Seasons Within Box Set

by Lele Iturrioz

  “Only because you enjoy it,” she said knowing the truth. She moved from the log and Veter cut the wood for her. Amazed, she watched how easily he chopped them with one swing. “You know, Veter, you are pretty perceptive for someone who seems distracted every minute of the day.”

  Veter laughed, deep and loud. “Element of surprise, Moja Princeza.” He turned around and took all the fifteen cut logs, piling them on top of his arms. “Hand those to me, I’ll take those too.” Gaia placed the last four she had next to her and Veter walked away.

  On his way, Veter passed Edan, who was leaning against a rock watching them with his arms crossed. “You shouldn’t be spoiling her, Veter.”

  “I’d say I’ll try, but that would be a lie, Kapetan.” He smiled and took the logs to their place inside the cabin.

  Edan stood up and walked towards Gaia as she picked pieces of wood and piled them up. She was so concentrated on her task she had no idea she was walking over a ditch. Typical… he blew out and his brown hair flitted over his forehead. Priyam was right, it amazes me that you managed to stay alive all these years by yourself, he thought.

  Gaia took a step back and got closer to the ditch. Edan shook his head and pointed at the hole. “Could you try being more careful? There’s a ditch behind you.”

  “You should help instead of standing there all bossy.” She bent down and carried a heavy piece without acknowledging the hole.

  “I’m not bossy,” he scuffed. “I’m instructive.”

  “You’re a pain in the butt,” she said louder than she wanted.

  “Excuse me?”

  “What happened to ‘Edan the nice guy’?”

  “You said it was confusing.” He smiled, clearly enjoying Gaia’s usual reaction.

  “You still are.” Gaia dropped the wood in a pile and went for another one. “You keep telling me what to do as if I was a toddler. I know I tend to get… sometimes into trouble b-” Gaia stepped on a piece of ground that crumbled into the ditch and fell backwards.

  “Gaia!” Edan screamed. She’s going to hit her back! Edan jumped and hugged Gaia.

  As Gaia and Edan fell to the ground, her hands pointed at a bunch of thick tree roots. Unknowingly wielding earth for the first time, the roots came out of the ground and followed her hands’ movement, trapping them inside a hard cocoon.

  “Are you ok?” Edan spoke, tremendously close to her.

  “Define ‘ok’.” Terrified of the reality, Gaia opened her eyes and confirmed her nightmare. She was stuck underneath a cave of roots lying on her back with Edan squeezed on top of her. His arms curled around her waist, his face inches away from hers. Gaia tried to move but one of her legs was out of the cocoon, the other was slightly bent by the knee, and both of her hands were stretched up over her head and pinned outside the roots. “What happened?”

  “Congratulations, you can wield earth now.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Now move them back,” he ordered her. She tried as hard as she could to move the roots away from them.

  Calm down… Calm down… he chanted to himself. He took a deep breath and felt her heart beat as fast as his. Is she as nervous as I am? The thought only made him more nervous. No, she can’t be… Maybe she’s hurt or maybe I’m crushing her. Edan placed his elbows against the ground and tried to push himself up to give Gaia more space, but it was useless: the roots were too close to his back leaving him no space to stretch.

  “I can’t.” Gaia gave up trying to move the roots back. After all the training she had to do to handle fire, she knew there was no way she could repeat the same wield she just had. “I don’t know how I did it.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “Why don’t you burn them?” she said feeling attacked.

  “I can’t, my hands are caged against your back.” He tried to slide them but every time he moved his fingers, Gaia unconsciously arched her back pressing her body closer to his. Calm down… Calm down! “You burn them.”

  “My hands are outside the vines. I could burn the camp if I’m not careful.”

  “Bloody great.” Growing more nervous and impatient by the second, Edan moved his head around to find a way out between the roots.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like? I’m trying to find a hole or anything that can get us out of here.” As he searched, Edan misjudged the cramped space between them and accidentally bumped against Gaia’s face missing her lips by an inch. Ahh… Edan gasped at her touch unable to think.

