The Knights' Tournament // ENG

Place: The Tournament Area outside of Vahalla
Time: 2.30 pm
Season: Spring
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Today was the day of the huge knight tournament. Knights were gathered from far and wide to participate in this tournament - especially since the winners of the different events would get their price handed to them from the king himself. Finn the Brave was of course there to participate, and about three days ago he had sent a message to the fair lady Eira the Merciful, letting her know that he would indeed be fighting in the tournament, and that he planned on winning it for her. For this tournament he had chosen to take part in the Jousting - which were as always the biggest event, and thereby the place where you won the biggest price, as well as gaining the most respect. He also chose to take part in the Sword-fight on foot event, mostly because that was what he was best at.
He had by now already dueled twice in sword-fight, and were about to enter his first duel in the jousting event. He was going against a rather strong knight, and though he tried not to show it, then he was nervous. He hadn't had the time to look for Eira yet, but he hoped that he would see her once he entered the fighting ground, which was were he was going now, riding his black horse.

Indeed, Eira was there, and she had a front row to the entire thing, thanks to her mom. She smiled when she saw him, and waved a little, hoping he'd see it.

A smile came upon his lips as he noticed Eira - though no one could see it since he was already wearing his helmet. His squire handed him his lance as the dual was started, and soon both knights were heading towards each other, their lances aimed against their opponent. Finn tried to hold his steady, but at the very last second it slipped in his hand, which meant that instead of hitting his opponent, he missed and got hit himself, right by the shoulder, which gave one point to his opponent.

Eira winced as she saw that, and nervously began fiddling with her handkerchief.

He stayed sitting on his horse, holding on to the lance, if he had dropped it he would've lost already. Inside his head he was cursing at himself, telling himself to get it together and not lose his first duel. As they rode again he kept a better hold of his lance, and this time both knights hit one another, Finn got hit once again by his shoulder, while his opponent was hit at his chest. Both stayed sitting after that, both had their lances, which meant that now it was two points to the opponent, and one point to Finn.

And she joined in the polite applause.

He had to take some deep breaths now. This was the last round, and he would have to either knock his opponent off of his horse, or avoid getting hit while hitting the other at his helmet, or else it would be a draw, or in worse case, he would lose. He bit down on his lip as he got his lance ready, then he kicked his horse and went full speed against his opponent. The next went by so fast that he barely understood what happened. All he saw was when his lance hit his opponent so perfect that he almost flew off of his horse, then he heard the audience cheer and it took him a few seconds to realize that he had won.

And if Eira cheered a bit louder than usually, who'd notice?

Finn was smirking as he dropped the lance to the ground and took off his helmet. He threw his fist into the air, noticing how everyone cheered, which only made his smirk grow. For a second he got eye contact with Eira, winked at her and then he rode back out to his squire, where he finally got off of his horse.

And she had to hide her blush beneath the small handheld fan she had with her.

Once Finn had left the Jousting area, and gotten off of his horse, then it was announced that his next Joust-duel would be in approximately one hour, and in the meantime he would have no other duels. Finn smiled at that and gave his lance to his squire - who looked like he could barely hold it, he was just a small slim teenager, with only two rhinestones on his chin, Finn had chosen him personally (most likely to impress Eira, though he would never admit that).

And Eira eventually managed to will her blush away, sitting there waving her fan a little since it was really hot outside.

The hour went by quickly and soon it was time for Finn's second duel. This one went by with more ease, and as he won the duel - he won with four points to one - then he rode to the side where Eira was seated, presenting a flower to her as he got off his helmet. "For you, milady."

Grinning, she accepted it with just the weakest blush and a grateful smile.

He smiled and then he rode off again. This time it was announced that his next duel would be in sword-fight in just a few minutes.

And, smiling, she put that flower in her hair.

And, just then... Another thing was announced. That "Uta the Calm has decided to join the tournament again after his two year retirement!"

Eira swallowed. She'd seen him fighting in the tournament before. He was... Rather ruthless.

Finn smirked at the new announcement. Of course he had seen Uta fight - he had been to these tournament since he was a very small boy - and he had always wished to ride against him. He hoped that today would be the day, but first he had to win his sword fight. He took a quick look towards the audience, smiling as he watched Eira, just for a second, then he left to get to the area where he would fight.

And, on the way there, he might notice Uta getting into his armor with the help of two servants; getting ready for his own sword fight.

Finn smirked to himself, then went on to his fight - it was against some low ranked knight, so he easily won, his opponent barely having the chance to even put a scratch on Finn's armor.

Eira cheered with a smile.

Next one up; Uta against one of the third rank knights. It really was an unfair fight - the other knight barely even swung his sword before he was downed with a single strike from Uta. He got up again, but the same happened, and the tip of the sword placed at his neck. "Give up. You've got no chance." Uta told him, ever so calm. He didn't even have his helmet on, and - those who knew him and had seen him fight before, knew this - that meant he didn't even take him seriously. He always wore his helmet for serious fights.

Finn watched the fight with a smirk. In a way he both admired and feared the other knight - though he was mostly excited to have the chance to fight against one of the most 'famous' knights in the kingdom.

