The Chronicles of Weyard
By Claviculae
Chapter 2: Tolbi
They all disembarked from the ship and, having gotten their baggage, procceeded to the more densely populated area of the city. It was weird to think that this was once a seperate town, with a fairly small population. Now it was a port city, made rich off of the trade that came through. "Wow," said Gandas. "This place is HUGE!" "Yeah, it sure is," replied Brigg. "It's also a very rich town because of the trade that comes through it. It also bosts one of the most impressive and well-trained armies in all of Weyard." They continued walking past a mixture of houses, shops, and inns. "Um, I just thought of something," Meron said. "Where are we going to find an inn with free rooms? I mean, Colosso starts in three days and all the inns look packed." "Good point. We may wind up camping outside of town for the night," Brigg replied. "You need a tent, Gandas?" "Yeah, I'll need to grab one at a shop here," he replied. "Do you need money?" Santur asked. "Nope. I'm covered," Gandas replied. They stopped at a shop and bought a small tent and sleeping bag for Gandas. Then they went looking for a place to eat. They finally found a decent place and headed in. After eating, they checked out some of the shops. Santur only bought one item: a Ninja Blade.
As they were walking along, they spotted the colosseum. It was closed until Colosso, but they could still look at the outside. Then Santur spotted a guy standing milling around. There was a sign next to him that read "Qualified Colosso warrior Kanler. 30 coins to test your skills." Santur ran up to him. "What do I get if I win?" he asked. "60 coins," Kanler replied. "I'm in," said Santur. He paid the coins, then drew his claymore. "Bring it, kid." Kanler said as he drew out a long sword. Santur drew his new sword and stood ready. Kanler charged him, swinging his sword as he came. Santur jumped aside and asked "Is Psynergy in?" "Not yet. First we do blade combat." Santur parried another blow, then kicked Kanler in the stomach. Kanler grunted and jumped back. He jumped in front of Santur and faked a blow at Santur's left side. As Santur attempted to block it, Kanler brought his sword over Santur's head and attempted to bring his sword down on Santur's right shoulder. Santur dropped his shoulder and side-flipped to his right, ducking his head under the blade as he landed. This put Kanler's sword just above his left shoulder. Santur pointed his blade down and to his left, then brought it up, flinging Kanler's sword off to the side. This threw the warrior off balance, giving Santur the opportunity for a hit. He swung his blade over Kanler's head and brought it down on his left shoulder, dropping him to his knees. Kanler threw his blade aside and said "Now it's hand-to-hand time." Santur sheathed his sword, unstrapped it, and tossed it to Meron. She caught it and held it for him. Kanler stood to his feet and said "Begin." Santur ran up to him and swung his right foot up into the left side of Kanler's head. Kanler fell and rolled to his feet. He jumped at Santur and punched him in the jaw. As Santur flew back, he flipped backwards onto his hands and flipped to his feet, ready to hit Kanler if he tried that again. Kanler was waiting for Santur to charge. Santur jumped in the air, landing on Kanler's shoulders, then launching himself backwards. He did a backflip in the air and landed on his feet. That was a move Brigg had taught him. He had managed to throw Kanler backward, but he merely rolled backwards, landing on his knees. He sprang at Santur and managed to grab him by his arms and flip him around. Kanler rushed towards a tree, intending to slam Santur into it. As he came up to the tree, Santur jumped and hit the tree trunk running. He ran up it and flew over Kanler, who was thrown off balance in his failed attempt to hold Santur's arms. Santur landed eight inches behind his head and, placing his foot on Kanler's throat, said "I win." He allowed Kanler to pick himself up before they started using Psynergy. As soon as Kanler was standing, Santur said "You start this time." Kanler nodded and, raising his hand, shot a stream of flame up in the air. Santur jumped back just in time to avoid it landing on him. He thrust his hand forward as a barrage of lightning bolts struck Kanler. Kanler held his hand again and Santur was suddenly caught in the middle of a raging flow of lava. He screamed, jumping out of it. He cast Douse first on himself, then on Kanler. Kanler fell backward, and Santur took the opportunity to cast Destruct Ray on him. A giant bolt of static electricity hit Kanler and he screamed. "Had enough?" Santur asked. Kanler shook his head and started throwing fireballs. One hit Santur squarely in the chest, knocking him on the ground. Kanler held up his hand as two large rings of glowing red energy flew out from him. Santur rolled just as a barrage of heat beams hit where he had been laying. He cast Bind on Kanler, then started pummeling him with various Psynergy. Finally, Kanler fell on the ground, unable to fight back. He immediately grabbed a vial and drank it. He stood up and payed Santur his 60 coins. "Thanks. It was a great fight." Santur said. "No problem. Anytime."
