Shen Mozetomei
The crowd roared as smoke filled the air. Shen and his opponent were evenly matched,trading blow for blow, but Shen was growing weak. If he didn't end this soon, he wasn't sure if he could pull out a win. He called to the storm already brewing above him, asking for his power as he raised his spear skyward. In a flash of brilliant light, lightning struck the tip, causing the spear to glow with power. In one swift motion, Shen leveled the point at his opponent and charged, using the lightning's power to increase his speed. His opponent tried to prepare a spell, but Shen was faster. His spear struck, sending the power of the lightning he'd called earlier straight into his unfortunate foe. As the smoke cleared Shen's opponent collapsed to the ground in front of him, unconscious. Ten long seconds passed before a horn rang out across the arena, Shen had won. This was followed shortly by cheers, some of which sounded like they where chanting his name. "Shen.... Shen...." They started small and grew until it felt like it was one voice, one that sounded extremely familiar. "
Shen.... Hey are you listening to me?!" Then Shen's vision of the arena faded and he found himself in his room at the School of Elusive Path. He blinked, regaining his grip on reality.
"You really need to stop zoning out like that," said the voice who had interrupted his dream, "Now come on, we need to finish packing, the boat from the School of Artistic Combat is arriving tomorrow."
"Oh Sonaki it's you," Shen said as he turned to see her standing in front of him, "I already finished most of my packing, and I was just thinking about the tournament."
"Don't gimme that crap you were daydreaming again," she said, a tone of anger in her voice, "I had to stand here yelling your name for 2 minutes to get your attention, the Grandmaster wants all our luggage packed and stored in the lobby by nightfall so the harbor staff can move them onto the boat when it arrives."
"Ok, thanks for letting me know," Shen replied, looking out his window to see that the sun was beginning to set over the desert, "I'll go take them down now."
"Alright, but don't zone out again, and make sure you get some decent sleep." she replied, the hardness in her voice fading.
"Same goes for you," Shen said grabbing his luggage, "After all you're just as important as any of us on the offence team for this tournament." his words weren't far from the truth. Even though Sonaki was on the team designated for defense, not offense, she was coming to the opening ceremonies as the "field tactician" for this years tournament. This meant that it was her job to use her extraordinary telepathy ability to both relay messages and battle plans made by the defense team here at the school and to help protect the team from other team's psychic scanners reading the minds of the offense team to find strategies and weaknesses.
"I'll be fine," she stated as she turned to leave, "You need someone there to watch over you guys after all."
"Yeah, I guess your right," Shen said with his voice full of sarcasm, "We might get lost without you guiding us."
"If by "we", you mean "you" then yeah you're right," She said playfully as she walked down the hall to her room, "I've already put my stuff downstairs so i'm going to bed now."
"Oh ok, Good Night," Shen called as she entered the door.
"Night" She called back.
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Shen anxiously twisted the end of his shirt, a nervous habit of his, as he and his team waited at the harbor the following morning. Despite going to bed early, he was still tired, as he hadn't slept as soundly as he would have liked the night before, but then again he never slept well before a day like today.
The weather was hotter then usual, the heat of the Sun baring down relentlessly on the dry sands that surrounded Lavorgo. Not even standing near the river's edge offered relief on days like today, and shade barely lowered the temperature by a few degrees. Which made the sight of Artistic Combat's ship all the more startling.
The ship was massive first of all, barely fitting into the port, it looked more like a freight ship then a passenger boat. It also gleamed brightly in the sun, causing Shen to think the boat was covered in ice, until he saw that the whole boat was actually
made of ice with a wooden skeleton to conceal the insides. As the boat pulled into the harbor, Shen could see that none of the ice had even begun to melt.
How the heck did they manage to make that much magic ice Shen thought as a bridge made of ice formed, connecting the deck to the end of the pier.
I wonder if they'd be mad if I asked later, probably. Shen and his team boarded the boat, initially making sure not to slip, only to realize that the ice wasn't even slippery, or even cold for that matter.
Geez, what a bunch of show offs Shen thought as he walked down the main hallway to his cabin below decks.
Still I gotta say that the craftsmanship is amazing, they even carved designs into the walls on the inside. Shen was so entranced by the ships design and how it was made that he almost missed his room, which was near to end of the row on the farthest right side.
He walked in and placed down his stuff, thankful that everyone got their own room, he hated sharing his space with others. He unpacked the stuff he'd need to go to sleep tonight, blankets, pillows, and some clothes he'd wear for the 3 day sail to Aldhaven. Once he got settled in, he laid down on his bed and began to think. His teammates were up on the deck talking and chatting up with the students of Artistic Combat, some apparently even knew each other from the last tournament. Shen wanted nothing to do with that, thought, as he preferred to be alone, or at least with some close friends, most of which he'd left behind at the school. Sonaki and the Grandmaster were the only two people he truly knew on this ship, all the rest where strangers or acquaintances that he hadn't meet before being accepted to join the offence team. So he sat alone in his room and thought about things, what the tournament would be like, the construction of the ship he was on, and what kind of people and places he'd see while this tournament took place. Having never been able to leave Lavorgo, Shen had spent many days in the library, reading about all the different schools and cities of the world, though he was most interested in the stories of ancient ruins and the bits and pieces of ancient lore they contained. While they were mostly just considered stories, they contained tales of gods and ancient powers now lost to his modern world. Shen had made it his goal to visit each of the ruins he had read about during this world trekking tournament. Shen's stomach growled loudly suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.
Oh crap it's almost dinner time and I haven't even found the dinning court yet! Shen left his room in a hurry, making sure to lock it on the way out with the key Artistic Combat's Grandmaster had given him when they got on the boat, before taking off down the hallway towards the main hallway.
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I think I should travel up to Skymouth every once in awhile when I have money, dang can they cook a good meal! Shen thought to himself as he left the dinning court. He came to the crossroads where the two school's compartments meet, and was about to head to the deck to look at the stars when he heard a faint sound come from the hallway to his left. Shen stopped and listened more closely,
Is that music? it's coming from the Artistic Combat's compartment. Not that this was a surprise, he knew Artistic Combat was a school for musicians, artists, and dancers, but he hadn't thought any would be practicing with the Elusive Path team on board to hear them, and especially not at this time of night. Curious, Shen cautiously entered the compartment, unsure if he was allowed to enter, and followed the music to the room farthest to the left, which was cracked open ever so slightly. Peeking inside, he saw a young girl, slightly older then himself, playing..... nothing?
How can that be? Is she actually making music out of thin air?! Then the girl turned slightly towards him, and Shen realized that she wasn't playing nothing, but a cello that was almost entirely see-through against the icy wall behind her, which meant that it was either made of crystal or ice Shen guessed. He stood there and watched her for a few seconds, enraptured in her music, before deciding he should leave before she notices him. As he turned to leave, however, he steeped on a board that hadn't been fully covered in ice, causing a loud creaking sound. Shen flinched, hoping the girl hadn't heard him, but it was too late.