Bree regained consciousness before she opened her eyes, which allowed her to enjoy the feeling of being taken care of a bit longer. The gentle strokes on her hair and cooling sensation on her neck took her to a blissful state and when she opened her eyes, she met a pair of hazel ones that gazed her with such intensity she found it impossible to look away.

Nathaniel froze when her eyes fluttered. He wanted to stay there, but he was not known for his self-restraint when it came to matters of the flesh, and escalating things with the witch would only compromise his endgame. He opted for a harsh approach instead.

“Finally, woman!”

A frown appeared on her face and she stumbled away from him, seeing a few dark spots from the sudden movement.

“I don’t think this training will work out, Nathaniel.”

“I believe you are wrong. Despite this unfortunate incident, I now know exactly what you need to learn. Perhaps another day though, you need to rest.”

Nate didn’t expect her to show up the next day, but there she was in the clearing, laying on the grass and feeling the morning breeze with a content smile.

“Nathaniel” She acknowledged

“Brianna. I was not sure you would come. Are you ready to start your training?”

“I am not your apprentice today, Nathaniel. I am still not sure about your methods, but I vowed to teach you something in return and that is what I will do today.”

She took him to the edge of the clearing and touched the first tree, indicating him to do the same.

“What does she need, the earth?”

The phoenix proceeded to compel the earth to tell him its needs with the threat of fire, which worked flawlessly. He turned to the witch and told her his findings.

“What have you done?”

“I found out what you needed to know”

“But why did you threaten her? Now she’s calling for my help.”

“Well, you wanted to know what it needed and there it is. I don’t see what the problem is”

“But did you try to ask? You need to apologize”

He scoffed and bowed, sarcastically saying “I am so sorry, oh mighty tree, would you please tell me what it is you need?” Brianna felt a surge of anger and called for a massive branch to fall onto his head. It barely missed him, falling hard on his feet instead, and causing him to wince in pain. She covered a smile, appreciating her disciplinary act.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Well, you asked what she needed, and she showed you”

“It wasn’t it; it was you” He made sure to stress the 'it', he refused to refer to an element as if it was a person.

“Well, I am the vessel for its needs” She stated with a mischievous smile. “Now, are you ready to try it my way or do I need to show you what the water needs?”

For the rest of the day, he tried to ask for the needs of the three elements he didn’t master, and by noon he thought they were beginning to answer. Granted the water was majorly saying it wanted him to sink to the bottom of the small river, but at least it was an answer given willingly.

Nate was not used to this, and he could see no possible advantage in doing so. He knew how to draw answers from the other elements, what he couldn’t do was use them as he pleased.

“I can see something is troubling you, Nathaniel. What is it?”

“This is pointless. I need to master the water, not babysit it.”

“That is just not how it works. I understand you have it differently with fire, since you were born from it, but the others won’t be that easy. Let me try something different”

She extended her hands and touched his lightly, concentrating on her call.

“What do you feel?”

“You are calling for fire”

“I didn’t ask what I was doing, I asked what you are feeling”

“I feel a warming sensation that builds up until it burns.”

“Perfect. Now bear with me. Listen closely. What do you feel?”

“Nothing”

“You are not listening, so you are not feeling. You heard the fire’s calling, so you felt the warmth. Listen.”

“I feel… ticklish. Just the tip of my fingers, but I feel it. It’s like the feeling you get when your head doesn’t realize you are drunk, but your body does.”

She chuckled and he thought she was making fun of him, but her green eyes were clear as day and he could only see innocent fun and understanding. Perhaps she found his joke funny after all. He stood with her, feeling the same tingling sensation for a while.

“That’s the earth. Now you know her. If you feel her answering when you call, don’t shy away. Embrace her and allow her to know you. She’s the easiest of them all, and perhaps she’ll do what you ask for if you are nice enough”

The week went by and they kept their training schedule, alternating between his and her lessons. By the end of it, the witch was able to draw small amounts of energy from the elements to perform little deeds, like lighting a fire pit or asking the wind to braid her hair with flowers. That last one she learned only to annoy Nathaniel, who was pushing her to use wind to knock a squirrel out of a tree.

The phoenix had a harder time, but also learned the benefit of asking instead of demanding. The information given willingly was definitely more accurate than he was used to.

He also noticed his inner fire wasn’t so rattled after the calling. He used to feel angry whenever he had to force a need out, and now he knew his fire was only absorbing the anger from the other elements.

They had fallen into a comfortable routine and sometimes while resting they would talk about the elements, the energy and themselves.