The other knight forfeited in fear of the cold look he saw in Uta's eyes, and as such, Uta won, having only swung his own sword two times. Pleased, he gave that soft smile and bow to the applauding audience as he used to, and walked out of the fighting area, back to were all the knights got ready to get up on their horses.

Finn, knowing that he had a bit of spare time before his next match, found his way to the stairways that lead to the place where the audience sat, and he hoped that Eira hadn't seen him, so he snuck up behind her and whispered into her ear with a smile on his face. "He is a bit of a showoff, don't you think?"

"... Not really, actually. He doesn't seem to be the bragging type either. He's just... I dunno. Cold." she muttered. He kinda scared her.

"Well, if there ever comes a war in this country, then I sure hope he is on our side." he admitted while putting a hand on Eira's shoulder, almost as if he was trying to comfort her and make her feel safe. He was just about to say something when heard his name being called to the area of jousting - and the name of his opponent put a smile on his lips. "Finally."

"Just... Be careful against him. Please." she muttered, when she heard it, too.

And where the knights got ready - "What do you mean I have to wear my helmet for this? I never need to against knights of a lower rank." a pause as someone explained the rules to him, again. "Injury, injury. Have I ever been injured in the knight tournament? No, right? Then why do I need to wear my helmet?"

"I will, and I'll win this dual, for you, milady." he smiled and bowed for her before he left. He went down to the stables to get his horse ready, acting as tough as cool as he could, although he felt more excited than he was supposed to. In a way, he was probably also a bit too optimistic, and too hopeful.

Eventually, the man got Uta convinced that he needed to wear his helmet, and so, with a huff, he stroked his hair back, then put the helmet on, and hoisted himself up on his black horse.

Before long, he was out in the ring, to some applause as one of the servant boys hurried to fetch the lances he'd need.

It didn't last long before Finn was out there as well. He sat deeply in the saddle of his black stallion, and he had already put down the visor of his helmet. The breaths he took was deep as he got the lance into his hand and made himself ready.
He could hear both of them being presented at the center, but it was almost a blur to him, since the beating of his heart was louder than the words.

The visor in Uta's helmet, however, was static, and so, it already covered his face, and he smiled behind it. He was given his lance then, and, as he took it, unseen by all, the sclera of his eyes turned black and the iris red, getting ready for the clash, feeling the additional strength running through his entire body.

Finn had to clench around the lance, his nerves making him shake slightly. He tried to calm himself by closing his eyes and counting to ten, but by the time he opened them, the flag had fallen and it was time for them to ride. As he kicked his stallion, it reared, as high as it was, and once its front legs hit the ground again, then they rode, Finn's lance aimed at his opponent, though he could barely breath from nerves and excitement.

Uta was off the instant the flag had fallen, his lance pointed at Finn, and then - tightening his grip - they passed the mid-mark, hitting each other. He barely felt the lance from Finn, though his horse did feel the shock and therefore ran a bit slower a second or two. But Uta's own lance broke into tiny pieces upon contact, while the tip of Finn's had broken clean off.

Finn was almost positive that he was going to fall off when the lance hit him. He couldn't breath and everything blackened for a moment. In the very last second he managed to grab a hold of the saddle and get to his squire without falling off. He tried to shake off the terrible pain at his chest, and he was gasping for air as everything seemed black to him. Still, he knew he had to ride again, or he would lose, so he straightened up, and though he could barely see - or breathe - then he rode again, focussing all his energy and strength on holding his lance just right.

And now - he leant slightly forwards, the muscles of his left arm holding the lance bulging as he utilized the strength properly this time - and bam, it splintered like a thin twig once more when it connected with Finn. Just a small noise from Uta when he felt Finn's lance. He actually felt the push this time. That surprised him.

This time Finn didn't even have a chance to feel the lance before he felt the hard ground against his back. He let out a breath as he heard his horse keep on running without him on it, and then he felt everything starting to get black and blurry. He had never fallen off before - sure he had lost, but never had he been hit off of his horse. It hurt like hell, not only physically, but also it hurt his pride. Oh how he hated that Eira had witnessed that.

And she did sit there with her hands in front of her mouth, astounded.

Making sure his eyes were back to normal, Uta let his horse stop next to where Finn had fallen, and took off his helmet. "You alright?" he just needed to make sure.

He had to take deep breaths before he could make a small nod. He was too scared to move, but in the end he knew that he had to.
His squire came running as fast as he could, but since the boy was just a small and weak, then he wasn't really capable of getting Finn back up on his feet, which meant that Finn had to get up on his own - which wasn't exactly easy since he could barely breath, and he couldn't see anything (even though his helmet had fallen off when he fell from the horse).

Uta noticed, and whistled - his own squire, a boy that had recently become a warrior and therefore was stronger than the other boy, came running. A small nod from Uta, and he began helping Finn to get up.

With the help of Uta's squire Finn slowly got back on his feet, though still breathless and in a very wounded state. "Thank you." he tried to say to Uta, and also he tried to bow to show his respect, but it hurt too much. For all this time he had kept his eyes closed, since he was scared to open them - both because of the humiliation, but also because everything would probably just be blurred.

"No need to thank me. You did a good job. Really." he praised him with a soft, calm smile.