A Game of Chance
"Ah, art thou here for a gamble, too?"
Z'aanta cheerfully approached the man sighing over his coin purse. He may have been terrible at reading people most of the time, but it was clear even to him that this man had bet on one match too many. Perhaps that was a good sign. His luck couldn't be any worse than this man's was, could it?
(Hagen seemed to disagree, if his slight whine of annoyance was any indication, but Z'aanta chose to ignore this.)
The man blinked and looked up at him. "Well, yes, but..."
"All right, then!" Z'aanta threw an arm around his shoulder. "Who dost thou betten on to win the final match, lad? It ist down to Archibold and Bernhard!"
"Well, the clear choice is Archibold, isn't it? He's won the past several tournaments."
"No, no, thou art thinking all wrong," Z'aanta replied, shaking his head. "Clearly, it shalle be Bernhard! Any man who can slayeth that many beasts shalle surely beateth a man! So I willeth betten 500 leaves on him!"
The man shifted, getting Z'aanta out of his personal space bubble, and looked through his money again. He pursed his lips, sighed, and finally nodded.
"All right. 500 leaves on Archibold for me, then. The match is about to start, so sit down and watch."
Z'aanta grinned and took a seat nearby. Hagen merely watched him warily. Their new companion, so to speak, sat down as well. The barker had just entered Victors Hollow's arena, and he was now shouting out the start of the match. They'd see who won soon enough.
"And the winner is... Archibold! For the fourth year in a row! Give it up for our champion!"
Russell smirked. His luck had finally turned around. This was the first match he'd placed a winning bet on in weeks. Of course, not even he could screw something like this up.
He turned to the old man from S'warkii (he was clearly from there, given his accent), and held out a hand.
"500 leaves, then! You owe me."
The man groaned and put his face in his hands. "I feare I do not have 500 leaves, sir. I was hoping that I woulde win and thou coulden help me paye the previous person I loste to."
Russell stared at him in horror. He finally quit his losing streak, and the person he beat didn't even have any money?!
This was really the worst day he'd ever had at gambling.