OoO( 20 )OoO
Riotous laughter, strenuous grunting, mad cheering, and painful screaming could be heard as Lyle entered the chamber of heroes. But, not only were heros in the chamber; there were also mercenaries, assassins, and bandits, all trying to make a name for themselves, and even a shopkeeper in the center of the large room selling many different items at the counter.
Whisper immediately went to the counter and began looking at the different items. Meanwhile, Lyle began walking through the chamber looking for someone who looked like a Headmaster. But, fortunately for Lyle, the Headmaster found him.
"Excuse me, are you looking for the Headmaster?" asked a man behind him. Lyle turned around and looked at the odd man. He stood just shorter than Lyle and was bare chested and bare footed with green paint smeared across his body like tiger stripes. But the most disturbing thing about him was his haircut. Five green spikes jutted out of his skull like a rooster comb; all died green and sticking a foot into the air.
Lyle mentioned nothing about the mans apprearance, but couldn't help staring at his hair. "Uhhh... yes, I am." said Lyle, finally able to pry his eyes away from the oddity.
The man smiled. "So you'll be Sabre then?" he questioned. Lyle nodded. "And Whisper?"
"She's at the shop over there." said Lyle nodding in the direction of his friend.
The man didn't even look to confirm she was there. Smiling, he said, "Good, then everyone is here. Alright everybody! Gather round!" shouted the man.
"Whats going on?" asked Lyle.
"I'm the Headmaster. And its time to start the show before the mob out there kills me." he said.
"You're the Headmaster?" asked Lyle stunned.
"Yeah yeah. Now heres the deal! First to go out will be you Anaconda. You know how to please a crowd like anybody. Afterwards, you three will go out and do your thing until you either kill everything, or everything kills you. Now then, after...what is it?" asked the Headmaster as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Uhh...the uh...bandits you sent out earlier are...kinda...dead." said the man.
"Hmm...you, Kamilion." he said nodding to a large man with a bone helmet on. The man walked forward and nodded. "You've been out there before, go give them a show until I get these rookies briefed." said the Headmaster. The large man nodded and drew two ruthless looking blades off his back, then exited for the bright Arena grounds. The man turned back around and crossed his arms with a sigh. "We have no good fighters among bandits these days." he said. Then looked at them and continued. "Aftarwerds, Lyle and Whisper will go out and do what they do best...whatever that may be. Afterwards will be the match between all the survivors in this room. During that time, I'm going to take a nap." he said and walked away. Then he stopped briefly. "Oh...and one more thing. The fighting is for the Arena. If you attack or kill someone while you are in here, you will not be spared any punishment and will be killed on sight. So, if you have any rivalries you want to settle, do it in the Arena." he said, then walked away.
Lyle smiled as he watched the Headmaster walk into another room. "Certainly enthusiastic isn't he?"
"What can one expect when you have to be around all these men everyday?" asked Whisper as she stared at a man with half his finger buried in his nose. "Beautiful, isn't he?" she asked sarcastically. Lyle laughed at the comment before going over to the shop and looking around. After a browsing briefly, he decided to buy two potions that supposedly healed your stamina. Quickly he attached them to his belt and walked towards the bar for a drink.
He sat sipping cold cider, deciding it best not to get drunk before his big fight. Suddenly, a large man wearing only a kilt and a belt strapped across one shoulder which held on a large shoulder plate approached him. He sat on the bar and stared at Lyle hungrily. With one knee on the bar and the other hanging off the edge, he wasn't being the most modest person in the room.
"I hear your that kid that defeated Twinblade." said the man in a gruff sneering voice. Lyle took another drink of the cold liquid, ignoring his disgusting tormenter. "I'm talkin' to you boy!" said the man roughly as he kicked Lyle's tankard out of his hand and sent it splashing across the bar.
Lyle did nothing as he stared at the hand where the drink had been a moment before. "Another cider please." said Lyle. The man growled and stood up staring at Lyle, then Lyle turned and stared back. The man was older than Lyle, much older in fact as told by the long white beard. He was completely bald and his entire muscular body was covered in scars from battles in the past. Like Lyle, he wore both a sword and bow on his back. But his was a greatsword, which completely dwarfed Lyle's longsword. "I'm not in the mood." said Lyle.
"Whats the matter. Want me to give you some milk and put you to sleep?" asked a smaller, less intimidating man next to the kilted man; obviously a henchmen of some sort.
Lyle glared at the man, making his smile vanish. "Want me to slug that jaw and put you to sleep?" asked the warrior, who obviously did a better job of frightening the man into silence. But the kilted man sneered.
"So, you are him aren't you?" asked the man. "My name is Anaconda..." he said proudly.
