Elemental

Chapter 6

They moved to another camp the next morning. Usually, they rotated every two weeks but they had stayed an extra week to give Christine more time to adjust. It was a days' hike but Christine didn't mind. She enjoyed being outdoors much more than she enjoyed being underground. They moved in a small group, four being the max for a camp change. Christine was with Damien, Raquel, and Ned. Which would have been fine if Ned hadn't been slowing them down. What was supposed to be a days' hike turned into a day and a half and they were forced to make camp.

"I'm sorry," Ned apologized for the fifth time, brushing his wet curls out of his eyes. "I haven't changed camps in a while."

"I thought you had to move every two weeks," Christine said, pulling her hood tighter around her face to block the rain.

"Ned's a special case. He's our best mechanic and he works on creating weapons as well. It's hard to move all of his tech so he usually stays at one camp for a month or so." Raquel explained.

"What kind of weapons do you make?" Christine asked as they took cover under a cluster of trees.

Ned grinned. "I've been working on ones specifically for you to utilize your gifts. I don't have anything concrete yet but I've got lots of ideas and prototypes." He ruffled through his bag and pulled out a crumpled sketch to hand to her. "I've been told that water is the hardest element for you to control so I'm trying to come up with a device that pulls the water particles out of the air toward you, sort of like a magnet so that it's easier for you to reach out and control. Optimally, it will be a ring that you can wear but if not, I was thinking of a bracelet."

She looked at the paper. There was a sketch of what he was thinking, a ring of wires and buttons and next to that a series of numbers and math equations that Christine had no idea what they meant.

"I've also been thinking that you could use seeds to grow things more quickly. You can throw a seed at someone and have it grow mid-air and have it hit them. Also, I've made a bracelet that operates like a lighter so that if you're ever feeling weak you can use the flame from the lighter and expand on it. I don't know exactly how your gifts work but it seems logical that the most strain comes from creating something out of limited resources." Ned pulled out a metal bracelet that had a ring attached to it on a small metal rod. "Here," he said and grabbed her wrist. He attached the bracelet onto her wrist and slipped the ring onto her thumb. "Now, you press the button on the inside of the ring and a flame will ignite on the top of the ring."

Christine pressed the button and a small flame appeared on top of her thumb. She could feel the heat radiating onto her skin and didn't like how close it was to her skin. Ned was right about her gifts, with the flame already produced it took almost no effort to shoot the flame onto the stack of wood in front of them. The flame expanded and made a perfect campfire. Ned's grin widened.

"Once I've got the technology down then you should be an even match against the dictators."

Christine wasn't convinced. "It's still three against one. Technology or not, we've got to take them down one at a time." She took it off and handed it to Ned.

Ned nodded. "For sure and we will. But isn't it exciting to know that we've got a chance?"

"I thought we had a chance when Christine joined us." Damien pointed out. "That was your campaign last month at least."

"Of course, but now we've got a much more likely chance of success." Ned was still smiling.

Raquel rolled her eyes. "All right. That's enough talk about chances and tech. Get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn."

"I'll take first watch," Damien volunteered.

Everyone else laid down on the ground, using their packs as makeshift pillows. They hadn't packed for an overnight trip so they had no blankets either. Christine had Bane to keep her warm but for some reason, she couldn't sleep. Ned and Raquel passed out within minutes but she laid there, staring up at the stars through the gaps in the branches and listening to their soft snores and patter of rain.

"You should get some sleep," Damien said, sitting down next to her and leaning against Bane's belly. Bane huffed from the added weight but didn't move.

"How do you know I wasn't sleeping?"

"Maybe because your eyes are open."

She smiled, softly. She couldn't help herself around Damien. She found it extremely easy to smile and laugh around him like she did with no one else. He was witty and charming with a contagious laugh and smile. She wasn't the only one that found it easy to be at ease around him. He seemed to make friends wherever he went. He was also the only one that seemed to understand when she was being sarcastic. Many people thought she was just a bitch.

"I guess I'm not that tired." Christine shrugged, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

She leaned against Bane and pushed her pack so it was by her feet. Bane shifted and drew his paw around her waist. She started petting his paw, absent-mindedly, not caring about the mud that he was getting all over her shirt. Her mind wandered to the tech that Ned was so excited about. If his other devices worked like the one he showed her, she would have more power at her disposal. But she had seen what they could do. They caused natural disasters with little more than sweat on their brow. What kind of chance does a young girl have against all that? She knew what she had been getting into, but seeing the hope on Ned's face made it feel real. People were counting on her and she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to deliver.

"You can do this, you know," Damien said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What?" She asked, bringing the fire back to life as it spluttered in the moist air.

"I saw the look on your face when Ned started talking about chances. It's okay to be afraid. We all are."

"And if I can't stop them?"

Damien shrugged. "Then we die and they continue to control the world."

"That's not very helpful."

"We can only do our best. If our best isn't enough then we've got to learn to live with it."

Christine looked at him but he was staring up at the fire, flames dancing along his crystal blue eyes. He wasn't what she had expected him to be. When they met, she thought that he was nothing more than a gullible, stupid guy with no experience being on the run. Now she knew that there was more to him than that. She didn't know him extremely well but what she's gathered of him, he was smart and careful. He knew when to back down but not before giving it his all. It was something that she could tell from training with him.

She'd seen the way people look and act around him, he was beloved and trusted. She knew that the only reason she was given a chance by the rest of the resistance was because of Damien. He was someone people believed in and she found herself believing in him too.