Rue walks through, trying to find his seat among the rest of the fighters. The fighters eyeing him, everyone eyeing everyone.
The air is tense. This is where dreams are determined, wills are tested.
Rue sits down, on the far right of the tent, somewhat distant from everyone else.
The crowd is buzzing with excitement. Varis silent from the other people in the crowd. His grandson dreams are on the line here, no time for excitement.
"Come on, Rue. There's nothing you can't do."
The announcer, a rich man from the lands of Lagaard, Lord Dodd.
"Ladies and Gentleman of Lagaard, are you ready for the second preliminary tournament?!"
The crowd erupts of in agreement.
Lord Dodd, smiles.
"Same rules as before, same bracket concept as before. sixteen fighters from all over the Lagaard with hopes of becoming it's Champion. This is day one of the second group, we will have fights up until the semi-finals, and tomorrow we will see the winner of this preliminary. That winner will be a participant for the official Champion tournament next month."
Rue and the other participants listen from the Tent.
"I should try not getting hurt from my matches, need to conserve as much energy as I can."
Lord Dodd clears his throat.
"Now, I will announce the first fight."
"Rue Alabasta Vs. Juhod Ayran."
Varis takes a deep breath, preparing himself for his grandson's fight.
Rue eyes widen, clearly not expecting to go first.
"Just my luck." Rue says standing up.
A female escort finds Rue and begins to lead him to the fighter preparation room.
As they walk the escort looks at Rue.
"You nervous?"
Rue looks at her.
"No, I don't really feel the fear."
"Good. If you're scared to realize your dream, you shouldn't be here. I... uh... was a participant for first preliminary group, and lost."
"I'm sorry to hear that, truly. But losing while chasing your goal, is better than cowarding out."
The escort finally finds the fighter preparation room, and opens the door.
"Thanks for the words. I don't know what I'm gonna do from here on out, but... good luck on your fight."
Rue enters, turning around, smiling.
"And good luck to you, I'm sure you'll find your path."
The escort before closing the door.
"My name's Joan."
Rue continuing to smile and nods.
Rue examines the room.
Tools to stretch, and workout filling the room. The air is surprisingly cold. Rue breaths out, seeing his own breath.
Rue ignores most of the tools, and just stretches, doing some light workouts to get the blood, sweat going.
On the other side, the other fighter preparation contains Juhod. A tall, Muscular, brawler type. He utilizes every tool available in the workout, getting himself worked up.
Juhod's though brawler type, has a rare power, Power transfer. Which allows him to transfer his power to different parts of his body. It can be used for increased durability, speed, and strength.
"I have to win... To show them, I'm not worthless."
After a few minutes, The announcer coming back.
"Alright, The fighters will head to the field now!"
Rue and Juhod, see the gates of their rooms open. The light slightly blinding them as the arena field slowly reveal itself.
The ref gestures the two to walk forward. They do so, the ref stopping them six feet apart.
"I'm going to explain the rules, ok?"
Rue and Juhod staring at each other, nods.
"The win condition is knockout, submission, or if the opponent quits. Death by your doing is immediate disqualification, and you will be charged as a criminal. Is everything understand?"
Rue and Juhod again both nod.
The ref nods too, and tells them to move two feet back.
"Defend yourselves at all times, and good luck to you both."
Rue gets into stance, Juhod gets into stance. The outside noise, muted for them.
This is their dream, their life. They will both lay it out here and will leave with encouragement, or regret.
The announcer smiles, telling the crowd to quiet down.
...
The announcer takes a deep breath in.
"Fight!"