Author's Note: All right, I'm actually feeling like I'm on track with this story for the time being... This chapter is the last real... "filler" chapter before the real fun starts... but even this chapter is important for reasons you'll see starting in the next couple of chapters. It's important for setting up several major conflicts. Anyway, without further ado, chapter 6!

Chapter 6: Training

I gritted my teeth, my eyes tightly closed as Linka’s voice barely managed to penetrate my concentration. “Remember, Jennie, the power of the rings is controlled by thought. Calling their names simply activates the rings. You have to concentrate, focus on what it is you want the power to do. Then when you have it, call the name.” I focused all my mental energy on to the ring, willing it to do what I wanted: lift and fling a small rock just a few feet.

“Wind!” I called when I believed I was ready, but instead I found myself lifted into the air and spun around a few times as a small cyclone formed around me. As soon as I retracted my thought, the cyclone ended and I fell, frustrated, into the sand beneath me. “Come on!” I yelled out, standing up to shake the sand out of my pants and tears filling my eyes. We’d been training for three weeks now, and I still hadn’t managed to gain control of the ring. Oh, I could certainly activate it, but it still seemed completely random as to what the ring would choose to do with its power. Angry with myself, I pulled off the ring and tucked it carefully inside the one small zipper pocket on my shorts, zipping it closed so it wouldn’t get lost and at the same time hiding it from view. I didn’t even want to look at the ring.

Linka sighed. “All right, Jennie, I can see you are getting tired of the practicing. Why don’t you go to see the others and do some more physical training?” she suggested. “But just one last thing to think about before we try again tomorrow: you are trying too hard. It does not take quite that much effort to control the ring.” I nodded in acceptance before running off to find Ma-Ti. Today, it was his turn to give me my physical training.

Since my arrival on Hope Island, I had woken up at 7 each morning to eat breakfast with the others. Then I spent an hour with Linka, working on the ring training. After that, or sometimes even after half that time if I got frustrated too quickly, I would go find whoever was on the roster to do my physical training with me, helping them finish their assigned chores before going out to train. Kwame, Gi, Ma-Ti, and Wheeler took turns on that job, and also took turns with my ring training on days when Linka’s pregnancy made her too ill or tired to train me. We would work on physical conditioning for another hour or so, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how strenuous the workout was and how long it took me to tire. Afterwards, I was free to explore the island until lunch. Following lunch, I returned to my own hut to study and work on my assignments until an hour before dinner was ready. That hour before dinner was spent communicating with my family back on the mainland. After dinner I helped clean up before settling down with the other Planeteers to watch TV or play a game.

Today I found Ma-Ti hard at work making sure the den was in order. I immediately went to look for a dust cloth and began dusting off the hard surfaces, like the top of the television and the tables. Ma-Ti struck up a lively conversation, and soon we were both laughing at each other’s silly jokes. As we moved on to the windows, which were washed once a week, the conversation turned slightly somber, and Ma-Ti began to tell me more about his childhood; about losing his parents, about his grandfather the shaman, about the customs of his people. Each of the Planeteers seemed to be opening up to me more, telling me stories that I knew the others had been told before because the storyteller trusted his or her friends so much, and I felt pleased to know that they had begun to trust me to such an extent. I had learned of Gi’s encounter with a dolphin back in Asia, about Wheeler’s abusive father, and Kwame’s life one step ahead of poverty in Africa. The only Planeteer who had not yet opened up to me was Linka. I somehow sensed that Linka did not trust me, and was deeply saddened by this fact, as it looked like her heart would not be easily touched.

As Ma-Ti and I left the hut, the windows so clean that it looked as if the glass did not even exist, Ma-Ti commented, “You were earlier today than I expected, Jennie.”

Suddenly the memories of this morning came flooding back and I sighed, suddenly unhappy again. “Yeah… the training isn’t going so well… I don’t understand how it could be so hard to control that ring!”

Ma-Ti chuckled softly as he stopped walking and turned to face me. “Jennie, the ring is not what needs to be controlled. The power doesn’t come from the ring; the ring simply serves as a conduit for the power. No, as Captain Planet always says, ‘The power is yours.’” My eyes widened as I remembered the words. “You fail because you are focusing your control on the wrong place. You are trying to control the ring, when you should really be trying to control yourself, your own power.” He smiled and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Jennie, you are a smart, brave girl. I know deep in my heart that you will find the key to unlocking the power within you. Even if you think you cannot find it now, when you need it, the abilities will come to you. Now, I believe we were about to do some physical training!” His winning smile and the distraction of the physical training took my mind off of his words for the time being, and for the next two hours we worked on building up my endurance. As we finished that day’s training, Kwame came up to us and smiled.

“I see you are progressing very well in your physical conditioning, Jennie,” he observed amiably. “Actually, I was hoping to persuade you to come and help me in the garden for a little while. I know that you like gardening, and I think it would be a good idea for you to take a break every now and then. You don’t want to burn yourself out. Besides, I would like the company.”

