—Chapter 15—
Once the gong sounded and the Arbiter initiated combat, Trip and Koss each moved towards the other. Koss had a slight but nasty grin on his face, though it was unclear if he truly felt amusement, or was just grinning to psyche his opponent into making a mistake. Trip's face was essentially neutral, though his eyes had the intensely watchful quality of a cat watching a mouse, in preparation for a sudden pounce.
Koss advanced with lirpa at the ready, ax head blade held vertically and pointed towards Trip, and Trip approached Koss in a similar manner, until the tips of their weapons touched. Koss pressed his weapon against the Human's weapon, to make clear his strength advantage, but the Human did not resist Koss, and his lirpa gently adhered to Koss's lirpa to the left, then back to the center line, and then Koss took a quick step, and viciously thrust his blade at the Human's face. The attack was ineffective for a thrust was clearly the only attack readily available from that position for either of the combatants, and easily anticipated. Had Trip merely moved his head to avoid the thrust, Koss would have used the back of the blade to hook Trip's shoulder or neck in order to drag the Human forward, and the mace end of Koss's own weapon, but Trip was aware of that danger, and so he had stepped back from Koss's initial thrust, and by doing so he avoided giving Koss any possible openings for secondary attacks.
The two combatants circled each other now, and Koss took several swings of opportunity at Trip, netting the Vulcan no profit to show for his efforts. Trip had done nothing but avoid Koss, and T'Pol, watching from the sidelines took immediate comfort from Trip's unexpected skill in avoiding Koss's attacks, as well as the man's watchful awareness. They touched lirpa tips again, blades once more oriented vertically, then Trip swiveled the ax head of his lirpa with a twist of his wrist and hooked Koss's ax head and pulled down. He succeeded briefly, then Koss brought his weapon back up and then thrust at Trip. Nothing gained by either side, they returned to their starting position and this time Trip swiveled his ax head under Koss's lirpa, and pushed up on Koss's weapon, only to have it pressed down once more. They returned to that same point, and this time Trip slid his lirpa's head once more against the side of Koss's lirpa, as if to test Koss's strength once more, but instead he lunged forward in order to slide his lirpa's ax head along his opponent's shaft to cut Koss's index finger to the bone, and Trip then leapt aside instantly, and sure enough, as he'd expected Koss swung his lirpa viciously at Trip, in response, still catching him partly with the flat of his blade, for a painful blow to Trip's left shoulder.
Something ventured, thought Trip, something gained.
Green blood dripped freely from the Vulcan's cut, interfering with his grip on his lirpa to some degree or other, and Koss had no chance to bind the wound and stem the flow, with Trip pacing round him slowly, while looking for an opening. A half dozen feints by each, then Koss managed to hook the back of Trip's left leg and pull his feet out from under him, then Koss quickly raised and then brought down his lirpa's blade, aiming for the Human's torso.
T'Pol almost screamed at that exchange, but as Koss's lirpa descended on its trajectory, Trip rolled aside, rose to his feet, and took a swipe with the mace end of his lirpa at Koss's head, and the metal end cap made contact with Koss's jaw. Four teeth flew from the Vulcan's mouth, along with a spray of green blood, and the odd tilt of the bottom jaw made it clear that it was broken, though Koss refused to acknowledge the pain.
Another scrimmage of sorts, another round of feints, and attacks, and Trip suffered two broken fingers and a broken nose which bled freely and interfered with his breathing, though Trip had managed to slam his mace end into Koss's right foot for his troubles, and the Vulcan was limping noticeably now. A flurry of swings of the lirpa by a maddened Koss, he hoping to solidly connect with the Human at least once, only to be stymied by the Human's dexterity, followed shortly by a realization by Koss that he'd picked too heavy a lirpa for an extended fight. Another scrimmage and a desperate grab by Koss for the Human's lirpa, only to catch the mace end of the Human's lirpa against his right knee for his effort, and though bone was not broken, it was damaged, and Koss's leg stiffened almost immediately.
