While Daniel is tormented on how to continue dealing with Loralle, she had found Emily and taken her to the cave.

It was quite a surprise, as Daniel hadn’t thought to dress himself yet, having completely forgotten that Loralle was indeed getting ‘a friend’…

And when Emily and Loralle walked in, Emily pointed and stumbled over words, “You…You’re the second son of the leader!”

This information, she had found out after Daniel and Loralle had left earlier.

“She’s your friend?” Daniel asked, a little surprised. How had she made a friend from the Fire Tribe?

“You tell friend.” Loralle stated, pointing from one person to the other.

“Uh?” Ordering me around again, Daniel thought.

“Speak…Tell.” Was all Loralle said.

Daniel sighed. How annoying!

Anger boiled up once again inside of him and he couldn’t help but think of letting it out in some respect!

 

“She wants to hurt you.” He said with a sneer, looking directly at Emily.

Making earth jump up from the ground and hit Daniel, Loralle yelled, “Lie!”

Daniel fell and didn’t know that he revealed himself, until he saw Emily’s squeal and reaction of looking away and covering her eyes.

“Dammit, woman! Why’d you do that for!?” He yelled furiously.

“No lie!” She yelled back.

Daniel quickly put on the shorts, that had been sitting there waiting for him to put on, before putting a hand to his face to where he had been hit by the earth. How embarrassing! Hit by a woman! No wonder people are after her! They probably want to kill her through anger!

Sighing in protest, he sat back down again and looked at Emily, “She wants you to ask to use the fire power, so sit down and focus on it.”

“…She?” Emily said, looking at Loralle, a bit confused.

 

“Yeah, sit and focus on your fire power, to ask if you can use it. Once you feel the urge to go to a certain location, you know you’ve achieved it.” Daniel said this in a bored tone, as he continued to gently pat the side of his face.

“More.” Loralle said, waving her hands around.

Daniel scoffed, “Stop ordering me around! I’ll tell her more when she finished the first thing, alright!?”

Loralle slowly nodded, “Yes!”

He sighed again in frustration, “Geesh!”

A thought had crossed his mind earlier, while she had left to get Emily, but like hell he wanted to offer her a spot in the tribe! He already couldn’t wait to get rid of her!

She might be powerful but was it worth it!?

Daniel knew it probably would be, because this so-called leader was immune to the water power, so using her to defeat their enemy would be worth it…But…

Cringing, Daniel took a deep breath and tried to quench his want to throttle the woman that made him boiling mad!

 

Emily was silent all this time and when she finally did speak, she was staring at Loralle, “You’re…Female?”

Loralle nodded at her easily, but Emily was upset. All this time she had thought she had been a male! A dirty, weird male but one that was nice and not like other males. No wonder she had felt Loralle was different to others, when she wasn’t even a male to begin with!

Being angry at being lied to all this time, Emily began to walk out of the cave, but Loralle stopped her, “I teach more, after.”

“What are you teaching her!” Daniel was now worried about how his tribal members were being treated by this person!

Loralle made earth stick up from the ground and both Daniel and Emily scooted away in a hurry.

Putting her hand on top of the earth, Loralle said, “Touch.”

They both shook their heads in earnest. No way!

“Touch!” Loralle yelled.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, his temper rising even more, and Emily tried to shrink, hoping not to be noticed.

But…Sadly for them, Loralle’s patience had run out!

Water shootted out from her hand and went towards both Emily and Daniel, roping around their wrists and forcefully bringing them to touch the earth, that was sticking out of the ground.

Both tripped over their feet and knocked into one another.

“Oww. Dammit woman! Never…Ever!” Daniel cursed.

Emily, on the other hand, looked at Daniel with wide eyes...And when he saw those innocent eyes looking at his bare chest, he went silent, smiling to the blush that started to appear on her face.

Suddenly he had the urge to investigate her interest in him!

