Fire Fruit

The Great dragon bell tolled once again, letting out its ear-piercing ring, spreading the reverberations to every inch of the tribe's capital.

Today was the day the Cub tournament began. A very old tradition of the dragons, in existence since before the war with the other clans. The tournament was one of the few pieces of evidence the dragons ever had a thirst for battle burning in their veins.

Every two decades, dragonewts aged 12 to 16 would come to the tribe's capital and take part in the tournament, fighting each other one on one, before the king, for a prize. This year, King Novax declared the prize would be the tribe's precious Phoenix fruit.

Said to be from the depth of an active volcano, the Phoenix fruit would continually absorb the volcano lava, ash, and heat; the fruit was said to require 50 years inside the volcano before being ripe. Hundreds of beings would risk death to obtain elemental fruit. Dragons were incredibly hungry for fire fruit, as their fire elements tend to stagnate at a certain level due to their diet. The Phoenix fruit could drastically increase one's affinity and control over the element. 

Evening came, and the entire capital became bustling. The shops displayed their best wares in hopes of attracting customers as people trudged through the broad, wide street. Grand buildings dotted the roadside, and at the South West of the city, a large stadium.

Drazon, protected by his mother's guard, moved slowly towards the stadium.

He had never seen so many people, the dragon had a sparse population, and tiny dragons were at the capital. But today at least 60000 people occupied the city.

Arriving at the stadium, the young child gazed excitedly at the large crowd.

In the stadium, a raised platform stood at the center. Five feet above the ground, raised by a pillar underground, the contestants would battle on this circular hunk of stone.

The traditional bouts would consist of one vs. one battle, where the winner would be declared by being the only remaining contestant on the stage.

The tournament soon began, and the battles kicked off. Names were called, and soon enough, it became Drazon's turn.

Rushing straight towards the fighting ground, Drazon smiled as he looked towards his opponent. A very chubby dragon. 'Wow, he's as round as a ball. His parents must have hated him! Either that or he just couldn't stop himself from eating everything in sight.' 

The young walking ball landed unsteadily on the platform and sneered at Drazon. With his hands spread out, he opened his mouth and spat out his tongue, mocking Drazon.

Boos rang out around Drazon, but he simply ignored them. Stretching and warming up as he waited for the referee to signal the start of the match.

Seconds after he stepped onto the platform, the referee signaled the start of the match. 

"Begin!" 

As soon as the words left the referee's mouth, Drazon dashed past the chubby dragon, out of his sight. Utilizing his master's moving technique, he appeared behind him and did a simple chop towards his neck. 

Drazon was hoping to knock him out in a single blow, but the fat on the boy was so much his attack bounced off harmlessly; not only that, the recoil made him hit himself in the face, taking a step back and stunned.

The crowd was in hysterics laughing at the red dragon. Chubby gained even more confidence as he saw the king sat in silence and made no action of reprimanding him. 'Good, it seems won't have to worry about hurting him, even though he's a prince.'

The walking ball moved closer, a smile adorned on his face, Drazon angrily jumped up in the air curling his hand to a fist, as flames blossomed over it and punched Chubby square between the eyes.

The impact and pain forced him to his knees as his body went numb, terrible scorch marks left on his face. 'Ha, it worked! Combining the two elements worked!' 

Drazon's punch was of two elemental layers; a layer of lightning wrapped beneath fire. It brought both pain and numbness to his opponent.

Chubby fell straight to the ground as he muttered inaudible words. Many of the dragons were unaware of what happened as they assumed it had just been a powerful fire element, but not the king.

King Novax sat steadily on his throne, surprised. 'Do my eyes deceive me? Did that boy just use lightning as well as fire? He couldn't have, I've never heard of a dragon with the lightning element.'  For once, a smile blossomed on the king's lip at the thought of his son; unbeknownst to him, though, his daughter stared straight at him with a gaze filled with jealousy.

Drazon put the match to an end as he tirelessly rolled the walking ball off of the platform, claiming victory.

The day's battles came to an end, with Drazon only participating in a single match. Only 25 of the original 200 dragonewts would continue on to the next day's battles. Drazon was placed in a higher seed, requiring him to participate in fewer matches, because the crowd was unlikely to enjoy watching him fight, and because he was a prince.

Drazon looked up as his father addressed them; he never felt love from the man; neither did he think of him as a father. The king praised all 25 of them, and finally put an end to today's round. "Rest now, young warriors, you've earned it! The tournament shall continue tomorrow."

The winners went home to rest and prepare for the next day, excited at the prospect of winning. The eliminated dragons left disappointed.

"Drazon!" His mother called out as her warm arms wrapped around him—a proud smile on her face as she assessed her young hero. "You did well today, my child. I'm very proud of you."

Drazon let out a smile in return as he enjoyed his mother's warm hug. Though few people appreciated him, such as his master, his sister Ella, and a young guard who had been with him since childhood, his mother loved him the most.

Turning away from the grinning child, Sabrina turned towards her old friend as she gave him a slight bow "thank you very much, Put. You have trained up a fine young dragon."

The ever so sloppy Put, hair disheveled and dirty clothes, smiled and waved his hand. He coughed and spat out the little twig in his mouth. In a false bravado, he calmly replied the Queen:

"You don't have to thank me, Sab... I mean, your majesty, I would be embarrassed to call him my student had he failed to pass this little hurdle.." Put's closed eyes made crescent moons as he smiled at the queen, a rare sight. Drazon and Queen Sabrina looked at each other in surprise, as they seldom get to see Put show such emotion.

Opening his eyes, and realizing what was happening, Put muttered, 

"I'll take my leave now" and rushed out like a fleeing rabbit being chased by dogs.

Drazon and Queen Sabrina had a little laughter as they took joy in the old man's embarrassment.

Night fell, and Drazon laid in bed, wide awake, unable to sleep. His embarrassment and anxiety got the better of him. ' i almost messed up today, in front of everyone. Good thing I was able to turn it back around and win in a single punch, or i don't think winning would be enough to make up for hitting myself in the face! I'll have to try harder tomorrow. I want that fire fruit…'

Hyping himself up for the next day, and reliving the end of the previous bout, the little dragonewt couldn't help but be a bit proud of himself. Even though he made a blunder of the first strike, he ended the match quickly. He couldn't help but wish tomorrow would arrive sooner so he could continue his winning streak.