"I can assure you, it doesn't suit you." said Lyle. The comment must have hit the man hard, because he roared loudly and slammed both fists onto the bar nearly crushing it.
"You dare mock me you little rodent?" shouted the man visciously. "I am the best known warrior in all of Albion! You wait until we are out in the battle grounds you piece of scum, then I'll show you what a real warrior is! All that trainin' in the guild makes you think you are invincible, well ah'm here to show that it doesn't matter where you got your trainin' from! What matters is what you do with it!" shouted the man.
"So, let me get this strait..." said Lyle as he stood and stared at the man almost mockingly. "You are here because you couldn't make a name for yourself anywhere else. So you enter the Arena to try and take me down so that you will make an easy name by killing the 'kid that defeated Twinblade' because you were obviously to cowardly to take down Twinblade yourself. By waiting until I am tired out from beating all the other fighters, you plan on stealing an easy win without having to put up much of a fight." said Lyle. Although the mans face was tanned, anyone who looked at him could easily tell he was growing red from fury. Lyle walked forward standing only an arm length from Anaconda. "Here, let me make it a little easier for you. Take your best shot." said Lyle as he turned his head slightly and tapped his jaw. The man stared at him breathing heavily as he used every ounce of will not to attack the warrior. "Whats wrong? Not easy enough? Here, I'll close my eyes and turn around. That should even things up a bit." he said, doing as he suggested.
Anaconda rushed towards Lyle in an attempt to grab him around the throat. But, Lyle moved so fast that the man barely saw him move at all. Stepping aside, Lyle pulled one of the stools from the bar into the path of Anaconda. The large man stuck a foot inside the legs of the stool and tripped over it, crashing heavily into the ground, instantly slammed his head into the stone floor and blacked out, leaving all sense of reality with his dignity, wherever it may have gone.
Lyle turned and looked at the cronie that was standing behind Anaconda. "You want a shot next?" he asked venomously. The man mearly backed up and ran in the opposite direction, strait into a wall. Lyle snorted as the man dropped backwards, unconscious. "Figured." he said and looked at all the people watching him. They all burst into laughter as he stared at them.
Suddenly, two guards broke through the throng of fighters and looked at Lyle, then Anaconda. "What happened here? Did you did this?" shouted one of them.
From the crowd stepped a gorgeous woman wearing green armor. Smiling, she said proudly, "I did it!"
Another man stepped forward and shouted, "No! It was me!"
"It wasn't him! I did it!" shouted another man from the back.
"Impossible, I did it!" shouted another woman.
The guards grew frustrated as people from the crowd kept coming forth and shouting their guilt. "Enough!" shouted the other guard. "Who did this? Tell us now or we will cancel the Arena here and now!" he yelled with veins sticking out of his neck. The crowd stayed silent for a moment, before the woman that spoke up first stepped forward again.
"Your idle threats are not welcome here! You know as well as I do that if you canceled the Arena, it wouldn't be us you would have to worry about. Its the people outside who you should fear."
"Thats right! If you close the Arena, the mob out there will kill you two for sure!" shouted another man, which encouraged the entire crowd. The guards were stunned into silence.
"So be on about your buisiness!" said Whisper. The two guards, furious and steaming at the humiliation that struck them like a cudgel. The entire crowd roared in joyful laughter. Even Lyle managed to smile.
When he was sure the guards were out of earshot, he looked at the crowd. "Why did you risk your lives to save me?" he asked curiously. The woman stepped forward again, smiling in contentment this time, not mockingly.
"Because, Anaconda here has harrassed us long before you even came here. Nobody could touch him though because of the Arena rule, and somehow he managed to get put into different matches then us so we could never do anything about it. That's why we helped you." she said. There was a sudden roar of 'Aye!' from the audience. Lyle smiled back. "And by the way, you were very accurate with that name remark you dished out to him. He couldn't please a woman if he tried." she said smirking at the uncoscious form laying with the stool still entangled in his legs. The crowd laughed again.
After the incident was over, everyone went back to what they were doing before; only now they had a smile on their faces. The woman decided to talk to Lyle a little more as he walked over to the three doors on the left side of the shop; used for changing armor. Whisper on the other hand went about the task of rearmoring herself for the Arena challenges. She bought a new spear with a silver spear head and some thin plated armor to go over her usual blue attire. Then she sat at the bar drinking until it a man walked up behind her.
"Well well, I see you finally made it to the Arena little sister." said the unmistakable voice behind her. She smiled and turned to the giant man behind her. Thunder stood in his usual armor with his helmet at his hip. He wore a giant smile as Whisper turned to face him.
"Good to see you again big brother!" she said wrapping her arms around him. He did the same and held her tightly in a bear hug before he let go of her. "How long has it been?" she asked.
"Almost six months. How has your training been going without me?" he asked.
