AN: Haha! I actually updated again before another year went by!

Chapter 17

John was in the arena facing a brown-haired man who may have been a couple years older than himself. They drew their swords after they stepped closer to each other and brought them to cross ends. John shifted his feet into position, the dirt gritting against the soles of his boots. His opponent also shifted, his earthy eyes looking into red ones as they shifted into the right distance, not too close or too far apart.

"Begin!"

At Dravel's command, the two men in the center of the arena tensed briefly, propelled into action. Suddenly they passed each other before ending up face to face yet again, standing where the other had been only a moment before. John was no longer looking directly into his opponents eyes, though that is what it appeared like to most of the spectators. He was almost looking past the man in front of him, enabling John to see the whole man and his sword range.

Both had their swords leveled at the other, hands gripping loosely at their leather hilts. They cried out to each other with sounds from deep within their being, forcing their spirit upon each other, trying to weaken the other's resolve. They lifted their swords quickly, seeming to fall towards each other as they pushed themselves with their back leg.

John saw the man's sword starting to swing down, aimed at his head, while his own sword was aiming for the earth-eyed man's arm.

'Too late…'

Their swords clashed, neither getting the hit they had aimed for and pushing against each other before jumping away. As soon as John's back foot touched the ground he pushed himself forward again, driving his spirit outward in the form of a yell and freezing his opponent a split second, long enough for the pale man to jab his sword past the raised arms of the man who was planning to try for another head blow. Everything froze, the tip of a shining sword just a finger's breadth away from a sweaty throat.

"Stop! Winner: John!"

John withdrew his sword and the other man slowly lowered his as well. They crossed swords again then backed away from each other. The man twitched a nervous smile at the victor, letting him know there were no hard feelings from losing. He noticed the cheers of the crowd.

The match had been short, but John already felt sweaty. This was only the first round and he needed a way to keep cool. Round after round the competitors were whittled down until only the best four were left. John had lasted all the matches and in between he had found refuge in the shade of the medics tent. He and others drank from the barrels provided and Sarah kept looking him over, assuring herself that he only had superficial wounds. He had a forming bruise from a glancing blow to his head and it was promising to be big, but it wasn't serious. Berin had confirmed that he had no concussion after Sarah checked him once.

John held a cold, wet rag to his head, but he put it down on a table when he was called up to face against what might possibly be his last opponent. His hair was damp and messy where he had held the rag, locks of it clinging together resembling steel. He had to sweep it away from his face, being quite long now.

'Maybe I should have had my hair cut,' John thought in passing.

John was declared victor once again. His second to last match was grueling. His opponent was more talented and experienced than his previous ones.

Sarah looked on, thinking that ten minutes for a match was insanity. Watching the three minute matches felt like an eternity, but the ten minutes made her appreciate the amount of stamina involved in the game, if not the likelihood of more injuries. She worried that someone would die from sheer exhaustion.

John limped his way back to the medics tent breathing hard, while the cheer of the crowd was almost loud enough to drown out thoughts. A few minutes passed and they quieted down as another match was set up to determine who would fight the last one against John.

Yidirik was with Sarah to welcome him back.

"'Ey, Johnny! Yer a good fighter! Could you give me some of yer female admirers?" the redhead asked with a wink. John didn't get what Yidirik was referring to until he turned around and noticed several women who had gathered near the tent and were not so subtly staring at him. He felt a bit awkward with so many eyes following him. He wasn't sure if some of the stares he received from both males and females were because of his skill, or because his arm, although Sarah knew that some of the women, both young and old, saw his attractiveness.

Sarah pulled him into the tent and sat him down on a narrow bed.

"Did you get hit in the leg? I tried watching, but you all move so fast when you're fighting that I must have missed the hit," Sarah admitted, worried about the various injuries John had sustained, including the newly acquired limp.

