The matches of the morning continued, with the crowd making such noise that it hurt the ears of the warriors slightly. Great cheers and gasps and roars of the audience were heard throughout the castle as two more fights took place in the arena. Two more winners were decided and the fifth match was about to begin.

Fratley was standing near the entrance to the arena with his lance slung over his left shoulder. He was waiting for the King to call out his name, so he could walk down and face the challenge which was to be his next opponent. He would be fine once he was in the arena, once his mind was focused on finding a way to triumph and defeat his rival. However, the waiting was extremely uncomfortable, his usually calm mind was beginning to feel anxious, and his hands were beginning to tremble slightly. He wanted to be in the arena. He wanted to face this fear. He wanted to let his anxiety turn into a will to win, he wanted to triumph using his own emotions as well as his strength and technique.

Strictly speaking, Dragon Knights were not allowed to show emotions in battle. But Fratley found they helped you in battle, and you emotions could aid you in victory. Foes would be more unsettled if you had a confident and focused look on your face rather than an unemotional mask. It would take concentration to form this "mask".

And of course, there was the legend of the trance...

Fratley nervousness was beginning to make him uncomfortable, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Freya looking at him with her emerald green eyes and with a gracious smile on her face.

"Good luck Fratley." Freya said in a reassuring voice. "I know you'll win."

Fratley smiled back, the tension within him shattered and replaced with a warm feeling in his heart, which grew the more he looked at and thought of Freya, his one and only love.

"Thank you."

Back in the arena, the warriors of the previous fight had left the arena and it was time to call out the warriors for the fifth fight.

"Will Sir Fratley please come forward!" The King announced throughout the arena, finally ending Fratley's wait.

Fratley made his way down to the arena, but he was completely unprepared for the cheer he received from the crowd. Apparently they were well aware that he was the offspring of Lion-heart, one of the best warriors in the Dragon Knights. The crowd were obviously expecting a good match from him. Fratley took his place in the arena and tried to keep his mind off the humongous crowd watching him.

"Sir Damien, please come forward!"

Sir Damien came out, looking completely calm and collected despite hearing the cheers for his opponent. He had been in the Dragon Knights for at least seven years but did not show exceptional strength. He had obviously enough experience to know how to control his nerves. He marched quietly in his place in the arena and took his battle stance.

"Begin!"

Fratley dashed forward and swung at his opponent, who unlike most of the warriors did not charge or attack. Instead, Damien watched Fratley dash forward and evaded the first blow, leaving a valuable opening as Fratley swung his lance to his opposite side.. Damien utilised this opening and swung for Fratley's open shoulder, but Fratley scouted the counter and swayed to the side to avoid a vital blow.

The two warriors glared at each other as they regained a ready battle position. This did not last long, as once again Fratley attempted another assault by swinging his lance in a clear horizontal motion at Damien's thigh. Damien jumped back to avoid the powerful physical attack and charged forward in another counter-attack. Damien aimed for Fratley's shoulder, but Fratley maintained perfect control of his lance from his attack and blocked the strike.

The two lances were clashed together in an intense deadlock. Both then tried to shove the other back, but neither moved. The crowd began to cheer as the warriors tried to force each other back. Fratley started to overpower Damien, and Damien was slowly backing through the arena as Fratley forced his own lance into him.

Damien finally decided to jump back to break the deadlock, as he was gaining nothing from it. As he landed he had to block yet another strike from Fratley, who had followed him across the arena in his leap. Fratley brought his lance and attacked again, and then repeated this a second time when his second strike was blocked. However, Damien was quick to scout Fratley's attacks and blocked the third strike before pushing Fratley's lance back and jumping forward to a clear space in the arena.

Fratley knew he had to continue with his assault. By now he had figured out Damien's main battle tactic. He had gone onto the defensive from the start, waiting for an opening before trying to attack. However, Fratley was ensuring his attacks would not leave himself open to any attack after learning from his first mistake. If he kept this up, victory was certain.

Fratley charged once again, and tried to slash at Damien's shoulder. Damien thought this was an opening, and swung his lance towards Fratley, only to be blocked. Fratley had swung at the shoulder in a diagonal motion towards Damien's body, ensuring it was between the two if Damien dodged. Fratley had lifted his spear in a rather awkward fashion to block his attack.

Fratley then raised his lance slowly, forcing Damien's lance upwards as well. The two lances were pointed in the air, with Damien desperately trying to force Fratley's lance down to the ground but to no avail. Then, Fratley tilted his lance, forcing Damien's lance off his own and swung at Damien's wide open shoulder in a flash. Damien gritted his teeth and gave a grunt of pain as Fratley pierced into his flesh with his spear.

The unusual deadlock ended, and Damien dropped his lance and examined the gash on his shoulder. The King clearly saw the wound and was quick to announce the result of the match.

"Sir Fratley had drawn blood from his opponent and is the victor!"

