The first round of the Dragon Knight tournament continued, and the audience were enjoying every moment and were fully appreciating the display of skill and strength in front of them. As the matches continued, the tournament began to shape up and the crowd could figure out what great battles they would see in the next round.

Frato was sat in the armoury, still scowling over the fact that his match was still a good amount of time away. The waiting was irritating Frato more with each minute that passed. Patience had never been one of Frato's strong suits. In fact, anything that didn't involve any form of combat was not one of Frato's strong suits. Frato lived for fighting. He loved the adrenaline rush, the feeling of bringing down a foe, the power, the speed, the feeling of victory, everything. He was itching to be in that arena, feeling the unexplainable joy he felt whilst he was in battle.

After what seemed like hours, Frato finally heard the King announce the winner of the match that preceded his and possibly his next opponent. Frato stood next to the entrance of the arena, fully clad in armour and his lance looking deadly as it was held firmly in his right hand. The air of excitement flowed through Frato's blood combining the ever growing feeling of impatience and frustration.

"Good luck Frato."

Frato turned to find the source of the familiar voice and found his brother looking at him a warm smile. A smug smile formed on Frato's lips as he replied.

"Thanks Fratley, although I don't think I'll need it."

"Don't underestimate anybody in this tournament Frato." Fratley warned. "Everyone in this tournament has had more experience in battle than you and are most likely stronger than you as well."

"I don't underestimate anybody." Frato grunted.

"Will Sir Frato please come forward!" The King announced in his usual loud and clear voice.

Frato left the armoury and marched straight down into the arena without another word. He had waited for long enough. As he entered the arena, there was much murmuring in the audience about the half-breed taking part in the tournament. This seemed to infuriate Frato as well, as it still bothered him that the Burmecians still looked at him as if he was some kind of monster.

"Will Sir Kal please come forward!"

Kal walked steadily down into the arena with a small smile on his face. He had done a few years service as a member of the Burmecian army and had considerable skill, although he didn't come close to matching the likes of Lion-heart. There was a small cheer from his family and friends, whom Kal found and gave a small wave to. He took his place in the arena and looked at Frato, his smile leaving as it was slowly replaced by one of determination. Frato had the same expression on his face.

"Begin!"

There was a loud clash as the two knights swung their lances at each other. It was rather awkward, as Frato was right handed and Kal was left handed. The two moved their lances back and attacked again, only to end in the same uncomfortable deadlock. What ensued next was a push fight as the warriors tried to shove each other around the arena. Frato was evidently winning as Kal was slowly being pushed backwards.

Kal broke up the one-sided deadlock by jumping back a short distance. Frato stumbled forward before using the momentum to rush towards Kal. There was barely any time to react as Frato unleashed a ruthless assault. Kal had to block a rush attack from Frato, then having to duck to avoid an overhead swing, before rolling to the left to evade a powerful slash.

The crowd gasped at this assault before cheering for Kal. Frato cursed quietly to himself as he found that his attacks were so easily evaded, luckily this was drowned out by the crowd so no-one could hear, but Kal saw the frustration on Frato's face and gave a slight smile of satisfaction.

Kal then launched a counter attack of his own as he lunged forward and swung at Frato, who blocked the strike with ease. Kal brought his lance back and tried a vertical slash, but Frato sidestepped and his lance hit the wet stone beneath them. Frato used the opportunity to attack and swung at Kal, who ducked in time to evade a vital strike. Frato did not relent on his offence though; he tried another attack by bringing his lance downwards in another forceful slash. Having managed to lift his lance in the short interval between the attacks Kal managed to block the strike successfully.

Another deadlock ensued, which Frato was slowly winning as Kal's lance was rather painfully being forced down towards the ground. The fact that Kal was already in an uncomfortable position as he had to twist his arms to hold his lance horizontally did not help in the slightest. Eventually, he too was being forced onto the ground as well as he had to kneel to keep a grip on his lance. Frato's lance finally pinned Kal's spear to the arena floor where it stayed for a few seconds.

The crowd were in suspense, there was some gasps of fear as the almost certain fate of Kal was to be decided. Many were wondering just what Frato would do from here.

