No. 20: It Takes Time to Mend a Broken Heart

No. 20: It Takes Time to Mend a Broken Heart

"Kaleigh I don't think this is such a good idea -"
"Stryder. We talked about this."
Kaleigh whiled around looking him strait in the eye with a determined look, her hands on her hips.
Some of her long ponytail got caught in her mouth when she did, which she pulled out in annoyance.
"It's going to be fine. I'll be right there and nothing bad is going to happen. Besides they're already expecting you. I told Brandon to tell them you'd be coming."
Stryder looked from the weird pyramid like building to her face in shock.
"When did you do that? You've never left me alone since last night, and you didn't call anyone!" He gawked.
After he had taken out his contacts last night, Kaleigh insisted he stay with her.
The conversation wit her brothers was surprisingly short. After they saw his eyes they gave in with the condition that he slept in the living room.
But Kaleigh surprised all of them by camping out on the floor.
Not wanting to leave their sister with a strange teenage boy, the brothers decided to make a movie night out of it.
All of them camped out on the floor with popcorn and cheesy horror movies.
When the sugar high crashed, Kaleigh had ended up curled up next to Stryder, with her head on his lap. Venn had noticed and gave him one of those looks that said, 'do anything stupid and I'll kill you'. But Stryder was just happy with the fact that she was so close and trusted him so much even though they didn't really know each other.

"Well Brandon and I have a telepathy link so I can talk to him whenever I want really."
Kale must have noticed the bizarre look on Stryder's face. "It's like free cell phone service just with out the phone...and I can only call one person, but that's not the point!"
She paused a moment to gather her thoughts.
"We'll explain it all in a minute. Now come on!"
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him after her through the glass doors of the weird building.

Inside, Kaleigh quickly looked around to see everyone was in various stages of training already.
Brandon was doing his usual beam work, Cliff was focusing on channeling water to use as a shield. Venn and Terra were working together, trying to see what they could do acrobatically, and what moves would help them in battle.
The Professor was sitting on one of the benches shouting corrections, or encouragements or praises.
Kale waltzed up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
Wallace turned and looked up at the young girl who moved aside, revealing a boy a year older than her stood a little ways away. The Professor recognized him immediately, and was even surprised to see that when the boy's eyes looked his way, they were golden.
"Ah...you must be Stryder." He said, rising from his seat and looking the boy over.
The boy just gave him a head nod but said nothing more.
Brandon jumped off a beam and landed gracefully next to Kaleigh, his arms crossed over his chest, his hair in his stormy eyes.
"Who's this?" He asked.
"This is Stryder....The....you know." Kaleigh muttered. Brandon looked at her, as if he was expecting her to finish her sentence, but she just jabbed him in the ribs and gave him a meaningful look.
"Oh...that you know." He finally got it when he looked at the boy's eyes.
"Yeah...that one. Idiot." She rolled her eyes and walked towards the closet that held the training garbs.
So, she hasn't told him. The Professor thought grimly.
"So, Stryder." He spoke up. "How did you find Kaleigh?"
Stryder hesitated, not quiet sure how to answer that.
"Bumped into her at the mall a couple months back." He answered finally.
The Professor nodded and watched as Kaleigh came up behind him and smiled at Stryder.
"I'll be right back, don't freak out. They wont bite." She said as she went off to go change.
The boy shifted when she disappeared and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Well I'm sure this is all very strange to you and I apologize for that. But please let me enlighten you."
Stryder nodded slightly and shifted from one foot to another, waiting for him to tell him what the heck was going on.

.:+++:.

Kaleigh weaseled into her training garbs and kicked off her shoes and socks. Jogging out of the changing room, she saw the Professor and Stryder talking on a bench farthest from everyone.
"Hey Kale."
She looked up and saw Brandon standing in front of her as she braided her hair in her usual French braid.
"We're working on jumps today along with the beams."
Kaleigh groaned. She hated the beams. She felt like the most clumsiest person ever when she was on the beams. Especially compared to Brandon.
"You've got to work on those okay? Someday you're going to thank me. I promise." He said, taking her hand and pulling her towards the ladder that led up to the beams.
"Yeah but I suck! Big time!"
"Compared to a guy who's been doing this for several years now. You can only compare yourself to yourself. Alright?"
Kale growled at him but quickly scaled the ladder.
"Why do you always know the right things to say at the right times?" She asked, not really expecting an answer.
Because I'm just that awesome.
She smiled at his voice in my head. It wasn't one of those things that someone gets use to, but it does become slightly more familiar over time.
Full of yourself much? Kaleigh asked.
The only response she got was a chuckle.
She strapped a harness on her and clipped the safety belt onto it.
"Alright you ready? We've got to work on our jumping from thing to thing, meaning you've got to keep your movements fluid. Here's a hint, your body will automatically try to find a foothold and get there. It's just the way God programmed your mind and how your body works."
"So what you're saying is start running and don't stop? Let my subconscious do all the work?"
"Well...sort of. We'll start off easy. See that cable? Swing around it and land back on the same beam. Okay?"
Kaleigh took a deep breath and with out another word she took off running.
Her bare feet gripped the padding and gave her good traction. The cable was coming up quick, she inhaled deeply and forced her mind to go blank.
Her hands gripped the cable slightly above her head, her momentum caused her to swing around when she pushed off. The pieces of cloth Brandon had wrap around her palms, kept her skin from ripping to shreds.
Halfway through the spin, she tucked her legs into her chest for a moment, aiming her body tightly around the cable and then letting her legs out. Her feet hit the beam and she pushed herself forward with her hands and landed squarely on the beam.
She exhaled and realized she had been holding her breath.
"See? I told you, you could do it." Brandon said, looking at her with a grin as he crossed his arms over his chest.
She sighed, and allowed herself a smile. Enjoying the small victory.
"Yeah but that was simply a turn."
"Yeah but that'll help you in some tight spot. I've used it more times then I can count. It's the basic stuff that counts."
Kaleigh sighed and pushed a stray hair out of her eyes.
"Alright, well teach me the basics. I hate the feeling of being defenseless." She said.
"You're going to have to convince me better than that."
Kale jumped when Stryder was suddenly standing next to Brandon, he was still in his street clothes, even his shoes.
"Someone who's defenseless doesn't jump a guy twice her size that she knows could beat her much faster than she could react. Yet you decided to make the first move and therefore you had surprise on your side which you knew, and therefore you had the upper hand. That's not the kind of planning someone who's defenseless has, that's the planning of someone who knows exactly what they need to get the upper hand that's with in their limits."
His golden eyes locked in on hers and she shifted, slightly nervous.
"I'm just a sixteen year old girl with a screwed up past and some whacked out powers. That doesn't make me Jason Bourne." She unclasped her lifeline.
Her emotions were mixed with despair, and an urge to prove herself that she could do just as well as the boys.
Brandon cried out when she suddenly dove off the beam. She was falling head first, and the floor was coming up fast. Last second she pulled herself into a tight ball, hit the ground on her left shoulder and rolled, letting the impact transform into momentum, propelling her into a fast roll and coming up on her knees.
Everyone gapped at her. Pure silence hung over them like a blanket, her own heartbeat pounded in her ears as her look of shock turned to a smile.
"You were saying?" Stryder called down. She looked back up at them and grinned before taking off into the changing room.

Back in her street clothes, she stood over the sink her face drenched with water as she tried to calm herself down.
What she had just accomplished wasn't completely her, it was part of her newly honed senses that had let her do that.
"So now I am like Jason Bourne?" She asked herself in the mirror.
Groaning, she threw on her leather jacket and ran out of the changing room. She didn't even pause when she ran through the training room, ignoring everyone yelling her name as she ran out and into the open air, taking off down the green hill in a steady pace and keeping her breathing even. At this pace she knew she could go at least a mile, which would get her beyond the school grounds which is just want she needed right now. A break, from everything, including Brandon asking her questions in her head.
She made it past the mansion but not any farther.
"Hey Kaleigh!"
She slowed her pace down 'til she came to a stop, turning to see who had called her name.
A blond haired girl with bright green eyes came running over. Crystal.
"Hey Crystal. What's up?" Maybe this girl was just the thing Kale needed to clear her head.
"Oh not much how about you?" The girl said, coming to a stop right in front of her.
"Same here."
"Cool. Well since we're both conveniently doing nothing, shall we go on that girl's day out?"
Kaleigh nodded.
"Yeah!"
Crystal's smile beamed on her small round face. "Neat! My cars just around the corner. Let's go!"
Crystal linked her arm with Kaleigh and led her away to her car.

.:+++:.

When Kaleigh had run out, with out giving anyone an explanation, naturally the boys wanted to go looking for her. Only they found Terra blocking the door.
"Let her cool down. You guys are giving her too much pressure and she's stressed. Back off and just let her be." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
It took some convincing and a firm hand but they finally gave up and went back to training.
Terra sighed and told the Professor she was done for the day before she headed to the changing room.

When she was back in the comfort of her skirts, boots and turtle neck, she emerged from the locker room. The two brother's where cracking up jokes like normal, and even including Stryder a bit though he was still kind of shy and quiet, Terra wanted to applaud Kaleigh for being able to somehow talk that boy into working with them.
It was when she picked up Brandon's unique energy mark from the training room, he was alone and probably pouting that she told him off.
Terra sighed and moved past the three boys who took the locker room to themselves. Venn watched her as she passed by, but she told herself she had imagined it.

"Brandon?" She asked, walking up to him and gripping his shoulder.
He glanced up at her and forced a smile.
"Hey I'm good."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. I just need time to think is all."
"Alright, if you say so. You know where to find me if you want to talk." She said, squeezing his arm before walking off.

Terra lost herself in the music so much she almost didn't hear the footsteps.
Her mind was spinning, jumping from Brandon's worried tone, to Kaleigh running off, to Venn.
When the rational side of her found that she had been thinking too much of him, she prayed. Every day, every second she spends around him. She's not sure what the feeling bubbling up under the surface means. She doesn't know what to do with it and it was getting harder and harder to hide it because of him being her partner and all. Something about him was off lately and she couldn't seem to figure out what it was, but she was dying to know.

