Jet looked up at the doors leading into the Dueling Arena; they were made of a beautiful marble, with intricate engravings carved or perhaps bended into it. Thousands of minuscule swirls made up a beautiful sunflower, only a fraction of the design. At the foot of the ornate door stood a man clad in a long green robe with a tan vest over it. He was taking small pieces of parchment from the civilians walking into the arena. Following the example set by those entering before them, Kilo and the travelers handed the man their tickets.
He smiled at them, and repeated what he had mumbled to each of the passing people. "Enter to the right, down the stairs, don't sit in the bottom rows." Jet looked at the man closely; he had several teeth that had fallen out, and only a few left. They were yellowing and loose, as though ready to fall out at any moment. His brown hair was slicked back with natural grease, his eyes a light brown. Kilo led the group, including Jethro, to the right and down the stairs. This entrance was not as decorated as the main entrance, but still had a design on it. Jet climbed the stairs 10 rows up; no one was in the rows before them, so they assumed there must have been a reason.
They sat down, large cups of Rabbit-goat milk in jugs at their sides. Suddenly, the low rumble of thousands of voices in the arena erupted into massive cheers that echoed in the large arena. Smellerbee joined in, her voice screeching above many others. Jet stayed silent, merely clapping. Longshot just stood there, his hands laying awkwardly at his sides, as though he didn't quite know what to do with them. Jethro was squealing and clapping, stomping his feet on the ground of Kilo's heels. The old healer merely grinned, Jethro's cheering enough for them both.
The cause for their spontaneous outburst was soon revealed; A man had entered the arena. He was clad in fancy robes and several belts, a hat resting on his silky gray hair. "Spectators!" the crowd screamed as loud as they could, their voices still not enough to overpower the Ringmaster's, whose voice was carried by the rounded ceiling and echoed to every inch of the arena. "Welcome to the Earth Rumble VII!" The announcement only caused more screaming amidst the audience.
"I am your host!" cried the man loudly. "Xin Fu!" The cheering refused to quiet, and only continued at a steady thunder-like rumble that shook the air. "The rules are simple," he continued. "Just know the other guy out of the ring, and you win!" He turned and used his Earthbending to leap up to the high pedestal. He turned back towards the screaming crowd. "Round one! RhinoMan versus the Pebble!" The crowd's cheers grew to a deafening volume as a large man with no shirt on came sprinting into the arena. He bended a wall of stone before him; not slowing his run, he slammed into the wall head-first, causing the stone to shatter. The crowd roared with approval.
Not long after the crunch of the stone reverberated through the arena, a small boy with Earth Kingdom clothing on came stomping into the arena. With every step, a stone was thrown into the air, landing right outside the arena. The spectators cried out their excitement. Jethro was screaming, his feet stomping onto the stone seat as hard as they could. Smellerbee whooped loudly, her fists pumping into the air. Longshot's arms swung back and forth by his sides awkwardly. Jet stood beside Longshot, his fingers rubbing the sides of his Hook Swords, which rested in their sheathes.
The small boy, 'The Pebble', pointed a finger at his large opponent. "You may be large, but you are all talk. You have no real skill." RhinoMan flexed his muscles to the audience, consequently earning a loud roar of praise. "I'm gonna crush you like the ant you are!" The Pebble grinned. "Bring it." Suddenly, in an explosion of dust and dirt, rocks were hovering above The Pebble. Not a second later, the massive stones were hurling themselves at RhinoMan. He stuck his head out, colliding with the flying stones.
Another crunch of rock hitting bone sounded. The boulders shattered against his strength, but he did not retaliate fast enough. Already four more stones were zooming towards him. His fists barely met the stone in time, resulting in another shattering rock. Unfortunately for RhinoMan, The Pebble's third wave of boulders came too quickly, knocking straight into his chest. He flew backwards, his feet touching the edge of the arena. The Pebble smirked, throwing his right hand towards the sky. Imitated his motion, a small pebble flew up and hit RhinoMan in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards out of the Arena.
This victory resulted in thunderous cheering. The boy turned to the audience, his fist pumping the air. Jethro's face was turning red from his maniacal screaming; Jet and Longshot were sitting down as though the Match held no interest. Smellerbee cheered, but Kilo just stood there smiling, running an aged hand through Jethro's hair. The host, Xin Fu, shouted almost inaudibly, "The Pebble has won!" The small boy screamed to the crowd. "I can win this!!" The crowd echoed his screams.
"In the next match," The host continued. "The Pebble versus..." He paused for dramatic effect. "Whale Woman!" The cheers were limited, nothing compared to the praise RhinoMan had received. Despite the quieter audience, a very large woman walked into the arena, a large belly jiggling over the small waistline of a skirt that reached the ground. Her matching green tunic did not reach her protruding stomach. "Whale woman crush you!" she screamed, her voice shaking from the volume at which she spoke. With the signal from Xin Fu, the battle began.
The moment Xin Fu's hand reached his side once more, Whale Woman charged towards The Pebble, screaming like a mad woman. The Pebble, panicking at the thought of being crushed by the large woman, began to throw as many rocks at her as he could. She merely threw her stomach into it, causing them to bounce back at him. The stone hit him square in the chest, throwing him from the arena. Cheers erupted once more at the quick victory.
