"H-hand to hand combat?" Pocahontas repeats with a stutter. Though she shouldn't be doubting him, she and everyone else in the field can clearly see who is more physically superior. Ahiga could win this in a landslide. He's way taller, and has more muscle mass than Arthur. Everyone looks at Chief Powhatan with questionable faces, but the Chief didn't back down on his choice.
"Ha, I'm going to easily win this one, barbarian," Ahiga sneers, to which Arthur rolls in eyes at the 'threat'.
"This hand to hand combat will not use any weapons, and will only have one round. Whoever brings the first man down on the ground wins this event. There will be no breaking or punching vital parts, no elbows are allowed as well. There is no time limit, and no fighter can go beyond the circle. Hitting civilians will be instant disqualification. That is all the rules… Now, begin!" Chief Powhatan signals the two fighters, who immediately moved away from each other. The crowd watch as the overconfident Ahiga goes for the first strike. Pocahontas and Nakoma can do nothing but wait for their favourable outcome.
As Ahiga strikes his first punch, Arthur swiftly dodges it without a change in his expression. Ahiga counter attacks with his other hand, forcing Arthur to defend with two hands covering his face rather than dodging it. To the crowd's and Ahiga's surprise, the punch didn't phase Arthur at all. Frustrated, Ahiga continues a series of punches, while Arthur continues dodging them. The crowd marvels at Arthur's unusual fighting style, though most of them are amazed at how fast and how easy he could dodge the punches. It was as if they're watching a bear fight against a rabbit, with Arthur as the rabbit due to him jumping around the place. As she watches the fight, Pocahontas's eyes twinkle upon the gracefulness in Arthur's actions, as he twists his body around as if he is dancing elegantly.
"Stop dodging you weakling! Take this!" Ahiga yells desperately, before aiming a punch right for Arthur's face. This time, he defends himself, crossing his arms together with only his left foot on the ground. Though Ahiga pushes him backwards by a meter or so, Arthur finds this distance favourable, as he drops his right foot on the ground and launches himself forwards until he's right behind Ahiga's right shoulder.
"Fast." Chief Powhatan mumbles with eyes focused on Arthur's footing.
"What the-" before Ahiga could react, Arthur was already right behind him. With panic, Ahiga aims his elbow for Arthur's stomach, which he knows it's against the rules. But Arthur knew he would do that, so with his left foot, he launches himself to face Ahiga's right arm and grabs it before he could thrust his elbow. Once Arthur got hold of Ahiga's hand, he bends down and slides his right foot across the ground, hitting Ahiga's feet, allowing the giant to topple to the ground, but just before his face ground meet the soil before him, Arthur twists Ahiga's arm, forcing him to turn 360 in mid air, before landing back first on the ground. But unfortunately for Arthur, he sees Ahiga still keeping one of his foot up in order to prevent his whole body from touching the ground. With a sly smirk, Arthur lets go of Ahiga's arm and sits on Ahiga's stomach to prevent him from moving any further. He then raises his right hand up and curls it into a fist, before slamming it just a couple of centimetres from Ahiga's left ear. A loud smash could be heard, and dust particles surrounds Arthur's fist. With an extremely shocked expression, Ahiga relaxes his body, allowing it to rest itself on the ground. He also finds himself shaking with fear as he stares upon Arthur's dark and angry eyes.
No one understood what just happened, but they know two things; this whole fight took only three minutes, with less than a minute before Arthur's domination.
As Arthur lifts his fist from the newly cracked ground, the crowd all watched, stunned by the hole Arthur created with his fist. It wasn't deep nor big, but it was wide enough to scare Ahiga and to show Arthur's true strength. With a smirk directed to Ahiga, Arthur gets up and proceed to stand next to him.
The crowd goes wild.
Whispers and murmurs could be heard from the forest as everyone recapped what they had just seen. Arthur, a weak and small man, just defeated the strongest and biggest looking man everyone had ever seen. Although everyone questions it, they still cheered and clapped for the unexpected result. Now no one can argue this fact: Arthur won this event by a landslide.
"H-How did you…?" Chief Powhatan asks with mouth agape. Not many things surprise him, since he's a very serious person, but Arthur surprised him one too many times.
"W-Wow…" Pocahontas couldn't help but grin at the result Arthur gave her. But then, she looks down at herself. Although she cheered for him the second this event begun, she doubted him. She shouldn't have done this, she knew that. On the other hand, this event allows her to open her knowledge on this side of Arthur. The archery, the ability to topple Ahiga; all of these were beyond her expectations, beyond anyones'.
