A/N...

Woo! 100 reads! thank you guys so much. I know I haven't uploaded for ages, and I don't want to make excuses. I just have to be in the right mood to write. So, here's chapter 4!

As Lightningstar led Flameheart and Fireflame into the camp, Flameheart caught her breath. The place was massive! Guarders from all four elements milled around, some talking, some training. She spotted some Unicorn Foals playing while a group of Guarder Apprentices watched them, laughing.

Flameheart smiled. It felt like she finally belonged. This was her home, but she hadn't even been here for two hours!

As Flameheart entered the camp, led by the Guardian and flanked by the Element Keepers, all the Guarders and Unicorns paused what they were doing, and watched them silently walk by. Flameheart ducked her head shyly, uncomfortable under the questioning gazes of the other Guarders.

Lightningstar stopped, and searched the crowd. Her eyes landed on a young Fire Elemental Apprentice.

"Kennaspark! Emberheart! Come here please!" The Guardian called out.

The Guarder and her Companion made there way up to where Flameheart was standing.

"Kennaspark, this is Flameheart. She is newly Chosen, and I would like you to show her around Camp and help her get settled in. She is in the Fire Barracks, Room 176 Regulus Hall. Got that?" Lightningstar instructed.

The girl nodded. Lightningstar turned to Flameheart.

"Flameheart, this is Kennaspark and her Unicorn Companion Emberheart. Stick with them and you will soon know your way around here."

Flameheart smiled hesitantly at Kennaspark, who grinned warmly back at her.

"Come on I'll introduce you to the other Apprentices. You'll love it here." Kennaspark grabbed Flameheart's hand and started to pull her over to the group of Apprentices that she had noticed before. The two Companions followed behind them nickering to each other, obviously having a conversation.

They reached the other Apprentices, and immeadiately Flameheart started to act shyly.

"Girls!" Kennaspark announce happily. "This is Flameheart, and her Companion Fireflame. She's new, but I can already tell that she's a lot like me, so you're gonna have two crazy Fire Apprentices to look after!"

The Apprentices laughed. Flameheart noted curiously that they were all girls. They all wore the same clothes as Flameheart, just in different colors, with the exception of Kennaspark. Instead of cherry-red jodhpurs, there was a blue for Water, green for Earth, and purple for Air.

One of them, obviouusly a Water Apprentice, stepped forwards.

"Hi Flameheart! I'm Oceanfrost, and my Companion is Hailcloud." She greeted.

Flameheart nodded and said a small 'hi' in return.

Oceanfrost nodded to the Apprentice in green. "That there is Willowheart, the Guarder to Leaftail. And the one wearing purple is Breezestorm, who's Companion is Cloudsky."

The two Apprentices grinned and waved. Flameheart waved back to them. Already she was starting to feel comfortable with these easy-going girls, even though they had just met.

"So, let's see your sword." Kennaspark said, turning back towards Flameheart.

"Sword? I don't have a sword." Flameheart frowned, puzzled.

Kennaspark laughed. "Yes you do, numnah. You just haven't noticed it yet." She pointed at Flameheart's waist.

Flameheart glanced down at her left hip, and her eyes widened. A sword in a cherry-red scabbard hung there. She swore that it hadn't been there before.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Draw it!" Breezestorm urged.

Flameheart grasped the pommel of the sword, and pulled it from it's scabbard. It made a 'shring' sound as the metal slid past the leather.

Flameheart studied the sword with a look of wonder on her face. The hilt was a deep ruby-red, darker than the scabbard. The blade itself was another matter. It wasn't made from any metal that she had seen before in the mortal world. It was silver with a reddish tinge to it. Grooves ran down the center of the blade to let it slide out of wounds easily. It felt as light as a feather in Flameheart's hand, but she could feel a slight weight at the tip. It was perfectly balanced.

"What metal is this?" She asked the others.

Oceanfrost answered her. "It was forged from your element, Fire. The Firesmiths added mortal steel to it, but the blade is made of magic. It is literally Fire from the Royal Star Regulus itself. All of our weapons are made that way."

"So do all of your swords contain your element in them?" Flameheart said.

The Apprentices glanced at each other.

"Not all Guarders have swords. The Spiritstone gives you your weapon when it Names you, and the weapon suits the Guarder. Like my weapon is a staff, while Breezestorm's is a bow. What element you are often influences what your main weapon will be." Willowheart explained.

Flameheart frowned, still somewhat confused. "But didn't you say that the Firesmiths made the sword?"

"There are four types of Smiths - one for each element. The Smiths create the weapon, and then destroys it in the element it was made from. The weapon is carried to the Spiritstone, who gives it to the next Guarder." Kennaspark said.

By now, Flameheart's head was spinning. She had never had any problem keeping up with school work in the mortal world, but here, being the new girl, Flameheart realised that she was way out of her depth. "So what kind of weapons are there?"

"The most common are the sword, the knives, and the bow. The majority of Air Guarders use the bow. Their shooting is amazing. The best of them can nock, draw, aim in a heartbeat and shoot at a target that is the size of a grain of rice and still hit it in the bullseye. Most Fire Guarders use the sword. They like to get in the middle of the fight and kill as many of the enemy as possible. Some of the less common weapons are the staff, which Willowheart uses, and the trident, you know the three pointed spear that the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon uses? I use that." Oceanfrost replied.

"Okay. I think I've got that." Flameheart said.

Kennaspark laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. A couple of weeks here and things will start to make sense."

Flameheart grinned.

A Companion Foal came up to her and nudged her arm.

"Hello, you." She said softly as she knelt besides the baby Companion.