 

Loralle didn’t see their intimate connection, instead, she focused on the earth, asking it to let Daniel and Emily see the Fire Tribe down below them.

Both Daniel and Emily snapped back to reality when they saw this vision.

It was a stunning thing…But hatred seeped into Emily's eyes, easily seen by Loralle.

Loralle wondered why she couldn’t still see these visions, without the hatred, when she herself had been accepted by the earth power.

What she had noticed, was that Emily hadn’t had that hatred, until she saw the vision. Daniel, on the other hand, didn’t seem to change very much…

Sighing, Loralle made the earth and water disappear. It seemed like, if she uses it personally, it is fine. But as soon as they use it personally, when they haven’t been accepted by their own powers…Hatred comes.

This was…Really confusing!

 

But…From what she had thought, she figured out was that everybody would have to get acceptance for all elements, for everyone not to gain any of the element’s hatred!

…Having been approved for one element, still didn’t mean that a second elements hatred would be overcome without the approval…Or...

It was all so complicated!

She thought of what Daniel’s position was. He, being approved by fire now, didn’t have the fire vengeance but…If he was to gain the earth power, without the approval, then he would hate all other powers again. Thinking thus far, Loralle couldn’t help but feel rather lucky that she had three powers for most of her life without the approval, and she still hadn’t been affected by the hatred.

But then, what was more confusing was…Why hadn’t she been affected so much? Was there another power that helped you accept other powers?

The trails she had taken…It seems they are all one sided, as afterwards people accepted her using the powers…But for others to personally use them, they would have to take the trail themselves…

Which would mean…A hell of a lot of work!

 

For everyone to not have hate towards the fire or water powers…Everyone would have to plunge into both the volcano and the menacing lake! But how could they do that when they have been continuously at war with each other for so many years?

Scratching her head, as she was lost in her own thoughts, Loralle continued to think...

It was like another inner problem of the elements, Loralle continued to ponder, that the elements also didn’t want people to obtain more than one power…It was like the elements truly did have their own conscious or something!

Well, if that were true, then Loralle felt herself somewhat happy and sad about it. Happy because her earth friend was real, but sad because it meant a lot of work!

 

…Not long after that, Loralle lost her train of thought to the complexity about it all. All she knew was that achieving the end of this hatred of the elements, it would take much longer than one lifetime!

As it was, she was just figuring it out and overcoming the acceptance of her third power. If she got people to do as she had…

Ah, the travel time to get to the earth power would be terrible!

Not only that, how could Fire Tribal members and Water Tribal members let anyone into their territory without conflict!?

How could she, someone who has trouble explaining, tell them that it would be worthwhile and better?

Would they listen? Would they want to nothing to do with her, would…

Sadness overcame her as she remembered her life of loneliness…

During the time Loralle was questioning the entire populations time to change, or if they would to begin with, Emily had overcome the hatred towards the earth power, as the visions had disappeared from her vision.

…But she hadn't gotten past Daniel’s bare chest…And with her staring at him, with her innocent, curious eyes, Daniel cracked a flirtatious smile, already starting to show off!

He was a lady’s man after all!

Just having a good-looking woman stare at him, like the one in front of him, helped get rid of the anger that had been just about to over fill because of the other woman nearby!

Having gone through quite an ordeal, Daniel was really anticipating upon getting this innocent one into his bed!

 

***

 

Loralle had sunk into a sitting position, thinking, while Daniel explained a little more about what had happened to him. To be more precise, he was boasting! Well not just boasting but even giving himself every opportunity to touch the woman sitting close to him.

Knowing that innocent girls like her would take a bit of time to coax over, Daniel did what he usually did to get girls just like her.

He gave her his full attention, showing that what she said mattered, because apparently girls liked that…He didn’t go overboard when he touched her, even though he would desperately like to see what was under her clothes! He also tried not to talk about himself so much, yet…That was always the hardest things to do!

