Cearbhail:

Yup, I'm back. I'm sure everyone's been wanting to know where I was. I was in Japan. And I didn't really have time to post new chapters, but now that my summer course is over, I have plenty of time. So, I wrote this chapter for you. Now, I have to write one for the Rogue Shadowscale. I'm way behind on where I wanted to be.

[Zorro]

Today was shaping up to be a pretty long day. I can't even remember how many battles I had fought in to get to the final round. And the knights weren't all weaklings either. They kept getting stronger and more experienced. I barely scraped through all my matches without losing some amount of shirt and skin. But, it did happen. In the last match my shirt just disintegrated. I was fighting this guy and he slashed with his giant sword. I jumped back, but his tip caught my stomach. He missed by just, but it was enough that he had pulled my shirt. And then it just ripped and fell off me. I had a perfect set of abs and a well-defined chest with a perfect tan, so the moment my black shirt was torn, I heard all the women in the audience scream in appreciation for my body. A few in the front rows fainted upon looking upon the splendor that is my body. O'Collins only shook her head in shame and looked away as the girls swooned over me.

Once I got done with that match, I had waited for the final rounds to end up. I climbed out of the ring. I looked around for anyone, but there were a couple knights standing around. Since they had lost, they took off their helmets and some of their heavier armor too. One of the more senior ones walked up to me, laughing as he shook his head in amusement. "You sure do give a good show, you know that right?" He asked as he handed me a towel and a white shirt.

I nodded in thanks and took the towel. I wiped the beading sweat off my face, looking up at the sky. "I can't believe I'm sweating in the middle of winter."

"I can't believe you're shirtless in the middle of winter." He replied. "I never really stopped to think just how cold these plates get in winter." He flexed his arms. "I didn't wear any extra padding and my arms are just numb from these cold plates rubbing all the time."

"Must have been hot in the desert wearing all that." I said as I took the white shirt and threw it on. He was right, it was pretty cold out. Now that my adrenaline was wearing off, I could feel the bitter sting of the air on my skin.

He nodded. "Yup, it was pretty hot. I would be standing there boiling in my suit. And then I'd see our opponents in rags and think… yeah, they have it nice. No wonder they have more stamina than us." He shook his head. "But then one arrow and they'd fall down. No armor, no protection." He shrugged. "I guess it's a preference: dying by heat, or dying by anything sharp."

I nodded, buttoning up the shirt. Women around me were expressing their disappointment that I was now clothed. "Yeah, I understand the feeling. The armor weighs me down, and I don't think I could win by brute force. I like being fast on my feet."

"And it works for you." He laughed and then gestured to my arms. "Just don't trip on your feet. Ever think about arm bracelets for blocking? You know, in case you can't get away fast enough?"

"Arm bracelets?" I had to think about it, but he was right. They wouldn't really slow me down, and I had almost lost my arm more than a few times during my rounds. They would come in handy. But, I held my sword arm up for a long time. If I had extra weight on it, I don't know if my accuracy would be as exact. Maybe after the tournament I would train with them for a while and see if I could fight in them. "Huh, I guess I could try it out."

The knight nodded. "I would." He gestured to the young Ashley O'Collins. "That girl… she may be young, but boy did she hand me by buttocks in the ring." He looked over at me. "Do not underestimate her. She and I both know your weakness. It's defense; you have none. You counter-attack, but you have no pure defense. At least arm bracelets would help with that. If you could at least block one attack given to you, you'd have a chance to beat her. She will try to cut your arms to keep you from attacking her. It's what I'd do."

I nodded. "Ok, I'm game. So… where can I get some arm bracelets?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two long sleeves of almost glowing white chainmail. "This is special metal. Won't find this in a lot of places. Here…" He handed them to me.

I took the long sleeves from him and looked up at him. "What do I owe you?"

He shook his head and stuck his arm out, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. They were my son's." He nodded. "He fought like you did. But…he didn't make it through the war. I want you to have them. You remind me a lot of him."

I nodded and bowed my head in respect to him. "Thank you, sir. That is very generous of you." I started sliding the metallic sleeves up my arm. They had a little thumb hole towards the end and they ended up about halfway up by my elbows. They were just long enough to reach my elbows. Huh… not too long but they would let me cover myself if I really needed to. They were a tightly woven chainmail that looked silver-ish only brighter. They felt really light too, so I don't think they would bother me in the ring. They felt so light; I was beginning to worry that they wouldn't help in the fight. "Do they work?"