Another desperate exchange and this time something good for Koss, as he managed to hook and hold the blade end of Trip's lirpa, and then slam it to the ground, breaking the shaft of the Human's lirpa a bit below the blade with his own heavier weapon. A wave of optimism for Koss, and an oddly gaited attempt by the Vulcan to close distance with the Human in order to finish this contest. The Human, oddly unfazed by the loss of his lirpa's blade, resting now his three foot lirpa shaft on Koss's weapon, using the baton as an antenna to sense the lirpa's movements without having to keep eye on it, circling always to the right, purposefully placing the major burden of movement on Koss's damaged leg. A few swings by Koss, come to nothing, then another, and a stumble by Koss, which brought him to his knee with a stifled grunt. The Human literally jumped at the chance, swinging the mace end of his lirpa at Koss's head, and Koss raised his own lirpa's, to block the Human's blow with the shaft of his weapon, but the attack had been a feint, for the Human delivered his strike to Koss's already damaged knee, this time definitely breaking the joint with an audible crunch, and the effectiveness of the strike was verified by Koss's scream of pain, and a last attempt to rise, and lunge at the Human, in order to get hands on him, but it was an attempt come to nothing, and Koss ended up on his knees, the Human behind him.
Koss waited for the killing blow with a stoic resignation, but when the blow came, in landed on his left clavicle, breaking that collar bone, and then on his right clavicle and Koss screamed once more now. The Human tossed his mace aside, as Koss's powers of resistance had all but vanished now, and crouched behind the Vulcan, to place him in a rear choke hold. No Vulcan there understood the logic of it, for it would have been more efficient to simply kill Koss with a blow to the head, rather than break his clavicles, and then suffocate him to death.
"Soval!" said Trip, for they'd discussed this possibility, and the ambassador rose and went to speak to the medic attending the ceremony in order to declare the vanquished dead, and tend to the victor.
Koss struggled weakly to escape, and struggled briefly to breathe, and Trip allowed him to do so until Soval and the medic stood next to him, and then Trip sunk in the choke, killing Koss after a time.
"Now!" said Trip, and the medic quickly verified that Koss was dead, and stated so verbally for the Arbiter.
Trip released Koss and laid him on the ground, and the medic went to work on him with mouth to mouth, while alternating that act with the pressing down on Koss's chest in the manner required, and soon enough, the medic looked at Soval, and said, "He is back."
The medic then looked at Koss's Human opponent, uncertain of what to make of this whole thing, and he was not the only one. This had been a most unorthodox conclusion to this kal-if-fee. A moment later he spoke to Soval, and the ambassador began digging into the medic's bag in search of something.
"It looks like your plan worked, Captain Tucker," said Soval, standing now and handing Trip some gauze to staunch the blood flow from his still bleeding broken nose.
"I know Vulcans like to keep things on a formal footing," said Trip, "but you can call me Trip if you like, Soval."
Soval nodded his agreement.
"I mean, I'm pretty sure that I owe you my life," said Trip, for the skilled instruction he'd received from Soval's hired lirpa instructor had surely made a difference today, "and remember, you're adopting me as your Human son, and giving me your house. You do remember our agreement?"
"Yes," said Soval, and he actually smiled at Trip, reserved as that smile seemed by Human standards. "I remember."
"Good. Good. Just glad I didn't have to be the one to give that bastard mouth to mouth," said Trip, with a grim humor, as he watched two Vulcans load Koss on a stretcher and hustle him towards a hospital.
"Come now, Trip. You must face the Arbiter once more," said Soval.
Soval followed Trip as the man walked up to the Arbiter, Trip sparing a glance for T'Pol along the way. She did her best to display a poker face in response to Trip's glance, but Trip recognized the twinkle in her eyes. He'd best fake bad injury and spend the night in hospital, else T'Pol would kill him in the sack: of that he had no doubt.
"A most unusual challenge, Human," said the Arbiter, Soval translating, "but it was honorably fought, and honorably resolved. T'Pol belongs to you now, as property, or mate. Choose wisely, on which path you allow T'Pol."
