Elemental

Four- Secrets

"Here you go." Ochre said, dropping the kids off at the rec room. "You aren't my problem anymore."

She walked away, leaving them standing outside the door.

"Let's go in!" Brook exclaimed, pushing open the door. She squealed suddenly, seeing a friend in the corner. "Lily! Hi!" She ran off to talk to Lily.

"And then there were four." Kraken remarked. Dryad laughed, then took a closer look at the rec room. It was a large room, with bookshelves lining the walls. About twenty fledglings were in various groups, some sitting on the floor reading, some playing pingpong, and still others just standing up talking. The wall on one side was a mural, with kids from all four tribes interacting with one another. Phoenix sighed. There were a lot of people here... but there were also a lot of books.

"Cool, a library." 

"Yay, books!"

Phoenix looked at Kraken and Dryad incredulously. "Both of you like to read?"

"Yeah." they said in unison.

"I... also like to read." said the shy Firii boy. "I'm Wilde by the way. Sorry I didn't tell you my name before. Brook just... I don't know, she scares me."

"Understandable." Phoenix said, smiling slightly. Wilde grinned.

"Let's go check out those books, shall we?" he said before walking over to the nearest shelf. Dryad followed quickly, bouncing happily on her feet. Kraken and Phoenix hesitated a moment, but eventually joined them.

"What kind of books do you like?" Dryad asked.

"History, fantasy."

"History. Or historical fiction."

"I like almost anything." 

Phoenix, Kraken, and Wilde answered in turn. Then they turned away, absorbed in being bookworms. Phoenix crouched, looking at books on the lower shelves. She spotted one that interested her. "The War of a Lifetime: the Story of the Tribal Wars" She whispered the title to herself. "Sounds cool." She reached out to grab it, only to run into Kraken's outstretched hand. "Oops, sorry."

"You were trying to get it first."

"No, you were. You can read it, I'll find another."

"No..." He trailed off. "Actually, this book is huge. If we sit next to each other, we can both read it."

"But what if I read faster than you?"

"We'll take turns reading the pages aloud."

"But..."

"Do you want to read it or not?"

"Okay." She walked over to a table with two free chairs. He followed her with the book. They both sat down, laying The War of a Lifetime on the table in front of them. 

"Who should read first?"

"Uh, you can, I guess." Phoenix told him, eager to just read the book.

"Ok. "This book is an account of The Tribal Wars, written down by members of all tribes, in an attempt to be as unbiased as possible." Unbiased. Heh."

"Just read!"

"Okay, okay. "Chapter One: How It Started. There are many different accounts, but most agree that the Firii were the aggressors. The Watrea attacked in self-defense, calling on the Arie as allies. The Earthen sided with the Firii-""

"So our people were enemies." Phoenix in him.

"Yeah. Well, partially."

"What do you mean " partially?" I'm Firii, you're Watrea, our people were enemies."

He sighed. "It's complicated."

"No, it really isn't."

"Phoenix, I wish I could tell you, but I can't."

"Tell me what Kraken?"

"Why it's complicated."

"Why can't you tell me?" Her voice rose, and people were starting to stare.

"I just can't, okay?"

"Be that way then." She stood up and walked out of the rec room. He hurried after her.

"Phoenix!" He put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from moving further away. "I'll tell you why, but not right now. It's too crowded. Too many people... Meet me after dinner, right here."

She turned to face him. "Okay. And you better show up."

"I will."