The King ordered for a short break as soon the semi-finals had finished to be fair on the participants, particularly Fratley who had just come out of his match. However, the crowd were getting restless; they couldn't wait to see this spectacle of a match. For what was likely to be the first time, they would see a father and son face off for the title of Burmecia's strongest. However, this wasn't just any father and son. They were the Fratley family, one of the most well respected warrior families in Burmecian lineage.
Back in the armoury, there was a tense silence between the two knights. Both were mulling over their thoughts, mentally preparing themselves whilst also resting their bodies.
"Well..." Lion-heart said with a smile forming, causing Fratley to look up and the tense silence to be broken. "Now I'll see just how strong you've become."
Fratley just looked away again. He wasn't in much of a mood to talk to his father right now. He was more focused on conjuring up some form of strategy to defeat his father.
Lion-heart looked a little rejected at the lack of a response from his son. He then saw the look of concentration on Fratley's face and was reminded of himself when he was in his youth: focused, determined, unwilling to back down from any foe; although, to be honest, not much had changed since then except his strength.
The King's voice was heard in the armoury by the two Dragon Knights and throughout the entire arena. "Ladies and Gentlemen, at long avail the final shall commence!"
The crowd roared with cheers after hearing the announcement. This was the battle they had been waiting for.
Inside the armoury, the two knights stood up and walked towards the armoury entrance. When the two were at the doorway, Fratley decided to say something.
"I want you to promise me something."
"Yes?" Lion-heart answered.
"Don't you dare hold back on me just because I'm your son." Fratley spoke in a deadly serious tone.
"I would not think of it." Lion-heart replied. "Provided you give me your all, I want to see what you can really do."
"I'll be going at you with nothing less." Fratley warned.
"Will Sir Lion-heart please come forward?" The King called out through the arena.
Lion-heart left the armoury and made his way to the arena. The crowd's roars and chants were almost deafening. Lion-heart entered the arena and took his position. The King had to make a motion for silence as his voice could not compete with the loud chants of his subjects. The audience quickly quietened down.
"Will Sir Fratley please come forward?" The King finally called out.
Fratley also left the now empty armoury and walked towards the arena, with his eyes sharply focused on his opponent, and the look determination had not yet faded from his face. Fratley entered the arena and his eyes met those of his father, which were sharing the same fire and determination as his.
Once again the King had to make a motion for silence so he could announce the start of the match. The audience quickly quietened down, as they were extremely eager to watch the incredible match.
The two Dragon Knights entered battle positions, not breaking their ferocious stare-down.
"I will avenge you Freya..." Fratley thought as he stared into the eyes of Lion-heart.
"Begin!" The King shouted.
The two warriors did not move, but merely continued their stare down. Both were planning a strategy to attack.
After a brief moment Fratley decided to try an attack. He charged towards Lion-heart with his lance pointed out, ready to skewer. Lion-heart took up a defensive position, ready to block the strike. Just before Fratley reached his father, he decided to roll to the side before taking a very quick leap over Lion-heart. Lion-heart kept a firm gaze on his opponent and turned around, whilst keeping his defence. Fratley landed at the other side of Lion-heart and sidestepped to his side at lightning speed. Lion-heart quickly turned to block the oncoming strike but he was too slow, and Fratley's lance connected to his side and knocked him down onto the arena floor. Fortunately for Lion-heart, Fratley had hit his armour, and so had not drawn blood.
Fratley stood and watched Lion-heart get up to his feet, just as Lion-heart had done with Freya. Lion-heart stared into the eyes of his son, scowling slightly.
"How did I get caught out with that old trick?!" Lion-heart thought.
Fratley just gave a little smile at his father's scowls. He put up his lance into a defensive position as Lion-heart focused on Fratley once again.
Soon enough, Lion-heart tried to strike Fratley, only to be blocked. As Lion-heart moved his lance, Fratley tried a quick counter, but Lion-heart blocked this. Fratley moved his lance back and this time Lion-heart tried to counter with a strike. Fratley blocked this and the two exchanged strikes, each of them blocking the other. After a couple more strikes, the two leapt back together and put up a defensive position to try to think of a different strategy.
