Walking from the steps of the foot academy to the outside swamp, she sighs as she and Haki look onto the world as a new beginning. "Ready to go Haki?" she smiles, his reaction is jump up and down ready to go forward.

At the base of the mountain Ferum looked back up the path at the Academy. He smiles as he remembers training inside its ancient stone walls. He recalls Bron's gruff encouragement. As a deep laugh pours from his belly he begins to walk away from the mountains that had been his home. Ferum was ready for what ever adventure awaited him. He would prove the worth of earth summoners the world over. As he sets forth he wonders if he will meet anyone interesting.

Lumiere slowly made her way down the stairs of the academy's main entrance, absentmindedly tapping the soulstone in her left eye socket with her left index finger. Capturing that vengeful spirit had been no easy feat, but it had been well worth the effort, or that's what Lumiere kept telling herself, as she now fulfilled all conditions to represent her academy at the royal tournament. With less than half an hour left until the announcement of this years representatives Lumiere was growing increasingly excited, even though none of her excitement was appearant on her face, which was wearing the same innocent smile it always did. Noting that one of her friends and upperclassmen was standing nearby with one of her summons jumping up and down next to her Lumiere slightly accelerated her steps, enjoying the warm stones underneath her bare feet.

"Hello Gina. Looks like nearly everyone is here now." said Lumiere taking in the mass of students and faculty members gathered in front of the academy. Many of the students and teachers wore stylized masks to hide their faces from wild spirits. Although wild spirits approached the academy building very rarely, most members of the spirit academy, and in fact, many people of Sagheir's population had taken to wearing gtheir masks at nearly all times. Lumiere, with her constant unreadable smile had no need masks and was rather glad that her parents had taught her to mask her true feelings by retaining the same expression at all times.

"Did you know ? Rumour has it that the headmaster is planning to send out some of the younger, less well-known members of the academy this year. I think he wants to make sure that their opponents will have a harder time preparing for them." "Of course, that might be only a rumour, but if it's true, that means it could be any of the people gathered here...even me." thought Lumiere as she let her remaining eye wander across the gathered academy members. Although she was talented and eager to prove herself, she was also well-aware that there were many summoners gathered here who greatly surpassed her in terms of experience.

*"Ahem"*

Almost as one the heads of the people present ceased their conversations whipped around as they recognized the sound of the headmaster's voice by the entrance. The headmaster, a venerable elderly man and a figure of utmost respect for every member of the academy was standing inside a pulpit above the entrance, flanked by two of his most trusted summons.

"May I have your attention please! The announcement of this year's representatives of the great and honorable sprit academy of Sagheir will begin shortly! I would like all of you to remember that, for now, only two of our representatives will be announced. More of them will be announced at a later point. Those who are chosen ot represent our academy will be expected to perform to the best of their abilities in the royal tournament. However, even those who don't make it will play a vital role in this event. Support our chosen representatives with encouragement, let them know that you believe in them and pray to whatever deitie's you might believe in that they will be successful! Now then, the first two of this year's chosen representatives are...

Lumiere and Gina!! Congratulations!

Although there was no hint of it on her face, Lumiere almost fainted when her name was called out by the headmaster. The excitement and the joy of knowing that she and one of her friends would be allowed to represent her academy at the royal tournament made her dizzy, and so she made a deep bow in the direction of the headmaster before turning towards the gathered students and teachers and bowing before them as well as her heart beat faster than it had ever before.

Jumping a little as Lumiere comes up next to her, she smiles and looks around. "yea, it seems everyone is here today for this, seems like a really big deal this time." she mentions. Haki was next to her looking around as well at the other spirits. Looking around, everyone seemed to have one out at some point or another. Looking up, she can fantly see a dragon, seemingly young flying above them. Listening to the headmaster speak, once her name said she jumps up and down in amazment how they, them were picked. " Oh my god! we where picked!"

