Chapter 1: Friends, Family, And Foes

"Good morning!" said Serenity as she walked down the stairs into the kitchen where her mom was cooking breakfast. "What ya cookin'?"

"Just the basics. You know…food," said her mom, smiling.

"Very funny. Now, seriously what are you cooking?" said Serenity, looking agitated.

"Calm down! Keep your shirt on! It's eggs, bacon and biscuits."

Her mom was now placing each of the items on Serenity's plate as she listed them off.

Serenity sat down at the table as her mother put her unusually small breakfast in front of her.

"What's up with this? Are you trying to starve me?"

"You've got to save some for your brother, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot that he arrived last night," Serenity said as she gulped down the last bit of her food. "Thanks mom! That was great."

Serenity got up out of her chair and ran upstairs to get dressed.

"I have no idea what I'm going to wear," said Serenity as she scrambled through all of her clothes, looking for something that would suit a warrior. Finally, she came upon a pair of her favorite loose, black pants and a silver long sleeved shirt.

After she put them on she checked carefully to make sure that she, or others, couldn't tell that she was a girl. After all, only guys were allowed to enter the Strongest Man Competition.

She held her hair up and hid it covertly under her black bandana, which she tied quickly. After all of her hair was completely hidden she ran down stairs, grabbed her lunch, said good-bye to her mother and ran out the door.

She had only ten minutes to make it to the competition. If she didn't hurry there would be no competition spots left.

Serenity ran down the dirt road as fast as her long, thin legs would carry her. The coliseum was now in sight and from the line outside the entrance, the fights hadn't started yet.

When Serenity arrived at the arena she had only a minute to spare. She fan towards the sign-up booth while, at the same time, trying not to bump into anybody that she knew. She saw a few familiar faces, but mostly she saw completely new ones.

"Did I…?" Serenity stopped. She was supposed to be a guy and she had just spoken in her normal voice. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Did I make it in time?" she asked.

"Just barely," said the woman sitting behind the table. "I was about to close up."

"Great! I was afraid that I was too late."

"OK. Competition name?"

"Serenity hadn't even considered a name for herself. She couldn't very well go by Serenity. She blurted out the first name that she could think of.

"Bright Angel."

"Age?"

"18."

"Okay. The only weapon allowed in the competition is your body. You will be fighting the winner of the second match. The waiting room is down the stair to my right. Do you have any questions?"

"No…thank you…"

Serenity walked past the woman and into the waiting room.