Life just wasn't going his way, lately.

Seventeen year old Shawn Spencer sighed and wandered out of the building, shivering in the cold air, and then wincing slightly as the shudder caused one of his still-healing wounds to throb. He'd wanted to heal the injuries, but thanks to the fact that he'd been banged up pretty bad, they'd said he would be best waiting for them to heal on their own, rather than 'taking unnecessary risks'. He'd almost snorted at this point. It didn't seem so unnecessary when you were the one suffering the pain. And yet surprisingly enough, Shawn wasn't mad at Alexandre for almost killing him. After getting the full story between Alex and his younger brother, Shawn felt that he understood, at least to some degree. To lose a sibling, if even temporarily, must be a horrible experiance. Shawn didn't know what he would do without Jacklynn, his little sister was his life. Apparently Aiden had known nothing about Alex's dark side, which had surprised Shawn as everyone knew Alex had a bad reputation for his attitude, and had only just found out that day that Alexandre had been in jail for two years due to attempted murder. They'd gotten into a fight, Alex had gotten drunk, got into his car, and then he'd crashed straight into Shawn.

Light flakes were beginning to drift lazily down from the sky, and Shawn shook his head to dispell the fakes from his two-toned hair. He had never really liked the snow, it was much too cold and wet for him. But being an earth student, he liked fresh air, so he'd decided to take a walk in the wilderness. He wasn't afraid of nature, it was much safer than hanging around the Academy where a fire student like Conner could corner him.

Instead of taking the well-worn path into the tangled forest, he strayed off in a random direction, knowing his way around the forest from previous excursions. He strolled along at a leisurely pace, humming 'Cross My Heart' by Marianas Trench as he walked. He stopped suddenly and fell silent as he spotted another student, obviously earth because of the stones and vines around him. He looked familiar, and after a few seconds, Shawn realized this was the new earth leader. He smiled softly to himself and decided to say hello, because Shawn was a friendly kid. "Hey, your name is Damian, right?" he recalled.

Shawn shook Damian's hand without hesitation, because although he was usually shy in such situations, the earth leader couldn't be a bad person. After all, to claim the title of leader, you had to have the basic qualities of your element. For earth it was considered indepence and loyalty to your friends, and a desire in general to be let alone by the other elements, especially fire. The thunder elementals were usually quick to attack as well, but they went for water rather than earth, seeing as it would be too easy for an earth student to disarm them.

"Shawn Spencer," he said in his quiet yet friendly tone. He wondered if Damian had yet met his female counterpart, Migoto. Shawn had seen her around a few times, and had quickly managed to categorize her as an energetic and bubbly person, as well as very easy to get along with. Shawn felt most at ease around people of his own element, because they were the only group where everyone he met to date was friendly toward him, not one rude comment yet. Thunder and fire were constantly pestering him, and even a few wind and water students had overstepped the line from indifference to ignorance.

"Do you spend a lot of time here?" he asked curiously. He wasn't trying to pry, he was just intrigued by the meditation session he'd walked in on. "I haven't seen you here before, and that's surprising, as I come a lot. Though not usually in the middle of winter, as I don't like the cold."

"And you, also," Shawn agreed with a nod. Wow, he thought to himself, smiling. He's so kind and polite, no wonder they chose him as leader! They'd offered Shawn a position in the initial election type thing that was held at the end of every year, but he'd denied the request. He had been dealing with enough stress then without having to worry about possibly being in command of a large group of students when the year rolled around. But of all the candidiates, Shawn had to silently agree that Damian would be the best for the job. He'd seen the younger boy confront the fire students when they decided to try and destroy the forest, something Shawn would have never been able to do. He hated to call himself a coward, but he was quite timid when it came to facing a group of students that had power over his element, not to mention chose picking on him as a favourite past-time.

Shawn nodded, jamming his hands in the pockets of his black jeans, because they were starting to be affected by the cold. He regretted going against the decision to wear a warmer jacket, because the light one he wore provided little protection against the cold bite of the winter wind. "I also like to come here after classes," he said in his soft voice. "I sometimes study in this forest as well, because I find the library too dull and lifeless to conduct proper studying. Plus, the fire students have taken to hiding behind the bookshelves and throwing stuff, so I try to avoid going in there as much as I can. Except when it's snowing out, because if there's one thing I hate more than the cold itself, it's the snow. It might be pretty to look at, but it sure isn't very pleasant when it soaks through your clothes and leaves you shivering all day. But I agree, it is a nice place to get away from things. So peaceful and quiet." As he spoke, his eyes wandered to the branches of the trees around them, some stubborn dead leaves still clinging to the twigs. The sight amused him, and a light smile graced his features again. "I wish the fire students could just leave nature alone," he sighed.