…He showed his fire power, wanting Emily’s approval. Beyond that, he told Emily about the warm water bath he had, stating that she will need his assistance to clean her body, when she returns. He said this very seriously, trying to imply that cleaning oneself is not something that could be done without another person assisting.

The ‘friend’ went beet red hearing this, staying silent in embarrassment, making Daniel laugh happily into his head.

He was already getting through to her, otherwise why would she go red like that!?

Seeing her obvious knowledge to what he was somewhat suggesting, he was over the moon when she did not state an obvious ‘no!’ or shrink away from him!

Haha, it’s all going so well!

Just a little more coaxing and she’s mine!

 

Daniel wanted to waste more time, so he started to boast even more about who he was and what he’s achieved within the Fire Tribe. This was more closer to his natural personality, as he started to feel more and more confidence that he was going to get lucky later! And what made him happier, was that the ‘friend’ was still listening to him and letting him touch her, even though he was going on and on about himself!

It’s done! Haha, I can’t wait! This is awesome, I’m going to get lucky!

He wanted to get up and dance, strip and then take the girl right now!

 

As Loralle turned back to look at them, she wondered how they could communicate so well.

She had only Emily that had willingly sought her out and talked to her first…Making Loralle really wonder why no one else tended to talk to her at all…

Looking at Emily, she did look pretty, not as pretty as a few other women that Loralle had seen, but…Oh…Is that why?

Should I comb my hair?

Touching her messy hair, Loralle grumbled and wondered if that was really the reason…

It would be hard to say what was going through her head as she watched the other two chat, while she scratched her head…

But after some time, Loralle got over Daniel’s endless chatter.

“No more. You, focus.” She said, as she pointed at Emily.

Daniel wasn’t happy about getting interrupted, he was sure that he would have the cute, innocent girl wrapped around his finger at any time now…That’s only if she wasn’t already!

He made some low remarks of Loralle’s bossy nature but didn’t continue his banter.

Emily’s eyesight reluctantly left Daniel’s, to look at Loralle and saw her resolve. Since they had spoken in more detail about what Loralle was asking for, Emily knew what Loralle meant and nodded slowly.

Doing as she was told, she closed her eyes and started to seek out the ‘fire power’, to see if she could ‘use’ it…

It didn’t make much sense but since Daniel was here, she was going to continue to act the part of being innocent and sweet at the very least…

 

As Daniel and Loralle waited for Emily to find the yearning to the mouth of the volcano, Daniel couldn’t wait till Emily would come back, when she hasn’t even left yet!

He slowly turned to Loralle and got closer to her. “How about making a pool of warm water…So Emily will be able to clean herself better when she comes back?”

“Pool?” Loralle asked, with her eyebrows raised.

Daniel smiled, already excited, “Yeah! So, it’s easier…Instead of a small bowl….”

Loralle smiled. It was a good idea! Needing to wait for Emily anyway, she looked around and, suddenly, the earth shook as the cave became bigger. A hole was then formed, large enough to stand in, then Loralle put out her hand. Warm water went into the hole and filled it up.

Daniel couldn’t hold in his excitement! “Wow! Yes! That’s it! Thanks!”

Loralle nodded, but Daniel didn’t see it as he removed his clothes and went in the hole with warm water. It was strange to him to see how the water was already warm. He’d been at the front lines of war before and was sure the water power was always colder than this...

What he didn’t know, was that Loralle is able to mix her powers now and water is easily heated by the fire power…

 

Beyond that, Daniel couldn’t understand it, normally the water power was something each and every member of the Fire Tribe stayed away from.

Yet, since Loralle gave him that warmed water bowl, he liked it very much!

Of course, it by passed Daniel that not only does he no longer contain hatred for other powers at the moment, but Loralle, being approved by those powers helped also. Just like before, since he had been accepted by the fire power, the earth power wasn’t as bad as it was for him, but for Emily it was, because she still contained that elemental vengeance…

Playing with the water, Daniel saw bubbles and laughed heartily. He was really happy with this new form of bathing and felt the difference between magma and water to be quite extraordinary!

