Bound by Duty

[Quiet Souris]

There was a sense of restless tension in the room, where the only sounds were the ticking clock and the monotonous voice that read a list of names. A list of names Mathias desperately wished he was on. A list that would decide his destiny, the rest of his life and the outcome of everything he had looked forward to in life. A chance to be trained, by the experts and elite of the military. He'd heard of the difficulty of the training but he didn't care. This was everything he needed. He needed to avenge them, fight and fight once more to fulfil his promises.

"Mathias Levan.." He anxiously waited for the next few words, knowing he would need a good partner to succeed in the program. The next few words dashed all his hopes to smithereens. "And Lillian Tera."

Fuck. A bloody earth elemental! What the hell were the proctors thinking? Did they want him to fail, to pair him with the one other elemental that really got under his skin. He may be known for his cold outer personality with most people but he felt like he was a fire elemental rather than one of wind whenever he had to deal with the particular girl who was now his partner for the next year.

As the ceremony wound to a close, only 10 pairs had been accepted into the program: including him and his obscenely irritating partner. He dragged his feet and eventually made it to where the copper haired elemental stood, with a cool look plastered across his face. "So. Partners, hey?"

 

[SteelMoon]

Lillian sat on the floor, meditating as the room filled with silence, it was something she did to cool off, she didn't even realize how quite the room actually was, her ears focused solely on the man who stood at the front of the room, trying not to wince as each par was called. It seemed as if one name by one, her dreams of defending her people's honour were being crushed under somebody else's fist. She didn't hate the people who's names were being called, but jealousy was definitely a good word to use as of now... She was on top form during the test, she even swore that one of the examines that watched her cracked a smile! Or... Was that just him laughing at her?

As the last few pairs were being called she didn't even hear the first name, her partner. All she heard was hers... Who was she with? She laid her meditation to rest and pushed herself up, looking around the room to see one pair of rage filled eyes glaring at her... That had to be him... and he didn't look like an earth elemental. She guessed he was one of the three, fire, lightning or air, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that she was paired with someone who hated her without reason. That pissed her off.

She kept to herself for the rest of the ceremony, patting the shoulders of her disappointed friends and receiving hugs and handshakes from the proud. She was glad that at least some people were happy for her.

As her last friend left she heard a voice from behind, through the vibrations in the floor she could feel how annoyed he was, how angered he was to talk to her... This was obviously his partner. She turned to see him, her deep orange eyes inspecting him over, not saying a word as she gave him a small, simple nod, her face looking indifferent though inside she hid her anger, she just wanted to punch this pathetic elemental with a rock fist... Maybe then he would have a reason to be pissed.

 

[Quiet Souris]

Well, good to know she didn't want to chatter his ear off. To be honest, he had never really gotten know the girl but the feeling of the earth magic that ran through her veins grated on his mind and the acutely sensitive sense that was his greatest gift. Ever since he was a child, he was able to sense signatures- and what element they were. Fire was a like a warm fire or a blanket, water a soothing balm and lightning a spark filled enthusiasm. But as an air elemental, the feeling of his opposing element was like glass shards or sharp rocks grinding into his senses. But of course, it wasn't her fault. She couldn't help her elemental affinity, just as he could not change his. He didn't hate her but her element had caused a great deal of pain to his family and his senses of the years and he often found it hard to work past that.

"Look, I don't hate you. I may not like the earth element, and you too probably have an inbuilt distrust of my element. The two never really mix well but I am willing to place this aside, if you can as well." He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it and sighing as he did so. "I'm sure you have your reasons for joining, just like I do. I have a duty to my family to complete my promises and I will try to help you complete your own goals."

Damn it, he was terrible at this. He was not a vocalist, bugger it. He was skilled with a blade and the breeze, not the words that came so easily to others. He could tell the other woman was pissed off, probably with good reason considering his behaviour previously. The wind licked around her face, carrying back to him the feelings so obviously apparent on her face. There was a deep disdain there but he could live with that. It was a year, after all.

"So what do you say?" He stuck out a hand, nervous but resolute. He knew she was of earth and could easily crush his hand but he had to trust her now. "Shall we work together, at least when we need to?"

