Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello, and let me officially welcome you to the thread where my story of Evy + Youngtrapper was born and continues to grow to this very day. The story began as a way to pass time, and now that I am rewriting some chapters, it has kind of grown on me. Now that i am so attached to this story, i hope i can see it through to the end (wherever that will be). The two main characters of this story, Evy and Cai are now my favourite subjects of inspiration and I doodle pictures of them whenever and wherever i can.

I hope that throughout the story the reader can get a glimpse of what i see in these two characters, and maybe learn a thing or two, as i am pretty much addicted to incorporating favourite quotes and poems into the text here and there, often basing whole chapters or plots of the story around a poem i may have read two days ago.

And so, if i haven't bored you with my ramblings, please do read my story that has become a small part of me, and enjoy. Hope you like it as much as i have come to enjoy writing it.

~Pg

INTRODUCTION
It was always the thought that counted, always the thought that made the real difference...right? Although a person has a thought...there is still the step between thinking...and doing. What if you refused to act? Or acted...with no thought at all?

Would you find salvation, or cause more detruction than you ever thought possible. It is said that everything happens for a reason. However, it is also said that there is no such thing as luck for fools.

Evy had believed in her own luck, in questioning all and a safe way of living that had become the daily norm in the town she now called home. However, nothing lasts forever.
When life has a routine, a predictable outcome, these words meant nothing at all to one person she would soon meet. Soon, Evy would come to find that routine, safety and predictability were really just an illusion, a facade. And even more shockingly....that she no longer minded that this could be true.

This is the story of Evy+Youngtrapper.

CHAPTER 2: GLITTERING MIST


Questions were still flying across the room in all directions, even after everyone had cleared enough space to drag desks into place for everyone to sit behind.

"Well, to start things off kids..." He began, putting emphasis on the 'kids' part. Ironic, because he could be in school himself. Straight away Evy knew his personality was going to annoy her. It was nearly as if he was purposely trying to annoy everyone in their class…
"...I think we should clean this place up, it’s a mess. How can you sit here with it in such a state? I can see that everyone here is going to need my guidance this year….” He carelessly ranted. Everyone was still slightly stunned. Not the usual ‘first day introductions’ or purposeless school guideline revision? He wasn’t going to get everyone to try and remember everyone else’s names? Any normal teacher would have.

Evy guessed that that was why this teacher didn’t apply. He was neither a teacher nor normal. In fact, it seemed more like he was content with wasting their morning class together doing cleaning duty.

As the principal-now-teacher assigned a few people to collect brooms and cloths, Evy found herself standing by Lilith again. “So.” Lilith grinned. “This is going to be fun!” Evy could tell she meant it. “Let me introduce myself properly, I’m Lilith—but please call me Lily.” She twirled and struck a sort of pose. “Evy” Evy replied and tricked to mimic the move she’d seen, but gave up and just laughed.

“….And…..Evy and her friend, go fill these buckets with water, no water fights though, kay?” The teacher had popped up from somewhere and was now presenting the girls with identical blue buckets. As Evy prepared to protest a “and we would do that, why?!?”, she momentarily realised that he already knew her name but then dropped the thought as she remembered she had left him this morning in a rush, with only her name. They were now joined by one other girl with long brown hair, who introduced herself as Kim as they left the classroom. The three travelled down the closest staircase and reached the drinking taps, turning three on and placing the buckets beneath them so that they could fill up.
“Earlier…” Evy started as the three leaned against the basin the buckets rested in. “Lily, the founder, you told me that a lot is unknown about the founder… we got interrupted, surely there’s some things people know for sure?”
At this, Amira also paused. “You were explaining to her about Erik- san?” As Lily nodded in confirmation, Amira’s tone changed, similar to the way a person goes about telling a ghost story for better effect. “Although there are many stories that are spread about these days, each a slightly different version, about three things relating to this town’s first leader that are agreed upon in every last one of them.” She paused, then continued on, “Firstly, no greater mage has ever existed than he, whose magic ran so strong and full of life that it seemed to leak from his very being. Two; Although he founded this town, defended it, and put in much effort too make it strong, as soon as it was fully established he left—still alive. And lastly..AH!” The three girls jumped back, before rushing forward to switch off the taps that had caused the buckets and basin to overflow, their shoes now damp as well.
“Hey!!!” Their teacher was calling from an open window in their classroom up on the second floor. “We’re ready for the water! What’s taking so long?!”
“Yes sir!” Lily called back up as they carefully clasped the bucket handles and lifted them from the sink.
Evy had thought the conversation was over, but as soon as Amira had retrieved the third full bucket, she finished, “…that mage’s name was Cairon Erik.”
From where they stood, he was still watching them, Evy could see. She hadn’t heard him open the window, had it been one of the open ones from before? Now all the windows except for one appeared to have been forced open to let the breeze in.

As Evy crossed the courtyard to follow the other two girls, she wondered how long Cai Erik had been standing there for. She wondered if it really mattered, afterall, they hadn’t been talking about him. She remembered however, that Cai Erik was supposed to be the descendant of the founder….was that the same thing? She mulled slowly over what she had learned so far—An amazingly powerful mage that had disappeared after creating a town now the centre of the magical empire. A character carved from legends, it seemed. Could a person like that have ever existed? If such a person’s descendant was here now, as living proof, maybe he could have.

As Lily slid the classroom door open and the three girls set the buckets down at last, only to be handed rags and a new set of instructions from the teacher, Evy briefly wished, a passing, barely conscious thought really, that she had lived at such a time, and could have met such a person, if ever he really had existed.

CHAPTER 4: OF KARMA AND CAMPING

When Evy returned home for the second time, her cousin was no longer in the kitchen, but located on the plush blue couch in the lounge room, eating pasta instead. “What happened to dinner?” She asked. Will didn’t give a response and just continued to stare blankly at the TV set as he ate. “HEY!!” She stomped into the room, coming in between him and the TV. “Just why are you eating that??” She asked, now getting quite angry as she pointed at the macaroni and cheese in his bowl.
To all this he simply replied, “You took too long, so I made this instead” as he took another spoonful of the pasta and ate it. “…YOU..” Evy couldn’t quite form the words she was looking for, so instead she decided to express herself in another, much more effective way. “….ARE SO STUPID!!!” Grabbing nearby pillows and random objects and flinging them at him. Unfortunately, none of them actually hit. Damn him for specialising in combat… Was that why he was supposed to be good protection for her?

Still fuming, she trudged back toward her room, but not before checking the answering machine.
“You have 3 messages!” it chimed happily.
Sighing she took off her hat and rest it on the edge of the table as the first message began to play.

"Hey darling! Just mother checking in on you.. Have you been listening to Will? I’ll be home late tonight…with your father away I just can’t keep up during these busy times! Haha..” A crashing sound could be heard along with a few shouts of “Oh dear!” and “Isn’t that the shopkeeper?” The line went fuzzy and she spoke again. “Oops! There’s just so much new stock…I’m running out of room! See you soon Evy!” The message ended as the machine beeped and chimed happily, “End of first message!”
Well…that was her mother for you…
Slumping quite visibly, she considered for a moment replying to the message. “Though there’s no guarantee she’ll have the time to pick up the phone either..” Evy wondered allowed to herself. Leaning against the wall she once again tried to figure out just how busy an artefact and old antique business could be. Her parents also sold other general goods concerned with magic, and either one or both of them would usually travel abroad to collect the goods they were famous for providing to the rest of the magic capital.
She snapped out of her thoughts as the second message began to play as the machine happily notified her.

