You Make Me Stronger

Ember walked into her house after having been working at the merchant stand all day. She was feeling like she wanted to burn something but at last she couldn't. Ember was nearly knocked over as her little sister hugged her. Ember laughed and kissed her head hugging her back. "Hey little Drop." Ember said softly using her sister's nickname. Brooke smiled. "Ember! You're home! Can we play?" she asked pulling away and jumping around like a frog. Ember laughed feeling calmer seeing her sister. "Little Drop I am tired." she said and sat down in one of the arm chairs in the living room. "Maybe we can play Mancala." she said watching Brooke think about it before popping up from the ground and running out of the room. Ember chuckled and pulled the little table closer to her chair and waited for Brooke to return.
She smiled thinking about how her sister was so young and free when her aunt walked in. She looked around and then looked relieved seeing Ember. "Ember into your room." she said and closed the front door. Ember stood and frowned. "Aunt Addie?" she asked standing. Addie looked at her pointedly. "Now." she said. Ember frowned and moved into her room closing the door behind her. Brooke came out and Addie pulled her close telling her to remember their drills. There was a knock on the door and then Addie was talking to a man. Ember paced by her window and bit her lip. Another surprise inspection? This was the third time this month. Ember carefully opened her window and slipped out. She hopped the fence and ran down the old dirt road. She rounded a corner headed into the hills. Ember ran up a hill and down the other side before stopping infant of a cave. She paced and cried out in aggregation. She tossed a fire ball at a pile of rocks watching them tumble to the ground seared from her flames. She hated having to hide what was so natural inside of her. Ember ran a hand through her hair and sat on a bolder her head hanging down. She would stay here until she felt in control again, as she always did on inspection days. Ember was tired of this life. She felt the tears threatening to slip out as she thought of her mother and father. She missed them so much, and she still didn't understand their sudden disappearance.

@ Jinx...
Saber was laying back in his temporary hideout trying to decide what he should do next. "Hmm, the town by here is just a basic village. Nothing special at all. I should probably..." His thoughts were cut off as he heard a scream outside. As Saber raced forward he was still deep enough to stay out of sight and saw a girl standing there. "Well, at least it isn't more of those lousy guards. But how did she find this place?" He felt awkward as the thought that he stole someone else's hideout crossed his mind like a little kid. His thoughts were completely gone as he saw her sling a fireball at the rocks and sit down on a boulder. Instead of shocked he was a little surprised, with her anger he expected the fireball to be a lot bigger. He walked up behind her, not making a noise because of how he acted naturally. As he drew closer he noticed the tears and felt a little bad for her Once he was right behind her he leaned in really close with his head almost completely beside hers and asked innocently, "Hey, are you alright there?"

@ Alphora
Ember heard the whisper and jumped up ready to hit him but stopped suddenly. She looked over him. He was to young to be a guard and he was just not what a guard would be. She bit her lip and whipped the tears away angrily. She was trying to stay in control. It was why she had only let the fire ball be small. She hadn't wanted to bring attention to herself but it seemed that wasn't what had brought attention to her. "Who are you? What do you want?" she asked standing taller to try and look more in control and intimidating but it failed. She took another step back looking him over feeling a blush creep over her cheeks. "I'm fine. What are you doing out here?" she asked more softly. She was seeming to calm down slowly. Ember ran a hand through her hair. She was thinking that she should get back home now but this man infant of her had her curious. No one came out here unless they had something to hide or something to sell to another village.That was part of the reason she liked it out here so because it was quiet and she was alone.

@ Jinx...
Saber stood there a bit curiously when she jumped up. He expected her to be surprised with the way he showed her he was there. "My name's Saber. And what I want...hmm well not really anything right now. I am a little hungry, though." He said a little jokingly and tried not to laugh when she tried to look intimidating. He avoided her last question of what he was doing where he was and instead asked, "Is this your hideout? The inside looked a little too man-made to be natural. Either way it was really cozy, so if you did make it you did a good job fire girl!" He gave her a thumbs up with a big smile, then looked as if he was worried about something. "Don't worry, though. I've only used it for a few days. I'm not intending to steal it completely or anything." He remembered one time when a giant bear chased him out of a cave on other time. The difference here is, he can actually communicate his innocence.