"She's as treacherous as a hungry sehlat," said Trip, Soval translating for the Arbiter, "so I will follow your advice, Arbiter."
The Arbiter scoffed at that, and said, "You may return here, when you medical condition allows, if you wish to be Bonded to T'Pol."
A brief announcement followed, in which the Arbiter repeated his judgment for the crowd, so that all Vulcans attending the ceremony would know that the challenge had been honorably concluded, as well as a making formal determination on T'Pol's newly determined legal standing, no longer attached to Koss, but rather the Human Tucker.
Soval gave a slight bow then, and Trip followed Soval's lead, after which they turned and walked directly towards T'Pol.
"Am I done here, Soval?" said Trip.
"Yes, Trip."
"I'll call you later tonight, or tomorrow," said Trip, meaning to fully express his gratitude for Soval's help, "but I'd better have my nose reset, and my fingers splinted now."
"No need to part ways," said Soval. "We will take my shuttle to a medical clinic."
They reached T'Pol seconds later, and though she exercised proper discipline in light of the Vulcans milling round them, Trip had a feeling she wished to jump in his arms, judging from the intensity of emotion he saw in her eyes.
"Conclude your part in the ceremony honorably, T'Pol," said Trip, "and I'll meet you back at the house later tonight. Soval's giving me a lift to a hospital."
"My role here is finished, Captain Tucker. Wait for me, please," said T'Pol. "It will take me just a few minutes to change."
"All right," said Trip. "I need to shower, wash this blood off my face, and change back into my clothes so you have until then."
"I will wait for you outside the changing rooms," said T'Pol, and spun then, moving quickly to rid herself of her ceremonial garb.
"You know where my shuttle is parked," said Soval to Trip. "I will go find T'Les, and we will await you and T'Pol at the shuttle."
"Right," said Trip.
Twenty minutes later, a freshly scrubbed and dressed Trip exited the facilities to find T'Pol waiting for him.
"You look like hell, Captain Tucker," said T'Pol, giving Trip's nose an appraising look. "I hope that our doctors can fix that broken nose like new. I had always hoped to be Bonded to a pretty boy."
"You take what you get, T'Pol," said Trip with a sideways glance at T'Pol, and then muttered, "I'm beginning to realize that myself just now."
"And just what is that supposed to mean, Captain Tucker?" said T'Pol, and Trip snickered. "I asked you a question, Captain Tucker!"
Trip broke into laughter, though he pressed a thick wad of papers towels to his nose now, for the bleeding had begun again.
After a brief flight to a medical clinic where a pain killer was administered before Trip's nose was reset and his fingers placed in a splint, Trip was then ferried back to T'Les's house like a sack of potatoes, and once inside he made for the guest bedroom, and his bed.
"No," said T'Pol, and guided Trip to her bedroom while making eye contact with T'Les, and silently daring her mother to say something.
T'Les said nothing though and turned back to the living room, where she asked Soval to sit, then set about brewing tea, and bringing out something sweet for the ambassador. Meanwhile, Trip crawled into bed with T'Pol's help, as the painkiller he'd received was strong enough to be disorienting, and minutes later he laid his head down on T'Pol's lap, silently reviewing his combat with Koss in his minds eye. Ten minutes later he fell asleep, and T'Pol wriggled out from under Trip in order to strip off her clothing and then crawl under the covers with him.
A bit later, T'Les came to check up on them, see if they cared for a snack, only to find T'Pol spooning Trip. Thinking T'Pol asleep, T'Les made her way around the bed to turn off the bedside lamp, and saw her daughter seemingly more content than she'd ever seen T'Pol before. Sensing movement, T'Pol opened her eyes, and made eye contact with T'Les, her eyes cool, for she expected censure from T'Les as she and Trip were not technically Bonded yet, but T'Les said nothing, though she nodded agreeably to T'Pol before turning off the light.
Trip woke twice during the night, briefly back in combat with Koss, but T'Pol drew closer to him each time, her kisses and her scent quickly lulling Trip back to sleep.