Yidirik was standing behind Sarah, his arms crossed over his chest. His generally cheerful freckled face contained a more subdued half-smile, his eyes studying his normally pale friend who had reddened under the sun.

"Y'r'all right, right?" Yidirik asked.

John looked up from Sarah and answered, "Yes, I just got hit in the hip. I'll be fine after a short rest, it's nothing serious."

Sarah opened her mouth, ready to disagree, but a voice stopped her, "Sarah, stop being a worrywart, you'll get all your wrinkles in one day."

They looked to the entrance to see Addy.

"But Addy-" Sarah began, again interrupted by the healer.

"No need to worry. I'm sure you can tell that he's not seriously harmed. You're experienced enough by now to tell that without me having to tell you."

Sarah closed her mouth and looked down at her shoes. Berin saw the whole exchange from the entrance of the tent and smiled.

'Sarah certainly loves John,' she thought.

Linz announced that there would be an hour break before the final round; Dravel's voice had gotten hoarse.

John took his boots off and laid back on the bed in the tent, once in a while swatting away a fly. Berin had sent Sarah to check on the girls, figuring that her daughter needed something constructive to do rather than worrying about John and trying the patience of Addy, one of the most patient people Berin had ever met.

John noticed the slight drop in the heat. It wasn't just the shade of the canvas tent, since it could get quite stuffy and hot if it was closed, but there was a slight, inviting breeze that drifted every now and again and the sun had dropped down some, not being as intense. And of course he wasn't sweating out in a swordfight. The young man's clothing stuck to him, and his sweat, along with dust, had darkened his shirt and cooled down. His body ached and his skin stung, all this, but he remained laying still on the stiff bed, not wanting to put in any effort to relieve his aches and pains, or to remove the uncomfortable, sticky clothes.

"John?" Berin called softly.

"Yes?" he answered, lifting his hurting head.

"Why don't you take that shirt off, and I'll go rinse it out. Go ahead and wipe yourself with this," the doctor said, tossing him a warm, damp cloth.

He removed his shirt sitting up and handed it to the waiting Berin. John wiped the grime off his face and upper body, feeling better, although he still ached.

Berin came back, wiping her hands on a small towel and said, "I wrung out your shirt and I'm letting the sun dry the rest out. It might still be damp when you put it on again, but at least it will be somewhat cleaner."

"Thank you very much, it's fine if it's still damp. I'll just sweat again, anyway," replied John.

"How's your sunburn? Your pale skin doesn't really tan."

John looked ruefully at his reddened forearm and felt the sting. Had he the choice, he believed he would have spent most of his time inside, or perhaps in the woods where the trees would filter harsh sunlight into a cool green. Little did he know that that was exactly what he had done in his youth.

"Lucky for you I'm the local herbalist."

John and Berin observed the lithe form of Addy step into the tent. He had left a while ago on some errand or other. Some of his light brown hair had escaped the small ponytail tied at his neck, and a piece of moss was caught in a lock of hair that was threatening to join the loose ones.

"I was just commenting on Johns sunburns. It looks like you've already thought about it," said Berin, motioning to the large, broad light green and grey-fuzzed leaves Addy was pulling out of a sack.

When John saw the leaves and how the healer was preparing them by stripping away the middle vein of the leaves and mashing them in a bowl with a little water he thought he recognized the plant, even recalling the name of it.

'Love leaves.'

John wasn't sure how he knew the plant since he couldn't remember seeing it before.

"I'll only put a little on you now since you'll be going out in the sun again for who knows how long. Use the rest later. Keep the leaves, Berin, and Sarah can fix a fresh mash for you later if this mash gets old," instructed the healer.

John nodded, although he believed he could prepare the proper mash for himself. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he knew a lot about plants, the preparation of the love leaves for his sunburn unlocking his hidden knowledge of herbs.

