Chapter VI

'You two pick up a branch from the ground.'

All three pick up a branch they find in the snow: Yuda picks up the first one he sees, Akuma picks the largest one, and Hannah picks up the smallest. Hannah and Yuda get ready to pounce, but Yuda pauses them, 'Give me a minute, will ya?' Yuda sits down in the snow like a school kid waiting for their name in the register. 'Yawn, well, that was fun, better enjoy tomorrow's rations.'

Taking a second look at the branches they chose, Akuma and Hannah's are divided in two.

'Wait,' Akuma starts examining the branch he chose, 'What did you do? You witch, burn!'

Yuda interjects, 'You could barely light a fire earlier; I think I'm good.'

Akuma frustration emerges from his heart, manifesting a doggish growl, near-visible steam forcing itself out of his ears, and his left hand clenched. Hannah steps in, knowing what Akuma will do when provoked, 'Ignore him; he is childish. But I must be honest Yuda sir, what was it that you did to win so quickly?'

Yuda gets up from the snow, 'Akuma, go inside.'

'What? But I want to-'

'You can't, now go inside.'

'Why? Why can't I-'

'Because if I told you, you could die, now go inside.'

'Hmph,' Akuma, reluctantly, walks back inside, watching over his shoulder every step of the way, hoping.

'So, Hannah, after what I just said, are you sure you want to know?'

She nods her head to Yuda's question, sitting in front of him, leaning for more information.

'Well then, I guess I'll tell you,' Yuda gathers himself, slowly exhaling, 'Hannah, look around you, what do you see?'

'Um, snow, trees, the house… uh, the smoke from the fire, the, uh, broken sticks around us.'

'And what do they all have in common?'

Hannah moves her eyes from side to side, top to bottom; she can't find the answer.

'Nature, they're all parts of nature. The snow is from water, from the earth came the trees and the house, the smoke is birthed from the fire and joins the air. Water, earth, fire, and air, these are considered, by most of the natives to this world, to be the building blocks of nature. There are five in truth – Water, earth, fire, and air, but also the soul. The soul is the one thing the other four cannot create; therefore, it must be an independent building block, the block for life. It is also the only one impossible to control. That is why life is so unique; it is the only thing we cannot control; it scares us; we have no power over it.

As for the other four, we can. Earlier, when I broke the sticks, I controlled the air around it, increasing the pressure to the point that the sticks could not withstand it, shattering them. When I first met you, you had burn marks on every corner of your body, which later I learned were caused by Akuma. In that case, Akuma used the energy in his body to create a flame by combusting it and releasing it. It may feel impossible, but I think you too, have the potential to control parts of nature. I have faith in you as I can't subdue Akuma's power forever; You must take over from me at some point, that is why I'm telling you this. I couldn't tell Akuma, if he tried to control it, he could envelop himself in flames, and in result, die.

I am willing to teach you; the problem is I don't know what your gateway element is. Your nature revolves around your date of birth, which makes finding yours difficult as you have no memory past this year. Mine is air, Akuma's is fire. I suspect yours to either be water or earth since you are not too much older than Akuma, at least I think you're not.'

'Please slow down, I don't understand. Why haven't my people used this to protect themselves, then? If they have the power to control the world, why don't they?'

'Hannah, you have to realise how complicated controlling nature is. You cannot merely demand the earth; you must earn it; Akuma is a one in a trillion occurrence.'

'How? How can I earn it?'

'Through pain. Through suffering. You cannot take parts of the earth without giving it a part of yourself in return. To explain this better, I'm going to give you somewhat of a history lesson, so listen up.'

'A lesson about what?'

'About how this world came to be.'