Ok, so here’s my ‘literally elements’ AU, chapter one. It’s my first time making a fic on tumblr, so bear with me.
“Is- is there anything else that I, uh, that I can do for you, sir?” The shopkeeper stutters out, staring at Lloyd in awe.
The teen shakes his head. “No, but thanks anyway. And, er, call me Lloyd, okay?” He forces a smile. The reverence people show can get kind of annoying after a while. After all, he’s only been the Master of the Elements for a year now.
And with that, Lloyd takes the pack of supplies and heads out. It’s been over a month since he’s checked on the elementals, so he needs to get on that.
In all honesty, he’s been putting it off. He’d much rather play video games and read comics than micromanage them.
With a sigh, the blond heads out. He’s in Jamanakai Village right now, so the closest place would be Zane’s home, the Glacier Barrens.
It’s a good thing he can’t get frostbite.
Lloyd sighs as he reaches the edge of the snowy area. Thankfully, the elementals typically seek him out as soon as he steps into their territory, which is nice.
And just like he assumed, moments after he crosses the threshold into what’s officially the Glacier Barrens, the snow beside him begins to shift, and Zane forms from the frost.
“Lloyd.” He greets. “It has been a while.”
The teen smiles. “It has.” He agrees. “How’s everything going?”
The Master of Ice frowns. “The snowfall has been quite heavy, and it has begun to grow beyond my territory. I am not sure what to make of this, but I do not believe it is cause for concern.”
Lloyd nods. “Interactions with the others?” He prompts.
“Jay has been visiting more often than usual, and I think something is troubling him. But beyond that, I have had no arguments or major difficulties with them.”
The Master of the Elements opens his mouth to ask his next question, but Zane continues speaking.
“However, I have had some minor earthquakes disturbing my routine, and have not heard from Cole in a while.”
Hmm. Well, he’ll have to look into that. Cole typically limits the earthquakes to non populated areas- but there have been times when people have annoyed him to the point of more major tremors.
“Anything else I should know about?” Lloyd brings himself back to the conversation.
Zane shakes his head. “No, that is it. Would you like to stay for lunch? I have been working on some new recipes.”
Lloyd smiles. Zane’s food is some of the best he’s ever had- likely because he’s practiced his cooking for millennia. And while he does need to check on the others, well… a quick bite wouldn’t hurt.
So the Master of Ice leads him to his cooking space- he doesn’t really have a house, considering that he doesn’t need sleep.
He actually has an abundance of ingredients, which seems kind of unexpected, considering where he lives. But he typically gets them from one of the others- usually Cole- in exchange for some of the food he uses said ingredients to make.
They talk idly while Zane cooks, and continue to do so while they eat. Lloyd shares news about the outside world, and the elemental eagerly asks for more details.
But soon enough, he has to head out. Bidding Zane goodbye, he heads off to find some cave or underground tunnel.
It’s time to go talk to Cole.
Before he makes it somewhere underground, he comes across a storm- or more accurately, the storm comes across him. Looks like Jay found him first.
And sure enough, the Master of Lightning materializes in front of him. “Hey!” He greets cheerfully. “How’s everything been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Lloyd hesitates a moment, trying to come up with an excuse. He can’t exactly tell Jay that he was avoiding talking to them.
“That new Fritz Donnagen comic came out.” It’s not quite a lie, one did come out recently- and he was one of the first ones in line to get it.
Jay lights up- literally. Sparks fly off of him, and the smell of ozone that follows him grows stronger. “It did? What happened?! How did he get away from the Imperial Sludge?!”
Lloyd stifles a laugh and pulls the comic out of his bag. “I brought it for you.”
The elemental attempts to grab it from him, but Lloyd pulls back, leaving him grasping at air. “First, I need a report on how everything’s been going.”
Jay huffs. “Okay, okay. There’s been a minor heat wave- which affects my storms, by the way- and Kai’s been acting weird, so I’m not sure what’s going on with that. And it’s starting to get harder to control the rain- which I did have less control over already, rain isn’t lightning- but this level of minimal control is just weird. And I’ve tried talking to Zane a lot, but he seems pretty busy with something, so he hasn’t really been up for chit-chat. And-“
“Hold on.” Lloyd puts his hands up. “What’s going on with Zane?”
“I don’t know. He seems kinda stressed about something. Not sure what, it’s kinda weird, actually.” Jay frowns. “Come to think of it, even Cole’s been acting kind of suspicious.”
“You’ve spoken to Cole recently?” The teen frowns. Zane said he hasn’t had any contact with him, so it’s good to see that someone has.
“Yep. We were on top of a mountain and I swear, he got so upset that it nearly split in two! We weren’t talking about anything that could upset him like that, so I’m really not sure what set him off. Can I have the comic now?”
The Master of the Elements shakes his head. “Not yet, I have more questions.”
