The EF5 tornado took more than their home that night, and the years after weren't equally as kind. Still, they had each other. The turmoil suffered while being trapped in a bathtub the horror did more than strengthen their bond, it made them inseparable. From school to landing jobs, they did everything together. Moving away from their inherited farmhouse in Chickasha, OK left a knot in Aethers stomach, but Temperance had her eyes on bigger things. The Future.

Fresh out of college, the girls managed to wow their way into broadcasting. Temperance was set out to be a meteorologist, an iconic news woman not afraid to go the distance. She wanted to make a name for herself, but more importantly to help the people in her community. Aether had a similar goal in mind but from a different perspective. Rather than being the face in front of the camera she remained behind it. Through her lens she vowed to capture everything. From a creative perspective to reality. She fell in love with the horrors of nature.

"And 3...2...1!" With a point of his finger the announcer gave his cue. The beautiful blonde woman, wearing a khaki dress that hugged her every curve just right began her forecast over the region.

Temperance stood on the sidelines of the newsroom holding her folder of stories, wishing nothing more than to be standing where the woman was. "How does she do it?" she sighed, "What does Natalie Simmons have that I don't have?"

"Boobs." Aether blurted from across the snack table/coffee bar. "...and bouncy hair."

Temperance just shook her head in defeat. "What happened to real women who write real stories striking out to conquer the world. Facing the storm and getting the truth. Not just looks."

"Well, facing the storm won't get you 10 thousand followers on Instagram anymore." Aether proclaimed as she stacked a third banana nut muffin on her plate. "But I like things better that way."

Temperance impatiently tapped her foot as she watched the news managers from across the room. Like a hawk, she focused on every move he made, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. "Cutting to commercial," he shouted, "Okay guys, take five,"

With her folder close, Temperance took at shoot and glided across the room to him in hopes of giving her a shot at something big. Aether had seen this song and dance many times before and decided to focus on her morning coffee, not realizing Natalie Simmons was making her way over to the table to do the same.

They exchanged looks, more so on Natalie's part. Aether resisted at first, but the woman's presence because to stir within her. When Aether looked up the woman put on the biggest, brightest smile you'd think she was in a Toothpaste campaign.
"Hi Temperance," her country accent beamed. "You got that template ready for the upcoming event next week. It's sweeps week, so you might get a chance to squeeze a story or two in."

"Um...I'm not Temperance. I'm Aether."

"OOP! I'm sorry honey, I didn't realize you were the stra-....I mean, other one." Natalie laughed nervously. She placed her hand on her shoulder and twirled a small piece of Aethers hair. "One of ya'll are gonna have to do something different with your hair sweetie. No one in the studio can tell you two apart."

Strange, Odd, the weird one. These were the things she knew Natalie wanted to say. It never surprised Aether, she herself has admitted she was different from her sister. After being found in a bathtub beneath layers of debris and receiving the news of her parents' death, something inside her changed. Life continued, they aged and Aethers main focus became the wraths of nature. A cloudy day put her at ease, feeling the rain on her skin was bliss...and the thought of being close to a tornado excited her.

Aether held a spiritual connection with nature, and quite the talent with knowing things most people shouldn't. She was considered unusual, even as a child. She was purely preternatural, was even considered a witch to some throughout college. Such a silly thing to think, but Aether didn't let it bother her. If anything, she embraced it.

"At least we don't dress exactly the same." Aether just smiled. Doing her best to ease out of this awkward situation.

Natalie laughed, "Oh Lord, That would be a hoot! Ya'll be trading places and swapping boyfriends. Anyway...tell pass that info a long to your sister kay?"

Natalie Simmons was as southern as they come. Her glamourous fashion sense and perky attitude can come off a bit snobby to some, but Aether knew her heart was in the right place. She was honest, bubbly and so gullible...and she looked like vanilla pudding.

After going back to face the camera, Aether hunted down her sister with muffin in hand. She found her brooding in the column's backroom, which was more like a broom closet, shuffling through files.

"So..." Aether began, "How'd it go?"

Temperance groaned and slammed the heavy drawer shut. "He said I just didn't have...it."

"It?"

"Yeah...IT." Temperance growled. "The vibe, the energy...the gall on that man. He gave my spot to Greg, again! Said I needed a better story."

"You spent weeks on gathering information for the historical information about the origin of Tulsa for its anniversary, what was Greg's story?"

"Some sex scandal in the mayor's office." Temperance sighed, "People just don't care about the richness of culture or actual informative things. Just juicy gossip. Greg gets the story, he gets the sweeps, he gets more credit...Maybe I just need to be more like Greg."

"You don't want to be like Greg," Aether shook her head, "Greg's a kiss ass and an asshole."

"I can be an asshole."

"No Temp, you can't. You are too nice for your own good."

Temperance pouted, hated when she knew her so well. Without breaking eye contact Temperance acted on impulse and smacked the muffin out of her sister's hand. Standing straighter in hopes of proving her wrong. Aether mirrored her stance, staring her down. It only too just a few second... "You gonna pick that up?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Temperance folded and kneeled down to pick up the muffin. "It's just this whole opening promotion thing has got me nuts. If I don't break this barrier and move up in this place I going to lose it. I can't be a sappy weather assistant for another year."

"Come with me then."

"What? You mean on one of your daring storm chasings? No thank you."

"It will be fun." Aether playfully shook her sisters' shoulders, "Getting up and close with one of Oklahoma's biggest annual threats during its season would be big. sweeps big."

"You really think so?" 

"I know so," Aether assured. "The more knowledge we can get on these things will help better tornado warnings; it could save lives. Help people, give them a chance to get to safety."

"Help people," Temperance cracked a smile, remembering the very reason she started this job in the first place. Reaching down she pulled at the locket giving to her for her birthday. A small jewel that never left either of their necks since that night. "People like mom and dad."

"Yeah," Aether paused. "Like mom and dad."

Temperance took a deep breath and stood up. Brushing off her pencil skirt along with any doubt she had and looked her sister in the eye with a newfound confidence. "When do we start?"