Sequel: All you have to do is shout it out. ›
I'll follow your voice.
09
Roxanne was not sleeping. Despite what people thought; she was not sleeping. Lying on a park bench, facing the gray clouds that seemed like an everyday affair; was not sleeping. Nor was she homeless. It was a Tuesday, and she had taken the day off from school. The education system was overrated anyways, compared to what she had recently discovered. By now, it should have been let out.
It was still hard to even admit it; she controlled fire. It was her gift, her calling in life. Or was it? Pulling the beanie that blended in with her hair, she rose to a sitting position. Cupping her hands, Roxanne called upon the element. It illuminated the shadows, a spark in her eyes. It was really unbelievable, how fragile the balance of fire was. One minute you thought it was on your side, the next it was wrecking your life. Examining it, she lost herself mentally the rest of the world fading away.
“Roxanne?”
The voice jolted from her thoughts, pulling her face up to see Arabella, in some kind of leotard with a gym bag over one shoulder. “Arabella?”
“Hey, uh, you weren’t at school today.” She readjusted the bag on her shoulder.
“Yeah, needed to take a personal day after…everything.” She stood, nodding to the bag. “Off to gym-nice-tics?” she teased.
“I know what you mean,” a stray of black hair fell carelessly over her face as she brushed it back. “Yeah, that thing pretty much is my life.”
Roxanne tugged the beanie up, providing more breathing room. “Can’t say I do. So I was thinking…since we’re kind of like a team now, maybe we should get together and I don’t know, like, practice gaining control? James said we never really could master them unless we were centuries old. I want to prove him wrong.”
Arabella laughed. “Why do you want to prove him wrong so badly?”
“Because….he needs to be proven wrong, little know it all.”
Out of nowhere, something crashed around them followed by several screams. The two stopped, peering at each other.
“Should we….?”
“We should…”
They took off running to the place the sound came from. It didn’t take long for the scene to rise up; smoke and screams were emitting from every corner on the block. The two girls stopped, looking up at the crisis. There was no evil villain like Roxanne had expected, just….smoke and fire.
“Do you want to say it or should I?” Roxanne tilted her head over to Arabella, pushing them further away from the growing crowd and into a more secluded area.
“Say what?”
“It’s morphin time!”
She didn’t know what it was like for Arabella to change, but the feeling and warmth that fire gave her when Roxanne changed forms; was one of exhilaration. With a sigh, it was complete, her feet touching lightly to the ground. Roxanne took in Arabella’s changed form, almost laughable at how opposite Arabella in her normal life, to Arabella the water spirit.
“Don’t you look good enough to eat?” she teased, before shooting out from the alleyway that concealed them and towards the burning building.
“What do we do, just put it out?” Arabella asked, floating beside her.
“Obviously. Uh, I guess I can just command it to be put out….you…you do your water thing.”
Roxanne stayed low to the ground, far from the people but not too close to the flames. Holding her hands over them, they smothered instantly. She continued moving like this, when heavy and torrential downfall came over her. Looking up through squinty eyes, Roxanne saw that Arabella was the cause of it. Her eyes were filled with the color cerulean blue; leaving no room for pupil. Blinking, Roxanne found herself curious and distracted, wondering if her eyes were like that when she had used fire. Without realizing it, the fire had gone out completely.
“Roxanne, come on.” Arabella called several feet from her.
Her name. Looking up at her in shock, Roxanne gave her the look that screamed; no one better have heard that. She shot to Arabella, swiveling around back to the alley, transforming back to their normal selves, running like wildfire the other direction.
“Go to your practice, I’ll get the rest of them.” Roxanne called, running to the school. This could not be happening.
It was still hard to even admit it; she controlled fire. It was her gift, her calling in life. Or was it? Pulling the beanie that blended in with her hair, she rose to a sitting position. Cupping her hands, Roxanne called upon the element. It illuminated the shadows, a spark in her eyes. It was really unbelievable, how fragile the balance of fire was. One minute you thought it was on your side, the next it was wrecking your life. Examining it, she lost herself mentally the rest of the world fading away.
“Roxanne?”
The voice jolted from her thoughts, pulling her face up to see Arabella, in some kind of leotard with a gym bag over one shoulder. “Arabella?”
“Hey, uh, you weren’t at school today.” She readjusted the bag on her shoulder.
“Yeah, needed to take a personal day after…everything.” She stood, nodding to the bag. “Off to gym-nice-tics?” she teased.
“I know what you mean,” a stray of black hair fell carelessly over her face as she brushed it back. “Yeah, that thing pretty much is my life.”
Roxanne tugged the beanie up, providing more breathing room. “Can’t say I do. So I was thinking…since we’re kind of like a team now, maybe we should get together and I don’t know, like, practice gaining control? James said we never really could master them unless we were centuries old. I want to prove him wrong.”
Arabella laughed. “Why do you want to prove him wrong so badly?”
“Because….he needs to be proven wrong, little know it all.”
Out of nowhere, something crashed around them followed by several screams. The two stopped, peering at each other.
“Should we….?”
“We should…”
They took off running to the place the sound came from. It didn’t take long for the scene to rise up; smoke and screams were emitting from every corner on the block. The two girls stopped, looking up at the crisis. There was no evil villain like Roxanne had expected, just….smoke and fire.
“Do you want to say it or should I?” Roxanne tilted her head over to Arabella, pushing them further away from the growing crowd and into a more secluded area.
“Say what?”
“It’s morphin time!”
She didn’t know what it was like for Arabella to change, but the feeling and warmth that fire gave her when Roxanne changed forms; was one of exhilaration. With a sigh, it was complete, her feet touching lightly to the ground. Roxanne took in Arabella’s changed form, almost laughable at how opposite Arabella in her normal life, to Arabella the water spirit.
“Don’t you look good enough to eat?” she teased, before shooting out from the alleyway that concealed them and towards the burning building.
“What do we do, just put it out?” Arabella asked, floating beside her.
“Obviously. Uh, I guess I can just command it to be put out….you…you do your water thing.”
Roxanne stayed low to the ground, far from the people but not too close to the flames. Holding her hands over them, they smothered instantly. She continued moving like this, when heavy and torrential downfall came over her. Looking up through squinty eyes, Roxanne saw that Arabella was the cause of it. Her eyes were filled with the color cerulean blue; leaving no room for pupil. Blinking, Roxanne found herself curious and distracted, wondering if her eyes were like that when she had used fire. Without realizing it, the fire had gone out completely.
“Roxanne, come on.” Arabella called several feet from her.
Her name. Looking up at her in shock, Roxanne gave her the look that screamed; no one better have heard that. She shot to Arabella, swiveling around back to the alley, transforming back to their normal selves, running like wildfire the other direction.
“Go to your practice, I’ll get the rest of them.” Roxanne called, running to the school. This could not be happening.