* THE GREAT ESCAPE [stark]

Rafael wouldn't say he was an angry person, he wouldn't say that. He was easily irritated, and when irritated he became violent, but he was not naturally angry. That little trait belonged to his allies in Fire, in his eyes. However, lately he'd been very irritable. Quite a few Water students had experienced this irritation first hand. He guessed that's what happened when one found out that the father who left the family so many years ago was right here in Canada and refused to be the father that he should have been. Oh, the man had explained why he wouldn't give any money, support. If Rafael were a better person, he'd have understood and accepted it. But that was the problem in the first place. No, he wouldn't help his own son out, but he stated with pride and certainty that he'd assist his daughter out. And why? Was it because Rafael was his illegitimate son and Nell was the one he could be proud of?

It was a little scary, though, how easily the man picked up on his personality traits, on who he was. "I don't trust you, Rafael," he'd said, "because you remind me of myself." The Thunder student closed the book he'd been reading, brow permanently set in a look of disdain and hatred, as if the window had offended him somehow. Outside, it was a pleasant day, temperate. He didn't enjoy many things, though. He was a bitter old man without the age, even though he felt like he'd lived too many lives for a sixteen-year-old. Even though he could not be described as a saint, he was responsible, and he'd been the one holding his family together since his father left, the glue that kept everything together. Was family important to him? Not in the way some people viewed family, but he believed that to be archaic. When he could finally escape the prison of class, he headed out into the nice weather, backpack slung over his shoulder. He had to study, and as much as he hated it, Rafael wanted to pass the school year. If he got held back, he'd be hearing from his mother.

The boy chose the lake as a student spot, but before he could even find a place to sit, he saw a familiar person jumping out of a tree. He snorted. Water students seemed to live just like fish, disregarding the fact that even though the weather was warm today, the leaves were drooping to fall, turning red around the edges. When Gale popped up, Rafael flicked his fingers to create a few sparks, attracted to the moisture on his face. It would be no more intense than electric shock, but even that wasn't very pleasant. He couldn't electrically charge the entire lake, though he must admit he'd enjoy that. He lifted his head so he could look down his nose at the boy. "What, got no friends around?" he asked, his eyes scanning the bank as if to verify this. "Kind of sucks for you, bro." His eyes were full of malicious intent, and he was sure Gale would notice. He kicked up some water with his shoe, splashing Gale. "I got an exam coming up, how'd you like to help me practice?"

Rafael felt the spark of amusement when Gale recoiled, turning into full blown laughter when he faltered. He wasn't an exceptionally cruel guy, but he had his moments. He could admit that he was a dick at best, but he also had a pretty damn high view of himself. His confidence was fed simply by himself. Of course, he had friends, but he didn't have any brown nosers. saying what an awesome guy he was. He didn't think anyone did unless they were some big shit. Rafael raised his eyebrows at the Water's words as if taking them in like a sponge. "Yeah, nice day out," he said flatly, somewhat disbelieving that Gale was not pissed or anything. Not that Waters had great tempers, but they could be ticked off. He knew from experience just because like Gale, he fucked with them so much. It was a standard in his element.

Rafael didn't understand how he seemed to be so unguarded. Was it a trick? He wouldn't trust the Water elemental as far as he could throw him. After a moment of gauging the situation, he snorted. "Just a little practical application," he said, snapping his fingers again. "Just wanted to see if I can find a partner I could practice with, yanno." It felt sadistically pleasant to take advantage of Gale's naive and trusting nature. Because really, Rafael was an obvious threat. There was no good intentions underneath his gold gaze, his lips quirked into a tiny and malicious smirk. And Gale should have know this. They were enemies by nature, plain and simply.

Rafael used the water on Gale's body as a conductor to let the little sparks bounce off of him like he was a transformer. The dancing sparks had to be painful. "So uh...could you tell me how that feels?" Like a therapist, like a doctor. He wondered if the kid would fight back or not, but he rarely ever did. He was as bad at his allies, really.

Rafael tilted his head, dark brown eyes glinting in the light of the sun, bouncing off the water, all very bright. Everything around had an overwhelming bright quality. Not that Rafael particularly minded, though he much preferred the dungeons and the darkness of cloud cover, bruises across the sky. "Sorry, holmes, but you don't have a choice," he said, and that was very much true. Gale was pretty much his punching bag at this point, and it would be even better if he fought back. Rafael would grow bored pretty quickly, anyone would, if a victim didn't fight back. But still, he was a vindictive creatures, sadistic and vicious at the best of times, downright horrible at the worst. But he had a decent amount of friends, and wouldn't bash himself, not with his pride.

So he was completely overjoyed when Gale fought back in the form of bringing a stream of water to collide with him. It knocked him back, but he wouldn't shiver and back down as a Fire might. No, he had elemental advantage here, and he would use it. Rafael smirked. "How does what feel?" As if he didn't notice the water. But he did, he felt the drain on his own energy from being attacked. The Thunder fought back with just as much bite, sending an electrical charge through the Water left behind on the ground, up into his body again, finding a path and targeting all the spots, hoping he'd collapse. He approached quickly and aimed a punch for Gale's jaw, catching him when he was subdued by electrical charges. Who said he had to stick to elemental attacks?

