The Elemental Trials

Eight

Aurora
I woke up far earlier than I had meant to, my eyelids peeling open as the smallest trickle of early morning light slipped through the gap in the window blinds. My body didn't want to move, but I was still aware of the sounds coming from different rooms in the house - someone was rustling about in the kitchen while another showered in the bathroom. My eyes flitted over to the cabinet across the room, spying the clock which revealed that it was around 5 in the morning, before I peered at Skye's bed and found it empty. It was then I remembered that it was one of the travelling days, where Skye and Luke would be heading back to the mainland to visit their families. There was no way Skye would be up that early for any other reason, which meant it would just be me and Marcus on the island for the day. I liked these days in all honesty; don't get me wrong, I do love Skye and Luke being here and miss them when they're gone, but it's nice to have a slightly quieter, more relaxed environment once every two weeks. I continued laying where I was, testing to see if I would fall back asleep, but despite my body's comfort my mind refused to settle back down. I wasn't bothered a great deal; it meant I could get in some early training before I did something more fun for the day. The shower turned off and footsteps made their way down the hall, before Skye walked into the room wrapped in a towel - her white hair still slick with water. She spared a glance my way as she entered, only to grow slightly surprised as she realised I was awake "You're normally fast asleep whenever we leave for these trips. Did I wake you?" "No, no, not at all." I said, flashing her a smile as I forced myself to sit upright in the bed "I literally just woke up ten seconds ago." "Ah. I'll pin that on Luke then - he's making a ruckus scavenging the kitchen for food to take." She said with a grin, before heading over to the wardrobe to pick out clothes and shielding herself from me with the door. Not that she was particularly shy when it came to changing, but at least it upheld some semblance of privacy in our own space. "Yeah." I mumbled, my responses coming mostly out of instinct than actual thought - I was still half asleep after all, though I was rubbing my eyes and doing my best to wake up properly. "You excited to see Lilian again?" I asked Skye, curious to hear how she was feeling about seeing her cousin once again. Although she'd visited plenty of times before, two weeks was a long time on the island. Though I think the main appeal of the visits was actually getting to spend time with their loved ones, more so than just simply catching up. "Hell yeah. Things are getting a lot better with her you know." Skye said, as I heard her shuffling about and tugging on whichever clothes she picked "Her Dad's been a lazy drunk for the entirety of my knowing him, but now he's actually regained some sense. Maybe me leaving gave him time to re-evaluate his goals." "He's back at work?" I asked curiously - I knew enough about Skye's old life in Wales to hold a conversation with her about it. "Fuck no." She replied with a laugh, shaking her head as she closed the wardrobe and finished buttoning up her yellow blouse. Actually, I think that was my blouse. Whatever. "He's still way down below regular father standards, but you can tell he's putting in more effort than before." She dropped down on her bed, giving me her full attention as we spoke. I let out a yawn, covering my mouth with a hand before talking once more "How are they getting cash then? Lilian isn't still pickpocketing, is she?" "Nah. She got caught a few times once I'd left and figured she needed to take on a new lifestyle." Skye explained, smiling a little as she grew visibly prideful in her cousin's growth "And since she's sixteen now she went off and found herself a real job. Surprisingly. She doesn't have the physical traits I have but she got one nonetheless." Skye ran a hand through her hair and flashed a pose, which I gave a small snort at. In seemingly realising her hair was still damp she grabbed her towel off the ground and started to work on drying it, while I continued the conversation "I think it takes more than looks to hold a job. No doubt she has a longer-than-three-second attention span, which you sadly don't~" Skye peeked at my from under her towel, catching my slightly teasing smile, before she threw the towel at me and got me right in the face with it. I have no clue if she used her powers to help her, but it was impressively accurate nonetheless. "Ew Skye, gross!" I shouted, hurriedly throwing it off me as she laughed her ass off from across the room. There was a sudden knock at the door, but it didn't do anything to cease Skye's