A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! As part of this holiday, I updated another chapter of Medieval Knight's Tale as my thankfulness of its readers! ^_^

Yay! Jousting time. Sir Galacta finally will meet his opponent Sir Meta.

The two types of horses used in jousting is a charger and a destriers. Chargers are trained for stamina and agility and the destriers are warhorses that are slower but are more powerful. Just a little thing for you to know when its mentioned later. Not that important but interesting.

Once again, the chapter title isn't listening to me. Sometimes it stays in the center like I want it to, sometimes it doesn't. :(

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone except Clara. Everyone else goes to their respected owners.

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--Chapter 8: The Tournament--

Kirby, Fumu, and Bun painted the large 'M' with a sword through it on a large dark blue flag as Sword and Blade helped Sir Meta into all of his armor. Iron Joe watched in amusement.

"Thou art going to get yourself killed. Sir Galacta has n'er been

Sir Meta glanced at the spiky haired iron smith from under his mask that had a large mouth guard fitted over it. He said nothing but felt his heart beat faster. The anxiety of the feeling of finally having the chance to prove himself worthy threatened to overwhelm him.

Iron Joe nearly had a heart attack when Wolfwrath entered his workshop but became less wary of her after Fumu and Bun explained to him that she was to be Sir Meta's steed. Iron Joe's only reaction was a raised brow and nothing more. However, he still stayed a good distance away from the wolf.

Wolfwrath the same symbol as the flag did on the fabric that hung over her chest. Iron Joe had made head armor for her to protect her if a lance struck her.

"Perchance that it will rain. Wolfwrath will be able to run better than the other horses on wet surfaces." Sword said as she helped Sir Meta into the metal gauntlets. "Sir Galacta has a charger. Wolfwrath would be a destrier. Mayhap thou has some advantages as well as disadvantages."

Bun lifted up Sir Meta's shield. Its wood was painted dark blue and had a gold 'M' with the same sword through it.

"Sir Meta? Are you prepared?"

Sir Meta would have said 'no' but to make the others still support him, he nodded. Trumpets suddenly sounded, their general direction was from the castle.

"That'd be the signal for us to head over." Blade said as he looked up from tying the armor on.

Wolfwrath walked over to the workshop's door.

"Time to meet thy fate. From here on, there's no turning back."

Sir Galacta watched with an amused expression on his face as he watched the crowds flood into the stands. King Arthur and his daughter Clara were seated in a special stand where they could observe the tournament. Sir Galacta was dressed in a rich red armor with gold on its edges. His horse was adorned with similar colors. His shield and lance lay nearby, the feather and lance image shone brightly from under the sun; his symbol.

Sir Galacta watched as young men brought their horses into the ring. Many didn't even look that old. None of them proved to be a threat to his reputation. Lololo and Lalala, the king's advisors, floated down to the challengers.

"Thou should get ready."

"The tournament shall start soon."

Sir Galacta smiled under his mask as he got on to his horse. He would be competing with the green knight from the west side kingdom in the first round.

"We are here today to witness the first jousting tournament of this century," Escargon said from his stand. "Our great king and his daughter will be watching as well."

The crowd cheered as King Arthur and Clara stood up from their seats. The cheering died down as Escargon continued.

"Competing in the first round, we have our n'er before defeated jousting champ: Sir Galacta!"

Sir Galacta waved to the crowd who cheered again. Someone had thrown a bouquet of roses down to him. He held it up and kiss-blowed to the princess. The cheers grew louder as Clara blushed.

"Challenging him, we have the knight of the western kingdom: Sir Gallant!"

The opposite side of the crowds cheered as their hero waved.

The two knights stood at the opposite ends, waiting for the trumpets to sound. Tokori flew to his stand and blew as hard as he could. The horses reared and charged; the crowd cheered. His supporters were on the stands to his left while the other knight's supporters were at the right. By far, he had more fans than the other knight.

The horses drew closer and Sir Galacta got his lance at the ready. There was a mighty crash as the two knight's lances collided into the other.

"Thou is stronger than I perceived but I will be the one to claim victory." Sir Galacta thought as he felt the other knight's lance ram into his side.