"No! I won't allow you to go to the tournament! Never!" a man shouted, followed by the sound of a slap.
It was Vihkar that was slaped, and another time on the other cheek. After those slaps two red hands could be seen on both Vihkar's cheeks.
"Why not? I am old enough, and I know I'm strong enough too." he whispered, he felt the tears in his eyes, but that was excatly where he'd keep them. Never would he let a tear cross his cheeks, it wasn't good for anything. And Vihkar was sure that he would get another slap if his father noticed it.
You?! Old? You're just a boy, a silly little boy. And strong? Hmpf, you can't even defeat all your summons. the man shouted, spitting in Vihkar's face.
"Says you..." Vihkar mumbled, immediatly wishing he didn't.
"Whaaat?! his father shouted, he was shaking in anger, Don't you ever say something like that again, you know I couldn't help it... You, I.... But... Aaarg!" after this outburst he collapsed falling onto the ground, coveringg his face with his hands,desperatly trying not to cry.
"Dad, wait, I didn't meant that, really. I know you couldn't help it, and I'm sure she knew it too. I was just-"
Get out of here! Get out! And don't come back, never! Vihkar's dad cried, with anger and sadness in his voice.
"But, father, I... I can't leave you here like this." Vihkar said, trying to make the situation better.
What now? You think I can't take care of myself, I despise you! the man said, punching Vihkar in his stomach. Vihkar felt his food come up his throat, he stepped back and waited until his father was done raging. His father sunked in again when it was over, lying on the ground, crying "G-go, don't e-ever c-come back, don't even l-look b-back!"
Vihkar didn't had a chose, he had to go. He packed his bag and walked towards the sun, unconsciously walking towards the royal tournament grounds. He had known this day would come ever since his mother died. It was in a battle between his father, mother and his great summon: Firestorm. It was a huge battle, but Firestorm had a trick left for when he would lose. He used one of his most powerful spells, turning Vihkar's father's great summon to turn upon his former friends. It attacked before anyone noticed, killing his mother, and her great summon who had tried to protect her, with his fiery lance. His father was broken, recapturing his great summon AND Firestorm. He was a mighty man indeed, too bad he became an alcohol addict. But Vihkar shouldn't think about the past, he had a whole, uncertain future ahead of him. Maybe he should go to that tournament anyway, he did manage to take his summons with him when he packed his stuff.
Sorry dad, I'll miss you. he thought, vowing that this would be the last emotion he would show ever since.

The clouds in the bright blue sky were very wispy and moved quickly, due to the strong wind that blew that day. Zephyr was lying on his back in the long grass, staring up at the sky. The sun was nice and warm on his face and the cool breeze prevented him from getting too hot.

Zephyr was starting to close his eyes and drift off into sleep when he heard someone yell his name. He opened his eyes, but all he saw was the clouds floating across the sky. Suddenly, he heard it again. Zephyr sat up and looked around, letting out a big yawn and doing a stretch as he did so. Just over the grass, he could see his best friend, Marcus, standing on the street looking for him.

"Whats up?" Zephyr asked casually, lying back down.

"Whats up? Zephyr, we have to go! The Headmaster has a big assembly happening right now! He is going to announce the first two students that will represent the entire school." Marcus said, almost panicking. Marcus was very high-strung compared to Zephyr. This was probably why they worked as best friends; Marcus liked to always be on time with everything and have everything perfect. Zephyr was nearly the opposite, but Marcus kept him in line most of the time and Marcus liked being his calendar sometimes.

"Alright, I'm up. Not that it really matters if we are there. He has already picked who they will be." Zephyr pushed himself to his feet and waded through the tall grass to the street that led to the front gate of the school.

"He can still change his mind if he thinks that you are unreliable. Besides, it is bad form. We should be there to support our fellow students if they get chosen." Marcus scurried after Zephyr, his short legs having trouble keeping up with Zephyr's long steps. Marcus was about half a foot shorter than Zephyr, which was only accentuated by the fact that he was also much bigger around and had muscle.

The two of them walked towards the big assembly building the middle of campus, Marcus urging Zephyr to move faster the entire time. They came into the room just as the Headmaster was standing up to start the event. Marcus dragged Zephyr to a row of chairs in the back of the room.

"Hello students and welcome to the big announcement. I am not going to make this drag on forever, as I am sure that most of you would like to go back to your studies, or any other plans that you may have for today," the Headmaster began. The Headmaster was a fairly young woman, only 10 years older than Zephyr himself. She was very forgiving and it was rare for a student to get kicked out of the school, no matter what sort of behavior it was.

