(I heard something is going to happen here. Do you mind us watching?) Iroh

(I am interested to become a part of it.) Lu Ten

(I do not mind you watching but you should ask others' permission too. I would not like you to interfere since I made this with the idea of two participants who are close to my age. Your coming would cause me a lot of trouble.) Shamo

My words might have come overly direct manner but I think they will not take offense to this. I at least will make it interesting to watch.

(If you are interested, he is the ruler of what I am planning to do. It will give an idea of what is going to happen.) I showed both of the rules of this game.

(Is this a game?) Iroh

(Yes it is. At least for me. At first look, it seems unfair to me but you will see that these rules will make things interesting. I am supposed to choose how of the two is the more capable leader. This game will test a person´s personality and judgment since only one will pass. This is not two against one. This could become the opposite. This will also act as training for me. Just building this has proved this effective for me.) Shamo

(What purpose the dome is for the game? I doubt it is the only means to protect the pond.) Lu Ten

(You are correct. They might think that it is a safety measure but I will prove them wrong. The reason why you are not in this is that this dome would have been your ally rather than to me.) Shamo

(Is it allowed to spy in here?) Iroh asked me this since Azula was spying on what was going on here.

(There is no problem. It would be bad not to find something out at first before coming to the unknown. In fact, I encourage spying.) My words caused Azula to leave as I think she will prepare for this. I have not placed smoke bombs or weapons as illegal. Poisons are out and a kind. Azula could become creative here.

Zuko came with his mother and soon Azula came with his father. The family relationship would have become clear to me even without the series knowledge.

(I will explain. Rulers are written there and you can look at them as you please. If you do not understand something then you can ask now. Possibly this could take multiple times but it might end with a few seconds.) Shamo

(The main goal is to get from gate 1 to gate 3. Ruler is mainly restricting me so you getting to the gate is your goal. Naturally, if rulers do not ban something then I can do it. Proceed cautiously. Your questions?) Shamo

(Only one person has to say inside to game to continue. Does that mean when penalized time is over then you can wait for the other party to be almost failed?) Azula found key detail. She will make this interesting.

(You are correct. If there is no penalty time then you can choose the moment when you enter. You are not forced to enter when the penalty is over. Just remember only one person will pass so think carefully if you want to use the method that I think you are thinking.) Shamo.

Zuko came to understand what we were talking about. He is pretty smart. He has no confidence in himself. Hopefully, this could help with that.

(I have a question. Are there any rulers against friendly fire?) Zuko

(Nothing at all. You can choose on your own if you put those in there.) Shamo

(There is no need for those things.) Ozai

(Any more questions?) Shamo

(Can I ask?) Lu Ten

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

(Of course.) Shamo

(Are there any breaks if this is going to take time? Are there any rules against injuries.) Lu Ten

(No really. Breaks can be during when games end or you think is necessary. Tire tactics are a legit method here. It is up to them which methods they will use and I always can just let one of them pass. They must be conscious of changes like those. Naturally, I want to eat and go to the toilet when necessary. It is up to you when I can do those. Let´s just think this will be over in few minutes.) Shamo

(If there are no more questions then I will enter my place.) I went between gates in zone 3.

(If everyone is ready then enter whenever you want.) Shamo

Azula and Zuko approached the gate. Azula was confident with her movement. She told something to Zuko´s ear. This caused him to go through the gate at first. He became surprised since Azula did not enter.

(I will look around at first. You go ahead and try Zuzu. This is your chance to prove yourself better than me.) Azula did exactly what I thought of her. By the rulers, I proceeded with zone 1 rulers. In other words, I bent sand there to his eyes.

(Ahh!) Zuko

He almost stepped outside to zone. This caused Azula to almost yell at him.

I made a sand circle around zone 1. This caused Zuko to be disoriented in which direction borders are.

(Calm yourself. There is no need to move until you get out of zone 1. He can not attack you while you stay there.) Ursa

She is correct but that does not encourage him. This will cause him to stay where he is both physically and mentally.

Azula became frustrated. She could not believe how useless her brother was. She was planning to use her brother to see what to expect. Sure now she knew that Shamo is a sand bender but that is nothing new to her. She could not allow things to move forward like this since Zuko could step outside at any time. She could not think of failing even before trying.

Her first idea was to try by herself. As she was about the start running she saw Shamo looking directly at her. He knew that she was coming. This changed her idea.

Azula started to walk outside the arena toward Shamo.

(Impressive. You manage to blind my brother. He is so pathetic. He could not even get to zone 2 where the real challenge is.) Azula

I chose to stay quiet while Azula talked. She was clearly planning to deceive me. Good thing that I made earplugs before this. I was not planning to distract myself by listening to her. At first, I planned to ban speaking but this might cause things to become interesting. Hopefully, I will not make her too angry by not listening to her.

Azula´s point of view: No matter what I say no reaction comes out. I can not figure out what I could use against him. Strange. I have never seen anybody as strong as him in my age. Could it be that earthbenders are stronger both physically and mentally than we are? No matter. I was always planning to fight him. Why not now since almost anything is allowed.

Azula was getting ready to enter. She took no time to enter zone 2 as she yelled. (Brother. Step to the opposite side of my voice and get sand out of your eyes.)

He was dead weight so she removed him from the equation. It is only a 1-minute penalty. I can stay inside that long at least.

The ground below me became to rise so I started to jump but my feet were stuck to the ground. I could not remove myself from the rock. Shamo then sent the rock outside the field.

(Round 1 is over. I will take a break.) Shamo

He went to drink some water as Zuko and I were amazed. We were played around like we were trash. Sure. I have failed before but he is from our age. How could this make any sense?

(This makes me understand how earth kingdom manages to survive during all those years. He hardly showed anything. I have seen earthbending before but it was nothing like that. His sand bending is similar to waterbending which causes it to continue moving a long time without any effort. Brother. Do you think either of them can get to the gate?) Iroh

(Do not ask stupid things? They did not even bend. The thing will go differently during the next try.) Ozai

(I do not think so. He purposely took them before they could bend. Using the sand he stops firebenders from breathing and firebending. He only attacked once during zone 2 which did not show much but it was precise and accurate. If he would be the same age as me, then I am not sure if I could get to the gate during the first try.) Iroh

(You do not think it is unfair for him to make such an advanced situation for him?) Ursa

(Of course not. He was a few days ago placed even worse situation than those kids. It is better to experience a powerful earthbender before one with murderous intent comes to a close. I heard he even trapped you yesterday.) Iroh looked to his younger brother. This caused all of us to be surprised.

(He managed to trap father.) Zuko

Zuko sounded like something unnatural happened. Father was not happy about Iroh´s words.

(You are exaggerating. I could free myself at any moment.) Ozai

(You were the first one how surprised by the other. Sure. You could have become free but I think he would have caused the ceiling to fall. Do not underestimate him. He will be one of the best earthbenders in history as far as I see.) Iroh

He did not look like one. He is pouring water into his hair. I could see he had a knot in his hair. He must not have combed his hair in months. I am not impressed.