After Tom and Steven chopped some wood for Afinsa, they said their goodbies and headed for the site where the supposed Emporer landed. They didn't exactly trust him, no one did, but they figured why the fuck not. After everyone arrived, they were told they would be flown to the trial site. They all laughed but got in the strange object anyway.
They had never been so wrong in their lives. They flew over the clouds and they were scarred, but they calmed down eventually.
"So, how much longer is it?" asked Vladimir, a young man who was staring out the window in amazement.
"We're descending now," said the Emporer, as they started to descend.
Every one hung on like their lives depended on it, despite being strapped in tightly.
"OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" shouted Anton, an over-paranoid boy ever since he was born. The only reason he came was to prove he wasn't chicken.
"Calm down, man, we've almost landed!" said Tom.
"YOU MEAN CRASH!"
There's this great new invention called AIR. You should try it sometime!" replied Steven, with so much sass Tom burst in tears laughing.
"We're here!" said the Emporer, which calmed down Anton greatly.
"I'll get you one day, Steven."
"Shut the fuck up, Ann," said Tom, knowing it would piss off Anton like nothing else.
"Remember, there is no turning back from here. If you die, you die following a noble cause. If you live, you forever become part of that cause," said the Emporer, after chuckling slightly from the exchange of words between the hopefully would be warriors. "From now on, you are all brothers, even if not by blood. Let the trials begin!"
The people of the village who came didn't exactly know what to do, so they took all the weights they could and started showing off. If they didn't have any, they ran laps around the track to see who was faster. Near the end of the trials for the day, Tom and Steven were panting heavily.
"You wanna see who can run 10 more laps around the track?" asked Steven.
"Let's just see who can do more," replied Tom. They took up position and started to run. They ran for five laps before they almost collapsed.
I can't lose this, thought Steven. Tom's beaten me in everything else, I MUST do this! He called upon a reserve of energy he didn't know he had, and came around for a sixth. After that, he fell on the ground next to his brother, just as surprised as everyone else.
"Steven, is it? When you can move again, come talk to me. There's something you should know," said the Emporer.
"I'm coming too," said Tom, obviously drained.
"No, just Steven."
"He's my fucking brother. Whatever you tell him, you can tell me. And it would save some time also."
"You're not going to back down, are you?"
"Nope."
"Fair enough."