The two horses passed by each other and turned around at the other end. The crowd hushed again, watching intently. The two horses reared and they charged again.

"Let us finish this..."

Sir Gallant drew his lance out, ready to strike his opponent. Sir Galacta felt the strange calmness he always felt just before he defeated his opponents. The lances struck and the crowds supporting Sir Gallant gasped as their hero was knocked off of his steed. Sir Galacta's horse slowed to a trot as his supporters cheered wildly. Sir Gallant picked himself off of the dusty ground. The crowds booed. Sir Galacta smiled. This would be the end of that knight's status as hero of his kingdom. He would live in shame until the day he died.

The rest of the matches went by fast as knight after knight, he triumphed over them. None of them posed a challenge to him. He almost felt bored from it all. Sir Galacta wished there would be at least one knight that rises above the rest. Defeating that knight would make him look even better.

Only one of the challengers was killed from the lance piercing through their body and the rest all fell off of their horses. Sir Galacta glanced at all of the defeated challengers. There wasn't a knight he hadn't beaten yet.

"Is that all?" Sir Galacta questioned. "Is this the challenge thou has brought to I?"

The crowd cheered and stood up. Suddenly, they all turned to the opposite end and silenced themselves. Sir Galacta turned to see what they were all looking at. A knight stood at the other end. A large reddish wolf creature stood behind him. The fearsome beast howled out as the knight waved his lance and stabbed it through the air, challenging him. Sir Galacta watched as the strange knight got onto the wolf. Mounting his own steed, Sir Galacta waved his lance, accepting the challenge.

Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, and Blade stood in the challenger's stands. They were the only ones sitting there. All of the other people had left after seeing that the one they supported lost. They held the flag up high.

"Come on Sir Meta, you can do it!" Bun said quietly.

Sir Galacta's horse and Wolfwrath reared and the two charged. Sir Galacta's horse reached the midway point first and the two lances struck the opponents. Sir Meta felt himself nearly thrown off but managed to stay on. The steeds reached the opposite ends and turned around. They reared again and began down the long dirt path. Sir Galacta felt the same feeling of calmness again.

"This is it."

The lances struck and Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, Blade, and the crowd gasp. Sir Galacta's lance had struck Sir Meta straight into the chest and knocked him off of Wolfwrath. He daggled just a little ways off of the ground from hanging on to Wolfwrath's mane. The steeds reached the other end and Sir Meta pulled himself back onto Wolwrath.

"I thought he has lost for a second there!" Bun exclaimed.

"He didn't get fully knocked off so Sir Meta is still in." Fumu said without turning away from the track.

The steeds charged down again and again. Sir Meta didn't fall off like he did the second time but the others could see he was really getting beaten up.

"Sir Meta! Have Wolfwrath speed up just as you two are about to strike each other! You have to use Wolfwrath's power to your advantage!" Fumu shouted down from the stands.

Sir Meta briefly looked up to her before Wolfwrath reared again. Fumu's advice circled his mind as the Sir Galacta's horse and Wolfwrath drew closer. Wolfwrath looked up at him, awaiting any command. Sir Meta nodded to her and the wolf suddenly ran with a surge of speed. The lances struck with a mighty crash and Sir Galacta was knocked back from the saddle. He grabbed the straps however before he could fall off. Kirby and the others cheered.

At the other end, Sir Galacta gazed at his opponent. This one had skill. He couldn't deny that. Everything had gone his way until now. The knife he had tucked into his belt bounced off of his side with every move he made.

"If thou knows what is best for thyself, thou will give up now, before I make that happen."

The steeds reared and they charged again, this time with Sir Meta with renewed confidence and Sir Galacta with building worry. Wolfwrath greatly added to Sir Meta's power and devastated Sir Galacta with its force. King Arthur and Clara watched in fascination as this stranger seemed to have a chance.

"Let's finish him!" Bun yelled from the stands.

"Thou can defeat him!" Sword added.

