The Shifters: Katrina
Part Three - Ch.9: Ying and Yang

February first; a Monday. Also, a day I was not enjoying.

After remembering where all my classes were, I settled into first period next to Tyree and felt my nerves grow jumpy. I hated sitting around, but this time, I managed to sit still. Not only was I excited for classes -- for the first time in my life -- I also had a meeting with Coraline. We had to dicuss multiple things, and I planned on mentioning my strange dream.

Because if that girl really was another Guardian, we had to track her down.

M. Crim, the balding old teacher who taught us about our elements, grinned as I sat down for his class. Normally, I didn't come to classes on the day I was back between missions. He must've gotten the notion that I was staying in the compound for the longer period of time.

Before class started, I found myself with Luke hanging over my shoulder. I kept shoving him away, but the laid back blond kept leaning on me. Alisa looked back at us, laughing as Luke annoyed me into punching his gut. The shifter groaned, nearly falling over as my punch sent him stumbling back.

"Sit down, brat! If I fail this class because you bother me too much, I'll punch you harder!"

The class laughed, most of them recognizing me because of the twin bands on my wrists. Even on all my missions, I wore a pair of blue and a pair of red ones. I was apprentice-level for both, though now I was officially a student of Coraline and the elites.

"Alright," M. Crim shouted as the bell rang, "it's time for class, settle down. It's nice to see Katrina, but we still have to do some learning."

"What's on the agenda for today, teach?!" Luke shouted from the back. I rolled my eyes, though part of me wished I could join in on the ridiculousness.

M. Crim threw a book at his head, the aim perfect since the teacher used his air abilities. It slammed into Luke's forehead, nearly knocking him out of his chair.

"We're going to work in teams based on elements today," the teacher announced, "and it'll be a simple competition. Fire team will make a flame. Air team will make a tornado. Earth team will make a boulder. Water team will make a bubble. You'll be competing to see what is biggest."

How much of our element we can control, I thought, looking around the class. Several people were whispering, probably wondering the same thing I was.

What team am I on?

"Oh, right," M. Crim grinned, "Katrina's her own team. One flame and a bubble, all by yourself."

I gaped.

"What the frick that's so unfair I--"

"Not up for the challenge, Guardian?"

I twisted in my seat, ready to chew out whoever dared mocking me. However, I hesitated when I saw it was Talia.

For being so special, you don't look like much, Kat.

The first words she'd ever spoken to me struck a chord. I smirked, glaring at her without any real malice behind it. She mirrored the expression. "Well, Kat?"

"Trust me, I can't wait to crush you, Talia."

She was a water user, which meant I would feel even better when I beat the entire team with my own bubble.

It's so on.

Oh my god, this sucks.

Turns out, pushing my abilities as well as using both at the same time was taxing. I began to realize that it was just another form of training for me, while the rest of the class was actually working together. It was an effective way of keeping me busy so that M. Crim could focus on more 'normal' students.

Still, I didn't enjoy the sweat that rolled down my face. In my left hand, I had fire. In my right hand, I had water. The bubble was hovering above my palm while the flame was shooting out of my skin. Instead of focusing on one, I forced myself to grow both at the same rate. I sat in the center of everything, ignoring the four teams that M. Crim was looking over.

My eyes fell shut as my control wavered. The two elements were opposites of each other -- water was calm, determined, and even physically cold. Fire, however, was fierce, wild, and physically hot. It felt like my mind was splitting in two, and I gradually let it do so. My concentration, power and control acted like a magnet, half of it directed at the fire, half directed at the water. Somehow, I felt energized. The sweat on my skin began to dry, my entire body relaxed, and I just let the power flow over my consciousness. My instincts worked perfectly, my subconscious knowing exactly what to do without needing my conscious.

You were built for power.

The thought was my own, but at the same time, it felt like someone else's. Like I had thought it based off of something another person had told me. I wanted to focus on it, to figure out why I knew it was correct, but it slipped away as my concentration remained stuck on the elements in my hands.

I was built for power.

Because I was a Guardian.

"Holy shit..."

"She's doing that on her own!"

"Wow, Katrina's been working hard."

"If she hadn't been, I would've smacked her for leaving for no reason."

