Matt took half of the Dark and absorbed it, and his eyes turn and dark deep purple. They floated apart from each other and stretched apart. Everyone stopped and looked at them in shock. Daniele took her elements turned them into sharp spear head and shot them at Matt, He blocked with a earth, rock shield and did the same back at her. Daniele made a leaf and rock shield and blocked his moves. They made a power ball form the rest of the elements left over and shot them up into the air. The light and Dark essence left their bodies and they slowly floated down next to each other, very tired. Everyone ran towards them.
"Are you guys okay!?" Summer screamed.
"Mhm.." Daniele and Matt said weakly.
"Very... Very impressive..." Tigey said as she walked towards them. "I have never seen a show like that in a long while... You guys did a very good job.."Tigey smiled and they smiled back.
"I wanna do the other one now... Let's switch... Elements now... If you wanna.." Daniele slowly glanced over to Matt and he looked back at her.
"Sure... We can try..." Matt and Daniele sat up across from each other and they closed their eyes and touched hands. The brought up the elements again and Matt soaked in Light and his eyes turned light yellow, and Daniele soaked in the Dark and her eyes turned dark red.
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!" Daniele let go of Matt and she fell to the ground shaking and still screaming, her eyes still dark red. Matt stops what was happening a quickly goes to Daniele, holding her. Everyone runs back to them and sees Matt remove the darkness from her body. Her eyes return to normal and she stops screaming.
"Daniele... I think your body can't handle dark... It might be able to handle only a little." Tigey said.
"Well... I am not wanting to find that out... That hurt too much... Gahh!!" Daniele said holding her chest, and Matt rubs her back.
"How about you just rest and we can just finish up our practice tomorrow... You are not well right now... Come on... You needa rest.." Matt picked up Daniele and walked her into the house and Daniele held her chest.
"Well... You guys can try and continue practice... I can watch over to make sure you are okay... Or if you are tired then you can go inside and rest.. Your choice.." Tigey said sitting down by the shade. Everyone stayed and continued practice.
"Just sit right here... You gonna be okay?" Matt asked.
"Yeah... Just need some rest.." Daniele said weak.
"Okay... I will be outside.." Matt said getting up, but Daniele quickly grabbed his hand.
"No... Please stay here.." Daniele said tugging his arm a little.
"Hehe... Alright... I will.." Matt smiled and sat down by Daniele. She laid her head on his should and he held her. She was soon fast asleep and so was Matt. After awhile everyone came in and took their spots, where they usually sleep, and made themselves comfortable. The sun was going down by the horizon as the light from the sun made the sky and clouds pink and blue, like cotton candy. It gave off a soft glow into the house and helped in the process of everyone sleeping. As the sun disappeared the sky turned dark and the moon was high and bright in the sky, showing off the stars. Everyone was sleeping and at peace.