A pout crosses the ginger’s face, and he crosses his arms. “Ughhh. What else do you need to know?”
“You said that Cole’s been upset, Zane’s been hyper focused, and that Kai’s been acting weird. What do you mean by weird?”
“Well, there’s been a big heat wave down in the Sea of Sand, and the Boiling Sea has just been a mess. It’s so hot over there, I can’t even use rain to cool things down! Not to mention that trouble I’ve been having with the rain…”
Lloyd feels his brows furrow. Hmm. That doesn’t sound good. And why wouldn’t Zane tell him about whatever he’s worried about? Nothing seemed to be bothering him when Lloyd was there, but then again, Jay knows him better.
This is what he gets for putting things off.
“Do you have any idea why they might be so stressed out?”
Jay shakes his head. “Nope. Well, Cole mentioned something about Serpentine, but I’m not really sure why that’s such a big deal- they’ve never done anything he can’t handle.”
Lloyd nods and hands Jay the comic. “Thanks. I’ll check up on everyone.”
The Master of Lightning waves with a smile. “Good luck!”
And with that, he vanishes back into the storm.
Lloyd carefully makes his way down into a cavern- he doesn’t really have a particular one he heads to each time, he just trusts that Cole will find him once he’s underground.
And sure enough, rubble shifts, and the Master of Earth stands beside him, leaning against a cavern wall. “It’s been a little while. Is everything okay?”
The teen nods. “Got caught up with some other things. How’s everything going down here?”
Cole hesitates. “I’m having some trouble with my powers.” He admits bluntly, getting straight to the point. “The earth hasn’t been responding the way I want it to, and some Serpentine have been taking advantage of that.”
Lloyd frowns. “What do you mean, it hasn’t been responding the way you want it to?”
“Moving the earth around takes a lot more effort than it used to, and, well, sometimes it doesn’t work at all.”
“And you’ve never had trouble with this before?”
Cole shakes his head. “Never.” He confirms. “I tried to head over to talk to Zane about it, but I couldn’t get there. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get inside his territory- it’s like there’s an extra layer of frost outside it.”
Lloyd nods slowly. “That’s… odd. Jay and I didn’t have any trouble getting in.”
“I’m not sure what’s up with that, but I have talked with Kai. I think he’s getting close to snapping with how upset he is at this whole thing.” The Master of Earth admits.
Lloyd curses under his breath. Kai’s always had difficulties with self-control, and having trouble with his element is just going to make all of that worse.
“I’ll check up on him now, unless there’s anything else you need to tell me.” Damn, he should’ve gone straight to see him as soon as he knew something was up!
Cole shakes his head. “Good luck.” And with that, he disappears back into the rubble.
Lloyd takes a deep breath. Time to find the nearest volcano.
Torchfire Mountain was quite a ways away from where he was, and Lloyd didn’t even realize it would have been faster to go to the Fire Temple until he was standing at the base of the volcano.
With a sigh, the Master of the Elements begins to trek up. It takes several hours, and by the time he’s at the top, he’s exhausted. Maybe going to visit everyone in one day was a bad idea.
He sits down on the edge of the volcano’s rim, looking down at the lava below.
“Lloyd!” Kai greets. The teen almost flinches from the way he suddenly appears in the ash beside him. “I haven’t seen you in a little bit. Everything’s okay, right? You’re not hurt?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Kai scooches closer, looking him over carefully. “You sure everything’s okay? If someone’s bothering you, I can-“
“I’m fine.” Lloyd interjects. “Really. But I’ve heard about everyone’s powers fluctuating, and I wanted to see if you’ve been having trouble with them, too.”
The Master of Fire looks away with a sigh. “Maybe a little bit.” He admits. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle.” He tacks the end on quickly, but Lloyd knows him well enough to know that the elemental is just worried about being seen as weak.
“The others have been having trouble too.” Lloyd tells him. “I think that there’s something going on here.”
Kai pauses a moment, but then nods. “There might be something going on at the Fire Temple, I’ve been feeling something off around there for a week or two.”
“A week or two? Which was it, one or two? This is important!” Lloyd stares.
The elemental scratches the back of his neck, a sheepish expression on his face. “I’m not sure.” He admits. “When you’ve been alive as long as I have, time can get kinda fuzzy.”
A sigh escapes him, but he knows that he can’t blame Kai for that. The Master of Fire has been alive for eons, it’s a wonder he has a grasp on the length of human time periods at all.
“I’ll go check it out.” Lloyd decides. “Anything else I should know?”
Kai shakes his head. “Loss of powers has been the only main issue. I’ll see you at the temple?”
The Master of the Elements nods. “I’ll see you there.”
So he begins his trek over to the Fire Temple, which is a little under a dozen miles from where he is now.
Sometimes Lloyd hates his job.