laughter - so I dealt with it by firing a beam of water right into her face. She inhaled sharply, sitting still for a second as water dripped down her face "Aurora!" I chuckled to myself as I got up and opened the door, finding Luke standing there in one of his checkered shirts with a smile on his face "Surprised you're up. Though I should've guessed from the lack of snoring." I gasped, my cheeks reddening as I looked at him in mortification "I do not snore...do I?" He chuckled lightly, which gave me no indication as to whether he was just teasing me or not. "Skye ready yet?" He asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl from the doorway. "Umm..." I pretended to think on it, peering behind me to see Skye hurriedly drying herself with her towel once again, before flashing a smile to Luke "More or less ready I think." I walked past him and stretched my arms, hearing him laugh as he looked inside and saw Skye's situation. In making my way downstairs I found Alex sitting on the couch, writing in a small notepad as he obviously waited for the pair to finish getting ready. "Hey there." "Morning." I smiled as he glanced over his shoulder at me, raising his hand in hello, before I headed for the kitchen to whip up some breakfast. "You know..." I said, starting to scour the kitchen as I talked to Alex "...sitting on the couch would be far less boring with a TV or something." Alex let out a chuckle, shaking his head slightly from his spot on the couch "Look, I've read all your signals loud and clear. I will try and get some things to make this place less boring. Any specific requests?" "Hmm. Other than the TV...more books, maybe? That's the only request I can think of, talk to the others for better ideas." I said as I found a packet of toast-able waffles, opening them and popping them into the toaster. One thing I had to give Alex credit for - he'd always brought back a wide selection of things to eat, or snack on. "Do you guys want games or something? Do kids your age still play games?" I willed myself not to laugh at the genuine consideration in Alex's tone before answering "Yes Grandpa, though it depends what kind of games." "Video games?" He chirped up, peering at me over the back of the couch with raised eyebrows. I was honestly surprised he knew about video games. "You live with a posh girl, a farmer, and a homeless kid. I don't think any of us have had the tiniest bit of experience with video games." I answered honestly, leaning my palms on the countertop as I watched him. "Huh...I will put that in the 'maybe' section." He scribbled onto the notepad right as I ejected my waffles from the toaster, before starting to slather marmalade on them. "Ew, the English twat is putting fruity shit on her waffles instead of chocolate." Skye announced as she descended the stairs, bag strapped over her shoulders and followed closely by a Luke who was attempting not to smile. I flipped her off, taking a hearty bite out of my breakfast while she made exaggerated gagging noises. "Skye, what's your experience with video games?" Alex asked from the couch, flipping his notepad shut and pocketing it. "Lilian's Dad had a Nintendo 64 in his attic." She stated matter-of-factually, not even thinking to ask where the question came from. "You ever play it?" Skye gave little more than a small shake of her head, causing Alex to sigh sadly. "Well whatever, I'll see what stuff I can find when I go shopping. Marcus has missed out on his chance to request stuff cause he's lazy. You two ready to go?" Skye and Luke both nodded their heads, causing Alex to smile "Great. To the boat, then. Aurora, make sure Marcus doesn't kill himself please. We'll be back at the usual time." "I'll try. Enjoy your day." I said, waving with my waffle in my hand as the three grabbed what they needed and headed for the door. "Bye babe." Skye said with a wave, followed by Luke's "See you later." "Byyyeeee. Safe travels." I smiled to them as they passed, taking another bite of my waffle once all three of them were out the door. I soon began to consider what I would do for the day - me and Marcus usually used the others leaving as an excuse to slack off and spend time together. I really, really enjoyed it actually...for no reason in particular. He was good company, and there was an element of closeness that existed when it was just us on the island. Platonic closeness of course. Anyway, I figured that would have to wait considering he was still sleeping. Because of that - and because of lack of anything to do around the house - I made the decision to go out myself and read, or maybe train a little. I finished off the rest of my breakfast and headed upstairs, getting myself ready for the day before leaving the house with nothing but my book in tow.