Sparks and Flames

by CS Patra

  A part of him wanted to tell his family everything about her. His parents had suspected that he had fallen in love and he admitted that there was a girl. He didn’t tell them that she had come from Calensa so they assumed it was another girl from the Velt. The only thing he assured them of was that it wasn’t Dominica. He liked Dominica just fine, but he adored Rukia. He wanted no other girl but Rukia. The time would come when he could let the whole world know about their relationship. For now, they were going to have to keep it between themselves.

  He had asked Rukia if she had any secrets and she admitted there was one. She wasn’t ready to divulge into it now, but he would learn the truth soon enough. He was so excited to know what that truth was going to be. She had wanted to tell him tomorrow, but he couldn’t meet up with her. He had a hunt that was going on at the same time. Some Elementals were causing trouble in the Velt and he wanted to wipe them out once and for all. He was hankering to hunt something for a while and was glad that this was coming up. It would be something that could take his mind off Rukia.

  Not that I really want to take my mind off her. He thought.

  When he was younger, he never dreamed that he was going to be a hunter. He had never expected that his hands could be used to kill anyone. He was a strong young man, but he had never been violent. It was a strange thing that took over him when he was fifteen and decided to join the hunters. No one had asked him to do so. He just felt like he had a duty to protect the innocent people in the cities. His job took him to various places from up high in Calensa to the lowest parts of the Velt. However, all that traveling was for work, not play. He didn’t know what a vacation was supposed to be.

  As time went on, he proved himself to be a worthy hunter. He was intelligent and quick even though he lacked power. He was also very intimidating for someone so young. It was no shock that he ended up being a Lieutenant by the time he was eighteen. Most adults thought he had done something to get that rank, but he hadn’t. This was pure work that he put into himself. He’d had plenty of kills and they knew it. After setting a couple of Elementals ablaze, he earned his nickname; the Dragon of the Velt. They said he came down on them and blew fire into their faces like a fire-breathing dragon. He might not have had the ability to bend fire, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it as a weapon.

  However, Rukia was starting to take his mind away from the hunt. He didn’t seem to care about getting Elementals anymore. All he wanted was to make her happy. He wanted to take her to all the places that she asked to go to. He wanted to ride on his bike with her and go up and down hills that led them far away from cities and towns. He was willing to drop everything and just run away with her.

  Oh, how I wish I could take you over the hills. He thought as he pictured her riding on his bike, her blue-streaked hair blowing in the wind. It was such a beautiful sight for him. He imagined that she would be laughing and throwing her head back while he pedaled far away from Calensa and the Velt. That was the kind of dream he had been having for the last few days. It was a good dream as it made him forget about the fact they were from different worlds. So far, he hadn’t told anyone that Rukia came from Calensa. Everyone else would be jealous that the special girl hailed from a nice house in the city.

  The reason he wanted to go over the hills was because he wanted to go out of the city limits. He wanted to see what lay beyond the horizon and if it was as good as people claimed it was. He wanted to see the trees and the mountains on the other side. He wanted to bike down the beaches and lay upon the sand with her. He wanted to swim in clear blue ocean waters and hike down trails together. Those were the dreams he had and he wanted them to come true. He needed them to come true.

  One day, I will take her over the hills. He promised himself. We will spend our time outside and watch as the sun goes up in the morning. We’ll stay out until the sun goes down.

  Chapter 18

  Rukia looked down at the clothes that she had taken out. Kian had seen her wear all of these so she wanted something special. She finally settled on a light blue dress that had tiny blue flowers sewn onto it. For shoes, she chose some flats that would be easy to walk around in. They were planning to walk around for their date today because it would give them some time to talk. The night air was warm and her parents wouldn’t be around tonight. If she wanted to, she could bring Kian up to her room. Maybe it would be better to speak to him about her powers than to show them off.

  She slipped on the dress and buttoned up the back while thinking about how she would reveal this. She had tried to do it the night he snuck into her room, but his reaction to her question turned her down. Perhaps the way to do this was not to force him to answer any questions. What she had to do was tell him straightforward. He liked it when people were honest with him. Likewise, she preferred when people were straightforward with her. The only thing that was holding them back was her revealing her power.

  At the same time, Kian was a hunter. She could see how angry he would get at the thought of Elementals. He could probably sniff them out like a bloodhound and kill them without a breaking a sweat. There was a fury in his eyes whenever he heard the word ‘Elemental’. She didn’t want to get him angry over this, but he needed to know. He had to know.

  Forgive me for this, Kian. We’ve gone too far for me to turn back now. She told herself. After all, she had saved him, gone out with him, and introduced him to her family. If he couldn’t look past all of that, then he wasn’t the one for her.