"HEYYYYYYYYY!!!”

‘Oh lord, please no....’ She prayed silently.

”Just wanted to remind you”

‘WHAT did I do to deserve this?’ She was now screaming inwardly

“You have school tomorrow! Won’t I be a great teacher?? Cya tomorrow!”

“Won't he be a great teacher? NO, definitely not. Forget about school?
Evy only wished she could. Somebody save me.....!!” She now yelled at the white wall in front of her.

Not bothering to even check the third message, she rapidly picked up the answering machine and threw it over her shoulder, as it chimed obliviously “End of message two! Playing number…” THUD. As it landed somewhere behind her and a loud “OWW!” followed from the lounge room. Feeling her luck improving already, she turned around to see that she had finally managed to hit her desired target. "THAT was for making me go shopping with some crazy guy talking about mints and SOAP! And then not even making dinner! And let’s not forget that you kept dodging my hits! Hmph!!" She yelled.

"But why would I want to get hit?" Was the intelligent reply that followed.

What goes around comes around, that’s the theory of karma.

Running straight up the stairs and falling onto her bed, she let her first smile all day creep slowly onto her face.
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The next day wasn’t nearly as eventful as the previous day had been, thankfully. In their class room now, Evy could see that someone had attempted to give the room a bit of a dusting. One of the large bay windows that was jammed shut the previous time had been partially opened, and a small sunflower in a flowerpot now sat in the morning light. Amira was sitting nearby of course, and the sunflower was showing evidence of colour tampering as half of the petals were now an unnaturally light blue colour. An opening and closing of the creaky door alerted the class that Cai had now arrived, and the whole classroom was filled with silence. No one knew what to expect from this person.


"Alright listen up!" Cai called. "I have been told that next week is this class’s camping trip!"
No happy cheering or loud applause followed this announcement however. This could be for many reasons, but the top three that Evy had quickly narrowed it down to were:
1) The majority of the class valued their lives too much to let themselves be left alone with this teacher for more than a day.
2) Most students had already known about this, and therefore were now staring blankly at the teacher who had just found out about it this morning.
3) The teacher usually decided on the destination for the class anyway, and usually the trip would just become another excuse to hand out a large whole-class assignment.
But mostly she suspected number 1 was the reason that most people were considering at this moment. She sure was.
Cai however, was not quite as dense as she had first thought, as he recovered quickly from the lack of enthusiasm. “So…can anyone tell me what usually goes on during these trips?”
One girl with short ruffled red hair stood from her partially dusty seat, dusting her skirt off as she did so. “Ahh…miss..?” Cai began as he searched for his roll.
“Pearl” she replied, bowing as she did so.
“Ahh, I see. Please, carry on.” He nodded.
“Every year, each class from the different year levels goes on a camping trip together at the start of the year. The teacher usually chooses the location in agreement with the students, and they all camp in that location for a week. It’s compulsory at this school Sir.” She explained with a voice of elegance.
“Oh wow…” Cai looked down in thought for a second before gazing upon the class again. “WE’RE GOIN’ ON A HOLIDAY!!!” He jumped up from his position leaning against a dusty wall and cheered. “THIS’LL BE AWESOME!” There was no longer any hope in Evy’s mind of ever considering him to be sane.
"So then! How about all you kids find some spare paper and write a couple words down about the kind of things you’d like to see or experience on this camp, and I will find a place that has everything for you!” He suggested, hopping around on one foot. He seemed so much more excited than the rest of them…

One student raised their hand. “So whatever we write, you’ll make sure the place has it all?” He sceptically asked. “Sure! I promise” Cai grinned from ear to ear. “One thing I want everyone here to learn: I never break a promise.”

As she looked around, Evy could see it. His grin, it was contagious. People were hurriedly writing down on paper the kinds of things they’d like to see as he started calling the roll. As she searched around for some scrap paper to write her own ideas down on, she caught parts of conversations like: “…..sounds so exciting! Finally…school becoming worthwhile…” and “…..don’t we have more teachers like these?” and finally, “This guy is a genius!” To which Evy finally decided to stop listening in to such conversations. Despite her thoughts though, another small smile crept to her face. Barely noticeable, but there just the same.
‘This means a whole week without my cousin hanging around’ she added as an afterthought. ‘Hah. Can’t wait to tell him’. And the smile grew just a fraction wider.

CHAPTER 6: MOUNT SARIKA: HERE WE COME!

"Yay!" She cheered out loud, doing a big leap for emphasis. The weeks had dragged on and she felt as if she had gone through a lot to finally leave for camp. First there was the complicated business of finding each of her parent’s locations so she could send them the permission slips to sign. Usually this was the toughest part, as the slips easily got lost crossing various countries and continents, returning baring the scars of mud, rips and corners torn off. But hey, she was used to it. This time however, Will was the unexpected obstacle. He seemed completely against letting his “beloved cousin” go travelling away from home for a week. In his opinion, the school had gone completely loony allowing mere second years to go gallivanting into such a place as the island that Mount Sarika was situated on. However, after a week of arguing, Evy realised that the permission slips had been signed and with her parents’ full permission and best wishes, Will had no power to stop her going. That did not prevent him from giving her the usual lecture of, “Don’t talk to strangers, stay with the group! And above all listen to the responsible teacher in charge!!” If only her uninformed cousin knew of just how ‘responsible’ this teacher was…
‘Although, he did help me that day last week…’ She couldn’t help but remember.

The class was now travelling contently on a red and white modern ferry which was transporting them to the island of Sarika. According to Cai, the Mountain was located not too far from the shore.

Everyone was hanging around on the lower deck of the ferry, where a small bar served drinks, ice creams and all kinds of snacks. While Amira and Lily were snacking on freshly baked chocolate biscuits, Evy was sipping on a pink coloured soda. It was just so relaxing to be sitting by the large wall length windows that let you see everything, just gazing out at the water. A small seabird glided past their window and Amira giggled in delight. “Ohaiyou mister seagull! Hah~” She laughed, switching between Japanese and English as she usually did when she got into a particularly happy mood. Living in Japan for most of her young years had caused her to be fluent in the language, as her father, a famous novelist in the magical world worked on a book entitled “The ways of non-magic folk”. She continued laughing, and it was contagious with everyone’s good moods. Soon everyone else on board was laughing too.

"Everyone!" Cai soon called attention to the rest of the class. “We will be arriving at the base of Mount Sarika in one hour!” He announced as everyone cheered. “So, let’s have everyone meet me on the top deck for a quick lesson before our arrival”.

The class was now lined up on the top deck of the ferry, smiling despite the cold ocean breeze. The group now seemed even smaller in such an open space, as altogether there were ten of us, not
including Cai. At school, classes needed to be small so that magic practical excursions could be carried out quickly and efficiently. After all, it wasn’t your average school, some of the things we learnt could become dangerous and situations could become quite serious within seconds.