"I think I've underestimated him." Lion-heart thought. "He blocked every single one of my strikes with ease."
The crowd were cheering wildly. This is what they came to see. As the two fighters pondered their next move, they began to chant.
"Lion-heart!! Lion-heart!!"
A small smile formed on the warrior's face as he heard his name being chanted. However, his sensitive ears could also hear another name being chanted by the crowd.
"Iron-tail!! Iron-tail!!"
The smile changed into a look of confusion.
"What the!? Iron-tail!? Where did that name come from?!" Lion-heart thought.
Looking across to the other side of the arena, Lion-heart saw a similar look of confusion on his son's face. Fratley pressed his memory to see whether he had heard the name before. He had heard the name "Iron-tail" once or twice when he was the other Dragon Knights during his missions, but he hadn't realised they had been referring to him. Evidently, the name had spread like wildfire.
Nevertheless, Fratley could not let this new title bother him at the moment. He had to focus on his match.
As Fratley returned his attention to his father, he saw that Lion-heart had begun charging up a Dragon knight ability. Fratley quickly took note and began charging up his own energy into his spear. White energy flowed in both of the warrior's lances, and after a few moments all the necessary energy had been built up.
Lion-heart pointed his lance at Fratley, and Fratley pointed his spear at his father.
"Dragon's Breath!" The two shouted.
At the same time, the energy in the knight's lances formed the shape of a dragon's head which looked slightly different on both of the lances. The two dragon heads bellowed out an intense ray of energy at each other. The two beams met in the centre of the arena and caused a tremendous explosion of energy, which was much larger than normal and blasted both Lion-heart and Fratley back. Some of the crowd gasped, others screamed at the result of the two attacks. As the dust from the blast settled a large black burn covered most of the arena, and at the very centre was a small hole where the arena had been blasted away.
Both Fratley and Lion-heart were at the edge of the arena, slowly getting up to their feet. However, Fratley's lance had been blasted out of his hands from the explosion, and was at Fratley's side. Fratley was looking at the King, disheartened.
The King acknowledged this and began to make an announcement.
"Sir Lion-heart has disarmed his opponent. He is the..."
"Wait!!"
The King turned and looked at Lion-heart, stunned by his interruption.
"I'm bleeding." Lion-heart stated, holding up his arm, which had a small cut, unnoticed by the King. "I got hit by a piece of debris."
"Very well. Noting that due to the disarming of Fratley and that Fratley has also drawn blood from Lion-heart at the same time the match shall continue." The King announced.
The crowd cheered wildly. This had been a great match, and it still wasn't over!
Fratley quickly picked up his lance before turning to face Lion-heart, with a slight look of shock on his face.
"Father...you could have been called the victor right then...why?" Fratley asked in a soft voice.
"I am going to win this match." Lion-heart answered firmly. "It's just I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that I won by fooling his majesty and therefore winning dishonestly."
Fratley smiled at his father. He admired his conscience and good-heartedness.
"Besides, this fight has become very interesting. You've become a great challenge." Lion-heart smirked, whist lifting his lance ready to attack.
"You too." Fratley replied, whilst getting into his own battle position.
Lion-heart rushed to Fratley and began another attempt at a physical attack. Fratley blocked the strikes, and then countered with his own flurry of attacks. Lion-heart blocked and dodged these strikes, before decided to jump back to avoid any further slashes.
Fratley then decided to take to the sky in a magnificent leap into the air, forcing his father to look skyward. Lion-heart followed, and leapt after him to try and counter him in mid-air. He swung at Fratley near the peak of his jump, but Fratley somehow blocked the strike with his spear.
Fratley landed first, and began to charge his lance with a white energy whilst keeping a firm eye on Lion-heart at the same time. Lion-heart landed, although he had started charging his lance a similar white energy whilst in mid-air.
The two finished charging their lances with energy and tore across the arena towards each other.
"Lancer!!" The two knights shouted.