The song ended softly and she finally noticed the life force behind her.
"Are you always going to be standing in the doorway just listening to me?" She called over her shoulder.
The now all to familiar energy came closer as Venn sat down next to her on the bench.
"I didn't know what to say." He admitted.
"Uh something like, 'what song is that?' or 'Who taught you piano?' and those are just the ones off the top of my head." She said with a growing smile.
Venn let out a sigh and nodded, his leg jumping up and down.
"What's up?" She asked, knowing something was wrong by the way he was acting.
"Ah it's just that things that are getting to me right now."
"Hmm...want to talk about it?"
"Uh sure, but my ADHD is going to drive me up a wall so want to come with me?" He asked.
She hesitated for a split second before nodding and following him out of the mansion.

Terra wasn't exactly sure what he was planning on doing for his ADHD, but when the smell of oil, diesel, and rust hit her nose, she figured he was going to be working on his new car he had mentioned he had bought a couple weeks back.
Venn started working on the car as soon as he walked into the garage. Grabbing a couple of tools, he popped the hood open and went to work putting the new battery in.
"So what's bothering you?" Terra asked, sitting down on top of an overturned bucket.
"Life. I guess I'm just angry at Cliff and Kale for moving on so fast." He admitted.
"Who said they have moved on?" She asked. "They haven't moved on, they're just dealing with it differently then you are. There's nothing wrong with that, it just is."
He groaned at the shrink answer. She seemed to know what the groan meant. She got up and walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm.
"Look, I'm not going to lecture you, or tell you how you should feel or any of that crap." His eyebrows rose when she used language that was fouler then normal.
"All I'm trying to say is don't be afraid to show emotions. You try to hide them, trying to cover them up with quick words or a smile. But it's not a weakness to show them every once in awhile."
Venn looked at Terra, and even though she couldn't see, she knew he was. It was hard to ignore his heavy gaze.
For a fleeting moment he leaned in hesitantly and Terra was scared he'd kiss her.
But that was when all hell decided to break loose.

No. 19: War of Change

Part 3:
Know Your Enemy









No 19: War of Change

Five teenagers all dressed in brown garbs were lined up at the edge of the mats. Stone faced, and looking as if they were starring death in the face.
The Professor sighed and wished they didn't have to grow up so fast, they were only sixteen. They have so much to live for! But unfortunately they have to put away those childish things and grow up.
   It's been three months of hard core training now. All of them have come so far from when they first started. Brandon and Kaleigh had gotten use to the whole telepathy thing, and Venn and Terra had just performed the Bonding and were still freaked out about that.
The Professor felt a little bad for Cliff who was on his own, but the boy didn't seem to mind, or think any different of it.

"You have been training hard, and all of you have come far, I'm proud of all of you."
Small smiles passed their faces, but they knew something bad was coming, so it was gone as soon as it came.
"But now I think you all have one question on your minds." The Professor paused, waiting for someone to take the chance he had given them.
"Yes sir." It was Cliff, he had stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest. "What are we training for? I mean, we all know it's because we've got to protect the Savior, but we haven't even seen hide or tail of him and don't even know if he's alive. And that leads me to the bigger question, what are we protecting him from?"
Professor Wallace nodded several times before taking off across the room into the hallway that had the changing room in it. After a moments hesitation, Brandon walked after him, Kaleigh jogged to catch up with him, and the others fell instep behind them.

The Professor led them down the hall, and to a door that was hidden by darkness. The Guardians usually never went past the hall, they weren't allowed to, it was one of the rules the Professor had made very clear to them at the beginning. Yet the Professor opened the door and walked through with out hesitation, Brandon following in his wake, giving the rest of them the courage to step through the door.
The second pyramid wasn't what they expected.

When they were expecting more tumbling mats, beams and targets, they got glass tiled floors lit up by white light underneath them, desks that held high advanced computer monitors, and one wall that was nothing but a TV screen.
"What the...?" Venn didn't bother finishing his sentence as he stepped into the room.
"This is where all things have been monitored. The activity of the enemy, at one point your vital organs were monitored from here," The Professor looked at the triplets who understood what he meant. "We also, found the Savior years ago when he was just eight. But the strange thing, that always confused us, was that the boy lived with who was hunting us down."
Professor Wallace moved to a computer and typed in a command, a movie played up on the huge wall and Kaleigh heard herself gasp as she watched.
   The video showed a small boy around eight at different times in his life. Him walking to school one day, him playing with a brother, him laughing, crying, screaming. Kaleigh couldn't help but think this was something she shouldn't watch. Like it was someone's deepest secrets that should be chosen to tell, not shown by someone else. But that wasn't what freaked her out the most. The eight year old boy was of slight build, his dark curls was a drastic contrast against his pale skin, but his eyes weren't the ones that burned into her brain when ever she went to sleep, this boy's eyes were gold, pure gold.
No one noticed her gasp, as the Professor continued talking.
"This boy's father and now older brother, are in charge of a government financed company called 'Interficio'."
"Never heard of it." Brandon pointed out.
"You're not suppose to." The Professor stated. "Interficio's only mission is to hunt down and kill all the Elementals possible. Or at least that was their thing in the beginning. They still do that, but sometimes they'll kidnap Elementals and...test them."
A shiver ran down all the spines of the kids as they began to realize what they were up against.
"We've been following him for sometime, but we lost him a year ago. He disappeared from us and we don't have any idea where he went. He left home and cut off all contact he had with his family."
"Great." Cliff mumbled under his breath, earning a jab in the ribcage by his sister.
"Does this kid have a name? Age? Birthday? Something that makes him more than just a face on a screen?" Venn asked. His voice harsh but not mean.
The Professor nodded and typed in another key.
The video froze on a more recent image of the boy. He was probably fifteen now, and he was looking at something off screen, but Kaleigh could still make out enough of his face to know what she had guessed, was true.
"His name is Stryder." She jumped in with out thinking.
Everyone reeled around to look at her, the Professor looked up at her in shock, which was mirrored on everyone else's faces.
"I - uh...don't know his last name. And I'm not even sure if Stryder is his real name, but it's....its the one he told me..." She said quietly, glancing down as she twirled her whip in between her fingers.
The silence seemed deafening, and she was grateful when someone finally broke it.
"Kaleigh...what are you talking about?" Brandon asked, aloud for everyone elses benefits.
She let out a sigh and looked around at everyone.
"I've met him before. He was....he was looking out for me." Images bombarded her, the first time she had met him in the mall, than his warning, she knew it was him that had beaten off the men in the alley, and him who she had saved by using her Lightening for the first time. And than when she jumped him in the hall which she always felt bad for, but he hadn't shown his face around since then.
"What do you mean Kaleigh?" Terra's arm was resting on her shoulder, telling her that it was okay and as if she had the option to share or not. Which wasn't the vibe she was getting from the boys.
"He...I met him in the mall when we first woke up. He was nice, though flustered as if I had caught him doing something he shouldn't be doing. Then...I saw him again in the ice cream parlor Brandon took me too. He - he gave me a warning, something about when I learned who I was it would change everything, and people would start to come after me. I finally was able to get his name out of him when I asked if he was a friend or an enemy. He said his name was Stryder and then he said..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered the way he had looked at her when she had asked.
It was like he was hurt she didn't consider him a friend, but then knew why she wouldn't.
"Friend." When he said that single word, it was like he was putting all his being into the one word, as if he was trying to get her to see that he wasn't the bad guy. But when she had caught him following her, she had freaked out and couldn't think strait.
"What did he say Kale?" Brandon's voice broke her trance.
"Friend. He said he was a friend." She finished. "And he proved it later that night when he saved me from the muggers."
She paused, not sure what else to say. She didn't want to really tell them that he had been hired to watch her, and some one else. And she definitely didn't want to tell them that she had been dying to see him again after that little incident in the exit hall.
"You've...you've actually met the Savior?" The Professor asked, dropping into a seat, stunned.
Kaleigh nodded.
"I didn't know. Honest! He must have been wearing contacts because his eyes looked completely black, no hit of gold at all." She pointed out.
The Professor nodded and waved away the worry in her tone.
"We're not accusing you of hiding anything, but you should have told us sooner."
Kaleigh nodded, thankful she had gotten off the hook so easily, but when she looked back up at the screen, she was suddenly had to fight the urge to want to go and find him right now.
"His name is Stryder." The Professor confirmed. "And if what you say is true, than he's been under our very noses the whole time."

.:+++:.

Night had fallen fast, and the cold wind nipped at him from where he sat watching the silhouette behind the curtains. This bit always made him feel like a peeping tom, but he usually would go and take a break about this time.
Only this time he didn't.
He had been trying to back off ever since Kaleigh had gotten him in the mall. And he had been successful for several months now. But he couldn't stand it anymore. Not when she was so close, yet so far away.
Glancing around to make sure no one was around, though he knew they wouldn't be since it was midnight.
He ran across the grass to the turret and slipped a piece of paper under the window jam before running off again.

.:+++:.

Kaleigh walked out of the bathroom in her favorite pair of sweat pants and a cozy sweatshirt. The nights were getting colder and she was glad for the layers.
She squeezed the water out of her hair as she moved into her room. Turning on the radio, she bobbed her head to the beat and was soon dancing around her room like a typical teenage girl.
It was when her hand accidentally pulled the curtain away from the window that she noticed the piece of paper lying on the window seat.
Her dancing coming to a halt, she picked it up and saw unfamiliar handwriting.
Meet me by the fountain. Five minutes.
"What on earth?" She mumbled. She wasn't sure what to think of the little message. Shrugging she threw on her converse and slipped out her window.
"It's probably just Brandon messing around. Idiot." She mumbled to herself as she shoved her hands deeper into her pocket and hunched her shoulders against the wind.

