The Trials

For a moment we all stood stunned. It must be very important for the King to come all to see our trials.

"Kids keep going to where the trials will be held," said Shen.

We started walking again and wondered what this would mean for our group of boys who were to take part of this tradition.

"Why would the King of Omashu want to travel all the way to our village to see our trials?" Chun inquired.

"There are a few reasons that I can think of, but none of them will be fact until I meet with the King," replied Shen, "Now we need to prepare the village for his arrival and have someone make preparations for his family and any soldiers who accompany him." Shen said this without any bitterness in his voice. One of his great qualities was that he was a very generous host. Plus he had served as a general in the King's army.

"I'll go and see who would be willing to share their homes with the King and his men, although I don't know if the people are going to be happy about it," said Chun.

"I know but it's best to extend hospitality and swallow our pride even if it's for a few days," Shen stated.

As we made our way to the arena where the trials would be held I spotted Chan and Ilia heading that way.

"Hey Chan hold on a second," I called. Both Chan and Ilia turned and Ilia seemed to go red for some reason.

"Delta I would've expected you to be in the arena already, what kept you?" Chan replied. I fell into step with him. Ilia fell behind with my brothers and sister and started chatting with Lian.

"Just got some interesting news before we caught up to you guy's. The King of Omashu is coming to see the trials and the ceremony."

That stopped Chan dead in his tracks, "Why would the King bother coming all the way out here? We're the village that's the farthest away from his city."

"I've got a few ideas. Maybe he wants more men in his army, or maybe he needs some more entertainers at his court. Nothing will be certain until he comes here and announces his plans." I looked back at Ilia, "Hey, any reason Ilia's acting differently around me?" Chan had noticed it too.

"You mean it's not obvious?" he replied in mock amazement.

Delta shook his head although he had an idea. "She likes you D," Chan said, "She has since the two of you could walk and talk."

His reply took me off guard. First off he's one of the only people who call me D for a nickname. Secondly I knew that I liked Ilia as well. She was a very pretty girl with long black hair and cute green eyes. She was also rather tall for the age of sixteen. I guess I had been paying more attention to my father's lessons about warfare and hunting and farming than to the girls in my village.

"Honestly I don't know why you've never made a move on her," Chan said.

To me the answer was simple. I know most people are content with their place in life. But for me I felt out of place. I couldn't place my finger on it exactly but I knew that there were things out in the world that I was connected to, and I wanted to find out more about my past. Who was the woman in the painting that I had back at home? Why did I have a strange set of traveling clothes that fit me perfectly that weren't from my parents?

"Delta, you okay?" Chan asked.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, just lost in my thoughts."

We had finally gotten to the arena where the trials would be held. The arena was in the shape of a large rectangle. It was built by Kang, the only Earthbender in our village. Our village is fairly big considering how far away we live from any of the cities. At least 250 to 300 people live here. Most of them are farmers growing crops, although we have a few blacksmiths, carpenters, hunters, and other skilled artisans. Almost everyone was seated in the arena with a few exceptions; my parents and some of the boys who were going to be a part of the ceremony. The entrance to the arena was located on the east side. It was built going north to south so that anyone who was in it wouldn't have any unfair advantage of using the sun for a weapon.

Finally the other boys who were missing showed up. Among them was Ming. A tall boy, he was about my height with black hair and black eyes and he was very muscular to say the least.

"Leave it to Ming to be one of the last guys in the arena," muttered Chan who was standing next to me.

I smiled and nodded in agreement. Ming was always one of the more arrogant boys in our village. As the other boys got into line, Shang walked over to where Chan and I were standing.

"Any ideas where our parents are?" he asked.

"No, but if I had to guess they're preparing for the King's arrival and probably getting a reception committee ready for him. That's what I'd be doing if I knew the King was coming to our village."

Just then we heard a blaring sound very close to our village. Everyone stopped talking and rose from their seats.

A herald from the King's party ran into the tunnel and said in a loud voice that rang throughout the arena, "The King of Omashu and his party are here to witness the trials for this village."

Then the King walked in with his retinue behind him. Next to him was my father. They were talking as if they were old friends - which they were. As the King entered we all bowed to him.

"Rise everyone, there's no need to pay homage to me, especially on a day like today," said the King.

We all rose from our kneeling positions.

My father said, "Your highness, it isn't every day that we such an important person is in our midst. Plus it would be ungracious not to give you the respect that is due to you."

"You always seem to know what to say Shen. I guess that's one of the reasons my sister married you."

There was a rustle in the crowd at this remark. Even Shang looked taken aback.

Chan looked at me, "You never told me your mom was related to the King!"

"Probably because I didn't know for sure until now, that and the fact that Chun isn't my real mother may have had something to do with it," I replied.

This took both Chan and Shang by surprise. Before they could say anything, the King walked over to where our group was standing.