With the voices of my classmates reaching my ears, my own curiosity grew. I cracked my eyes open, only for my heart to pound out of pure shock.

The flame and water had coiled around each other, starting at my hands and meeting in the middle. Flames burned bright, a stream of water constantly churning, both of them traveling up, and up, and up. There was a sliver of space between the two, preventing them from putting each other out. It was like a ying and yang symbol.

And I had done it.

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It was safe to say that I won.

"You wanted to see me, Coraline?"

The leader of Iluita looked away from the window for a split second. Her pink eyes twinkled with happiness, even as she saw my clothes dotted with sweat. My hoodie was back in my dorm, too hot even on the winter day after all my classes.

"How was school, Katrina?"

I smiled at her as I sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "It was okay. Tiring after not doing it for so long, but at least this is better than Greenhill."

The cheetah got to her feet, sitting next to me in the other armchair. I pulled my knees up, twisting sideways so that I could look at her.

"I'm glad you're happier here," she told me. "But we still need to discuss that journal, and the invasion."

"The invasion?"

Coraline nodded. "You played a huge part in that fight, and you've been searching after Xavier since then. Don't you think that requires some discussion?"

I frowned, scratching the back of my neck. If I was being honest, I didn't really think about anything that much in the past few months.

"Katrina... That book... That clue... What do you want to do with them?"

I frowned, staring at the floor. I knew I should've given the whole thing more thought, but I still hadn't.

I was just scared.

Scared that I had too much, scared that I couldn't deal with the abilities I had. This was definitely not something I'd bargained for. Not only that, but I was worried for everyone else. I could hurt someone, even without meaning to. Then, there was the problem of Xavier trying to destroy the compounds.

And above all else, I was meant to be a leader. Maybe not on my own, but I was still meant to bear some of the responsibilities of the entire race.

I was their protector.

"I want to help Iluita gather the other documents," I decided. "It's clear that we don't know our history."

"Well, that can be done. The clue we found seems to be similar to what your mother did before -- we think it might be meant for you. Either way, we still need the help of whoever works at that library."

I nodded. "Tyree mentioned that."

Coraline shrugged, looking around the room. It was still sparsely decorated, as if furniture was no good for her. I briefly wondered what Coraline did all day, but didn't bother asking.

"So, your goal is to help the compound with that... So it's safe to assume that your loyalty still remains with me?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Who else would it be with?"

The cheetah pursed her lips, her eyes passing to the window. She stared at something I didn't see, her thoughts something I wouldn't understand.

"If you wanted to, you could deflect to being loyal to Koren, as an apprentice. He has almost as much say as I do."

"But Koren is loyal to you," I laughed, "he would just tell me to listen to you, Coraline."

She snorted. "I guess he is pretty good about things like that."

We shared knowing smiles. Koren was a righteous stick in the mud sometimes, but he was also a good shapeshifter and a strong elite. People looked up to him for a reason -- myself included.

"Coraline..."

The leader stayed silent, motioning for me to continue.

"I had a dream about someone... And I think it may have been about another Guardian."

Coraline, who had heard about my accurate dreams before, straightened up in her chair. The dreams of the fight that ended up with Coraline against Xavier had stopped for the time being, but those were still scarily possible considering Xavier had turned out to be a traitor.

So what did that mean for the other Guardian?

We'd have to find out.

"And?"

"And I think she's... Stuck. Being held prisoner somewhere. She's trying to escape all by herself, though."

Coraline took my words into account, drumming her fingers against the armrest. "If this is like the other dreams, than it could be important. But... If you want to pursue this idea of another Guardian needing to be saved, then..."

"I need to know who I am as one, and what I'll do."

"You're strong, Katrina. Extremely strong. You have a lot of potential," Coraline reminded me, "but depending on what you do, people will start relying on you for protection. You'll be responsible for many things in this compound, even if you're just a teenager."

She slowly looked back at me, holding my gaze. Unlike when I first came to this compound, I didn't resent the looks she gave me or the work I had to put in. It felt good, to finally have something to put my energy into.

But could I put the work in to be a Guardian?

I was built for power.

"I choose it. I choose to be a Guardian. I want to protect Iluita."

A grim smile graced my lips, and I offered Coraline my pinky. Her face softened into an expression of shock.

"Pinky promise."

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