(Outdated) The King of Elements

Wolf vs Wolf

"What was it, Ke'Undre? What's wrong?" Kimmy asked, looking troubled. Dre remained silent as he scanned the note over and over.

"Surely it's not much to worry about," Marcus said, ruffling Dre's head. "You'll probably get to feeling better once you have some food in you."

"It's Mr. Toney," Dre said. "He wants to see me in his office. I think it's about accidentally using my fire in class-"

"Wait, what? You mean to tell me you were actually able to use your fire on the first day of class?" Marcus exclaimed.

"Not only that," Bianka interjected, "but it was fira. I was just as stunned as you when he did it."

Marcus said nothing, but looked at Dre the way a deer would look at incoming headlights. Dre didn't think that it was a big deal, considering that the whole school was able to use it the day before. He went inside of the small rectangular room, where three tables loaded with food stood in the center. On the four corners of the tables were a high stack of silver dinner plates, and beside that was a small grate with napkin-wrapped silverware. "I'm confused. Can't everyone use their powers anytime they want? I mean, we all did yesterday," he said, picking up a plate and silverware.

"I see you get your listening skills from your father," Bianka said as Kim picked up a plate. "Dre, if you had been paying attention while I was explaining this, you'd understand that using your power before actually learning how is phenomenal. There is only a select few people who are able to pull it off, and those people become Amian legends. Not only that, but you used fira, something that our present day sage can't even pull off on her first day. If anything, Toney would call you to his office to congratulate you."

Dre's heart began to swell as he loaded his plate with slices of roast beef, fluffy mash potatoes with white gravy and an ear of corn. This was the first time in his life that he was getting praise from anyone other than his parents. The more that he thought about it, the better he felt about his meeting. Ke'Undre Wolf. Legend.

"While we're on the subject of seeing the headmaster," Marcus said as he picked up two plates; one for him and one for Bianka, "there is something else that we have to discuss. It's about a superstition that we have on Amity."

"Superstition?" both Kim and Dre asked.

"Yeah. It would be a good idea to let you know about it now before it happens to you. Unless in times of war, every fight between Amians has to have an equal amount of combatants. This is not just a code of honor, but it is the very code of our beliefs. If there is an unequal amount of combatants, the group who had broken our code will grow to hate each other until they kill one another, with the last one remaining digging their former partner's grave in despair."

"That seems a bit... dark," Dre had said once they had gotten their food.

"It is, but that's life, right? And I've seen it happen, too. You do not want to challenge this faith."

They each left the room and went into the cafeteria area. "Hey, there's the crew," Kimmy said, pointing with her elbow. Sure enough, on the far side of the half-filled room, Michael, Keiko, Ian, and Rose were all sitting at a round table, eating with each other.

"Looks like they decided to eat without you two," Bianka said.

"Yeah... Not really surprised," Dre said. "You can go ahead Kimmy, there's something I want to ask my uncle."

"'Kay, see you there."

Dre grinned as he watch her leave, then turned his attention to his uncle. "There's one thing that I don't get. If you're my uncle, why haven't you kept in contact with the family? Where were you?"

Dre noticed that Bianka looked taken aback by his question. "That's difficult to say," Marcus had said. "I wanted to be here with you guys, I really did, but something... came up."

"Marcus!" a voice called out from the front of the cafeteria. Every eye shifted to Raheem standing up at the teacher's area, his arms outstretched as he strode down an aisle.

"Raheem! Hold this, babe." He handed Bianka his plate and dashed down the aisle beside Raheem. They both stopped in front of each other, sat down, and began arm-wrestling beside a group of Apprentices. They each moved out of the way towards a different table.

"How long has it been, big bro?" Marcus said through his teeth, grabbing the edge of the table for support.

"Too long, little brother. Too long," Raheem said as he grasped the table as well, keeping his arm from budging. "Still weak as hell, huh?"

"Weak? I'm barely even trying," he said, straining.

The cafeteria watched Raheem and Marcus's "epic" battle in silence. "Aw, man. What are they doing?"

"Well, your dad and uncle are, uh... really competitive," Bianka said. "It's been like this ever since they were Apprentices."

"Uncle Mark!" another voice called out from Dre's far left. Marcus looked up for a split second, allowing Raheem to slam his hand on the table.

"Dammit," Marcus said, holding his hand as Ian made his way towards them. "You're lucky that Ian messed up my concentration. I would've had you beat."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, smirking. He turned his attention to Dre. "Hey son!"

Oh, the embarrassment. Oh, the shame.

"Hey dad," he said with a quick wave. Beads of sweat was forming on his forehead as he felt the students' gaze burn through him. Couldn't he have waited until lunch was over?