  The two of them were now walking down the streets of Calensa where things were much quieter. They had passed by all the big houses and stores and were now in the wooded areas. Here, things were dimly lit and the only bright spot in the sky was the moon. Even the stars didn’t seem to provide much light for them.

  “It’s such a beautiful night, but it’s so dark,” he said. “I wish there was a way to get some light in here. I didn’t bring any of my weapons to make a fire though.”

  Rukia knew that it was a bad idea to show off her skills so she covered his eyes. “I want you to close them.”

  “How come?”

  “I want to surprise you,” she whispered. “You have to promise that you are not going to peek.”

  “Okay, I promise,” he said as she slowly let her hands down. “I promise I won’t open an eye.”

  She waved her hands in front of his closed eyes to make sure that he didn’t see anything. Then turning around, she used her power to light each of the torches. The flames touched the wicks and everything was soon lit up. Kian kept his eyes closed, but he could sense that there was light coming from somewhere. He had a feeling that Rukia had found matches to light the torches.

  “May I open my eyes now?” He asked.

  “Okay…now!” She exclaimed.

  His green eyes opened wide and he saw that every torch was light with a brilliant flame in each one. “What the…how did you light all of them so fast?”

  “I move quickly,” she said. “It doesn’t take long to light a torch.”

  “That was very fast though,” he noted. “You didn’t have to do all of this for me. It’s all nice, but completely unnecessary.”

  “No, I wanted to,” she said. “I wanted to see you in the light because you were right. It’s way too dark in here. These torches needed to be lit. They needed to show off every curve and inch of your face,” she caressed his cheek. “You are so warm.”

  “Your hands are so cold,” he noted. “I’ve always wanted to come here but never had the time. Plus I always felt like I didn’t belong to be in a nice place like Calensa.”

  “Why do you think that? Is it because you come from the Velt?” She asked. “You know I don’t care about that at all. I think you belong here just as much as anyone else does. You deserve to see these torches lit during a dark night.”

  “All the same, I feel like I don’t deserve the privilege,” he was admiring the torches now and how the flames danced in each one. “Oh, Rukia. I wish I coul
d stay out here forever.”

  She sat down on the bench and pulled him next to her. “I want to be here with you too. It seems like this is the first time in a while that you and I got time together. You’re not hunting anything and I’m not bored at home. We’re actually spending time being ourselves.”

  “Does it feel strange to you?”

  “Not at all. I kind of like it.”

  “So do I,” he took her hand. “Would you care to dance with me, my lady?”

  “My feet are a little tired so you will have to drag me around,” she said.

  “You act like I wouldn’t enjoy this,” he helped her up to her feet and began to move her around. “You could put a little bit of effort though. I don’t want you scraping your feet against the ground.”

  “I’m feeling so lazy though,” she admitted. “I feel like melting into your arms.”

  “You practically are. Look at you!” He tried to hold up her limp body. “Rukia, with all due respect, I don’t know if I can carry you like this. You are barely moving and you’re forcing me to do all the work.”

  “I thought you would enjoy that.”

  “I do, but this is way too much,” he finally sat her down on a bench. “I really want to dance with you. Can’t you just give me one dance?”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll give you one dance,” she got on her feet and put her arms around him. “I’ll dance for real with you. I’m saving my real moves for a bigger occasion though.”

  He began to spin around the floor with her, sometimes whisking her off her feet and whirling her around. “What do you mean by a bigger occasion?”

  “Well, the fruit festival is coming up soon. I thought we might be able to go to that.”

  Kian frowned when he remembered that day. The fruit festival was a little gathering that Calensa had to honor the farmers who grew fruits and vegetables in the land. He had nothing against praising farmers for their job. In fact, they deserved all the praise they could get, especially those who lived in the Velt. What he disliked about it was that this was the only time Velt farmers got any sort of praise. They would get love from everyone and then they were forgotten about the next day. The compensation they got for their crops wasn’t very much. It wasn’t enough for them to get out of the Velt and start a better life. They would have to go back to their farms and keep working harder than the farmers of Calensa. They didn’t even have the machinery to harvest some of these crops, which made their jobs harder. They should have gotten more than just a day dedicated to them. They deserved more.

  Rukia noticed his face and stopped dancing. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve never been fond of the fruit festival. It’s a good time for everyone except for the people that live in the Velt,” he murmured. “I remember my mother taking me there and I honestly didn’t see the big deal. It seems like everyone got treated the same, but the Velt farmers have to go back to the Velt. There’s no pot of gold for them like there is for farmers in other cities.”

  “Oh, I see,” she hadn’t thought about how much he would dislike the festivals practices. “Okay, we don’t have to go that. You’re right. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I’ll go with you if you want.”

