W.i.t.c.h. The Full Story: Part II Chapter 3 - Yan Lin

Hey guys!

Sorry for not uploading last week, this is the first time in over a week that I've felt healthy enough to work at ALL. I've been battling the flu, or a super cold, but it tastes like the flu. Ugh! *shudders* Anyway, I've gotten better a tiny bit each day, and today I've felt my best yet! Barely coughed at all!

So tonight, I decided to just work a little. I managed to get a chap of this done, although I'm stuck on Warrior (go figure). It's a short chapter, but I think it's good! Let me know what you think!!!

Chapter 3

Yan Lin

Earth

 

Yan Lin’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she felt the pull. She’d been describing their house lo mein to an elderly couple from out of town when she’d felt a tug on her heart, and a soft voice whispering over and over to come up the stairs. Recognizing it as the Heart, Yan flagged a waiter over to finish taking their orders, and then headed upstairs again. After tossing out some underwear and ancient clothes that’d hid the glowing jewel from her family, she gently removed the tiny, pink gem from the elegant box that kept it safe. Just before the whispering stopped and the vision began, she laid on her bed. Then darkness came and took her away.

 

           The last time she’d seen the young man, he was daring an angry customer to continue to push him. But he was daring no more. Slumped in the dark, full of too much pain to move, he watched the outline of the Passling as it sniffed here and there, wondering if there was anything to eat, rotten or not. Through the power of the Heart, she was able to see the terrible marks that covered him, and the farseeing stare that revealed he’d been tortured, and tortured extensively. He cradled his right arm carefully against his chest. Yan saw that it was a compound fracture, with part of the bone sticking out. If that wound remained untreated, he’d be disfigured for life.

This is a Bringer of Light.

The voice boomed from the center of the vision, deep in Yan’s mind. She knew that voice. She trusted it.

His world will fade and die in Darkness without him. They cannot help him. They cannot win without him.

She knew the rest before it even began. The new Guardians could never be convinced of their powers, their duty, in time. He’d die from thirst long before the girls would be strong enough to dive into the palace dungeons and get him.

But you can. You have powers still, and will until the new generation is ready. He must be saved.

He slipped into unconsciousness, hoping to never wake again.

 

Yan woke up feeling sick to her stomach. When she sat up, a drop of water on her hand startled her. That’s when she realized she was crying, had since she’d seen him in the dungeon. She knew that place. Knew it, and hated it. Too many close friends and good people had died there in the dark beneath Phobos’s palace.

Feeling emotionally drained, Yan got to her feet. She headed to the bathroom to wash the tears from her face, then almost jumped when she saw her reflection. The moment the Heart had called to her, she thought she was only nineteen again, since it hadn’t spoken to her in over fifty years. But her young face had lost its elasticity; her silky black hair had become wispy and gray. The Guardian of Air was nineteen no longer—she was seventy-four.

Unbeknownst to her, the Heart had placed itself around her neck. She stared at it for a second, and then whispered aloud.

“How can I do this?” Her Mandarin came out harsh, no longer the musical song it used to be. “I am not young. I have no strength. I can’t do this.”

The Heart simply glowed. The light and warmth that poured from the jewel into her chest comforted her in a way that nothing else could have. Yan gripped it tightly. Suddenly the warmth covered all of her body, and a purple light filled her vision. The aches from old wounds and living for far too long faded away, and the strength of youth swelled up from a long-forgotten life. Her crooked back straightened, her hair thickened, the arthritis dissipated, the ignored pains of old healed.

And then it was gone. The warmth had completely evaporated.

But Yan still felt incredibly strong. She’d clamped her eyes tightly shut to save her eyesight. Now, panting, feeling a deep fear, and an even deeper hope, the former Guardian opened her eyes.

