The car drove forward. A chilling feeling ran down Axel's spine. It was a warm summer day. Beautiful in fact. "So, are you excited?" Mrs.Xomm asked. There in the back sat the only child Axel. "I guess..." was his nervous reply. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Im sure you'll like it here." Axel couldnt bring himself to say it. Despite everything, he was worried. Band camp? How could he operate smoothly or stay calm when virtually know one there knew him. "I haven't trained in a while, im a little worried about how that'll go." "Just remember your breath control, and dont burn the directors eyebrows off now." she playfully answered. There in the distance, a new school arose from the distance. Between the extremeties of light and darkness, the school seemed to be centered between the sun and the earth itself.
The car came to a stop. "Well, it looks like we're here! If you don't mind, we'll get off with you to meet the director," Mr.Xomm said excitedly. A short, dark-skinned girl was waiting in the parking lot, apparantly directing new students to the band room. "Hello there, here for band camp? The band room's right down this pathway, the first door to the right. My name's Ode, what instrument do you play?" "The trumpet," Axel replied. She seemed friendly enough, hopefully everyone was this way. Not far, instruments could be heard, as well as the odd combination of sounds of the earth crashing upon itself. The door to the room seemed to appear out of no where. "This is it i guess," Axel thought to himself. "After i go through this door, everything'll change..." "Well," he said aloud, "No time like the present." And with that, the door opened wide.
Upon entering, the room looked vaguely familiar. "The basics tournament was held here a few years ago," Axel recalled. It looked entirely different with the masses of people inside. While he was taking in the sights of the room, a small rock flew directly towards him. By instinct, he dived towards the left, crashing into several music stands that had been arranged there. What an entrance. "Oh CRAP! Are you alright?!" "Good job freaking out the freshman Keebs, what a welcome THAT was." "Keebs" was a tall, tan skinned individual. And apparantly and earth bender. The other was a slender, perubian looking girl. "You look kind of lost. Now that ive almost killed you with my element, whats yours?" "Fire," replied Axel. "Fire? and you play the trumpet, based on that case. Fire's not the most common element. We'll see just how good you are later on in the freshman testing process. My name's Keebs by the way. The other trumpets are over there, go get to know em." "Thanks, i will." Still feeling slightly disoriented in what appeared to be a sea of new faces, Axel made his way towards the trumpet section.
He sat at one end of the section, and began speaking to the, also new, student. "Hey," he asked, "You play the trumpet, cool." "Yeah, you too i see." "What school are you coming from?" "You havent heard of it," Axel said quietly, "its a far off place." "Ah." "So, whats your name?" "I'm Yugi." That caught Axel quite off guard. "Like the show?" "Yup, Yugioh, ive heard that before." "Cool. Whats your element?" "Water." "Thats cool, i almost chose water myself, its a great element. It can do almost anything if you know what you're doing." "Yeah, its fun. You?" "Fire. Long story. Sometimes I think it kind of suits me." Axel could already tell that no matter what happened, he would make solid friends. "I can finally be happy here..." He thought to himself.
Part 2 - The Test
"Band!" A very large, imposing figure had entered the room. "Sir!" was the almost unanimous response. The freshmen all seemed to have attained the classic "deer in the headlights" look. The director quickly glanced across the room, taking in the sight of the new faces. He was a tall, imposing, and admittedly large dark skinned man. He seemed to keep a very serious face. "Welcome back everyone. And noobies, welcome to your first day of band camp. The next few weeks will test your willingness and ability to function as a member in the band. First off, each section is going to go to sectionals for five minutes to welcome the freshmen. Section leaders, you know the drill. Get to it."
