Cora explained the situation better than Will ever could. She kept the handcuffs as a reminder but Will felt guilty too. His brother was dead to the best of his knowledge, and everyone else-They suffered the same fate. "Goddammit Will!" he thought clenching his fists. Will placed his mind elsewhere and looked around. Yahtzee could be a great fighter. If not but Yahtzee accepted his fate as a Hygron, it would be training at first light for him and Will. When Cora glanced at Will and Phil, he smiled at her, trying to let her know it's okay and that he was there for her. "Very grateful" Will added to Cora's speech, and a good one it was.

"five minutes..." Yahtzee echoed as his mind raced.The look he had gotten from Cora had chilled him to the bone and he knew that she being completely honest with him about the danger that would lie ahead. Danger that his old trainer had wanted him to avoid. Yahtzee even wanted to avoid it and it seemed a simple enough matter. Just leave and never look back. He could live life the same way he had been for... Only emptiness lay down that road. Four minutes A small, annoying part of him chimed in and he grimaced. He didn't want to die and he never had wanted to fight but this was something bigger. Suddenly a single moment seemed to stretch into an eternity and he wasn't here. He was in a place he had never even dreamed about. It was a large plain covered in grass that made waves in the wind. In the far distance he could see a lushly filled forest and when he looked the other way he saw... nothing. It wasn't just blank expanse of some bleak colour. It was true nothing and it sucked at his eyes and made his brain scream in anguish. He turned away to look at the forest and saw that it was gone. He felt the ground starting to fall away and he snapped back to the present. For a moment he could do nothing but stare at his hands that were shaking from the vision before he looked at all the people around him. They had all suffered loss in some way and if he joined so would he. Three minutes. Yahtzee narrowed his eyes and he got to his feet looking at the entrance for a moment then back to the people around. His hands turned into tight fists and smoke started to curl up from them. He knew what the vision meant and he knew it was a warning from Kayra but that wasn't enough. A snort sounded behind him and he looked at Salamander sleepily eyeing him and is mind became clear. This would be what he was going to protect. Life. At that moment a smile finally tugged at the corners of his mouth again and it turned rapidly into a grin. "Nothing could keep me from helping." He said turning to face the small group of survivors. He hadn't gone through hell like they had but he knew how to survive and maybe that was enough. "I might not be able to fight as well as you people can but I will do my best." He turned to Cora and fixed her with a determined gaze. "For life." He said simply.

Cora noticed when Will tensed up, and she assumed the reason behind it was as twisted as hers. He had lost his own brother in that fight. Family. She felt guilty, partially responsible. Hind-sight is always 20/20, but how blind was she really only days before? Leaning over, Cora gently put her hand on Will's knee, locking their eyes in a meaningful glance. 

The choices were just flying through Yahtzee's mind, the changes in his eyes were evident. He was extremely focused during her little speech, she could see he understood the gravity of what she asked. Will agreed on her last note, flashing Cora a warm look. "Very grateful."

Yahtzee spent about three minutes in deep thought, all the while the fire pit was quiet. They patiently waited as Yahtzee hopefully gained an insight, discovering how he truly felt. And with almost a minute and a half left, he made up his mind. "I might not be able to fight as well as you people can but I will do my best."

He glanced at her, determination in his voice. "For life."

Cora absorbed his level gaze, returning a sober one of her own. After a few moments she was satisfied with whatever she saw, and smiled. Her gaze flickered to the fire, then around their humble circle. "That sounds like a true Hygron to me. May I formally welcome you to Nature's Haven, Guardian."

She snapped her fingers, half-grinning. "Ah yes. Now, I don't know if you pieced it together yet, but Hygrons are gifted with one of ten elements. These are Darkness, Light, Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Flora, Metal -- and my own, Ice. Will, he's of the Water element, and Phil's is Light."

Cora was quiet for a moment, staring off into the fire before an idea dawned behind her eyes. "How about a toast? I'm sure everyone's thirsty." She drew ice from the air, creating four thin, translucent glasses of reflective ice. The glasses hovered above her open palm, slowly rotating in suspended gravity.

Glancing at Will, she gestured to the glasses. "Would you mind filling these?" After he did the glasses would drift around the circle.

She raised her own cup. "To... the Elementals. By the hand of Kyra, may we see our mission to its imperative end. And may we see those we've lost again, after leaving a world green and life-bearing once more. Cheers." The water washed down her dry throat, and she finished the glass in seconds. Ignoring thirst long enough made her forget how parched her lips were. 