“All right! To start things off, how do we usually predict the weather?” Cai questioned simply.
"Weather forecasters?" Someone answered.
"Yes!" Cai grinned. How could someone have so much energy over such little things? “And how do weather forecasters get this information?”
"Magic?" Someone else spoke up.
"Correct! See? You guys know this!” Cai mockingly congratulated the group as if they were all in kindergarten.

To avoid confusion, it should be noted that outside of magical towns, weather is indeed forecasted using scientific technology and from the study of climate patterns, which has been the subject of study from time to time of magical professors’ interests. However, the magical way is not only much more accurate and practical, but much, much more fun.

“Now, I want you all to gather around and watch me closely.” Cai instructed as the group formed a ring around him. Cai slowly waited for all to quieten as he held his hands together in front of him, similar to a prayer, then moved them so that they were horizontal in front of his chest. “Now, here’s the interesting part”. Cai’s voice was quiet, but laced with excitement. As he was saying this, he pulled his two hands away from one another in a sliding motion, and as he kept doing so, a small pale blue light could be seen. As his hands separated even further, the light appeared as a string with its own glow. As he finally pulled his hands completely away from each other, the blue light hung from the palm of his first hand, and ran all the way to his other hand along the string. In the middle of the string was a ball of light that was of the same pale blue colour. At first, it was no bigger than a golf ball, but as Cai concentrated, it enlarged and formed a sort of cloudy shape. The whole thing now became pure white and the shape in the centre appeared as a crystalline snow flake. The bigger this shape got, the more clear and defined its features were, and the brighter it shone. Everyone clapped, amazed at whatever Cai had just demonstrated to them.

“It is precisely this exact spell that you will find most handy on this island for the next week, and I suggest each of you practise it while you are here. This is a great opportunity. I bet everyone here thought I was gonna set a massive project right? That’s kinda boring so... Please practise this for me! Promise?” Cai questioned and was answered with an all round “Okay!!”

"So, until we arrive, show me just how closely you were paying attention! In role order now!” Cai announced. Each student tried the spell he had demonstrated, as this was quite different from what he had been teaching the class in the weeks leading up to the trip. In class they had been learning survival tactics, brushing up on the basic ‘conjuring fire’ spells and natural flora and fauna of Mount Sarika, the usual work that was involved with school camping trips.

As each person attempted the spell, Cai wrote something in his notebook, ignoring the questions inquiring what it was he was writing about. After going through the role just three times, Evy could see there was no way to tell whose predictions were right. Each spell turned out different, some with only slight differences and no exact prediction was appearing often enough to seem like the correct one: the outcomes were all so random and she knew this was what Cai would be thinking too.

Once more, Evy’s turn arrived and she sighed in despair. She already knew what was going to happen, the same as what had happened each time she had tried the spell so far: fail, fail, fail…the spell would refuse to work.
She held her hands in front of her chest and repeated Cai’s actions exactly, or so she thought. As she took a deep breathe and pulled her hands away from each other, she could see a small pale light that had appeared, feeling its energy between her hands….However, it wasn’t the same pale colour for long, a strange feeling braced her heart for a split second and the ball of light began rapidly changing as if set on fire with an invisible match, changing its colour to a burning orange. Separating her hands further now, the small orb of light in the middle began to grow, becoming more visible and once again the same prediction …the EXACT same prediction that she kept achieving had occurred. A fiery, deep purple, red and orange swirling object fumed and swirled around. If you listened carefully, you could hear it making crackling, popping noises, like a fire. Evy just continued to glare at the sorry attempt, hoping it would go away. Maybe if she threw it off the side of the ferry…

“Same as the previous three times…” She could hear Cai note to himself. She was readily considering a witty comeback when she realised his faced showed no emotion, which meant he hadn’t been teasing or saying it to annoy her. Cai appeared to simply be thinking, nothing more.
"Oh well," he began again as she ended the spell. "Does anyone want to know why we all achieved the results that we did?" He questioned.
"You see, no one here--apart from me-- has ever been to this island before. Therefore, none of you can give an accurate prediction. Out of everyone, those that achieved an accurate one for today will have achieved this by pure chance, which is of course, bound to happen. You must be used to the environment and atmosphere of Mt Sarika before you can truly predict what weather will occur. You need to truly be in tune to your environment to understand it."

While the majority of the students groaned at the pointlessness of having to practise a spell that they wouldn’t be able to perform correctly anyway, Evy was having quite different thoughts racing through her mind. All that stuff about why the results were randomised was all well and good, but none of it explained why she couldn’t at least achieve a result that didn’t look like raining balls of fire. Sighing inwardly, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated when she had tried the spell and continued to feel…blocked. When using any kind of magic she could usually feel her own power flow from her being as it took effect. However, this was completely different altogether, like her hands were frozen in ice or something, and no real magic could be used. ‘But this is all crazy thinking right?’ Evy shook her head, discarding the frustrated thoughts.

“Okay then… Please practise this as often as you can while on this trip, I may test you all on this when we return to the academy. Right?” Cai finished his notes shutting his book and packing his things up. Shortly after, the captain of the ship announced over a speaker for everyone to collect their belongings as they would soon be arriving at their destination.
Heading downstairs and waiting by the exit area with everyone else, Evy’s thoughts subconsciously drifted back to the spell. ‘Forget accurate, but at least resembling a cloud, or sun or something! Instead of a blobby, fireball!’ She replayed the complaint in her mind. She definitely planned on asking Cai about it sometime…

"Notice to all passengers, we have now arrived at our destination! Please enjoy your trip!"

CHAPTER 8: CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN

“Aaaah!” Amira cried out for what must have been the fifth time as she tripped on an unseen object under the snow. By now they had realised that it was infact, a lot harder to hike when you couldn’t see the ground, not to mention that the darkness that followed nightfall wasn’t helping any. Everything around them was covered in deep snow, snow that reached halfway between Evy’s ankle and knee. Offering Amira a hand and pulling her up again for what was also probably the fifth time, she called to Lily to make sure she was okay. “I could probably try to do a little something to clear the snow if you’d like” she mused aloud. Considering it in her head for a moment, Evy couldn’t see a clear solution. “What would you do with it?” She questioned as they trudged slowly again. “If you melt it, we would be moving faster, but then the ground would be really slippery, that would be even more dangerous”. A look of contemplation crossed Lily’s features before she replied slowly, “I could turn it into dirt…” but even as she spoke the words, the trio all realised that wouldn’t help either. More dirt would mean more obstacles, and a whole lot of energy wasted to clear a whole path all the way up the mountain.
The trio sighed, their breathes escaping as warm wisps of air and trudged on for a full five minutes before Lily started again, “…But there has to be something I can do!!” She finished with a huff and Evy inwardly giggled at her childish ways. “How about we just keep on walking and think about it as we go?” She offered. It wasn’t a solution, but made them feel better just the same.
“Right” The other two girls replied affirmatively.
They continued walking, with Cai continuing to hold the lead up ahead, occasionally shouting encouragement. “Doing great everyone! It only gets steeper from here!” Though Evy highly doubted that his words were comforting in the least.
Even with the lack of light, Evy knew that without a doubt Cai would be smiling right now, happy as always. ‘When will his turn come to fall in the snow?’ She had to wonder. He hadn’t fallen at all yet, and she only wished she had a camera for when he did.