@ Alphora
Ember crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're talking about. It's a cave." she said not walking to get into how she had made it or even adhere to him calling her fire girl. That could get her killed. "I have a name... Ember... and I don't care if you use it. I just come out here to umm relax." she said and bit her lip not wanting to admit this is were she had planed to come if anything went wrong in town. "There is a river just down the way." she whispered knowing that it didn't really matter but she just felt like she needed to say something. It was a good place for her to go if she every got so angry she might burn a lot of things if she didn't have water around. There was a bolder in the middle of the river too that she used to sit on when she was having a melt down. Ember couldn't help but smile a little at him. He was strange and yet he made her way to laugh. It had her confused. Ember looked up at the sun and sat back down on the ground. She had a little while until she had to go home for dinner and if this guy was nice maybe she would invite him. After all it was just as important to help a stranger as it was to be cautious of them.

@ Jinx...
Saber hadn't seen the river yet. "Hey, is the river water clean?" When Ember looked a little confused he added, "As I said, I am a little hungry. I haven't really found a great water source just yet. He saw her expression to the thought of him drinking river water and realized she probably lives in this town and that kind of thought might be odd. This made him a little antsy so he tried to change the subject. He guessed by how familiar she was with this area that she had SOMETHING to do with the cave at least. He decided to pry. "So how did you make the cave insides the way they were anyways? Do you have friends or did you just wither away at it with that fire. It didn't seem that big, though. It must have taken a while. I guess Ember is a good name rather than something like 'Bonfire' for you," He said teasingly and smiled. He was a little curious about how an Elemental lived in a town like this, but didn't want to scare her off or ask if it was a really touchy subject. He figured it'd be best to see what she was like first.

@ Alphora
Ember raised an eyebrow and nodded. She leaned her head to one side thinking she really should invite him to dinner so that he could eat something that wasn't out of a river and drink cleaned well water. She stood as he started to push. She shook her head. "No you're wrong. I don't know what you're talking about. Stop it. Stop it!" she yelled at him as he kept pushing starting to quiver. She shook her head. "I don't have that... It's wrong!" she said and turned and ran feeling like if she stayed he would unveil all her secrets and then he would know the truth, everyone would know what she had done to make her parents leave. Ember ran towards the river and hopped from stone to stone before landing on the bolder. She was fast and swift. She sat in the middle of the river her head in her lap as she hugged her knees. Ember was scared to go home now. What if he told someone. They would kill her sister to because she was a few years from being of age to develop powers and they would be wrong. She was normal, she had to be normal because then she would be safe.

@ Jinx...
Saber saw her turn tail and run quickly. He felt pretty bad after making her cry like that and chased after her. Speed was one of his most notable traits, but she didn't seem to be running in a random direction so he decided to just follow her. After he saw her sit down and begin to cry again he said to himself quietly, "Good job Saber, you made a girl cry. Now you're following her like a creepy stalker...Yep that about sums up what just happened." He thought for a minute and realized what made her cry and smiled. "She's a silly one. Hot headed too. Maybe next time she'll notice that even though I saw the fire I wasn't scared and try to talk...Then again maybe not. But that could make things fun." He snuck up behind her once more. With the river running like it was, it wasn't too hard to mask his noise even jumping over the rocks. Once he was behind her he said, "Hey, don't cry alright? You don't need to be scared. Plus, the best curve on any woman's body is their smile." Before she could stand up or say anything like last time Ember felt a huge burst of wind that kept blowing for a few seconds. Saber knew as well as her, no natural wind could start and end the way this one did so he smiled hoping she understood.