The Foal whickered and ran back to it's friends. Flameheart watched it go.

"They're cute aren't they?" Kennaspark commented from beside Flameheart.

"Yea, they are." She agreed.

Flameheart talked with the other Apprentices about random things, getting to know them and their Comapanions.

Kennaspark was currently telling a story about the first time she ever used her powers.

"I was concentrating on the wood. Hey, I was, okay! And anyway, the instructor told me that I wasn't when I knew I was, so that really pissed me off, and I accidently made the wood blow up in his face!"

Flameheart fell over laughing, while Oceanfrost and Willowheart leaned against each other for support.

"What did he say to that?" Breezestorm gasped out when she was finally able to talk.

Kennaspark grinned. "He said; 'NOW you're concentrating!'"

Of course, that just set everyone off laughing again, and it was several minutes before they were able to control themselves.

Kennaspark really is a lot like me. Flameheart thought. Silly, funny, and not afraid to embarrass herself.

"Okay, my turn." Breezestorm said. "See, when I first started using the bow, I was, to say the least, not the best. I couldn't aim straight. I had the speed, but I just couldn't hit the target. One time I just got so frustrated that I went too fast and somehow ended up shooting the arrow behind me, where it hit someone else's target. I still don't know how that happened.

Flameheart fell over laughing again. "Did you learn how to aim after that?"

Breezestorm looked pleased with herself. "Actually, yes, I did. Now I'm reasonably good."

Now Oceanfrost started her story. "Well, one time my brother was trying to teach me how to summon a wave from the beach so I can sweep people off, but I just couldn't get it right. I tried over and over again, and he was getting really smug that he could do it and I couldn't, so when he called it a day, I tried one last time, and it actually worked! Except that, I, um. I kinda swept him off the beach?" Oceanfrost added that last part uncertainly, like a question.

By now Flameheart had a stitch in her side from laughing.

"Oh, I remember that!" Willowheart exclaimed. "He wouldn't speak to you for a month after you got him good with that wave!"

Oceanfrost nodded, grinning. "Yep. He doesn't gloat about his powers in front of me anymore!"

"My funny/embarrassing story has to be when I managed to fall off Leaftail on the obstacle course." Willowheart said.

Kennaspark grinned. "Oh, that was hilarious! Tell Flameheart, she has to hear it!"

"Well, we have an obstacle course here to develop our riding skills, and Guarders are supposed, keyword there supposed, to not be able to fall off their Companions. Well, I managed to. We were doing the obstacle course and Breezestorm thought it would be funny to shoot an arrow right in front of Leaftail's nose, to startle her. It startled her alright, and it startled me too. Leaftail did a massive bunnyhop over the jump we were about to do, and I sailed right over her head and into a very muddy pond. I stank like rotten firsh for a week." Willowheart groaned.

"She got me back though, and it wasn't pretty." Breezestorm added.

"What did she do?" Flameheart asked curiously.

"She sabotaged my weapons session. As soon as I would shoot, she would use her earth powers to shift the target so I always ended up missing. She only stopped once one of my arrows ended up tangled in a Companion's tail."

"Woops." Willowheart muttered, as she remembered that incident.

By now, Flameheart was getting a slight idea of the other Apprentices' personalities.

Kennaspark was bouncy, fierce and loyal. She would do anything to save her friends, and was really fun to be around.

Breezestorm was quite cheeky - she was a total sass-masta. She always had quick replies and a hot temper, but would sacrifice her life for her friends.

Willowheart was sensible and mature. From what Flameheart could tell, she kept the others in line, not letting them get too out of control.

And Oceanfrost was rather sensitive. She could always tell if something was up, and preferred peace over fighting.

"So, how 'bout we give you a tour of Campus?" Breezestorm suggested. Everyone agreed and they set off.

"So, where are your quarters?" Willowheart asked Flameheart.

"Uh, Lightningstar said, um, Room 176 Regulus Hall, Fire Barracks?" She replied uncertainly.

"You're in Regulus Hall?!?" Oceanfrost's mouth dropped.

"Uh, yea. Is that a bad thing?" Flameheart said nervously.

Oceanfrost shook her head. "No, no, not at all. Regulus Hall is where the really powerful and good Fire Guarders go. Kennaspark bunks there, and so does Reddust."

Flameheart looked up in interest at the new name. "Reddust? Who is that?"

Suddenly everyone started giggling. "Reddust is the most powerful Fire Guarder we've had since Lightningstar. He's bound to become the next Keeper of Fire, the Keepers choose the most powerful Guarder in their element to train as their successor. Anyway, Reddust can summon a Firestorm and only become mildly tired. For most Fire Guarders, summoning a Firestorm exhuasts them to the point where they sleep for a week. Some actually can't summon Firestorms at all, they're not powerful enough." Kennaspark explained, still giggling.

"But why are you all giggling? I mean, yea, he's powerful, but that doesn't mean you guys have to automatically act like you have a crush on him or anything." Flameheart said, confused, and slightly exasperated.

Of course, her speech just made her new friends fall over laughing again, while Flameheart just stood there, knowing she was missing something important.

"See, that's just it." Oceanfrost weezed. "Reddust and his friends are all so hot! And I'm not saying that because his best mate is my brother!"

Flameheart tried to wrap her head around this new imformation. "Okay, so let me get this straight - even in the Guarder world, girls still fan over hot guys, whom over here happens to be the most powerful Fire Guarder, and all of his friends are also really cute, and one of them is Oceanfrost's brother. Have I got that right?"

The girls calmed down and nodded. Kennaspark opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by someone screaming the words that chilled the blood of every Guarder.

"Night Riders! Night Riders are attacking!"