The group had kept on trudging into the night through the snow. Evy could feel her legs turning numb from the cold, as the lower half of her pants had now been soaked through with snow. It was pitch black now, as the moon was not making its presence known in the sky. Evy searched for it as she walked, turning this way and that. It was unnerving to not even see any cloud cover or anything at all. There was only darkness all around. “S-sensei!” One of the girls had called out from in front of her. “Can we rest??” Even in the dark, Evy could tell this person was in a bad state. ‘It isn’t really surprising, it’s freezing and we’re all going numb out here in the snow.’ The teacher was pretty irresponsible.

As the rest of the group caught up (mainly Evy, Amira and Lily who had been struggling behind due to the conversations wasting their energy). Cai summoned a ball of glowing fire in each hand and held his arms out, the faint glow of the light reflecting off the icy surfaces around the group. “Five more minutes and we’ll be at our check point. There we will rest a few hours.” He replied, the glow from the flames also reflecting off of his face, making him seem older than he really was.

“Sensei?” Evy asked, moving forward into the light. “Why are we in such a rush? We are here for a whole week, surely by day this would be easier?” Everyone in the group fell silent, now that she had asked, everyone wanted to know. “Well” Cai began. Was it just her, or did the flame light now seem rather scary? Definitely the cold playing tricks, her mind was probably just becoming numb like her legs had long ago. “Simply, we must make it to the summit before sunrise.” He spoke as if this obviously explained everything and expected that that would settle everyone’s curiosity. However, Evy detected the hint of urgency that was subtle in his voice as he spoke.
Sighing now, he instructed for everyone to continue.
Within not five but ten minutes, the group had arrived in a small enclosed area of trees, where the many shrubs and small plants had been hiding an opening to a cave. Once inside, everyone sat tiredly around the fire, with little energy to talk or strike up conversation. However, everyone had enough energy to mutter short complaints. “I’m tired!” Someone complained.
“I wish I could fly!” Said another person.
“I wanna sleep…” dozed Amira
“I miss the banquet..” Evy mumbled and huffed, wrapping her jacket tighter and removing her gloves so that she could dry them off and warm her hands.

As Cai sat down amongst the rest of the tired group, he retrieved a packet of small snack biscuits and crackers, handing them around to each person who was grateful beyond compare. Everyone now sat and munched in silence, content with the warm fire and a way to be out of the blistering cold. Glancing outside, they could see that ever so slowly, fresh flakes of snow were beginning to fall from the sky. No doubt it was going to get heavier too. Oh the problems that would cause. If the snow got worse, would they still continue on? Glancing momentarily at Cai, Evy felt she already knew the answer to that particular unvoiced question. The answer had been in the way he had spoken, his mask had slipt for that split second and Evy could read Cai’s true feelings for that short time.

Turning back to the fire, Evy realised Cai was talking to the others. Well, those that had not fallen asleep and had the energy to listen to what he had to say. “…So when we reach the summit, there’s a nice cabin we will stay in till late morning. Afterwards, we can go back down the mountain and the rest of the day will be yours to do what you like! Climbing down takes a quarter of the time climbing up does. You know, cos of the dark, and the snow and all..” He looked around at the group, probably to gauge what they all thought of this news. Not getting much of a reaction beside grunts of agreement, he added “Trust me, It’ll be way worth it”

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Two hours later the group was setting off again after napping for at least an hour. Cai instructed that there would be one more checkpoint they would stop at that was less than a couple hundred metres from the mountain’s peak. However Cai didn’t forget to mention that the final climb would be the steepest. “Someone should tell him that his pep talks aren’t very peppy..” Amira yawned. Evy slung her bag over her shoulder and put her warm, dry gloves back on her hands and helped to extinguish the fire. Darkness fell again immediately and a few people lit small balls of flame like Cai had earlier. Not willing to risk burning her gloves, Evy was content enough to stay near to the group for a light source. As they left their shelter, a cold brisk wind blew past them, chilling Evy to the bone. Snow was falling continuously now, causing the already blanketed snow to build up more. The class moved forward as a tightly packed group now, silently seeking warmth. Cai still lead the way, but was considerably more careful now to stay close by. “This mountain is said to be the very centre of this island’s magic source.” He explained, breaking the silence. It was comforting, as it felt like no sound at all existed up on the mountain, where even their footsteps were muffled by snow.
“It is said that, when the weather changes, the first place to experience it is the very peak of the mountain here, sometimes hours in advance. However, the peak of the mountain is so far from civilisation and just so..so desolate that no one has ever considered living up there. If someone ever did, weather predictions for the island could be made much easier and without the help of a magician. For some reason, no magical weather predictors have come to this island for a very long time…” Cai spoke as if wondering himself as to why this was so. The rest of the group simply listened as it was easier to concentrate on his voice, than where they were actually going.

“There are also many legends surrounding the mountain, as there usually is with magical source points. Some of which are in fact true. There is one in particular…A tale of two spirits, one known as Nivi, and the other, her sister Aero. The two sisters would travel from place to place constantly, bringing an unnatural winter wherever they went. Using common sense we can understand why they could never stay too long in one place, for it would upset the balance of the four seasons too greatly. Why they were travelling in the first place, and where they had come from was unknown, apparently to the two spirits as well. Adding to this was the fact that the two sisters had come upon an agreement that they could not be together very often, as the combination of snow and wind caused dangerous conditions and the spirits regretted horribly any loss of life caused. These gentle spirits by chance travelled to the island of Sarika one hot night, and instead of the usual conversations complaining of cold weather greeting them, they heard cheers of rejoice. Listening to the townspeople they found that the Isle of Sarika was known for its terribly hot weather all year round, with only the season of summer ever reaching the people. The land was barren because of this, and all the villagers had been in despair. The same night they had arrived, the two spirits sat on the peak of Mount Sarika for the very first time. As they did so, light snow flakes began to fall and a pleasant cool breeze filled the air. As they gazed down at the village, the people below came out of their houses and gazed up at the mountain and cheered happily. When the two spirits saw this, they felt truly appreciated for the first time in their entire lives. It was because of their powers that when the snowy season ended and the snow melted, that plants, grass and beautiful flowers were able to grow. The new clean breeze blew in from all around and kept people cool on hot days, and the land became prosperous. The country experienced its first spring and autumn seasons and the people were continually overjoyed.” Cai told the tale, his smile visible because of the warm flame he nurtured un his palm. Evy could see that Cai really did believe the tale and appreciated these spirits in the legend. She looked around at the group and could see others all smiling, whether they knew it or not. Everyone had been hanging on to every word he had said.

