Important notice, do not try these stunts at home. They are dangerous!
The tournament qualifying rounds continued to test the full strength of the Burmecians. Even with the dull matches, which were mostly from the amateurs to fighting; fresh from the Dragon Academy; there was the excitement from such brilliant and classic match-ups which made observers self-analytical of their own weaknesses. The next match-up, although in a qualifier, was predicted to be a classic just from the name of the fighters.
"Will Sir "Steel-cutter" Drago and Sir "Lion-heart" Fratley please make their way to the changing rooms, change into their armour and then actually come out and pull off the best possible match. Just so I know they are there!" The King announced in an incredibly formal, but humorous tone. This caused a bit of a chuckle to rise from the other members of the Dragon Knights. Sir "Lion-heart" and the one and only Sir Drago both chuckled at the originality of the joke before marching towards the area of the Royal Arena where the armour was provided.
Sir "Steel-cutter" Drago was another highly valued warrior of the Dragon Knights. Although he wasn't as well reputed as Lion-heart, he was still well known for his extremely powerful attacks and quite often managed to pierce through armour.
Fratley, Frato and Freya were all in awe as they watched their personal idols of fighting walk backstage and prepare themselves for what was to be a guaranteed "unmissable event". The Dragon Knights managed to pull through the complete tripe which was the "average" fight of the newcomer, now they could see the masters in action. The fight before theirs passed rather slowly and the tension was beginning to rise in the group of Dragon Knights.
The huge cheer from the small amount of Dragon Knights was more than enough to motivate the two immense warriors to come out and do their thing. Both Lion-heart and Drago came out to the ring in the loudest cheer Frato's ears were used to.
When the King announced the start of the match, the spectators were not disappointed. The two Knights went all out against each other: spear clashed against spear at unbelievable speed, the two warriors leapt and ran all around the arena and the two warriors even leapt into the air and fought in mid-air. Eventually Lion-heart summoned enough power and speed to break through Drago's defences and drew blood from his rival's right arm.
The King announced the winner and the crowd of Dragon Knights roared with applause as a mark of respect for the two warriors. Lion-heart smiled and helped his comrade up before the two fighters shook hands. The two had mutual respect for each other and one simple match would not dampen either fighter's spirits.
The fight was a real source of inspiration for Freya, Frato and Fratley.
With the inspiration of his personal idol still fresh in his mind, Sir Fratley Jr, the very offspring of Sir "Lion-heart" Fratley himself, made his way all the way to the ring to show his full capabilities in his upcoming battle.
"This is it." Fratley thought as he made his way to the brutal arena that lay in front of him. "This is where I show my absolute best."
His opponent, who was unfortunate enough to be a true amateur from the Dragon Academy, nervously made his way to the arena. Thankfully the classic match-up from earlier had inspired the new warriors to the art of the Dragon Knight in entirely different ways.
Although his opponent had the same tactics in his mind, the curiosity and originality combined made him feel extremely nervous. Although that in itself brings out the "latent power" that people have within them.
Sir Fratley Junior and Sir Gidd both entered the ring and entered their personal battle stances. The King then announced the start of the match...
"You may begin."
The two warriors clashed their lances together with such speed the spectators didn't even catch the full force of the swing, although it was fairly obvious that Fratley had been the faster of the two. The lances were then moved apart and once again, they clashed together, before being broken apart a second time. The lances smashed together a final time, but this time the two fighters broke themselves apart and moved backwards slowly.
Both Fratley Junior and Gidd analysed each other to see if there was a weakness. They had both stopped moving backwards and had stopped.
Lion-heart, Freya and Frato were all watching the fight carefully. All of the Dragon Knights were trying to figure out what the two fighters were doing.
Fratley was the first of the two to charge forward and let loose a vicious assault on Gidd, he pulled off a clever combination of slashes to Gidd's shoulders, torso and legs. However Gidd just managed to block some of the attacks and most of Fratley's strikes hit his armour, so no blood was drawn.
Fratley leaned backwards to avoid a counter attack from Gidd aimed at his arm. Fratley stood up straight and tried to force Gidd's lance away from himself with his own, and successfully forced Gidd backwards by overpowering him. Fratley then took the opportunity to try and land another strike to Gidd's right arm. Gidd moved his arm quickly enough to avoid the strike.
Gidd then tried another counter, but Fratley blocked the strike outright with his lance. He then kept the deadlock between the two lances and forced Gidd backwards with his superior strength. Gidd then tried another tactic; he leaped high up into the air, hoping to try and catch Fratley off-guard. Fratley knew Gidd was trying to do and leaped straight after him.