Frato didn't let this question linger for very long. After he was certain Kal could not move his lance, he placed his right foot firmly on the lance, then his left foot took its place on Kal's spear and Frato lifted his spear off the weapon, enabling him to deal the final blow. Kal desperately tried to lift his lance to defend himself but could not shift Frato's weight in the time he had. Frato instantly brought his lance back before slashing a deep cut into Kal's right shoulder. Kal screamed in agony as the blade pierced his flesh and the audience gasped in horror. Frato didn't have to go to that extent.

Seeing the blood gushing out of his opponent caused Frato to relent and ease up for the first time, as he jumped back off Kal's lance and gave him some space. Kal was busy trying to cover the wound and reduce the bleeding.

"Sir Frato has drawn blood from his opponent and is the victor!" The King hastily announced.

There was a mix of emotions from the audience. Some were still in shock after Frato's merciless attack to finish the battle. Others were muttering to themselves about the behaviour of the half-breed and what Frato could possibly achieve with his ruthlessness, just as in the qualifying rounds with the Knights.

Frato growled to himself at this, it still irritated him. Why was his fighting style shocking the other Burmecians? Was it that big of a surprise? Frato walked back to the armoury looking down, so to avoid a glance at a member of the audience.

Meanwhile, another guard and one of the slaves entered the arena to aid Kal to the infirmary to treat his wound. When Kal was taken out of the arena, the King stood up and made another announcement.

"Silence please!" The King ordered, and although it took longer than it should have done, the crowd eventually fell quiet. "That concludes the opening round. There will a short interval before the second round will begin." With that, the King sat down again, and the crowd began to murmur and talk to themselves once again.

---

Frato entered the armoury and saw Fratley rushing up to him with an exasperated look on his face.

"Just what are you doing?!" Fratley asked in almost a roar. "Were you trying to kill Kal or something?!"

"Of course not!" Frato spat in response. "I was just doing what I needed to do to win!"

"You could have gone a bit easier!" Fratley reprimanded. "You nearly took his head off! You could have forced him let go of his lance, or cut a smaller wound!"

Frato didn't have any comeback for this, nor did he know why he didn't do that in the first place.

"You'd best be careful of what you do, Frato. People will start to think you're out murder your opponents."

Both Frato and Fratley turned to see the source of this new voice, and their eyes met none other than Lion-heart, who was standing a short distance behind Fratley.

"But I'm not out to murder anyone!" Frato replied angrily.

"You and I know that, but your actions in the arena don't show that." Lion-heart stated calmly. "You don't need to be so merciless when taking down an opponent in this tournament Frato. I don't butcher my opponents in my matches now do I?"

"No..." Frato answered, lowering his head. "I'm sorry father."

"It's not me you should be apologising to." Lion-heart answered before turning and walking further into the armoury. Fratley soon followed suit, and Frato was left to himself. Frato gave an angry sigh, and now he was angrier with himself than anything else.

"Maybe I am a murderer..." Frato thought.

----

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 9 and all of its characters don't belong to me, they belong to Squaresoft/ Square-Enix. Frato belongs to me; as he is a figment of my own imagination.

Author's Rant: Sorry for the lack of an update recently but my parents have dragged me for a one-week holiday, with no computer. Anyway, I'm back now, and I will be updating as soon as I can. Although all these fight scenes can get dull to write, I am in the mood to skip a few, as they are surely starting to get boring by now. I really want to end this tournament!

Red-Eyed Dragon Gurl: I'm glad you like this. However, I am wondering why people think I portray Fratley differently from his character in the game! You don't have that much to go on anyway... Read on! Uh...have you read all of the chapters so far?

Wonwingangel: I'm glad you're catching up! You'll read this soon! I will have to fix that typo... I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Although why did you think I would agree with Frato's sexist remarks?

"You don't need to know it" and Silvern Falcon: Ladies and gentlemen, here are your cowards. With the former being the biggest one. I have heard nothing from these individuals. You should be prepared to take replies, especially for reviews like that! They should also be prepared to discuss the issue a little further, but no, not these two.

Breeze of Summoners, CuteMooglez, Lollipop stick and my other reviewers: Where are you? Why haven't I heard from you? Have you been kidnapped or something?

Everyone else: Please review.