The fountain was lit up blue at night, and so she was happy for the light. Though that didn't keep her from holding her whip in her hand. Just because it's probably Brandon, doesn't mean he wont jump at her. And if he does he's going to be sorry.

Her senses picked up another person coming in from her left. He was quiet, but she could hear his breathing just fine. Brandon didn't actually know how tuned her senses have been growing, so she figured that when he was only a couple feet from her that that was close enough.
Suddenly bursting into a flurry of action, she spun on her heel, sending her whip over her head in a graceful arch and come crashing down on his wrist.
He cried out in surprise, but it wasn't Brandon's voice.
When she yanked on the whip so he was pulled into the light of the fountain, she almost cried out herself.
"Stryder?!" She asked, her eyes huge in shock.
"Yeah hi. Would you mind?" He pointed down to the whip still wrapped around his wrist.
"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!" She gave another flick of her wrist and it came loose. He rubbed the red mark that looked like a painful bracelet.
"So...you were the one that gave me the note?" Kaleigh asked. Not sure how to start this conversation. As a mater of fact, she wasn't even sure what conversation she was suppose to start.
"Yes I did, I needed to talk to you."
"Okay...So I'm here now. Standing in the freezing could, so could you please hurry up?" She asked, jumping up and down to keep her flood flowing. Stryder watched her with a look of amusement.
"I wanted to apologize." He started off. "For freaking you out. And also to apologize because I wont be able to stay away."
Kaleigh looked at him strangely.
"Okay, not the way that sounded. I've got a job to do, and I don't want to have to do it behind your back." He chuckled nervously and ran a hand through his curls.
"I know it's weird coming from a guy of my background to be guilt ridden, but -"
His mentioning of his background reminded Kaleigh of the revolation they had earlier that day.
"You mean your parents that hunt and kill people like us?" She hadn't meant to say anything. It just came out before she could think.
Stryder froze and looked at her, his eyes wide at first, but then narrowed.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Kaleigh sighed.
"Please don't take this the wrong way. I wasn't snooping around, honest! It was shown to me, but...I know where you're from. Or I should say, what family you're from...and who you are."
Stryder sat down on the edge of the fountain. Looking off at something she couldn't see.
"'Who'." He muttered. "Not 'what I am' but 'who I am'."
Kaleigh sat down next to him.
"Yes. 'Who'. You're a person Stryder. A living, breathing, person. Nothing can change that."
"No, but if you've got a family that thinks you're a freak that doesn't really help with the 'I'm different' thing." He snapped back at her. And to his surprise she scoffed.
"You think that just because your family says you're a freak, it's the end of the world? You got the short end of the stick?" She asked. "Dude, try living in a world that's a scientist's video game and then tell me who has the short end of the stick."
Stryder didn't look surprised. And she knew why when she remembered what she saw when she woke up after she hit her head in the virtual world.
"But don't you get it?" She went on. "That's all the more reason to make a change, prove them wrong. Use what God gave you to benefit everyone else. If nothing else, that should at least give you the motive to take your contacts out." She turned so that she was looking at him now.
"You don't have to hide. Not here, not with me or any of the other guys."
They sat in silence for a long time. Neither barely breathing. Stryder saw the innocence in her eyes. The kind of trust a little kid has to just about everyone.
He glanced down as his finger moved to his eye.
Kaleigh couldn't quiet see, but knew what he was doing.
When he looked back at her hesitantly, he was scared of the response she'd have. The shock and disgust that always came with this curse.
But when he finally got the courage to look her in the eyes, he was shocked to find that that wasn't her response.
She just smiled.
"See? I told you, there's no reason to hide. We wont call you a freak, or run away. I mean some of them might be...slightly unnerved," He had to laugh at her attempt to put him at ease. Shocked that it actually worked.
"but then again, I've got silver in my eyes. So, it'll just take some getting use to."
Stryder nodded, the fact that she wasn't scared of frightened gave him the courage to do something he always wanted to do.
He reached over and grasped her small hand, tightly.
"Thank you Kaleigh." He said. Kale's eyes flew from their hands to his face.
"You're welcome."

Add on!

Okay sorry folks but I added this on to the last chapter, chapter 18 sorry about that! But read the actual chapter first please! Thanks!


.:+++:.

Kaleigh was curled up on her bed, crying her eyes out and rubbing her neck with her hands. She should have expected the anger, but not the vines. That had caught her off guard, and honestly, she had been scared. So scared she couldn't think, she couldn't even remember any of her training! She suddenly felt so useless.
She screamed in her head, long and hard.
What the heck?!
Kaleigh froze and looked around her room. Who had spoke? It wasn't her, that was for sure. It was a masculine voice, and familiar. Cliff's door was closed so she figured it wasn't him, and Venn wasn't back yet. So who...?
Groaning, she flopped back on the bed.
You're just hearing things Kaleigh. She told herself, curling back up on her side.
Kale? Was that you screaming just now? 
She froze again, shivers running down her spine.
"Is that voice....?" Her sentence dangled there in the empty room. My head? She finished. Spurred by a suddenly insane idea, she tried to think of something to say in her head.
Who's talking to me? She figured she'd keep it simple.
Kale it's - it's Brandon.
A gasp escaped her as she shot strait up in her bed.
"No freakin' way." She murmured. Then tried thinking up a sentence in her head again.
Whoa! You've got to be kidding me right? Is that what this whole bloody thing Bonding thing was about?! She asked.
I guess. This is freaky. 
Kale ran into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, forcing herself to breath as she felt her heartbeat go up.
Wait, hang on. A scary thing just popped out at her. Can you read my thoughts? She asked.
There was a long pause before she heard Brandon's voice in her head again.
No. I tried, I think all we can do is talk to each other. But dang! This is just whacked out! 
Kaleigh couldn't agree more.
Yeah....whacked. She echoed.

No. 18: Clear Skies...For now

No. 18: Clear Skies...For now

Venn didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he was running. Fast and far.
Two things were unbelievable. Out of his whole, messed up life, only two things could he find completely unbelievable. The fact that he somehow controlled those vines scared him enough, but the fact that he had used them to choke the living daylights out of his sister only scared him more. He hated himself for what he did. He'd never forgive himself if he had killed her. He'd probably kill himself.
No. She would be angry at me if I took my own life. He decided.

A melody stopped him cold in his tracks.
He glanced around and realized he was in the deserted wing of the mansion. Another glanced through the door, reveled Terra playing at the piano with no sheet music or anything.
He always found it a little unnerving how she could play such beautiful music and not see anything.

Venn stood at the doorway for a long time, his head resting against the doorway, with his arms crossed over his chest. Listening quietly to the music, that seemed to sooth him down to the bone.
When the song ended, he wasn't surprised when Terra turned her head slightly and addressed him.
"What's wrong Venn? Did something happen?"
He didn't answer for a moment, trying to figure things out in his head, how to tell her, if he should tell her.
"What makes you think something's happened?" He asked, with a surprisingly steady tone.
Terra's mouth twitched before answering, telling him she was hiding something immediately.
"I uh...I have this knack for figuring stuff out."
"Hmm....I just tried to kill my sister." There was always something about Terra that set off alarms in his head. He wanted to know what was up, and how she'd respond to what he had just said.
However her reaction only confused him more. She looked almost...relieved.
"So you figured it out huh?" She asked, turning around fully on the bench, her skirt flaring out around her. His eyes narrowed and she let out another sigh.
"Yeah you did. Your energy's different."
"My what?"
"Alright Venn. We need to go for a walk. A very, very long walk." Terra got up and walked over to him, taking his hand with out even searching for it. Sometimes he wondered if she was really blind or if she just had contacts and liked to make everyone else think that.
He shook his head at the absurd idea and allowed the small girl to pull him out of the building.

Outside Terra took a deep breath and let it out slowly, swinging their linked hands back and forth, as if nothing could be better, as if Venn hadn't just tried to kill his sister. But he also knew that there was something she wasn't telling him. Something that he knew he'd go crazy if she didn't spill it soon.
"What are you hiding from me Terra?" He finally spoke up.
Terra stopped walking and wiggled her toes in the soft grass.
"So how'd you do it?" She asked. "How'd you almost kill your sister?"
Venn glanced at her, wide-eyed.
"You actually believed me."
She nodded, her long brown hair blew all around her in the wind.
"Yup. I know you weren't lying if that's what you mean. Plus I could kind of...-"
"Tell right?" He jumped in.
"Yeah. I'll explain it all in a minute but first tell me what you did."
Venn shook his head and let go of her hand, running his fingers through his short brown hair.
"It's not what I did do Terra, it's what I didn't do."
"Okay, and what didn't you do?"
He starred at her for a long moment before answering.
"It's going to sound really far fetched Terra."
Terra took a deep breath, as if she was bracing herself.
"Let me guess, it goes along the lines of something like this, you were angry, really angry because your sister is hanging out with Brandon and all. You don't like him much and therefore you were upset that your sister was going out with him. When she tried to reason with you your anger got to be too much and....things moved for you. Probably the trees, plants, that kind of thing. They responded to your anger and therefore, almost killed your sister."
Venn looked at her, his jaw hanging open by it's hinges.
"How did you - ?"
"Venn do you remember that night your sister came in talking about lightening, and men trying to grab her in the alley?"
He nodded. But remembered she was blind.
"Yeah..." He spoke aloud.
"That was all true. All of it. That's why electricity reacts the way it does around Kaleigh. Just like the plants react the way they do around you. It's because you can control them. And all that Kaleigh told you about the Elementals, and how they can control the four Elements is all true."
He was about to argue when she cut him off.
"Don't believe me? Ask your sister to show you what she can do with that silver necklace of hers, or ask what Brandon can do with his knives - "
"Whoa! What the heck are you talking about Terra? How do you even know about this stuff? And why would you believe any of it? It's all a load of bull!"
Terra's reaction wasn't one of anger like he had expected, but one of pity, as if she couldn't believe he wasn't with it yet.
"Venn. I know all this, because I'm one too. I am an Elemental. I can control part of an Element. That's how I can 'see', I mean how else do you think I can go around with out hitting every person in the room?"
Venn's brow furled.
"What do you mean Terra?"
"I control Life. Yeah I know, sounds sketchy, but I don't mean I can say 'oh yeah this dude's going to die, and I'll spare him because he's cute' kind of thing. I mean I can control something's life energy. Usually just plants, if I concentrate really, really hard I can control a small animal's energy but not for long and it's a big strain on me."
Venn was shocked. She was talking about this whole thing as if she was deciding on what color to paint her nails! He didn't know how to handle it.
"Life is part of Earth. Which is what you control, the more....thought of element of it but yeah. You know the plants, trees that kind of thing."
Venn gripped his head and collapsed on the ground.
"So you're telling me everything my sister told me is real? And on top of that I'm part of it all? An...Elemental?" He spat the word out, cringing as if it tasted bad.
Terra knelt on the grass beside him and rested a hand on his comfortingly.
"I know it's a culture shock, and you'll work through it. I promise. And I'll be there if you ever need a hand to pick you up okay?"
Venn scoffed and looked out at the dying grass and blue sky.
"Usually it's the guy that's suppose to say that."
Terra rolled her eyes and waved the comment away with a flick of her wrist.
"Yeah but that's script and old school."
She turned back into the kind and worried friend.
"Are you going to be okay?" She asked, still touching his hand. Venn let out a deep sigh and turned his hand so he was holding hers.
"If what Kaleigh said was true, about the whole Guardian thing and what we have to do. No Terra. I'm not going to be alright. None of us are."