"I knew how to do this mainly because of experience and practice," Arthur states, hushing everyone automatically. He knew that people would question his abilities, so he begun explaining the reason of his win. "Because of my small physical stature, my mother told me ways I could defeat my opponent using speed and their strength. So I simply did that after years of training and experience in battles and fights. And as for my unexpected strength on my punches, it has always been a mystery to me, but my mother believes it's in the genes… or maybe because of the advancements of the British Empire," Arthur continues his explanation to the crowd, who all somewhat nodded at this.
"Y-You have experienced battle before?" Chief Chayton now joins the discussion.
"Yes, I have. I also lead them from time to time," he replies. His tone and eyes then becomes serious."This is why I said that Ahiga can never defeat me unless he gains the knowledge of combat and the experience of a soldier."
"I-It's Prince Ahiga, you commoner!" Ahiga struggles as he gets up from his spot. He clicks his tongue after seeing his hands still shaking with fear from the beating. Arthur looks at him through serious yet deadly eyes.
"If you want me to call you 'Prince Ahiga', then with due respect, you should call me 'General Arthur Kirkland of the British Navy and Right-hand Advisor of His Majesty King James'," Arthur smirks from his reply. Pocahontas joins in the smirk out of the agape mouths the spectators and her father are making. No one could believe that such an important man would be standing wearing their traditional clothes, engaged in a cultural tournament right in front of them.
"Yes, Sir Kirkland is an experienced person in this field, we should all be glad to be spectating a portion of the culture we have been refusing to understand," Pocahontas announces, stressing her voice on the last few words. The audience all lower their heads a little with shameful expressions. Arthur looks at Pocahontas and a small, sincere smile creeps from his lips. "Now, no one will disagree that Sir Kirkland has won this match, I presume?" She continues, jeering her father to announce the winner.
"Yes, Sir Arthur Kirkland wins this match! We now have a tie between the two contestants, and the last event, which will be announced by my daughter, will be the deciding factor!" The crowd clap their hands once the chief ends his speech. With a sneer at Arthur, whom continues to ignore him, Ahiga straightens up his body.
"The event will be: Talent," Pocahontas announces, which made both contesters's eyes widen with shock. Arthur stares at her with wavering expressions, though Pocahontas responds with a small sigh and a nod. Though, to Pocahontas's prediction, Arthur didn't know what the nod meant. Pocahontas then gives him an encouraging smile and strokes the front of her neck with her hand. Arthur's eyes widen once more upon realising what Pocahontas wanted him to do. His confident face and stature changed to fidgeting feet, bitting lips, and a speck of blush across his cheeks.
"Hmph! What kind of event is that?" Ahiga protested.
"The one that I chose, did you not hear, Ahiga? Or, are you still scared from your unfortunate loss?" Pocahontas sarcastically asks, making Ahiga angry once more.
"My son, your spear moves! They are a marvellous talent of yours," Chief Chayton nods at his son, whom smirks back at his father.
"Of course, father," Ahiga bows a little before eyeing a guard, whom nods back at him and throws a heavy spear towards his direction. Arthur, realising that something would happen, moves away from Ahiga.
With deep breaths, Ahiga holds the spear with the head facing upwards, and with great strength, he twirls the spear with one hand, then switches back and forth between hands. He then thrust the spear forward, then sideways. While twirling the spear this time, he does kicking and punching movements, letting out grunts in every thrust. He continues to put on a show as the audience marvels at his unique talent. Towards the end of his compilation, he twirls the spear in the air, before throwing it up. He then catches it and swings it to his left with the spear head facing north, right towards Arthur. Thanks to his fast reaction, Arthur was able to move back just before it could slash his face, though this sudden movement caused him to fall. Only Pocahontas springs up from her seat to see Arthur's condition, for everyone else thought that it was a simple accident.
The crowd cheers once Ahiga ends his performance. With a smug grin, Ahiga plunge the tip of his spear to the ground, making a down booming noise due to the weight of the spear. "Hah, you okay, barbarian? Let me see you beat me this time!" He smirks at Arthur, who's already up on his two feet. Pocahontas glares at Ahiga once more, frustrated at both his attitude and her inability to interfere with the commencing event.
"Thank you Ahiga, for that wonderful show," Pocahontas states in monotone. "Next, Sir Kirkland, if you may."
