Chapter Eleven: A Fight Between Friends
Friends have arguments. Sometimes they end a friendship, sometimes they make one stronger. Friends have to fight one time or another but besides… What's a little fight between friends?
The king had a solemn look on his face. He was alone with Ceres. Aang was visiting his friends to make sure that they were alright. They were half-way encased in crystal, but with only one trial left they had high hopes of being saved.
"I see you know about Aang and his gift of air bending. I'm surprised he hadn't told you." The king said to her. "But more importantly, I know you have found out about the corn seeds."
"They're magic aren't they? I knew it!" she exclaimed.
"No, it isn't the seeds." He said.
"The seeds aren't the magic?" she asked him. She was confused.
"Those are regular corn seeds. If you heat them up they pop like any other corn seed. If you plant them they grow like any other corn seed." He said.
"Then how did they grow by themselves?" she asked.
"Who said anything about them growing about themselves?" the king said. A loud ding-dong rang through the castle. It was time for the last trial. The king led Ceres out of the room. She didn't acknowledge him when he spoke to her again as he asked her to follow him. Her mind was buzzing with thought. He had to poke her to get her to mentally wake up.
She followed him as they went to get Aang for the next trial. His friends came as well to watch the next trial. They had to waddle to move. Ceres was stifling giggles; she knew they'd get mad if she burst out laughing.
The king took them to a giant room that looked like an arena. Katara and Sokka were on a different balcony than Ceres, Aang, and the king. Ceres couldn't help but gaze at the arena. It was gigantic and had spikes coming out of the ground in some places. She wondered what the trial was.
"Well? What's the trial?" Aang asked the king impatiently.
The king flicked a finger and two huge mounds of earth came from underneath Ceres and Aang. They flew them into the arena before returning to their original spots. Ceres had fallen down on her butt since she hadn't expected it.
"What's going on?" Ceres asked the king. She stood up and dusted herself off.
"The last trial is a battle." The king said.
"Who are we fighting?" Aang asked.
"Each other." The king said simply.
Ceres' jaw dropped. "What? I'm not fighting him! He's a bender! Plus, he's my friend!" she protested.
"Well then I guess your friends will be encased in crystal." The king said.
Ceres looked at Aang and nodded. "I'll fight you."
"Good. Let the battle begin!" the king yelled into the room.
"Five gold pieces on the boy!" said a guard to another one.
Ceres bowed to Aang. He bowed back. "Remember, Ceres. The seeds." The king called.
"What's that mean?" Aang thought out loud.
Suddenly he was being pelted with seeds. Ceres was throwing them at him, not really knowing what she was doing. She was hoping that the corn would grow again, but it wasn't. "C'mon! It happened last time!" Ceres said quietly.
Aang punched is fists together and a bubble of air appeared around him; blowing off the seeds. He took a step forward and shot a whip of air at Ceres. She jumped out of the way, tripping on her own feet.
Ceres tried to think of some other way to attack, but there weren't really any options. She didn't have a weapon, plus she didn't want to hurt him. She looked around and saw rocks. Lots and lots of small rocks she could throw. Another gust of wind was being shot at her and she dived for the rocks.
She grabbed one in her hand and threw it at him. It hit him in the head and knocked him over, but it seemed to only happen because he wasn't expecting it. He wasn't hurt much. Ceres stood up, holding a bunch of rocks in her arms. She started to chuck them at him as hard as she could.
Aang had figured out her tactic and had made a spout of air that caught some of the rocks. Most of them hit him though because they were so spread out between shots. One sliced his arm and it was bleeding.
Finally, Ceres ran out of rocks. Plus, Aang's hands were getting tired from all the air bending he had to do. But, he was determined to pass this trial. He noticed that Ceres was taking a quick rest and took this as his chance. He whipped air at her and hit his target. Ceres was knocked over and was on the ground, trying to get back up.
He jumped into the air and landed on top of her. He had his foot on her chest. He looked up at the king. "I win now, right?"
"Well, would you say you've won a battle without injuring the person?" the king asked, with a slight sarcastic tone.
"Yes." Aang said quickly.
Ceres was shaking under Aang's foot. She was praying that he wouldn't hurt her. She didn't realize what was going on around her. The seeds were growing once again around her and all were coming towards Aang. They started to wrap around him.
"Hey! What's going on!" he cried, getting off her.
Ceres jumped up, amazed at what was once again happening. The corn stalks were wrapping all around Aang and looked like they were squeezing him. Ceres suddenly realized what was happening. She was doing this, not the seeds. She stepped aback in fear of her own doing. The stalks continued to squeeze Aang until she screamed, "Stop!" The stalks stopped and withered away, freeing Aang.
Ceres fell to the ground in shock. "I'm doing this. I did that." She whispered. Then, she fainted.
Yep, that's chapter eleven for you. I just love imagining how Ceres would chuck rocks at Aang -. And also, there's your answer to the big question, "What kind of bender is she?" She's a plant bender. Although right now all she knows about is corn.
Oh, and I'm sorry about the preveiw thingy under the chapter name. I just had that idea when I made this chapter and just HAD to put it up.