It’d been a shock to see herself as an old woman. And yet it seemed only natural for her to look in the mirror and see herself as she had appeared so many years ago. She wore the purple and blue of the Guardians of Meridian in the style of a male changshan. Her high-necked, purple top had long, flowing sleeves and the blue, cropped pants had billowy, wide legs. The snow-white hair was no longer down to her knees; it was cut short and was now the same blue-black that Hay Lin had inherited. And on her back was a pair of glittering, green wings.

After studying her reflection for a few moments, the current Guardian of Air took a deep breath.

“You better still be alive, boy,” Yan sang out in her native tongue, gripping the Heart again.

Then she did something she hadn’t in a very long time. She flew.

W.i.t.c.h. The Full Story: Part I Chapter 3 - Yan Lin

Hey guys!!!

I have great news:

 

I HAVE MY FILES BACK!!!!

Yes! I also have a new laptop, but it doesn't work very well...I couldn't get it to open ANYTHING when I got up, which was super annoying, but whatevs, it works! I have my files!!!

I'm currently backing up everything, but as you can see, I found time to write some!!! I'll be able to continue my other story as well as Warrior! I got everything I need!!!

Alright, now that you have my awesome update, time to get to my writing!!! Here's the next part, where we see The Heart of Kandrakar!!!

Oh, and I did change Caleb's name back to Kaleb. Since Kandrakar's actually supposed to be spelled Candracar, I'll stick with the K names.
 
***NOTE: I know the spaceing's jacked up. I can't fix it, the stupid thing is glitching. It happens every once in a while ><***

Chapter 3

Yan Lin - Heatherfield

A resounding crash coming from the kitchen had customers looking up from their meals and Yan Lin clenching her teeth until they ached. That was the fourth time this week. Yan held back her sigh as she watched a glum teenager named Stephen slink out of the kitchen, trying to hide behind his long, shaggy blond hair. He seemed to know his third evening of work at the Silver Dragon would be his last.

 

Taoyan, that’s the third one this month! The white-haired seventy-four-year-old thought. Are there no good waiters in this city?

 

Silently cursing, Yan moved toward the kitchen to tell Stephen—

 

—and suddenly she was looking at a young man a little older than Hay Lin, wearing a waiter’s apron, standing over a thirty year old man with blond hair. A strong aura of anger and impatience emanated from him, cowing the gentleman asking about his order. He glanced through his shaggy, brown hair cut similarly to Stephen’s, the rage making his olive-green eyes burn.

 

Yan blinked and suddenly she was looking at nothing, still in the dining room of the restaurant her parents had opened in the 1940s when she was a little girl. The customers made small talk while eating what Stephen hadn’t dropped. Hay Lin, her granddaughter came through the door and greeted Stephen while he continued to clean up his latest mess. The old woman ignored it all, focusing her mind on that very brief vision.

A premonition? I haven’t had one since…Decades. Since my powers were sealed with Cassidy’s death. Tears filled her eyes while a grin of joy spread across her face. They’re here! She realized. They’ve come. The fifth generation is ready!

Without finishing her table’s order, and not a word to Hay Lin, Yan Lin, former guardian of Air shuffled into the private dining room and through a different door that concealed the staircase leading to the family apartment above. As fast as her ancient body would let her, she headed to her bedroom. There, against the wall was an armoire that held her most precious possessions. Her breath caught as she moved some photo albums aside and saw a pink glow coming from the back.

As carefully as she could, she pulled out an old box. It was wooden, painted red with gold embellishments on the edges, which glowed from the light coming from the inside. Yan gently touched the words engraved into the lid.

 

To bring peace and Light
To those in the Dark
Protect the innocent
Stand as hope and justice
Is the Guardians’ Role

Yan stared at those words. When she was fourteen she’d sworn that very oath. She’d watch a friend die for them, and another break them. Thousands of times she’d lived up to the trust placed in her, and now—

 

Now, she thought, it is my turn to teach them to another generation. Reverently, she opened the box, and picked up the glowing necklace inside.

