(Outdated) The King of Elements

The Warning

The sun shone overhead as Michael and Keiko sat under a sycamore tree outside of the academy walls. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the clean, crisp air. He much rather prefer sitting with the beauty of nature than sitting inside of the building, not able to feel the sun's warmth or the cool breeze of a mid-summer's day. He leaned against the tree bark and pulled out his leather-bound bible.

"Michael," Keiko's voice called from the other side of the book, "why do you not like our friends?"

"What are you talking about?" He lowered the book. "I've told you before, they aren't my friends. They're just some people that I was forced into a partnership with. The sooner I get a chance to leave this group, the better."

"But they aren't bad people," she said, looking at the green grass, "or, at least, I don't think they are. I think that if you get a chance to get to know them, you'll like them."

He could feel the annoyance boiling in his stomach, but he willed himself to stay calm. Remember who is talking to you. She doesn't know any better. "The last person who I was able to trust did this to me," he said, pointing at not just his studded dog collar, but what was underneath. Under the collar was the evidence that no one can be trusted: a thin line etched across his throat, a constant reminder that he could trust no one.

Keiko lowered her head, then pulled her book from under her arm and began "reading." "I hope you get to trust them soon."

Michael said nothing, but pulled out his cell phone and made an alarm for 7:50.

                                                                                ~~~~

Dre stretched as he let out a loud sigh. "That was great! I feel like taking on a mountain!"

"Feeling better Dre?" Kimmy asked.

"Oh yeah." Talking to Bianka and Marcus made him feel a lot better about seeing Mr. Toney, and eating calmed his mind even more. He still couldn't believe that using his powers on the first day of school was some sort of a phenomenon.

"So who are ya'lls next teachers?" Ian asked, returning back to the table shortly after Michael left.

Dre pulled out his schedule. "Uh... I got Mr. McManus for Amian History."

"You do?" Kim asked, her hazel eyes wide open. "I do too."

"I got someone named Redd Porter," Ian said, looking at his schedule.

"And I have Ichinose Kimachi," Rose said. "We should all get to our classes soon. It is almost time leave."

"Yeah," Dre said, stretching as he stood up. "Besides, I've already been late for all of my other classes."

They all stood, taking their dishes with them. "Where do we put these?" Ian asked.

"Leave 'em on the table, the janitors will come and get it when you all go to class," a low voice stated. Everyone's eyes turned to a young slim man in a tan practice uniform.

"You're from that group that pushed us into those Edge Walkers, aren't you?" Rose accused.

He smiled sheepishly at the group, stroking his black mohawk. "Yeah, Jacob Benjamin. Sorry about that by the way. I was just following orders."

"Orders from who?" Dre asked.

"From Daven Hero." His face hardened. "I'd be on the lookout from him if I was you, Wolf boys."

Dre looked at him in surprise; Ian didn't looked concerned or threatened. "Should we honestly even care about him? He don't sound anything but a hater to me."

Jacob shrugged. "Just giving you two a warning, Amian to Amian. You can either take advantage of it or ignore it." Jacob turned towards the exit. "Oh, and keep an eye on the baby Wolf. Daven saw to it to personally take care of him." He walked off, leaving the Wolf brothers to ponder.

The team walked out of the cafeteria in silence. Dre looked down as they walked, sullen. Ian, however, looked enraged. "That bastard want to target me and my familyfam?" Ian muttered. "He better hope I don't see him."

Dre looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Getting mad isn't going to do much good, Ian. If you fight him, you could get expel-"

"You really think I give a damn?!" Ian burst out, reverberating his voice throughout the hallway. "You just expect me to sit here while that asshole threaten my little brotherfam?" Dre opened his mouth. "Hell no! That's the kind of shit that people get killed over!"

"I am just as angry as you are, Ian," Rose said, "but we must remain calm-" Rose was cut off by Ian's grave stare. "Écoutez, I understand that you are upset, but losing your head over this will not do anything but make things worse for our team. If you were to get expelled, our team would be missing a partner, and will be put at a severe disadvantage."

Ian snarled. He slung his bag back over his shoulder, keeping his eyes downcast and breathing heavily. "Promise me that you will remain calm."

He looked up at her with his rage filled eyes. "Fine then. I promise to remain calm."

"Good." She turned towards Dre and Kim. "Our class is in the Tower of Waves, so we're going to have to cut through the courtyard to get there."

"There is a courtyard?" Dre asked.

"Oh, yes," Kim added. "Have you not seen it?"

Dre shook his head. Both of his classes were in the same tower, which was connected to the main building via hallways. He hadn't even guessed that there was a courtyard.

"It is amazing," Rose said as she pushed open the cedar door to a large open area. It was about as long as two football fields and just as wide. Four cement crosswalks divided the squares into smaller squares, with a fountain sitting in the center. Two statues were perched on each side, resembling the statues beside the academy walls, with a crumpled base of a third statue sitting in between them.

Surrounding the courtyard were the tall, red brick towers; each tower had a giant banner draped over the front of it with the symbol of the corresponding element. A large stone goblet sat in front of the eight flight steps, filled with the element that it was in front of; the goblet in front of the Tower of Flames contained a flickering flame, the goblet next to it contained a small waterfall perched in thin air, next to that was a goblet that was covered in vines and moss, beside that was what looked like tornado the size of an average person's height, and finally a goblet that was filled with a yellow aura. A small, tube-like section of the building connected the six buildings, entrapping the squared courtyard in a much larger hexagon.

This is the courtyard? It looks more like a memorial.

Dre took a look at the time. It was a quarter till eight, definitely not enough time to enjoy this site for much longer. Besides, he'd rather not be late for Mr. McManus's class. "Follow me," Kimmy said, making her way down the crosswalk in front of them. "Mr. McManus's class is in the Tower of Nature."