Beautiful Day - OPEN

[ALIS CADI THOMAS]

Alis was out and about on this beautiful day, enjoying the weather to her full content. The sun was at the perfect angle, causing an intriguing shadow to form behind her, one long and looking almost nothing like herself. The warmth of the sun filled her body, making her slightly homesick. In the shade, she could feel the full brunt of the cool of October though, without the sun shining down on her. It was interesting, in her mind, that the sun could provide a difference if a person was directly taking in its warmth. Alis took note that she wanted to research that a bit more, making sure that she was to stop by the library and search for a few science books. She missed her late night studying random subjects that interested her, and she had stopped that upon her arrival at the school.

Taking a deep breath, she breathed in the fresh air around her. It was quite calming, and the expanse of the gardens was naturally giving her a tranquil feeling as well. She wanted to simply lay among the flowers and relax, but then she would likely end up crushing quite a few and she did not want that to happen. Alis knew she could use her power on some of these, but as she could not control it, she was afraid of what might happen. Alis hated that nagging fear that she might kill a plant. To some, killing plants might mean nothing to them, but to her, it was like killing a member of her family. Her heart bled watching people step on flowers or herbs. Anything that could be of use, though she did not mind much about grass.

As much as she wanted to get to know more people and make new friends, she still wanted to have her alone time. Perhaps it was because she enjoyed the solitude of her own thoughts. Being able to hear herself was relaxing in its own way, and she could work out various scientific principles if she was not being interrupted. Perhaps she was crazy, as many in her previous school had thought, but she did not think so. She just happened to like science. Laying herself down in the grass and leaves beside a beautiful garden, she stared up at the sky, looking at the clouds. They puffy balls of white fluff, or cumulus clouds as she preferred to call them. A couple of ants crawled onto her arm and she smiled as she watched them. They must have been hiding in the leaves she was laying on. She picked them off and placed them back in the grass, then looked back up at the clouds to see what shapes she could find.

[SORAYA NIMAT DARZI]

Soraya meandered through the gardens, sticking mostly the sunny spots. Even though it was October and the weather would grow colder by the day, she had only thrown on a light jacket over her sleeveless dress. It might have been the Wind in her, but she had never liked wearing lots of layers or thick coats. It had bothered her parents to no end to see her come home from school in the winter, carrying her winter jacket over her shoulder and shivering. Her mother had made her promise she wouldn’t get hypothermia while she was at the Academy, and so far she had kept her promise.

She had been writing a lot lately, and her notebook was never far from her hand. Most of her work over the past month had been character profiles, but several of them could belong to the same universe. She still hadn’t decided whether her first work would be about Elementals or not. It might be too controversial to be accepted, but that controversy was exactly what she wanted her career to be about. A little smile flitted across her face at the thought of her career. Her mother might have always wanted to be a journalist, but most fourteen-year-olds probably didn’t know what they wanted to do with their lives, let alone what they wanted their legacy to be.

A cloud passed over the sun, and Soraya shivered, pulling her jacket tighter about her. The clouds were large and puffy, but not large or dark enough to be storm clouds. She had a few spots in her notebook where she hadn’t closed it in time to keep rain from smudging the ink, and running through the rain was only fun when she didn’t have to bend over and shelter her book.

[ALIS CADI THOMAS]

Alis was long beyond sure that she was going to be a scientist when she was older. What type of scientist though was the biggest question. She would obviously have to finish her schooling with her element first. She had heard there was even a college for elemental students. That was definitely a place for her. She was determined to graduate and then move onto that college, then she could go onto a regular college for science. Either way, she wanted to do something with plants. Alis was sure it was for the reason she was an earth elemental, but perhaps it could have also been because of her father. He had helped her to love plants, even more so than she ever had thought about. It was as if, even before his death, he knew that she would want to stick with it.

Trying to avoid crying as would often happen when her father came to mind, she jumped when she saw movement in her peripheral vision. Looking over, she noticed that there appeared to be a girl there, one walking toward her. She seemed to be holding what appeared to be a notebook. Raising an eyebrow, Alis sat up and waved at her. "Hello! Are you a writer?" she asked the other girl as she had no idea what else to say to her. Alis was friendly and loved meeting people, but she really had no idea how to start a conversation. It sort of made it harder for her to make any new friends, though she didn't mind terribly since it would only take one talkative person to bring her out of her shell.

