Tasi

One

Being raised by a poor family didn't bother Tasi Walker as much as it bothered her older brother Jay when he was a child. It bothered him so much that he decided to seek out his biological parents, which resulted in him gaining his birth father, Cliff's lake house and estate. His family was no longer poor.

Eventually, Jay got a job as a permanent protector of his country as a ninja, which left Tasi home most of the day. To spend her time, young seven-year-old Tasi walked by herself, across the train tracks, by the plaza, to the market to buy things for her next meal, since her parents usually left her with nothing.

"Strange girl,"
"I heard she can't speak,"
"Well, I heard her brother hates her, rightfully so,"

Most of these claims were true. Tasi was strange. Her interests were putting her feet in the lake her family now owned, picking the lemons off of a nearby lemon tree, and watching the electric trains speed by her house.

Tasi couldn't speak, her doctor told her parents that she would learn naturally after speech therapy, but Tasi refused to participate in any type of therapy. But that doesn't mean Tasi can't hear. In fact, she can understand many varieties of languages, some of them being Hebrew, Irish, Māori, Irish, English, & even French.

The last claim wasn't exactly valid, but was nearly on the dot. Jay didn't hate his sister, but he did find her very annoying, stupid, & weird. One day, Jay returned home with his wife of 6 months, Nya. Nya was a Polynesian woman with the elemental power of water, unlike Jay, Nya thought Tasi was a very clever girl.

Jay was forced by Nya to look after his sister after he told her that she was home alone most days. Jay didn't have to do much, all he had to do was watch Tasi by the lake for a couple of hours with Nya.

Tasi was looking down at her feet in the water before a fish ran into her left foot, with no expression, Tasi lifted up her foot and the fish swam away. Once it left, Tasi noticed a mysterious glow a few feet away from where she was standing. Tasi started to walk towards it, which caught Nya's attention.

"Don't go too far," she warned, but Tasi didn't listen. With the water, now up to her dirty knees, she finally came across the glow. When she got closer, Tasi saw the shell of a Nautilidae at the bottom of the lake. The shell was an ivory color and had holes at the top like it was supposed to be used as an instrument. As Tasi picked it up, she noticed the heads of three sea lions staring at her. That wasn't normal, sea lions belong in the ocean. And Tasi knew that. She started walking further, the current catching and the wind blowing, she didn't seem to notice how far she was.

"Tasi," Nya called for her to take a few steps back, but Tasi didn't even turn around. "Jay," Nya said. "She'll be fine," Jay interrupted. "Go get her," Nya demanded, ignoring his unruly comment. "What? No." he refused, but Nya wouldn't take no for an answer. "Now. go," she said firmly. "Fine." he gave up, stepping into the lake and walking after his sister. "Tasi," with that, the shell glowed in her hands, and a wave pushed into Jay, knocking him over. Which made Tasi laugh.

After a few moments, Jay got up, out of breath & spitting out the water he accidentally inhaled. Tasi looked at the shell in confusion. Was it trying to protect her? That isn't what Tasi thought, she thought the wave was her doing. Putting the shell in her skirt pocket, Tasi walked up to her older brother.

"That's it!" he spat. "I'm done looking after you!" as he walked away he mumbled something that Tasi has heard multiple times before. "Stupid girl," he said. Tasi never understood why adults would call her stupid or ill or even a demon, when it was from strangers she could ignore it. But hearing it from her older brother made those words feel different.

"Jay," Nya tried to calm him down. But he didn't listen. "No, nope, not anymore, not again, I'm done!" he cried walking off. As Tasi stepped out of the water, Nya noticed her sad face & walked up to her. "You did nothing wrong," she said, kneeling down to her before pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What were you doing?" Nya asked. Tasi grabbed the shell from her pocket and showed Nya. after looking at it for a moment, she asked. "Where did this come from?" Tasi shrugged, looking down at it. "I'll tell you what," Nya began. "My elemental powers have been going haywire for some time now, & I need a water expert like you to help me," she said. Tasi looked up at her & smiled. This was the very first time she was invited to anything. Tasi nodded in delight before Nya stood up. "Perfect," she said grabbing Tasi's hand before they left.