Where the Young Prince Stands

             Vito leaped up in victory, the smile on his face illuminated in the rising sun in such a way it made the smiles of a thousand children high on candy look depressing. His personal celebration lasted so long, Amare had gotten up and exited to the sidelines.             “I have to apologize,” said Vito with a big sigh once he had finally calmed down. “To Smalls, Shabaka and obviously Amare.”             “Why?” asked Shabaka. “This game is the same for all of us. You don’t need to apologize to the one you beat, and certainly not to the ones you lost to.” Vito made an evil sneer. “I used the two of you to beat Amare.” A dead silence fell over everyone. Shabaka wasn’t quite surprised that Vito would do something like this, but she thought she was immune to his tricks at this point of years knowing him. “I knew going into today that I was the weakest amongst us. So, I would need to use my mind. It would be hard for me to win one match, let alone the tournament, so I decided

             Shabaka was stunned and judging by the open jawed expressions on their faces, so were Smalls and Vito.  Even Amare looked surprised. It was not so much the result, but the how the fight ended. The fact it came down what was basically luck, and furthermore, that for the first time ever, Amare’s earth column spell worked as intended. In previous instances, like when they were trapped in the pit back at the dig site, that one spell Amare knew had little to no effect on its target. Perhaps this fight against Tilian was the push Amare needed. Shabaka had heard of magic being fueled by emotion and could have been that fighting against one’s own brother caused enough emotional turmoil to force an evolution in their power. In fact, Shabaka was positive this had to be the case, as never before had she seen xem use that U-turn move. She realized Bard hadn’t set up this tournament just to test and discover the baseline of their powers, but to already begin pushing and training thei

             Shabaka spent no time in thought, she hadn’t the time, for as soon as she and Vito had made it to the sidelines, Amare stood in front of Bard, ready for xyr match against Tilian. He was cautious to approach, but eventually did stand against Amare. Smalls watched the pocket watch closely, waiting for the exact second the minute hand hit a new reference mark, giving him a clear point to count from. But then, he did not hesitate.             “Start the fight!” Smalls shouted, and the confrontation between Tilian and Amare instantly went full throttle. Amare lifted xyr arms, causing two pillars of dirt to come jutting towards Tilian. He quickly dodged and went to bite at Amare’s hair. Just before he could get in range, Amare brought xyr right arm across their chest. The corresponding dirt pillar made a U-turn and came back towards Tilian. Tilian ducked just in time. To avoid being hit by xyr own attack, Amare clenched their fists, dispersing the earthen pillars. Tilian lea