The Ranch

Carnival (4)

"Jax Wait! This isn't allowed!" Tih hears Private Scott's voice somewhere in the crowd.

Next comes Major Jax, " Don't worry so much. I'm not the one betting, you are. Two completely different people." Tih detects the voices and starts moving through the large crowd.

"But.....fine." Private Scott wants to refute but he couldn't find a good reason. Jax's logic is sound.

Tih pops his head through the crowd and appears before the two.

"Tih!" Private Scott expresses kind delight.

"Kid?" Major Jax looks at the kid, remembering something. An unruly grin appears on his face. "Kid, you've ever ridden a horse before? Want to try? It's a fun experience."

Jax pushes his hands on Tih's back, ushering him towards the game booth to sign up. Scott separates the two and pulls Tih towards him to protect the boy from this buffoon before he becomes a bad influence," Stop trying to force Tih into your idiotic gambling idea."

Tih heard the words "fun experience" so he's quite looking forward to whatever they're about to do.

Major Jax snaps his fingers," I almost forgot! Put another portion of money on Tih's number. Thanks for the reminder." He takes back the boy and moves along.

They reach the counter and Major Jax signs the both of them up before Scott can stop them. The games have no refunds once you pay, so Private Scott isn't willing to let Tih waste money. Tih is still new to the island and shouldn't have much money on hand, is what he's thinking.

For fairness, since people can continually ride in the game, both first and second place will win kquil. That's one of the other reason people are still willing to compete against number Five.

Major Jax spots Private Scott's frowns. "Don't worry about the small details. I have a good feeling about this." He shows a greedy smile.

Soon, it's their turn to ride. They walk onto the dirt track to get on their horses. Number five stays on his horse, waiting for another round of money to fall into his hands.

"Twenty on number five!"

"Five on number five!"

The bets are stacking to one side.

Major Jax pats the ass of horse four before hopping on. Tih walks around the forest of horse legs that are as tall as him. He stops in front of the line of horses, looking at their faces.

He glances at each of them with emotionless eyes but something seems to have riled them up. They neigh as they kick their front legs up and start shuffling around restlessly.

Tih ignores their panicked reactions and picks the black-colored horse in the middle. He walks right in front of the horse's snout.

The anxious horse seems to want to get away from the child but Tih places his hand on its muzzle and holds it there. Tih looks into the horse's dark eyes with his own.

An agreement seems to have been reached as the horse calms and bends it knees, sitting down. Tih jumps on its back and the horse stands up.

Number Five shows surprise. He's never seen that horse behave so well. He wonders if the child is using basil or something else to calm the horse.

"Thirty on three and four!" Private Scott calls out after seeing which horses Jax and Tih choose.

"Are you stupid man? What a waste of money."

"Hey, more for us!" They laugh.

Five doesn't get any time to think deeply before all the riders get on their horses. The starting gates opens and they rush out.

As expected of the crowd, Five quickly takes the lead, but Tih's horse chases closely from behind. Major Jax forcefully controls the horse to move forward. The other horses are still slightly startled and lag behind.

The races are quick, because only need to go around the track once. Soon enough, they reach the last stretch without much changing within their positions.

The horses have been competing non-stop all day. Although they get time to rest in-between rounds, they still tire out more quickly.

Four out of the five horses slow down slightly as they reach the finish line. Only one horse, Tih's, keeps its pace. His horse doesn't show any signs of fatigue and runs to the end calmly. Tih soon passes everyone else, taking the lead.

Number Five looks at the child with a shocked expression, more convinced that he did something to the horse. He tries to speed up, but is blocked my Jax, who also passed him when he wasn't paying attention.

"Keep going Tih! I'll block off this guy's route!" Major Jax yells ahead. If he doesn't allow anyone to pass him, he'll get the prize money for second place.

Tih continues forward and they quickly dash pass the finish line, with Tih taking first and Major Jax taking second.

There's a huge commotion in the crowd, loud enough to overpower all the other noise and reach everyone in the colosseum's ears. They're in an uproar having lost so much money.

Major Jax climbs off his horse. He runs over to Tih, pulls his off his horse and swings him in the air," Hahaha! Jackpot!"

Jax sits his lucky charm of a child on his shoulders as he walks back to Private Scott triumphantly.

"Almost no one bet on the two of you. I think this is called an Exacta, in horse racing terminology?" Scott welcomes them back with a slightly surprised expression. It's not that he doubts their capabilities, but who could realistically win a race when they've never ridden a horse before?

"What are you on about. Hurry, let's go get our winnings." Major Jax rubs his hands together.

"Hey you!" Someone pushes through the crowd and calls out.

They turn around to see the rider on horse five. "You need something?" Jax asks.

Five looks at the boy on the man's shoulders and grabs his arm in desperation," You, how did you do that? How did you control the horse so well. Did you cheat? I've spent so many years with them but we've never than that kind of fluid cooperation." His face inches closer as his frantic eyes hope that's the truth.

There's a reason Five seems a little unstable. He was relying on his skills as a one of the farm workers to put on airs. He discovered the game in the carnival. It quickly became the one thing he was better at than those stuck-up combat soldiers. He believed those combat soldiers could no longer look down on him and his profession, instead he was the one looking down on Tih.

In a way, the combat soldier's attitudes became a demon in his heart that fuels his pride for his job. You have to understand, although combat soldiers believe themselves to have the best occupations on the island, that ripple has created a wave to the point that all occupations see themselves as the best and look down on others, including the farmers.

Of course the biggest feud would be combat vs all the other occupations. Combat soldier are definitely the most notorious in the aspect of acting haughty. Different occupations tend to cooperate with each other to accomplish new things. Like how architects, engineers, and builders had to work together to create the colosseums. The ongoing feud makes it basically impossible for the combat soldiers to collaborate with others.

Right now, Five's pride has crumbled a little. It was stacked too high and because of that, after one loss, it's falling to pieces. His grip on the child's wrist is a little to strong.

Private Scott frowns as he pushes the man's arm away and Major Jax takes a step back. He pats Tih's leg in comfort.

"A loss is a loss. Losing on this island is inevitable for everyone, at least every once in a while." Private Scott finishes his sentence but then remember the abnormality that is Tih.

"But-" Five seems to have woken up from the two's pressure.

"You're not the only rider on the island, got it?" Jax is just spouting whatever. He doesn't know how proficient Tih is with a horse and he himself has only been on one once or twice in his life.

Five's eyes regain clarity but his attitude becomes despondent, like he just lost something important," That's...I'm sorry." He monotonously apologizes before dragging his feet away, head lowered.