"Did anyone else want to toast for us? I could use another glass, I'm so thirsty." Cora laughed, rubbing the back of her head. 

"He's a cute anti-social asshole, though" Cora said light heartedly. Phil smirked at her and watched as she poked the sleepy dragon. "You guys are freaks" Yahtzee said in a careless manor. While Will and Phil accepted the comment, Cora seemed affected, even harmed by it. She then broke into a serious rant like speech. The words she spoke though, sent shivers down Phil's spine and they weren't even directed at him. Cora was obviously having a hard time with the missing, presumably dead, Hygrons. But what about Will. wasn't one of the missing his brother. Phil's thoughts went blank as he glanced over at Will. Phil knew the pain of losing someone they loved, it's unbearable. The thought took him back to Atlanta and how... Phil forced himself out of his dream-like state as Cora invited Yahtzee into their crusade, which was accepted after a few minutes of hard thought from the newbie. "How about a toast? I'm sure everyone's thirsty" Cora suggested. Phil said "that'd be nice". After the Ice glasses where past around, Cora toasted then downed the glass in one fell swoop. "Did anyone else want to toast for us? I could use another glass, I'm so thirsty." She said, laughing. Phil got up, lifted his glass towards the air and said "Uh... To the Future, To our Cause and..." Phil's tone dimmed as he finished his sentence "To everyone we left behind". He then slowly sipped his sipped his glass as he was brought back to Atlanta, to everything he left... and lost. Phil sat down and stared into the fire with a emotionless expression as he was again, lost in thought.

Will filled the glasses with cool, refreshing water after accepting his glass. Everyone made their toasts. Cora made her's to the group and Kyra while Phil made his to the past and future. Filling the glasses for a third time, Will stood up to make his toast. "Hmmm... To Yahtzee! Who boldly accepted a daunting task in the matter of minutes. May your potential take you far!" Will said before downing the third drink again. "All right then, I'm done." Will said sitting back down on his log. He refilled the ice glasses again while analysing everyone. Cora, pure but unsure. Philm who doesn't let on very much about his past and Yahtzee who he has yet to understand.

Yahtzee stared at the cup of ice in his hands once he had taken it. What he had just witnessed had made him speechless. He had never felt like an outcast in his life but that was only because he only ever wanted or needed himself and everyone else was just sort of... there. Now he felt a part of something bigger though. Part of a group that consisted more of just him and Salamander and these people would understand him in ways no one had ever been able to be able to. That though came with it's own feeling of alienation. They may understand him but he knew that tragedy and forged bonds between them that he would never truly be able to share until something just as bad happened to him and he desperately hoped that wouldn't happen. He echoed their toasts hollowly and drank the water earnestly. In the circus he had drunk a mix of water and a powder that could keep him hydrated and energized on fairly little and he wouldn't call freely available water 'pure.' This water was different and he actually felt as safe from lethal bacteria as he drank.

As Yahtzee drank he couldn't pull his thoughts away from the earlier words. Everyone here was unique and powerful. In fact considering his lack of training he considered that it was probably that he was the least skilled here and if he wanted to truly be of value he would have to train hard to improve his skills to the point where he could protect at least himself. "So... uh..." He started saying before trailing off. "Thanks." He eventually said as he glance over to Will who had toasted to him and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I was maybe wondering..." He swallowed and looked around. "Could I see more of your powers?" His nervous demeanor seemed to evaporate and gave way to the hopeful excitement of a child with a new toy. At the moment the idea of other people having powers was fascinating to him. "Controlling ice seems cool but what else can you do with it?" It was probably rude to ask like he was but right now he just couldn't hold himself back. "And what about water? And light?" He asked excitedly turning to Will and Phil respectively. "I never though there might be others out there able to do things like me." He said by way of explanation looking around eagerly.

"what should we do now?"

the question sat in gilfred's mind like a rock, mainly because, he didn't have an answer. Everything had gone wrong so fast, now he didn't know where the others were and more importantly if they were alive, all Gilfred did know was that they needed to get out of the area and fast. Pushing his now aching legs further, he pushed on, keeping a light smile, as much for Thema as for himself. "Well I suppose the smart thing to do would be to head back to the cave, though..." his voice trailed off as his mind raced faster and faster, filling with what ifs. Shaking his head, Gilfred stopped and kneeled down, leaning on Clarent. His legs hurt, his arms were tired and in all likelihood his brother was dead. Closing his eyes Gilfred breathed deeply and after a moment hauled himself to his feet, gritting his teeth, and continued on. He began pushing himself towards the cave, slower this time, but it was still forward progress.