"Good! Lyle has especially helped me to hone my skills with this spear." she said. But the mention of that name turned Thunder's smile into a scowl. "Whats the matter brother?" she asked curiously.
He crossed his arms huffily and looked at his sister before speaking. "I don't like that farmboy that they have been raising you with. I asked the Guildmaster not to allow him near you, but he said I was being ridiculus. He also said that you two were good friends and should be allowed to see one another any time." he said. "No matter how much I tried to persuade him otherwise, he didn't take." he said.
"Why don't you like Lyle? Because of that incident when he was sixteen?" she asked. When Thunder said nothing, she shook her head pleadingly. "Brother, you have got to stop holding these grudges against people. You forget that even though he was bad mouthing you, he was sticking up for me also." she said. "Lyle is a good friend of mine. And I'm sure he would be a good friend of yours if you gave him the chance." she said.
Thunder stood and dwelled on this thought for a moment before sighing deeply. "Alright, I'll try. But if he makes one wrong move then I won't hesitate to put him away perminantly." said the burly Arena Champion. Whisper dragged her brother over to where she had seen Lyle last and continued her conversation with him.
"Although I don't know what you mean by 'one wrong move', I'm sure he won't." she said. "Anyway, are you going to be battling in the Arena today?" she asked.
"No no no. I came here to see you battle and to see how you have improved. I'm hoping you will make your brother proud today by winning that Arena Championship Crest." he said excitedly. When he had finished talking, they both spotted Lyle standing by the doors. As they approached, they noticed that his hair was ruffled a little more than usual, he was only half armored and was finishing, and that he had a noticable smile pasted on his face.
Lyle looked up as he began to strap his belt on again. Whisper and a familiar face approached him, which he knew to be Whisper's brother Thunder. He quickly grabbed his habit and threw it over his head, covering the tattoo on his chest of a dragon spreading its wings from one shoulder to the next. As he covered his bare chest, he smiled at Whisper. "Hey." he said nonchalantly.
"Hey, what are you doing half dressed farmboy?" she asked curiously.
"Uhhh...just checking to make sure everything is ready for the Arena." he said, still smiling like an idiot.
She stared at him longer, her curiosity growing. But she put that subject aside. "Well, I hope everything is in working order. Anyway, someone wanted to say hello to you." she said as she pushed her brother forward.
Thunder glared down at Lyle, who glared right back as if not caring to see him. But, Thunder held out his hand. "Good luck in the Arena." he said gruffly.
Lyle stared down at the hand, then back up at Thunder. Slowly, he grabbed Thunders hand and they began to shake, watching each other as if expecting the other to pull something. But, eventually they let go and Lyle smiled. "Thanks. But I won't need luck with your sister helping me out there." he said. He knew that this got him in Thunder's good graces by the giant smile that creased the mans face.
"Yeah, she is quite the fighter. She even had me on the ropes during her training." he said confidently.
"No kidding. You know, she actually saved my life during the fight with the White Balverine back at the lake." he said. Thunder smiled even bigger if that were a possibility.
"Yeah, but I heard that some little girl killed it. Some bandit or something like that. Anyway, I will let you get ready for the Arena. You'll need every ounce of energy out there if you want to take that Crest from Whisper." he said, then walked away leaving Lyle and Whisper alone.
"Looks like you two hit it off." said Whisper smiling brightly. But her attention was quickly siezed as the door behind Lyle opened. Suddenly, two slender arms wrapped around his waist as a voice started talking behind him.
"No wonder they call you Sabre." said the woman almost lustily.
Whisper smiled bigger than Lyle had ever seen her smile. "So, thats what this is all about!" she said loudly. The woman froze, then looked around Lyle's back and saw Whisper standing in front of Lyle smiling triumphantly.
The woman in green armor quickly panicked and backed up. "Uhh...because he showed me some... sword tricks." she said with a look of surprise on her face. But her features turned from panic to a clumsy smile. "I guess there is no hiding it. Sorry Lyle." she said moving the blonde hair from her face revealing bright blue eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Whisper knows how to keep her mouth shut, don't you?" he asked her forcibly. She made a motion of zipping her mouth shut, still smiling.
"Lyle and Whisper! Its your turn to enter the Arena!" shouted a guard from the Arena gate.
Lyle buckled on the rest of his armor on, then grabbed his weapons. Strapping his sword scabbard over his back, along with his bow and quiver, he looked at Whisper who still had a smile slashed across her face. Trying to ignore her, he grabbed his katana and sheathed it on his belt behind his back.
When he had fully prepared, they both walked together towards the large wooden gate that seperated them from the battle grounds of the Arena. As they approached, Whisper was still smiling. "Good luck out there Sabre..." she said sarcastically.
Lyle sighed. "Don't call me that." he said.