The Land of Fire

Chapter 1 (2021 Rewrite)

"The exams are finally here, in Fire Land!" My mother squeals as she reads the newspaper.

"Seriously?" I ask with fake enthusiasm as I dig through the freezer. No way am I leaving home to go study with a bunch of snobby kids. Plus, there'll be Ice Users, and I can't stand Ice users.

"Come on, Em. You should take it, it'll be fun! Who knows when the next exam will be? Probably not for years and then you'll be too old!"

"No way, I don't want to live with a bunch of rich kids for who knows how many years I'll be cursed there, and no doubt they'll have an attitude," I shrug.

"The last thing your father and I want is for you and Blaze to be slaves to the Council," her tone grows colder, "this is a great opportunity, I know you're very smart and I'm positive you'd make it! Let's see if Blaze wants to take it too, that way you won't be alone there." She suggests as she calls down my twin brother.

"Let her be, if she doesn't want to do it, she doesn't have to. But just remember," Dad looks up from the documents he's been sorting through at the table across the kitchen, "this is an important exam, if we could afford to send you, we would have. We believe you're smarter than the schools here, and MEA is safe and definitely what you two deserve," he winks at Mom and I disregard him by turning my head toward the stairs, where the stomping equivalent to five baby elephants announces my brother's arrival.

"You called for me, Mother?" Blaze yawns as he pulls his shirt over his head.

"Get dressed in your own room, it's painful to see... that" I wave my hand in his direction, "so early in the morning," I turn and pop two waffles into the toaster.

"Oh wow, sick burn," he snaps his finger making a flame appear and quickly squishes it against the side of his leg, making a soft sizzle, "and make some for me too please," Blaze smiles politely as he takes a seat next to Mom, reading what she's pointing to in the newspaper.

I pull out another few waffles from the box and pop them into the last empty spots of the toaster. There's a moment of peaceful silence, music playing quietly from the stereo in the living room while Mom and Blaze rustle with the paper, talking in hushed voices.

"The exams are here? When can I take them?" Blaze asks excitedly.

"It's today only," Mom says matter-of-factly, and loudly enough for me to hear and awkwardly break the peaceful silence. Ugh, give it up.

"I don't think I'll do well on the element test, but I'm sure I'll ace the written test."

"Element test?" I ask as I reach for the plates in the cupboard above the toaster and pile on the waffles. I haven't heard anything about element tests.

"Yeah, we have to prove our skills for our element and do a Weakness Test. The Weakness Test is pretty much seeing how well we can endure the cold, but that shouldn't be a problem since Dad always takes us skiing in the human world," Blaze explains as he walks over and grabs the plate of waffles, drowning them in syrup.

"We've prepared you for anything in case something were to happen, but you'll kill yourself before then if you keep that up," Dad warns, but Blaze just shrugs.

"So, Em, take the exam with me?" Blaze asks with a mouthful of sticky waffles.

"Fine," I sigh, "but just because I take it doesn't mean I'll go." I pop two more waffles in for myself and sigh again.

"What time do they start?" Blaze asks, and I look at the clock above the sink. 8:45am.

"They're in the evening, around seven, so don't worry. You guys have plenty of time." Mom beams, glad that we're going.