  He moved away and noticed how her face flushed. Gaia bit her lower lip. “Donovan! Veter!” he screamed out of pure panic. He needed to get out and he needed to do it now.

  “Edan… I don’t think they can hear us,” she said in a soft tone that made Edan’s body tense even more.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, a few feet away from them Donovan, Hunter, Priyam and Floyd were sitting down watching Gaia’s foot outside the root cave. Veter arrived after leaving the logs and found all of his friends staring at the same spot. “What happened? Is that a leg?”

  “Oh man!” Donovan laughed barely able to tell the story. “You should have seen it. Gaia tripped and wielded the roots. Edan jumped to help her and now she’s stuck in there underneath Edan.”

  “Princeza can wield earth now,” he said, holding his tears of happiness and sitting down next to Priyam.

  “Wield earth? Edan and Gaia are inside that thing on top of each other and that’s all you took from what I just told you?” Donovan couldn’t believe it.

  All of the sudden, Hunter took out a bunch of bills, slammed them on a rock in front of them and bumped his fists together.

  Donovan laughed harder than before. “No way, Captain Hormones! Especially not with her leg like that.” He took his bet out and threw them on top of Hunter’s. “I bet they end up fighting.”

  Excited over this turn of events, Floyd placed his bet. “I’m going to agree with Hunter over here, slightly toned down… and bet they snog each other’s faces.”

  “Hey! That’s my best friend you are talking about,” Priyam complained and everyone stared at her nervously. “She’s too shy to make a move; and Edan’s too dumb to do it.” Priyam took her bills and placed it on top of the pot of money. “I bet they’ll stare at each other awkwardly in silence.”

  “Yeah!” Veter grabbed his bills and wielded the wind to take them with the rest. “I’m with Priyam.”

  The group stood motionless staring at Gaia’s foot. There was no way anyone could know for sure what was happening until the roots went back to normal.

  “Now what?” Priyam asked and Donovan stretched his legs to a more comfortable position.

  “Now we wait.”

  * * *

  Inside, Gaia and Edan were beyond panicking. The longer they stayed there, the less Edan could hold his arms straight. In a regular situation, he could’ve held the position for an hour, but in this situation, his nervous energy and concentration were sapping his strength.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “You keep shaking.”

  Edan looked at his arms and saw them trembling. “I’m fine, it’s just my muscles reacting to the constant stress of being worked on.”

  “Oh…” Gaia lowered her gaze to prevent eye contact with Edan. She was too nervous for that. “You can bend them.”

  “What for? I think it’s better this way. I don’t want to crush you.”

  “You won’t crush me. Lower yourself.” Gaia bit her lower lip again.

  “I said no.”

  “Fine, keep shaking then.” Gaia flicked her fingers. The roots crushing her hands were making them feel numb.

  For a second time, she stretched her fingers, only this time she stretched them wider and felt a smooth piece of wood next to her thumb. “The ax!” Gaia wiggled trying to push her hands enough to reach it.

  “No, wait!” Edan panicked at the sudden movement. “What are you doi
ng?”

  “I think I can reach the ax handle.” Gaia wiggled more. Exhausted, Edan lowered his head away from Gaia’s stare. “Please… stop moving,” he ordered against the skin of her neck. Shivers rippled down her spine, finally making her aware of the situation.

  Gaia lay as still as she could. In there, close to her neck, Edan felt terrified yet happy. He couldn’t wait to leave, however, he couldn’t stop wishing they could stay like that longer. Edan dipped his head until his nose touched her neck.

  Gaia trembled but she didn’t move away. That means ‘Go’ right? Testing the waters, Edan gave a small peck on her neck.

  A gasp came out of Gaia’s throat and Edan lost it, he lifted his head and stared at her.

