“Yellows, step forward.”

Straightening his back, taking a better hold of his sword, ZaiWin obeyed. But he was the only one to move.

“Yellows! Step forward!!” the guide repeated, raising his voice, and CarFan jumped, startled, as if he had been asleep with his eyes wide open. Looking around with a lost expression of his face, he finally realized that every one was staring at him. And then he finally saw him.

“You!! You disgusting thing!” he scorned in a loud voice, pointing an accusatory finger at him, and ZaiWin turned away, focusing his attention on the cave’s entrance.

That FeiWan or the other El’Gin would react like that at the sight of him, though unfair and unjustified, was still understandable. After all, they had known each other since long ago and theirs had never been a good relationship to begin with. But this … CarFan? He had never seen him before. He had never even known of his existence prior to that stupid Gathering. What he had done to insult such noble prick was beyond his understanding.

“Please step forward!” the guide insisted and CarFan looked at the painted rock he was still holding, as if he’d just realized that it was there. Squeezing it in his hand he finally obeyed.

“So I will have the pleasure to beat you to a pulp after all. And in an official match to boost! The Heavens are truly on my side today!”

ZaiWin ignored him again and entered the cave.

Complete darkness immediately surrounded him, but the feeling of suddenly being completely deprived of sight wasn’t new to him. He’d spent a long time in a similar situation, completely surrounded by utter and impenetrable darkness. The difference was that back then the cave he’d been left in was much smaller, and he hadn’t had anyone on his heels, trying to kill him.

“You bastard!! Where did you go?”

A loud voice echoed all around, and the soft glow of light appeared from where he’d just came.

Searching inside his leather belt, he fished out the small crystal NimRen had given him and poured just a bit of his energy into it, nudging it awake. The glow that immediately surrounded him was orange and warm, and allowed him to at least see where he was going, so he wouldn’t march head-on into a stone wall.

“They said that you didn’t have any fire daitai! Are you using a crystal, you filth?” came the voice again and ZaiWin sped up, running ahead, his feet completely silent against the stone floor.

Well, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have any fire daitai, he thought grimly. Or that they wouldn’t emit some sort of weak light. It was just that there was no way that the only thing they would do was just brightening up a room a bit. And he doubted that reducing that cave, and CarFan with it, to cinders would hardly be well accepted by the others waiting outside. Not to mention that ZenTar would have his hide for it.

“Are you going to keep running away like a coward? Come out and face me!!”

Was he an idiot? Who would ever do such a thing?, he wondered, slipping into a crack on the wall, sword in hand, before he quickly stopped the crystal’s glow. He needed time to allow his eyes to get used to the darkness again.

“I’m so going to enjoy punching you to death!”

Yup, he was an idiot, ZaiWin concluded, thankful for the fact that he simply wouldn’t shut up, which meant he got a frequent update on his present position.

“You freaking bastard! I heard your mother was a whore! Who spread her legs to whoever knocked on her door! And that’s how she got stuck with you!”

ZaiWin clenched his teeth. Now he really, really wanted to kill him! And it would be so easy, too.

“Is it true that she would have killed herself anyway, even if she hadn’t been murdered by her …”

The brightness that suddenly allowed him to see again was all the sign he needed, and ZaiWin jumped from his hiding place inside the wall with a raging scream, wishing to bury his sword deep into CarFan’s belly, his mind already seeing it happen. It was all he could do to turn his blade around at the last instant. Instead he hit him hard on the head with the pommel of his sword, making the other boy stagger back and, spinning around, side-kicked him with all his straight straight in the chest just for good measure.

CarFan screamed, holding his head, and then flew back, crashing against the stone wall. But before he could utter another single word, much less get up, ZaiWin was already on top of him, straddling him, grabbing him by his blond hair and smashing his head against the rock, one, two, three times, until the blue eyes looking panickingly at him rolled upwards inside their sockets and he was out cold, the back of his head a mass of dark blood.

Finally releasing him, his breathing still hard and fast, ZaiWin took a moment to calm himself.

ZenTar would most certainly scold him and punish him for allowing his feelings to interfere in a fight, no mater which fight. Still, the stupid bastard was lucky to be alive!, he grunted, looking at him, still wishing he could kill him, the daitai on his back burning in response to his unfulfilled desire. Had he been four years younger CarFan would have been dead for sure!

Standing up, he took the time to dust off his clothes and then retrieved his sword, which he’d thrown as far away as possible after the first blow, fearing he might not resist the temptation to hack the other boy to pieces with it.

He was already on his way back to the cave’s entrance when he finally returned to his full senses, and he couldn’t help worrying if the judges wouldn’t accuse him of using … what had the Calzai called it? Deadly or maiming blows.

Well, CarFan was still alive, the lucky bastard! And he hadn’t maimed him, at least not more than he’d already been maimed, with a idiotic head like that resting atop his shoulders. Not that ZaiWin made a point to win … No! Actually he did want to win!, he decided, raising his head when daylight poured into the cave from the entrance. It was only fair!

“ZaiWin, plus one. CarFan, minus one,” he heard one of the judges announce even before he could see them and he couldn’t help smile at that. “I will go this time …” came the resigned sigh and then a tall man entered the cave when he was about to exit it.

“Well done, kid,” he whispered as he passed by him, lightly tapping his shoulder, and ZaiWin couldn’t stop his smile from stretching at that small sign of recognition.

As far as he was concerned, more than those richly, stuck-up nobles’ opinions, or even the manipulated order in which the names appeared on the daily chart, the words of that simple, common man were worth a whole lot more.