A brusk wind screamed down through the branches of the trees, settling the leaves to rattling furiously, before flowing downward to wrap itself around the forms lingering on the side of the two-lane road. The chilling blanket lay itself across the stalled-out retro Impala, its hood open to the cold, as well as the car's driver, leaning against the front bumper. Although the metal vehicle remained impassive to the sudden breeze, the woman was not so fortunate. The chill cut through the thin fabric of the
azure dress concealing her slender frame, sending fabric flapping around her legs in waves and pinpricks of goose skin crawling up her arms. In any usual situation, she would have instantly fled to the comfort of the old leather interior or at least crossed her arms in an attempt to retain heat. This, however, was not any sort of normal and as it was, her hands were needed.
Hovering inches from the open interior of the hood, the driver's hands fluttered minutely with the hum of power flowing through them. Around the outstretched palms vapors of heat swirled, and beneath them a vortex of silvery watery spun. Although it was a mundane use for such a splendid gift- one that many of her kind might frown upon- it was a useful one. The car was a prized possession of her's, and despite its long list of defects she couldn't stand to give it up. When she'd spotted the sleek black vehicle parked in the dealership, brand new off the assembly line, she hadn't been able to resist. Of course that had been nigh-on forty years ago and the Impala was no longer the specimen it had once been, but she couldn't bring herself to let it go and besides, retro was coming back into fashion. So, no matter how many times the once magnificent vehicle left her stranded on the side of the road, heat radiating from beneath its hood, she wouldn't send it to the scrap yard.
Surely the queerly-garbed, petite Asian woman standing before the slowly smoking classic muscle car was an odd sight to the cars that passed by on the road, but at this point in her nearly two hundred years of existence- Dani was content to be viewed as irregular. Not much had changed since the late eighteenth century some aspects- surely there was the advent of the car she stood before as well as the cellular device pumping pop music into stale atmosphere which lay across the front bumper- but people were always the same, never quite accepting what was different from them. Which was why she was now standing on the side of a nearly deserted high way in six-inch heels and a chiffon dress, alone and unaided.
After what seemed an eternity, the vapors began to abate- and not just because the wind had blown them off into the atmosphere. A sigh escaped her, as Dani retracted her hands- the globe of water swirling around and between her fingers. With a gentle flick of her wrist the energetic flow of liquid slid it's way down her arms and into the open canister hanging from a strap across her shoulder. Time had taught her more than the ability to cool an overheated engine. Another small motion sent the top swirling home, a thin trickle of the water closing the cap with no physical contact required. Shutting the hood of the engine, however, was not so easily done. Even with the extra inches adding to her petite frame, Dani was forced to leap upward repeatedly before her fingers could grasp the lip of the metal. Stilettoed feet hanging far above the ground, for a moment the young woman cursed her lack of body-mass. Grunting in an unlady-like manner, she swung her frame repeatedly downward until the Impala gave in- it's metal hood creaking shut with a vengeance.
"Finally," she crooned as she patted the ebony hood on her way back to the driver's seat- gravel crunching beneath her prancing heels, "Thank you Baby." Now she could continue on her projected course. Arriving late was better than not arriving at all, she could only hope her small detour didn't make her the last member of the party to show. Nothing drew more attention than walking in when everyone had already been introduced.
The classic car crawled its way up the side of the mountain, its driver wary now of sending the car into another bout of engine trouble. As she drove, Dani's dark gaze lifted from the road and caught sight of duel columns of smoke rising ahead of her- one much closer than the other. Instantly her eyebrows dropped and her foot pressed down upon the gas more firmly. Within minutes she had turned a curve to find a smoking pile of wreckage. Had she not been in a rush, she would have paused to assess the source of the damage and see what could be salvaged. Instead she chose to manually role down the window and lean out as she passed, her hand stretching out to fan downward. Within seconds the fires were being quenched, smoke swirling upward to meet the heavy showers that descended solely upon the flaming wreckage.
Ignoring the storm that raged behind her, Daniella continued to drive forward foot by treacherous foot. FInally the obsidian automobile rolled its way into the crowded area spanning the front entrances of the Earth temple to which she'd been called. The Impala crunched to a stop beside another vehicle, parking a foot or so back to leave room for the pair of elementals standing before the bumper of the other vehicle. Once the engine had gone silent, she slid out from behind the wheel to gaze awkwardly at the people before her.