She continued, "As you all know, the Royal Tournament is coming up very soon and I am sure that you would like to know who will be competing, representing our academy this year. I am about to announce the top two choices in our school, but if I don't say your name, don't give up hope. I will still be announcing some more later this week."

An excited murmur began to grow throughout the room as the Headmaster talked. A smile suddenly started to grow on the Headmaster's face. She loved surprises and giving good news.

As if she couldn't hold it in any longer, the Headmaster finally burst out, "And the first two representatives are Morna Nomino and Zephyr Anemoi!"

The entire crowd of students burst into frightening applause and cheering as soon as the Headmaster finished announcing their names. Marcus pushed Zephr to his feet and Zephyr could see Morna on the other side of the room. Zephyr smiled, one of the biggest he had ever smiled, and waved to the entire room.

Xavier sat in the library looking through books of different types of summons, he wanted to study all of them. even though he was a summoner of water he knew it could help him later if he studied them all. Xavier feels Varn nudging his leg. He looks under the table and looks at the big white tiger, Varn's fur was cold on Xavier's leg. Xavier moves his leg back and then pets Varn and says to him "We can go train later, right now I just want to finish reading." Varn nudges Xavier again and then lays down under the table. Xavier smiles and goes back to reading.

Xavier hears rapid footsteps heading towards him, he turns around and sees his friend Alice, her long golden hair sailing through the air as she ran, When she got to Xavier she placed both of her hands on top of his head and says to him "Xavier, your going to miss the assembly if you don't hurry." Xavier stares at Alice, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, he had a crush on her,but could never build up the courage to tell her. Xavier shakes himself from the trance Alice had on him and says " What's the point of me going,it's not like I'm going to be picked." Alice taps Xavier on the forehead and says " It doesn't matter if you get picked or not you should still be there." Xavier gets up from the table and says " Ok fine I'll go, Varn come on." Varn gets up from under the table and stands next to Xavier, The three then walks toward the library exit.

Xavier,Alice and Varn walk down the hallway toward the auditorium, Alice walked as if she didn't have a care in the world, she twirled around laughing and staring up at the ceiling. Xavier thought it made her look ridiculous,yet cute at the same time. Varn shook his head at Xavier,Xavier stares at the tiger who then stands behind in shame. Alice walks ahead of Xavier and then turns around and says to him. "If you were to get picked, how would you feel." Xavier scratches his head and says " Well, if I got picked, I guess I would be happy about it." Alice smiles and then says " if you got picked, I would happy for you. and think of all the other people who will be happy for you, some girl might even give you a kiss." Xavier looks away from Alice's gaze and says " Well, I guess that would be interesting." Xavier feels Varn's head shaking in disappointment on his back leg, he then turns and says to Varn " What are you shaking your head." Varn looks down at the ground and Xavier then turns around and laughs, Varn was always good for a laugh when he needed one.

Xavier, Alice and Varn step into the auditorium and see the crowd of students. Alice then points to some seats in the front, Alice then pushes Xavier to the front row and the two sit down. Varn then lays down in front of them. Xavier then looks at the person sitting next to Alice and realizes it it Joel Edwards, Joel has always been Xavier's rival, no matter what Xavier did Joel had to do something better, Xavier also knew Joel had a crush on Alice. Joel looks at Xavier and says "well you finally showed, it's ok if you don't get picked Xavier, it just means you need more training." Xavier leans back in his chair and says to Joel "well, if you don't get picked what does that mean." Joel then goes silent, Xavier pets Varn and then waits to hear what the head master has to say.