"Trumpets, this way!," called a tall, hispanic senior. As we followed suit, he could be heard making crude comments to Keebs. "Hehe...ready for the secstional?" It took Axel longer than it would have taken most teenagers to catch the joke. "Wow" he said under his breath, "this'll be interesting." Upon entering, the section leader introduced himself. "Howdy, all! The names Daron. For all the slow ones in the room, im your section leader. So, first, lets get to know each other." He quickly motioned towards Keebs, who formally introduced himself to the group. He held the title of "Band Captain." Not wanting to sound idiotic, Axel held his tounge in asking exactly what that meant. "Alright," Daron continued, "Eh, you, godzilla, tell us about yourself." Yugi quickly realized he was being spoken too. "Um, hi, my names Yugi, yeah, like the show. I play the trumpet, and am a waterbender. I went to middle school at Cuberson Middle." "Ok, you next," Daron said, motioning to yet another freshman much too tall for his age. "Hey, uh, I'm Teo. I went to Homewood Middle..." He appeared to be very shy, and, as Axel soon learned, was an airbender. "Great, what about you? Whats your name?" He motioned to the final remaining trumpet in the room aside from Axel. "Akuma. I went to Saan Middle. I'm an earthbender." He was a perubian, serious-faced student about Axel's height. "Hey, and me? I'm Giro. I'm a firebender, and i like girls. The best thing ever is when you get them to smell you at the mall." Everyone turned to stare at him. "Okay...?," Damon replied, "Anyway, what about you?" Although he knew it was coming, Axel was unprepared. He replied in a small, shy voice. "I'm Axel. Um, I'm a firebender. I went to MCS, but im sure none of you have heard of it. It's a small private school pretty far from here." "Great. Now that you know each other, we need to get back to the band room, Rotom wanted us back a few minutes ago." Daron seemed...alright. There was something about him that Axel didn't like about him. Almost a kind of sarcastic attitude taken on life in general. Although difficult to explain, Axel had his doubts. They almost silently made their way back into the band room, except for Giro, who felt the need to blabber on about how many girlfriends he had during the summer. They collectively zoned him out.
"Where have you been?!," Rotom roared, "I give you time to bond with the noobies, and you have the nerve to show up late? Ugh, anyway, Ode! Take the returning students out back, and warm them up on both their instruments, and their elements. Noobies, come with me." Although hesitant, the freshmen quickly followed.
"My name is Wellnor Rotom. I am an oboeist, and an earthbender. I am your new band director. Now, seeing as you've had time to get to know each other, I'm going to test what each of you is capable of. These tests will follow every aspect of what you can do, and it will determine the greater part of your overall placement in this band. Does everyone understand? Good, follow me." And just like that, Rotom put on a large grin, and merrily led the terrified crowd of freshmen to the testing location. "Wow, this looks...intense" commented Akuma. "Yeah, hopefully it won't be too bad..." They made their way into the field behind the building, where the real tests would begin.
"Ok, here we are. There will be three tests where you can show what you're made of. The first will test your control over your element. The second gives you a chance to show your most advanced technique. The final one is a duel with another freshman. Since water boy here came unprepared," he motioned towards a small pale looking freshman, "I've decided that each waterbender will be given a waterbottle. In this first test, you will launch a plume of your element as far forward as possible. Simple, right?" The tests begun. Axel watches as many struggled, fighting their nerves. One airbender girl fired in the wrong direction, and launched a burst at Rotom. She ran to the back of the line, almost in tears. Most failed to leave any kind of impression. Rotom managed to maintain a stone cold face throughout, with a few exceptions. Yugi was up next. With great accuracy, he launched a spike of ice a good distance across the field. "Not bad." Was Rotom's only reply. Axel nervously reached the front. "Hothead, remember you have the most dangerous element. Don't hurt anyone." These words were spoken in a way that seemed to be in jest, yet while maintaining a cold tone in his voice. "Wow, thanks...he thinks so highly of me..." Axel wouldn't have dared say it aloud. He did want to make a good impression on his first day. He had been the top fire student at his old school, what could go wrong? "Ok, im ready," he said, as he pulled both his swords from their sheiths. "What are those?" Rotom asked angrily. "Swords...they help direct the fire more easily. I always train with them," responded Axel, almost in a hushed voice. "Put. Those. Away. How dare you think that you can get away with cheating like that? If you want a weapon so badly, learn to actually make dual blades with your element instead of relying on some pathetic daggers!" "Sorry sir...I'll do what I -" "Don't waste my time! Get on with it!" Without another word, he extended his right arm, and launched a fireball as far as he could. It traveled roughly as far as Yugi's spike, and petered out. "That was some of the worst technique i've seen in years." Rotom answered coldly. Axel was upset, but determined not to show it. He quietly walked to the back of the line, and the second test began.