  He gazed at her lips; soft, pink lips that whispered his name, “Edan…”

  He lifted his gaze and locked eyes with Gaia. Immediately, the air felt different, thick and full of energy, as if a giant magnet was pulling him towards her. For a moment, Edan wished his hands were free to hold her from the back of her neck and pull her closer to his mouth. She’s right there… and she hasn’t punched you… yet. He looked at her lips once more, they were barely a few inches away from his.

  Edan noticed Gaia said something, though he couldn’t hear a word since his mind kept focusing on how her lips moved instead of what she was saying. If he was brave enough to kiss her, this was the moment. He only needed to move. In spite of the fact that moving to kiss her seemed ten times more nerve-wracking and brave than anything he’d done in his life. Even standing up to Him.

  Don’t think… Just close your eyes and kiss her.

  Chapter 24

  Supernova

  WILLOW WALKED INTO EDAN’S ROOM but the place was empty, just like the training grounds, the kitchen and the storage room. “Where is everyone?” she asked Shui.

  “I wouldn’t know. They haven’t come back from the forest.” Shui gave Synthia and Pink soup with veggies. “Would you like some?”

  “I’ll pass, thank you.”

  Shui could tell there was something off with Willow since this particular soup was her favorite meal. After the town was attacked, everyone in the camp was in a constant state of surveillance and stress, it was logical Willow was worried about being discovered while separated. “I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” she tried to calm her.

  “Tee-hee! Even I got that one,” Synthia giggled. “How dumb can you be Shui? Plant lady here isn’t worried about the rest, she’s just worried about Edan.” She stretched her hands to check her fingernails. “He’s probably following, you know, anyone else but you.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Synthia, that wasn’t nice. You should apologize,” Shui intervened while Pink, relaxed as always, took a small tube with a needle inside it from her belt.

  “Why do I have to apologize? It’s not my fault the truth isn’t nice.”

  Provoked, Willow slammed her hands on the table and leaned closer to Synthia. “Do you want to know your truth?”

  “Willow, enough!” Shui raised her voice.

  “She started it.”

  “And you should know better.”

  Stressed and actually worried about Edan, Willow stood up and left trying her hardest not to punch Synthia in the face. “I’m outta here.”

  “Bye-bye, unwanted plant.”

  Pink slid the needle from the bottle and placed in between her thumb and her middle finger with the pointy part towards Synthia.

  “I think it’s, like, so sad to see her throwing herself to Edan,” Synthia whined towards Shui as she kept cooking for the rest of the group. “She kinda like reminds me of Gaia s-” Pink snapped her fingers and the needle flew directly to Synthia’s throat knocking her out.

  Before Synthia smashed her head on the table, Pink caught it and placed it softly next to her plate and retrieved the needle back to its rightful place.

  Shui turned around and saw Synthia sleeping on the table. “What happened to her?”

  “Dunno, I guess she was tired.” Pink smiled and sharpened her knife, surrounded by the new delightful silence.

  * * *

  Set on finding Edan, Willow marched back to the forest where everyone was cutting wood, only to discover they weren’t working but sitting down next to a pile of money and staring at a strange cocoon. “What are you doing?” she stared at Gaia’s stuck foot and noticed the unusual way the roots came out of the ground. “Is that Gaia’s foot? I guess she can wield earth now,” she said, irritated by the idea of having to train her.

  She looked around, everyone was there except Edan. “I can’t find Edan, does anybody know where he is?” she asked. Everyone remained quiet, just staring at her, too afraid to let her know what was happening. “What’s going on? Where is he?” Veter smiled and pointed at the cocoon. Willow spotted a small part of Edan’s shirt stuck on the roots. “Are they both in there?! Since when?”

  Priyam checked her watch. “Fifteen minutes. Give or take.”

  “Are you kidding me? And you’re betting on what happens?” she asked. They all nodded. Disapproving of their actions, Willow jerked her hand and the roots instantly grew back into the ground revealing Edan and Gaia staring at each other in silence.

  “Yes!” Priyam and Veter screamed at the same time while the rest cursed for losing. Priyam took all the bills from the money pot and hugged Veter.

