The air was crisp—deliciously so—with a bite of chill that teased at the edges of the skin, the kind that stirred one's senses awake and whispered of coming change. Each breath carried with it the briny perfume of the sea, that ancient and ever-familiar scent of salt, sun-warmed stone, and something else—something older, something sacred. The wind, playful yet dignified, swept across the shoreline with reverence, stirring the dunes and ruffling the crests of low waves, as though the world itself was preparing to bear witness.

It was here, upon this secluded and weatherworn coast where the land gave way to sky and sea, that something extraordinary was unfolding. A gentle breeze skimmed over the tranquil waters and danced through the flaming tongues of a nearby blaze. This was no ordinary convergence. It was a rare and solemn moment—an elemental summoning. A calling across time and nature, drawing together forces that seldom coexisted in harmony. Water, fire, and now… wind.

The sea responded first, as it always did—steady and maternal. The ocean’s tide lapped against the smooth, pale sand with a rhythmic pulse, like the heartbeat of the world itself. Each wave carried the soft murmur of ancient voices, murmuring a lullaby to whoever would listen. The sea knew patience. It knew waiting. And now, it welcomed the shifting air with open arms, offering a gentle, glistening embrace.

And then came the flame.

Not with the subtlety of the tide, but with dramatic flare and unapologetic presence. A glowing figure appeared at the edge of the shore, his steps sizzling against the cool sand. The fire elemental known as Ember stood tall, backlit by his own flickering blaze. His flames pulsed and rolled over his shoulders and down his arms like a living mantle, their golden-orange hues refracting against the moist shoreline. Sparks trailed behind him like meteors falling into the sea.

Ember's expression was one of smoldering discontent, lips set into a hard line, his amber eyes narrowed beneath furrowed brows.

“Another one?” he muttered under his breath, his voice low and rough, like dry wood about to catch flame. “As if one elemental partner wasn’t enough.”

He didn’t mask his disdain. His flame cast a long, rippling shadow across the sand, and as he turned his glare toward the water, it became clear whom it was aimed at.

Torrent stood waist-deep in the shallows, his form partially merged with the water around him. Tall and serene, Torrent radiated calm with every motion. His long, sea-glass hair drifted around him like kelp in the tide, and his pale blue robes shimmered with tiny beads of ocean spray. Unlike Ember, his eyes were filled not with irritation but with wonder—hope, even—as he gazed into the horizon where the light had begun to bloom.

“I, for one, feel honored to greet the wind,” Torrent said, his voice as fluid and soothing as the currents that wrapped around his legs. “We are not meant to be alone in our burdens.”

Ember scoffed, the flames around his body flaring momentarily. “That’s easy for you to say. You're not stuck on land with a literal storm brewing overhead.”

Torrent didn’t react to the jab. Instead, his attention remained fixed on the sky, where the light was now intensifying—changing from a faint shimmer into a blinding, ethereal glow that pierced the afternoon haze like the sun itself had cracked open. The air began to ripple, distorting like heat waves rising from desert sand. The breeze picked up, wild and unpredictable, tugging at robes, hair, and flame alike. It wasn’t just wind—it was something conscious, something aware.

The light grew, and grew, until neither elemental could bear to look at it directly.

Then, without warning, it exploded outward in a silent burst, washing the beach in radiance and casting both sea and fire in blinding brilliance.

From within the veil of light, a figure began to take shape—at first only a shadow, slender and graceful, but as the glow slowly began to fade, the newcomer was revealed in full.