Chapter 23

The next day we checked out of the inn and were on our way to the capital. The roads were mostly clear, we stopped briefly to eat, drink and rest. I was sitting next to the river while trying to relax my mind. This is an excellent opportunity to try and improve my powers. The battle is only two weeks away.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the current and letting my body flow with it. Everything else vanished and all that remained was the wind blowing in my ears. Nothing existed but the rushing water of the river and the wind in my ears. When the wind blew strong enough to ruffle my hair, I took a deep breath and started moving my hands up slowly to lift the water. There was a feeling of weight on my hands in a back-and-forth motion as I moved the water. I opened my eyes to see my arm raised above my head. When I felt the water floating over my head. Slowly, I raised my hands higher; the water rose higher until finally, I lifted it completely up into the air. I turned around to find everyone watching me.

The others weren't far behind me. I dropped the water back into the stream.

"That was amazing!" Kaida cheered as she ran up to me.

"Thanks," I smiled.

Ryoko walked towards me and patted my shoulder. "That was great," he smiled.

"I was hoping that you guys would teach me how to master the other elements." I asked. A flood of agreements came in.

"But first I don't know how you were able to freeze and unfreeze me back at the inn. Because you were unable to even hold water." Ryoko questioned.

"It must have been your emotions," Tatsuya laughed.

"I might have been like that. I did have a cold feeling when I remembered my first night here," I answered.

"Well, then the result was freezing me. I think this time they were more than likely positive ones." Ryoko chuckled as his expression became serious again. I looked down at my feet, guilt pouring over me.

"Ayla," he called. "Your abilities are unique to you. You can control all the elements known to us. It must have been a good sign when you froze me," Ryoko chuckled.

"Alright, now you're gonna start training from the bottom. Don't get caught up thinking about what could happen, just let your body take control." Tatsuya ordered. Everyone agreed. Everyone went off to practice using their respective elements. I watched them, enjoying the view. I liked to watch everyone practice because of how much fun they had. They were always happy and energized to get started. I knew I would be happy to join them and learn everything I could.

"Ayla over here!" Kaida called, snapping me out of my thoughts. "How's your water flexing?"

I jumped and turned to face her. "Uhh..."

"Do you want help?" She offered.

"Yes, thank you," I nodded.

She began showing me the proper movements for the different ways to control water. She was surprisingly patient and gave me pointers. I wasn't quite sure how well I'd do but I wanted to give it my best shot. After a while, she stopped.

"All right, we have enough time. Now I'm going to show you something important," she stated.

"What is it?" I inquired curiously.

"We need to be able to defend ourselves if someone is attacking us. We need to know how to fight effectively without freezing up. So today, let's practice fighting with ice and water."

With that she began teaching me the basics of water flexing combat. As we worked through the motions, Kaida made comments and helped me figure out some basic moves. After hours of practicing, I was still struggling with one basic technique I couldn't seem to master.

Kaida sat across from me, smiling warmly. "Let's call it quits for today, Ayla. You'll probably get better after a short break and a change of elements."

I frowned. I didn't want to argue with Tatsuya so I stood up from the table and stretched my arms.

"Okay," I mumbled tiredly, getting up off the floor.

I made myself Tatsuya who was rubbing her hands together. I've seen her do this before, anytime she uses her power she must have rubbed her hands together. I figured I'd ask why. "So, how long did it take for you to master waterflexing?" She smirked.

"Uh, I guess until I'm familiar with it," I shrugged.

"Great! Now, come on! Let's go train for half an hour!" She yelled excitedly.

"Huh?!" I cried, confused.

"Come on! We haven't started yet and I'm dying to win a fight against you!" She grinned.

"Won a fight? With me?" I stared at her, surprised by her suggestion.

"Of course! If you're as good as you say, we will beat you in no time! Come on!" She insisted.

"Um, sure," I sighed resignedly. I followed her out into a pain field.

"Alright, now get ready! One, two… three." She threw her fist forward and pushed forward with her legs. I blocked with my left hand and retaliated quickly, pushing her back a little bit. I don't even know how to fight, but like they said let your body do the work.

"Oh! Good! Keep fighting, you'll get better!" She complimented me encouragingly. She turned around and hit me in the back with a tiny fireball of her finger. I backed up immediately, "You said we were going to spar!" I yelled, rubbing my back.