“It is said that these spirits had originated from the island itself, and had been journeying all along to find their ways back home, to the one place they belonged. IN turn, they built a cabin that still stands at the peak of the mountain, where they had first sat on that fateful evening when they arrived. The people of the island commemorate the first snowfall for this exact reason, because the spirits have brought winter to the island once again, and apparently still protect the island to this very day, as they are ever thankful to its people”

This legend was amazing, Evy could clearly see why Cai had retold it to the group. It made Mount Sarika seem so old, and now she felt rather excited to reach the peak. Was this how Cai had felt this whole time? She wanted more than anything to sit where the two spirits had sat and look down at a view similar to theirs that very night where they had gazed down at the village below.


"The peak at the top of Mount Sarika .." Cai finished finally.
“..Has become immortal.” Evy muttered quietly as Cai finished his sentence. She could see where he was going with this. It was amazing, the spirits and humans getting along, brought together by what they each lacked and in turn, needed. In the end, emerging as friends so that even thousands of years later, would remain friends, their friendship as strong as ever.


"Well, we’ve arrived.” Cai announced suddenly..”
"Huh?!?!!" The whole group apart from Cai suddenly cried out shockingly.

CHAPTER 10: THE SUMMIT

The snow flakes simply trickled down now, appearing as exhausted as the trio felt, just floating along with the breeze. Evy could see much clearer now, and proceeded to head away from the clearing. Following a winding path, the three kept silent, saving their energy for later. No one knew how far they were from their destination, or if they had been headed in the complete opposite direction. Maybe they had been going in circles? And just where had the rest of the group ended up in the terrible storm?

After walking for another ten minutes, they came upon….another clearing. “Aargh!” All three cried out, dropping to their knees, only to be reminded of the cold, damp snow that still covered the ground quite thickly. “I don’t like this mountain! Or...the mountain must hate me! Either way, we aren’t getting anywhere!!” Evy knew she sounded like a four year old, but it seemed like the right assumption to make at the time. She wanted to curse Cai for bringing them here with all the energy she had left (which wasn’t very much), and then force him to climb the mountain by himself next time. “Evy?” Amira called, but wasn’t heard as Evy spoke again.
“Yeah. Curse you Cai you good for nothing teacher wannabe, you were principal for a day and they already demoted you! That’s why we got stuck with you! You clown, mental case, screwball, comedian on the run!!!” Evy was too busy…well, making herself feel better.

“1..2…3. E-V-Y!!” Amira and Lily shouted into each of her ears.
“Owowowoww!” Was all Evy could respond with, clutching at her ears. “What happened?” She asked once she had recovered enough. “This isn’t actually another clearing…” Lily began smiling.
“…if you just head in that direction ‘round there…” Amira continued.
“We’ll be standing on the peak of the mountain!” They finished together, both of their smiles growing.
Evy immediately jumped to her feet and also couldn’t prevent a smile appearing on her face that was identical to Amira and Lily’s. The other two girls jumped back unexpectedly as Evy yelled out happily, “NANI?!?!” She was in such shock that she was shouting in Japanese. “You mean we won’t die here all alone at a high altitude???” She dramatically pranced about.
All three stopped, looked at each other and burst out laughing, not particularly because of Evy’s strange snow-induced outbursts, but in sheer relief. It really was finally all about to come to an end. Evy fell back to her knees again and just smiled stupidly, forgetting all worries and fears.

Running excitedly now with the small amounts of energy that remained, the three arrived at a completely flat space levelled evenly with snow. This was the very peak of the mountain. It looked just like a shining white plateau as it reflected the fire light provided by Lily’s magic. “Wow…” All three spoke in awe at once. ‘We really did make it’ Evy was relieved.
From the top of the mountain, Evy could see the horizon line in all directions, where the faintest hints of dusk could be seen in the east. This whole island seemed to be contained in a snow globe, and Evy felt so small at that moment. Clutching her bag tightly but carefully as it was all soggy from the deep snow earlier, she walked toward the edge of the peak and looked over. ‘This is something I’ve wanted to do’, she admitted to herself. ‘And I have no idea quite why’. Strangely, the very edge of the flat levelled peak had no snow built around it, as if the space had been cleared before hand. Thinking it over, Evy sat down in the driest patch she could see and gazed out into the sky. She imagined the two spirits sitting where she was right now, many years ago on their first night on the island. In her heart she could really feel it. Their new hope, exhaustion and happiness at finally having a place to call home—she wasn’t imagining all these feelings was she? Nivi and Aero had been desperate and alone, with nothing in the whole world but each other, it was exactly how Evy, lily and Amira had felt not too long ago, lost in the storm.

“Evy..” Amira and Lily gasped from behind her, though they didn’t have a chance to speak further, it didn’t matter. Evy already knew the reason, as she had spotted it at the exact same moment that her friends had. Well, she hadn’t seen it yet, but she had felt whatever it was the moment it had arrived. Then suddenly, she could feel its power peak and immediately looked to her right.

She couldn’t help but gasp at what she saw.

A girl with bright blue eyes was sitting beside her. In height they were probably very much the same, but without a doubt the age difference was large. The girl sitting on the ledge was gazing at the fading moon, its light glowing on her pale skin. She was beautiful; her dress was adorned with hundreds of small crystals and what appeared to be small flecks of snow, which reflected the moons light in all directions, adding to her beauty. Her long flowing hair looked most like water flowing around her shoulders and down to her wrists. A small glimmering tiara on her head was adorned with small blue crystals and beads. Every part of her appearance seemed to absorb the moon’s light, leaving the three other girls staring bewildered.

Still only gazing at the full moon, she spoke toward it with a small smile visible on her face.
“Please continue to guide all who come to this place. Protect their hopes.”
“And dreams.” another voice coming from the left spoke. Snapping her gaze to the left, Evy saw another girl. She was now sitting directly between the two spirits, two shocked to think or say anything at all.
The new spirit was barely noticeable, her movements like a ripple of air. However, the longer Evy gazed at her, the clearer she became until Evy could make out certain details. She wore a frilled, pure white dress that was whiter than the snow around them. It had short sparkly, puffy sleeves with gold ribbons tied at the end. A bow in the same golden shade was tied around her waist and was embroidered with a small intricate pattern. Her hair was quite curly, tinged in a pale blue and was kept back with two swirl shaped berets. She wore dainty gloves on her hand that looked like small wisps of smoke. She was swinging her legs back and forth slowly, and Evy could see that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. This spirit was equally as stunning as her sister, and it was safe to bet that this was Aero, the spirit of air. ‘That would mean that the girl on my right is Nivi, the spirit of snow..’ Evy reasoned out once she had overcome her shock.

“Please protect all who come here.” Evy too was now gazing at the moon as both spirits spoke simultaneously. Amira and Lily had now cautiously found a seat on either end, one next to the air spirit, the other next to the spirit of snow. All five were now sitting in a row. The two spirits didn’t seem to mind at all, barely even seeming to be half aware that the three human girls were there at all.
“You’ve been through a fair ordeal these past twenty four hours, we’ve seen for ourselves.” Aero spoke, her voice sounding like a sweet melody. “The spirit of this island you helped is eternally indebted to you”. Nivi added. Neither of the spirit sisters had looked at the other girls yet, and hadn’t broken their gazes with the moon. “This place is our home. It has always been, and will continue to be as long as we both exist.” The spirits suddenly leant forward, pushing themselves off the ledge and into the air, where they hovered and looked into the eyes of Evy, Amira and Lily.
“And so it goes without saying that we are also indebted to you three.” They spoke. “Evy Kura, Amira Mari and Lily Saku, we thank you.”