The sound of a clean slash was heard faintly throughout the arena. A deadly hush filled the crowd.
The energy had been discharged and the two warriors stopped their charge, although they had a fair distance between them. Fratley turned to Lion-heart and held up his lance in a defensive position. Lion-heart also turned to face Fratley and put up his lance in defence. However, Lion-heart noticed something, and gasped in disbelief.
Blood was trickling down from the back of his right hand and down his arm.
"Sir 'Iron-tail' Fratley has drawn blood from his opponent and is therefore the winner and the new champion of Burmecia!" The King announced proudly.
Lion-heart's lance fell out of his hands and his face filled with shock. He couldn't take it in. It was over. He had been defeated by his own son! Outdone by his own flesh and blood!
"I don't believe it..." Fratley gasped. "I did it!"
The crowd were giving a standing ovation. It had been a classic match.
Lion-heart made his way slowly across the arena to Fratley, and then held out his hand for a congratulatory handshake.
Fratley began to shake his father's hand, but decided that it wasn't enough and hugged his father instead. Lion-heart hugged back, but shortly broke apart from it.
"I'm proud of you son." Lion-heart said proudly. "But don't let this victory go to your head. Continue to grow stronger, as there are far more powerful warriors in the world than me."
"Thank you father." Fratley replied, smiling at his father's blessing. "And don't worry, I will continue to train."
The King arose from his seat, and made his way towards the pair followed by the two guards either side of him. Also making their way towards the knights were three servants, all carrying various things.
"Firstly, I must congratulate you both for such a spectacular match. It was a shame someone had to lose." The King began his speech. "Now before I give Sir Iron-tail his prize I will award the runner-up prize to Lion-heart."
One of the servants handed the King a small, silver trophy and a bag of gil.
"For being a finalist, you win this runner-up trophy and 2500 gil." The King stated as he handed the two in turn to Lion-heart and shaking his free hand. The crowd applauded as he received his prize.
Another servant handed the King a large, golden trophy and a larger bag of gil.
The King then turned to Fratley. "To Sir Iron-tail Fratley, for winning this tournament you have won this golden trophy, which has been passed down for generations; a large sum of 5000 gil and the title of Burmecia's strongest knight. Congratulations!" The King handed Fratley his prizes and managed to shake his hand. The crowd gave a louder applause.
"I must say farewell to you now, as this is the end of this year's tournament. I hope to see you all next year, for who knows what the future tournaments may hold!" The King announced, and shortly left the arena and back to the castle.
Fratley and Lion-heart then left the arena together, heading towards the infirmary. The crowd began to disperse and leave the stadium, talking all about the spectacle they had just witnessed.
Disclaimer: You know... I've come to realise that even if Square did try and sue me, the fact that I'm not making any profit from this story means the case would be laughed out of court. So I don't know why I've wasted my time writing these things.
Author's Rant: Sorry about the long update, but I have had exams and various things going on. Also, for some reason I received seven new reviews for my first ever fanfiction! That's more than I received for this after chapter 27! Where is everyone?! Please review this story if you're reading this!
At long last the tournament is finished! Now I won't have to write another cursed fight scene for a while! Also, I'm nearing the end of the back-story to the characters and entering some real plot!
Wonwingangel: Yes, it is that Dan. In fact, the majority of the people in the tournament are actual side characters in the game. I'm glad you liked the battle, there's plenty more of them to come.
Lively: A new reader! Excellent! I'm glad I have you hooked. Thanks for explaining the AU for me. What is your main language by the way? About the tournament fights, I suppose I did overuse the shoulder. I might go and change some of the chapters for the arm or leg, but I think the knights would avoid the torso so they wouldn't pierce a vital organ and they would never go for the head (although Frato came awfully close). I used the other rule once or twice, having a few knights disarmed. As for the plot, this is just a back-story at the moment for the characters; an actual plot will start once Fratley starts his journey and the games events begin. Freya and Fratley see each other more often, and I haven't really described in great detail what they get up to. I suppose there is room for another romance scene before Fratley leaves. Keep reading!