Bay Ling

A Chapter by Faith

We are going forward again, in the prospective of Bay Ling.

Chapter 3
Bay Ling - September 4

Bay, Ariana, and Mary Ann were in a panic. They couldn't find Leo anywhere. He had just disappeared. Naturally, telling Ariana's mom would be the right thing. Nobody's perfect. Ariana's mom had no idea.

"Guys!" Bay Ling called from down the hall. Bay had just found a foot print! It was leading into Leo's room.

"Yeah?" Mary Ann peaked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

"I bet this is Leo's! We can follow it!"

"Cool!" Ariana nodded.

Bay began to lead the group to Leo's room and opened the door.

"But we already checked here!" Mary Ann noted.

"But not here!"
Bay pointed to the footprints leading into the closet.

"Ok Leo! You win! Come on out!"
There was no repose.
"Leo?" Mary Ann called cautiously.

Bay swung the door open a gasped. In ground of her was a gapping hole that lead down into darkness. There where hand prints on the side like someone grabbing for the edge.

"Leo fell!" Bay gasped.

"Thank you Bay for that enlightening information." Mary Ann moaned.

"Hey," Bay began, "you guys stay here!" I'm going to go check on our closets!"

"Fine," Ariana glanced at the door, "but come right back!"

"Ok!"

Bay ran off to her room. She ran to her closet and swung open the doors. She got down on her hands and knees and began feeling and pushing the floor. It seemed steady. She gingerly stepped on it. It was good. Just as she was about to step out, a gush of wind hit her, the floor have out, and she dropped.
Bay remembered falling. Then she remembered faces. Then names. Soon she began to remember everything. One question did keep falling into her mind though, where was she? Same place Leo fell?

Bay looked up and saw a birdbath rapped in ivy. There were three little birds flying around because they couldn't get to the water. Bay got up, felt dizzy for a minute, then walked over. As she got up, she noticed a door in the back of the room with a lock shaped like a rabbit. She tried her best to pry the ivy off the birdbath, but it was not good. Then she tried the door, no good. All of a sudden, she heard a voice... In her HEAD!

"Bay!"

"Oh, please tell me I'm not going crazy! I didn't think my ankle was hurt that badly!"

"Oh don't be ridicules! That's the most absurd idea I've ever heard! I'm Earth."

"That makes so much more sense," Bay muttered sarcastically, "Thank you."

"You know I can hear you."

"Where are you?"

"In you."

"WHAT!"

"They always freak! I love it!"

"You've lost me. Man! I'm talking to myself! I'm going crazy!"

"No. Your not. I'll prove it. To get through that door, you must move the vines out of the way and let the birds get to the bath."

"Great! One problem. They won't budge."

"Yes they will! Just tell them to!"

"Excuse me?"

"Talk to them!"

"Ok, I'm going crazy," Bay decided before facing the plants and saying, "Move? Please?"
To Bay's astonishment, the plants slowly began to make their way back into the ground and the birds got to the bath. Minute the birds touched the water, the large rabbit lock spun away and gave way to a thin hallway leading down into a passage.

"Welcome to the the Passage of Me."

"'Scuse me?"

"The Passage of Earth! Far superior over Fire, Air, and Water. Oh! But don't tell them I, we, said that."

"We?" Bay asked as she started down the passage with aw. A little limp from her ankle.

"I am in you. I will help you and train you to perfection, and then, leave. Until I am needed again at least."

"This is awkward. So I am talking to myself."

"Scientifically, we both are, but hey! This is magic, not science, right!?"

"Umm, sure..." Bay responded uncertainly.

"At the end of this tunnel is the Tower, or Temple of Earth. Of the Earth Temple, or the Earth Tower, it's really quite flexible."

"That's great. Any idea where my friend Leo may have gone?"

"Oh, Fire? He's fine!"

"Fire?! What?! Leo!"

"Yeah, yeah, and your Bay Ling Chang Hong Wo Ming. Whatever."

"Wait... So Leo is possessed by Fire, just like possessed by you, Earth?"

"I wouldn't call it 'possessed' per-say, more, visited, or has taken control of, or..."

"Ok! Not possessed! I get it!"

"Man, I feel bad for him. Fire can be a hassle."

"You obviously haven't met Leo."

"What do you mean?"

"Just... Never mind... If you think you know what hassle is, your wrong."
"Right." Earth laughed, "whatever you say, but you haven't met Fire!"

"You don't know Leo."

"ANYWAY! The entrance to the Earth Temple should be right passes the test."

"What test?!"

"Oh, you know, the usual, life-or-death to see I'd your worthy.."

"Just the usual?"

"Get used to it girly."
Bay walked a little ways before being confronted with a huge cliff. There was a steep drop, and at the bottom, rocks.

"Great. Just great. I just did my nails. How am I suppose to do this? Easy! Jump!"

"What!?"

"On the count of three, jump. One two..."

"What!?"

"Three!"
Bay, with a quick look around jumped off. She saw the ground speeding towards her. She cod almost feel all the pointed rocks digging into he body. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped, mid fall, right before she hit bottom and a breeze blew her over the rocks to safety.

"Congratulations! You passes the test!" Earth cried with joy.

"Wait.. What was it?"

"Trust. Earth is trust. Fire is bravery, he had to walk passed the fallen. Air is control and leadership, and water is resourceful."

"Wait... So what happens if you don't pass the test?"

Earth shook her head, which was technically shaking Bays head, "you don't want to know..."

"Wait... Again... Leo's fire right?"
Earth nodded.
"He has to be brave? He doesn't seem like the brave type."

"Wow." Earth laughed a little, "you really don't know him, do you."