They headed back through the city, wandering the streets as dusk came on. They suddenly heard a scream, followed by several others. They ran over to see what was going on. There was a Mars Djinni in the street. Someone had scared it, and it was attacking anyone who came close. Santur quickly unleashed Gust and told it to go calm the Mars Djinni down. Gust flew up and started communicating with it. It soon calmed down and stopped attacking. Gust kept talking to it, and finally it walked over to Gandas, who wasn't sure what to think. Suddenly, it exploded into a bunch of glowing sparkles that reformed on Gandas' shoulder. It had joined him. "Hmm..." Brigg said. "Looks like this one's called 'Scorch'. It can attack and even paralyze if you unleash it." "What is it?" asked Gandas. "I'll explain it tonight." Brigg replied. They all headed out of town and set up camp.
As they were sitting around the fire, Brigg explained about Djinn to Gandas. He caught on pretty quickly on how to use it. Finally, Santur asked the question that he'd been wondering. "Gandas, where do you come from?" "Prox. In the north." Gandas replied. "Hmm... I think I've heard of it." Santur replied. Gandas continued. "It's always been home to the Mars Clan. It's just south of Mars Lighthouse. It's where the best of the Mars people come from. We even have a few Adepts from Prox. But they're in various armies now." The conversation was quiet again. After another twenty minutes, Brigg turned in. Half an hour later, Gandas did the same. "Well Meron, you want first watch or second?" Santur asked. "I don't think we need to keep watch this close to the city." she replied. "In that case, I'm turning in." They both headed into their small tents and were soon fast asleep.
The next two days were spent wandering around Tolbi. Santur managed to win four Assassin's Blades, which he distributed among his companions. They made good knifes, and could be used as daggers in a pinch. They went down to the seashore several times and went swimming. The water in the Karagol Sea was warm, unlike the Great Eastern and Western Seas. It was freshwater as well. They swam for hours. The only one who didn't was Gandas. He preferred to lay on the beach, enjoying the burning heat of the sand. It made sense, as he was Mars, and fire opposed water. The rest of them enjoyed the water immensely. After a few hours of swimming, they would dry off, change, and head back into town for supper. There were some wonderful restaurants in Tolbi. They toured the palace the day before Colosso. As each day went by, more and more tourists came to Tolbi. They saw many more people camping outside of town. "Wow. I didn't know the arena could hold this many people!" said Meron. "It's a lot bigger than you'd think from the outside." replied Brigg. He had been to Colosso several times before. As they were sitting around the fire one evening, Meron ventured a question. "Gandas, are you heading back to Prox after Colosso?" "Yes. My father died, so I have to provide for my mother and two brothers. She decided I could go to Colosso because I needed a break. I'd love to come see Lunpa, though. Some day, I might be able to go there. I will be here next year at Colosso, though. I'll try to meet you here." "Gandas," Santur asked, "what were you doing on the other side of the Karagol? I mean, you came down the west side of Godowan, so you should have wound up it Tolbi, right?" "I just felt like taking a cruise on a small ship. By luck, I wound up on the same ship as you during the return trip." They all stopped talking and stared into the fire. One by one, they turned in for the night.
The next day, they all woke up early. They broke camp and headed into town for a pre-sunrise breakfast. After that, they headed to the arena. They wanted to get good seats. The fights began at nine in the morning and went all day, excluding a break for lunch. When they got there, no one was even waiting. They headed in and got front-row seats. Then the hours of waiting began. One by one, they drifted off to sleep. Meron awoke from her nap first. People were starting to file in. She let the others sleep for a few minutes more. By the angle of the sun, it appeared to be about eight. That gave them an hour. She went back to sleep. Gandas woke them all. "We have fifteen minutes till it starts. If anyone wants to make a bathroom trip, now's the time." They all needed to go. They went in pairs, leaving two people to hold their seats. Brigg and Gandas went first and were back in five minutes. They guarded the seats while Santur and Meron made the trip. They were all back and seated by the time it started.
Four men walked to the center of the colosseum, each facing a different direction. They held their hands up for silence, then started speaking, or rather yelling, in unison. "Welcome all attenders of the 346th Colosso of the Golden Age. We first welcome all the inhabitants of Tolbi, and then all the people who are just here visiting for this very special event." Santur looked around. They were right, it was special. The colloseum was packed. The men continued. "Today is the first day of the seven-day tournament. We will be holding the preliminary fights today. Winners will participate tomorrow. In today's activities, only hand-to-hand combat will be tested. No armor will be used. We wish all the participants luck. Good fighting!" With that, they stepped down. The match began with a brown-haired Venus warrior against a blue-haired Mars warrior. They started to circle each other, glaring. Finally, the blue-haired man launched himself and kicked the Venus man in the stomach. The Venus man landed on his back, in the dirt. The blue-haired man began to punch him, over and over again. He finally passed out, and the blue-haired Mars warrior was declared winner. The next match was between a black-haired Jupiter man and a blond Mars woman. She started the fight by jumping forward and punched him in the face as she swung her right leg into the back of the Jupiter man's knees. He fell forward, rolling to his left. As he rolled, he tripped the woman. She hit the dirt, face first. The Jupiter man jumped up and grabbed her hair, pulling mercilessly. She screamed, her face contorting with pain. She jumped back into the man, throwing him off balance. As he fell backwards, she flipped back, landing on her feet just above his head. She took the opportunity to pummel his face until he blacked out. She was declared winner. The whole day was filled with interesting combat. They even saw Kanler, the warrior Santur had fought. Though he was good with a sword, he couldn't kick to save his life. He went down in a matter of seconds.
