Elements

Chapter 3- Traveling

It’s been about a month since I met Enya, and re-met Kiku. So far none have my memories have returned. Every time I try and remember something, I get horrible headaches, no, worse than horrible headache, it's like someone is taking an axe and shoving it under my skull. Kiku has been trying, but nothing she's said has triggered any memories either. Looking at my body I do have quite a few tattoos, covering my back from shoulder to shoulder, down my right arm to my elbow and around my left leg to my knee. It looks like I was starting on my right leg, since there are a few on my thigh. Also there’s one on my ribs, directly above a scar, and the tattoo looks as though it’s a crest of some kind, maybe it’s the group I used to work for or something. My body is very strong, like I've been trained to use it. But between trying (or not) to regain my memories and taking care of Sadik, I have gained a few pounds. Marcy (the young mother who nurses Sadik) gave me hints of things he can eat while we travel, so right this moment he's getting his last feeding by her, in a minute we'll be packing up so we can leave. Well, I don't have anything to pack besides the stuff I came with, but the children grew very fond of Kiku, so she's made it her duty to say goodbye to every single one of them individually. “Well here he is.” Marcy said after Sadik's feeding. “I’m going to miss his little self.” She said while hugging him. And yes, he’s very tiny; a doctor said he might only be three months old. “I can never, ever, thank you enough for doing this.” I said “It's no big deal. I dream of a world where no child dies of hunger. So feeding one child or feeding a hundred, I still do all I can.” she said. “Well still, thank you is not nearly a strong enough word.” I said. She only smiled and handed me Sadik. I put him into a carrier I had wrapped around my chest and started to find Kiku. Of course she was right where I thought she'd be, with the children. “Miss Romni!” one of the children shouted when they saw me. I put on my gentlest smile and walked over to them. “Hi kids.” I said “Miss Kiku was just about to show us her awesome knife throwing skills. Won't you come and watch?" one of the children said. “Sure I will.” I said. At first I did notice Kiku's skills were impressive, then I noticed her little secret, she blast a small burst of wind to lead her knife and make it hit the target harder. But there's no way I'll tell the kids that. “Miss Romni, can you throw knives like Miss Kiku?” one of the kids asked. “Well no, but I think I shoot a bow and arrow pretty well.” I said “Let’s see it please???” the kids all shouted in agreement. “Alright.” I said and handed one of the little girls Sadik. I took my bow, pulled an arrow from my quiver, put the string into the nock and pulled it back to my cheek. Aiming at the center of the target, I released, and let the arrow fly. It struck the target cleanly, a perfect shot. “Whoa!” the kids all said in unison after they saw my shot. “Alright, now I came to get Kiku, it’s about time for us to go.” I said “Awe, Miss Romni, do you have to go?” one of the children said. “Yes, we do. But I promise one day we will return.” I said “Promise Miss Kiku?” he said “Yes I promise.” she said, “Well I wanna promise too! When you get back here, I'm going to be strong!” one of the kids chimed in “Yeah! I want to be an Umunthu Oqeqeshwe, like Miss Romni by the time they get back!” another said. “Well you kids follow your dreams and if that dream leads you down the direction of being an Umunthu Oqeqeshwe, then you do that!” I said, “Well, you guys are popular.” I heard Enya's voice say and we both turned around. “It’s about time for us to go girls. I already sent a message down to my brother and told him that were on our way.” he added “We’re ready; I was just gathering Kiku and then got caught up with some arrow-play and these strong, young adults.” I said with a smile. Then we said our final goodbyes, and we started off into the forest. Even though my body moves quite naturally around the forest, I decided to stay back and walk with Kiku, as Enya scouted ahead “So what Element does Enya have?" I asked her. "Enya was born and raised near the northern air temple, but he comes from a family that cannot control Elements." she said "Oh, well that's too bad." I said “Well actually it taught him to rely only on his strength and mind, and all the time he trained, while everyone else would be working on controlling their Element, he could work on making himself stronger and wiser, and eventually he graduated top of his class in strength and smarts.” Kiku said. “Oh.” I said when I heard a noise from in a tree. Instinctively I pushed Kiku behind me and readied an arrow, which was fine, since Kiku was holding Sadik. Then a monkey poked his head out of the tree. "It's just a monkey." Kiku says. "And if it were an enemy, I could attack him myself." she added. "Yes but you have Sadik. I have to protect him!” I said and reached out for him, Kiku handed him to me and said “I wish you could remember who he was, possibly return him to his family.” “Yeah, I do too.” I said “Any clues about your memories?” she said “No. Don't remember a thing." I said "Well you told me when we first met that you grew up in the forest. So I was maybe something here would draw your memories back." she said solemnly. "Thanks for caring so much, stranger." I said, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled at me and I placed Sadik into his carrier. After a while of walking we caught back up with Enya. “Took you guys long enough.” he said when he saw us come up. He was apparently trying light wet fire wood. “Um, Enya it’s wet.” Kiku said. “Yeah I know. And it won’t light.” he replied. “Let me see." I said and I put my hand over the wood. After about a minute, little droplets began to form under my palm. In a minute the droplets had formed into a water bubble the size of my hand. I took it and dropped it on the ground and then used my fire to light the wood at the snap of my fingers. When I looked up Enya and Kiku were staring at me with their mouths open. "What?" I said "I've never seen anyone use more than one Element before." Enya said "Well I don't know. I just, saw the wood and knew I could get the water out, and then light it." I said. "I think once we get to the wind temple we need to have her go see Novato, because I've never seen anybody like her before." Enya said "Hmm, maybe not yet... maybe wait until she gets her memories back." Kiku said "Yeah you might be right. So hurry up and get your memories back, there's somewhere we need to take you." Enya said when he turned to me. "I will try. But who is this Novato guy?" I said "He is the templemaster of the northernmost wind temple, and it is known that he is the wisest of all templemasters from any temple." Kiku said "Wow, ok. Maybe we should go see him." I said "Yeah, we need to see him as soon as your memory returns." Kiku said. Enya said he would take the watch during the night. "Why don't we take turns resting?" I suggested. "Nah, I’m used to watching during the night." he said. "I am too." I said without thinking. "Wake me in a few hours to take watch."