Keeper of the Lost Cities- Deathgrip

BE ONE WITH THE WATER

"Can you meet me in the Havenfield pastures in twenty minutes?" Sophie asked. 

"Yeah of course. Hopefully, we don't die this time," Keefe answered with a wink. 

Sophie rolled her eyes and Keefe's image clicked off her imparter. This time, she had a plan for their ability testing and it was not going to fail- Sophie had asked Linh to come along. "I can't wait! I have the perfect plan for this," Linh's quiet voice chirped from behind her. 

Sophie put down her imparter. "I can't wait either! Your ability is so cool."

"Let's just hope Keefe doesn't turn into the Boy of Many Floods," Linh laughed. 

"Of course not! He would have you as a mentor." 

Linh blushed a little and looked away. "Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone as powerful as you."

Sophie's eyebrows drew up. "Linh! You know all my DNA has been altered. You're naturally powerful. Maybe we should work on getting your confidence up!" 

"Omigod, no. I'm fine. We already have a Keefe. He has enough confidence for both of us!"

Sophie thought back to the few times when she had actually seen Keefe and said quietly, "You'd be surprised." 

* * *

"Oh, hey Linh!" Keefe said, sauntering up to the two girls. "Here to keep Sophie in check?"

Sophie shoved him. "No! She's here to help me."

"Help you stay in check." Keefe continued. 

"Shut up."

Linh laughed lightly. "So. Where are we going, Sophie?"

Sophie pulled out a red crystal. "You'll see." 

The three of them stepped into the light, letting the familiar sensation of feathers pass through their bodies. When they arrived, they were in a small meadow sheltered by tall trees and boulders that small waterfalls poured down. The air smelled crisp and sweet. Over a small hill, there was a ledge that led down to a watering hole. Sophie knew from experience that the watering hole was a beautifully warm hot spring. "Woah," Keefe whispered. "How did you find this?"

Linh hummed in agreement. "This is the perfect place, the air is filled with moisture."

Before Sophie could reply, Keefe cut in. "So that's what we're doing! Hydrokineticing!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I just stumbled across this place once with Silveny."

"Well, should we get started?" Linh asked. 

 "He-eck yes!" Keefe said, pumping a fist in the air. "Omg imagiiiine! I could flood our mentor's classrooms!"

Linh shook her head, smiling. "The way I started gaining control of my ability was paying attention to the water. Notice how it moves, where it rests and the way it smells."

"I didn't know water had a smell... This sounds hard..." Keefe whined. 

Sophie hit him with a glare, despite how cute he looked with a pout on his face. "Keefe."

Keefe smirked and blew her a kiss. Her stomach erupted with butterflies from just that little movement. Keefe blushed, as if feeling what she was, and then a confused look came across his face and- was that delight?! Linh cleared her throat gently. "Okay, so just sit on the ground in a comfortable position, close your eyes and pay attention to the water around you. I'm going to leave you guys here for a second. I have to see if I can find a certain plant that will be good for this." They watched her walk into the trees. 

Sophie did as she said, wanting to participate on the off chance that she had another ability to manifest (not that she wanted another to deal with). Keefe sat down beside her, his leg brushing hers. Her skin tingled where their legs were still touching. Sophie tried taking a butt-scoot to the right so they weren't touching. She did not need her emotions amplified. Keefe cracked a bright blue eye open and took a butt-scoot towards her. "You said you wouldn't hide anything from me, Foster. So what are these weird emotions you're sending my way?"

Sophie felt a flush creeping up her neck. "Keefe, focus on the water." 

"Yeah, Keefe!" Ro snickered from the shadows. 

Keefe jumped a little. "Oh my god, Ro, stop being so creepy!"

Ro walked out from her spot in the trees and sat down in front of them, crisscross, putting her head in her hands. "Fine then. Tell me all the secrets. I'm right here. I'm listening."

The rest of Sophie's face turned red. "There are no secrets to tell! Can you just focus on the exercise?!"

"You wanna know the real way to connect with water?" Keefe's smile got twice as wide. Before Sophie could blink, he had removed his jerkin and had stripped down to his underwear, cannonballing into the hot spring, whooping joyfully. "BE ONE WITH THE WATER!"

It took all of Sophie's willpower not to laugh and egg him on. Ro cheered loudly. "YES KEEFE! THAT'S MY CHARGE, PEOPLE!" She flew in after him, sending water spraying everywhere. 

Sophie flopped onto her back, staring at the clear sky in exasperation. Suddenly everything went quiet. Worried, Sophie sat upright looking around. And she came face to face with a dripping wet Keefe. He scooped her up over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing and ran towards to watering hole. "NOOOOOO! KEEFE! PUT ME DOOOWN!" She screamed, pounding on his back. 

But Keefe only laughed and jumped off the ledge into the warm water. Sophie hit the water with a 'whoomp' before surfacing, spitting water. "Keefe! Now I'm going to be soaking wet!"

Linh walked back into the clearing with a big smile on her face. "I'm guessing this is another ability testing fail?" 

Instead of answering, Ro hopped out of the pool and tossed her in.