The soothing mash was being applied to John's reddened arm and neck when he saw Sarah, Brittany, and Lindsey walking to the tent, all three carrying cloth-wrapped bundles. He was noticed how the sun had a dazzling effect on Sarah's appearance (although he may have thought the same even if he saw her by the pale light of the moons). The sunlight picked out blue along with some red highlights shining off of the black waves of her hair.

John's thoughts were interrupted when he was smacked on the head. He looked up with mild annoyance to see Addy pulling his hand back from the strike.

"Don't stare with your mouth gaping open like that, it's rude," the healer said, something in his hardened eyes suggested a challenge to John. But a moment later Addy grinned, erasing any trace of whatever there had been in his eyes.

"Mr. John!"

John turned to look out again and saw Brittany running towards him, Lindsey close behind and Sarah still walking, smiling at them.

Brittany and Lindsey had the good sense to put their bundles down at the foot of the bed before they grabbed John's long legs and tried to scramble onto his lap. He raised his left arm up, trying to avoid getting any of the messy mash on the children.

"Girls! Don't bother John right now, he's tired and we're treating his sunburns," Berin reprimanded.

Lindsey looked stricken, being sensitive, and Brittany looked like she was about to whine, not seeing what was wrong with just sitting in his lap. It wasn't like they were going to make him play with them.

"It's okay, Doctor," said John, bringing his metal arm around to hold Lindsey and Brittany on his lap, preventing them from reluctantly sliding off in obedience of Berin's orders.

"Girls, say thank you to John for letting you both sit on his lap."

"Thank you, Mr. John!" the girls chorused.

Sarah was in the tent and unwrapped the bundles she and the little girls had brought. They held smaller bundles containing desserts.

"They finished the food contests during the sword fighting. We got to take some of the leftover food," Sarah supplied, "Aunt Rena won again. She had entered her pie. Remember that new recipe she was experimenting with?"

Berin and John nodded, having been subjected to taste testing Aunt Rena's cooking for the fall festival's contest along with Sarah. Everything had tasted great to them, but it took several tries and subtle changes before the elderly woman was content with the recipe. The younger adults were sure they had gained some weight from Aunt Rena's delicious "experiments" and had she heard their thoughts she would have laughed and then earnestly told them that it was healthy for them to have some pudge.

John felt small fingers tracing the lines of a couple scars.

"Does this hurt?" asked Lindsey, gingerly touching the scar so close to his heart. She looked up at him, worried.

"Not anymore, it's all better now," John replied gently, holding in his laugh from the ticklish touch of Brittany who was poking around one of the straps that was connected to his chest and held his metal arm in place.

"Did Sarah kiss it and make it better?" Lindsey asked innocently.

Sarah and John were quick to blush, John's face burning from more than what the sun had given him. The other two adults in the tent were laughing, or rather Addy was laughing while Berin tried to suppress hers from escaping by placing her hand over her mouth. Lindsey and Brittany looked confused, wondering why the doctor and healer were laughing while Ms. Sarah and Mr. John got so red.

"Um, no Lindsey. I didn't, uh, kiss it and make it better," Sarah explained, regaining control of her voice, "It healed with Mother's stitches."

"Oh."

AN: A very special thanks to ArtemisMoon who postponed her stories so that she could edit mine. Sorry to her readers bows low I too read her stories and I'm sorry if I'm the cause of her delay in turning out another great chapter! Please don't hurt me! Hides behind computer chair

Also thanks go out to Poco-poco and KlutzyGirl for reading and reviewing my story right away after I posted up the new chapter.

Poco-poco- I hope this chapter satisfied your sword fighting scene needs! There will be another, much longer one in the next chapter.

KlutzyGirl- Scary, isn't it? I know several stories and authors who just leave their stories hanging and ,sometimes, never finishing them. I have a couple Star Trek stories on that I haven't updated in forever since I'm focusing on this one.

ArtemisMoon- Yes, I have been going at this story for a while. I wonder who holds the record on for the story that took the longest to finish? Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I couldn't have gotten this far without you sticking with me as well this long and editing for me.