The spirits were floating just out of reach where the mountain ledge ended.

“You don’t understand the importance of what you did tonight. Without restoring the balance of the seasons by bringing the fire spirit’s warmth back to the island, the equality of the four seasons would have become corrupted. Our winter season would have never ended and we would not be able to live here anymore.” Both spoke at the same time, matching word for word, as one being. Evy just bowed her head in response, what else could she have done? She was at a loss for words, partly due to all the exhaustion from the ordeal they had been through, and partly because, well, here were two legendary thousand year old spirits that were actually thanking her!

“T-thanks” Amira managed to reply for the group.
“We really do owe you, and know there is something you three need. It would be an honour to help you.” Nivi smiled. They were offering to help us? Their kindness was amazing, and Evy could see they really were grateful

It was then that Evy realised the two spirits were hinting strongly at something, and immediately her worries and fears from earlier resurfaced suddenly. The others in their class still weren’t back! It was nearly sunrise too. She knew that Cai, who had been ever so desperate to be here at the peak before the sun rose, would not waste time if he was safe. Something must have been wrong. “Yes, there is.” Evy swallowed and continued, “Please, tell me. The rest of the group that was with us, are they alright? There are another eight others who we came with to the island before we got separated. What I’m trying to ask is, can you find them? I need to know that they’re safe.” Evy pleaded.
“Yes, have you seen them?” Amira and Lily joined in.
The spirits smiled, their eyes sparkling. “Ah hum. The others?” Aero rose slightly upward with her eyes close for a second as a strong gust of wind seemed to soar past us, as if it were searching the entire mountain. Evy had no doubt that it was in fact doing that. The spirits eyes flickered opened once more shortly after and spoke, “Your friends are fine, but are trapped. There seems to have been a minor rock slide yesterday, and a boy has injured his arm protecting the group. Snow seems to have piled up over the rocks and they are now taking shelter in an alcove not too far from here.” She answered descriptively.

“Thanks goodness!” Amira and Lily cried happily.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Evy cheered along.
“Now.” The two spirits floated down and landed behind them, pulling Amira and Lily to their feet in the process.
“Amira Mari, your herbal skills are well suited to your personality and I can see you helping many people in the future.” Nivi spoke and glanced at Evy knowingly. “Just as the snow may melt into water or refreeze as ice, your magic can be used in many ways, and it’s up to you to make the right choices.” The spirit leant forward and clasped her hands with Amira’s presenting her with a pouch.
“And Lily Saku, your unique magic will take you to distant lands, and I pray for your safety no matter where you go. You will only ever be limited to your imagination, and your own belief in yourself. Don’t ever lose your faith, it takes true courage to live.” Aero spoke and also presented Lily with a silken pouch.
“Thank you.” Both Lily and Amira smiled in return.

The spirits then spoke quietly to the two girls, who took off in the direction of a cabin Evy hadn’t noticed before. Amira briefly turned around and shouted, “We’re going to get some rope, then find the others! Wait for us!”

The sister spirits now turned to Evy and landed in the snow on either side of her as she stood to reach their height. “Here, we present you with this.” They spoke and a small emerald pouch was also presented to her. Evy watched them as they nodded, and loosened the drawstring. Reaching her hand in, Evy pulled out a delicate chain that was nearly transparent except for the enchanting colours that reflected and flowed within its small links. A small charm that had been previously attached hung from the chain. It was made up of purple stones that formed the shape of the wings of a butterfly. Inside each of these dainty stones, a shining, glittering substanced swirled continuously. “Thank you so much” Evy thanked them from the bottom of her heart. She could feel her eyes glistening from unshed tears.

“Those gems were formed by my sister.” Aero explained as Nivi nodded.

“Yes, they are only gems in appearance. They are compounded out of ice that is so infinitely cold that not even the hottest fire will melt them.”
“There are also small air pockets inside those gems” Aero continued to explain. “The air inside is the purest you’ll ever find, and blessed with my power it will support you on your journey. Believe in it and you will become strong.”

“But why give this to me?” Evy couldn’t stop the question escaping.
“Your power is one we are interested in, we will be watching you, and praying for your success. Just like air, your true powers are not visible at the moment. At least, not to most people. But my sister and I, we can see it. That boy can too, quite clearly.” The spirits smiled together.
This information hit Evy with a tonne of bricks. Without even considering anyone else she asked abruptly, “You can’t possibly mean Cai can you??” How had she come to that conclusion? She wasn’t quite sure. If this has been any other situation, Evy would have probably laughed at the person suggesting such a thing and told them plainly that they were a fool with poor humour. Instead, Evy listened with curiosity.
“Don’t be afraid as your journey soon begins. As a breeze grows, it picks up leaves and often carries them with it along in its journey, making its own existence apparent.” Nivi laughed. “You are just the same; it is your experiences and achievements that will lead others to see what we see.”

“So never give up.” Aero finished as the necklace shone brighter from within the pouch.
“I promise.” Evy smiled.
“We’ve got the equipment!” Lily and Amira called.
“Now we will free your friends.” The spirits explained with a smile before disappearing from sight. Evy knew that they hadn’t left however, as a warm breeze swirled around her, and then blew past. She heard a faint whisper in her ear as she watched her friends break into a run, the snow clearing from in front of them, no doubt with a little help, “Your friends will return safely.”


Evy once again looked down at the pouch and was nearly blinded. The necklace inside was shimmering, calling out to her. Without a second thought, she plunged her hand into the emerald material and fished the necklace out, undoing the clasp and fastening it around her neck. However, as soon as she had done so, a strange feeling crossed her heart. It was familiar. All too familiar, yet she had no idea what it meant.
Images of a boy were flashing through her mind. It was raining, and the surroundings she could see weren’t of her village, but were familiar none the less. A small cat with ivory black fur was sitting in front of him, it’s eyes glowing in the dark.

In a change of scenery, an important room came into view, and there was the boy again. “Cairon, it’s your duty.” An older male voice was talking.
“Not anymore.” The child replied.

And then the images seemed to step into overdrive, flashing through Evy’s mind faster than they could register to her. On impulse she shut her eyes, and was overwhelmed as this didn’t affect the images at all.

Imaginary puzzle pieces were clicking into place one by one, small as snow flakes.

The images were slowed, arriving to the first day at school. An older boy stood at a podium dressed in a suit, hair still messy. "Good morning and...Welcome" he flashed everyone a huge grin. "I'm very proud and honoured to be here today, and I'm sure this year will be very special."

And the final piece was in place.

“EVY!” Amira and Lily came running towards her, followed by the rest of the class. Evy stood from her crouched position, which she had no idea how she got into in the first place, and wearily smiled. They had brought everyone back safely. As everyone gathered together, Evy turned around and saw the last glimpse of the two spirits, who were sitting on the edge of the peak again. They smiled, letting their feet hang over the edge like two small children, before fading under the light of the sun. Evy knew for certain that they were still there, just no longer making themselves known...to most. “The sun is rising, please use our cabin to rest, it’s been there many years, since our mortal time, it will house you well.”
It had sounded as if each of them had whispered the last message directly into Evy’s ears, as she looked around and saw that apparently no one else had heard, though Amira and Lily were looking in the same direction as her, and they smiled.