Arthur looks at her with a worried expression. Everyone all stare at him, wanting to see what other surprises will he bring for them. Unfortunately, to their disappointment, Arthur did not utter a word nor move his body. Instead of his usual charming self, Arthur stands there with quivering lips. Chief Powhatan raises his eyebrow, Ahiga grins, and Nakoma turns to Pocahontas, who's currently bitting her lips.
With deep breaths, Pocahontas closes her eyes and tilt her chin up. Oh the songs of the wind, hear me, help him, Pocahontas commands through her thoughts.
Soon after, a powerful gust of wind rushes through Arthur with loud whispers only he can hear. He then feels a sudden warmth on his back, as if someone is leaning their whole body on his back. The realistic sensation made Arthur lower all the tensions trapping his body. He then sees leaves encircling his waist, but to him, it's as if someone is wrapping their warm and familiar arms around him. Arthur closes his eyes, allowing him to gradually converse with the being, whom to his surprise, emits a familiar sounding voice.
It is okay… I am here… you do not need to be afraid of something you are amazing at. Arthur, you are a wonderful and talented individual, you should not hide this special talent of yours from others. You should not be scared, you should not doubt something that makes you smile. I will give you guidance. I am here. I will never let you go…
Arthur closes his eyes and whispers something no one could understand. With three quick breaths, Arthur walks to the middle of the circle and showed the community what talent he possessed.
"Hega hega yah-pi-ye-hega
Yah-pi-ye-he-he hega
Hega hega yah-pi-ye-hega
Yah-pi-ye-he-he hega" The villagers all stare at him with wide eyes. The forest, as if commanded, became silent in order to let all creatures listen to his angelic voice.
"Steady as the beating drum
Singing to the cedar flute
Seasons Go and seasons Come
Bring the corn and bear the fruit" Pocahontas smiles as she closes her eyes to picture an image of the song.
"By the waters sweet and clean
Where the mighty sturgeon lives
Plant the squash and reap the bean
All the earth our mother gives" Through the rhythm of the song, the wind dances around Arthur with leaves of different shape and colours. Then, a girl was formed out of the leaves to the crowd's astonishment. The girl was of average height, with long hair, and a thin body, and through Pocahontas's eyes, the girl's physical figure looks exactly like her. Arthur then gracefully takes the girl's hand and waltzed with her around the festival of leaves. The crowd marvels at the magical performance before them.
"O Great Spirit, hear our song
Help us keep the ancient ways
Keep the sacred fire strong
Walk in balance all our days" The wind then swirls above Arthur to form a never-ending cycle of leaves. Then, as if by magic, the leaves all come together to form a bear and three bunnies, moving them simultaneously on the ground. Soon, more animals were formed, all dancing and walking in their own way to the beat of the song.
"Seasons go and seasons come
Steady as the beating drum
Plum to seed to bud to plum
(Hega hega yah-pi-ye hega)
Steady as the beating drum" The animals, one by one, soon parts their ways by walking towards the crowd, and dispersing back to their original leaf form. Arthur and the mysterious girl stops their enchanting dance, only to face each other, hands held tight. She then places her head on his neck in a romantic gesture.
"Hega hega yam-pi-ye-hega
Yah-pi-ye-ne-he hega" As the song ends, the girl reluctantly releases from his grip and slowly backs away from him. As Arthur reaches for her, she shakes her head at him and pushes herself up, only to be dispersed by the wind. At the last word, the wind gives one last twirl around Arthur, before fully disappearing beneath the woods.
A small pause occurred, but it was immediately interrupted by loud cheers and applauses. No one needed an announcement this time, it was obvious that Arthur wins the match, and the heart of the natives. The females were all struck by the performance that their hearts won't stop beating. Everyone felt moved by his efforts that they soon forgot about his status and race. No one wants to question his abilities, for they all know that the spirits are in favour of him.
Everyone rushed towards Arthur, congratulating him as well as commenting on his overall performance. Arthur soon realised none of them are weary or afraid of him anymore, which comforted him a little. Ahiga, on the other hand, scowls at him, before violently turning around and stomping away from the celebration that he once believed was intended for him.
Pocahontas stares at Arthur from a distance with a smile on her face, but nevertheless, she feels a small uneasy feeling eating up inside her.
W-who was the girl he danced with…?
It looks like Arthur won the event! But... what is this strange feeling Pocahontas have watching Arthur dance with a woman? Hmmmm ;)