Journey Of The Elements

Chapter 2: The tournament begins

A/N
The picture is close to what I imagine Aurora to look like.
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'Thud'

I fell to the grass, covered in sweat and drenched with water from my spar with Alex. Alex flopped down beside me, just as covered in sweat as I was. His shirt had a burn mark on his side, close to his ribs but his skin was untouched underneath. I wasn't much better with rips and tares through my clothing, it seems he got closer to hitting me than I did him this time. We were both panting from the training we just endured, even if it was lighter training than we usually did. We just layed there, catching our breath as we watched the clouds float by. The sky was tinged orange by now as the sun had started to set. After a few moments we had caught our breath enough to speak and Alex was the first to do so.

"So how is your sister? Your dad still not letting her go to the school?"

I released a sigh and I sat up with my legs crossed, "Yeah. He's even still trying to pull me from school, especially with the tournament. He just never got over what happened to our mom." My voice grew quiet as I spoke of my mother.

Alex sat up and gently placed his hand on my knee. I guess he was trying to make me feel better because he knew how I felt, both his parents had been killed defending the wall. Even with his comforting touch the ache in my heart didn't leave, it never did when my mother was on my mind.

A few moments passed before his voice broke the silence, "So where should we go to eat?"

I looked up at him as he stared at me, awaiting my answer. "Well, I already told my dad that I won't be home for supper so we can go anywhere," As I spoke I watched the grin on Alex's face grow wider.

"Perfect," Alex stood up and held out his hand for me to take. I looked at him curiously and took his hand. Even after I stood up he didn't let go of my hand but started leading me by it. We walked for a while and I eventually realized that we were heading towards his house. He lived alone with his twin older sisters who were both water elementals as well. If I recall correctly his sisters normally defended the wall at night so we would be alone in his house. He kept leading me by the hand all the way inside the house and to the kitchen, where he finally let go of it.

"You know what to do." I nodded as he spoke, ready to begin a familier routine. I went to the wood stove in the corner of the room and opened the door. I snapped my fingers and a flame came to life on the end of them. I threw that small flame into the stove and it bursted into a bigger flame, heating up the room quickly. As I was working on the fire, Alex was filling a pot full of water. Once it was full he brought it over and set it on the stove. This is what we often did after a long day of training together since his home was closer to the school than mine.

After the meal was cooked we sat across from each other at the small dinner table, just idly chatting about anything other than the looming tournament tomorrow. We sat there for a long time talking, just trying to relax. The tournament never left my mind though. Nobody wanted to do it, nobody wants to leave the safety of the walls but we had to do it or you would be a disgrace and risk banishment, getting locked out anyways. You can't cheat either by letting your opponent win, everyone is watching and they will notice so you risk disgrace and banishment there as well. But it is an honour to be one of the chosen ones, one of the saviors of the human race. There are plenty of us who wish to be the ones to be sent out in search of the place of no monsters. We want to be the ones to find the place where everyone can be safe. I'm one of them. I want to find that place so my sister can be safe. I'd rather risk death by thousands of monsters beyond the wall than let her face even one of them. I am going to be one of the winners this time, I have to be.