@ Alphora
Ember looked up but gasped as the wind kept her in place moving her tears off her face. She looked at Sabber gasping as the wind stopped. "How?" she shook her head and looked around. "You shouldn't do that here." she said and looked him over again. "You... ummm." she didn't know what to call what he just did. She hadn't met anyone like her before. Ember smiled as she thought about this. Finally someone she could talk to. "How have you hidden your... gifts for so long?" she asked and turned so she could look at him easier. "Why would you risk showing me?" she asked and suddenly she felt like she had a friend who would understand why she was so afraid. But then again he was so confident. Ember bit her lip trying to slow her questioning down.

@ Jinx...
Saber looked a little confused at her questions. "Hidden? Risk? What do you mean?" He honestly seemed confused until he realized she really was a little different in a lot of ways when it came to this sort of thing. "Oh, I get it. Hey, Ember, believe it or not I'd do that straight in the middle of your whole town for all to see. It isn't like the guards could catch me, let alone beat me in a fight. I had to wipe a few out the other day and the ones here are nothing compared to some other towns I've seen." By the look of surprise on her face Ember probably saw the guards as incredibly strong. He paused then smiled for a second realizing he saw something. "I am glad, though. Your 'curves' really are a nice thing to look at," he said obviously meaning her smile from his previous statement. He looked around and mentioned, "I can see why you would come here, though. You looked like you were really all over the place with your emotions earlier. I am guessing you can't control it well so you come here by a river." He bent down and was about to try and take a big gulp of the river as if it would be a normal thing.

@ Alphora
"Really?" Ember asked and blushed as he started to talk. She was quiet as she listened to him. She blushed as he complimented her. "I have a lot on my mind that makes it hard to keep a cool head." she said and giggled at her own statement. Ember watched him and bit her lip. "Hey." she touched his arm feeling the cool of his skin. It was nice. She blushed and looked away. "How about you come to dinner and get some water from the well." she said and bit her lip. She couldn't believe she had just invited him to her house were her Aunt and sister were. She blushed again feeling different around him than most people like she did with her sister, relaxed. Ember realized this was ridiculous because she had only just met him. Ember smiled softly as he looked back at her. "I would just have to think of something to say to Aunt Addie." she said and chuckled already imagining the look on her face when she brought a boy home. Aunt Addie was a real stickler for the rules so this would be hard for her to deal with because at the same time she was to polite for her own good.

@ Jinx...
Saber seemed pretty happy. "Sure! It's been a while since my meal wasn't cooked over a fire...although it'd probably be a lot easier to cook with you around." He saw how nervous she was when she asked all of this and decided to tease her a little. "Are you alright, Ember? You seem a little hot-headed there." He said as he felt her forehead which he could tell made her even more nervous. "Do you live alone? If not, does whoever you live with know that you are an Elemental or...?" He awaited a reply.

@ Alphora
Ember flushed. "You can't say things like that in town." she warned him. "I am..." she was going to say fine but his skin hit hers and she shivered. His touch was like a cool breeze to her hot day. "Umm well..." she was glad when he dropped his hand. "I live my my Aunt Addie and my sister." she said and looked away before looking back at him. "Brooke can't know. She already knows to much and she could get hurt." Ember took his hand looking into his eyes. Her eyes burned like stars. "Promise me you won't say anything to her." Ember said feeling the connection there between them, it was intense and she was trying not to think to much on it but to instead concentrate on making him understand her sister was important to her. Ember felt her breathing speeding up and her heart was fluttering. "Saber please." she whispered his name.