"So, that was the test?"

"One of them."

"ONE!! How many are there!?"

"Two." Earth replayed happily.

They walked in silence until Bay got to a door, a lot like the first one, with the rabbit lock and a birdbath.

"You know what to do." Earth laughed in Bays head.

Bay took a step forward and took a deep breath.

"Move."

The ivy recoiled and slid down. Before the doors opened, Bay noticed a little scratch mark, resembling a plant or tree of some sort. Then the doors flew wide and Bay walked inside.

Inside was a dead drop. It went down in a dark cavern in the middle of the drop was a little island, on which where a beautiful brown stick rapped in ivy was above a birdbath. As soon as she entered, it fell in the water with a 'plunk'.

"Your wand." Earth whispered.

"How exactly do I get to it?!"

"Take a step forward."

"Off the cliff!" Bay exclaimed.

"Yes. Right in front of you. Trust me."

Bay took a deep breath, then stepped out. It was solid! Like can invisible bridge.

"Now where?" Bay asked.

"Front right!"

Bay began to step but Earth cried out, "NO! Farther to your right!"

Finally after an encrusting 20 or so minutes, they made it to the island.
"Welcome to the Earth Temple!"

Bay walked slowly over to the birdbath and saw the wand reflecting in it. She reached in and took it out. It was even more breathtaking when she was holding it. She looked over the the cliff near her, and to her surprise, she saw a path outlined in a green light!

"Now you will be able to see this path, and all others that may come forth." Earth began, "remember, your wand is what makes you strong. Without it, you have bear minimum powers. Stop Darke."

"Wait!" Bay cried, "aren't you going to be here helping me??"

"Only when you really need it Bay. You may speak to me, and I will hear, but I can only help you in dire situations."

"But where do I go? Back?"

"No fool! Forward. Always forward. Let the Earth be your guide. It knows best for everything." Earth's voice began to fade.

"Earth? Earth!?" Bay cried, "wow. Great timing. Thank you Earth. Follow the Earth... Always forward..."

Bay looked down at her wand. Then an idea hit her. Sounded ridicules, but honestly, everything that had happened today was ridiculous.
Bay put her wand down on the ground and let it sit. For a minute, nothing happened, but then it began to spin! It landed facing forward to the way she was going.

"Wow." Bay laughed at herself, "figures it's that obvious!"

Bay picked up her wand and tossed he black hair over her shoulder.

"Umm," Bay began, "let me see the path..? Please?"

The green light shown a pathway I to the wall, and then a green light outlined a door on the wall with the scratch marks of the plant. It looked like a fern. She made her way carefully across the pathway and opened the invisible doorway. It lead to a rickety old wooden staircase going down.

"The tower!" Bay exclaimed.

"No duh." Earth's hollow but sweet voice echoed in her head.

"But I though you were gone!?"

"Miss me? Fate made an exemption. That was idiotic."
Bay made her decent down the rickety old stairs. They creaked every time even the lightest amount of weight was put on it. There was a dim light of torches rapped in ivy. Bay had decided that ivy was what Earth liked to represent herself with.

When she finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, there was the fern scratch mark on the door. Bay slowly opened the door. It wasn't as dramatic as she thought it would be, but it worked. Bay looked around for a minute, not quite sure where she was. Then she remembered walking by this while exploring!

Bay ran down the hall to where the bedrooms where. She began to speak to herself trying to remember where to go.

"Up a floor... To the right.... No... It was to the left...."

When Bay finally got to the bedrooms, she saw Ariana standing in the hallway looking nervous.

"BAY LING!" Ariana cried out, "Bay, Bay, BAY! Where were you!"

"I was..." Bay began, but something inside her told her not to tell.
Darn it Earth, just speak! Bay though to herself.
"I was distracting your mom!"

"Good idea. But we still have the Leo problem."

"He isn't back yet?!" Bay gasped in alarm.
Bay knew that it shouldn't take Leo this long! She was already done! What was fire!? Fire... Fire... BRAVERY! Oh great.

"No." Ariana shook her head. "Mary Ann's going to get a rope. I'm going in."

"No!" Bay yelped, "let me go! I don't know your mom like you! You can come up with a better excuse if we get 'caught'!"

"Bay! I can't let you do this!" Ariana look torn, and desperate. She obviously didn't want to go, but was not going to let Bay.

Bay looked a Ariana with an ernest expression on her face, "Please Ariana. Trust me."

Bay could see Ariana struggling with herself. Finally, she answered.

"Fine Bay, but if you aren't back in two hours, I'm coming in after you!"

Bay and Ariana walked into Leo's bedroom together. Mary Ann was waiting inside with a rope firmly attached to the dresser where the hole was. She peered up when Bay and Ariana entered the room.
"You ready Ariana?" Mary Ann asked nervously.

"No," Ariana replayed fearfully, "but Bay is."

"Bay?!" Mary Ann marveled with a line of shock crossing her face.

"Yep! Here I go!" Bay laughed as she jumped onto the rope before Mary Ann even had a good grip on it and began to swing down the hole.

"Good luck Bay!" Ariana called from up near the top, her voice slowly fading.

When Bay hit bottom, she saw a dark room looming ahead of her. A torch somewhere above her bust alight, giving a shady light glowing through the dust. The middle of the dark room held a bazaar with fresh ash, still warm. A wolf lock sat on the golden door in front of her. She had to light the bazaar, Bay just knew it. There was no getting into this chamber unless you where with Fire or Leo.

Bay pulled on the ropes, signaling to pull her back up and she began to rise back up through the earth to where she soon saw a dot of light at the top.