When he lifted his hand up for another electrical charge, stepping forward, he found himself losing his footing and falling on his ass. He looked down, saw a root that shouldn't have been there. "The fuck..." he muttered, before turning around and finding his half-sister standing behind him, arms crossed. "I suggest you haul ass, Rafael," she told him, jerking her head in the direction away from the lake. He stood with as much dignity as he could muster, brushed off his ripped jeans, glared at Nell. "I'm not afraid of you, fucking cunt." She pursed her lips, looked off and nodded, like she considered this. "So you really want to try me, youngblood?" she questioned. "I've got more advantages over you than you can count on your fingers." She lifted her eyebrows, challenging. He wanted to rip her throat out. She'd been nothing but trouble as of late, and it was really grating on his nerves.

Rafael got closer, sticking his face in hers as if about to headbutt her. "You've got nothing, Nell, I could knock your fucking teeth out." She shrugged. "If you can touch me," was her cool response, and even Rafael realized that he was shit out of luck. She was an Earth, and in college to boot. He left with the bird flipped over his shoulder, and Nell rolled her eyes, so much matching the boy's. She approached Gale, the Water boy she was unfamiliar with. "Jeez, did he just attack you out of nowhere?" she wondered with exasperation, scratching the back of her head. "Hope you're all right, the Thunders can be pretty nasty to your kind. Nothing too bad, right?" Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she lifted her arm to let the bag slip further up it. "Nell, by the way. I've seen you around, but we haven't really gotten the chance to talk." And under rather suckish circumstances to get the chance.

Nell felt her heart pull, looking at the bruise on the boy’s face. Can I have a relative whose not a dick, or does my blood come with its own jerk gene? She didn’t even care that Gale was pretty much a stranger, she’d do anything for anyone. If someone asked her to lay down in the middle of the street, she’d do so, no questions asked. Was it healthy? Well, that would be a good question if she ever thought about it. But the thing is that she never thought about herself. ”You get into a lot of fights, or a lot of fights with Raf?” She didn’t know whether or not she should tell Gale about her relationship with the Thunder. Was that the kind of thing people told other people about? Was it right to keep it hidden? In moments like these, she realized how little she actually knew about the world and its ways. So she just went with her gut instinct and kept her mouth shut. It was what she did, kept things hidden about herself. Even though it wasn’t completely about herself, never was. It was about her father and his regrets and the fact that a boy was born out of them.

She watched the elemental as he shook out his arms, wondering if he was telling the truth. She lifted her eyebrows, smiled at him a little. ”You sure you don’t want to go to the medical wing or anything? Get some ice on that?” It would probably get swollen, and Nell felt that anger she always felt when someone hurt someone else. Never would it sit well for her. She hated Rafael right now, she didn’t know how it could get any worse. Even if Gale didn’t want to get any help, it’d be nice to chill out and relax in a safe environment. She didn’t like to be a patient herself, but she knew people liked to be taken care of. It just depended on who you were, really. And she was the kind of person that wanted to make sure everyone around her was safe. She’d do anything she could to ensure that.

Her smile shone bright when he introduced himself. ”Nice to meet you too,” she said, voice like the sun. The boy may have seen something different when she confronted Rafael, but she was an inviting person and gentle when it came to people she cared about. And she cared about this stranger, right here, because that’s how it worked for her. ”Yeah, he fights dirty, I could tell.” It might have gotten much worse, too, but she really didn’t know Rafael too well. Another wave of bitterness. She tried to shake it off in opt for worrying about Gale. ”What element are you in, anyway?” she asked out of curiosity. She couldn’t say for sure, especially since she didn’t see his attack against her half-brother.

Nell ran her eyes up and down the boy for a moment, trying to figure him out. She was always interested in other people, she couldn’t help it. When the fates, or whatever dictated who crossed paths with who, placed someone before her she was instantly caught up in wondering about them. What they liked, their family, do they like television, do they prefer crayons or colored pencils? ”Tell me about it,” she said with an almost bitter smile. After being their target in a war, she could whole-heartedly agree. Nell wondered if Rafael may have been one of the Thunders who attacked her, but she never really remembered their faces. Tried not to remember the people who came after her with accusations of killing the Thunder leader. But she could remember the leaders relaying the information very clearly, how their words hit too close to home even though they were wrong about who she’d killed. She was still a murderer.

Being a trusting person, she was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Most of that. Until it came to someone else’s health. She knew how people worked, they lied and said that they were okay even when they weren’t. Her entire history was of people telling other people they were okay when they really weren’t. She wanted to end that cycle, really. She tapped her chin, considering it, and jokingly said, ”Well, it adds character, that’s a plus.” No use in being all mopey about injuries, right? Even though inside, her intestines were showing off their knowledge of different knots they can tie themselves into. Empathy sucked a lot of the times. ”Still may be a good idea to get ice. That gonna swell like a mother.” True enough, at least. She knew enough about injuries to be certain that her words were very true. Did she always treat them the bet ways? No, not really, but that was beside the point.

Nell shrugged. She never really thought about it, actually. ”Maybe. But who really makes up rules for fighting, yanno?” There were laws for war, but that was between countries and it involved politics and continental affairs. ”Never really think about it, actually. Fighting exerts more energy than its worth.” Spoken like a true pacifist, really, her Earth was showing. She didn’t care. She had her views, people could have their own. After all, she was engaged to Josh and he certainly wasn’t a pacifist and she was fine and dandy with that. She laughed softly. ”Yep, yep, you got it.” She loved being associated with her element, like she belonged there. Everyone wanted somewhere to belong. Nell waved her hand when he spoke, looking almost disinterested. ”No problemo. Just glad that he didn’t go all…” She held up her hands like claws and growled. ”…On me. At least he knows when he’s screwed. It really does suck for you, being Water though. What grade are you in? I know in college, you guys can start learning ice manipulation.” She hadn’t even started on stone manipulation herself, yet, because she still felt like the memory of a night almost two years ago still held her back.