Shabaka's Pride - Round 3: Match 1

             Shabaka was stunned and judging by the open jawed expressions on their faces, so were Smalls and Vito.  Even Amare looked surprised. It was not so much the result, but the how the fight ended. The fact it came down what was basically luck, and furthermore, that for the first time ever, Amare’s earth column spell worked as intended.

In previous instances, like when they were trapped in the pit back at the dig site, that one spell Amare knew had little to no effect on its target. Perhaps this fight against Tilian was the push Amare needed. Shabaka had heard of magic being fueled by emotion and could have been that fighting against one’s own brother caused enough emotional turmoil to force an evolution in their power. In fact, Shabaka was positive this had to be the case, as never before had she seen xem use that U-turn move. She realized Bard hadn’t set up this tournament just to test and discover the baseline of their powers, but to already begin pushing and training their abilities.

Shabaka’s mind came back to the present moment. She went to help Amare and Bard in getting Tilian back up to his feet. After they had made sure he was alright and able to continue with the tournament Bard called for another five-minute break.

Shabaka spend those five minutes to go use the bathroom and splash some water on her face. There was still a question she had to answer for herself. Why did she care so much about winning this meaningless and informal sparring tournament? Knowing her father, it probably would not even be a good idea to win. He would likely force the best performer and worst performer to train the hardest. Shabaka briefly thought about trying to end up in third place, be the child that Bard neither had high expectations for or the one he needed to help the most. She instantly discarded this thought. She had to know her own strength, if she ended up doing too well and had impossible expectations placed on her, then she would rather fail on her own accord, not because she was scared and gave up. This was her family, she had to be strong enough to protect them. That fire her father could become both frightened and comforted her, she wanted to be a flame that burned even brighter.

Once Shabaka returned to the front yard, and everyone had gathered around Bard, he revealed the third-round match ups. “This round is one I am especially excited for, first is Vitoroy vs Amare, followed by Smallblade vs Shabaka. Tilian will get the bye and act as timekeeper.” This was slightly odd. Up until this point Bard had acted the part of an impartial judge. What was it about these matches that made him state his excitement?

“You’re excited to see your kids bet the crap out of each other?” asked Vito.

            “Um… no… question mark?” said Bard. He shook his head. “Let’s begin. Amare vs Vitoroy!”

            Amare once again, did not hesitate. Xey stood in front of xyr father, waiting for Vitoroy to stand against them. They were still clearly tired from xyr last fight yet looked not at all hesitant to do it all over again. Shabaka had read that elf culture was very collectivist, and they thought that one should always be ready to serve others. They even had a proverb for it. ‘If a group only eats food from their own farms, they starve whenever their crops die. But those who only eat from each other’s farms always have enough to eat.’

            When Vito stood across from Amare, he was already holding up the Smith’s Cube next to his head. Ready to attack with one of its many tools. Amare gripped the hilt of their shovel, ready to counter any attack with xyr unique weapon. “Fight!” shouted Tilian.

            Vito tapped on the cube, extending the same javelin as before in his fight against Shabaka. Amare limboed back. Xey jutted their shovel upwards, hooking and locking the javelin into its curve.

            “I will win,” yelled Vito. “I have to win!” He tapped on his tool again, and what looked like an arm came out from the left horizontal side of the cube. It went right around to the side and came back to punch Amare. Xey summoned a dirt pillar to block the fist.

            “I won’t fall your tricks that easily,” said Amare, almost laughing.

            “I wasn’t planning on it,” replied Vito. It was in that moment that Shabaka realized he had misdirected everyone. Vito was now at Amare’s lift side winding up a kick. “That’s why I had a backup plan.”

            Just before the kick hit, Amare grabbed onto Vito’s stubby little leg. “You just spoke with Shabaka about that. You really think I wouldn’t know that?” Amare didn’t sound mad when xey said this. Rather xey just seemed like a harsh teacher.

            But Vito just smiled. By grabbing onto Vito’s leg, xey had lifted him up entirely. Vito rocked his torso back, shifting his center of gravity. This made Amare loose xyr balance, tilt to the side and fall. Amare’s hand touched the ground, before they both fell flat. Bard signaled the winner with his fan.

	Amare	Vitoroy	Tilian	Smallblade	Shabaka	Points
Amare	~	L	W			1.0
Vitoroy	W	~		L	L	1.0
Tilian	L		~		L	0.0
Smallblade		W		~		1.0
Shabaka		W	W		~	2.0

Amare vs Vitoroy: Winner, Vtioroy Bisilifis. Match time, 1:16.