There was a great cheer from the audience as the King finished this announcement, and it was rather obvious that they had had enjoyed the battle. Fratley shook hands with his defeated opponent, who congratulated him for his victory and wished him good luck in the rest of the tournament. The two then made their way back to the armoury, as the noise from the crowd began to die down.

Fratley entered to armoury to see Freya watching him from only two feet away, with that same warm smile on her face that he had always loved.

"Well done Fratley." She said in a quiet, calm voice. "You fought like a true Dragon knight."

Fratley gave a light chuckle before running his clawed fingers through his remarkably long blonde hair. He was grateful for the compliment, but he did not want to brag to her in front of the Dragon Knights in the room, as he felt almost any of them could eliminate him from the competition.

"Thanks Freya, I wish you the best of luck in your second match." Fratley replied, regaining his usual calm composure.

"I wish the same to you." Freya said, before turning and walking to another part of the room.

"Fratley, the royal armoury is not a love shack."

Fratley gave a slight frown before turning and seeing the eyes of his adopted brother looking back it at him in a rather sullen mood. Frato had decided to talk to his brother the instant Freya left.

"She was just congratulating me, Frato." Fratley said in what was nearly a snarl.

"Whatever. I just came to say well done too." Frato said with a shrug. "Heh, looks like you sure showed Damien."

"Shouldn't you be preparing for your match?" Fratley asked, trying hard to find a way to distract his brother.

Frato snarled slightly before replying.

"Of course! I should be preparing for match...when it's the last match of the opening round!" Frato spat.

"Isn't that a good thing? Most knights would love to have the last match." Fratley asked looking rather confused at this statement.

"Not for me it isn't. I want to be out there now! I want to fight!" Frato snarled before marching into a corner of the room.

Fratley didn't bother to question the matter further, but he looked around the room as if expecting someone else to come and congratulate him. His eyes located his father, Lion-heart, who was busy talking with another knight. Fratley waited, and he was sure Lion-heart caught a glimpse of him, but he was ignored. His father had not said anything to his son about the victory. Fratley eventually walked to a different area of the room, but he looked back at his father, who had finished talking but still took no notice of Fratley. Lion-heart instead decided to lean against the wall quietly.

It had been so hard to earn his father's respect. All of his life Fratley had not been referred to by his name from his father, instead being called "Junior". He had only earned that right by joining the Dragon Knights. Now, he had won what had been a rather difficult fight, but his father completely ignored him. This saddened Fratley, it felt as though his father had no admiration for him, and he worked his hardest and tried his best. Yet that wasn't enough.

Just what would he need to do to make Lion-heart respect him?

----

Disclaimer: Do you think I own the characters and stuff from Final Fantasy IX? Do you?! Because I don't, okay? I'm just writing this for the fun of it. Square-Enix own the characters and stuff. They made the game. Not me. I never will own the characters and locations and whatnot of this game, no matter how much I want them.

Author's Rant: I have received three reviews that have contained nothing about my story, and been irritating rants about Guardian 1. Now, I call this abuse of the system, because the review system is there so you can comment on the story. But I will let you off.

I can take constructive comments. Want proof? Just look at the reviews of To-ya and Breeze of Summoners. They include constructive comments in their reviews and I have included a few of them. You seem to have overlooked them, instead you lunge straight for Guardian 1, someone who gives endless nagging and makes conveys her points in a rather rude manner. I have e-mailed Guardian 1 and discussed her reviews with her before, but only to end up in a row. I told to leave politely, but I was then told I am thinking that the "submit review" box is a "praise the author" box and she continues to moan. I then decided to ignore her, as I was getting nowhere listening to her.

You don't need to know it: I stated a fact in that review. Sure enough, I did not need to say it and it was rather rude, but I have already apologised to the author, and I sincerely apologise to anyone else who was offended by that review. Although this was no excuse to review my story with one of the most vulgar and profane reviews I have ever had to read. You don't even have the decency to leave your e-mail address or some way of which to contact you. I think you owe me an apology. I already know my story is not the best, and I don't need you to point that out. And did you even read the story? Just how is it a Gary Stu?

Red Eyed Dragon Gurl: I already e-mailed you, so I don't need to say anything else.

Silvern Falcon: I haven't ignored any reviews. I did not ignore Guardian. She got a reply. And keep in mind I had to put up with her in my previous story as well. You won't be ignored. I have been trying to encourage reviews for a reason.

Wonwingangel: Thank you very much for sticking up for me. I think these lot need to read the review you sent just to see I am not the only one who thinks those reviews were not "constructive". I am glad you are enjoying the story and I do appreciate the comments that Breeze and my other loyal reviewers give me. Keep reading!

It saddens me that there are people hiding away from me and not using the review system. If you sitting there with something to point well use the review system! I do want reviews, I don't care if you include constructive comments as I won't think any less of you. Just don't copy Guardian 1.

Also, I you still have quarrels about me because of these reviews or event then use my e-mail address (included in my profile) to contact me rather than the review system.