The Headmaster stands up, he was a rather old man, he looked to be in his sixties or seventies. He had a long white beard, white hair that covered his eyes a little. and he was wearing a blue robe that had white fur as a trim. The Headmaster cleared his throat and says "This day is quite an exciting one, today is the day I get the pleasure of announcing the first two students who will be competing in the tournament. But do not be discouraged if I do not say your name today, because there will be more names announced as the week goes on. So now it gives me great pleasure to announce the first to students." The Headmaster is handed a envelope by a woman wearing a blue dress, The Headmaster opens the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper, he then says " The Two students are Xavier Rhodes and Joel Edwards." Xavier stares at the Headmaster when his name is called, He then hears Joel's name and is somewhat saddened, but he is still happy he was picked. Xavier gets out of his seat and looks at all of the other students who are now clapping ans cheering. Xavier then feels someone latch onto him and he turns to see Alice who is hugging him and jumping up and down. Xavier then looks at Joel who is staring at him, with eyes burning with passion. Joel then gets up from his seat and leaves the Auditorium. Xavier smiles, not because of Joel leaving, but because the things that he thought was never going to happen just happened to him. Xavier looks at the Headmaster who mouths the word "Congratulations" to him, Xavier nods and smiles at the Headmaster. Xavier then turns to Alice who is still hugging him and says "Thanks Alice." She stares at him and says "For what?" He looks shakes his head and says " Just, thank you."

Lumiere was still swaying a little. Even though it wasn't appearant on her face, deep inside she was practically boiling over with joy and excitement. To think that she, who had caught her first greater summoning less than a month ago had been chosen for such a glorious task, to represent the spirit academy in the royal tournament and possibly even become this year's champion! She wasn't surprised to hear that one of her upperclassmen had been chosen, but her... Lumiere suddenly felt the urge to sit down for a moment when a completely different thought hit her.

"Wait, I don't have any time to sit around. I have to gome and prepare myself for the journey to Thoras!"

Lumiere was about to whip around and storm off to her parent's house when she suddenly felt the weight of a large hand on her left shoulder. Turning around she was greeted by two people she immediately recognized despite the stylized masks covering their faces.

"Mother, father, I have to go home and prepare myself for the journey to the capital." said Lumiere looking at the masked duo in front of her. To her credit, none of the excitement she felt inside managed to seep into her voice. Their training to help her hide her feelings had also taught her how to keep a neutral tone of voice, as without that even the best mask would have been worthless as soon as she opened her mouth in front of a foreign spirit.

"There is no need for that, dear. We already prepared everything you need." replied the left masked person, a woman whose raven hair flowed down all the way to her waist.

Lumiere resisted the urge to blink in surprise. There were times when she was wondering if her parents could see the future. This was one of those times.

"Did you...know things would turn out like this ?"

"No dear, but we had every faith that you had everything it takes to become one of this year's contestants."

"Thank you for having so much faith in my abilities. To be honest, I don't know what to say." replied Lumiere, somehow without blushing bright red at this proof of the trust her parents had in her.

"There is no need to say anything my dear. What matters now is that you and your friend hurry to Thoras and give your best."

"Your mother is right. We also made sure that your personal Ghurro is saddled and ready to go, though even with Ghurros it will be a three-day ride to the capital of the central continent. That reminds me, does your friend even know how to ride ?"

"I suppose so, but I am not quite sure. I will just have to ask her. if she doesn't know how to ride a Ghurro, I will be sure to teach her the basics before we leave so she doesn't have to run after me on foot."

With that, Lumiere shared a brief but not dispassionate hug with each of her parents and walked over to her friend and upperclassmen and tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

"Looks like we have a long journey ahead of us. We'll reach our goal a lot faster if we use Ghurros. Do you know how to ride one ?"

Zephyr stood in the assembly hall for a long time, shaking the hands of all the people who wanted to congratulate him. He was as patient as he could be, smiling to everyone and thanking them for their well-wishes. By the time everyone had filed out of the room, Zephyr was ready to run out into the field he had been lying in earlier. All the people crowding around him had made him feel almost claustrophobic. Luckily Marcus had hung in next to him, encouraging him to stay.

"I'll talk to you later, Marcus, but I'm going to need some time to clear my head," Zephyr told his best friend.

They parted ways and Zephyr headed outside. He wasn't exactly surprised that he had been picked, he was one of the strongest Summoners in the academy, but he didn't always take it completely seriously. He didn't think that they would put the pressure of the school's reputation on him. Zephyr summoned Stardust, and played with her for a while, just to take his mind off of this huge responsibility.

The next day, Marcus came over to Zephyr's room to help him pack. He would probably never get any packing down without Marcus there.

"How long is this supposed to take anyway?" Zephyr asked Marcus.

"I'm not really sure. I guess it depends on how well you do in your matches," Marcus answered.