He laughed and patted me on the shoulder. "Trust me, there is not a sword in this world that can cut through those, or even dent them." He looked over his shoulder and then looked over at me. "Oh, stay calm, but that O'Collins girl is coming over here." I turned to look and saw that she was looking right at me as she rushed up to us. She was trudging like she had an issue with me, and that scowl told me she did as well. The older knight turned to look up at the sky, whistling as he paid no attention to the shorter woman brushing up past him and up to me.

O'Collins' eyes were a sharp emerald green and they pierced right through me. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a tight braid. She was beautiful, but her face told me she saw a lot of fighting throughout her life. The way she glared through me, it was like she could see every fault, every weakness. And the way she stood, so rigid, so proud, so strong. If our two souls were weighed for authenticity of a knight, I don't think I would measure up to her. But there was something about her, some weakness I could see, but couldn't figure out.

"I see you have finally gotten some protection." She said as she looked down at my arms. She looked from me to the older knight. "Uncle, I see you gave him Rory's old arm sleeves."

The older knight smiled. "Well, hello Ashley, was that you that I was fighting? I could barely recognize you all grown up and wearing your mother's armor."

She scoffed, looking from him over to me. "I am gladdened to see you have taken some amount of time to find a way to protect yourself." She touched my covered arm, smiling at the shiny metal covering my arms. She sighed, looking from me over to the mysterious Jack Wilson. "That man scares me." I looked over at him. He was in his final fight. He had a knight locked in his two sickles. The knight, an old man, begged Jack to release him, but Jack pulled both his sickles, cutting the man's head from his shoulders. "The winner is Jack Wilson."

"Yeah, he scares me too." I said to her. "But…I guess we'll be fighting him then."

She nodded. "I had analyzed every possible scenario where he and I would face. I believe I would not walk away from any match I could have with the man." She turned around, looking at me. "The three of us will face each other in the final round. That man is a murderer, while you are honorable. While a fault that will get you killed one day, I'd rather face you in a one-on-one match than that murderer. So, I have a suggestion. You and I will team up to take him out first. Are you in agreement?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. I think it's a good idea." I definitely thought it was a better idea than fighting both of them at once. I watched as some doctors rushed into the ring to drag out the decapitated knight. He left a blood trail as he dragged away, just like everyone that man faced. "So…what happens once we beat him?"

"We take a few seconds to fix ourselves up and then we face each other in honorable contact." She stated calmly. "I prefer that than fighting for my life against a homicidal maniac." I nodded in agreement.

"Ok, everyone." The announcer called from his little stand overlooking the whole combat arena. "We are coming up on the final round. It is a special round where the last three fighters will meet in combat. Three walk in, only one walks out the victor." I looked at Jack. He looked at me from behind his little white mask. He seemed to glare through me. In the last seconds of our glare, he drew his finger over his throat and then pointed to me and then to Ashley.

Ashley growled. "Do not hold back, and do not let him walk away. We will have to do the unthinkable…and kill him. He is a threat to everyone in this town."

"I agree." I said to her.

"Will the last three remaining fighters report to the ring? Diego de Vega, Ashley O'Collins, and Jack Wilson. Please report to the ring immediately."

I looked at Ashley and sighed as I reached for my saber, making sure it was still attached to my belt. I followed behind her as she rushed into the combat arena. She looked stiffer than usual, and I could see sweat beading around her forehead. Her eyes betrayed some of the fear she had as she unsheathed her longsword, readying her shield arm. "Are you ready?"

I nodded and stepped away from her. "I will support you." I said as I took up a triangular formation, keeping Jack and Ashley in both of my eyes. I looked over at Jack. He glared at me through his white mask, smirking as he readied his sickles. He grunted in laughter as he waited for the bash that would signal the beginning of our round. And once I heard the gong, Jack was morphing into a shade as he pushed off his back foot. The way he sprinted up to me, it was like he wasn't human anymore. He didn't wear armor like me, but he did have small arm shields, much like my new sleeves. As far as we were matched up, we were almost even. I guess he wanted to get rid of me first and then take on the heavily armored Ashley. Speaking of which, she was quickly catching up to us.

I waited patiently as Jack appeared in front of me, all white and red as his arm suddenly appeared at my throat, a sickle aimed for me. I reacted just as quickly as he appeared and my sleeved arm was already up, protecting me. I felt the sickle land on my arm, but I didn't feel the sting that would have come normally when a sharp blade was introduced to soft flesh. No, instead, I heard clanging of metal on chains. And it caught Jack off guard. Just long enough for me to push him off and kick him in the stomach. He jumped back quickly enough, slashing at my leg with his opposite arm. He drew a nice line across my shin, but he didn't cut deep enough to hurt me much. It was enough to keep me from dancing for a couple days though.