I smiled. I had had many opportunities to spend time alone with Wheeler, Gi and Ma-Ti outside of training over the past few weeks: Gi helped me with my swimming, as I enjoyed it but was not very good, Wheeler had invited me to watch several of our favorite movies, and Ma-Ti had taken me around the island to show me many of its animal inhabitants, as well as making himself available to talk any time I needed to talk about something. Kwame and Linka, however, I had had little opportunity to spend time with outside of training. I already mentioned that I suspected Linka did not trust me, providing a reason behind our lack of communication. However, when it came to Kwame, we simply had little chance to spend time together. Very often Kwame was working in his garden or in the greenhouse or simply taking a little exercise jogging around the island. He seemed to largely prefer solitude in these activities, and of course I did not want to intrude if he didn’t want me there.

“I would love to help, Kwame,” I replied happily, and bade goodbye to Ma-Ti before heading off to help Kwame weed his garden.

And so my various activities left me little time to dwell on Ma-Ti’s words, to try to unlock their meaning until after lunch, when I settled down in my hut to try to complete my studies for the day. Instead of being able to work, Ma-Ti’s words distracted me, hindering my work for half an hour, after which, with a frustrated sigh, I shoved my math book away from me. I had made too many mistakes, and before I could properly focus on my studies, I had to rid my mind of the distraction, which meant in this case that I needed to solve the mystery of Ma-Ti’s words.

The hours of pondering did little to help me, and soon I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Dinner is ready,” Gi’s soft voice murmured. My eyes widened and I turned to face my clock. The time had gone so fast, and I had missed the hour of communication with my family. I nodded and told her I would be there in a moment, my heart sinking as I rose to sit down and log onto the computer. My parents luckily were online, and were very relieved to see that I was all right. I told them that my homework had taken longer than expected- a lie, of course. How could I tell them that things here didn’t seem to be working out? That I couldn’t gain control of the wind power? That Linka didn’t seem to trust me, even though the others were certainly kind to me? I frowned and told them I would return after eating, then logged off and trudged into the common hut to sit down to dinner with the Planeteers. After the meal, during which I was still quite distracted, they invited me to watch a movie with them- my pick tonight. I declined the offer, noticing the worried looks on four of the faces but not really caring, and said I was feeling very tired tonight and simply wanted to retire early, standing and leaving to my hut.

I wrote back and forth to my parents for an hour, to make up for the hour I’d forgotten earlier. Afterwards I changed into my pajamas and slipped under the covers. Feeling quite lonely and dejected, I soon drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I awoke the next morning feeling as if I hadn’t slept at all. I opened my weary eyes to find Gi and Ma-Ti standing over me. Gi smiled slightly. “Good morning, Jennie,” she said.

I turned to look at the clock, which read 9:31 am. I hadn’t slept in this much since long before I came to Hope Island!

“Good morning… I’m sorry I’m late getting up,” I said, my voice sounding funny to my ears and my throat feeling very sore as I spoke. I tried to sit up, but Gi reached forward and pushed me back down to the bed with firm hands.

“Jennie, you have a fever… it’s very slight, but you should still stay in bed today,” she insisted.

“How do you feel, Jennie?” Ma-Ti asked gently.

“My throat hurts a bit… but other than that, I feel perfectly fine,” I replied honestly. Ma-Ti smiled.

“I believe I have something that can fix that… I will go and make you some tea. I have some herbs that are good for fevers, and a bit of honey for sweetening should help soothe your throat,” he murmured, turning to head back to the common hut.

“I’ll tell you what… I’ll make up a bed for you on the sofa in the common hut. Then if you need something, one of us will be able to get it for you. You should be back on your feet in no time at all,” she explained triumphantly, satisfied that there was nothing really wrong with me. She turned and left, and a few minutes later, she was back. “All right, let’s get you moved into the common hut.” Soon I was lying on the makeshift bed drinking Ma-Ti’s soothing tea and eating a plate of leftovers from breakfast. For as long as I could remember, whenever I got sick, I always seemed to eat more than usual, unless of course it was a stomach bug. Then I didn’t want to eat at all. Gi handed me the TV remote and I flipped channels until I it landed on a show I liked, and I settled down to watch the show.

Two and a half hours later, after a few episodes of Reba and an episode of What Not to Wear had come on, I heard my cell phone ring. I glanced up at the calendar and realized it was Saturday and my parents were off work, which explained why the caller id told me it was my parents that were calling at this hour. I flipped the phone open to answer. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jess. Gi emailed us and told us you weren’t feeling well, so we thought we’d check up on you!” my mom’s soothing voice said through the tiny speaker. I smiled, rolling my eyes slightly. The tea Ma-Ti had given me had worked like a charm, and my throat no longer hurt so much and my temperature was currently normal. After assuring my parents that I was feeling better, I spoke with them for several hours before they had to go, as they had errands to run.

The rest of the day passed rather lazily on my part. By the time dinner rolled around I felt much better and shortly afterward I went to bed, never knowing that it was a good thing that I’d recovered as quickly as I had…

Keep an eye out for Chapter 7... it's already written but I'm not gonna post it for a little while! ;) Leave a review on your way out, and always remember: "THE POWER IS YOURS!"