No. 17: Emotions

Part 2:
Water and Earth









No. 17: Emotions

Cliff gazed out the window as he watched Kaleigh get off the back of Brandon's green motorcycle. It wasn't that he actually hated the guy. It was just that he didn't like the site of his sister on a boy's bike. Maybe it was just a brotherly instinct, maybe it was that once he had a crush on her, or maybe it was just the fact that he didn't like how she was going off after night fall with guys.

"I still don't like that idiot."
Cliff sighed and looked up at Venn who was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.
"Don't be to hard on her. She needs someone other than us."
"Hey what's wrong with us?" Venn snapped. "Or at least me. You've got Terra." Venn muttered, but Cliff heard him anyways.
"Wait, what? Terra? What about her?"
Venn rolled his eyes and moved away from his brother.
"Don't give me that crap." He mumbled.
"Venn, nothing is going on between Terra and I." Cliff said moving away from the window. Venn rolled his eyes as he collapsed on the couch.
"I'm serious Venn. You of all people, should know I'm not about to get into a relationship with a girl."
"Well there's always a first time."
"What is with you? It's like you aren't even you any more!"
"I'm not okay Cliff?! I hate to bust your perfect little bubble, but apparently Kale is the only one who's the same as she was before. I, apparently, am a grumpy guy who can't have a girlfriend." Venn snapped at him. "And honestly I could care less about that if it weren't for the fact that you seemed to change as well. It's like we some how switched roles and your life sucks!"
Cliff wasn't sure how to take that. Especially since he wasn't with Terra, but Venn wasn't believing him at the moment.
"Venn we're the same we just have -"
"Save it." Venn growled, jumping up from the couch and walking out the back door. Letting it slam shut behind him.
Kaleigh walked into the room just as the door closed and she looked at Cliff wide eyed.
"What did I miss?" She asked, putting her purse on the counter.
"Uh maybe the fact that you didn't call to let us know you were gone?" He snapped.
She cringed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Yeah...and I feel real bad about that. I was really stressed and - "
"Kaleigh we get it okay? You wanted to spend time with your boyfriend that would have been totally fine with us, but you could have at least told us! We were worried half to death until we finally figured you'd be with Brandon and phoned his mom who confirmed that you were there."
Kaleigh sighed and walked up to Cliff, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. Honestly. I - something happened and it triggered a huge emotional collapse from me and so I called Brandon because I needed someone to talk to."
"You could have talked to us Kale. That's what we're here for. We have to be siblings for a reason, or else God wouldn't have put us together. We need to rely on one another or it's all going to get screwed up. Okay?"
He brushed her hand off and walked away, closing the door of his bedroom quietly and collapsed on the floor with his head in his hands.
All the anger towards Venn, and the worry towards Kaleigh was boiling inside him and he needed to get it out.
Looking around the dark room, he grabbed his notebook from his bed and wrote viciously for two minutes non-stop. Letting all his emotions out like some kind of dam broke and nothing could stop him.
He groaned under his breath when the ink started to run on the page, but kept writing.
It startled him to see that the ink just kept coming, and coming. He finally stopped and lifted up the pen, it shook in his hand until it exploded, sending ink and shards everywhere.
A weird, foreign feeling was running through his veins like a river coming to the edge of a waterfall, going faster and faster 'til soon he couldn't stop what happened next.
The ink stopped in mid air, in perfect little droplets that hadn't hit anything yet. They just...froze.
Cliff watched in awe as his hand moved on it's own, his left hand gripped a small vile that had appeared out of no where, his right hand moved, the droplets moving with him. He forced the ink to go into the vile, once they were in there he put the cap on and realized it was a necklace. Not sure of what else to do, he slipped it over his head, holding the small vile in the palm of his hand.
He shook his head, his eyes huge as he realized what had just happened.
"No. Freakin'. Way."

.:+++:.

Kaleigh chased after Venn, things hadn't gone too great with Cliff and she wanted to make amends. It was hard to have her brothers not trust her, and she wanted the horrid guilty feeling and metallic taste in her mouth to go away as soon as possible!
Venn was standing close to the forest that covered the back end of the school property. Usually everyone avoids it, but sometimes on the weekends a group of stupid guys would go trekking through there and get lost, forcing the Professor to call the police to go in for a search. But other than that it's usually avoided.

"Venn!" Kaleigh called.
Venn let out a deep breath and tried to tell himself not to snap at her, but things were to confusing for him to think strait.
He was mad at himself for being one of those jealous idiots, and than for snapping at Cliff who seemed to be playing dumb at the moment just ticked him off more. And then Kaleigh decided to ditch and go do who knows what with that guy and she even had the nerve to ride home on his motorcycle!
   White hot anger was boiling so hot that he wanted nothing to strangle something or someone. The feeling was so overwhelming that it took over his mind.
Subconsciously he heard a high pitched screech but didn't do much about it except turn around. He wished he never did though.

Kaleigh was gone from where she had been standing behind him, when he scanned around to see where she had gone he heard another noise, only this time it was more like a choking sound.
He glanced around once more and nearly fell over. His sister was up in a tree, or at least that's what he thought at first. But he noticed her feet flailing for a grip on the bark, and her hands were wrapped....around a vine that had wound it's way around her throat, and it was squeezing tight as his anger boiled.
Her eyes locked with his as the redness from lack of oxygen covered her face.
"...Venn..." She gasped.
His eyebrows rose in shock and horror as he realized that whatever was happening to Kaleigh, was because of him.
"Let...it go..." She gasped.
Anger flared once again in him. How could he just let it go? She had broken that trust bond by first going out at night and nearly getting beaten, and then by ditching them at the mall to hang out with that stupid idiot that kept following her around like a little lost puppy!
   But one clear thought rang through his head. He didn't want her to die. He didn't want to loose anything else of his life, and he also knew that what was happening was because he was angry.
After several seconds passed by, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, calming himself down and slowly the white hot anger slipped away from him.
A thud was heard followed by deep gasps and he figured Kaleigh was fine.
But he didn't check.
He spun on his heel and ran, as far and as fast as he could.

No. 16: Bonding

No. 16: Bonding

Kaleigh had given up trying to figure out where they were going a several minutes ago.
"Relax Kale. I won't drop you." He said after she hadn't relaxed since he'd picked her up.
"It's not the drop I'm worried about." She answered. Honestly, she had no idea why she was still tense, maybe it was just the fact that he was holding her. No, that wouldn't be it. No she was tense because, even though she had seen Brandon use his powers in training, he had never used this much for so long, t hat's what was making her tense.
"You do remember that we're stronger together even if there is no Bond right?"
She looked at him, startled.
"How do you do that?" She questioned. "Know what I'm thinking. It's a little creepy."
Brandon laughed a little as he gazed down at the city below.
Kaleigh saw in relief that their altitude was dropping, though she still had no clue where they were.
   When his feet touched the ground of an alley, he set her down gently.
"Come on, I want you to meet someone."
As soon as he had landed, he moved away quickly, the spark that always flared up between the two, stopped as soon as the physical contact was gone.
She took a step to the side so he could walk past her, as he did he shoved his hands in his pockets, though she could tell they became fists.
She followed right behind him quietly and was subconsciously pulling her sleeves down to cover her hands.