"I never said we couldn't use our powers!" She shouted.

"That's not fair!" I shouted back.

"Ayla, you don't want to let your guard down around her!" Kaida yelled. We had attracted everyone else's attention in the mists of fighting. I scanned the area and found no sign of Tatsuya anywhere.

"LOOK UP!" Ryoko yelled. I turned up to see Tatsuya coming down towards me from the sky.

I quickly drew water from the nearby stream and formed an ice wall to shield myself. She landed beside me and used the fire in her palms to create a small opening. I was so focused on avoiding another fire attack I failed to notice another fireball headed straight towards me from behind, causing the walls to collapse. I managed to deflect this one with my left hand but the impact caused me to fall to the ground. We continued for another hour or so, occasionally throwing punches or kicks until I lost focus. Finally I couldn't anymore and collapsed on the ground. I sat there catching my breath for a moment.

"Tired already? Well, it is not a surprise when you are only able to master water for now. Let's start a fire now." Tatsuya chuckled patting my back.

"Yeah, sounds good," I nodded, standing up.

"Start rubbing your hands together till they warm up," she told me.

"Why?" I questioned.

"The heat in your hand will build a startup for your flame, and once you've got the hang of it it will appear just like this," Tatsuya explained, as she pulled the flame in front of him and held it there. She kept her breathing shallow and calm, despite holding a large fire in her hand. Once the flames started moving around her, her face contorted into concentration. Her eyes widened slightly before closing. The flames started burning around her quickly before they died out and disappeared. She stood proudly waiting for my reaction. I was impressed with how fast she accomplished her task. I tried to imitate what she did but nothing happened. Even after many attempts I had gotten nowhere.

"You're getting the hang of it," she chuckled.

"No, not really," I shook my head.

"It takes time." she replied.

"Yeah but we don't have much time left, that's the thing," I sighed.

"Don't worry about that, I can see that you can catch onto things quickly."

...…

I spent the next several days learning new things. Tatsuya I spent the next several days learning new things. Tatsuya had taught me new fire flexing techniques. She also taught me some other techniques she found to help with fire flexing. I was beginning to get the hang of using fire flexing; my movements were becoming smoother and less erratic.

So that I'd get used to controlling the flames quicker. I also learned a lot about water bending and water manipulation. I was trying to learn the other elements slowly since I still needed to practice on occasion. Today, I was practicing some of the water bending exercises.

"Ayla!" Tatsuya called waving me over to her and Krios. I walked over, "Called me?"

"Yeah, Krios was hoping that you would be ready to try earth flexing?" Tatsuya asked.

"Sure I think I'm ready," I replied.

"You've improved a lot," he told me, handing me some dirt. "You're doing good with the fire and water, but fire is harder for you. You should really spend less time on the fire. Earth is more versatile." Krios explained to me.

"What makes you say that?" Tatsuya asked.

"It's it true?" He chuckled.

"Now why you lit–," Tatsuya grumbled.

"How about I just start training," I say, cutting Tatsuya off, and pulling Krios to the side.

"Don't start that now we don't have time for it." I warned him.

He shrugged, "Fine by me,"

"Start off with your hands on the ground." Krios asked me. I put my hands on the ground.

"Good, now close your eyes and think about how a plant grows. But imagine that it's growing out of your hand." he explained.

"That doesn't make any sense," I replied.

"Trust me it will," he answered. I could feel something underneath my hand as I started, I opened my eyes to see a little bud growing out of the ground.

"Tatsuya was right, you are a fast learner," Krios smiled.

Krios made me grow a few more things before asking me to try and rewind the growth of the plants that I grew. This time, I felt confident enough so I was able to keep the progress steady. After a while, I felt the pressure starting to build again and I quickly closed my eyes. I could feel the warmth on the outside of my arm but didn't open my eyes. The pressure started building and I focused all my energy on maintaining it. I took deep breaths and relaxed my muscles, keeping myself as still as possible.

I had finally mastered earth flexing, I practiced using it. Tatsuya also told me to try using fire flexing since fire was harder but once I learned that I was able to use more energy and control the temperature of the fire.

The last thing that I tried was the third element, wind. But there was a problem, Talila was out of business and none knew how to do it.