"Ohh…" Flint groans as he sits up in bed and rubs his head.
"Master F," Khione cries as she excitedly jumps out of her seat, "You're awake!"
"What…happened…?" Flint grunts.
"You passed out after you E-Charged," Khione explains, "You defeated the bandits!"
"That's good…" Flint replies as he sits back with a small smile.
Flint then notices me out of the corner of his eyes, and peers up at me as he raises an eyebrow.
"Why…are you still here?" Flint asks.
"Oh, um…" I reply as I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Noah is interested in E-Charge!" Khione explains.
"Noah, huh…?" Flint asks, causing me to perk up, "You don't know what an E-Charger is?"
"N-no, sir!" I answer.
"I see…" Flint replies.
"Are you going to tell him?" Khione asks.
"I suppose I have no choice now," Flint sighs as he peers up at me, "As you've seen, there are people in this world who wield some sort of power that comes from the forces of nature. My E-Charge is sand, and Khione's is ice. We call these people…E-CHARGERS!"
"Not many people are E-Chargers, huh?" I ask, "You two are the first I've met."
"You're correct," Flint nods, "Out of the millions of people on this planet, MAYBE five percent can E-Charge."
"So, uhh…how did this ability come to be?" I ask.
"You see, the world is created by four elements," Flint explains, "Fire, water, earth, and wind. At first, the users of each element kept to themselves, and interbred within their element. But then, as time went on, E-Chargers began to branch out and mate with other E-Chargers, forming new elements from the conjunction of two elements."
"So there are more people like me who can control water…?" I softly ask myself.
Flint's eyes widen. "Did you say water?!" Flint cries as he jumps out of bed.
"Woah, Master F, stay down!" Khione cries, "You're still resting!"
"You can control water?!" Flint cries again as he grabs my shoulders.
"Y-yes, sir!" I stammer.
"Have you heard the legend of the four elements?!" Flint cries.
"Um…no…?" I answer.
Flint sits back and sighs. "I'm sorry for being so rambunctious," he sighs, "But I have a story to tell you."
"Um…okay," I reply as I sit down on the bed across from Flint.
"Hey, that's my bed!" Khione snaps.
"Long ago…the world was separated into four parts," Flint narrates, "The South was dominated by the water element, the West; wind, the East; earth, and the South…fire. For years, the world lived in balance, but then…came the flood. A MASSIVE flood of water took over the planet, flooding every last corner of the world other than the highest points, which decimated ninety-nine percent of humanity and turned the world into an island-based ecosystem. That was three hundred years ago. Another hundred years after that, the flood subsided, and the world was reduced to a mountainous, desert wasteland due to erosion. And from there, human civilization has been plagued by drought and famine ever since."
"So that's what's up with all of the mountains and sand!" I reply.
"Exactly," Flint explains, "And now, one hundred years after the flood subsided, E-Chargers populate this small planet. But legend has it that one user of each of the original four elements remains; water, wind, earth, and fire, and that if you unite them all…peace will be returned to the world, and the world will be returned to its former glory, filled with green, and bustling with grand cities, how it was before the flood…"
My eyes widened. "So you mean to tell me-" I begin to say.
"Yes, Noah," Flint answers, "You…are EXTREMELY important."
"So wait, Noah having the water ability is some incredibly special thing?" Khione interrupts.
"Yes," Flint answers, "Yes it is."
"Woah, woah, woah, hold on-" I begin to say as I hold my two hands up, "This is all moving WAY too quickly."
"I'm sorry to confuse you, Noah," Flint replies, "But the world NEEDS you."
"So Noah, being that you're some super-special dude, where are you from?" Khione asks with an excited smile.
"I don't know!" I answer with my own innocent smile.
"You don't know?" Khione asks. "What do you mean, how do you NOT know? What village are you from?"
"I'm not sure!" I answer, "You see, I woke up around two years ago or so, on some beach, with no memories of who I am, where I came from, and what's what. When I awoke, I looked around and found that I was laying in what appeared to be some abandoned shipwreck. I found a map in the sand in front of me, and on a plank of wood next to me, was a plaque with the same 'Noah,' and I had assumed that was my name."
"So that's why you won't know what E-Chargers are despite being able to use Water E-Charge," Khione replies with a frown.
"Yeah…" I answer.
Khione and Flint are silent.
"So what's wrong?" I laugh, "I'm not upset about having no memories, I have plenty of friends and a reputation as a wandering hero!"
"You have a lot of friends?" Khione asks, "How? Aren't you just a traveler?"
"Of course I have friends!" I amwer, "I have that one guy from that one village…oh! And the girl from the other village…"
My voice trails off.
Khione and Flint frown.