Brandon led her onto the street and she had to practically hold his arm to keep from getting separated. When ever she brushed his jacket he'd glance down at her with a reassuring smile.
"So you're not mad at me or anything?" She blurted out before being able to stop herself. His face came over with a shadow of confusion.
"Why would I be mad at you?" He asked.
"Because I snapped at you? And probably would have done worse if I had continued."
"Really?"
Okay so maybe adding that last bit wasn't the best of ideas. She thought to herself as she saw the playfulness in his eyes.
"Well to answer your question, no I am not mad at you. In fact I had been expecting you to lash out sooner or later."
That made her feel as if someone had just taken a weight off her chest that she hadn't even realized was there.
However, she didn't have time to reply because he stopped at a town house and opened the door.
"Mom! I'm home!" He hollered as he stepped in, leaving the door open.
Kaleigh was suddenly hit with the realization she was at his house. And the 'someone' he was talking about earlier was probably his family. She didn't know why, but she was seriously hoping they wouldn't hate her.
"Are you coming? Or are you just going to stay there like some kind of idiot?"
The jab was what she needed to cross over the threshold and smack him.
He grinned as he pushed the door closed behind her and led the way into the living room.
A small woman came out of the kitchen completely covered in flour. Her brown hair was done up in a bun at the back of her neck and she wore a friendly smile when she saw Kaleigh.
"Hey honey. I wasn't expecting company today." she said as she wiped her hands off on her bright yellow apron and kissed her son's forehead.
"Mom." He groaned, though didn't pull away.
Kaleigh couldn't keep the smile from her face, she certainly hadn't imagined this side of Brandon before.
"You must be Kaleigh."
Her eyes went to the woman's soft brown ones with a smile.
"That would be me."
The woman walked over to her and gave her a hug, which Kale hadn't been expecting but after a moment hugged her back. Suddenly realizing how much she had been missing not having a mom, and was now envious of Brandon for having one.
"You can call me Tracy." She said as she pulled back. "And it seems I have gotten flour all over you. I am so sorry!"
Kale shook her head, the smile still obvious on her face.
"Don't worry about it. It's not going to kill me." She said with a little laugh.
"Brandon!"
A little angelic girl came bounding into the room, her curls bouncing as she moved.
Brandon's face lit up in a way Kale had never seen before. He hugged the little girl and started to move his hands in a way that jogged something in Kaleigh's memory of her past life.
"Hey Maddy. How are you?" His hands asked.
"Good." She signed back, but then caught sight of Kaleigh. "Oh! So this is the 'very interesting person' you were pain -" The rest of the words got cut off as Brandon suddenly jumped on her hands, his eyes wide with embarrassment.
"Okay that's enough of that Maddy." He spoke aloud. "Kale," She looked at him with a smile as he called her nickname. "This is my little sister Maddy. She's uh..."
"I'm deaf." The little girl spoke for the second time.
Kaleigh nodded, not letting that fact change the way she'd treat her. She walked up to the little girl and knelt in front of her.
"Well hi there Maddy. I'm Kaleigh." She said with her hands. The other three people seemed to gasp as they watched her speak perfect sign language.
Maddy suddenly started clapping, and jumping up and down, squealing with excitement. Then she almost toppled Kaleigh over in a bear crushing hug.
"She's so awesome!" Maddy declared. She ran over to Brandon and hugged his waist.
"I like her. You should keep her."
Kaleigh laughed quietly at the look of pure shock and awe on Brandon's face.
"Well....that was....interesting." He breathed. Kaleigh chuckled as she got up to her feet.
"Well the cookies are in the oven," Tracy began, addressing the two teenagers. "but I promised Maddy she could decorate them, so they might take a while, but you're welcome to stay around and have some if you'd like."
Kaleigh smiled, and didn't really feel like she could turn down Tracy's hospitality. Not that she wanted to either.
"I'd love to."
Maddy grinned, and Tracy smiled.
"Well alright then. I'll leave you two to it than."

Once Tracy had taken Maddy into the kitchen once again, Brandon beckoned Kaleigh through another door which led into the garage.
Only it was full of paintings, and art supplies.
When she first stepped in, she had to stop and take it all in. Canvases both empty and full were everywhere, cluttering up the floor. Easels were also everywhere, full of course. As she walked into the room further, she noticed all the paint spots on the concrete floor and for some reason just had to smile.
"So I finally get to see some of your pictures huh?" She asked as she gapped at some of the paintings.
"Uh...yeah I guess..." He said, inwardly sighing in relief as she passed the one painting that had a blanket covering it. He didn't want to look creepy having painted her face, and scare her away.

"So," She sat down on one of his bar stools that were by a desk that he was now clearing, so he could start a sketch on a piece of paper.
"how does this whole Bonding thing work?" She asked.
"We have to use our powers at the same time, while we're linked together."
"Linked?"
"Yeah uh..." He glanced at her confused face. "Like holding hands kind of thing."
"Oh...Okay and that's going to do what?"
At this he shrugged. "Beats me. The book wasn't too clear on that."
Kaleigh knew he meant the Elemental book that the Professor had shown her a few weeks ago.
"We've also got to say a vow while we're like that." He went on, not looking at her, concentrating on the sketch he was working on.
"And that's what?" Her voice seemed quiet and he suddenly felt her breath on his neck. He tried not to let it get to his head. She was just curious as to what he was doing, that's all.
"Do you remember the exact words?" She added.
It was driving him crazy with her so close, but he did his best to ignore it.
"Yeah. The Professor had me memorize them back in the early days."
He moved away from the desk, bumping into Kaleigh as he did, though she moved back with a jolt.
"I bind myself to thee, to guard and to keep. I will follow thee everywhere 'til thee walk down the path of death. I will give up my life for thee before I let thee die. If I have to take a bullet for thee I will, if I have to cut out my own heart for thee I will. I bind myself to thee."
Kaleigh didn't move, didn't say anything, didn't even breath as he recalled the vow.
"Whoa....that's....specific." She managed to say after a minute of looking like a complete idiot.
"Yup. You still want to do it?" Brandon asked. She knew he was offering her a last chance to reconsider but she shook her head.
"Yes. We don't have much of a choice anyways."
"We always have choices." He mumbled under his breath. "I worked on a sketch, but you do realize it might not come out the same right? I don't know what'll happen honestly." He said admittedly.
Kaleigh nodded.
"Then I suggest we go outside huh? Wouldn't want your paintings ruined by who knows what."

They actually ended up on the roof of Brandon's house.
Kaleigh didn't mind it, especially since she wouldn't let Brandon just fly her up. She had climbed through Maddy's window and had let him help her up from there.
Now they stood in middle of the roof, the sun beating down on their backs, but the breeze kept them cool. Brandon offered an his right hand, and Kaleigh took it with her left, both of them grabbing onto the wrists.
"Now, you'll have to -"
"I know what I have to do." Kaleigh said, cutting in gently. Brandon's stormy eyes locked in on hers and he nodded.
Kaleigh took a deep breath and searched for that chest she had stored the alien feeling in in her mind.
Through reflex she gripped Brandon's arm tighter as she opened the chest and let the alien feeling take over. She heard him gasp as the electricity flowed through her, until she channeled it through her whip she had clutched in her free hand.
What had been a steady breeze soon started to churn around them becoming a sort of twister joined with electricity.
Brandon said the vow first.
As he said it, silver moved down from his eyes. Kaleigh watched wide eyed, not sure to be scared or in awe. The silver moved like veins down his skin until they ran down his right arm and crossed over on to her own arm. She couldn't see it as it moved up her arm and around her neck to her right shoulder, but she could feel it. Like a warm finger's touch running across her skin, sending a shiver down her spin.
Brandon said the last word, and she knew it was her turn. He had drilled the vow into her a few minutes ago, and it was still fresh in her mind. She allowed the words to run out of her mouth, as she did, she knew silver was leaving her own eyes and that thought alone was freaky enough, but when she caught sight of the silver veins running down her own arm, she got a little panicky.
Brandon's grip on her arm tightened and she quickly looked back up at him, trying to ignore the silver veins that were running around his neck.
"...I bind myself to thee." When the last words left her lips, the silver veins had moved to his left shoulder, and stayed there.
The wind died down and she locked up the alien feeling once again, happy that she could now access it now on her own accord.
Their grip on each other weakened as their breath came out hard. Kaleigh was the first to move. She let go of his hand and pulled her sweatshirt over her head and dropped it on the roof. Pulling the neck of her long sleeve down over her shoulder, her eyes grew wide when she saw the silver mark now on her bicep.
She pulled her shirt back up as she looked at Brandon, who had been watching her.
"I guess it worked." Kale said.
He nodded as he pulled up his own short sleeve to show the same mark on his more defined bicep.
"Guess so...The question is...Now what?"

No. 15: Help the Outcast

No.15: Help the Outcast

Stryder let out a sigh and rubbed away the on coming headache.
The letter was weighing him down like an anvil in his pocket.
He shook his head and tried to force his mind to concentrate on the triplets, who were eating at McDonalds in the mall.
He had ordered himself a chocolate milkshake and tried to busy himself with a comic book so he didn't seem obvious.
Kaleigh acted normal enough around her brothers he thought. He knew she had tried to tell her brothers what the idiot told her. But he also knew they didn't believe her.
When he had seen her face at that moment, something stirred up in him. It had scared him at first because it was a foregn feeling. But he found that it wasn't at all connected with what he was. It was a human feeling, he had seen it plenty of times in their eyes. He just hoped he was able to hide it better than everyone else.

Kaleigh and her brothers walked out of Mickey D's and strolled through the mall for a little while. Stryder always kept back like usual, observing them from a distance.
Cliff seemed quiet and seccluded, where as Venn was loud and roudy. he seemed to take it upon himself to keep everyone happy and their minds off depressing stuff.
That's got to be a pain in the butt. Stryder grumbled to himself.