Gidd reached the full height of his jump and had to block another strike from Fratley in mid-air. Gidd started to descend whilst Fratley reached the peak of his jump. Gidd let himself descend quickly before looking up and trying to predict Fratley's next move.
But Fratley was trying his best to remain suspended in mid-air, as he charged up a Dragon Knight ability. Gidd couldn't react quickly enough as Fratley had charged up the ability whilst he had descended. Fratley pointed his lance directly at Gidd and shouted "Dragon's Breath!"
A Dragon's head formed on the tip of Fratley's spear in a flurry of white energy, the Dragon head opened and breathed out a immense ray of powerful energy, which engulfed Gidd in a small, but intense explosion.
The crowd gasped as Fratley landed, wondering about the condition of poor Gidd. When the dust settled, Gidd was laying on the floor, breathing heavily and moaning in pain. He couldn't get up, but thankfully Fratley had not unleashed the full power of the attack so it would not kill Gidd.
However, Gidd still held his lance in his hand and he wasn't bleeding, so the fight had to continue. Fratley walked up to Gidd calmly and used his lance to cut a small gash in Gidd's right arm.
The King's voice echoed throughout the arena as the intense fight was put to an end.
"Fratley Junior is the victor."
Frato's fight was soon to come, only Frato preferred staying true to what he was in battle rather than to copy someone else's style. He was impressed with both Lion-heart's and Fratley's fighting style and technique; only he didn't fully understand how his father or his brother had defeated their opponents. He thought it was because they were stronger and were more experienced in battle.
Frato preferred learning by bitter experience rather than listening to other Burmecians. In reality he knew that quite a lot of them were speaking rubbish, and not to believe it. Although, Frato was extremely arrogant and bad-tempered so he had little room to talk about it.
He was changed into his armour and had his weapon at the ready straight after the King announced he was to be in the next match. Before long he found himself in the same arena, looking at someone he knew from the Dragon Academy. He didn't know the student very well, and he couldn't remember his name, but the nervous expressions on the trembling warrior in front of him made it all too clear.
"You may begin." The King's voice called throughout the arena once again.
Frato showed no mercy at all. He brought his lance down so rapidly the student only had time to block the strike. Frato then a similar slash at the graduate's shoulder, which was also blocked. The student desperately tried to counter with a much less powerful swing at Frato's shoulder, which was blocked. Frato moved in a small sidestep to force the two into a deadlock and he pushed his opponent back by overpowering him.
The student charged towards Frato, hoping to get an opening, but was blocked again by Frato, who had focused all of his attention onto his opponent and how best to defeat him. Frato then forced himself into another deadlock and pushed his opponent back with more force than before.
His rival then realised how ruthless and aggressive Frato was being and backed off to try and formulate some form of strategy.
Frato decided not to hold back, he dashed forward as soon as he saw the graduate retreat and unleashed his own deadly combination. One slash to the leg was blocked, then a slash to the torso, which was blocked, then one to the graduates left arm, which was blocked.
Frato continued the combination and growled rather loudly at each block the student successfully made. He made another attempt to slash the same arm, before increasing the power in his strikes and slashing again at the student's torso and eventually Frato managed to hit with one of his strikes. Frato slashed his rival on an unprotected area on the students shoulder, leaving a very nasty wound. The student screamed in pain as he felt Frato's lance pierce his flesh.
"Frato has drawn blood. He is the victor." The King announced in a formal but surprised manner.
Frato let himself ease up. He had proven himself. Unfortunately the poor student in front of him had a serious wound, but Frato knew that he could recover.
Frato slunk back into the area to take off his armour and disarm himself before rejoining the crowd of Burmecian Dragon Knights, who were murmuring to themselves about the ruthlessness the half-breed warrior had shown.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 9 and everything in it belongs to the barmy bunch at Squaresoft, or Square-Enix or whatever it is called now. As Frato is my own property, I can change his character and manipulate him to my heart's content. Isn't that right Frato?
Frato: (a la Fujin from Final Fantasy 8): YES.
See what I mean?
Attention to those of you who actually read this rubbish: I'm thinking of increasing the rating to something like "PG-17" so I don't have to worry too much about going into detail with these fight-scenes. What do you think? Also, school has started up again for me, and there is homework aplenty, so updates may take slightly longer.
Breeze of Summoners: I am glad you like the fight scenes! I am honoured that the master of fight scenes has complimented me! I will take note of what you said, and I will try to include rolling, sidesteps and what not, but Gary jumped back to give himself breathing space. Slaves and servants are pretty much the same thing, and I think the Royal family of Burmecia would have some.
And where is everyone else? CuteMooglez? Lollipop-stick? Where are you? And why won't anyone else review this story?! Give me reviews!