57 End of the Ceremony

The once merciful and forgiving atmosphere was demolished by such calm words. Many beasts no longer hid their whispers and added to the tension. Ratten and the other wildebeests paled as the stage door opened and a figure walked out.

Eefran's entrance to the stage was met by a blockade of words from Ratten. "You! How dare you conspire against us and the gorilla clan!? Painting yourself as a kind gentleman while hiding your rash actions with us as the scapegoat. You are truly despicable!" Ratten's slanders bore no actions of retaliation from Eefran, who remained still and steady. In hopes to pull them to his side, Ratten confronted Rathe, stepping closer, "Master Rathe, these unfaith—"

"CRACK!"

A gauntlet wearing fist obliterated the stage floor in between Rathe and Ratten, forcing the frantic wildebeest back. "Shut up already! Who gave you permission to speak and even approach me directly in such a pitiful way, begging me to side with you before hearing out this witness? Do you wish for me to act without a trial?"

All of the gorillas in the two lines around the wildebeest's tribe let loose their energy. Only now did the wildebeests know that each of these gorillas stationed around them included the two early-perennial gorillas and all elder stage gorillas.

Oli took the initiative to speak up, "Of the two of you, it was Eefran that always showed respect and still ignores your useless threats. We already know of his innocence and your betrayal, Ratten. Your actions now only confirm things further."

"But masters, please, this man is—"

"Do you still spout nonsense?" Rathe's aura surrounded Ratten, causing him to be silent. "Don't move or speak unless given permission. Go on, Eefran."

"Thank you, Masters Rathe and Oli," Eefran bowed his head respectfully and began to recount his side of the story, "Ratten acted according to his own intentions when he threatened you yesterday. If I were truly the one who framed him, then why was I the one who convinced your gorilla clan to not act immediately and kill him on the spot?"

The crowd began to side with Eefran and reject Ratten's story as false because if Ratten's story were true and Eefran sought control of the clan, that would have been the perfect moment to get rid of Ratten. The wildebeests began to exchange glances with each other, trying to see if any had a plan or an idea of how to get out of this gorilla encirclement.

Eefran continued his story, "Last night after the council ended, we wildebeests bickered and divided ourselves into two factions. Those who held fast to their pride and only sought their own benefits stood with Ratten. The others who wished to simply prosper and grow peacefully along with the rest of the clans and tribes in Iron Town decided to follow me. But for fear of them acting out against us while we slept, we fled to the house of Masters Oli and Ania, seeking refuge. There we accepted all terms placed by Master Oli and have been in his care until now."

Oli turned towards the surprised crowd and testified of Eefran's story, confirming to them all that Ratten had tried to pull a fast one and cheat his way into the gorilla clan's good favor. Everyone glanced at the wildebeests, disappointed with their disgusting actions and lies. Then, Rathe's aura was retracted and Oli let Ratten speak up for himself.

"We did nothing of the sort!" Ratten yelled.

"Is that your final statement?" asked Oli.

Ratten hesitated to reply after hearing Oli's question. He had fallen into Oli's verbal trap before and knew that this situation was eerily similar to that moment. But since he had already declared it in front of everyone, he would be even more foolish to take back his words. In the end, Ratten nodded in response.

"Alright, then Vloz please make your findings known," Oli passed everyone's attention to the leopard behind him.

"Of course," Vloz stated plainly as he stepped forward. "After the council ended, I paid the wildebeests special attention, hiding unnoticed in the dark of night. Just as Eefran feared, Ratten and his men were prepared to act against their opposing faction in their sleep."

Ratten stepped towards the audience and yelled, "You have no proo—"

Out of nowhere, Vloz appeared on the other side of Ratten. Vloz then looked back to Oli and asked, "I believe he was told not to speak or move without permission, correct?"

Oli didn't answer Vloz because Ratten's head had already slid off his shoulders and fallen to the stage floor.

Vloz calmly walked back to where he was originally standing, leaving the crowd in shock that a low-perennial was killed no difficulty whatsoever.

The wildebeests began to push against the gorillas surrounding them and tried to break their perimeter, but that only meant the gorillas had the right to finally act against the rogue faction of wildebeest clan. It didn't take long for Hurdo and Fontu to finish off the one early-perennial along with the other wildebeest rebels and pile their corpses in the back of the clearing.

Now the entire audience was scared stiff. They understood the gorilla clan's actions to remove the threat, but they never would have imagined that they would handle a rogue group with perennials so easily and swiftly. It gave them a sense of security to know that their new rulers would provide them such protection, but it also made them remove any thoughts of betraying them for fear of merciless annihilation.

"I'm sorry that you all had to witness that, but if we hadn't acted out in such a way now then the entire town would face more trouble in the future. If we had allowed a weasel to be among the patrician tribes, the future consequences we all would face would be unimaginable," Oli set the crowd at ease. "Now, we ask for the remaining members of the Tri-horned Wildebeests to come out and for Chief Eefran to step forward."

Right on cue, the wildebeests inside the council building exited from the side and joined the crowd where their former clan members once stood. Eefran walked to the front of the stage, like all other chiefs and waited to continue the ceremony.

"Chief Eefran, we look forward to your tribe's prosperity under our rule and ask for your loyalty and willingness to serve this town alongside us. Do you accept such a responsibility on behalf of your Tri-horned Wildebeest clan?"

"Of course I do, Master Oli."

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"And in the future, in the case that the town and territory fall into dire straits and need your sacrifice in order to survive, would you accept such a responsibility on behalf of your Tri-horned Wildebeest clan?" asked Oli.

"Wholeheartedly, my Tri-horned Wildebeest clan will accept these responsibilities," Eefran smiled after finally getting past this whole situation.

"We are glad to hear of your tribe's willingness to grow alongside us. Thank you, Chief Eefran. For your promises, we offer you this, though it isn't much. These one hundred gold coins are to help your tribe grow at the rate it deserves, at a rate deserving of a patrician tribe, which you now are within Iron Town," Oli bowed to Eefran, who did the same before grabbing the gold and joining his clan below.

"Thank you all for witnessing the foundation of the patrician tribes and patrician clans of Iron Town," Oli spoke loudly to the audience. "We hope to grow together and strengthen the town immeasurably. Know that there will be a break of two suns before we reconvene the chiefs council. Until then, we hope that you all will begin to settle on your new properties and take time to visit the other tribes and clans. Until next time, thank you!"

At the end of his final announcement, Oli and everyone on stage returned to the council building as the crowd dispersed and interacted with each other. Everyone still felt shocked in their hearts from what just happened, but they were all excited for the future and took initiative to strengthen the bonds between the patrician tribes and clans.