Their words of encouragement made Sir Meta swell with pride but he didn't let it overwhelm him and turned his attention back Sir Galacta. At the opposite end, Dedede ran up to the stands closer to Sir Galacta.

"Thou knows what to do. Get thy soldiers and take the princess." Sir Galacta said in a low voice.

Dedede nodded and disappeared into the crowds. Sir Galacta turned his attention back and the match continued.

"Gosh. They're still at it!" Fumu remarked.

Sir Meta and Sir Galacta continued ramming into the other with their lances. Under their armor, they had become quite bruised. Neither one would let the other triumph over them. Their steeds were about to rear once again when someone screamed from above. Everyone looked up and gasped. Sir Galacta's soldiers had taken over the king's stand and one of them held a knife to Clara's throat. King Arthur was forced to surrender and the armored men disappeared, taking Clara with them.

"Somebody stop them!" Someone cried out from the crowd.

Sir Galacta turned his horse around and the steed galloped out of the arena. Sir Meta tugged on Wolfwrath's fur to follow them and the two pursued them. Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, and Blade stood up.

"Come on!" Bun said.

"Poyo!"

Sir Meta mounted on Wolfwrath chased Sir Galacta. Trees rushed past them as they entered the forest. The ground was unleveled and rocks jutted out from the earth. Sir Galacta led them in a weaving path, trying to shake them off. Wolfwrath took another step when suddenly the ground seemed to disappear. She slipped and she and Sir Meta tumbled down the steep side of a cliff. They landed at the bottom. Sir Galacta gazed at them briefly before his horse reared and he was gone.

Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, and Blade finally caught up to them.

"Sir Meta! Are you okay?"

Wolfwrath had landed on top of Sir Meta. She hastily got up and looked at him. Wolfwrath nudged him with her nose. He didn't move.

"Sir Meta..."

Wolfwrath howled out into the trees mournfully. Fumu felt her mouth hang open. She couldn't believe it. Bun carefully made his way down to Sir Meta.

"You can't die now! Sir Galacta's getting away and he's kidnapped the princess! Are you going to stop him?"

Sir Meta shifted and then slowly got up. The others could see that it took a great deal of pain to do so. His gloves clenched into a fist.

"Wolfwrath, help me up."

Wolfwrath carefully picked him up and placed him on her back. Bun handed Sir Meta his lance. He wrapped his glove around it.

"Onward!"

Wolfwrath howled her battle cry and leapt up the cliff in a few bounds. Iron Joe suddenly appeared, blocking their path.

"Here, take this." He said as he held up the finished sword he had been working on when they first met him. "Don't let that cheating so called knight take our princess!"

Sir Meta took the sword from him and said his thanks before Wolfwrath took off on Sir Galacta's path.

Sir Galacta glanced behind him. He was out of the forest now. Princess Clara was gagged and tied up. Her sobs were muffled from the cloth tied around her mouth. Sir Galacta stroked her face and she backed away from him.

"I will take thou back to thy kingdom in the north."

His soldiers stood by him. They were not waddledees like Sir Arthur's but armored men. Each and every one of them was skilled in the ways of combat whether if it was close range or not. Nodding to one of the men, the soldier grabbed Clara and took her on to his horse. His men rode across the bridge that stretched over a large ravine, too deep to see the bottom of. Suddenly, Sir Galacta heard the familiar galloping of a horse, only it wasn't a horse, it was Wolfwrath with Sir Meta on her back.

Sir Galacta mounted his steed and took off across the bridge. Sir Meta reached the stone bridge just as Sir Galacta reached the other end. They stopped and faced each other. It was a long bridge, about the same length as the jousting range was. Falling off on either side would be the end of the unfortunate one. Sir Galacta called one of his men over. Sir Galacta's horse galloped off as the horseman blocked the path of the bridge. Wolfwrath growled. The two steeds reared and charged towards each other. Wolfwrath contacted Sir Meta through his mind.

"I will go for the horse. Thou take care of the horseman."