  “No, it’s fine. I’ve been to this festival so many times and it never changes. You’re right about all that. The farmers of the Velt are never going to get their due,” she said. “I’m sorry you have to deal with the bad end of things. If I could, I would get the government to give you what you truly deserve. You all work so hard and you get nothing in return.”

  “You are just so nice, Rukia,” he smiled at her. “I wish I found you sooner. You’ve changed my mind about the people of Calensa. I used to think that everyone was so mean and stuck up, but you aren’t. You are like a rose that grew from a pile of dirt. Your entire family is like that.”

  In his mind, Kian wondered how he was going to be able to spend more time with Rukia. The main thing he was thinking about was marriage. He was legally old enough to marry her and she would be eighteen soon. The two of them could get married right now. All they needed was someone to marry them off and they would officially be together. He knew of a priest that lived up in Calensa and he could keep everything a secret. The question was whether or not Rukia would be willing to marry him. She would probably think they were too young or something. He hoped to change her mind and get them married as soon as possible. It wouldn’t have to be a big marriage, but something that celebrated their relationship.

  “Are you all right?” Rukia cut through his thoughts.

  “Me? Oh, I’m fine. I was just thinking about the future,” he admitted. “I’m wondering about us and if there’s a place for us out there.”

  “I’m sure there’s a place for us. If not, we’ll make a place for ourselves,” she said. “You know what I’d really like to do? I want to go over the hills. I want to explore what’s beyond Calensa and see the beauty that lies there.”

  “Are you sure you’d find beauty there? It could be as dark and poverty-stricken like the Velt,” he pointed out.

  “Well, the only way we’re ever going to know that is if we go there ourselves,” she said. “I know you desperately want to travel. There’s so much that we don’t know about the world. We want to discover every bit of it.”

  “Yeah, discover it,” he repeated. “I’m all for discovering things!” Then something hit his mind. “Have you heard from that Elemental we found in ice?”

  “No, he seems to have disappeared,” she said. “I was hoping he would stay in touch but he didn’t. I’m just hoping he was able to stay safe and no hunters were after him. No offense but your friends should stay clear from him.”

  “If he causes any trouble, then we’ll have to face him,” he reminded her. “So far, he hasn’t done anything to get my attention, but that can change. You won’t be able to stop me if I find out he’s done something wrong. I don’t let murderers or rapists go free. If I find out that he killed or hurt someone…”

  “I don’t think he’s going to do that,” she said. “I don’t think all these Elementals are as bad as you are painting them as.”

  “Why are you defending them?” He asked. “These are Elementals we’re talking about.”

  “Well, humans aren’t exactly a great race in comparison. We’ve done some horrible things over the years,” she reminded him. “The world came undone because of people and how they’ve wasted all their resources.”

  “Rukia…” He knew that she was right but he still couldn’t believe she was defending them. “Well, okay, I’ll admit that humans aren’t perfect. I’ll admit they have made a lot of terrible decisions over the years. However, people have done good along with bad. We came undone when the world did, but did we cease to exist? No. We managed to pull ourselves out of darkness and rebuild our lives. Even the people of the Velt have managed to survive.”

  “I know,” she decided to stop the argument right there. She was getting too close to telling him about herself and this wasn’t the time to do that. “My point is that both sides have good points. We’ve built this world together.”

  “Sure,” Kian realized she didn’t want to argue so he decided to change the subject. “Have you ever wondered what your wedding day would be like?”

  “Well, that’s an interesting subject. I only think about it all the time!” She exclaimed. “I still have visions of me in a white dress and walking down the aisle with my father at my side. I’ve been envisioning that since I’ve been old enough to know what marriage is.”

  “That’s nice. I haven’t thought about that until now,” he admitted. “Now I can’t wait to see what my future holds.”

  “Neither can I, Kian,” she agreed, having a good feeling what he was headed towards. “Neither can I.”

  Chapter 19

  Rukia found herself dancing in her room as she imagined dancing with Kian. She had no idea what kind of a dancer he w
as, but he had to be decent. He would probably step on her toes a few times and he would be nervous. He had never danced with a girl before and it would show. She, on the other hand, would be good natured about him stepping on her feet. She would pretend that she didn’t notice while he would turn red in the face.

  For the last few days, she had been dancing in her room and picturing what their wedding dance would be like. Granted, they still had some time before they were old enough to be married. They could legally do it now, but then it would have to be a small wedding. The only people would be there would be themselves and the priest that was marrying them.

  “You’ve been dancing around your room for days. It’s like you can’t stop moving your feet,” her sister noted. “I’ve been hearing you hum to yourself as well. What gives?”