But it didn't matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes from wandering back to Kaleigh.
Her senses were heightening, it wasn't hard to tell. She kept glancing around when ever he got to close, but she was new, she didn't know how to use her power.
Not like he could talk.
She was very energetic and full of life. She still clutched her vintage camera to her chest as if it was her life line, but it hardly ever left her eye.
Her laughter stood out to him over the dull hum of everyone else in the mall as she listened to her brother retell her his adventure hunting for an old car.
Silver necklaces shone when her neck moved -
"Get your head out of the clouds Stryder!" He barked at himself.
"Hey guys I'll be right back," Kaleigh said. "I'll meet you at the arcade."
The boys nodded a little hesitantly, but when she urged them to go on, they finally left.
Stryder blended into a wave of teenagers, ducking his head and kept his eyes off her as she passed.
But he couldn't ignore the hard hand gripping his arm, pulling him along away from the teenage crowd and into an exit hall.
"What the heck?!"
He found himself pinned up against the wall with a girl smaller than him keeping him there.
Kaleigh's blue and silver eyes shone bright and fierce, showing what kind of soul she had.
One that probably wouldn't appreciate being stalked. He thought grimly.
"You. Again." She said through gritted teeth. "What is with you and why are you following me?"
"What makes you think I'm following you?"
She cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow, keeping her arm pinned across his chest, her fingers touched the silver necklaces on her throat.
"Think these are just for decorations? I saw you looking at them. Though I'm not entirly sure it was just them you were looking at but I'm not even going to go there." She growled. "So, unless you actually want to know what these are, I suggest you start talking."
For the first time since he had known her, he saw that she wasn't just the pretty, dainty girl she looked like. That was just a shell, and it was proven with the strength she was using to keep him pinned. Stryder had spent most of his life body building, ever since he was twelve. And here comes this girl, who probably hasn't been at it long, pinning him against a wall using nothing else but her own body!
He couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Kale got impatient and used her free hand to punch his stomach. Feeling slightly guilty when she did, but quickly reminded herself that he had been stalking her. He was probably some kind of pervert and deserved it.
But then again, he did know what Brandon was going to tell her so maybe there was more to him than met the eye.
"You're not talking." She said.
"Okay, geez. You didn't have to punch me fore it." He said, trying to breath.
"Payback."
He met her gaze and nodded.
"Fare enough. Now would you mind easing up a little?" It wasn't that he wouldn't be able to push her off, he was stronger, but he thought being polite might go a father distance.
She did ease up, but not too much.
"Why are you following me?" She asked.
"It's my job."
"You're job? What kind of sick, sadistic person would follow a sixteen year old girl around a mall?!"
"Okay first off, I'm not a sadistic person, I'm only seventeen!"
"That does not mean you're not a pervert. Most seventeen year old guys are."
"And yet you're the one pinning me to the wall." He pointed out, holding her gaze steady. His words did exactly what he wanted them to do. She glared at him but moved away.
Kaleigh didn't like the fact that he could get away, so she unwound her necklaces and held the silver whip in her hand nimbly, knowing exactly what to hit and how to move her body to get the right angle if he were to run.
"Now, first off I can't actually tell you who hired me. Need to know basis and you don't need to know." Stryder went on to explain, running his hand through his black curls. There was something unnerving about his eyes. They were just black holes. She couldn't see the difference from the dark brown they must be and the pupil, she began to wonder if he even had pupils.
"But all I know is that I was hired to watch out for you." He finished.
"Watch out for me? As in be my guardian angle sort of thing? Or just simply take creepy pictures and put them up on a wall like a stalker?"
Stryder hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with the best words.
"Uh...something in the middle? I'm not a stalker, or your guardian angle, that's what that idiot's for, but I just keep an eye on you."
Her chest was rising and falling fast, adrenaline still pumping through her veins.
"Why?" Asked Kaleigh after she studied him a moment. Trying to decide what to believe.
"Because it's my job...?" He sound a little hesitant, as if she should have already known that.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" She reminded herself of a foster parent she once had who said that all the time.
Amazing who rubs off on you! She thought moodily.
Stryder shot her a look that almost pulled a smile out if she hadn't clamped down on it quick enough. Despite his black holes for eyes, she was strangely attracted to him. Something about him was bait to her, something she couldn't get enough of.
He's a bad idea. A passing thought stated. She shook her head, trying to clear it.
"Well obviously your little stalker thing isn't going to work anymore, since I know you're there. So what do you plan on doing now?" Kale asked.
Stryder replied gravely. "You're not the only one I'm keeping an eye on."
She didn't know what to do with that.
"Uh-huh. That's comforting. If I see you around me again, I swear I will use this, and it wont be comfortable." She threatened, before turning on her heal and marching away.
Stryder watched her in a daze. Trying to figure out what that was all about.

Kaleigh's emotions were boiling up, threating to explode.
"Oh no..." She whispered as her hands began to tingle.
She knew what was going to happen next, the Professor had warned her. Scrambling to find the closest exit, she fumbled for her phone.
She needed someone. Someone who understood. Her brothers would do anything for her she knew that. But they couldn't fix what they didn't know.

Outside, she leaned against the building and forced her shaking fingers to hit speed dial.
She tried to remember how to breathe right. To slow her heart beat down, but with her new encounter with Stryder it was impossible.
"Hello?" The familiar voice brought her back to the present.
"I need you." Even her voice shook. "Now. Before teh whole block suddenly has a black out."
"Okay, where are you?"
"At the mall, on 14th and Irving street."
"I'm just a few blocks away. Be there in a sec."
She hung up and felt her body go into spasms. Kale slid down the wall 'til she was crouched, with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head braced on her knees.

So many things were confusing her.
Who had hired Stryder to watch her, and why? Was it the bad people he had warned her about?
No of course not, don't be silly. If he was a bad guy he wouldn't have warned me. She thought rationally.
But then her mind came up with a thousand different arguments for that, like he could really be working for the bad guys, but was good at heart and didn't want her to get hurt. Or, he could just be plain evil trying to win her over so he could stab her in the back.
The list could have gone on, but then she heard the motorcycle, and her thoughts were drawn to Brandon.
Over the past couple of weeks, he had asked about the Bonding only once. When she had answered that she wasn't sure about it, and there was a lot of other things going on, he understood and let it be.
That was what she liked about him, he wasn't pushy.

"Kaleigh." A firm hand gripped hers, the other touching her hair. She lifted her head to see Brandon kneeling in front of her. His stormy eyes deep with worry.
He immediately noticed, besides the shaking, that something was scaring her. But he had to deal with one thing at a time.
"Deep breaths Kaleigh. Just take deep breaths." His tone was firm but not harsh.
Kaleigh's gaze didn't waver as she forced herself to inhale deeply, and exhale slowly.
"There you go." Brandon was good with praise. He gave it when it was deserved, and was always encouraging.
"Okay, now focus on that alien feeling," He went on. "and everything that it does to you, and force it to become small. Don't let it cross the boundaries. You're the one in control."
Kaleigh did as instructed, closing her eyes and searching for the alien feeling.
Finding it, and all that made it up, she imagined herself taking it, and locking it away in a chest in her mind.
The spasms stopped, and the tingling left her fingers. Relief spread through her, allowing her to open her eyes.
"I'll do it." She said suddenly. Brandon looked at her confused. Not remembering what he had asked her to do.
"I'll perform the Bonding." She clarified, rendering Brandon speechless.
"Uh...Are you sure? You seemed really adamant about it. What happened in there?"
"I..." She hesitated, so many things added up to that why, she wasn't sure she could explain it all.
"There's someone who keeps following me around."
Brandon's eyebrows pinched together.
"I-I only know his first name. And I don't even know if it's his real name." The tears surprised them both. She didn't know how scared she had been until she was safe.
"What did he do to you?" Brandon asked. She noticed the protective brother instinct taking over him.
"Nothing." She admitted. "Except give me a warning. I was the one who jumped him actually." She said a little dazed. Brandon's eyebrows joined his hairline.
"Well...I guess I should be reasured that your training has started to kick in."
Kaleigh laughed with him despite herself, but thankful for the stress reliever.
"Where are your brothers?"
"Oh! THey're at the arcade. I promised to meet them there. They're probably freaking out right now."
Brandon helped her to her feet and led her through the mall door again.
"Well I don't think they'd appreciate it if they found out you ditched them for me. They still don't like me much."
"Give them some time. They'll come round." She encouraged, as she wrapped her whip back around her neck. It still freaked him out every time she did that, he was scared she'd strangle herself.
"They'll have to if we're going to go through with the Bonding."
"Of course we are." Kale had gotten over the emotions, and had found her courage again. The emotions weren't gone, but being around Brandon had a calming affect on her.
"I just had to work through things," She went on. "and clear my head."
   They joined the flow of people, keeping close to each other. Kaleigh tried using her senses to see if Stryder was still following her. It was possible, forcing her senses to expand, but it took up a lot of concentration.
"No one's taking a second glance at us." Brandon whispered, catching on to what she was going.
"So your....encounter, was the deciding factor to form the Bond?" He asked a bit louder.
Kale gnawed on her lip. "Well a lot of things added up to the deciding factor. The encounter was just the last straw."
They walked onto an escalator, and Brandon turned to her.
"If this is just because that encounter scared you and you need someone there that understand, you don't have to go through the with the Bonding. We're not exactly sure what the Bonding does exactly, and if you just want someone to watch your back, your brothers and I can do that just fine. No need to give up privacy or whatever with the Bonding."
That just made her feel bad. Part of her had said she'd do it just because she was scared and wanted someone there that understood what was going on with her. But the other part knew there was something much bigger coming. Something that would require the Bond and she would regret not performing it for the rest of her life.
She shook her head, setting her jaw.
"No. I want to do it. I can't explain it, but we're going to need it, and not just to help the Savior." She said as she stepped off teh escalator, and led the way to the arcade.
"So you got that feeling too huh?"
She stopped shock still and gapped up at him. She thought that the gut feeling of dread was just her being an overemotional female.
Brandon adjusted his baseball cap and stopped in front of her. Just from the look on her face he knew he was right.
"Guess we're more connected than we thought huh?" He asked, putting on a grin to make the statment less awkward.
Kaleigh nodded numbly and turned to start walking again.
"We still have to come up with the emblem though." He said, easily falling instep with her.
"Yeah. About that."
Uh-oh. He thought.
"I want it to be nice enough I can still wear a tank top."
Brandon threw his head back and laughed.
It startled Kaleigh, but it wasn't unwelcome.
"Out of all the things you could have said, you said that?" He asked through laughter that coated every word.
Kaleigh let a small smile hit her lips, but just than she walked into the dark arcade lit only by blacklights, so he didn't see it.
"I didn't mean that as a bad thing." He quickly added, worried that he had hurt her. "I just meant that it was kind of funny how girls are always worried about their looks and all - "
"Whoa! Don't you start comparing me to other girls." She stopped and looked at him. Her feelings from her other life welded up in her, all of the judgment, being different, and hating it. And she thought Brandon was different!
"I've spent my entire life, fake or not, living inside a shell. I was never anybody, I was never anything. I was just the orphan that kept to herself and didn't talk to people. That's who I was, that's what I was use to. Then to come here, and find out I can - I can do things that shouldn't be possible! I just - I'm always going to be that girl no one pays attention to, that girl no one wants to see, or talk to. I'm always going to be judged and alone. I should have known you were no different."
Kaleigh turned to walk away. She had forgotten her brothers, her promise to meet them.
Brandon knew more was going on in her, but couldn't help but let her words affect him.
He grabbed her arm as she walked by, knowing what he was going to have to do to prove that he wasn't like the rest of them, he walked her through the arcade, not letting go of her arm as he pushed Kaleigh ahead of him. He opened the exit door and they found themselves standing on an emergency exit ramp, with stairs on the left that led to the lower floor.
"Don't think you know me. We've known each other for what? Two weeks?" He asked, Kaleigh pulled away from him and shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Yeah but at least you had a family that loves you. That's something I never had until a month ago!" She shot back. "Even now, at school, I feel like I have to live a lie because everyone else would think I'm a freak! And you know what? You might claim to be an Elemental, or whatever, but you're still human! And It's in your nature to judge."
"Kaleigh." He walked over to her and grasped his shoulders. "Just shut up."