Just as they drew closer, Wolfwrath leapt up into the air and enclosed her jaw around the horses neck. Sir Meta leapt off and pulled out the sword Iron Joe had given him. He dealt with the horseman in a few blows and his corpse fell to the ravine. Sir Meta ran across the bridge and out on to the other end. Sir Galacata's other men drew their weapons out. Sir Meta would be outnumbered by one to seventeen. Wolfwrath sprinted up beside him, muzzle bloody from her kill.

"I will take care of this. Go. Go and save thy love."

Wolfwrath howled out her war cry and lunged towards the nearest man. Sir Meta watched as the Wolfwrath became completely surrounded by the soldiers, hacking and slicing through her flesh. He roared and knocked them over and slashed with her claws. Sir Meta said a quick prayer for her to prevail over her attackers and ran after Sir Galacta. It wasn't long before he spotted the knight. Sir Galacta turned away from Clara and narrowed his eyes as he saw Sir Meta.

"Thou should have been dead. I sent thy best warrior to deal with thou."

"Leave the fair mistress alone." Sir Meta said, without taking his eyes off of Sir Galacta.

Sir Galacta drew out his knife.

"I thought I would not need to use such methods against anyone. If need be, I would be happy to rid thyself of thou."

Sir Meta and Sir Galacta circled each other. They carefully watched each other for any sign of movement. Sir Meta slashed out with his sword and Sir Galacta neatly side stepped. He hacked into Sir Meta's shoulder. He cried out in pain and swung the sword again. Sir Galacta winced as the blade cut through his glove and into his hand. He backed away and the two circled again.

"N'er have I seen a worthy opponent, but I will not lose."

Sir Galacta lunged out and knocked Sir Meta on to his back and thrust the blade down. The knife sank into Sir Meta's back. Sir Galacta stepped away in satisfaction. Slowly, Sir Meta got up, wincing as blood flowed out of his back.

"I have n'er lost and n'er will." Sir Galacta said as he turned away.

Suddenly, the ground trembled and the knight turned around just as Wolfwrath pounced. Sir Galacta screamed his last as Wolfwrath came down. She ate Sir Galacta in a single gulp. She spat out Sir Galacta's mask out.

"Ack. What a terrible taste." She said.

Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, and Blade came running to them. Fumu untied Clara and took the gag off of her mouth. The princess ran to Sir Meta. He struggled to breathe from the knife piercing his heart. Clara placed her hand on his back.

"Oh Leanaun Sidhe, Aine, goddess of healing and prosperity, restore thy hero's life. Seal his wounds and mend his heart."

Clara's hand started to glow and the ends of her dress floated off of the ground a few inches. The dagger in Sir Meta's back glowed bright blue and lifted, as if pulled out by an invisible force and the wound glowed as it sealed up, mending Sir Meta's body until there wasn't even a hint that the knife had ever stabbed through him. Sir Meta turned to look at the princess. The two stared into each other's eyes before they heard someone call.

"The princess is here!"

The others turned to see King Arthur on is horse gallop over to them. Fifty or so men all on horseback rode behind him.

"Father," Clara said as King Arthur slid off of the horse. "This man and his wolf saved I."

King Arthur looked at Sir Meta and Wolfwrath in surprise. Then slowly, he kneeled down.

"If thou will take thy daughter's hand in marriage, I will feel greatly honored. Thou is an honorable man."

Sir Meta looked at Clara in surprise. Their hands brushed up against each other and they blushed. Kirby, Fumu, Bun, Sword, Blade, and Wolfwrath cheered just as the bells tolled. The sun had climbed from overhead down to the horizon. The horsemen galloped back to the kingdom, ready to carry the message that the kingdom would soon be ruled by a new king and queen.

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A/N: Aine, officially titled as 'the Leanaun Sidhe' is a goddess from Celtic mythology of healing and prosperity.

Sir Gallant was that one crazy knight guy from the anime that thought he was some knight from a comic book. I thought he would fit in perfectly since he has a lance even though its tip is kind of crooked. ;-)

Wow. Only one chapter to go.

Wasn't sure the way Sir Galacta was defeated was that great. I thought it would probably have been better if Sir Meta defeated Sir Galacta himself. Tell me what you think of Wolfwrath doing it instead.

Please review!