"sorry if im not very good company right now" Gilfred apologized, managing a smile, even a slight laugh. "

Will stood up. "A demonstration eh? 'Kay." Will conjured some water and splashed it into Phil's face. "Spar me." Will said to the light Hygorn. Will took a couple of steps back and formed water over his fists. He took a typical boxing pose. One which he used back in his professional days... before Kyra showed her presence to the Elementals. His left fist was closest to his head whereas his right was slightly foward and outstretched a little. Will's fedora was slightly over his eyes as they dimmed a dark blue. "C'mon, it won't be a real fight. I mean, I won't purposefully hurt you." Will mentioned.

Phil offered his toast next, talking about their future and, pulling a page from her book, spoke of those they had lost. Cora was instantly brought back to mid-day wasteland, the hostage Vygorn trap, looking back at the sand tornado obscuring the battlefield. From on top of the ridge, it was impossible to see beyond the storm. She remembered almost turning back, almost diving into the storm again to save the others. But her fear stopped her. Her previous defeat at the alien's hand was fresh in her mind. She turned away and walked down the other side of the ridge without sparing a second glance back. 

Cora frowned, curling her lip at the thought. Her gaze flickered to Will as he stood, lifting his drink. He toasted to Yahtzee, and she smiled. Water, so free-flowing, peaceful. I'm kind of envious. She swished around the contents of her fourth refill, watching the clear liquid splash against the hard edges of its icy container. As it swirled she noted its purity, clean water held within fresh ice. The dividing line between the two forms of elements became thinner and thinner... Until she stopped.

With the water as still as ice, Cora swore a white glare glinted within its edges. In her mind she saw something beyond the two -- where two became one. How far can we combine our powers?

Feeling as though she reached some kind of epiphany, Cora almost missed Yahtzee's enthusiastic request. But Will didn't miss a beat, splashing water at Phil in a playful taunt. Cora turned around on the log, facing the to-be match. "I think we could arrange some show-and-tell sparring. I could use the practice anyway."

She glanced over at Yahtzee, a cheeky grin on her face. "Will's really good, I think he did boxing as a job years ago. We totally lucked out getting his expertise on the team." She said, touching the blush building up behind her cheeks. Am I feverish? She frowned, not finding the connection. 

Shrugging, Cora focused on the match again. "I would like sparring with the winner, I think. Will, I know you're an expert. But Phil, do you know how to spar?" She laughed, raising a hand in amendment. "Not that I don't think you know what's what, but maybe we should have a run of the rules so no one goes severely hurting one another, eh?"

Phil's daydreaming was interrupted by a splash of water to the face. "C'mon, it won't be a real fight. I mean, I won't purposefully hurt you" Will said in an almost taunting way. "I would like sparring with the winner, I think. Will, I know you're an expert. But Phil, do you know how to spar?" She laughed, then continued "Not that I don't think you know what's what, but maybe we should have a run of the rules so no one goes severely hurting one another, eh?". Feeling insulted, Phil conjured a pole of light in his right hand and said "Don't kill each other, first to surrender loses. I got this". He then lunged past the fire and at Will. But as he got closer, Phil rolled past Will and landed right behind him. He then swung at Will's lower leg. The bigger they are the harder they fall, Phil thought.

Phil was too fast and Will couldn't reacted fast enough to not get hit. Will whipped around to see Phil swinging a staff of light to sweep his legs. Will managed to raise one leg to not get hit but hit the floor nonetheless as he fell on his side. Will conjured a ball of water and blasted it straight to Phil's chest to at least occupy him so Will could follow up. Will gained his footing and, with water surrounding his fist, threw a left uppercut to follow with a right cross straight to face, Will purposefully increased the amount of water to soften the blow as much as possible. Due to his... expertise, the speed was not slowed down as he thought the water was like his boxing gloves. A limb... not a weapon. He hopes he could teach the others this idealogy when it comes to the control of their respective elements. He also wanted to show Cora that he was ready to fight by her and the other Elementals, show Phil the potential his element can reach combat wise, rather than summoning weapons and Yahtzee the ropes of combat.

