[Or] The New Elementals

[The Elemental]

That's right. A fiction on my Elementals. I was planning on writing this story a long time ago, but I just got caught up with a whole lot of things. Well, here it is.

Volume One: The Ember That Sparks the Flame
Chapter One: An Ordinary Start

Who would have guessed it would end like this? Who knew we would be chosen? Who knew that day would change our entire lives? This is our story and this is my contribution.

My name is Hishisda Kenshin. I am seventeen years old and attend Saito High School. However, that would all soon change in a couple of days, for today was the day my life switched from ordinary to extraordinary.

It was an average Monday morning and as usual, I was late for school. I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my uniform lying at the edge of my bed. I quickly got changed, grabbed my books and some breakfast, and sped out of the door. I started to run down the sidewalk at top speed. It was times like these I was happy to be on the track team. I looked at my watch. 7:25. Damn! There was only five minutes left! I struggled to maneuver past the people blocking my way. I decided to jump the fence and save some time. Unfortunately, that didn’t end well. I climbed over and fell face first into the ground. I got up as fast as I could. I couldn’t afford to waste any more time. I entered the building with one minute left. I climbed the stairs, sprinted down the hallway, and opened the door.

“Well, well. Barely beating the clock again I see,” Kazu-Sensei said with a smirk as a walked calmly in the classroom. “No matter. Please take your seat, Kenshin.” I sighed and walked over to my seat. I sat down and rested my head on the table. But as I did, I felt something hit the side of my head, which made me fall out of my seat. I crawled back in my seat and saw the source of that pain, Iwasaki Sakura, my neighbor and best friend for as long as I could remember. I guess I was so drowsy I forgot she sat next to me. She really doesn’t like it when I am lazy.

“You are not seriously going to sleep in front of me, are you?” she asked me as she helped me up. I chuckled at the question.

“Sorry. I forgot you were in this class.” Suddenly, there was a knocking coming from the front of the room. I turned and saw Kazu-Sensei hitting the board.

“Sakura, Kenshin, please pay attention.”

“Sorry Sensei,” we both said in unison.

“Good. Now, Sakura please read aloud page 81 on the story of the Elementals.” Sakura opened her mythology book, stood up, and began to read.

“Perhaps one of the least known myths is the story of the Elementals. There is only one document that has information on them. It speaks of eight mystical beings, each one controlling one of the elements. They protected the earth from four of their own from destroying the planet. Though their names are unknown, their elements are stated in the document. They are: Fire, Earth, Ice, Light, Darkness, Wind, Water, and Lightning. However, the other four elements are unknown. They were able to stop the four and they passed their powers to control the elements to their decedents. They say when they are needed, one generation will reclaim their powers and save the earth once again.” Sakura closed her book and sat back down.

“Very good, Sakura. I will now explain your assignment,” Sensei said as various groans filled the room. “Now, now. It will be interesting, I promise you. You will each pair up and write your own version of the Elemental myth. You can be as creative as you want. The assignment is due Friday.” It’s funny how it was due Friday.

The day came and went and I was just as sleepy as I was in the morning. Unfortunately, Sakura was by my side keeping me awake to start the assignment. We headed to my house and began brainstorming some ideas. I, of course, was not paying attention. Soon enough, Sakura grew annoyed and told me to at least come up with one idea before the day ended. She picked herself up and left. I thought about her comment and realized what I should do, sleep.

A woke up about an hour later by a siren ringing by my window. I got up and looked outside. There was smoke coming from the local park. I hurried down to the source of the smoke. There I saw half of the park engulfed in fire. The fire was horrible, yet at the same time, it was wonderful how the flames danced around the air and ground. The firemen were extinguishing the fire, but unbeknownst to them, there was a small child trapped by the fire. At first, I wanted to call for help, but then I saw the child’s silhouette disappear from behind the fire. I acted on impulse and ran straight into the fire.

I began to search frantically for the child. Nothing. There was no child, only trees burning. I turned around but soon noticed that the fire had spread to the ground and trapped me. I had nowhere to go. The flames began to inch in closer and closer. The heat was unbearable. My clothes started to burn. Suddenly, my jacket caught fire. I quickly removed it and tried to pat the flames away. I could feel every exposed area of my skin burning. Then, at that moment, I blacked out.

***

I regained consciousness outside of the park. There was a fireman to my left and a paramedic staring at my exposed flesh to my right.

“You are a lucky one,” said the fireman as he looked at the now extinguished park. “We found you in the middle of the park surrounded by a ring of fire.”

“The strangest thing,” said the paramedic. “As soon as you were pulled over to us, we began to search for burns. However, we could not find any at all.” I chuckled a bit.

“Maybe the fire just didn’t want to hurt me,” I said with a smirk. The fireman and paramedic laughed.

“Well, it does not seem like you have any injuries,” replied the paramedic. “You should return home, son.” I looked around at the scene, chaos everywhere.

“Yeah, that is probably for the best.” I stood up and began to walk home. Why didn’t I get burned? I could have sword my skin was burning. I have got to tell this to Sakura.

I entered my house and my parents started to ask a thousand questions. Are you ok? What were you thinking? Why did you leave the house without our permission? I answered them all with the same dull look on my face. As soon as they saw that, they knew I was all right. I climbed the stairs to my room and fell down on my bed. Something inside of me was telling me that my life was going to change.

Word Count - 1172