It was pouring rain, and we were waiting on Kai for this fight, when it started. "Skylor, master of amber, versus Jacob, master of sound. Fight!" Skylor had a spear and ninja mask (where did she even get that?) and Jacob had some sort of stringed instrument. "Fight!" Chen yelled, as the blind man played his instrument to get a feel for the room. Echolocation who?
"Eenie, meenie, minie, mo, catch a jade blade by its toe!" She threw her spear into a vase, shattering the china. It revealed a bow and some arrows. She snuck around, managing to get behind Jacob, and fired an arrow.
Jacob grunted and dodged, just managing to miss the arrow. He ran around, and ducked again, narrowly dodging the second arrow. The third he jumped on, and send a high pitched sound wave out, breaking another vase from his perch on the second arrow. We all covered our ears, especially me. The air was vibrating so much that my ears were killing me. "The master of sound's gotten stronger since I last saw him." He threw shirikins at her, and she did a side flip to avoid them all.
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Don't mean to block your view. Just passing through." Kai said, stepping on everyone's toes. I facepalmed silently. He couldn't have gone around them?
"Sorry, all of these temples look the same. Did I miss anything?"
"Argh, my the looks of it, you didn't miss much." All of the other masters were glaring daggers at Kai for stepping on their feet, as they should. "Maybe we shouldn't be sitting together. I mean, the more they think we're a team, the more they're going to gang up on us. And with y/n on our side, they're going to target her too." I shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time I was targeted. I cannot tell you how many obsessive fans my father has, and those fans tend to go after me in one way or another. Either to sleep with me, or to get to my father through me.
"Don't say that. We are a team. Sure we just lost Cole, and we still can't find Zane, but we have y/n helping us. We're still a team, just smaller. All the more reason to stick together."
"Lets just hope people won't gang up on us because of it." I mutter.
"What?"
"I mean, think about it. All of the other master have been trying to get to know you guys, and I'm the only one letting them know me. They see that, and they're going to see you guys as cocky. People that think they're better than everyone else. It's going to come back to bite you all in the ass later."
"You've been talking with other masters?"
"Of course. They don't seem that bad, and it helps if they don't hate all of us. I actually get along pretty well with Tox. Our elements are both gas-based after all." Kai looked down.
"Oh, Skylor's fighting."
"Yeah." I spoke. "She's doing pretty good at it too."
"Oh. Good for her."
"Woah, why are you sounding so passive? Just the other day you seemed head over heels for her."
"Well, that was before I knew Cole liked me too."
"Huh?!"
"Yeah, I was convinced he wasn't into me, so I was trying to move on. She's pretty don't get me wrong, but then Cole confessed he likes me, and... Well..."
"Hey, congrats man. Although, I had no clue you were into guys too." The way he worded that was a little weird, but I couldn't think of a better way to word it.
"Yeah, I've been hiding that for ages."
"Even more reason to try and find Cole and Zane."
Jacob blew some darts that went through the wall, letting in a breeze, and outside sounds. Oh, I see what she's doing. She's obscuring his vision. She runs to the last vase and breaks it, releasing the blade, and we all cheer, Kai a little louder than the others. We look at him. "What? She seems like a cool person." I shrug.
"I feel like that's what Lloyd said before you guys got to know me."
"Oh, he did." Lloyd groaned.
"Winner! Loser! Master of amber moves on." Jacob falls through the ground with a scream. "I hope the tournament of elements has entertained you as much as it has me. To thank you, I wanted to give everyone fancy jewels and untold shiny things." Everyone but the ninja and I cheered. My family was rich enough that if we really wanted to, we could get those things easily. But we didn't. My dad was adamant that I do not rely on shiny things. Hence why we have a more modest house compared to Cliff Gordon. (Although, outside of the acting world, they were actually good friends. Cliff was like an uncle to me and respected my dad's wishes not to spoil me too much.) "But then in yesterday's battle, Master Jay and Cole tried to undermine me, by teaming up, and refusing to fight each other. And that made me very upset." He threw the tray with gems and all that to the ground behind him, like a toddler refusing to eat veggies. All the other master glared at us. I glared back, refusing to be intimidated by them. "For their insubordination, all of your fancy quarters will be taken away, and tonight, everyone must sleep together in the chow house." He crushed a gem with his fist. "That is all. Thank you, you can go."
The masters walked by us, grumbling angrily, and Tox pulled me away. I waved to the ninja with a smile and allowed myself to be pulled along. "I don't get why you get along with them so well. You'd have more allies here if you ditched them."
"I know, but they're nice. And they have a similar reason to me for being here in the first place." She motioned for me to go on while we walked. "I was adopted at five, but abandoned at birth. I want to find my birth father and see why he left my mom like that. Maybe he can teach me more about my powers."
"Y/n, you don't even know if he's alive."
"I'm not one to give up easy." She sighed.
"How is that similar to why the ninja are here?"
"They were told that a member of their family they thought was dead is here. They aren't giving up, so neither will I." She sighed again.
"Whatever you say. Just look out for yourself too. Okay?"
"Wow, I didn't know you cared so much." I joked, putting my arm around her. She scoffed.
"Don't let it go to your head y/n."
"When have I ever?"
That night, we were all sleeping on mats on tables. But I was wide awake. "Couldn't sleep either?" Jay said, slipping out of his bed. I did the same.
"Not when we have to get Zane and Cole back." Lloyd grunted.
"Speaking of backs, these new beds are the worst." I chuckle, and I can barely make out the blush on his face in the moonlight. "Alright, let's do-" A gong sounded.
"Back in bed, quickly!" I whispered, and we all dove back into our beds, throwing the covers over ourselves haphazardly. The gong continued as the lights flickered on. We all groaned and got up as Clouse spoke.
"Good morning fighters! Oh, that's right, it's the middle of the night."
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Get yo foot fetish ass away from me!" I yelled, kicking my legs. Another guy held my lower half down while they finished up doing whatever they were doing. I looked. Skates?
I carefully got up. It's been a while since I've been in skates, but I think I remember how to do them.
"Roller skates? Woah!" Kai fell and Skylor helped him up. "Thanks."
"Let me guess, another one of Chen's impromptu battles?"
"I'm guessing." I said, slinging my arm around Lloyd's shoulder. Well, it was more like I was resting it on his head. I snickered a little bit.
"What?"
"You're so short. It's adorable." I said, squishing his face a little with a smile on my face. Jay was going on about how much he loved roller skates, and I was looking into Lloyd's eyes, not realizing how green they were before. I get go of his face and giggled.
"I'm not adorable." He said softly. I hummed.
"Yes, you are." I kissed his cheek and skated away, leaving him a flustered mess behind me. I went over to Tox.
"Really?"
"What? He's my type!"
"Short blondes?"
"Yeah. I'm weak for them." She scoffed, but a smile remained on her face.
"Whatever. He hurts you though, and I kill him."
"He's the green ninja. I don't think he's one to go around breaking hearts." I looked over and saw him skating around, getting a feel for the skates.
"Master Chen wants everyone in the royal arena. I wouldn't be late if I were you."
"Most of us have already fought, why are we all in skates?"
"Only two of you will be fighting, but the rest of you will have a chance to influence the outcome."
"Who's fighting? Tell us now."
"The green ninja, versus the master of form." And with that, he slammed the door shut.