With Daniel being silly like this though, Emily had troubles concentrating due to this spectacle! When she had opened her eyes to see, though, she saw Loralle look at her impatiently. So, she tried again to focus.

At the moment, she wasn’t too curious or interested anyway, because for some reason, Daniel in the water disturbed and disgusted her…

 

***

 

Emily took longer than Daniel to find the yearning, but finally, when she did, she made a face full of horror. It had been all true! What they had talked about wasn’t a lie at all…Why had she thought that they had made it all up?

Emily had not taken them seriously at all!

“Ready?” Loralle asked.

Daniel heard Loralle, and looked at Emily sympathetically, knowing the pain he had endured and still felt would probably be similar to what she would feel. “Don’t forget to have your fire powers around you!”

“…Wait! I don’t want to do this! This is crazy!” Emily shrieked in horror.

Daniel chuckled, and quietly said, “That’s what I said!”

“No way! You…Forget it! I’m not going!” Emily yelled, backing away from Loralle.

Daniel took a small amount of pleasure in knowing what was going on and got out of the small water pool. Quickly, he took off the ‘friends’ clothes and winked at her shocked face. “You don’t need your clothes.”

Being the pervert that he was, Daniel took this chance to look upon her luscious, naked figure and Emily finally noticed that she had been stripped naked!

“Ahh! Give it back!” She yelled, trying to cover herself to the best of her capability with her hands.

Daniel looked at Loralle and nodded, “Just take her and bring her back, fast!”

Loralle nodded and put an earth and water bound over the horrified Emily and moved both of them out of the cave.

 

***

 

Daniel waited impatiently for them to return, that even the water pool lost a bit of its entertainment for him while he was alone...

Seeing the earth that had been put on his damaged skin starting to disappear, Daniel was seeing a difference to what he saw from when he had first come out of the magma.

He was sure that his skin felt hotter now and that the warm water helped in soothing his pain…And, even though he was impatient to get Emily into the water pool with him, Daniel was glad to be able to give his body some more time to heal and feel better. It had only been a few hours since he had come out of the magma, so he still had skin that had not healed itself yet. There was a part on his right leg that had a lot of it missing near his calf…It sorta made him realize what a horrible sight he had become…

But what Daniel didn’t realize, was that he was much better off then Loralle had been. She had only used her fire powers to help herself half way through the acceptance of the fire power, and not most of the time like him. So, he was not even half as bad and was terribly lucky that Loralle had found out and had told him this little strategy.

It wasn’t only that either, Loralle had tried to help herself with the earth and water power, which had done the opposite effect and made things worse upon being in the magma…

Yet, none of them realize this and understand the difference…

 

When the two girls did come back, Emily’s face made Daniel wonder if he had looked exactly like that, upon his own return from the mouth of the volcano.

He got out of the small water pool and pulled the scared girl into his arms, while she still looked stunned.

Looking at Loralle, he said, “I’ll look after her, you can go out.”

Loralle didn’t care that he had just ordered her out of the cave and just left anyway.

Bringing them both into the pool, of nice warm water, Daniel used the same discarded cloth to wash over Emily’s body. To Daniel’s delight, when Emily found herself in his arms, she hadn’t raced to get away from him…Well, it wasn’t like she had a choice…She was still in deep agony and distraught about what just happened!

After she had become fully cleaned, Daniel took the chance to explore her entire body, to which she didn’t push him away.

He told her that he could make her forget about the pain from the volcano, whispering sweet nothings to her while trying to get her to want him in return!

And the first thing that helped…Was asking for her name…That way, not only will it help her forget her pain, but make her feel special!