I started to fall forward as my leg started stinging like hell, and Jack was already springing towards me like lightning. As he came closer, his two sickles were met by Ashley's longsword, which glowed in the same light material as my new sleeves. Come to think of it, her whole armor glowed with the same light as my new sleeves. It must have been a family metal. That meant her armor was pretty light then. Jack looked from me over to the towering Ashley. Her eyes were in full battle glare and she looked prepared to shed blood. She pushed with all her might, throwing Jack away from me, and knocking one of the sickles from his hand. She stepped in front of me. "Can you stand?" She called back as she brought her longsword up to fight our opponent.

"Yeah, just need a second." I said as I ripped a sleeve from my new shirt. I wrapped it around my leg, tight enough that it put pressure on my wound. It cut down on most of the pain so that was something. I pushed myself up onto my feet. "Ok, I'm good."

"Good." She called. "Follow my lead." She called and took off to the right, breaking into a sprint. I nodded and took off for the left. I knew her plan. He couldn't watch both of us. One of us would get him in his blind spot. Jack watched as both of us spread apart. He laughed as he spun his sickles around his hands. I couldn't tell what was going on underneath that mask of his, but I doubt he looked scared or worried. I think he was enjoying this.

I watched as Ashley turned and charged right for him, bringing her shield up to defend herself with as she charged into him. I pushed forward to meet him as well, bringing my saber up. I looked for an opening but really… there was nothing but openings. So, I thought I'd go for the clean swipe. I pushed off my back foot, launching my sword out in one of the fastest swipes I had ever done. Jack snapped his head at me, catching my blade in his little sickle with a flick of his wrist. He spun his hand and my saber's tip flew away from him and towards the dirt. Jack brought his leg up, kicking me in the face as he turned to fight Ashley. He jumped back as she shield rammed her. He caught her shield on his sickle and pulled it away from her. Ashley quickly recovered by thrusting her sword straight out at him. She nicked him across his shoulder and he grunted in pleasure as he jumped to the side, evading the rest of the attack.

Jack brought a sickle to Ashley's neck. I watched in horror as he pulled the sickle. Ashley jumped forward, missing the sickle enough that her neck was still attached to her head. But he did get some of her. When she dove forward, rolling up beside me, Jack was holding onto her long braid. I looked from him over to her. Her hair had been cropped to her neck level. And she looked pissed that he had taken her hair from her. "You know how long it took to grow that out?" She roared as she pushed to stand up.

I grabbed her and forced her to take a knee with me. "No, don't! He'll only kill you if you rush in. Look, I think we need a plan."

She grunted at me, throwing my arm off her shoulder. "Fine." She said, standing up and catching a quick breath. I pushed myself up onto my feet as well, brushing the mud from Jack's boot off my face as I did so.

"We both have length on our side. I think if we stay by each other's side and keep pushing the attack that he'll have no choice but to defend." I whispered to her.

The man laughed as he spun his sickles around his body. "You have range?" He practically growled. "I can change that." He spun his sickles around his hands, bringing them straight down into his little belt holster. He laughed as he pulled out a small rod with a large knife on it. He spun it once and it suddenly grew to the size of him. It was a long rod with a giant spear tip on the end. "I have a lance…I have range now."

"Ok…" Ashley said as she looked over at me. "Have any plans for that?"

I nodded. "Range but no real defensive moves, and he can only fight one of us at a time." I ran straight for him. "I'll take the attack, force him to block, you get him from a weak spot."

"Analyzing!" She screamed as she ran off to the left, her eyes glaring at Jack with some mystical power I couldn't fully understand. "I found his weak spot." She said as she readied her sword.

I charged up to Jack, waiting for him to attack. I slashed at him as I got close enough. He caught my slash with his rod and then spun my sword away. As Ashley was coming in, he spun the lance's tip over at her throat. She parried off the attack with her shield, spinning underneath his lance. She took a swipe at his leg with her sword. He brought his lance down on the other side of Ashley and jumped over her. Using the lance as a pole-vault, he jumped right over her, laughing as he did so. He flew in the air for a few meters, landing gracefully on his feet.

I ran up to join Ashley. She looked pissed that this fight had lasted as long as it had. "He's toying with us." She growled as she slid her longsword into her scabbard. She started pulling at her straps.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as she started pulling her armor plates off.

"I'm too slow, to constricted." She said as she started tossing her breastplate onto the sandy arena floor. Next were the shoulder guards. Then her thigh plates. She even tossed her shield to the ground. She looked over at me. "I see that you managed to get your shirt off again."

I looked down to see that my shirt was missing. What happened? When I looked up, I could see that Jack was holding onto it, laughing as he waved it at me. "What? When?"

