Phoenix

Earth, Fire, Wind, Water Demonstration

The beach was full of laughing, chattering groups all congregated around a bonfire. Young and old, knock-kneed, buck-toothed, tall, chubby, skinny. Gutter slang rolled into foreign accents she didn't recognise and yet everyone conversed without reservations.

Ash was exhausted. She'd just come back from boulder-moving with Gunner and all she wanted to do was rest. But it seemed a full-blown beach party was in order instead.

The colourful display of robes people were wearing were not only mesmerising, but the longer Ash observed, the more she realised there was an order to the chaos. Many of the younger members wore silver robes like Ash, but some, usually older, wore pale versions of Eli, Miki, Gunner and Shorty's red, blue, orange and purple robes. Ash guessed it was a kind of ranking system. The older, more experienced members of the community in the most vibrant colours. The juniors in silver.

Ash spotted a group of silver-robed children, slightly younger than her, sitting on the stub of a fallen branch and whispering behind their hands. They were looking her way and when she caught their eyes, they beckoned her forward.

"You're the new girl. Sprout right?" the girl sitting at the centre said. She was a dark-haired girl with a cropped pixie haircut. "I'm Apple, and this is Jacob and Ollie." Apple slapped the two boys sitting either side of her in turn. The first had glasses too big of his face that fell off as she whacked him. The second had dark hair cut in the shape of an upside-down bowl that swished over his eyes.

Jacob's eyes widened. "It's too weird. She looks just like—"

The bowl-haired one, Ollie, cut him off. "Is that really your name, Sprout? Cos it's kind of a weird—"

Apple whacked him on the forehead, causing his bowl hair to flip-flop. "Rude!"

Ollie smirked. "Just cos you've got a weird name too."

Apple turned back to Ash. "So, I heard you're a bit of a 'fire-cracker' like us," she said, winking.

It was Jacob's turn to slap her forehead. "You're not supposed to talk about that stuff until she's passed her induction."

"Oh... " Apple turned back to Ash. "Never mind then."

Ash let Apple's words sink in. Had she just insinuated they were like her? That, perhaps, they also had special abilities with fire? She couldn't be certain, so she didn't ask any more questions and the three children soon went back to talking amongst themselves.

Ash stopped listening and instead, took to staring at the fire until Jacob tapped her on the shoulder.

"starting," Jacob said, adjusting the glasses on his nose.

Ollie and Apple, who'd been deep in conversation, looked up.

"What time is it happening?" Ollie said, leaning over to Jacob.

Jacob pointed into the forest. "Now."

Ash frowned. "What's happening?"

Apple glanced at Jacob. "Can I tell her?"

"Guess so."

Apple shrugged. "Every week representatives from the different forces do a demonstration. It's a chance for us to see what the other forces can do."

Just then, men and women in pale orange robes emerged from the forest, thrumming a complex rhythm on drums slung around their necks. They were followed by more men and women in orange robes who stamped and struck the ground with wooden staves, causing the trees to shake in a rattling percussion. It was as though the trees had come unstuck at the roots and were threatening a stampede.