Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a good bit. Started treatment and seeing some success! Hand weakness is a primary issue I'm dealing with, so typing takes me a long time to complete. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!- dmp012
Endymion licked the dust from his lips and blocked a blow from above as Malachite swung his fist downward. Smirking, Endymion pivoted and slammed his leg into the other man's side. They were in the middle of the quarter finals for weapon of choice: hand to hand combat. It was what Endymion was best at, besides swordsplay. However, hand to hand combat, had always been more fun.
The morning of the tournament brought a cerulean, cloudless sky. The temperature remained fair, thanks to the intense breeze. As soon as the crowd had been allowed into the tournament space, it was flooded with people. A large field had been cleared and designated for the tournament. Each section of the tournament had a designated area fencing installed to keep out patrons. There was luxury box seating available for each area.
The hand to hand combat was the smallest area, but larger than most practice areas due to visibility needed for the tournament. The archery field took up more space, with the targets set up at the end of the field, 77 yards away. Again, luxury box seating surrounding the field had been left for spectators. The field for the horsemanship portion of the tournament was the largest. A combination of verticals, oxers, and rails had been set up along the course for riders to complete.
Stalls had been set up with peddlers from the Middle and Inner Rings offering wares, food and drinks of all types. Consumers from the Inner Ring and from the upper class of the other kingdoms, were busy buying between watching parts of the tournaments. They seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Many spectators were surrounding the weapon of choice area currently, to watch their prince battle his top general. In the end, Endymion was victorious against Malachite. He went on to battle a high ranking lord from the kingdom of Scintillation, and was once again victorious. Going into the finals confident, he looked at his final opponent, Prince Diamond of the Cimmerian Kingdom. The man stood a head shorter than Endymion, with bright white hair and violet eyes. His face held arrogance and over assurance.
The battle was intense, each fighter doing a severe amount of damage to the other. With a final punch to the side of Prince Diamond's face, Endymion managed to knock the man to the ground. He seemed delirious and unable to stand. Endymion was declared the ultimate victor in hand to hand combat. He reached down to help the prince up, but his hand was knocked away and an intense look of hatred filled Prince Diamond's face. Endymion walked away, not wanting to start an unnecessary fight with the man. He was exhausted as it was from their concluded fight.
Grabbing a flask filled with water, he met up with Malachite, who was watching Nephrite dominate the horsemanship portion of the tournament. He was proclaimed the overall victor, against a young lord from Aurora.
The pattern seemed to be that the majority of competitors were from the upper crust of society, from each kingdom. There were a handful of some middle class who ended up participating, but they didn't make it far. Their training wasn't nearly as intense as those of a higher station making most of them easy to defeat. Therefore, no one originally took notice of a small lad at the archery field from the Outer Ring, the only person in all of the kingdoms to represent the lower class.
Starting out with 64 archers, each archer had 3 shots to complete each round. The victor was who had more points between two opponents. The target had a total of 10 rings, with 5 colors. White being the outermost color with an outer ring of 1 point and an inner ring of 2 points. Black, blue, red, and yellow rings were worth more as you were closer to the inner, yellow ring, with a maximum of 10 points.
Jedite and Zoisite were the best archers of their overall team, and entered this portion of the tournament. Endymion, Malachite, and Nephrite headed toward the archery field to watch them dominate the competition and then battle each other. At least, that's what they were expecting.
The competition was down to the last 4 archers. Zoisite was against a young man from the upper class of Scintillation. Jedite was against a young lad, which is what he had to be considering how small he was, who was surprisingly from the Outer Ring of his own kingdom. Endymion was stunned to say the least. The fact someone from the Outer Ring had made it this far, let alone a young lad, was astounding. The lack of training available made him wonder how he had made it this far in the competition. The odds were not in his favor to win this tournament overall though. He was going up against Jedite and it was laughable.
Jedite and the lad each prepared themselves for their first shot. Seeing the lad standing next to Jedite was amusing, but as Endymion looked at the crowd he could feel the tension in the air. They were waiting to see who would win, and obviously didn't think it would be an easy win for Jedite. Endymion watched closely.
Jedite shot first, landing inside the outer, yellow ring, accumulating 9 points. Cheers went through the crowd. The young lad stepped up. It was hard to make out his face due to his drawn up cloak, but it was later in the day and growing cooler. No one could blame him for needing it. However Endymion wondered why he didn't remove it and deal with the cold, since it would make taking a shot much easier. Apparently, it didn't matter. He watched as the first shot sank into the outer, yellow ring on his own target and again the crowd cheered. Endymion watched in awe as they continued on to their second shots. Jedite becoming frustrated when his landed in the inner red ring for 8 points, while his opponent again sank his into the outer yellow ring. The score was now 17 to 18.
Getting settled and ready for their final shots, the men lined up. Jedite's arrow landed just inside the inner, yellow ring, bringing his score to 27. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats as they watched the lad raise his bow, drawing it back. He would need for his arrow to land inside the inner, yellow ring, as well to proclaim him victor of this round with 28 points. The arrow flew and landed just inside the inner ring as well. The crowd went nuts, cheering for this unknown shooter who managed to beat one of the best in Terra.
Jedite turned and shook his opponent's hand, graciously accepting defeat and headed over to where his prince and fellow generals stood.
"Jedite, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have thought it possible for you to be beaten by anyone other than Zoisite. You are both evenly matched. Who is that lad," asked Endymion genuinely intrigued. "The only information we have on him currently, is he is from our kingdom and resides in the Outer Ring. The Outer Ring, Endymion," exclaimed Jedite. "I have never seen anything like him. No one knows his name, since he would obviously not be known in our circle or even the Middle. Zoisite can not underestimate him. I feel as though he has been holding back the entire competition. Where do you think he managed to get his training," asked Jedite.
"That is something we can easily figure out, once the tournament has concluded," said Malachite. "At the very least, we need to speak with him about his skills," offered Nephrite, "talent like that should not be overlooked." "Indeed, gentlemen. I agree," said Endymion, "Let's see how he fares against Zoisite though."
They turned their eyes to the field, as Zoisite and the mysterious lad readied themselves for the final turns of the tournament.