The Second Master of Wind

Unknown Histories

Lloyd's POV

"Lloyd, where did you two go?" Cole asked me as he tapped his foot, making no sound, waiting for an answer.

"We just went to get some of Aeria's stuff from her home, you don't have to look so mad." I tried to reassure the team as Aeria was shouldering her backpack out of their sight from behind me.

"Uh, we're not mad, just a little annoyed that you didn't tell us where you were going with her." Jay pointed to Aeria as she stared at him through half-open eyelids.

"Sorry, if I was supposed to stay in that room like your prisoner." Aeria sassed back and Kai was about to say something back before Zane came forward and suggested,

"Perhaps we should begin with morning training. Aeria may join us so that we may help her control her abilities." Aeria paled a bit when he mentioned her lack of control, but quickly shook it off and crossed her arms.

"Sure, then I can wipe the floor with Hair Gel over there." Aeria smiled wryly as Kai looked ready to burst into flames right then and there.

"First, we should have some breakfast so we may start the day properly nourished." Xia reminded her brother and they both went down below deck to the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go put my stuff away, see ya." Aeria walked away sending one last half-smile to me before she went down to her room.

"What was that?" Nya asked as she looked at me with a knowing smile on her face.

"What was what?" I questioned, avoiding eye contact.

"I saw that little smile she sent your way, you like her, don't you?"

"W-what no I don't, I just thought-"

"Thought what?" Nya's smile widened as I continued to stutter, "Come on, Lloyd, admit it, you like her."

"It's like I told Xia, I just think I can empathize with her. She feels alone and that no one will understand her, so she pushes people away before she thinks they might hurt her." I told Nya and she just sighed before walking away, giggling behind her hand.

"Uh great..." I muttered to myself, slapping a hand to my forehead in frustration as I made my way down to the dining room.

Time Skip to Breakfast Time

"Pancakes are ready!" Zane announced and everyone hurried to the table to get some, all except one.

"Where is Aeria?" Xia asked as she sat down and placed the plate of butter and container of syrup in the middle of the table and Zane placed a pitcher of orange juice on the table, away from Cole.

"I haven't seen her since she went to go 'put her stuff away'." Kai repeated sarcastically.

"Kai, what's your deal? Ever since Aeria showed up, you've been more uhhh heated than usual." Jay questioned.

"Cause, she's a no-good thief who's probably waiting 'til we trust her and then BAM!, she'll turn on us before we know it." Kai emphasized his point by slamming his hands on the table, making everyone's plates rattle and making Cole jump in surprise at the orange juice pitcher tipping slightly towards him before falling back into place.

"Come on, she might not be as bad as she seems. I was waaaaay worse than her when I first showed up." I remembered when I was a kid, causing trouble so that I could prove I could be like my dad, before I realized my destiny to stop him.

"Yeah, but that was when you were a kid, she's our age and could be planning to turn on us any second now."

"Relax Porcupine, I'm not aiming to make much trouble while I'm here." Aeria spoke out of nowhere. She was leaning against the doorway to the room and was crossing her arms while smirking at Kai, who, still, looked like he wanted to barbeque her.

"What took you so long?" Cole asked.

"I was putting my stuff away and it took a little longer than I was expecting." She explained as she came over to the table and sat down between me and Zane.

"Well, feel free to serve yourself some pancakes, especially since you didn't eat much last night." Nya offered the plate that was stacked high with said food. Aeria took one with her hand, spread a little bit of butter on it, and finished it in two bites.

"I'm done." She got up from the table, dusting her hands, and was about to leave before Xia interjected,

"It would be wise to eat more, you'll need all the energy you can for today's training."

"Nah, I'm good, I'll see you all in the training room." She left and Kai let out a long-held groan.

"Come on bro, give her a chance." Nya told him as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I still don't trust anyone who's related to one of our former enemies, but fine..." Kai crossed his arms in displeasure.

"Speaking of which, I searched all records I could find and none show anything about Aeria or Morro having any kind of familial connection, so I cannot tell how they are related." Xia reported as she had the falcon fly to the beam over the table and had him project a profile of Aeria and Morro with a line connecting their pictures, but it had a question mark over it.

"So for all we know, he could be her father, an uncle, a cousin?" Jay guessed and Xia nodded with an unsure look on her face.

"Plus there is a rather large time gap from when Morro was alive to how old she currently is."

"So, you're saying she's supposed to be dead?" Cole questioned.

"That would seem more likely if she was only a few years younger than Morro if they were closely related, but because we don't know how they are related, whether it's as a sibling or even as a great granddaughter, we won't know for sure without some sort of confirmation."

"Why don't we just ask her?" Cole pondered and everyone looked thoughtful before I spoke up,

"She might not be willing to talk about her past, she's been through a lot and I can tell it hurts for her to just think about it, let alone talk about it with people she's just met, and not on very good terms."

"Well then why don't you ask her, she trusts you more." Nya told me while smiling madly.

"Why don't we all try to warm to her after breakfast?" Cole suggested, saving me from embarrassment, and they all silently agreed and we all went back to eating.

1071 Words