Kale wont deny it. She thought he was going to kiss her. And because of that thought, her heart pounded like she had just ran a marathon. But her surprised her when he bent down and picked her up. Her arm instinctively going around his neck.
"Brandon what are you doing?" She asked.
He shot her an impatient look, before a strong wind whipped around them. He channeled it by years of practice, but starred into Kaleigh's bright blue eyes the whole time.
Kaleigh gasped as she suddenly realized they weren't touching the ground anymore.
"Oh gosh!" Her grip on Brandon's neck tightened. It wasn't that she was scared of heights or anything, but she was just shocked.
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Like I have a choice?!" She shot back.
He just laughed and flew off.

No. 14: Training Hard

No. 14: Training Hard

The Professor met them outside the mansion. He was leaning on his cane with a smile on his face as he saw them walk over.
"So I see you have come to an agreement then?" He asked as they drew closer.
"Well lets just say we understand each other better. We still haven't talked about the whole, Bonding thing." Brandon explained.
The Professor nodded.
"Well you'll have plenty of time for talking latter. But right now we have other things to tend to. Come."
The two kids followed the elder man to the strangely shaped building Kaleigh had noticed when she first came to campus, though other things had kept her mind from dwelling on it too long.

The building was made entirely of glass, and seemed to made up of several pyramids all connected together by halls.
"Who cleans all that?" Kaleigh wondered aloud. Brandon chuckled beside her.
"What?" She asked, suddenly getting defensive.
"Nothing! It's just that anyone else would ask stuff like 'what's inside it?' or 'what could it's purpose be?' or even 'why is shaped that way?' and you ask 'who cleans it?' It's just funny."
Kale shrugged, as they walked up a gravel path to it.
"Yeah well the glory of being me. I don't see things the way everyone else does."
"That is very true Miss Kaleigh. Very true indeed." The Professor agreed.

He pushed the glass door open and when they had gotten closer, she found that it wasn't actually glass. It was some kind of other metal that simply glinted in the sunlight like glass, but was not clear.
"What kind of metal is this?" Kaleigh asked.
"It's one that is made up of all four Elements. Only made by Elementals, very powerful, nearly indestructible." The Professor explained. "It's called ealantean."
Kaleigh had a look on her face as she nodded that said 'well duh, I should have known that.' Making Brandon try extremely hard not to burst out laughing.

The Professor led them inside and Kaleigh stood shock still in awe.
The inside looked much like she would have imagined a pyramid to look like. Just with out the stone walls, sand, hieroglyphs, freaky dog faced statues, and mummies.
The first pyramid was practically empty except for a couple benches on the far wall, and the floor was covered in black mats, which she could only assume were for tumbling and learning to do flips. Filling the floor looked like what might be an obstacle course. Beams of wood hung from the roof on cables that was attached to the tip of the pyramid on a pulley system. Targets of various sizes and shapes were everywhere, giving testimony that someone had the precision to hit a fly.
However, along two walls, cases that took up the entire length of the wall were full of various weapons. Almost anything she could think of, it was there, except, to her surprise, guns and hand grenades. Actually, nothing modern was in there, it was all knives, and swords.

"Holy molly." She muttered. "You've got an entire arsenal in here."
Brandon nodded in agreement, he was standing at the edge of the mats with his hands shoved in his pockets.
"Yes, we do have that. Now listen carefully Kaleigh." The Professor agreed.
Kale turned to the older man and waited for him to say what he had to say.
"Air has always been an Element that needed something to help channel it, most of the other ones besides Fire can be used on their own, but Air and Fire are harder to master. Now don't take this as a discouragement, they're hard, but not impossible." He added when he saw the worry line in her forehead.
"So, for example, if you wanted to use your Lightening to hit an enemy, with out something to direct it, you could hit your ally next to you. Do you see what I mean?"
Kaleigh nodded.
"You will not have to use it for everything, somethings will be so little it wont be needed, but especially in combat you will need something to direct your Element."
He turned and started walking to one of the weapons cases.
"All of these weapons have at least a hint of ealantean in them, making them stronger and more durable with Elements. I would suggest you try to get something that is made of pure ealantean so it would have the best chance of lasting longer." He picked up a dagger that was made entirely of the silvery metal, but already she could feel that the alien feeling inside her had rejected the object.
"Now this is a dagger from the Yuan Dynasty in China, we modified it of course but it's still in prime condition. That's the lovely thing about ealantean. It doesn't corrode like normal metals."
Kaleigh respected his knowledge, but shook her head when he offered it to her.
"Not your type I see. Yes it does take a bit more muscle to wield." He added on second thought. Kale sent Brandon a glance who was just grinning like usual and shrugged at her look.
   The Professor continued on in this manner, providing various weapons, all the way from swords, to ninja throwing stars. But none of the ones he showed her struck her as something she'd want to fight with.
"So really, none of these hold your fancy?" The Professor asked halfway through the second wall.
Kaleigh shrugged with an apologetic look.
"No. I'm afraid not. I'm sorry Professor."
Wallace sighed and walked over to a bench.
"Well why don't you look around and see if maybe you can find something on your own."
Kaleigh nodded and wandered around, trying to take in all the various weapons. It seemed so overwhelming seeing so many at one time.
She almost gave up when she saw something twinkle in the corner of her eye.
Turing around, and looking up she noticed a silver string hanging between two pegs.
Captivated, she reached up to take it down, only to find she was too short. Once she saw she was defeated she let out an exasperated sigh.
"Brandon could you...?" She didn't need to finish the sentence. He was already by her side, reaching up and pulling the silver string down for her.
"Yeah. Here you go." He said with a genuine grin.
The first thing Kaleigh noticed, was that it was only slightly bigger than her thumb at one end, then grew smaller at the opposite end.
It was cool to her touch, there was something about it that made her know it was both beautiful, but deadly.
"It's a whip..." She muttered in surprise.
"Yes. I'm not quite sure where that one came from. It's just been here since the beginning. Nearly as old as I am." Professor Wallace proclaimed.
"It looks like a decoration." Brandon observed. "A pretty thing, but not really of any use."
Kaleigh was already shaking her head.
"Haven't you ever seen Indiana Jones? Whips can be very deadly, no matter how pretty they look."
"Indeed. But they are also extremely hard to train with. It will bit you before it lets you master it." The Professor warned. "It might not be the easiest weapon to use, the knives would be more gentle."
"No. This is the only one I can actually see myself using." She explained. "All the others seem menacing and not exactly gentle."
"Plus that one looks more girly." Brandon chipped in.
"There is that. Girls are known to be graceful." She teased. He rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"No one told my little sister that." He murmured.
"You have a little sister?" She cried in shock.
"Yeah. Why? You think I was an only child?"
Kale shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind but I didn't really think about it too much." She admitted.
Brandon shrugged but didn't say much else.
"So you are sure you want to use this particular weapon?" The Professor asked once again.
Kaleigh nodded as she twirled the whip between it's fingers.
Despite the fact that it was made of metal, it was extremely, and shockingly flexible.
"Very well."
The Professor walked over to a dark cupboard that had blended into the shadows, evading Kaleigh's notice.
He opened the doors and pulled out what looked like pieces of fabric.
"These will be your training clothes. They're just light weight cotton, so they'll allow you to move about freely. You will find changing rooms in the hall just through that doorway on the left."
Kaleigh and Brandon set off across the room to the doorway.
"So, what weapons do you use?" She asked, her hand still clutching the whip tightly.
"Anything I can throw really." He answered. Kale laughed out loud.
"That could be a whole lot of things. So are we talking throwing knives or battle axes?"
Brandon's eyes bulged at the suggestion.
"Can you really imagine me hurtling a battle ax around?!"
Kaleigh's nose crinkled as she shook her head.
"Yeah I didn't think so. I use various throwing knives."
They came to the doorway, and Kaleigh noticed that darkness was the only thing that waited beyond it. She shifted slightly so Brandon was now in front of her.
He didn't seem to notice the movement and went into the darkness with out hesitation.
"Does that include ninja stars you can throw at people while your running from roof tops? Please don't tell me you can perform air assassinations!" She pleaded.
Though she couldn't see him, she could hear him laugh up ahead of her.
"I probably could if I wanted to, but no, I don't. At least not the air assassinations."
Kaleigh rolled her eyes playfully but chuckled just the same.
A shriek left her lips when she suddenly rammed into something quiet solid, only to realize it was Brandon's back.
"Here we are."
A light suddenly flared to life in front of her, blinding her eyes.
She peered around Brandon and saw that it was a locker room.
"Oh good gracious." She muttered.
Brandon made a sweeping gesture with his hand.
"After you."
Her eyes grew wide as she misinterpreted his words. He caught on and moved away from the room a bit.
"I'll wait 'til your finished."
Nodding numbly, she walked in and shut the door behind her.