"When I awoke, I discovered that I had the power to control water soon after…" I sigh. "I began wandering, and soon saw that the world was plagued by drought or famine. That's when I decided to use my water powers to relieve the world of famine by helping cultivate land and make it rain on the villages that I stumbled upon. I figured that if I was constantly on the move from village to village…SOMEONE would remember me. But all that came from ym journey was my title as the Rain Bearer…"
"That's…horrible…" Khione sadly replies.
"So how about you guys?" I ask, causing Khione and Flint to perk up.
"Huh?" They ask.
"Do you guys remember me?" I ask with a sad smile, "Do you know who I am?"
"No…" Phone answers as she sadly shakes her head, "So that's why you get offended when people don't know you as the 'Rain Bearer'..."
"Yeah…" I sigh.
"This is good," Flint says.
"Huh?" I ask as I perk up, "It is?"
"Yes," Flint answers, "You have nothing tying you down to any sort of village or family, and because of that, you can join me on my quest."
"Quest?" I ask, "What are you doing?"
"Noah…Khione…" Flint begins to say as he looks back and forth between the two of us, "We…are going to UNITE the four elements."
Our eyes widen.
"Unite the four elements?!" I cry, "But we don't even know where the other three are?!"
"Also according to that same legend, if the world stays how it is for much longer…then the four elements will be thrown COMPLETELY out of whack, and the world will be doomed…" FLint continues, "An event known as the ELEMENTAL APOCALYPSE!"
"Awesome, sounds fun!" Khione cheers.
"Noah, can I see the map that you mentioned earlier?" Flint asks as he holds an expecting hand out.
"Uh…yeah, sure," I answer as I dig my map out and hand it to Flint, who unraveled the map.
"So where did you wake-up?" Flint asks.
"Um…somewhere around here," I answer as I point to the coast at the bottom of the South side of the map.
"And where did you go from there?" Flint asks.
"I went from here, to here, to here-" I ramble as I trace my finger across the map, from village to village, the villages that are pointed out on the map.
"I see…" Flint mumbles.
"What do you see?" I ask.
"This map-" Flint begins to say as he lowers my map and peers up at me, "-Is leading you to the other three elements."
My eyes widened. "It is?!" I cry, "How do you know?!"
"Because the villages marked on the map lead from the South, to the East, then to the West, and then to the North," Flint explains, "Or in other words—From you, water, to the East, Earth, to the West, Wind, and then up to the North; Fire."
"So…you want to take my map and go find the other three elements?" I ask as I thrust the map into Flint's hands, "Go ahead, take it. I'll find my way around."
"No, Noah," Flint replies as he folds the map up and hands it back to me, "I want YOU. I NEED you to join me to save the world. But beware, you're special…bandits WILL be after your head."
My eyes widened.
"N-no way," I answer as I furuly shake my head and stumble backwards a step, "I am NOT doing this!"
"But why not?" Khione asks with a frown as she cocks her head at me, "This is your chance to be a hero, Noah! EVERYONE will know who you are then!"
"That sounds dangerous!" I answer, "And I am NOT good at dangerous things! I am TERRIBLY weak! MY water powers exist to HELP others, I can't fight off all those bandits the way you did! You see…everywhere I go I'm attacked by bandits who want to monopolize my water powers! And I'm not the kind of guy who wants to just walk into that trouble!"
And with that…I turn around and begin to walk away from Khione and Flint.
Khione frowns.
"So you're going to give up just like that, huh?" Flint asks, causing me to pause, "Coward."
My body tenses up as I spin around to face Flint.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!" I roar, "I'VE LIVED TWO YEARS NOW WITH NO MEMORIES OF WHO I AM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S LI-"
Before I can finish, two tendrils of sand fly out of the ground on either side of me, and before I can respond, the tendrils of sand wrap around me and force me to the ground.
"And you don't know anything about me…" Flint growls as he steps out of bed and kneels down before me, "My wife and child DIED from starvation…you claim that you want to help people, Noah, but if you TRULY wanted to help them…then you'll join me on my quest!"
"BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO SAVE THIS WORLD MORE THAN I DO!"
I stare up at Flint and frown, as he stands back up and lowers his tendrils of sand back into the ground.
"I won't stop you from running," Flint says, "But if you want to learn about E-Charge, and learn about your powers, and therefore–more about yourself in the process, then you'll join me on my quest. And I will teach you EVERYTHING that I know about E-Charging."
Flint extends a hand out to me.
I stare up at Flint for a moment, and then, with a sigh, I take his hand.
A smile spreads across Khione's face as Flint hoists me up to my feet and helps dust me off.
"Now that's better!" Khione exclaims.
"Now that we're on good terms-" Flint smirks as he extends a hand out to me one more time, "-My name is Flint Grovel, of the sand element. And she is my adopted daughter and pupil, Khione Grovel of the ice element."
"This to meet you!" Khione chimes in.
"Noah," I smirk as I take Flint's hand, and FINALLY…we shake, "Noah of the water element. Nice to meet you."