Not knowing whether the girl would come over or not, Alis stood up and wiped the grass off her clothes. She was so used to being covered in grass. Most of her clothes were green, though she did wear other colors every once in a while. Today she wore a green hoodie and blue jeans, with orange sneakers just so they would stand out a little. Alis was a calm and quiet person most of the time, but her shoes were always the loudest part of her outfits. She smiled in greeting toward the girl, so she would know she was friendly. Alis didn't want her thinking she was an enemy or something.

[SORAYA NIMAT DARZI]

Soraya was distracted from her musings by the voice that came seemingly from nowhere. “Yeah, I am,” she answered even before she saw the speaker. She was fairly certain there wasn’t anyone invisible around, and the voice hadn’t come from behind her. A moment later, a brown-haired girl popped up from the ground, brushing away grass. Soraya smiled and wondered if she would ever learn to look somewhere other than her own eye level.

She took a few steps closer to the girl but decided not to get too close. The other girl seemed friendly, but Soraya didn’t want to intrude if she wasn’t wanted. It was probably silly, but she was still a little shy after her experiences trying to befriend some of the Thunder students. Her first time really should have warned her that when a group was characterized as being solitary she was more likely to come across the ones who preferred to be alone than the exceptions.

“The notebook gave it away, huh?” she said. “It usually does. I’m Soraya, by the way.” She went a little closer. “I’m not sure if I’ve seen you around.” The girl looked to be about her age, but she wasn’t sure whether they’d had any classes together.

[ALIS CADI THOMAS]

Alis smiled hearing that she was indeed a writer. She found it to be interesting as she was not the best writer when it came to things that were not assignments. It was the only time she enjoyed writing. Or about science, since Alis had a small obsession with the sciences. The only problem was that she could not for her life explain the obtaining of these kinetic abilities by science. It was nearly impossible, at least for her, since she did not quite understand how everyone here had come to be so gifted. It had to have started somewhere, with at least one person obtaining a kinetic and then passing it down through the generations, but Alis could not prove that at all.

Letting the breeze blow through her hair, she smiled at the girl to show that she was friendly, hoping that she would take it as such and approach her. Alis nodded in response to her question, still smiling as she did so. She really wanted friends but she did not want to seem terribly desperate. She introduced herself as Soraya, and Alis held her hand out as she did the same. "Mine is Alis," she said, hoping that the other girl would come close enough to shake her hand. She really was a genuinely nice person, but she supposed Soraya could be unsure or something. Alis did not want to make her feel uncomfortable or anything. That would totally not be what she wanted at all, just the opposite. When she said she was not sure if she had seen her around, Alis gasped and remembered that most people would be confused by her.

"Oh! That's right, I am a new student here. I am in ninth grade, but I only just arrived the other day as my kinesis showed up a little late. I am an earth elemental," she said, sitting on the ground and feeling the grass underneath her hand. Without even meaning to, a few bits of grass began to grow. "No, no, no! That is not what I wanted to happen," she exclaimed in a distressed manner. She really wanted to just feel the grass beneath her hand. "I cannot even control it yet and things like that happen without me realizing. It drives me crazy and makes me sick," she said, rubbing the back of her neck as she was completely unsure of herself. "What element are you?" she asked, as she knew that if she was thunder or fire, she would have to stay away. She had not yet met one of those and hoped she would not have to.

[SORAYA NIMAT DARZI]

Soraya stepped closer and shook the girl’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Alis,” she said. She returned the smile, glad that someone was being friendly to her. It could be because they were closer in age and Soraya wouldn’t be seen as the annoying younger kid. She suspected Alis was of one of the friendlier Elementals, though.

She joined Alis in sitting on the grass and giggled a little as the grass started to grow. When the other girl seemed distressed, she forced herself to stop. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that it looked a bit like in fairy tales. You know, the fairy or whatever makes plants grow wherever they are. I’ve always wondered what that would look like in real life, in the modern world…” Before she realized it, she had started constructing a story in her head. She forced herself back to the real world.

“I’m Wind. I can’t really do anything cool yet. I just make little breezes, and it’s a bit too cold to show you today. I bet I could move the clouds if I were a bit older.” She idly rubbed her thumb up and down a blade of grass as she looked up at the sky. “How do you like it here so far?”