To this, Emily had been a bit upset that Daniel didn’t even know her name yet, but then as she stared at him, she took this chance to try and get closer to him…That she might be able to live a better if she let him do as he pleased…

 

Just like that, one let the other do as they pleased, and it wasn’t the greatest time ever to do as they as they were doing...But, with a perverted mind connecting to a mind that wanted an easier life, it wasn’t so hard to accomplish!

Pain did come and go but pleasure was also connected to the two that were using the water pool as their love nest…

As time slowly dragged by, they both obviously forgot that just outside was Loralle, as they let out noises, thinking that they were all alone. But Daniel didn't care one bit about Loralle anyway, as he took Emily's innocence.

He hadn't been with a woman for a whole month and he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t take this chance now!

His father had told him he couldn't have any more women enter his home, as it really isn't how he'd like him to act as his son!

Already his reputation as a 'playboy' had circulated throughout the whole tribe and people had given him less respect because of it.

Nonetheless, Daniel violated his father's rule and continued, unworried about what his father might say!

 

But Loralle didn’t care for the noises inside the cave at all. She didn’t seem fazed to the loud and strange noises, simply because she was coming to terms with something.

She had left the cave willingly, having attended to Emily’s wounds prior to leaving the mouth of the volcano. She wanted to figure out her next plan of action, what was her path now?

Knowing her journey was more complex now, with all the work to be done to people because of the element’s vengeance...But, was there any use in going back to the Water Tribe just yet?

Would they listen? Would they go into the menacing lake?

Wouldn’t it be a waste of time to go there, for none of them to listen and do as they are told?

Then…Would Emily follow me to be accepted by earth? It’s not like it’s a short trip, they would take at least two weeks or so in travel, and that was using her powers…Who knows if it’ll take longer if she was to place Emily upon earth to sit on as well and…Wouldn’t Emily not like it!?

 

Loralle shook her head, when they had finished on the top of the volcano, Emily had continuously screamed for a few minutes afterwards…This was why they had taken such a long time to return to the cave, as Loralle had no idea how to calm Emily down…

There had never been a chance for Loralle to learn about how to comfort others, as even when she was in need of comfort, she never received it…So, all she had done was sit down near Emily, and wait…Because…When she had been young and in a state of being scared, it would soon disappear, whether it was because the sun rose or because she got too stiff and ended up fainting to exhaustion, time seemed to be what helped her.

But this made Loralle think that…Emily would be unwilling to continue the same path as her…

For Emily to take a second power, wouldn’t it be the last thing that she would want to do?

And Daniel…Loralle had no intention of even asking him because she didn’t even like him. She had wanted someone to travel the same path and it was clear that she could not get along with him at all! It’s just…She felt like she already knew Emily’s answer…

 

But just after a few minutes of leaving the cave, Loralle was suddenly sad…

Was there not anyone that wants to see this hatred? Don’t they want to help themselves? Was this…Was she completely alone in this quest? Did not one person understand that the powers were using them or making them hate others? Did no one at all know and want…

She hadn’t really known what sadness was like until now…

Finding a friend…Being felt like someone worthy of someone else’s attention, feeling like she had something to offer someone else…Loralle had felt different…And to those who knew of this feeling, they would have to tell her that she had felt special and wanted…But Loralle didn’t understand what it was called…

…Then having so many differences and paths for her only friend and her to take…

Before, loss was known but it didn’t matter, but now…Will she have to go alone?

Loralle felt a tear drop fall to her cheeks and quickly wiped it away. Why? Why can’t anyone see? Am I delusional? Is what I’ve known all this time wrong? Am I, as they said...Crazy?

It was the first time Loralle felt wronged and useless!

I have all this power! But what good is there in it, when the people are still victims!?

Anger flashed in her eyes, her hands clenched together, and she breathed deeply.

If people were too afraid to even take approval for the first power, how could they accept a second?

Shaking her head, she wished for an alternate path. She hoped, very much, that there was another way to extinguish the vengeance of the elements.

There must be another way!

 

***