"Great. I don't know how long I am going to be trapped in Thoras; you have to get picked next time in order to keep me from going crazy."

Marcus frowned at Zephyr, "You aren't going to be trapped there, you will be free to do mostly anything you wish. And even if I don't get picked, I will be sure to go and cheer you on."

"Thank you, Marcus. I'm not sure what I would do without you," Zephyr said sincerely to his friend.

Later that day, Zephyr climbed onto Stardust's back, and Morna climbed onto her pegasus summon as well. They waved farewell to their friends and family and set off towards the capital.

The sun was shining upon the steppes. It was hot as hell, the air vibrated because of the heat. But Vihkar trudged on, one feet after another. He had walked like this for days, and his leather water sack was almost empty. Vihkar couldn't remember what the last time was that he'd eaten something. His stomach was rumbling and his head was spinning. He had to eat something, and quickly too. He summoned Torch he began to move his hands in a couple of figures "Ismanuh, odilliën... Torch!" and he made his summon, and friend, appear next to him.
"How can I help you, Vihkar?" Torch asked.
"I r-really need s-some, some... food." he replied, it was hard for him to speak.
"Wow, yeah, you look terrible! But where are we? Wait, no, I'll ask it again when you've eaten something." his friend said, and he dissapeared from Vihkar's sight, leaving only a trail of fire behind. That was the edge, Vihkar fell because of the heat. He reached for his water sack, but the last bit of water had evaporated. He tried to stay conscious, but it was impossible. After some minutes he fainted, and there he was, under the sun, with his slow breathing, which slowed down even more with every passing second.

Ferum was walking amongst the steppes at the foot of the mountains. The temperature was soaring and he knew most people would seek the comfort of the shade at a time like this. However he had two advantages over those people. One he had spent much of his life working in a forage and was use to intense heat. Second as an earth summoner the ground itself was his ally. As Ferum rounds the bend he sees a young man passed out on the ground. He rushes over to the boy and dumps a little of his water on his face saying, "Wake up, lad, this is no place to be taking a nap."

Looking over at lumiere, i quite being happy, what? you be happy too! Anyway, looking over at her i smile.

"Yes i know how, i own one, my parent give him to me when i was 10 to learn. He still has life in him."

Looking up it was time for me to pack, seeing as Lumiere was already packed from her parents.

"Let me go and pack for the trip, give me about 30 minutes to get there, pack and let my parents know whats going on."

Smiling back at her, i take off in a get up and go walk with a little dancing. Yes ok, i know it seems silly but give me a break! I was just announced to be the summoner to represent my academy! Who would not be happy right now? Walking inside the door my parents ask me in to the other room.

"Your stuff is already packed, its attached to the sattle on Ghurro's back. We know you would be picked so we did it for you when you left. " They smiled looking up

"But how? " I was confused yes.

"The spirit told us, as he tells us everyone great that you do."

Smiling and walking over, i give them a hug and thanks for what they have done to help me in the past years. Training and capturing this summons would of been a harder task if they did not give me the help i needed when i did. Going out back i mount the Ghurro and head on down to meet Lumeire, toting up to her.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Wake up, lad, this is no place to be taking a nap."
Vihkar waked up, he felt drops of water sliding down his cheeks. There was a man sitting next to him. "Who is this man?" he thought.
"Uh, thanks, I lost it for a minute, but I'm better now." he said, after all this man did help him.
"Torch here. Permission to attack?" Vihkar heared inside of his head.
"No. Stay focused though." he thought, but nor as a normal thought, he 'said' this thought to Torch.
"OK, but if I see a weapon or summon I'm going in." Torch repplied.

"Where are we exactly? I've traveled for a long time without a real destination. Oh, and I ran out of supplies some days ago, is there a shop near were I could buy some new?" Vihkar asked, without a single emotion in his voice. He saw a trail of fire near the horizon, Torch was a bit over protective now and then, but it had never been a real problem.
Vihkar looked at the man again, he was older than Vihkar, and taller "Not like that's hard." he thought. He couldn't see if the man was hostile, but he supposed he'd find out soon enough.

With the contestants having been named, The Headmaster sat back down, content that his work was done. But farther toward the back, a pair of teal eyes watched the proceedings with little interest.