She shimmied out of her usual warm clothes and put on the lighter ones that didn't prevent the cold air from hitting the skin underneath.
Kaleigh caught her reflection in the mirror above the long row of sinks, and looked down at her outfit. It was all brown, a long tunic that almost came down to her knees, and a loose fitting pair of pants. She hadn't been given any shoes so she had put on her orange converse again, which threw the outfit off kilter. Her dark hair fell in thick waves over her shoulder, and it looked even darker with the dull cotton underneath it. Her skin had always been darker than a sun tan, which had always made her wonder what her heritage was, people had assumed that she was part Native American, but she had never really given it much thought.
But now looking at herself in the mirror, in the brown garbs and her long black hair, she was shocked that she hadn't guessed it before.

When they both had changed, leaving their street clothes in the locker room on one of the long benches in the middle of the room, they both met the Professor back in the first pyramid with the mats.
He eyed them for a moment, Kaleigh still clutching the whip. He instructed to take off their shoes and called Brandon up to demonstrate what he had learned in his last lesson.
It came as no surprise to Kaleigh, she had figured Brandon had probably been training for a very long time.
She was sitting down on one of the observing bench as she pulled off her shoes and socks.
Brandon was dressed in similar clothes as she was, however he had on several belts. One strapped across his chest, another around his hips. He too, was barefoot as he crossed over to the middle of the mats.
He paused and eyed the beams for a moment.
Kaleigh started to quickly French braid her hair, knowing she was in for a work out and didn't want it in her way.
The sudden flurry of motion in the corner of her eye called her attention to where Brandon had been standing.
Only he wasn't there any longer.
Her eyes darted around wildly 'til she finally saw the brown blur that was jumping in between two poles and landing lightly on one of the beams.
He had his balance almost as soon as his feet touched the wood. He erected himself and looked down for a moment, that usual grin still on his face as he saw Kaleigh's shocked face.
"Didn't believe me when I said I could do parkour?" He asked her, raising his voice a little.
"Nuh-uh." She answered, making him laugh lightly.
"Please get on with it Brandon, we do not have all day." The Professor reminded.
Kaleigh quickly tied off the braid in her hair with one of the many hair bands she wore on her wrist, then she dropped her hands and looked up to watch Brandon.
The beams swayed slightly as he hooked himself up to a safety line that ran along the course. After a moment with fiddling with the harness, he took off at a run. He pulled out a dagger from his belt and held onto it by the tip of the blade lightly, keeping his wrist loose.
Kale was about to shout at him that the beam was coming to a quick end, but that's when he threw himself across the gap between the beam he was on, and the next one. Kale barely saw the flash of silver until she heard a low thud and looked in pure shock and awe as she saw the blade of a knife protruding in one of the lower targets, perfectly centered in the red bull's eye.
"Oh good grief..." She whispered, but her eyes were torn back to Brandon who was once again a blur of movement. It was hard for her to follow his movements, they flowed together so seamlessly, and he was moving with such speed she thought he was being propelled along, gliding not really running.
Flashes of silver kept coming, always hitting their marks and always dead center.
It finally dawned on her.
"Professor..." She breathed, hating the idea that her voice would break Brandon's concentration.
"Hmm?" The Professor asked, joining her on the bench.
"You said he was Wind right?" She asked.
"Correct."
"Ah..." She was right.

Brandon slowed down at the end of the last beam, coming to a stand still. He looked down at the Professor expectantly.
"You were better, though you seemed to have forgotten that the wires of the beams were there." He said.
Brandon cringed and nodded. Feeling the burses all over his body on where he had rammed into the wires. He hadn't let him stop him, but it still hurt just the same.
"But your even more swift with your blades as I've ever seen." The Professor glanced down at Kaleigh who was doing her best to look anywhere else but at the other two people in the room.
"I wonder if that's due to the fact that she's here." He muttered almost to himself.
Brandon had shimmied down a rope that was at the end of the course and was walking to a large pillar next to their bench. He flipped a switch and leaned against the pillar.
"You think so?" He asked. Kaleigh jumped slightly when the grinding of mechanisms working shook through the room.
The targets Brandon had shot at began to lower themselves from their various positions in the room so he could retrieve his knives.
"I did feel stronger than before." He went on. "Faster, like I had a strength I didn't know I had."
Kaleigh finally looked up at him with curiosity on her face. He wasn't looking at her, his gaze was fixed on the Professor. The line of concentration on his face deepening.
The Professor shrugged as he followed the boy when he went to retrieve his knives, with his eyes.
"It's possible. I haven't encountered a complete set of Guardians before so I am not sure how much of a connection you already have even with out the Bonding, but it is very possible that even just her presence would affect you."
"And I do happen to be sitting right here you know." Kaleigh jumped in. Getting sick of the way they talked about her as if she weren't even in the room.
Brandon looked back at her and flashed a playful grin as he pulled out the last of his daggers.
"Hit that switch for me?" He asked pointing to the one he had just used.
Kaleigh reached up and flipped the switch, the targets returning to their original position.
"And I know your here. It's very hard to ignore your presence." He added, addressing her statement.
"M-hmm. Sure it is." She was unconvinced. "So you used your Wind power for all that?" She asked.
Brandon nodded.
"So...you were cheating?"
His jaw dropped in mocked horror.
"It's not cheating using all of your skills." He said.
"It is if it's not exactly natural. And with out using your powers you probably suck." Her jab was challenging as she cocked an eyebrow, though the smile tugging at the edges of her lips told him she wasn't trying to be mean.
The targets had come to a complete stop, the grinding of the machine silent.
He was very aware of his surroundings and knew there was a target behind him just to the left a little.
Making a quick calculation in his head that was now second nature, he spun on his heel, brining his arm holding the knife back, then throwing it swiftly, letting go with a flick of his wrist. Sending the knife into the dead center of the target. He turned to Kaleigh was  smile.
"Professor wouldn't let me use my power 'til I could throw a knife as well on my own as with my power."
Kaleigh looked genuinely impressed.
"Alright fin. It's not that bad." She admitted, pretending to be a bit scornful.
The Professor had watched their conversation with interest. Seeing how they were already very familiar with each other, very aware of the other. He had a feeling they'd be very close friends and would lean on each other as if it was second nature to them.
"Come Kaleigh." He instructed. Setting down his cane and standing.
Kale watched in surprise as she realized the can and the hunched over man was just a mask.
Wallace had removed his own shoes as well, along with his tweed jacket. He had the sleeves of his button up shirt rolled up to his elbows. Any sign of an ageing old man who suffered with pains all over his body, melted away like a mirage.
His back straitened, his foot step steady and sure. Kaleigh saw ripples of muscle in his shoulders and arms.
Brandon's chuckle brought her out of her thoughts.
"Is he actually....?"
"Yup." Brandon answered her question as he took a swig of a water bottle he had brought along.
"It's weird at the beginning, but you'll grow use to it. Now go before he calls you a second time." He shoved her back, sending her stumbling forward.
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh." She mumbled.

In middle of the room, Kaleigh and the Professor stood in front of each other.
"So when your...alien feeling," Must have talked to Brandon. She thought. "came yesterday, what was going on in your head? What made it come out?"
She had already comet a conclusion of that very question when she had stayed up thinking about the whole thing.
"I was under emotional duress during both times." She answered immediately.
"Hmm...well we're going to have to see if you can access it with out the emotional strain. Other wise we're going to have to put you in some kind of situation each time you need your power, and that would not do us much good."
Kaleigh nodded absently, wondering what on earth the Professor had in mind.
"That will come in time when you're more aware of yourself. I've given instructions with Brandon and he will try to help you. I have a feeling that he'll be able to help you more than I."
"Then....what are we doing?" She asked.
"Teaching you how to use that whip you've decided to hang onto." He said as if it should be obvious.
"Oh..."
"Now get a firm hold on the thicker end. Yes there you go."

For the next two hours the Professor taught her how to use the whip for various things. This being just the first lesson, she was very clumsy at it all except for being able to wrap the end around the pole, that she was able to do, and when they provided her with a mannequin to practice on, she was still able to 'grab' things. Though not always what she wanted. It was hard to grow accustomed to how she had to move her body around in order to get it to do what she wanted.

Brandon practiced several things on his own, doing more of his parkour and his knife throwing. It was something to keep his mind off things and he found that it unnerved Kaleigh that he watched her from the hanging beams, which for some reason he found unreasonably funny. Laughing every time she sent him a glance that soon became a glare.

In the end they were both sweaty and hot. The locker room had showers and they each took a turn waiting outside for the other as they took their shower and changed out of their training clothes.
Kaleigh watched in surprise as Brandon slipped six ninja stars into his belt under his t-shirt. He caught her watching and looked up at her with raised eyebrows.
"What? Did you think we'd do all that training and not even be allowed to keep the weapon?"
"W-what?" She stuttered as they walked back into the first pyramid.
"You get to keep the whip. Is mainly what I'm saying." He repeated with fake exasperation.
He held the door open for her and she stepped outside, grateful for the cool air that whipped past her as she placed her beanie on her head.
She wasn't sure what to do with her whip, something where she could get to it easily, but wouldn't be obvious.
"You could use it as a belt...or...something." Brandon piped up from next to her, seeing her dilemma.
"I was thinking more like a necklace." She said.
"That could work I guess." He shrugged.
She wrapped the whip around her neck several times, finding that it was flexible enough to lay there limply and comfortably. She didn't have a mirror, so she couldn't see what it looked like, but when she asked Brandon's opinion, he said it looked fine to him. But then again he's a guy, and his fashion sense wasn't up there with a girl's.
"Well I've got to get to my brothers, they're going to freak out since we've been gone all morning." She said.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow. We've got training again."
"Okay. Bye!"
She ran off to her house with a wave over her shoulder.
Brandon chuckled and kept walking home. He'd be glad to get back to his art studio so he could finish up that painting.