Enter the Tournament

Chapter 4

The Cafeteria

None of us dared to tell Garmadon what had happened; we knew for a fact that if we did, we'd have to leave.
There was no way we were going to let innocent Elemental Masters lose their powers; they weren't enemies, they only saw us as competition in what they thought was a fun little contest. 

Speaking of Garmadon, he led our line at breakfast. Skylor stood at the end of the line and  I studied her while waiting.
Something wasn't right about her, and I was anxiously wanting to know if she had anything to do with this whole fiasco. Every time I glanced at her, my mind went back to what had happened on the ferry. It was confusing, it was irritating, it was-- 

--The guys had interrupted to remind me to move up. 

I walked to our table while Jay and Cole argued with each other; they'd been at each other's throats ever since Cole admitted he had feelings for Nya. 

I sat at the table, rolling my eyes at their unnecessary retorts and remarks; someone tried to listen in on our conversation about what happened last night.
Garmadon had no idea, and he seemed to be suspicious of us. Out of fear, I began a conversation with him about his past with Chen. 

Anything to stall. 

The speakers came on abruptly. 

"I'll need the following Elemental Masters to report to their assigned arenas immediately," Chen spoke.
The room was silent as we stared at one another.

"Speed, gravity, smoke, nature, mind, and last, but hopefully not least..." he trailed enthusiastically as if waiting for a drum roll. 

"Hey," said Jay, "Maybe we all got the day off!" 

"Fire!" 

Everyone looked at Kai...who looked at me of all people.

I said nothing, knowing that I wasn't in control and had to accept it.
However, I couldn't help but feel guilty about what I said to him the other day...

...No, I wasn't going to play this game, again. I was right after all; this was just karma proving my point. 

Besides, nothing had ever worked out anyways since the very first day that Kai and I met; why would things suddenly turn around, now? 

Get over it, Bree. 

"Thank you!" Chen continued, and a clicking sound followed as the speakers turned off.

* * *

Kai's Arena

The arena was right over a large volcano; there were boulders encircling a wooden bridge. Two of the boulders stood inside the volcano across from each other; the bridge was connected to each boulder by poles on each side with long ropes tied to them, holding the structure up.

Kai stood on one boulder and Ash, master of smoke, stood on the other; a Jade Blade lay on the middle plank of the wooden bridge.
The guys and I sat in the back row of the bleachers. Skylor sat next to me and I felt my intestines twist in a knot as I fixed my gaze on Ash, the Master of Smoke. He looked much older than the rest of us -- gray, messy hair, thin-browed. 

He seemed determined to take the hothead out of the competition. 

"Ready?" Chen asked eagerly. I bit my lip and closed my eyes for a few seconds. 

In the darkness, something, someone popped into my mind. I could somewhat tell what they looked like despite their brief appearance; they were completely silver with bright, diamond eyes.