On the other side of the stadium, 4 other boys sit silently on the dirt ground. Their eyes closed, their fists together, their legs crossed, and they just sit trying to center their chakra and calm their minds.

Although the window is closed, they can feel the thundering excitement from the audience pounding against the walls surrounding them. They can sense the skyrocketing anticipation and it resonates deeply within them, creeping into their clean white samurai robes and furthering etching into their bones.

“They are ready for you to enter,” The dressed in grey messenger boy breaks their silence and announces as he enters the room.

The first to open his eyes is no other than the boy with the earthiest looking features. His eyes piercing and determined, he stands up slowly.

“We are ready,” The boy says and looks around him to see his 3 teammates following suit. The boy sitting on his left smiling with canine teeth stands up while helping the boy next to him with very feminine features up also. The boy to the right of the earthy looking boy with an obvious blank expression brushes off the dirt from his bottom as he too gets up.

“Myungsoo, wake up. You look like you’re going to fly into space and never come back,” The boy with earthy features notes.

“Woohyun, I’m fine. Just worry about yourself. Is your wrist doing better?” The boy with the blank stare asks while tilting his head cutely and Woohyun asks himself how could this guy be a fire element with this squishable face? It’s just too strange. Their group is strange.

“I’m fine. I’m just more worried about you guys,” Woohyun says pausing for a bit and then says in a much quieter tone, “And the other guys too,”

“I’m pretty sure they’re fine. I mean they won last year, what pressure could they possibly have,” The boy with canine teeth says after catching what Woohyun had said. His tone sounds snarky but Woohyun knows that’s not the case, Hoya’s element is lightening so he can be come off too strong at times.

“You know they have just as much pressure as we do, Hoya. Do not underestimate them because they surely will not underestimate us. Yah, Sungjong, do you hear me?” Woohyun snaps his head to the boy with feminine features and sees him nodding. If he’s worried about anyone the most, it would have to be this young one. This young one has the power of strength and even though it is a very admirable power, he has nothing else but his strength.

“I got it hyung, like Myungsoo hyung said, just worry about yourself,”

“Please follow me this way, the battle will begin in approximately 10 minutes,” The messenger boy interrupts before Woohyun could assure them that he’s fine. He just twisted his wrist during training making his powers get a little iffy at times, but that’s still nothing to worry about. Because his element is water despite his earthy looks and water is meant to be unpredictable at times.

As they are walking to the entry of the stadium field, Woohyun rethinks to his training with his fellow teammates and silently worries to himself if they have trained enough for this. He still doesn’t understand why the leaders of their family have put all their elements together.

Woohyun thinks that together they are very destructive rather than harmonious like the group on the other side of the stadium. He just doesn’t get it. But from training together, he can take a guess that being destructive is rather powerful also. He’ll just have to trust what the leaders have decided because that’s all he has right now, the faith that the leaders know best and that they will give it their all in order for their future to be bright.

----------

“I’m getting tired, where is that little announcer boy to start us off?” Sir Siwan asks while closing his book impatiently.

“I’m pretty sure they’re going to start any moment now, I can hear them scuffling down there,” Lady Uee says calmly with a dull face. She flicks her finger and the page from the book on her lap turns.

“Hmm,” Lord Kwanghee taps his chin with his index finger as he stares at the dark field in front of them, “What battle grounds do you think they have chosen for the kids this year?”

“I’m pretty sure it will be the same as the last decade and the decade before that, my dear brother. It’s been the same for about 10 decades now,” Kwanghee smiles at his sister who is still completely uninterested in all of this as she replies to him.

“Hmm, well then we’ll just have to see. I have a feeling this decade will be full of surprises,”

Just as Kwanghee says that, the ground on the field of the stadium starts shaking and rumbling voilently. The audience and representative leaders of each family perk up.

One by one, torches surrounding the stadium lights up quickly around the field of the stadium bringing light to the battle ground. The field is all deserts like outskirts of the stadium and Kwanghee smirks to Uee, she was wrong, it was unexpected but the field is not the same forestry field as last decade’s. His hunch was right that this decade will be different than their previous decades.

The audience’s ooh’s and aww’s fill up the stadium and whispering begins to follow.

The middle of the field then opens up and a stage rises up from the opening. A tall skinny boy with blue tips at the ends of his blonde hair stand tall dressed in a grey ninja robe. The boy faces the audience dressed in traditional colorful ninja robes from their land and clears his throat loudly. The audience hushes down a bit and when he begins to speak, his voice is loud and clear projecting to even the deepest cracks of the stadium.

“Welcome citizens and leaders of the land of Iro. My name is Zelo and I will be announcing our brave fighters for tonight’s ritual,” The tall boy Zelo bows and the audience claps th