 

[SteelMoon]

Lilliana had come from a background of peace, wisdom and training. She had been trained by her father from a young age to hone her skills day in and day out, though through this she had been told storied of wind elementals, it disappointed her to know that her partner was indeed touched by the air around them. Hopefully he wasn't as annoying as the books made his people sound... Otherwise this partnership wasn't going to last long.

He was odd looking. Never had she seen a man so... so scrawny, with such a lack of muscle. As she went into this she was afraid of being shown up by her partner or pushed around by some hot headed fire elemental. But it seemed she had over looked the fact that she could be paired with such a.... Pale... Awkward, skinny little man. It seemed she might need to be put in a more of a 'protector' role rather than be a partner to him, though as he began to talk she listened... Maybe he was wise? Somewhat of an intellect?

Though soon after he opened his mouth those hopes were dashes. It seemed his speech matched his awkward looks, she could feel her teeth clench down, it seemed she was going to get this guy killed, or die herself trying to save him, she had to force herself, calm herself so that she didn't break this dimwits jaw, though eventually, she was surprised to see his hand extend almost... firmly in front of her, her eyes going wide, taken a back a little. She raised her brow and once again looked him up and down, her gaze soon resting on his open hand "Deal." she said simply as her hand clamped down on his, not enough to hurt him, though it was enough to let him know she could have squeezed a lot harder.

After a single shake she pulled her hand away, letting out a small, frustrated sigh "But I swear. If your breezy ass gets in my way I will hit straight through you to accomplish my training." she half growled, on of her fists, covered in a thin layer of stone smacking into an open palm that held the same strength "I will drag you across the finish bruised, beaten and broken if I have to. You're not stopping me more than anyone else is" she said sternly, her eyes glaring at his "We clear?" she asked, blowing her hair from her eyes.

 

[Quiet Souris]

Her grip was strong but she was still strangely... infuriated by his words and appearance. Wasn't like he could change it, could he? He'd been born small and only in his late teens had he grown, shooting up in great bounds until he stood at about 6", far taller than anyone had expected him to grow. But of course, he was a lanky guy, with limbs that moved gracefully only during the heat of battle or when training, the fluidity of the air still teaching him the grace that was inherent in his affinity. But she seemed disappointed in him and it grated along his nerves like an open flame. He had placed himself forward, had he not and he had also passed.

As his hand was gripped tightly, he grinned at the strength he felt there. She was strong, which was good. But her dismissal of the obvious fact he was strong enough to have gotten to this point both annoyed and infuriated him. He allowed his hand to manifest into wind and allowed it to simple pass through the rock like a breeze. His grin dropped and he allowed the coldness to overtake his gaze, knowing that even though she thought him weak, it was far from the truth.

"Good. Now, let me enlighten you. I also passed this test, as an equal to you and I really don't care too much about you right now. You can dismiss me as weak but I have lived through the betrayal of my clan to get here, so if your stone-hard head gets in my way consider your threat met."He allowed the grin to return to his face and his tone turned cheerful once again. "So, shall we go and see the supervisor? We are supposed to go receive our training schedules and information packages?"

 

[SteelMoon]

She was angered by his words, but allowed her hands to come and rest at her sides. This wasn't the time, nor the place to start a fight. Though she could feel one on the horizon. She started to make her way away from the taller, lankier individual. Lilliana herself was only around 5'5, though she never let that faze her, she was a normal height for a woman, no need to hold a grudge on that.

As she passed by him she stopped, her gaze that had been focused ahead of her shifted to look at him, her eyes slinted, judging him "You may have passed the test air head, but there is a huge difference between a C and an A" she said simply, a finger swiftly thwacking his forehead "I'l go get the stuff from the supervisor. You may come if you wish" she said sternly, making her way towards the older man that held her future. To be honest she didn't really know what she was going to get. It wasn't really clear to her what she was getting into when she signed up here, though her partner and herself seemed to be the only ones having trouble with each other.

She stood in front of the elder elemental, he seemed to be some sort of fire elemental, his royal red robes looking rather amazing to be honest, she could only hope to receive a green one like it in the future. "I'm here for the things" she said simply, making a small, respectful bow towards the man, her mood seeming a little brighter than it was before, hell, she even smiled at the man. If she knew one thing, it was respect shown to an elder you respect yourself goes a long way. "What exactly does our training entail may I ask?" she asked curiously, pondering what may come ahead of her.