Chapter 50-The Land of Earth

"WWAAAHHHH!!!!!"

"HOW COME EVERY TIME WE ENTER A NEW LAND, WE'RE FALLING?!"  Khione cries over the howling winds.

"THIS HAPPENED WHEN YOU GUYS ENTERED THE LAND OF WIND?!"  Ana cries, "THE LAND OF WIND DOESN'T HAVE ANY FALLS LIKE THIS?!"

"NO!"  I answer, "BUT WE DID TAKE A NASTY TUMBLE!"

"OH."

Khione, Old-Man F, Mary, Ana, and myself scream as we plummet to the earth below us, after leaping off the MASSIVE wall bordering the Land of Earth from the Land of Wind.

"THE GUARD TOLD US THAT WE'RE STRONG, SO WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE," Khione cries, "BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"

"I DON'T KNOW, BUT WE ONLY HAVE APPROXIMATELY TWENTY MORE SECONDS UNTIL WE'RE BLOODSTAINS ON THE GROUND, SO WE BETTER THINK OF SOMETHING!"  Old-Man F answers.

A lightbulb goes off over my head.

"THE GUARD PROBABLY MEANT THAT WE NEED TO USE OUR E-CHARGERS TO SAVE OURSELVES!"

"OH, THAT MAKES SENSE!"  Mary replies.

"WHY DON'T I FREEZE US A PLATFORM OF ICE?"  Khione asks.

"YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO E-CHARGE FAST ENOUGH," I answer, "BY THE TIME YOU FREEZE US A PLATFORM, WE'LL BE PASSED IT!"

"YEAH, AND FALLING ON ICE AT THIS SPEED WON'T BE THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD," Ana adds, "PLUS, ONLY NOAH AND I CAN E-CHARGE EFFECTIVELY WITHOUT OUR CHARGE STANCES."

Khione frowns.

"ANA!"  I shout as I turn to face the woman in question, "CAN YOU USE YOUR WIND TO CATCH US FROM THIS HEIGHT?"

Ana shakes her head.  "PROBABLY NOT!"

I smirk at Ana.  "REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAID WHEN WE FOUGHT GAMBINO?  ABOUT HOW E-CHARGERS CAN COME TOGETHER TO CREATE NEWER, STRONGER ELEMENTS?"

Ana smirks back at me, and I can see a lightbulb go off over her head as well.  "ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING?"

"I THOUGHT IT FIRST!"

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU GUYS PLANNING?"  Khione asks as she looks back and forth between Ana and I.  But we don't answer.  We just begin preparing to save ourselves from the fall, "CAN I HELP?"

I thrust my hands towards the air and begin twisting them, summoning rain upon us.

"WHAT GOOD WILL RAIN DO US NOW?!"  Khione snaps.

"YOU'LL SEE!"

Ana then lifts her hands into the air, summoning an updraft from below which catches the five of us as well as my rain, and begins pushing my rain upwards, as well.

"This is great, Noah, Ana!"  Old-Man F exclaims as the five of us hover in the air.

"WEEEE!"  Mary cries.

"My wind alone isn't strong enough to catch all five of us," Ana explains, "But by using Noah's water as well, it can!"

"Good, now we just have to slowly lower ourselves to the ground," I say as Ana's wind begins to slow down a bit.

"HMPH!"  Khione grunts as she turns away from us and crosses her arms.

"What's her deal?"  Ana whispers to me.

"I-I don't know…"

And so, Ana continues to gently lower us to the ground until our feet touch the floor at last.

"Oh thank goodness…" Old-Man F gasps as he drops to his hands and knees.

"Awww…" Mary wines, "I was having fun."

Khione says nothing.  She just keeps her back turned to Ana and I.

"Seriously, just WHAT is her deal?"  Ana whispers again to me.

"I don't know!"  I whisper back, "I'll go talk to her."

"Um…hey, Khione?"  I ask as I begin making my way over to Khione, "Can I talk to you?"

"Why don't you just talk to your NEW best friend over there?"  Khione grumbles, causing me to flinch.

With a sigh, I turn around and make my way back over to Ana.

"She's all yours, Ana," I sigh as I pass by Ana, before taking a defeated seat down next to the vomiting Flint.

"What, I'm not going over there?!  I have no problem with Khione, if she had an issue with me, she can say it to my face!"

And with that, Ana turns away from Khione and I and crosses her arms as well.

Mary and I exchange awkward glances.

"At least I have you, Mary…"

"Yeah…"

I then turn around to face the giant stone wall behind us that separates the Land of Earth from the Land of Wind.

Compared to the border we saw in the Land of Wind, rather than being covered in moss, this border is completely covered in dust and sand, and has thousands of cracks running through it.  The border over in the Land of Earth looks for more unkempt than the borders in the other lands we've visited.

I then turn forwards again, where I see that off in the nearby distance, is the base of a HUGE mountain, one so tall that I can't even see the top.  It looks like it'll take DAYS to climb.

"Man, these mountains in the Land of Earth sure are tall, huh?"  I ask.

Khione and Ana are silent.

Old-Man F lets out a small groan.

I sigh.

"Oh, sorry!"  Mary pipes up, "I'm used to other people answering!  I'm the quiet one..."

"No worries…"

"Err…yeah, Noah, that mountain sure does look tall!"  Mary replies in a goofy deepened voice, as if she's trying to do an impression of Old-Man F.

"That's because the mountain you're looking at is special!"  A man with a spear says as he begins approaching the five of us.

"Who are you, a tour guide?"  I ask as I turn to face the man, while eyeing his spear up and down.  I can sense Mary tensing up behind me.

"Oh, no, I'm the guard for the Land of Earth's borders!"

"So are you here to stop us?"

"Of course not!"  The guard answers as he tosses his spear to the ground, "I say that sick entrance, you guys are E-Chargers!  I won't even PRETEND I want to stop you!"

"Don't worry, we ain't gonna kill you,."

"So what's at the top of that mountain?"  Mary asks.

"Only the most famous and most delicious restaurant in the Land of Earth, nay, in the entire world!  Rocky Eats!"

Khione and Ana's eyes light up as they swiftly peer over at the guard.

Old-Man F lets out another groan.

"So…you ARE a tour guide, huh?"

"Meh.  Not many people come by.  I've got nothing better to do."

"WE SHOULD GO TO ROCKY EATS!"  Khione and Ana exclaim as they turn to face me.

The two women's eyes then widen before turning to face one another, before turning away again with an annoyed "HMPH!"

"Why…would we go to some restaurant?"  I ask, "That just sounds like a pointless side quest."

"I agree with No-" Old-Man F begins to say as he stands up and places a hand on my shoulder, but before he can spit out my name Old-Man F's cheeks puff out, before doubling over and vomiting again.

"F-for research purposes!"  Khione stammers.

"Y-yeah, we can mingle with the Land of Earth natives, and maybe find out something about the Earth Charger!"  Ana adds.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

"FINE!"  I reply, "But ONLY because I like seeing you two agree on something."

Khione and Ana blush.

And so, the five of us begin heading towards the base of the mountain.