Elemental Barriers

The looming sky made Herron upset. This was the opposite of what he wanted. He controlled storms, after all he was an Elemental. Only problem was that he could not reverse the storms he made. Out of all the Elementals he struggled with reversing his effects that he caused. He needed it to grow smaller not bigger. A rolling rumble filled the sky. Ren laid under a tree staring at the angry sky. He sits up slightly. "Uh.... Herron don't you get me soaked." He side glares Ren. The boy lazily points to the sky, which looked darker than before. He turns back to his storm. Calming down his nerves Herron focuses on the sky again. Drip. Herron’s own glistening silver strands whipped in the harsh winds of his mammoth storm. Field mice scattered through the grass, heading for their dry nests under the about to be sodden earth. Ren gulped down his saliva watching the clouds closely. The summer heat had dropped. Both boys felt relieved for the cooler temperature. Neither were ready to get drenched. A storm would come, and Herron knew it. Drop. Another raindrop hits his nose. "Ren.... you deserve it." They start running. The sky begins crying, soaking both boys to the bone. They rush over to a nearby limestone cave and take shelter there. "Maybe someday you'll be successful." Even with the crashing rain, they spoke softly. Herron doubted it, he could not even stop one raindrop. His doubt severed his full potential to stop storms. Ren rang out his mouse hair. "Hey, you just need practice." Ren settled down on the cave’s floor. Herron paces the length of the cave. Thunder crashed outside the confines of the cave, making them both nervous. The storm settled down and the boys left the cave. "This is stupid! Why do I have to reverse the effects!" Ren shoves his hands into his pockets. He sighs in thought. Pulling his hand out he snaps his fingers. "Because, what Elemental do you know that can't reverse the effects?" "None." Bright skies sit overhead. Not a cloud in sight. They sit for five minutes in silence. "Try again." Herron groans. Ren stares at him chillingly. Feeling scared of Ren's stare, he moves forward. He chooses a spot on the field and takes a deep breath. Focusing his energy, he creates another storm. This cloud was smaller, so he could hopefully manage it better. Ren crept back to the cave ready for the rain. Herron noticed Ren hiding in the cave. Herron’s focus could not stay on the cloud in front of him. Yelling in frustration Herron runs to the cave. His little cloud peed on the plains. “Welp, that sucks.” Herron shoves Ren out of the cave. There would be no way Ren gets out of this. “If it rains again you will get wet and stay wet!” Ren fights it for a while before giving in. They stood under the oak tree. Minutes pass by as they stand and think. A yawn escapes Ren, as he settles down under the tree. “Maybe try thinking about happy things?” Herron nods, conjuring up another small storm. Closing his eyes, he imagines a beautiful summer day at the beach. Ren yips loudly in Herron’s ear. At first, he cringes then realizes its happy yips. “I did it?” Herron opens his eyes. His friend is shouting in joy pointing out the clear sky. “YOU DID IT!!!!!” Blinking in astonishment, Herron smiles wide. “I actually did it!” All his doubt went away. Then it came back. “Ren.” His friend turned to face him. Ren rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah what is it?” “Did you do it?” Ren gives Herron a nervous smile. That alone answered Herron’s question. He should have seen right away that Ren had done it. Being that his friend could control the sun, he should have seen it coming. “Don’t you understand how important doing this for real would feel to me?” “I just thought….” Herron walked off throwing his hands in the air. “Screw this! If I have you around why would I need to undo it!” Ren knitted his brows together. Herron yells at him to go home and leave him alone. Over the next few days Herron practices on his own. From far off Ren watches, feeling guilty. Two months go by and Herron only improves slightly. Him and Ren only talk on the weekends. Six weeks after Ren stops watching, Herron finally goes to his house during a weekday. “Hey, I did it for reals.” Ren blinks in surprise. “For real?” An excited nod comes from Herron. “I’ll show you come on!” They rush out to the plains by the oak tree. He stands out in the middle of the field. Ren climbs into the branches of the oak. Focusing on the sky, Herron creates a massive storm. Bigger then the first storm they had started practicing with. Ren cringes ready for a downpour. Taking a mild breath, Herron shrinks the cloud down. Every once and awhile the cloud tries to grow. Holding his breath Ren smiles widely. “You are awesome!” Two more minutes pass before the cloud is fully gone. Herron pants in exhaust, smirking at Ren. They both stare at the clear sky. Smiles spread on both their faces. “You did it for real congrats!!!” The rest of the day they work on the speed of his undo. “Herron, I’m sorry about that first time... I wanted you to smile… but I didn’t need to do it for you.” Ren receives a bearhug from Herron. “I think you made me more determined when you did it…. But for real don’t do it again.” He nods, smirking at Herron. “Never again. I have learned my lesson.” The day wears on and they both tire. After one last time they head back to their houses. Herron promised himself to never stop trying when he starts something new and he kept that promise for himself and Ren.