Chapter 303: Victory Call

Splat on the ground. That was the only sound, the only boom, that I would last hear, and it stayed that way for a long while after...  either the crinkling of dirt, or the sharp buzzing ringing that just refuses to end. 

And yet eventually, it did, they all did. It was like a pop, a small crackle, a brick wall toppled over within my ear canals, giving way to an explosion of sound like no other. 

Cheering. Shouts. And in the midst of it, a single word, a single phrase that stood high and loud from all others… repeated over and over again, in the static of speakers, in the vast echoes of the open arena, and deep within, I heard it pound in my chest too.

"First! First!" They all cried out. "The Big Man came first!" 

I was promptly spurred up to my feet again, after Lyn slowly trotted over and bent her head forward, gauging my vital signs with the ol' horse hoarse sniff all over my face. She probably thought I've died or something. 

In truth though, I've never felt more alive in my life than right here at this moment. Right there, pellets of sand and sweat clinging to my paint-stained face, with feather-stuffed fabric of royalty tucked underneath either arm, standing before the revelry erupting from the stands, the podiums, the place all over.

It was like a breath of fresh air for the first time in a gray world so thick with a smog suffocating. 

Despite the feverish contagious atmosphere that seemed to only intensify with every passing moment, on the podium the announcer kept dutifully to his task, and continued to relay the current happenings of the other participants still in the race. 

But it wasn't him that I was seeing, he wasn't the face that my eyes were being drawn to. It was the guy behind him, strung up tight in a thick knot of rope tied to a stray wooden pole, with his lips bulging full with a bundle of cloth - it was him that I couldn't look away from.

Tyler, bagged and gagged in public with no one raising a single eyebrow at it. 

Hell, I didn't even bat an eye either. He probably put up a life-and-death fight for that mic, seems only natural that this was the only way to keep him under leash… and yet in spite of having practically every basic motor function taken away from him, somehow he continued to express a level of excitement unlike any other. 

In his writhing and squirming, in his stifled shouts, he wanted me to know that he was there, that he had always believed… and you know what, I wouldn't put it past him that he always has.

Thanks, Tyler.

I let my gaze wander for just a little bit longer - there were still two other people that I wanted to see me now, and sure enough, there they were. Still ever as distant, ever as unreachable… but their stares, our gazes in that brief moment shared, they never felt anymore closer.

Amanda from afar was a bright red glow, kinda like a swelled-up pimple. She'd probably slap me if she could hear my thoughts, but that's if she is even capable of prying her hands loose from her face. They cupped her lips, hid the tip of her nose, so that her eyes were the only thing possibly discernable, and in them were a stir of emotions quite too long and many to possibly say.

And as for the other? Well… what could I say? Pride? Delight? Elation? Contentment? Could go on and on and I still wouldn't know the right words to best describe how Ash stared. But she certainly would, she always knew the right words to say… and I'm sure when this all comes to pass, I'll be right there by her side to hear them.

Alas, things weren't quite over yet. I wasn't just the sole victor here. Leon hopped off his carriage, shook hands with his partner, and held his head up high to the standing ovation of the crowd.

Meanwhile, Nick couldn't have been less bothered by any of the formalities. After disembarking, he stood close to his carriage… and unlike Leon, he wasn't afraid to show his bitterness, his eyes scrunched up in a scowl so tense that even his partner was thinking twice about going in for a handshake. 

Yet despite reactions vastly different, Leon and Nick had one thing in common, one thing that connected them both - and that thing was me. With a smile, or with a frown, - their furtive glances at me, the rigidness in their faces as they did, they all looked pretty much the same to me.

Eventually, after minutes of idle time loitering about the place, the rest of the champions came shambling through the finish line one after the other, with last-place coming in needing a little help hauling their broken carriage in the homestretch.

We were told to deposit our precious cargo into the dependable hands of the staff members, who would then pass it off to one of the judges to be meticulously appraised before the results were to be announced.

