Chapter 7
The month of training was going very fast. The Royal Prep and Dunwiddie Village students not only were great competitors, but also had developed into friends. Their friendly competition was honing the skills of both schools.
Dazzle Ball was especially spirited! Everyone was playing hard on this Tuesday the week before the Quad School Games. Sir Gillium liked what he was seeing from both schools.
"Nice pass, James!...Excellent defensive stop Lucinda!...Great shot and score, Jade!...Good rush and score, Sofia!..."
But then misfortune struck. Jin leapt high to catch the flying disc, when it changed to a football (American) style ball. In mid air, Jin tried to make an awkward adjustment with his body to try to catch it, but instead lost his balance and crashed hard to the field on his shoulder.
"Ohhhhhh!" Jin cried in pain.
Miss Flora immediately went over to see what she could do. She examined Jin and had some bad news for him.
"I'm sorry, Jin! You sprained your shoulder. I had to immobilize your shoulder to prevent further injury. It's going to take 3-4 weeks to heal, so you will be unable to participate in the Quad School Games."
"And I was so looking forward to participating!" exclaimed a sad Jin.
"That's okay, Jin! You can help us by giving us your loud support at the games!" soothed Sir Gillium.
Practice for the day was called, and all the participants went home.
Sir Gillium had to figure out what to do, as Jin was a Dazzle Ball participant and an Archery participant. So on Wednesday, he decided to ask the students if anyone else wanted to participate.
"Good morning, class!" started Sir Gillium. "I have an announcement. Young Prince Jin was injured yesterday in Dazzle Ball practice, as you all can see, and cannot play in the Quad School Games. If any of you are interested in joining, please see me after school. You will participate in Dazzle Ball and, if possible, Archery."
Zooey gave a nudge to Trudy. "Here's your chance to be added to the team for Archery, Trudy!"
"But I can't play Dazzle Ball, Zooey, so I'm still out of luck!" replied Trudy sadly.
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After school, the participants went to practice Flying Derby and Archery. Zooey intercepted Sofia.
"Sofia! I've got an idea! I'm signed up to participate in the 100M Dash and Archery. I can volunteer for Dazzle Ball and maybe Sir Gillium will give Trudy a chance at the open Archery slot!"
"That's an idea, Zooey, but won't you be too tired to participate in Archery and Dazzle Ball?"
"I don't think so. I will just be using my arms for the strenuous part of archery; there is no running involved."
"If you think you can do it, go for it Zooey!"
So Zooey approached Sir Gillium.
"Sir Gillium?"
"Yes, Princess Zooey?"
"I'd like to fill in on the Dazzle Ball team for the Quad School Games! Jin was going to do Dazzle Ball and Archery, so I'm sure I can too!"
"That's good, Zooey, and I may take you up on it. But you are already on the Archery participation list. I'm going to hold out hope that someone else steps forward, so you won't be our only Archery participant. Now I must go, and supervise the Flying Derby practice. Today we'll be working on basic team plays with the Dunwiddie Village students."
With that, Sir Gillium got on his flying horse and went over to the Flying Derby practice and Zooey went to Archery practice.
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Flying Derby practice was going well. Ruby and Jade would watch Sofia and Hugo perform a team play, and then they would try it.
The Flying Block was very effective for Ruby and Jade, as Dove's angular movement made it very difficult to pass her, giving Jade time to build a lead. And Ruby and Jade decided on how they would use the Wing Blast.
"Remember, Ruby, I'll drop back to give you a Wing Blast and you set up right behind the horse on the outside left. With Dove's ability to fly diagonally, you should pass the rider in front of you with ease."
"Got it!"
Ruby and Jade tried a practice race against Hugo and Sofia, and gave them a good run. Sofia just nipped Ruby by a nose at the Finish Line.
"Great race, Ruby, Jade!"
"I'll say, Sofia! They almost got us!" responded Hugo.
"Thanks guys!" stated Jade.
"We've been able to learn so much from you both by watching you practice together!" exclaimed Ruby.
"Indeed, racers!" complimented Sir Gillium. "I think you are going to surprise your opponents at the Games. They won't suspect Dunwiddie Village students can actually do well in the Flying Derby!"
And with that, the Flying Derby practice ended. Sir Gillium looked around to see if any other students at Royal Prep wanted to take Jin's place, but saw no one. He sadly decided he'd have to accept Zooey's offer, and flew over to the Archery practice field to let her know.
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At Archery practice, Jin showed up with his immobilized shoulder, to lend moral support to the other archers.
Meg and Peg were very concerned.
"I'm sorry you hurt your shoulder, Jin!" stated Meg.
"And won't be able to participate!" added Peg.
"That's okay, Meg, Peg. I just feel bad that Zooey will be our school's only participant in the Archery competition." responded Jin.
"Maybe I will, and maybe I won't," said Zooey. She then addressed King Roland.
"King Roland? Please try to convince Sir Gillium to add Trudy to our archery participation list! She can do it!"
King Roland thought for a while and then said, "Maybe I won't have to do much convincing. I have a plan..." And King Roland laid out his plan to the archers. They were all in, so it was a go.
Sir Gillium soon arrived to let Zooey know that he would accept her offer to join the Dazzle Ball team. As he landed, he was greeted by King Roland and Zooey.
"How has practice gone, King Roland?" Sir Gillium asked.
"Good, Sir Gillium! Zooey told me she was hoping you would come to tell her about her offer."
"And she is right."
Then addressing Zooey, Sir Gillium said, "Zooey, seeing no one else has come forward to take Jin's spot, I am going to accept your offer to join the Dazzle Ball Team. I just feel bad that you will be the only one representing Royal Prep in Archery."
"Maybe not, Sir Gillium!" exclaimed King Roland. "I want you to watch something."
And with that, King Roland took Sir Gillium to a viewing area for the Archery field.
"I want you to watch a secret archer perform, and you can tell me if they could be on the team."
Gillium agreed.
The secret archer first took three shots at the 10M target, and hit the 10, 9, and 9 scoring circles. That got Sir Gillium's attention, as Zooey, Jin, Meg and Peg were there with him watching the demonstration.
The archer did well with the 20M target also, hitting the 9, 8, and 9 scoring circles. The 30M target was just as impressive, as the archer hit the 9, 8 and 8 scoring circles.
"Well, Sir Gillium, what do you think of this archer?" asked King Roland.
"They are outstanding! Are they a student at Royal Prep?"
"Watch and see. Come on out from behind the bush covering, secret archer."
And with that, Trudy rolled out into the open, with a bow in her hand! Sir Gillium was shocked.
"King Roland, do you mean to tell me Princess Trudy was the secret archer?"
"None other, Sir Gillium!"
With that, Sir Gilliam slowly walked to Princess Trudy.
"Princess Trudy, would you like to be on the Royal Prep team? I understand if you don't, as I made a mistake I should not have, namely it's what's inside of a person that counts the most, not what's on the outside. I focused on what you could not do, instead of what you can, and for that I sincerely apologize."
Trudy responded, "There is no need for an apology, Sir Gillium. You did what you thought was right at the time, but now you are giving me a chance. I gladly accept your offer to be on the Royal Prep Archery Squad!"
Everyone gave a loud cheer. Sir Gillium asked Trudy to wait a few minutes and he took off on his horse. He quickly came back with a Royal Prep team uniform for her. Trudy beamingly accepted it. Everyone had a very happy ride home, but no one was happier than Princess Trudy. She felt that she was finally being accepted.