Suddenly, from up against the ceiling, Earth-benders closed the sky-windows with stone. The only light was the large crystal chandelier on the ceiling, shining down on Xin Fu. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for..." The spectators, for the first time during the whole tournament, hushed into near silence. "Whale woman versus... The Royal Rumbler!" Jet stood to get a better view of the two competitors as the sky lights opened back up; The Whale Woman stood stomping the ground, the Earth shaking beneath her feet. But on the peripheral of the arena, a teenage boy entered onto the floor slowly. His hands hovered in the air before him, before rising and falling slowly. The ground beneath him mimicked his arm motion; the crowd felt obliged to imitate it as well, doing the wave all across the arena while screaming.
He smirked at his competitor, who replied with a roaring yell. The Royal Rumbler stepped into the arena, taking a few deep breaths as the spectator's wave died down. Xin Fu grinned as well. "Let the round begin!" With the signal of his dropped hand, The Royal Rumbler slid his foot across the ground, his hand mimicking the motion, hovering above his leg. Thousands of shards of earth followed his hand, launching themselves towards the woman's face. She pulled her hand up towards the ceiling, a wall of stone following. The shards did not break to pieces when they hit the wall; instead, The Royal Rumbler put two fists out before him, and then twisted them palm up.
The shards obliged, drill themselves into the wall of Earth. They nearly hit Whale Woman, when she bended a suit of stone around her. The moment she finished her move, The Royal Rumbler dove towards her, slinging his right leg into her stomach. The stone crunched beneath the force; Whale woman stumbled backwards. When the Royal Rumbler's foot touched the ground again, he punched the air before him; he then slid his foot forward. Five small square blocks raised from the floor, shoving Whale Woman backwards even more. A few more feet and...
The Royal Rumbler smirked. He watched her tumbling backwards and timed it perfectly. Right before her left foot touched the Earth, the teenage boy shoved his hands toward the sky. The Earth copied him, shoving Whale Woman out of the Arena.
The spectators went ballistic, absolutely hysterical. Xin Fu leaped from his pedestal, landing softly beside the Royal Rumbler; the boy was smirking towards the audience, his eyes dancing. Xin Fu held up a bag of coins. "By traditional," cried the Ringmaster, "I am offering up this large sack of gold coins to anyone who can defeat the Royal Rumbler!"
No one in the crowd spoke up in challenge; Xin Fu's happy expression fell. "What? No one dares to face him?" The crowd seemed to go silent. "I will revise my offer," the man added. "To any two boys who can beat the Royal Rumbler will receive this bag of coins!" Jet leaned behind Kilo and poked Longshot in the shoulder. "Let's do it, man!" Longshot shook his head, but Jet cried out, "We will!" Longshot groaned in frustration. Xin Fu, contrary to Longshot, gave a large and satisfied grin. "Come on down!"
Jet and Longshot, hesitantly, climbed down the stairs and onto the Dueling Floor. The Royal Rumbler smirked. "Can you even bend?" Jet shrugged. "No." The crowd all laughed simutaneously. The Royal Rumbler took his stand and smirked once more. "Then let the battle begin." Longshot walked back several feet and pulled out his bow and arrow. Suddenly, Xin Fu cried, "No deaths!" Jet smirked, taking his own stance. "Trust me, there won't be any deaths."
At Xin Fu's signal, Jet was twirling around the Royal Rumbler, his swords swinging and lashing out at every turn. The competitor deflected each swing with a stone, soon yawning sarcastically. Suddenly, he found himself pinned against the wall on the outside of the arena. "Wha..." The crowd went silent, but after a moment exploded with praise. The Royal Rumbler's robes were stuck to the wall by three arrows. Longshot grinned at Jet, who smirked back. How had they pulled that off?
Xin Fu pulled the two boys up, lifting their hands into the air in praise. Trumpets announced their victory, the crowd screaming their delight. Longshot accepted the Champion's belt, but Jet greedily snatched the large bag of coins. Smellerbee, Kilo, and Jethro came rushing out onto the floor to congratulate them. The Royal Rumbler smirked, smacking his hand onto the wall he was pinned to. The Earth jumped out, causing him to fly back onto the Arena's Dueling Floor. He casually walked up to Jet and Longshot. Instead of growing angry, his smirk hovered on his lips.
"Congrats," he said calmly. "A bag of coins and a belt." Jet smirked. "And the satisfaction of seeing you hanging on a wall." The boy laughed. "At least my robes didn't fall off." Longshot grinned, as did Jet. Kilo butted in, "Good job, gentlemen, the battles were excellent. I congratulate all three of you." She looked at the Royal Rumbler and added, "Would you care to join us for lunch?"
The boy looked up at the spectators and smirked. "Anything for free food," he said jokingly. Jethro suddenly attacked the boy's leg with a hug. "I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"
XxXxX
On the way home, Jethro smothered the teenage boys with questions about the Match. Most of the questions were ignored as the men tried to carry their own conversations; but, in the flurry of words from everyone, not much could be understood. By the time they had reached the small hut, not much had been learned. On the bright side, they now knew the boy's real name was Hun, that he was sixteen, had been Earth bending since he was eight, and born in Ba Sing Se. They learned alot about the Earth-Bending Tournament as well.
Each year, the tournament was held in one of four Arenas. One was in Ba Sing Se; that was where it had been held when Jet went. The year before it had been in Gaoling, and before that in Omashu. Even before that was on Kyoshi Island. Hun had been in none of them but the last one, where it had been decided he would be the final and most decisive contestant; his vitory or failure determined the champion.
If Jet had died, he would not have met Hun.