"For this test, you will each show the most advanced technique you've learned thus far." Again, each person, one by one, showed what they could do. The earth shook, falling water became hail, and small tornados were formed. He was not impressed. "Binky! You next!" "Ok." Binky was a short, pale faced waterbender. Lifting all of the water out of it's container, it began to swirl around her rapidly. It was then flung forward, resulting in a swirling ring of ice. "Unoriginal. Next." Axel was up. "I've already had to witness your technique. Are you sure you want to do this?" "Well...yeah..." "Fine then, get on with it." Axel mustered his strength, and focused. Moving his arms in an arc, a slithering line of fire was formed. He manipulated it to fly through the air, and dive forward. To finish his demonstration, he pulled the almost living mass towards him, and focused it into a small, single handed sword of fire itself. "...Next," Rotom replied, seeming unmoved and bitter. Axel trudged to the back of the line.
"Here is the final test. I will pair you into groups of two. You will then duel. This is to show what you can do in a danger setting. The usual rules apply: You cannot gravely harm your opponent. Don't hold back though: we have healers standing by, just in case." "Thats comforting," Axel whispered to Akuma. "First match: Axel will fight Baail." "Who?" Axel asked. "Over here." A thin, long haired male waterbender approached him. "Hey, i'm Axel." "Ive heard." They laughed half-heartedly. Both were nervous being a part of the first battle. "Alright," Rotom said, "On three. One. Two...three!" Axel wasted no time drawing his two swords. Baail, wildly waving his arms, forming a large, single water tendril, and making it very difficult for Axel to keep track of. Axel furiously slashed towards Baail, each swing unleashing a blast of fire. The tendril ducked and weaved, but Axel would not let up. They both fought furiously, however neither seemed to be able to land a blow. Baail was skilled, the tendril would switch from an offensive water form to a defensive shield of ice will little time in between. Axel realized that Baail was starting to become more conservative in his bending. "Don't hold back!," Axel taunted playfully. "I'm not," Bail replied. Then he realized what had been happening. With each fire blast the dripping tendril took, it began to evaporate. Baail was talented, but could not yet bend the water in the air. "Checkmate," Axel thought to himself. Without further notice, Axel engulfed one sword into flames, transforming it entirely, into a large scimitar of fire. Baail realized what was coming, and formed the most powerful ice shield he could muster with what water he had left. Axel rushed forward, slamming down upon the shield, followed by a barrage of strikes with his newly created weapon. The shield shrunk, shrunk, and shattered, leaving Baail defensless. Axel pointed one sword at Baail. "Good game, it was really close right up untill the end." "Yeah, that was great," Baail replied. Axel looked towards Rotom, hoping for his first positive comment. Rotom looked indignant. "Don't brag just yet, had he been able to bend steam, you would have lost." "Yes sir, that is true." The rest of the battles continued, but Axel kept thinking back to Rotom's comment. It was very clear what he meant, that Baail could have pulled water from the air, but his choice of words had piqued Axel's interest. Was it possible to bend steam? After the battle's concluded, they were dismissed. Lunch was served for those who wanted to stay behind and mingle, but many took the opportunity and headed home. After fighting the crowds of upperclassmen for a hotdog and chips, he situated himself at a table with Binky, Yugi, Baail, and Akuma. "Interesting first day, huh?," Yugi was saying. "Yeah," Axel replied, "I still can't believe your name is Yugi. I love that card game." "Yeah, same here," they all seemed to reply together. They burst out laughing. "You know you're in band when you start to talk to people you've just met in unison.," Binky replied. "Yugi, it's time to d-d-d-d-ddddddduel!," Axel burst out. He couldn't resist. "We're so random! And no, no duel, maybe later." "Heh, yeah, yeah." They continued to talk the remainder of the lunch, until Rotom came to throw out anyone who was still there.
"So, how was your first day?," Mrs. Xomm asked, "When we showed up, your group was laughing hysterically." "It was great, i met a lot of people." Axel knew that he had found his place, and that those he met today would stay with him no matter what happened. As the car drove once again through the horizon, fear was replaced with the excitement of knowing that after a short week off, band camp week would begin. Thinking again of his new friends, Axel fell asleep on the way back, the sunset closing behind them.