As the second upper cut hit Phil smack in the jaw, he realised how much the sun effects him. "I give in..." Phil said as he wiped his bottom lip of the small amount of blood Will drew. The pain was intense, worse than when that Vygorn stepped on his throat. Phil simply didn't have the energy from the sun to help him. Knowing this, Phil de-conjured his weapon, walked back over to his seat and sat back down on the log. Feeling useless, Phil tiredly said, "How about you two fight, since I'm at the disadvantage of a lack of a better light source."

Will powered down and looked at Phil. "Holy shit dude! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard, sorry! Shit!" Will bumbled as he proceeded to look at Phil's cut. "It'll be clear by morning, fortunately it's not deep. But for real I am so fucking sorry!!!" He exclaimed again. Will clicked his fingers to summon a tiny ball of water and used it to wash the cut. This also had some healing abilities to it so it would truly be gone by morning but nonetheless Will felt like a fool and a reckless one too. "Good job Will, another moronic and reckless decision brought to you by you. Great!" his sub-conscious told him, kinda felt like a stern telling off.

Cora winced as Phil was struck dead in the jaw. Will's water gloves buffered most of the impact; he could have hit much harder. Of course, Phil was automatically at a disadvantage since he didn't have the sun to back him up as his natural source of power.  Cora should have taken that into consideration -- it totally slipped her mind. 

She walked by Phil as he returned to his seat, giving his shoulder a pat. "You did good, Phil. The Vygorns will have their hands full once we're ready to kick ass."

Standing off from the fire pit, across from Will, Cora held a loose cat stance. Her weight was shifted on the ball of her back foot, her other foot pointed toward Will. Her hands were up in open palms, steady and still. It all instantly appeared in her mind again, all the training she absorbed from her few years in the dojo, all the skirmishes she was a part of in the Atlantian slums. She had to trust her body, and trust her instinct. 

Her eyes flickered up from Will's chest just for a moment, and she took in his face. The same face that looked back at her on the other side of the bars, back when they were locked in the alien bastards' tent. A swell of gratitude bubbled up within her, and she smiled. "Your move, Will. No holding back."

"No holding back." Cora said as she fell in to her stance. Will smirked "Wasn't planning to." Will raised his hands but this time his fists were clenched and tighter towards each other. Will shot out his right fist with lightning speed as a ball of water hurtled foward towards Cora. Will retracted it and, expecting her to dodge, extended his left fist just as quickly jetting out another ball of water. Will repeated this alternating each fists every time. Will noted the alternate fighting style Cora adopted and figured he wouldn't be used to fighting her so he might have a chance at range to begin with.

Though he agreed that the duo should head towards Natures Haven, his pain became more apparent as the minutes passed. As he knelt down to catch his breath, Thema began to feel a wave of sympathy wash over her. Had she been wrong? Maybe Gilfred wasn’t like the others. He was real. He was considerate, and now it was Themas turn to return the favor.

Darkness blanketed the filthy landscape. Mounds of trash offered shelter from… whatever lurked in the outskirts of town. “We should get some rest,” offered the plant mage. Though she was only slightly concerned with his state of health, having him limp around in pain wouldn’t make for great protection if the Vygorns were to catch up with us… As she kicked around some trash to make a suitable sitting area, Thema motioned for Gilfred to take a seat. Her heartbeat began to rise and a drop of cold sweat formed on her forehead. She had never performed her healing spells on another person. Taking a deep breath, she prayed he couldn’t sense the nervousness she was emanating. “Lay down… and take your shirt off,” she said, turning away from the metalbender, “and don’t get any funny ideas either.”

Yahtzee watched with growing fascination as Wil and Phil fought. "Holy..." He trailed off without even finishing. His jaw literally dropped slightly as he saw the level of control the others had over their abilities and if he was honest with himself he felt a small twinge of jealousy in him at the others mastery of their respective elements but that only would serve to drive him forward. After meeting these people and seeing how much they had been hurt before by the vygorns in the past he wanted to become the best there was and prevent anything like that from ever happening to him or to them while he was around. As his mind wondered his face split into a wide grin as he craned forward trying to see what was happening in greater detail. The sparring match wasn't long an he grew in excitement when Cora challenged Wil. He hadn't been given any real evince but he had a hunch that she was probably the strongest one here an he knew she used ice like he used fire. Briefly he imagined how a mach between him and her would play out an he could barely contain himself. It would have to be against her if he wanted to spar as his own powers were more unrestrained than the others and he didn't want anyone to get hurt and Cora should be able to prevent that.