 

Hanging from a silver chain was a glowing, pink sphere with streams of energy moving around inside. Silver encased the bottom and the top, with an incomplete circle connecting them. Where the top broke off, it curled in a swirl. The bottom did the same, but angled in a different direction. It was the heart of Kandrakar, the amplifier of the Guardians’ powers, and it had given Yan Lin her vision.

As she took the gem into her hands she felt its call. Laying down on her bed she murmured, "Show me."

Hay Lin, Yan’s only grandchild, had changed from her uniform into her favorite purple miniskirt and a yellow lace-back shirt, her long, blue-black hair pulled into her favored pigtails. Now she was playing with her hip-length hair while taking the orders of a table that Stephen should’ve been serving. No one could see it, but Yan saw the invisible symbol for air—a sky-blue capital c, whose top came to the center with a dot on the end—hanging from the teenager’s neck. Yan felt a wave of overwhelming joy that her xiao Hay would be a Guardian as well. The old woman watch the air currents flowing about the untrained girl, calming the customers and bringing a bit of fresh air to them. She must’ve had her for some time without knowing it. Hay Lin sneezed, knocking the drinks and menus at a table over. Yan chuckled at Hay Lin’s shocked expression.

The vision changed to another girl the former guardian recognized. The beautiful blonde wearing a coral maxi skirt and white shirt and denim jacket was Cornelia Hale, one of Hay Lin’s good friends. She was at a park, sitting and talking with her best friend Elyon while some boys played soccer. The grass at the edges of the blanket was growing tall, a few dandelions popping up where her long hair fell over the side of the blanket. Cornelia didn’t notice it, nor how the trees seemed to reach for her. It didn’t surprise the old woman that around her neck was the green talisman marked with the dot surrounded by a circle that meant earth. But Yan knew Cornelia’s arrogance and pride, which made her wary.

That one will give me a fight, she thought. And her powers need more control. But that will come in time.

The third girl was just as familiar as Cornelia. She was Irma Lair, another member of Hay Lin’s group of friends. Sassy and tough, Irma had her short brown hair braided into pigtails, showing off the second set of piercings on her ears. Her little brother must’ve tried to pull on one, since Irma was holding him upside down, balancing his weight on her hips while talking on the phone. The Latina seemed immune to her brother’s squirming, shifting around in her salmon Capri’s and olive green tunic. Despite this remarkable feat, there seemed to be no open sign of a particular power. But still, Yan spotted the talisman around her neck in-between the kicking boy’s legs. It was similar to earth’s c, but royal blue, smaller and with the end extending straight out, making it water.

Yan Lin didn’t recognize the last two girls. The first was an African-American girl with dark blue hair that was short, except for one, thick braid in front of her left ear. She continued to pluck at her orange sweater and green cargo pants while out with her family looking at an empty house for sale. While shuffling behind her parents, she sighed next to the fire place, which lit. The girl and her older brother jumped, staring at the flames in surprise. As they raced to join their parents in the next room, Yan saw the blood red, upside down triangle that didn’t connect in the left corner that was the symbol for fire.

Taranee Cook, the heart whispered to her. Her powers were strong, and Yan knew she would need to learn the most precision.

The last one, Yan knew, was the most important. This was the one that the Heart had chosen as its keeper, the leader of the others. Her power was Quintessence, and she alone would be able to wield the Heart. The chosen girl appeared, the pink talisman with the two apostrophes almost forming a circle, the top one with its tail to the left, the bottom’s tail to the right. She was a small red-head, sitting in the Sheffield Institute uniform on her bed, looking lost and defeated. Her brown eyes were dark with memories of pain.

Wilhemina Vandom, the Heart called to Yan. This girl had seen much in her young years, but Yan knew she’d see so much more in the years to come.

The visions faded, and Yan was staring at her bedroom ceiling. She sat up and studied the Heart, which had stopped glowing.

"So," she said aloud, "you’ve chosen these five, eh? I don’t know if they will last in Meridian, but so be it." She gently laid the necklace back in the box and hid it deep beneath clothes and photo albums. "They’ll be tested soon enough."