TRIGGERFINGER (ORIGINAL STORY) - SEASON ONE

S01E04 Clash In The Kingdom! A Girl Named Meadow! (Part Two)

***

Ash and Shade were in their room preparing for the big fight tomorrow had in store for them. Shade was swinging around his bokken, carefully maneuvering it through the air so as to not break any of his surroundings. Ash was throwing lefts and rights, his hands curled into fists. There was a knock at the door, and without saying a word, Marianne walked in. The boys stopped practicing, and Marianne sat down at the foot of Ash's bed.

"Ash," she said. "And you better listen too, Shade. I don't think you should go through with tomorrow. You have no idea what, or who, you could be up against."

"We'll be fine, Marianne," Ash replied with a comforting tone. "This is something we have to do."

"I've nearly lost you twice, Ash. First after your fight with the Sheriff, then that whole ordeal with Chatka. I let the latter slide because it was all so sudden but this Ash? How could I let you fight in a tournament?"

Ash stepped forward and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You have to trust me, Marianne. I'm a lot stronger than you think. We both are."

Marianne buried her head into her palms, then let her fingers run through her hair, almost pulling strands out due to pure frustration. These boys would never listen to her, and that was a fact she had to try to come to terms with. She stood up, shaking her head, and walked towards the door but before leaving, she stopped, hand on the doorknob.

"I'm not happy Ash," she said. "But I understand. I just hope the Spades are prepared to step in and do something if it all goes awry."

She left the room, shutting the door behind her. Ash turned to Shade.

"What does awry mean?" He asked innocently.

***

The Royal Coliseum was flooded with people who came to watch the tournament take place. Vines wrapped themselves around pillars that had seen better days, the stone corroding and covered in moss. It was a large stadium, enough to fit a vast amount of The Kingdom's residents it seemed. There was a circled fighting ring in the center of the arena, this would be where the battle would take place.

Queen Honey sat on a throne overlooking the entire Coliseum, her hair tied up in a ponytail today, a ponytail that Meadow herself tied. Meadow was allowed to wear something a little bit prettier today, a long dress, though still gray like her rags. She stood beside the Queen and watched as Ash and Shade entered the arena alongside all of the other contestants.

The announcer explained the rules over a microphone, all of the teams would start in the ring, and the goal was to knock the other opponents off, resulting in a ring-out. However, knocking your opponents unconscious was also a means to victory, as well as death. The teams consisted of Ash and Shade, a farmer and his wife both of whom wielded pitchforks, two burly blacksmiths holding large steel hammers, a couple of female warriors brandishing swords, and two royal guards in suits of armor each with their own battleaxe.

"Yeah! Go get 'em boys!" Scabs called from the sidelines.

"You better win, Ash!" Marianne joined in.

Trumpets sounded to indicate the start of the match, and immediately, all of the competitors set their sights on Ash and Shade. Queen Honey leaned into Meadow with a grin.

"Did I forget to mention I told them I'd pay a handsome price if your friends lost?" She laughed maniacally.

Meadow gulped, as the blacksmiths waved their hammers around, trying to hit her friends. Shade and Ash were able to dodge the attacks, however as they swerved in between the hammers, they were met by the farmer and his wife who began lunging with their pitchforks. Shade unsheathed his shadow bokken and it met with the pitchfork of the farmer. Ash stepped to the right of the farmer's wife's pitchfork and grabbed it, swinging her around into one of the blacksmiths, and knocking them both out of the ring.