Chapter 4 - Chapter 3: Catch

Chapter 3: Catch

As the dawn approached, they were all suddenly awakened by none other then Mentor himself. He barged into each of their rooms and shook them till they finally woke up. The gang got dressed and made their way lazily to the dining room for breakfast. Surprisingly, it had been cleaned to point that it looked as if it were brand new. They enjoyed their eggs and toast thoroughly, but had little time to get seconds. Mentor was eager to get them to start their training early. Pretty soon, he had them marching out to the court yard, standing next to eachother in a straight line, and introducing themselves. After each had said their name, Mentor got right down to bussiness.
"Today is the first test out of four that you all will be facing. This test relies mainly on speed, and agility." Andoryuu suddenly felt uncomfortable. Out of the gang, he was probably the least athletic. He hoped no one would be sent away if they weren't the one to pass the test. Riiana was curious as to what they were going to be doing there in there in the court yard, for there were no obstacles of any kind. "What exactly are we going to be doing? Running around in circles?" she questioned. Mentor laughed and replied, "Of course not! What good is that going to do for you? You're going to be catching one of the fastest animals in the land," he paused and counted them, "And with so many of you, I'm sure you will have no problem." he added sarcastically.
He clapped his hands, and out came a servant with a small cage, covered with a red veil. They all crowded around the cage pondering what creature could be in it. Mentor placed his hand on the veil, ready to remove it. "What you are about to see is considered one of the fastest creatures alive. It is small, and very hard to spot in it's natural habitat in the southern icelands." He finally removed the cover, and much to the group's surprise, the animal simply looked like a white rabbit.
Eeron laughed, "That's it? I've seen things ten times quicker then a rabbit!" Mentor grinned, "Oh, don't be deceived by it's appearances. This is no ordinary rabbit. The white ice rabbit can reach speeds much greater then other rabbits. I assure you, if you underestimate it, you won't be even close to touching it for awhile." He opened up the cage, and the creature slowly crawled out, as if to make sure everything was safe. Hanna bent down to pet it. "Aww, it's so cute, and adorable!" She said. But before she could touch it, it sped off like nothing they'd ever seen.
Again, Mentor laughed, "I told you not to underestimate it. You could've had it right then and there, and we all could've spent the rest of the day relaxing!" Joshu looked frustrated, "You meen all we had to do was grab it as soon as it came out of the cage, and that was it?!"
"Yup."
"Dangit! Well, now we lost it." moaned Joshu. Yet again, Mentor laughed. He seemed very amused by the bunch. "Don't worry, it has no way of escaping the courtyard. It's around here somewhere," he yawned, "While you guys are out here, I'm going to be inside enjoying the performance of the minstrels." With that, he walked away into the palace.
The gang looked at each other, wondering how to catch it. "We could just flush it out, and have a couple of us grab when it comes out from behind one of the bushes." was Hezza's solution. They saw no better way, and proceeded to finding just which bush it was hinding in. After a good deal of searching, they finally came a to a small bush they had yet to check, and were positive it was there. They began to whisper so as not to scare the creature into running away again, "Ok, so here's how we're gonna do this," said Riiana, "One of us will scare the rabbit out, while the rest of us will crowd around the bush and make sure it doesn't get away." Eeron voluntered to flush it out, so the others gathered in a circle around the bit of shrubbery. He grabbed a stick and promptly began poking at the shrub. Just as planned, the rabbit darted out of it's hiding spot and right into Andoryuu. It toppled him over, but he managed to grab just before it could get any further. Grass stained, and somewhat weary, they presented the white ice rabbit to Mentor. He congratulated them, and permitted them all to a nice hot bath, and delicious supper.
After they had all bathed, they gathered round the dining table. They noticed the the Masterseyah, and Dragonlady were absent. "Where did they go?" inquired Riiana. Mentor said that sometimes the two would leave on short trips. He himself wasn't quite sure where it was they went, but he did assure the gang that they always returned soon after their leaving. At the end of the day, they bid eachother good night and went to their beds. They each fell asleep dreaming of what rediculous task would be their second test in the morning...

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