@ Jinx...
Saber could tell how much she wanted her sister to be safe. It also made him realize why she was so protective of her situation. The feeling of her warm hands was nice, and honestly made him even comfier than he normally was. He smiled and replied, "Sorry Ember, I love kids. I'm going to have to say something to her if I want her to like me. I can't just stand there and stare at her after all." He bent down for a moment only to splash a bit of water at her. "Calm down hot head, I won't say a thing. It sounds like your aunt knows, though. Are you going to tell her anything about me at all?" He didn't seem like it would bother him if she did. He was purely curious and wanted to know what to expect for when they went there. "Lead the way whenever you're ready."

@ Alphora
Ember laughed. "You know what I mean!" she said and giggled some more blushing as he splashed her. It didn't last long before it sizzled off her and she nodded. "She will like you." Ember said and let his hand go. "Aunt Addie knows or at least I think she does. She always makes sure I am not in the same room as the guards during inspections." she said and shrugged. "But no I am not going to tell her, she doesn't need to know your secret it will keep us all safer." she said and looked down. "I don't understand how you could be so comfortable with it." she said softly and stood. "Come on I will show you the way." she said and started to hop back to shore. Once she was on land she started to lead the way back to her place and headed around to the front slipping in. "Aunt Addie?" she called softly. Addie came out of the kitchen. "Were did you go?" she demanded of Ember. "I uhh needed some air." she said blushing as she realized Saber was fresh air all the time. She bit her lip. "Uhh I invited someone to dinner. He was going to drink out of the river." she said softly and Addie sighed. "Bring him in." she said unable to be rude. Ember came back to him and took his hand gently pulling on his hand getting him into the house. "Aunt Addie this is Saber." she said seeing the instant dislike in her aunt's eyes. Suddenly there was a squeal and a head of brown hair came running into the room and hugged Ember. "You are back! I was worried!" she said and Ember smiled hugging her sister. "Don't worry about me. I will be okay." she said and kissed her cheek as she pealed Brooke off of her. "Brooke this is Saber." Ember said softly.

@ Jinx...
Saber knelt down as he saw Brooke look up at him. "So, your name's Brooke huh? I'm Saber" He gave a big smile. After pausing he saw she was a little nervous about him. He made a quick, very small, blast of wind slice behind him where only Ember could notice what he did. It cut through a good way down the back of his shirt. "Don't worry. You can trust me," He leaned in really close and dramatic, "After all, I just saved your sister from a huge bear." He stood up and turned around. "See? He almost got us but it was no match for me," He started laughing a little which grew into a bigger one as Brooke joined in. Brooke was holding her arms up as if she wanted to be picked up. Saber realized that probably normally never happened because they didn't live with a father. And Aunt Addie surely didn't look like she was picking anything up anytime soon. Saber lifted her off the ground with ease and started following her coordinations of which way to go and when to stop.

@ Alphora
Brooke was giggling as she held onto Saber as he moved about the house. Ember smiled watching him for a moment before she went and grabbed him some water from the well. She stood in front of him and offered him a glass of water. "I heard you were thirsty." she said and smiled as Brooke happily clung to Saber. She was amazed. Brooke didn't like strangers, not like this anyways. Ember wondered what it was about Saber that made everyone relaxed around him. Ember went to help her unhappy aunt with dinner. "A bear? And what was all that about in my house Ember?" she hissed. Ember frowned. "Aunt Addie he is just a guy that needed help." she said softly thinking it was close enough to the truth to be true. She set the table as Addie was finishing up dinner. She set the food on the table. "Brooke... Saber. Dinner!" Ember called happily.

@ Jinx...
About when they were almost done eating there was an incredibly loud siren that could easily be heard all over town. Saber looked at Ember for an explanation. After she explained that they were executing an Elemental and that the entire town is always required to attend he followed her towards the commotion. After taking his place Saber was in just as much shock as everyone else seemed to be.

@ Jinx...
About when they were almost done eating there was an incredibly loud siren that could easily be heard all over town. Saber looked at Ember for an explanation. After she explained that they were executing an Elemental and that the entire town is always required to attend he followed her towards the commotion. After taking his place Saber was in just as much shock as everyone else seemed to be.