Everyone did as told, retrieving their goods from ink-stained carriages in conditions that vary greatly from champion to champion. I was one of the lucky few that only came out with a blotch here and there. Others... not so much. 

Dripping, soaked… one even was whisked away by a member of staff as nothing more than a pile of feathers damp and dirty. Pretty sure I was to blame for that. Oh well, sorry not sorry, sorry.

I noticed that when it came time for Leon and Nick to stow theirs away… even with laser-eyed focus, I couldn't see a single bit nor a single speck amiss, their princesses' were delivered safe and sound. 

It's a cause for concern, but not too much. Just something I thought to keep note. I might have been first, but that didn't mean I was the best… at least not yet. 

Maybe in time, but in the meantime, we were told to recoup, to recover, chairs and tables were brought into the arena as well as a mountain pile of refreshments atop in order to do so. 

I didn't need any telling twice. First vacant seat and table I saw… into the secluded corner I went, bottled water in one hand and blueberry muffin in the other. 

Lyn came to accompany me, despite firm insistence from staff that she needed to go. No dice, however. My silver-haired steed simply refused to budge… it was only after a bit of coaxing from me and farewell pat goodbye did she finally comply, departing with the other horses back into their stables.

She served me well, more than I ever deserve. I'm gonna miss that horse. 

After everyone had settled into their places, there were still, surprisingly, many seats left empty. The race had culled many a champions, from the original twenty-five to a measly eleven still left standing, well… seating actually. 

Everyone else was disqualified either through underhanded tactics that didn't slip past unnoticed, or they were rendered entirely incapable of finishing the race as was with the case of Bob and his friends… nowhere to be seen amongst the festivities and feast-ivities.

The last I saw of Nick and Leon, one was busy signing autographs with a smile, while the other was preoccupied with intensely brooding in his own little corner. 

Suddenly, spontaneously, came the distinct crackle of the microphone buzzing through the speakers, "Ahem, okay, um, everyone hear me? Everyone miss me? Good! Great! I miss me too." 

Seems someone finally decided to untie Tyler and hand him back the reins of entertainment. Whether or not doing that was a good idea remains to be seen.

"So I've been strictly informed by the people behind the scenes I ain't allowed to play favorites with the participants or as they say 'be prone to extreme sporadic outbursts' whatever the hell that means…" 

Yeah, sounds about right.

"Anyway, so! I said my sorries, promised that I wouldn't, and so - my bad, Big Man! Seems as if I ain't allowed to cheer you on myself anymore! Apparently, it ain't in my job requirements to do so!" 

He sounded a little remorseful about it, a little bitter. Hearing that, I wanted to assure him that it was fine, that it didn't matter. He had done plenty enough already… but it wasn't I with the microphone in hand.

Then before I could get even more guilty about it, I heard something else, saw something else, the happiest chuckle, the widest smile, and an arm waving across the stands.

"Well not like I even have to anymore now, do I?!" Tyler said, raising the mic to the crowd, a gleeful smile all around. "Do I now, everybody?! Lemme hear you say what you think about that!"

Once more, there was a tumultuous clamoring in the stands, cheers, and whistles, and countless arms raised in the air, only this time, they weren't random, they weren't sporadic… it was a unified cry, a symphonic orchestra of cheers, all rooting, all uttering one name.

My name.

Well, nickname, I suppose.

I never was one for fame or attention, I still wasn't… but I guess every once in a while, hearing your name echoed from all around wasn't a bad thing.

Not one bit.

"So anyway, now that that's out of the way," Tyler smiled again, breathing in deep. "Okay, I've also been informed that - um - due to various circumstances from behind the scenes - um - it seems we'll be skipping the other trials and we'll be going right into the final event of the tournament."

The cheering immediately stopped, and a deafening quiet began. Leon stopped signing, and Nick even stopped brooding.

"Uhh, what did they tell me to you? I forgot, um," He continued, chuckling a little nervous chuckle "Ah, yeah, yeah! I remember now - ahem -  they told me to tell you that we are - um - 'Completely sorry for the inconvenience' whatever the hell that means, anyway… hehe."