"When he blocked your attack. The end of his lance caught your shirt. He ripped it right off you." Ashley said. "It distracted me. I could have finished him if your chest hadn't distracted me."

"Yeah, like how yours will distract me now." I chuckled as I kept my eyes away from her.

"I am clothed, do not worry." She announced as she unsheathed her sword. "But perhaps undressing will distract this Jack character. Make him blunder and fall underneath my blade."

I chuckled as I brought my sword up. "Shall we finish this?" She nodded and the two of us charged in. I was surprised how fast she could move when she wasn't folded in armor plates. She was almost as fast as jack was. Her short hair flew everywhere as she practically flew through the sand. I struggled to keep up with her. When she dashed in front of me, flying off to the left, I jumped off for the right. Jack waited for us, his lance tip aimed at Ashley instead of me. "Wrong choice!" I screamed as I charged for him, thrusting my saber out at him.

He caught my attack with the pummel of his rod. He turned to fight me, but then we saw the wave of sand explode from behind him. Ashley had launched herself into the air, sword aimed straight down at his head. Jack cursed and brought his lance overhead to protect himself. He caught the attack, but with a strong push, Jack was pushed off balance. This was my chance. I brought my sword back up and let my reflexes do the rest. I snapped my hand out, hitting him across his legs and arms. I met resistance the whole way though. I jumped back, Ashley landing next to me. I turned to look at Jack. Where I had stabbed him, I could see streaks of iron chainmail. He's wearing a chainmail suit underneath his white robes? Go figure.

Ashley cursed as she almost tossed her blade into the sand. "Chainmail. Curses." She spat as she looked at me. "Good try though. That should have finished him."

"Yeah, but it didn't take. This guy is good… really good." I looked at her. I looked back over at him. He looked a little shaken that I had caught him in all four limbs. He was frantically thumbing his lance, shifting one hand back and forth from grabbing his sickle and keeping his hand on the lance.

"You're good." Jack growled as he blinked from behind his mask. "It will be a pleasure to paint the sand with your crimson blood."

Ashley growled as she readied her sword. "Every time he mentions blood… he goes for his finishing move. I think this will be the determining factor. Let us hope the two of us meet in solitary combat once this is all over. If not, it has been an honor to fight alongside you in the face of this evil."

"I feel the same." I said to her as I brought my saber up.

And it was true. Jack spun his lance around once before reaching for his sickles. He threw the lance into the air and grabbed both of his sickles. He brought them together, snapping them together at the handles, forming a circular sickle blade. It looked pretty scary, and the way he was holding it, keeping both edges away from him, I could only guess he fought with it a few times. He caught the lance in one hand and then charged right for us.

I waited as he charged up. Ashley didn't. She roared and ran straight in. She managed to block the lance thrust but he leapt into the air and kicked her in the face. She spun in the air before landing on the sand. She barely stirred from her spot. Instead of finishing her off, Jack turned to fight me. And as he ran up to fight me, the ground underneath me shook. It was enough to make me stumble down. It was enough to make Jack stumble too. He was within a few feet of me as the ground made him fall off his feet. Next thing we knew, he was falling on top of me, my saber running right through his side.

The ground shaking was followed by the sound of a massive explosion. It was loud enough that the King was forced to stand up and look back at the castle. I looked as well. I could see smoke rising from the castle grounds. The earlier explosion was followed by several smaller explosions. The King looked frantically from the castle to his guards. "Go, find out what has happened."

A couple of knights nodded and took off for the castle. "Sir, assassins reported inside the castle." A knight screamed as he ran up to the arena.

"What?" King John screamed. He looked from him over to the audience. "This tournament is over." He looked down at me and then at Ashley. "Congratulations, you three are now my commanders. Go find these assassins and bring them to me… alive." He growled as he looked down at the bleeding Jack lying beside me.

I sighed a breath of relief as I looked at Ashley. She moaned as she stood up, wiping the boot mark off her face. "What? We won?"

I nodded. "Yup… all three of us." I looked at Jack. He was still rubbing the spot where my saber had stabbed him in the side. If it hadn't been for the chainmail, he would have been killed. Instead, he had a small hole and probably one hell of a bruise forming. "Are we good?" I asked him.

He grunted and stood up, grabbing his lance and his sickle circle. "We will finish our bout later. Right now, we have a job."

Right… job. I had to go find my friends and bring them to the King. This was awkward. But…Master told me to do whatever I was told to do.

Cearbhail:

What'd you guys think of this chapter? I thought it would be nice to have some interaction between Zorro and his new buddies. Yup, they're a team now. But... for how long? I wonder.