Disclaimer::: I don't own these characters.
Chapter Four
"The Tournament"
"Enter at your own risk for the chance to win! Demons and warriors and samurai alike! Join in the tournaments greatest event!"
"Try new centipede demon hide armor! It will protect you against all swords"
"Rice! Fish! Come get your tournament food here! Rice Fish!"
Inuyasha wandered through the crowds and booths that gathered on the roads.
Thousands of people and demons and even a few half demons had come from miles and miles around to the Eastern Kingdom village.
He didn't have to worry about people from the Western Lands being here though.
If the Forest of Ages hadn't stopped anyone from coming… the rivalry between the two kingdoms would have. No one here even cared to know about the Western Royal Family. He blended in and wandered at his will.
Making his way over to the sign up for the fighting event, Inuyasha heard the sound of trumpets playing.
It was the announcement of the royal family making their way to the viewing area. Most heads turned in the direction of the entering royals.
'Sure let's all gawk at them as they walk from one side of the court to the other. Keh'
The crowd was parting to make way for the small congregation.
It seemed to be mainly the women of the castle.
Inuyasha walked up to the man who was standing behind one of the booths that was at the entrance of the largest arena.
The man was watching the passing royals and didn't notice Inuyasha until he was right at the booth.
The pudgy, greasy fellow gave Inuyasha an annoyed look.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, "I-"
"Hold your tongue boy and show some respect!" the man snapped out at him, returning his attention to the passing women.
"You gotta be kidding me.." Inuyasha grumbled as he turned to watch.
The congregation had already passed by the booth, so he only caught a glance of the last of the three ¹palanquins that were being carried in a line.
Three women.
'Hmmm,' thought Inuyasha, ' Queen, Princess and lady in waiting I guess.
.....This is stupid.'
He huffed a sigh and turned back to the booth once the palanquins and all of the attendants had rounded the corner to the closed entrance.
The unpleasant man standing behind it sneered at him.
"So. You wish to enter the fighting competition?"
"…Duh" was all Inuyasha responded with.
"Hmph. " He gave Inuyasha a look that clearly said 'won't last a second' and slide the payment collecting plate towards him.
"Gemme gold, kid. Then you can go get the shit beat out of you."
"Whatever." Inuyasha tossed in one of the few gold coins he'd thought to bring with him into the plate with a clatter.
"Round the back. You'll be announced when you enter, so give me a name."
"Yuudai" Inuyasha said, picking one of his trainers names from his castle back home.
The greasy man 'hmphed' again and waved dismissively at Inuyasha.
'Keh' Inuyasha turned and made his way around the other side of the arena to where the fighters gathered.
He spotted the large crowd of men and colorful demons before he got there.
Walking up to their numbers to join, he noticed that many had weapons drawn and were cleaning or sharpening them. Some were sitting in silence while others were punching and kicking the air, building their energy.
Inuyasha leaned against the arena wall and tucked his hands up behind his head, one foot resting against the wall and closed his eyes.
He could hear now the people who were already in the arena, taking their seats and talking excitedly.
He knew it would be a while before this particular event actually began.
The arena was enormous…everyone here to see the tournament would be able to fill the seats and then some.
It would take long enough for it to fill up.
His ears twitched back and forth between the sounds beyond the massive wall he leaned against and the fighters around him.
He was just deciding that a look at one of the other events might be more interesting until this one started when an ugly hissing voice interrupted his inner musings.
"What are you doing here hanyou? This tournament is for fighters."
Inuyasha opened his eyes and looked at the speaker.
He didn't recognize the ugly demon with a snake-like face.
And he wasn't in the mood for him either.
"You got a problem, Ugly?"
The demon laughed and stepped closer "Hmmm, I love it when they toss in a few weaklings to kick around. It won't be long before you're crawling in there begging for forfeit, now will it half breed?"
Inuyasha smirked and rested his hand lightly on the hilt of his Tetsugia.
The demon sword he'd been training with since he was a boy felt warm under his hand….ready for battle.
"You know…you're getting on my nerves real quick snake demon. "
he pulled Tetsugia from its sheath with a flash of light and held it out ready in front of him.