At the end of the day, they ate supper at a nice steak restaurant, then headed back to their camping area. On the way, they met Kanler. He wasn't as dissapointed as one might think. He was very optomistic about next year, saying he would train even harder and make it through the first few rounds at the next Colosso. They set up camp and went to sleep.
Over the next five days, they woke up early every morning and managed to get the best seats. The next day was light blade combat. The day after was staff combat. The next three days were mace combat, then dagger, then axe. The day after was the Psynergy finals. It was amazing. The combatants were stripped of all their armor and weapons. They had to make their way through several stages, each involving various puzzles and each containing a helpful item (i.e. a vial, a nut, etc.) The first person to make it to the final stage got first pick at two armors. It was awesome watching the power of experienced Psynergy warriors in combat. What was even more amazing was that the blue-haired Mars man and the blond Mars woman blasted all competition out of their way. By noon, they had eliminated all other competitors and were preparing for the final match against each other. Finally, the bell rang. They shoved, jumped, and blasted their way through each stage, coming to the arena at the exact same time. The woman was faster, though. She dove for the better armor, leaving the blue-haired man with a light mail suit. After donning their armor, they began the match, each casting Inferno on each other. The fireballs hit at the same time. They jumped up and started circling, blasting off an attack every fifteen seconds or so. This continued for forty minutes and showed no sign of ending. Though they were of the Mars Element, they had both taken time to learn the healing skills of Mercury.
At eight oh clock, the match was declared a draw. Both competitors shook hands, smiling. They shared the championship that year. After the closing ceremonies, people started to file out of the colosseum. The two winners were on the right side of the exit, and the two contestants who had lost against them were on the left. Many people stopped to shake the hands of the winners. Santur and Meron waited their turn to do so. Santur walked up to the blue-haired man. "Congradulations! It was a fantastic match!" he said as he shook the man's hand. "Thank you. I've trained hard to..." he trailed off, looking at Santur as if he knew him. He narrowed his eyes. "Thank you." Santur walked away, wondering about the bizzare behavior. He met up with Meron, only to find that the blond Mars woman had shaken her hand, then started to glare at her. They found Brigg and told him about it. "It might just be that they've had a long day, or it could be something else. In any case, don't sweat it." They walked over to a restaurant and had a large supper, knowing it was their last chance to eat in Tolbi for the year. They then headed outside of town and set up camp for the last time. "Gandas," Brigg said as they sat around the fire, "it's been awesome meeting you and fighting together. We should set up a meeting place so that next year we can find you." "I'll just wait at the Kalay docks. Look for me on that bench next to the ticket building. I'll wait there for you next year. Be there three days before Colosso starts. And it was cool getting to fight with you." Gandas responded.
The next day, they all went and bought some souvenirs at the local shops. Then they all went to the western coast to wish Gandas a safe trip back. They went to the beach, but the only ship there was an expensive Psynergy ship. "Gandas," Meron asked, "where's your ship?" "That's it." he responded, proudly pointing at the Psynergy ship. "Wow! Where'd you get that?" asked Brigg. "My father bought it a few years before he died. He taught me how to sail it. When he died, it was passed on to me." They all went aboard and toured the inside. It was amazing. They even visited the power room where the Black Orb that controlled the ship was located. Then they headed back to the deck and said goodbye. Brigg shook his hand. "Wonderful to get to know you, Gandas. See you next year, and take care of Scorch." "I will." Gandas replied. Santur shook hands with him, and Meron hugged him. "Thanks for helping save that passenger ship." "No problem." They got off the ship, then watched as he sailed it off into the horizon. After that, they headed back through town to the Tolbi Docks and bought a fare on a passenger ship to Kalay. Two weeks later, they were home in Lunpa.
Well, that's another chapter down. And to think that this went up the day after the first one. Wow. Drop me a line. Subject needs to be 'Chronicles of Weyard'. Let me know of any inconsistencies or typoes. Thanx.
Claviculae
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5/17/03
3:30 PM
22 paragraphs
250 lines
3068 words