"So Shen, which boys are yours?" asked the King.

My dad motioned to Shang and me to come forward, "Delta and Shang are going to be in the trials this year," he said with a touch of pride in his voice.

The King stopped in front of me and did a double take, "This one doesn't have the look of your family. Is he the one that you found floating in a basket all those years ago?"

"He is. Chun and I decided to take him in rather than leave him to the wild," replied Shen.

"No need to sound defensive Shen. It was a very noble deed that you've done," The King looked at me again and whispered, "When you've passed the trials and the ceremony is complete, come and see me. I have some knowledge of your past that I want to share with you."

Of all the things he could have said to me, this was expected least of all. I thought he would have made some remark about my eyes being different from everyone else's. But this was totally unexpected. I bowed to him again. He nodded and walked to the stands with his retinue. This time it seemed as if the entire stadium was looking at me.

Then the King said "Let the trials begin!"

Kang, the master of the trials stepped forward. He would determine who would go first and last as well as who would pass.

"Alright maggots stand up straight, front and center!" he barked.

We all stood to attention. We had a relatively big class this year. About twenty five to thirty boys were going to participate in the trials.

Kang started giving us a speech. "Today we get to see which of you deserve our respect and those who will be humiliated and have to wait another year."

We had a few boys in our group who still hadn't passed the ceremony. Ming was one of those few.

"You all know what you have to do so I'll only say a few things about the tasks themselves. In the first round you'll fight one of the warriors with a quarterstaff. If you beat him then you move on to hand to hand combat with just your hands and feet as your weapons. Lastly, there's the Square of Confusion. Here you will have to weave in and out of twenty five stone pillars in order to find your opponent. If you do all of this you will become a man. Fail any of these tasks and you will be the talk of not just the village, but of the King's court as well."

Kang finished his speech and we waited to see who would be called up first.

"Chan son of Wu and Chu,"

Chan let out a small sigh at being chosen first.

I nudged him, "Don't worry man. You'll make it."

He stepped forward and Kang asked him how many warriors he wanted to fight, "I'll fight two warriors," he replied.

This seemed to take Kang and the crowd by surprise. Very few boys take on more than one opponent. Chan was setting the bar high with this announcement. I looked to the stands and saw Ilia sitting next to her parents who were sitting next to my family. She seemed as astonished as anyone in the crowd. I turned back to see how Chan would do.

The two warriors closed in on him. Chan stood his ground and took up a defensive position. I knew that when he took up this stance no one would be able to beat him. The warrior on his left made a move to get around him behind his blind side. Rather than let him do this Chan ran in between the men and rolled on the ground. Just as he rolled the two guys swung at him but hit only air - and themselves in the process. After Chan got up he whacked them both to make sure they were down.

The crowd cheered and Kang said "Round two begin hand to hand combat!"

Chan and the two warriors put their quarterstaffs aside and then took up fighting stances. The warrior to Chan's right moved in on him. Chan blocked his punch and countered with a kick to his side. The warrior easily defended this. As this was going on the other warrior got on Chan's blindside and tried to hold him. This was a big mistake; as soon as Chan felt this he tossed the guy onto the ground, kneed him in the gut and then kicked him in the head. This knocked the warrior out. The other warrior tried kicking Chan but he grabbed hold of his leg and hit him in the face, punched him in the chest and released his hold of the guy. The warrior fell back and Chan kicked him in the stomach to make sure he was down. The crowd cheered. I looked up and saw Ilia smile with pride at Chan's accomplishments so far.

"Now move aside so I can make the Square of Confusion," said Kang.

The Square of Confusion is an area of rocky pillars that stands in a formation which is 5x5 pillars wide and 5x5 pillars long. During this stage the initiate is given his choice of wooden sword. There were katana's, and jian models to choose from. Knowing Chan he would choose the katana. Even though these were wooden swords they could still hurt a lot. Chan stood at his end which was the north end and waited for the signal from Kang, "Begin!"

We didn't get a great look at what happened but we did see Chan doing what he was supposed to. After three rounds Chan exited the area and the crowd cheered him.

The next boy who was called went in and it started over again. Most got through their trials without too much difficulty. Shang barely made it but he pulled through. For some reason no one wanted to fight more than two people at once. I knew that I wouldn't let Chan say he was better than me because he fought two guys which is more than what most of the other guys did.

The sun was starting to go down in the west and there were only three of us left. The waiting had to be the worst part because you didn't know when your name would be called and you had to stay in place while the others congratulated each other on making it through.

Finally Kang called my name, "Delta son of Shen and Chun!"

The crowd stirred at the sound of my name being called. Even the King took more interest in me.

"How many men will you fight Delta?" asked Kang.

Knowing that people would look at me differently after this moment I replied steadily, "Three."