Chapter 11: What's the challenge?
"One, one two. 40. One, one two. 41," The soft thud of her gloves hitting the pads were the only sound Aelin heard. Everything else was white noise.
It had been a week since the whole poison incident. A week of being fussed over. And a week of bonding with the two most dearest male bastards in her life.
She'd finally convinced Rowan to let her go from custody. Giving a 30-minute lecture on why she should leave the terrible prison that was his room, he finally agreed. Deeming that if he had to listen to her profanity for a minute longer he will have to get a pint of AB positive.
So, they were in the sparring room. Hoping to get Aelin back in shape. Although it was only a week and her form hadn't changed, every bit of exercise counted.
She couldn't let Ianthe's games get the best of her. Slow her down? Maybe. But, stopping her was out of the question.
She was athletic, an orphan, and although coming from a rich family she needed to get into college. It would be her only hope at a proper, regular source of income. She wasn't the only one who needed this as much as she did.
Rowan had a haunting past and this would help him move on.
Aedion needed to prove to his father that he wasn't weak and that he had his father's immortal-like strength.
Lysandra needed this so that she could get out of an almost unpayable debt caused by her mother.
They all needed this adventure and outcome, all for different reasons. While Ianthe was an ignorant fool who hadn't suffered enough. She didn't deserve to win. Didn't deserve friends like her's. Let her go on with her tricks, but she wouldn't trick her back because she didn't need to waste her time on her and she had faith that karma would get Ianthe eventually.
So every time Aelin fell down for doing something wrong, she got right back up as if to tell the world that busybody whores like Ianthe weren't getting the best of her.
But as she lay in bed with Rowan that night she couldn't help but ask Rowan perhaps to her own expense, "Who says that we can't turn Ianthe own tricks against her?"
"Well, I see your back Aelin. And just in time," Aelin's homeroom teacher looked at the class evilly, the last time he looked at them like that was when… "turn around and look at the blackboard please."
Uh oh. This couldn't be any good.
And boy it wasn't.
Hello, Hello. I hope you're all feeling well because the time for your 3rd round is tomorrow! I'll give you a clue as to what it is:
She's no princess.
She's a girl who lived a lie.
'I'd like a pan-fried noodle!'
What the hell did that mean? The first two hints were broad close to the point of uselessness and it most likely lead to a loophole. And the third one was just completely absurd.
But not unsolvable.
"How about, Katniss Everdeen. The teacher might want us to hurt each other or something," Aedion offered.
Lysandra scoffed, "Aedion, that's the worst idea ever. First, does that sound like a school-appropriate thing to do? Nevertheless, instruct? Second, of all it doesn't have anything to do with pan-fried noodles."
Aedion countered, "Or maybe the teacher just threw in the clue to throw us off."
Okay, he was being stupid. Aelin knew it and so did he. And so did everyone else in the world.
Resigning his case Aedion grumbled, "I don't understand why we're fussing over some stupid riddle. Can't we just prepare for whatever heads our way?"
"Learning what you're up against is crucial. You must first assess the situation, then you must consider all options, and finally, you must prepare for the path you believe is best," Rowan instructed.
He was a true warrior at heart. He seemed to find comfort in situations like these. A warrior born on a battlefield, ready to fight his way out.
"Jeez, you sound like General Shang," Aedion murmured.
He kind of was. Aelin straightened. General Shang-Mulan, Aelin gasped Mulan! That was it!
"Aedion! You're a genius,"Aelin exclaimed.
"Well, yeah, of course, this is me we're talking about… What exactly did I do?"
"Mulan! She wasn't a princess. She pretended to be a man to join the army. She lived a lie. 'I'd like a pan-fried noodle, was something one of the characters said. I remember it 'cause it's pretty funny."
Lysandra's eyes widened, "That makes sense. The challenge must have something to do with Mulan. It's even better because there is a huge training scene."
"Isn't there a song in the scene?" Rowan asked.
"Yeah, there is, it's actually my favorite Disney song ever! Let's watch it!" Aelin's eyes widened.
And so they spent the next 3 hours watching the music video and came down with 3 possible challenges:
Climbing a pole with weights
Sparring with sticks and obstacles
Archery with moving objects
Author's note: Hey!
This isn't my best work, but it gets the plot moving.
As you can tell I'm a Disney nerd. And no I'm not 5 years old. Mulan is my favorite movie and I like the challenges in them so why not use one?
What's your favorite Disney movie and what challenge do you think will happen?
Review!