Some of the other fighters and demons stopped what they were doing and turned towards them in shock. Some were smiling, cracking their knuckles, ready for some fighting to start while others stared at Inuyasha's sword with awe.
The demon in front of him stared blankly at Tetsugia for a moment, then smirked and turned away.
"That's what I thought…" Inuyasha mumbled.
He sheathed Tetsugia without another glance at the other fighters still watching him and made his way toward the other arenas.
The closest arena was about a half a mile through the town.
It was the archery event and Inuyasha decided to have a look.
As he walked, he passed by booths selling food and merchants selling their goods. Children ran around some of the more colorful stands while adults weaved in and out of the roads, going to and from different events.
The village was packed and it made Inuyasha just a little bit over whelmed.
His senses were keen, so with all of the smells and sounds crowding around him, he was finding it difficult to make his way forward.
Just as he was approaching the entrance to the archery arena, two things briefly caught his attention.
The first was a girl.
She looked about his age, but he couldn't tell much as she seemed to be in a hurry and was rushing passed him.
She was running towards the back entrance where the archers were waiting.
Inuyasha might not have noticed her at all, except that she was pausing mid run to hop forward on one foot and shove a slipper onto the other foot.
It was slightly comical.
He smirked as he watched her stumble one..then twice...finally managing to get the slipper on her foot.
He also noticed one layer of her black and gold uwagi was hanging open with her obi loose.
She was frantically trying to pull up her hair as she ran further away.
'strange..'
Inuyasha shrugged and almost turned again toward the entrance when his sensed a slightly evil presence nearby.
He turned sharply to find where it was coming from.
He couldn't really tell for sure if the aura was completely "evil" or if it was just dark.
There were plenty of sketchy merchants in the village right now, so he scanned the crowd he'd just come through.
Noticing nothing unusual, he looked again to where the girl had ran.
He could see her now in line quite a ways away. She blurred in with the other, larger figures of men who were in line with here and from that distance, Inuyasha couldn't make out anymore details about her.
Other than her hair was up now.
He sensed again that dark presence and turned to his left.
There on a log sat a very weak looking, ancient old man.
His head was bald and wrinkled and he leaned against a long stick he had planted in front of him, looking rail thin and knobby.
As Inuyasha watched him, he smiled and revealed a mouthful of dark brown, rotted teeth.
Inuyasha looked at where he was smiling…or more like leering… and noticed he was looking at the line of archers that were now entering the arena from the back.
"Hey, old man!" Inuyasha called out to him.
The old man did not turn his head.
He sat and watched the archers all disappear and then his face went strangely blank.
"Hey you! What are you looking at?"
Inuyasha took a step forward when the old man suddenly turned his head to look at him.
His face was blank and his mouth hung open for a moment.
Inuyasha stared at him…
"What the…"
Then just as suddenly the man's jaw snapped close and he gave a grunt, gripping his stick and slowly lifting himself to his feet.
He turned and began shuffling off through the crowd while Inuyasha eyed his suspiciously.
'There's something weird about that old geezer…'
Inuyasha watched him a moment more than turned and ran towards the entrance to the arena.
He could already here the cheers from the crowd that told him he's missed the first shots.
After going through the small tunnel that opened into the circular arena, he walked past the logs set up for sitting and picked a spot up front but off to the side.
Six archers were up to position, drawing bow from their quivers and taking aim.
The girl he had just seen moments before was waiting her turn on the side with the others.
The hyoshigi clapped and six arrows flew into six targets.
People and cheered or groaned as five of the six archers left the arena.
It seemed like the goal was a perfect shot.
The sixth person moved down to the last target while five new people filled the arena, notching their arrows and taking aim. The girl from before was now at the opposite side.
Inuyasha watched her more closely.
Her face was focused and steady. A silent determination emitted from her.
As the hyoshigi clapped, six arrows flew again.
The girl he was watching smiled lightly after a moment and moved down to the end of the targets while the other five archers made their way off.
Inuyasha was impressed; she obviously had some skills to show off.
The next five filtered in and six arrows were again notched and released.
Amazingly, the girl remained again, watching the five others leave and turning her head to scan the audience quickly.
Inuyasha noticed this too.
