Y'all are great. Thank you guys for making this competition so hard! Everyone is writing amazing entries and I'm so happy with all of you.

***

Captain Odette Rainmaker: 14.7

This was damn near perfect. You had a few commas, one dialogue tag, and one awkward phrase but otherwise, this was fantastic. So creative, so brilliant, and gave me chills when reading.

I'm loving it is now going to be our catchphrase for you it seems.

Yasmin Aziz: </3

Sade: 10.8

Oh dear, not mother sending Jesh!

But to be frank, I'm not certain what to be surprised or not surprised at in your entries. I don't see any build-up to this entry from your previous one, so it really makes me wonder if there's an overarching story or if it's all "fly by the seat of your pants". There were a lot more grammatical errors in this than in previous entries. It felt less creative somehow in comparison to the other entries--perhaps the style of writing wore off the charm, but I felt like you lost some touch to this that the previous entries did hold. I really do love this line though, "Do not call it water for that is but a trick." I also love how you tried to use water as many times as you possibly could.

Aurelia Regis: </3

Mordecai Caddel: 14.1

"With Cain, he saw fire. With Rune, he saw blood.

But both spread the same." Literally SHAKING. How could you write this?? did you want to hurt me??

If it weren't for some grammatical errors, I'd say this would be one of the best darn entries out there. You REALLY nailed emotional damage this round.

Evelyn Ashe: 14.0

You had me crying when she was ready to die just to help out her friends. You REALLY came for the emotions here and it hit hard. Great job! You had some grammar issues, and at times it wasn't as 'realistic' in how the water bits were handled, but it came across very well nonetheless and I really enjoyed reading this.

Zhang Jindi (张金帝): 14.9

"All the fire in the world—the entire razed wreckage of the desert south—could not make it feel warm." 

I gave some side-eyes at the water portions but they did technically not fall under the word "water" itself so...nothing was taken for that. All the ways you DIDN'T use the word water though? Phenomenal. The only things you lost points from at all were some comma splices and a few instances of additional articles or missing articles. This was brilliant in every way. I really enjoyed this. I cannot give you enough heart-hands to convey the way I loved this.

Kenna Ashfyre: 13.7

I'm gonna point out something because I really think you just forgot to finish your thought here:

"Their death could "Nope.""

I feel like I'm repeating myself but I promise I'm not--if it weren't for some grammatical errors, you'd have this. I tell that to everyone only when it's relevant and here is someplace where I'd find it is. There were places were the grammar stood in front of your wonderful writing and slapped my hands when reading. I really loved this otherwise. Your voice is so soothing to read in the writing and you gave so much life and character to Kenna.

Samgar: 14.6  -1 (ballot challenge) = 13.6

You really had it going in this entry. I really thought you weren't going to use water once. I will say though, if we were going to break the challenge, I'd have gone back and used water more times because you have a few areas where the wording is just a little awkward. Like when you used drink to describe it...I was thrown off a bit. Good, but odd. I really enjoyed this entry overall! A few spots had awkward phrasing but the spirit in the writing really sold it. I like how Samgar's such a dad figure. He's just so fun!