Guidance.

A/N: This is from Erin\'s POV, obviously, as most of the book will be set like this. I love this one mostly because it shows off Erin\'s spunk.

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This Isn\'t Somewhere You Should Be, Kiddo.



Noah shivered a little at my touch. I knew that, at this point, I must have been ice cold to the touch. But Noah knew why; he had always known, in a way. He\'s definitely never been one to sign up for something that he knows nothing about. But Noah had known about me for far longer than he had let on to the Summoners. I remembered his face in that one instant, and I stopped, time stopping with me, as I remembered:



*FLASHBACK*



Return to a time when the Summoners barely knew anything about the Elementals. Twenty-two years ago, to be precise. Twenty-two long, rough years ago, the only Elemental who had been identified so far was Ian, and that was because of pure stupidity on his part.



He just HAD to go burn down half of California, didn\'t he?



At that time, Leila, Ian, and I were not known as anything other than old-fashioned Immortals. I mean, sure, on their lists of names and ranks, we were among the highest, oldest, and most powerful. We were supernaturally branded, just like the others - Leila with her numero uno, Ian with his fiery number two, and me, little Erin, forced to bare the big, black \'3\' over my hear for eternity. So far, though, the Summoners had no reason to fear us any more than they already feared Immortals. That allowed us to be free, to do our otherworldly jobs in peace.



But, eventually, the Summoners had to learn that when you misbehave, Mother Earth\'s going to fix it for you, then spank you. I was always the most commonly used paddle.



November 15th, 1986, was no different. Humans misbehaved, had been polluting my air and waters for decades. Finally, on this day, this paddle was going to collide with their mortal backsides, hard and unforgiving. It was a small town in Iowa, too far from the seas to be overcome by a hurricane or tsunami, and I was tired of floods; they always got Leila pissed at me for messing with her earth.



This punishment would be coming at them tornadoe-style.



I started early in the afternoon; tornadoes take a little while to form. I pulled on air that was miles away, aiding it along. It gained speed throughout the day, and, finally, around five, I was satisfied. I directed it in a circular motion, pulling out bits of oxygen and raising the pressure. Soon, it could survive on its own, and I gave it a slight nudge toward the town. Everything went as planned for the next half-hour; my creation spun, it destroyed, it wreaked some freaking havoc. People were killed, people were maimed, property was damaged... After 45 minutes of watching over it, I figured it was about time to wrap it up. Only a little bit of the town remained untouched. As it came up on one of the last remaining homes, I felt something. It was a loud sensation, a vivid pull, and I looked. Standing in the yard was a boy, very small.



He stared up at the colossal whirlwind, and I felt him singing to me. I felt my face drain of color when I realized that he was connected to me. He was a Summoner boy with the touch of water and air.



I swooped down into the tornado as it stopped, sensing what I did. I touched my feet to the ground and walked out of the vicious winds, my hair flying all around me. I stopped and stood in front of the boy, who stared openmouthed at me.



"You should run along," I told him in a gentle voice. "This is no place for a child to play." Right then, the boy reached forward and touched a tiny water droplet in the air in front of him. It stopped, not quite clinging to his skin. Gently, he willed it to me, and I caught it in my palm. I smiled at him, and I let the droplet trace along my wrist. It moved upward, still not touching my skin, and it moved along the outline of the back of my hand, then onto my index finger. I turned, pointing into the tornado, which still pulled at me, pleading to me like a child. I sent the droplet into it, watching it fly from my fingertip into the darkness. The wind stopped suddenly, the pressure disappearing. Sunlight and warmth broke through the clouds suddenly as I let the pressure sink back to a normal level. I turned to find that the parents had come running outside, and now the mother was holding her son, clutching him to her small body. The father looked over the boy, checking for injuries, before he turned to face me.



I felt him rise into his Other Sight, and I turned my head, knowing that he was observing me. I felt his gasp when he saw the marking above my left breast; no human eyes could have seen it. I looked into his eyes, and he nodded to me... with what looked like respect in his eyes. It was in his aura as well, and I was puzzled by it. I felt it, all around me, as my breath expelled, and the Summoner man stepped toward me.

I stood right there as he approached me, not moving. I looked from his eyes down to his outstretched hand. "You are Erin," he said, and his voice was soft like my wind. I nodded to him. He smiled; he looked just an older, bigger version of the small boy, all big smiles and fair skin and big, bright blue eyes glimmering with kindness.



This Summoner man was not afraid of me, nor was his child. It was... refreshing, to be respected instead of feared.



I took his hand in mine and shook it. He flinched away, and I pulled away as well. "Sorry!" I cried out. "I\'m sorry. That happens when I use..." I stopped, eyeing the Summoner family. "When I use my powers."



The man nodded, understanding. The mother took the boy inside right then, but the father lingered outside with me. I was about to leave, but... I needed to say something. "Sir... Your son. He has a real gift."



He nodded. "Yes, Noah sure does."



I smiled at that. "Like the kid with the ark..." I licked my lips and shook my head a little, looking him right in the eye again. "It makes sense. He has a real talent for water and air. He\'s got some major control, as well. You don\'t find that in a child his age very often."



The man\'s aura glowed with pride. "Thank you, ma\'am."



I turned to leave. "Oh, and, if you would..." I smiled to myself. "Tell the kid that I was wrong. Maybe he can play in my playground someday." I lifted myself with a strong updraft, and before the man knew it, I was gone.



*END FLASHBACK*



I smiled to myself as I traced circles on the soft skin of his back. "Noah," I murmured. "You\'re just like that kid with the ark, aren\'t you? Going to save the world with your big, bad boat?"



He only snored. He wasn\'t a small boy anymore. He was still very young, but I felt better about him playing in my playground as a thirty-year-old rather than an eight-year-old.



I snuggled closer to him, wrapping one arm around his waist as I dozed off with him.