  Hardly reacting to the change of situation, Edan stood up, helped Gaia out of the ditch and scurried away. “Edan!” Willow called out after him, but he lifted his hand to stop her.

  “Don’t follow me,” he said as he made his way into the forest.

  Everyone, except Willow, giggled at Gaia. She knew that nothing happened; the thought of it all, however, made her feel fuzzy. Her face blushed thanks to everyone staring at her, so she turned around and strode to the cabin.

  Willow and the rest, excluding Donovan, who snuck into the forest, followed Gaia to the cabin.

  “What do you think happened?” Willow whispered to Hunter.

  “Something good, Gaia doesn’t blush like that unless something epic is going on.” Priyam finished counting the money and folded half of them. “Here’s your half, partner.”

  Veter moved his hand, the bills floated towards him and he counted them mid-air bragging about his gains to the bet’s losers.

  “Ughh… Wind wielders,” Willow complained still irritated with the idea of Edan and Gaia inside that cocoon.

  Veter took the money from the air. “What about us?”

  “So full of themselves,” she pouted to him. She was angry and she needed someone to take it out on.

  “Absolutely,” he smiled delighted. “Try wielding something you can’t see.”

  “Try wilding something alive.”

  Veter clapped. “Congratulations on making flowers.”

  “Ha!” Willow stopped in front of Veter. “I remember they knocked you out once.”

  “Exactly, once!”

  “Children, stop.” Shui ended their fight by standing between them. “All of you go finish your chores. Priyam, you go check on Gaia. She seemed odd when she arrived.”

  * * *

  Out in the forest, Edan paced around a big rock. He couldn’t stay still, there was too much going on in his mind to sit down. He leaned his forehead against a tree and kept his eyes opened, for every time he closed them, the image of Gaia invaded his thoughts. “Stop!” he screamed and punched the tree. A blue flame came out of his hands and crawled all over his body.

  “What happened?” asked Donovan.

  Edan calmed down and the fire consumed itself. He turned around and saw Donovan sitting on a smooth rock, staring at him with amusement. “Nothing,” he said.

  “It doesn’t look like nothing.” Donovan smiled. “You told her? No way! She remembered!?”

  Edan took a deep breath and sat next to his friend. He rarely spoke about his feelings but in this case, he knew he had to before he burned the entire forest. “Worse. Apparently I kissed he
r neck and I almost kissed her.”

  “Kissing necks? That’s great!” Donovan beamed up with excitement.

  “That’s anything but great.” Edan stood up and paced again. “This is not good.”

  “Nothing new with you thinking everything is wrong.”

  “But there is something new. Recently, she makes me feel greedy and arrogant.” He rubbed his hands on his head. “The more I’m with her, the more I want. More contact, more of her attention; and lately I’ve been arrogant enough to think that she’ll be ok with it. Even without remembering our promise.”

  “I know you know nothing about this, but when a girl lets you kiss her neck, that’s a good thing,” Donovan pointed out. It was so strange for him to speak about these things with Edan. The only time Edan spoke with him about his feelings was back when Edan was seventeen. “Why don’t you tell her and let her decide?” he said, yet deep down he knew the reason for his best friend’s silence. “You seriously need to stop treating yourself like a monster.”

  “You know I’m-”

  “I know and it doesn’t matter,” he interrupted and he meant it. No matter what, Donovan was proud to be Edan’s best friend and to serve under his command, just like Shui was and Willow and the rest. He just wished Edan could understand that. “Your past is just that, the past.”

  Edan stood up in a flash. “Quiet,” he said and pointed his ear towards the cabin.

  “I’m serious. No matter who you-”

  “Donovan, shut up! Do you hear it?” he asked.

  Donovan paid attention. Not far away from the cabin’s direction, he listened to the rustling sound of dozens of trees. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He heard multiple small whispers, as if a soul or energy was being ripped away from their body. Donovan’s eyes opened wide and his breathing sped up. “It’s Him,” he said with terror. Edan and Donovan ran as fast as they could towards the cabin.