At that moment even remembered something important, and looked for Cai. Se spotted him looking at the spot where the spirits had been just a few moments ago, looking sort of spaced out. At that moment, I looked toward Cai, who was looking at the spot where the spirits had been just a few moments ago, looking sort of spaced out. Could he have? No…it wasn’t possible…was it?

Evy ran towards the group and they laughed, despite the thoughts racing in the back of her mind. “We did it!” Lily and Amira triumphantly declared as Cai approached the trio with a strange expression on his face. As he got closer Evy realised he was limping slightly, and his arm had been bandaged. ‘He was the injured person?!?’ Evy watched Cai closely, he looked like he was in pain, despite how he was trying to hide it. “I am so glad.” He spoke, his voice calm and without a single trace of pain. “I want a full report of what happened” he ordered, “…later.” He smirked. “For now, let’s just enjoy the sunrise.”

Lily and Amira ran off happily with a loud whoop and cheer. Evy also followed, speaking loudly enough for Cai to hear just as she brushed past, “Cairon, did you really know all this time?”


And the group enjoyed a beautiful sunrise like they had never seen before, with vibrant colours stretching out across the sky. From a pale pink, deep red, emerald green—spreading across to a pale violet. All who watched were in complete awe of the experience.

Although not all was as it seemed, as all but two were in awe of the wonderous sight before them. The remaining two were in a world of their own.

Evy's mine was reeling back to the moment she had put the necklace on, now finally trying to reprocess it.
Cai was shocked once again by the same person who continued to surpass his expectations.
Yes, they were two very puzzled people indeed.

CHAPTER 12: FRIED RICE IS A SWEET REWARD


This was it. The most amazing week had come to an eventual and reluctant end as year 2 class 4 was now travelling on the same modern ferry now taking them away from the island of Sarika. The sun could be seen right on the horizon, dipping into the ocean as it began to set. A hue of orange filled the sky and reflected on the fresh ocean waves as the ferry moved forward. Clouds were bunched together in the distance, tinged with reddish light that foretold tomorrow’s weather to be delightful. Truthfully, Evy didn’t mind what weather greeted them when they arrived home, she had experienced so many different changes that she would be content with just experiencing some normal, consistent weather patterns for a while.

She was watching the view intently from her seat at a table situated right up the front of the bar room, where the windows were wide, floor to ceiling length and let you see everything the captain was seeing, and more. Evy, Zula and Lily were huddled around this table sipping contentedly on a warm drink of sorts, mixed with cinnamon and apple. “I’ve got to say,” their teacher’s voice came from behind them, “this table has the best view on this whole ship.” Finally sitting down beside Evy, so that there were now two people either side of the table, Cai was also drinking a concoction that smelt deliciously exotic. So much so that she could only pick up the scent of vanilla as it slowly wafted in her direction.

“Enjoy the trip girls?” Cai casually questioned as he took a drink from his mug and smiled. Glancing in his direction, he really did seem interested. “Yeah, most definitely.” Evy replied and smiled as she too took a drink from her own mug. As the other two girls also excitedly agreed with her, she smiled carelessly.

She had known Cai for little more than a month now, but already her life had become more interesting. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that he had come here, to whisk a little more excitement into a world where magic was the norm. She knew for sure that as long as Cai Erik was around, no day would ever be anything other than an adventure.
**********************

Arriving home, it was safe to say that Evy was so tired she hardly checked to see if the door was even locked, and would have waled straight into it if Will hadn’t heard her walking up the driveway and opened it for her. To his constant questioning she simply nodded and smiled, the only answer that she finally surrendered being, “It was fun. Night.”
***********************
“Fire!”
So what exactly was Evy doing on her first day back?
“Ouch! No fair! That was a really big piece!”
After waking up nice and late in the warm afternoon, some how another round of the bickering between herself and Will that she had lived peacefully without for a week had lead to an ice cube war. Though neither could really explain exactly what had lead to this senseless game of throwing around the ice that had been meant for cooling their drinks, Evy would pin point it to Will taking the last icy pole and refusing to hand it over to someone who had just arrived home late the previous night. “You slept over 16 hours!” He defended. “If you’re still tired, you’ll never recover! It’s all in that little puffy head of yours!”

‘Yeah. That’d probably be why” Evy decided as she dodged another rather large and cold ice cube. This was probably dangerous on various different levels, but it allowed them to vent some anger to some degree. Just as Evy was forced to take a hit from another cube of ice in order to stop it hitting a decorated jar of some sort that her mother prized, the doorbell rang.

Huffing and standing up from her new shelter behind the kitchen counter, Evy headed toward the front door, but not before throwing a quick, “For someone who specialises in fighting, you have terrible aim” remark over her shoulder.

Twisting the door knob, one of Will’s friends was standing on the porch, dressed in her cousin’s soccer team uniform. “Hey Evy. Heard you went on a trip, have fun?”
With a quick greeting and nod in reply, Evy called Will to the door who appeared within seconds. They both exchanged greetings as Will disappeared again back into the house. “We have an important game today.” Will’s friend explained as he spun a single black coloured soccer ball in one hand. “He didn’t want to play, but we need him to win! Make’s an awesome goalie, not a bad striker either actually” he admitted as he ruffled his mousey blonde hair, “But then I guess I’d lose my position.”

At that moment, Will reappeared with a red sports bag slung over one arm. “Let’s go.” He nodded, “See ya later Evy, and don’t destroy the house while I’m out.”
Sticking her tongue out she replied childishly, “If anyone is going to do that, it’d be you!”
She called in reply, and then shouted a “Good luck!” To his friend now laughing at the two’s antics.

Running her hand through her hair briefly, Evy turned back into the house. She really did adore this house. The outside of the house was mace up of white washed weatherboard that she herself had helped repaint last year, as well as a set of terracotta red tiles arranged in a pattern that made up a stair way up to the porch in front of the house. Everything inside was the exact same way she remembered it when she had first come to this house, fuzzy soft carpeted hallway and rooms except for the cream tiled kitchen. All walls in the house were painted an off white colour, though Evy desperately wanted to paint hers in a nice shade of sky or baby blue when school ended for the year.
Three bedrooms, one kitchen, bathroom, study, lounge and a spare room, this was Evy’s comfort world. It wasn’t a giant house, but perfect to live in.

‘Well, the war was cut short, thankfully.” She briefly realised that meant a temporary truce.

Walking back into the kitchen though, she realised the war was far from over.
“THIS is his idea of cleaning up??” She questioned the empty kitchen scattered with cutlery, ice cubes, melted piles of slush, and…was that food on the wall?

Looking on in disbelief at the magnitude of the mess they had managed to create, she realised absently that she probably did lose the war. “I will KILL you Will….” She seethed. As she tip toed and weaved around the mess, she noted a particularly lonely looking untouched icy pole sitting on the counter. Jumping over a mop and broom that had tipped and formed a tangled mess with a dish cloth, she picked it up and smiled. Maybe Will hadn’t won after all.