Erin had gotten a letter earlier in the day telling him he would be entering the Royal tournament as a special surprise contestant. For every tournament, one student was chosen from amongst a pool of applicants to be a part of the tournament whether chosen or not by their Headmaster. This year, the random contestant was Erin.

“Too bad you weren’t chosen. I’d of like to see what it’s like in the capital.” Illicit, A globe of water, floated up beside Erin, speaking in his cheery voice.

“Don’t put me out of the count just yet,” Erin replied, his voice somewhat raspy and quiet as he watched the chosen contestants.

He smiled to himself as he leaned against the arch of the door, listening to the chatter that had broken out amongst his fellow students. The chosen contestants were still being cheered on by their friends. Erin, not to be left out of the jubilee, walked briskly toward the one named Xavier.

“Congratulations on your being chosen… Xavier?” He asked, not sure which contender was which. He extended his hand, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes as they traced an outline around Xavier’s face.

Ferum smiled as the young man begins asking questions, it meant that the boy had not been out long. Speaking up he says, "First I think introductions are in order, I am Ferum. Second you are in the Rikarian Steppes." He pauses to take a sip of his water supply and then continues. "About 3 hours that way (points south-east) there is a town. From there, there is a road that leads to the capital which is my destination." Looking at the lad he says, "If you have no where else in mind you may accompany me on the way there I would welcome a companion."

As soon as Zephyr could see Thoras in the distance, he immediately started becoming depressed. He couldn't stand the thought of being trapped in a city for however long it would take for the competition to take place. However, he realized that this was a great chance for him to represent his school, and he had to do the best that he could.

Zephyr and Morna landed outside of the giant arena where the battles were to take place. Both of the competitors unsummoned their steeds and walked into the gigantic building. There were many people running all over the place, trying to get things ready for the next few days.

"Ah, you must be Morna and Zephyr?" A man wearing a large green robe walked up to them with his arms spread out as if to swallow them whole. "Of course you are. We have been expecting you for a while now. Come, I will show you where you two will be staying."

He ushered them up a large set of stairs and continued to talk without stopping, "You will each be sharing your rooms with someone else, probably from a different school. Neither of them are here yet, so feel free to make yourselves comfortable."

They came out of the stairs into a long narrow hallway. The hallway's length was emphasized by the long carpet that covered the wood underneath. There were dozens of doors in the hall, which Zephyr assumed led to separate bedrooms. They walked about halfway down the hall and the man opened two doors, across from each other, where he shoved each of them into the different rooms.

"I will be back later to introduce you to your new roommates!" the man said hurriedly, as he closed the doors behind himself.

Zephyr watched the man disappear and then heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. He tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge. He could sense some sort of magic keeping the door closed as well. Zephyr shrugged this information off, as chances were that it was just a security measure. He dropped his bag on the ground and dropped himself onto one of the beds, closing his eyes and trying to let everything sink in.

The man began to speak "First I think introductions are in order, I am Ferum. Second you are in the Rikarian Steppes." He paused to drink something, probably water, after a sip he continued. "About 3 hours that way there is a town." and he pointed in south-east direction. "From there, there is a road that leads to the capital which is my destination." Then he looked at Vihkar "If you have no where else in mind you may accompany me on the way there I would welcome a companion." This was a lot to think about, Vihkar had traveled even more than he had expected.
"I'm Vihkar," he said, looking at the Ferum's bottle "and yeah, I'll walk with you. What is it you seek in the capital?" he asked, being somewhat curtly.
"He's taking me to a nearby town, keep focused."
"What you say Vihkar." he heared inside his head "But I'm going to eat this alone in that case."
"Oke, then I'll just keep on with the starving" Vihkar joked.

Ferum sets off for the settlement he mentioned. He looks at Vihkar and says, "did you not know that the summoners tournament is this year. That's why I am going to the capital. He considered asking his new companion what he was out doing on the steppes but not being one to reveal everything himself he decided to wait until his fellow traveler was ready to tell him himself. After a few moments of traveling in silence he begins to hum a tune he learned in the Academy. He knew that it was not the most cheerful tune but it still meant allot to him so he was going to hum it.