She was calm and focused whenever she took aim, but he also noticed the way she shied her face away from most people's views.
Was she maybe embarrassed to be one of a handful of girls in a large group of men competing?
After another set of arrows hit the target and again she remained….he doubted that was it.
After a little while the number of people dwindled and then it was down to the last six.
People had begun to tie with the girl and remained in the arena with her until all had been filtered out except those with the perfect shots.
As the six remaining competitors waited, six new targets were brought in, smaller and placed farther away. All of them loaded their quivers, notched an arrow on their bows, pointed them down and waited.
At the sound of the hyoshigi, the first person at the far end of the arena suddenly lifted his bow, took quick aim and fired off one, two, and then tree arrows in quick secession.
'Thwap. Thwap Thwap.'
All three arrows hit the target.
One off to the side, one almost dead center, and one near the center.
He shouldered his bow and took a step back, waiting.
The next person went, then the next.
If the person after you made closer to perfect shots…you were out.
One by one, people bowed out and left the arena until it was down to the second to last man and the girl Inuyasha had been watching.
The man waited for his cue.
Then he sent his arrows flying.
'Thwap. Thwap. Thwap.'
Dead center, dead center, and almost dead center.
It was the best shot so far.
Inuyasha looked at the girl who was already notched and aiming.
She turned her cheek slightly and looked like she was almost kissing the crease between her thumb and finger. Her eyes zeroed in on the target.
Her stance was perfectly still and breathing even.
The hyoshigi clapped.
'Thwap. Thwap. Thwap.'
For a moment she stared at the target still holding her bow up.
Then she smiled that light and knowing smile.
Dead center.
Dead center.
Dead center.
The crowd cheered and she finally lowered her bow and turned to the man next to her in the arena. He was watching her a bit grudgingly, but accepted the hand she offered and shook it.
Inuyasha smirked a bit at the girl.
She just showed up every guy who competed against her. She defiantly had guts.
He was still watching her when the sound of trumpets announced the start of the final event.
People began making their way quickly out of the archery arena to head for the main event. Through the thick crowd of people now pushing towards the exit, Inuyasha could see the sudden panicked look on the girls face.
She turned and fled out the back entrance and Inuyasha lost sight of her.
'Weird…'
Inuyasha turned and deftly jumped over the crowd of people into a clearing about fifty feet away.
He began running down the road back towards the place where the fighters had been gathered. He didn't know if they'd be waiting outside or going in before the start…but he didn't want to wait around anymore anyways.
He passed the booths and merchants again on his way back and caught sight of the eerie old man hobbling down the road with the crowd.
As Inuyasha passed him, he could see his face twisted in a strange expression with his lips moving.
As if he was talking to himself.
Again he wondered about the strange old man, but soon forgot about him as he eyed the crowd of fighters he could now see still waiting outside.
He drew closer and slowed to a walk, noticing all the men and demons who had been sitting were now up and preparing for the fight.
Some of them turned as he entered the throng, but mostly they were in their own worlds.
Getting into "the zone" so to speak.
Inuyasha had to be amused by this.
It seemed like most of the fighters here were going to rely on brute strength or their special weapons.
Inuyasha himself was dependent on his strength and his Tetsugia, but he wondered about all his training that had given him tactic.
He half smiled as he scanned the men, demons, and samurais.
'This is gunna be too easy….' He thought with a smirk.
Now he was itching for the fight.
The gong sounded and the crowd inside the arena erupted in cheers.
From inside the drums started punding…quieting the crowd as they got louder and louder.
Then the sound suddenly stopped and another gong rang through.
Silence
Then the man yelling at the top of his voice called out,
"Hebiataki!"
"Aashino Senshi!"
Inuyasha smiled, cracking the knuckles on his hand, finally ready for some excitement.
¹ A Palanquin is usually used in the East to carry royalty. It's basically the curtained seat a person sits on while being carried about on the shoulders of his retainers (usually four, one for each corner).
Reviews would be helpful. Is this even mildly interesting? –sigh- it sounded SO good in my head.
The next two chapters, "The Main Event" and "Stranger Rescue" should be up soonish…
...reviews would maybe make it sonish-er...heh heh