There was minimal evidence of spots where Will had attempted to clean, Evy noticed. He had obviously tried to wipe up one of numerous large puddles with a stack of scrunched up paper towels, throwing them on the floor and praying they would soak up the mess. A small dust pan and brush had scooped up a handful of cereal that had spilt from a box, but he’d more or less done a better job of spreading the cereal around.

At that moment, the doorbell rang it’s familiar tune again, and Evy turned to answer it, slipping on a puddle of clear liquid in the process, landing not so gracefully on the floor. ‘Owww’ She could feel her quarter length jeans soaking up the water as she sat up. From down on the floor, the messy state of the kitchen became even more apparent, as Evy could now see into all the nooks and crannies that couldn’t be seen from above.

The doorbell rang for the second time, and Evy immediately noted that it was probably in everyone’s best interest if she disconnected it.
Evy glanced at her hands. Wet, slightly grazed but alright, she decided, and stood up with the help of the kitchen counter.

The doorbell twice more, impatiently this time as Evy made her way, cautious for puddles and other hazards this time, to answer it.

“Hi Evy!” Came the greeting as soon as she answered the door. Grrreat. Deciding that this wasn’t a person she needed to see right now, Evy slammed the door shut and turned to go back into the kitchen when once again, the door bell rang. ‘WHY do we even need a doorbell? People can knock.’ She grumbled before opening the door reluctantly.

Cai was standing there on the porch, his base ball cap on his head, and wearing dark trousers and an unzipped monochrome hoodie. Wearing street shoes on his feet and dark fingerless gloves, he definitely didn’t dress like a teacher, and would easily be mistaken for a teacher if his legacy wasn’t quite so well known to the village.

“What?” Evy questioned bluntly as she peered out, while at the same time Cai seemed to be trying to peer in. “….Are you, okay?” He finally questioned at last.
“Huh?” Evy asked confusedly.
“What happened?” He questioned again, ignoring her look of confusion. He looked pretty serious and Evy’s brain did a short memory check. Lifting her hand to her damp face, that fall had landed her face straight into that puddle, and she could already trace a few scratches that now existed. “I’m fine.” She simply tried to assure him and offered for him to come in. “Watch your step.” She called over her shoulder as she lead the way back through to the kitchen.

Cai simply shrugged and followed her, stopping only to speak when they reached the kitchen doorway. “Ah, I see.” He finally remarked, “Your kitchen is a mess.” He added bluntly.

“No duh..” Evy shot back dryly.

Cai simply responded by twisting his cap tightly onto his head and detangling a mop. “This is dangerous.” He commented as he began to mop up the water on the floor.

Before Evy knew it, she had made them both a cool drink (without any ice) and they were now both cleaning the disaster zone that she called a kitchen. “Come to think of it though, this kitchen has always been messy, even before today.” Evy remarked at one point. All unbroken dishes were collected into the sink, all other objects on the floor were swept up and thrown out. As Evy washed the dishes, she realised that she was definitely hungry after all the cleaning.

“Cai?” She called, the last time she had seen him he had been headed some place with a large bucket and some boxes that had been piled up against the pantry since as long as she could recall.
“Yup?” Came his voice from the hallway.
“Want to eat something?’ Evy offered. It was the least she could do; he had done a massive favour to her by cleaning up the disaster zone. Looking around her, Evy realised that the kitchen was now looking better and marginally safer than it had in a very long time.

Cai reappeared through the door frame and answered, “Let’s eat fried rice.” And smiled happily. When Evy questioned as to why he had chosen fried rice, he gave a detailed and very descriptive story that basically said it was because fried rice was his all time favourite food.

And so, Evy set to work preparing the rice, rinsing it through some cold water, straining it and boiling it in water. Meanwhile, Cai was fishing through the fridge, commenting on the lack of actual food. Evy wasted no time in replying bluntly that she had only gotten back from their school trip late last night and therefore had no time to go shopping, and she had specifically asked Will to do it. “Who?” She glanced over and saw him tilting his head confusedly at a block of cheese. Turning her eyes back to the she was currently dicing; she could imagine him shrugging and returning to his journey through the fridge for more ingredients to add to the rice, mumbling about scary monster cheeses and unsafe kitchen horrors.

Once the dish was finally completed, Evy presented it in two freshly washed rice bowls and served the delicious smelling food with some chopsticks to an eagerly awaiting Cai. Now they both sat at the dining table, enjoying a surprisingly delicious meal of fried rice. Evy paused for a moment, “Thank you, Cairon” surpising herself.
It was then Cai too stopped, “…For?”
“Saving this disaster.” She laughed.
“Well, it did need saving.” Cai smiled too. Seeing Evy’s glare sent directly his way, he revised his previous comment, “No problem” He added and scooped up another mouth full of the rice.


As Evy ate and hummed, she heard Cai clear his throat. “Listen..” He began in that rare serious tone she had recently discovered. “I know you found out about…” He rest his chopsticks next to the empty rice bowl in front of him and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know how, but..” His next words were cut off by Will calling out as he slammed the front door shut. “Still alive in here Eves? Causing trouble no doubt.” Will appeared in the kitchen doorway, still in soccer attire covered in mud. “Boy howdy..” He whistled. “Whose house am I in?” He asked as he gazed around the unrecognisable kitchen.

Huffing, Evy answered. “Mine. Not yours, and you’re bringing in all the mud stuck to your sneakers!” Will briefly inspected his shoes and shrugged, looking up as his facial expression changed, realising someone else had entered the kitchen. “Here’s trouble..” A low scowl came from Evy’s cousin. “Who’s this?” He questioned.

Evy turned to see Will carrying their empty rice bowls and chopsticks. “He’s…” She began, not sure quite how to introduce him. She attempted again, “He—“ but was cut off as Cai put their dishes in the sink, promptly turning around and introducing himself, “Hey, I’m Cai, a friend of Evy. Great to meet you, Eves told me all about you Will.” He spoke smoothly and grinned.

“Ahh, I see.” Will also smiled as the two shook hands. Though they were both smiling, the tension in the air automatically thickened to an unbearable standard as Evy inwardly wondered where this animosity had suddenly come from. Her head told her that Will was being protective of strangers, and as she assessed the situation, she realised Cai was just trying to annoy, grinning for the heck of it. All animosity was coming from her own dear cousin. She laughed inwardly, and couldn’t help but let her smile show. Yup, this was a pretty funny position to be in.

The other two occupants in the room turned toward Evy at her peculiar behaviour, while Will’s expression said, “What did you do, fall on your head?”, Cai chuckled and was fixing his cap to his head. “Guess that’s my cue to leave, I gotta be going, see you later Eves.” He bid his farewell and ruffled her hair as he passed. “Thanks for lunch!” He called as the door shut behind him. As the tune Cai whistled faded. Will turned to Evy and scowled outwardly, “Who was he really, and where’s the food for me?!?”

But Evy gave it no second thoughts, heading toward the sink to wash their bowls. “Just a friend, helped me clean the kitchen. You can actually see the floor now, amazing right? Wish you could do that.”