INSOMNIAC

Chapter 18

"I'm Jess, your fire instructor," the woman standing in front of Verity said. "I believe that you have seen fire used before, right?" Verity nodded.

"I've seen it, but never tried to use it," Verity replied. Jess examined her, and spoke again.

"You were provided with fireproof clothes the minute you got here, so if you accidentally set yourself alight, don't worry about looking like a fool in front of everyone who may be in the training room. Today though, we won't be doing anything major enough to cause you to be set aflame, so you shouldn't worry about that."

"Some people that I knew of were part of the fire element couldn't control fire, but rather things related to fire, like heat. Do you think I'll be like that, or will I definitely have fire?" Verity asked.

"You will definitely have fire, otherwise I wouldn't have been called to teach you," Jess said. "Today we are going to practice summoning a flame. Now I want you to think of fire. Imagine that in the palm of your hand there is a small forest fire, and you need to encourage it to grow."

Verity did as she was asked, and put her hands out in front of her. She pressed her hands together and concentrated. She stood like that for several minutes, but nothing happened. Verity dropped her arms in defeat and looked at Jess.

"It's not working," she grumbled.

"I think I may have a fix for that," she said, and pulled a lighter out of her pocket.

"I want you to do the exact same thing, but this time I am going to put the flame in your had."

Verity put out her hands again, and concentrated. Jess lit the flame on the lighter and slowly moved it towards her hands. As it came within a few centimeters of Verity's hands, they immediately burst into flame. Verity flinched, and immediately her concentration broke. The flames died, and her hands were empty.

"We've discovered your flame's weakness," Jess said. "You can't create it, but you can control it. We need to work on that concentration as well." Verity nodded, still slightly speechless.

Once again Verity put her hands out in front of her. She felt the heat of the flame as Jess lit her palms, but this time Verity kept her control as it spluttered to life. The flames stood about a foot tall, and Verity could feel the heat tickling her face.

"Your flame is too big," Jess said. "Try to take your one hand away and push the tip of the flame into your other palm."

Verity did as she said, carefully keeping the flame in her one hand. She put her other hand on the top, and started to push her one palm towards her other. As her palms were a few inches from touching each other, Jess told her to stop. Verity lifted her hand off the other, and now instead of the large flame, there was a small one.

"Unlike Air and Water, which are mostly used by your mental state, Earth and Fire are more physical, and require physical attention to control it." Jess handed Verity the lighter that she had used to create the flame.

"Keep this. You aren't able to create it by yourself, so rather play it safe and carry a lighter," Jess said. Verity took it, and thanked her. Verity and Jess trained for another half hour, and then called for a break.

"Your earth instructor should be here soon, so why not take a rest before you begin," Jess said.

"Thank you," Verity said, pocketing the lighter. Jess walked out the training room, leaving Verity on her own. Verity walked over to the earth part of the training room, and then sat down on the floor next to a small pot plant. It was small, and didn't have many leaves. She touched the small plant, and thought about what Jess had said. If earth was a physical element, how would you make them grow?

"You have to reach into yourself and feel the roots of yourself, and transfer them to the flower," someone said. Verity shuffled to her feet, and faced the newcomer.

"I'm Damon," he introduced. "I'll teach you how to use the earth element. It's probably the hardest element to master, so I won't be surprised if you don't get it the first time."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Verity asked.

"Mind reader," he said. "You're Verity, right?" Verity nodded.

"I see you've taken a liking to the flower, so we'll use that one for now." He picked it up, and put it in the center on the earth section. He sat next to the plant, and verity sat on the opposite side. "To begin, I'm going to teach you simple things, like how to learn things about the plant."

Verity looked rather confused, and randomly said, "Like what, ask its name?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do." Verity stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"So, uh, plant? What should I call you?" Damon started cackling with laughter, and Verity became even fore confused.

"You don't ask it, you feel it." Damon put his hands on one of the leaves. "Do this."

Verity copied him, and Damon let go. Verity kept her hand on the plant, and nothing happened.

"What now?"

"Close your eyes, and think of nothing. Empty your mind, and the name will enter your mind."
Verity did as he said, and emptied her mind of all thoughts. She sat for a while, and eventually, she thought of a name. Yarrow.

"I did it!" She exclaimed. "The name is Yarrow!"

"Good job," Damon said. "Now, I want you to try to figure out it's favorite color."

Verity sighed.

This was going to be a very  long day.

-----

Thank you for reading!