That was no guarantee that he would actually get a chance though and Yahtzee knew it. He was still the newest member here and it might be best for him to take a backseat for now and simply watch and see what he could pick up from the others techniques. He had seen how Phil had made a solid staff of light and he made a mental note to ask about making his own element into a solid. He watched ensuing fight between Wil an Cora with interest and when it ended he stood up applauding enthusiastically. "That was awesome!" He said loudly as he looked at both of them grinning widely "I can't do anything as cool as what you guys can do but I can still sort of fight." He shifted his weight from foot to foot in anticipation. "I would appreciate anything you could show me." He gave Cora a meaningful look as if asking her permission directly.

Phil watched as Will and Cora fought it out using skilled and powerful moves. He started to notice that they each had their own fight style, something Phil never really needed on the street. He started thinking, If I was caught pickpocketing, I'd just run and hide. Before my powers came along, I'd managed to start renting a small apartment. All thanks to... Phil's thoughts returned to the pass, He then thought, I need to block out those thoughts. Phil try to distract himself with the newly inflicted wound, the pain started to go, but Phil felt he'd faint, If it wasn't for the light of the fire. He then noticed the still solid ice glass that Cora made. He picked it up and pointed his finger at it. He then emitted a small glow at it using his finger which cause the glass to be completely filled with colour and light. The light even hit the ceiling and floor of the cave. Phil was completely mesmerised by it, completely ignoring the fight going on behind him.

As Will shot the first ball of water, the air in the Haven dropped several degrees in temperature. Cora, seeing the impending stream of long-range water projectiles, raised her hand to the first ball. The water froze inches from her fingertips, fixated in an arcing shape of frozen droplets. Will's element aligned to her own, fluidly reversing its course to pierce through two of the incoming water balls. Cora took these extra seconds to diagonally roll to the side, closing most of the space between her and Will. 

Still low to the ground from the roll, Cora rotated in such a way that her entire motion spurred from a single anchoring foot as her other leg came up in a sweep across Will's abdomen. Assuming Will would simply back up, she followed through with this attack, placing her sweeping foot down as the new anchor. In a 360 degree twist, her back leg swung up in a powerful roundhouse straight for Will's center point. At this point she was fully standing, hands steady and on guard. 

[OOC: We'll determine this in the next few posts.]

***

Yahtzee applauded their match, giddy enthusiasm echoing his words. He was interested in testing himself, from what Cora could see. "I would appreciate anything you could show me."

The earnest look in his eyes wasn't hard to miss, and Cora smiled. Despite her natural dislike of fire, she couldn't turn down more practice. The thrill of anticipating opponents, especially expressive ones that knew how to fight was something she truly reveled in. Will was a perfect opponent and, now that she had a taste, Cora eagerly awaited their next training session. Heart still racing and muscles limber from the match, she nodded. "You got guts, Yahtzee. I'd like to see what you can do, and I know how you can go all-out."

Considering the possibility of burnt clothing, Cora unzipped her black hoodie and peeled it off, wearing a simple double-strap dark tank top underneath. She walked to the circle of logs around the fire pit, draping the hoodie off her seat. She noticed Phil creating a great shimmer of light, and took a step closer to see more. He was using one of the ice cups as a prism, scattering little rainbows across the rock walls. Cora couldn't remember the last time she had seen a rainbow, or so many colours. The light show captivated her attention, and her face held a sense of wonder. 

"Ice eventually melts, but if you ever want a prism, Phil. You just let me know. This is beautiful." She said, giving Phil a thoughtful glance. 

Returning to the flat space by the fire pit, Cora stood opposite of Yahtzee. Her bare skin took on a paler hue as ice coated itself in a thin sheet over her arms and face. The frost decorated her body in reflective fractal patterns that would buffer most (but not all) of Yahtzee's element.

"Alright, Yahtzee, I'm ready. Come at me however you want, don't worry about hurting me." Cora half-grinned, keeping her weight on the balls of her feet. 

THUMP! Will was staring towards the sky. He couldn't quite recall what happened, it was a bit of a blur but Cora played Will like a video game. He was more than impressed. Cora managed to slip by his barrage of projectiles and kick him in the chest. Will got back to his feet and faced Cora who was in a guarded positionand ready to block. Will took no time to step towards.

"Up close and personal it is, that's how I fight anyway Cora. he thought. Will didn't attack though, instead hunching over so his arms would cover his face and abdomen but he kept on his toes, lightly bouncing and circling Cora, waiting.... he quickened a bit, then a bit more and then more till he was literally running circles round her, he was still just bouncing and not running though, and no offensive.