Where not too long ago five Knight Hopefuls once stood, there now were only four, gathered before the stage by the deadline, as one of the members of the Daventry Guard stood before them and cleared his throat.
"For those brave souls that are still with us," he announced, "welcome back. Now....you may have heard some squawking from a few naysayers in our kingdom concerned with the ethics of the tournament. Ha! Proclamations and addendums aside, this is the way we have always done it in Daventry, and this is the way will will continue to do it! Now...Knight Hopefuls! If you would be so kind as to present your eyes!"
First to present was Acorn, who pulled from behind his back, by its back leg, a squirming grey wetzel wolf. "Hold still!" he complained at the beast, while the beast let out a protesting snarl and tried to bite at Acorn's leg, to little avail, what with the armor and all.
Manny was next, producing from...somewhere...a large jar of eyes, looking like something purchased for the shelves of the Hobblepot's shop....which it actually very much had been.
And then Whisper, who very boldly lifted up not one but two eyes, big as beach balls and bright purple, clearly previously having belonged to the legendary snarling snarlax of the deep dark woods.
Finally, it was Graham's turn. Quiet and uncharacteristically taciturn Graham, who just reached sullenly into one of his pockets and somberly held out the yellowish-red eye of the dragon from beneath the well. He took a moment, looking down at it with a stern, determined frown, fighting against the urge for more tears, and instead, he channeled some of that into a baleful look of ire, lifted and sent toward the Guard on the stage. He then glanced over to his fellow Knight Hopefuls, feeling Achaka's absense like a dagger to his gut; he looked to Manny, who gave him an encouraging gesture forward. Graham looked back to the stage and, unblinking, wordlessly, just held the large eye in his hand aloft.
"I'd look happier," one of the Guards said, leaning closer to a fellow guard and lifting a hand, though he clearly made no attempt to keep his voice to a whisper, "if that were my eye."
"I'd look less happy if that was my face," the other Guard deadpanned back.
"Look who's talking," the first guard volleyed back.
"Yes," the second one drawled, "look who is talking..."
But the person talking was the announcer Guard again. "Congratulations, everybody," he said, "we officially accept all the eyes presented. We'll see you tomorrow, in the Duels."
And, with that, the second day of the Glorious Tournament of Knights had concluded. Yay and huzzah.
Re: The Tournament Theater - ToK, Day 2 - 05/07.
"For those brave souls that are still with us," he announced, "welcome back. Now....you may have heard some squawking from a few naysayers in our kingdom concerned with the ethics of the tournament. Ha! Proclamations and addendums aside, this is the way we have always done it in Daventry, and this is the way will will continue to do it! Now...Knight Hopefuls! If you would be so kind as to present your eyes!"
First to present was Acorn, who pulled from behind his back, by its back leg, a squirming grey wetzel wolf. "Hold still!" he complained at the beast, while the beast let out a protesting snarl and tried to bite at Acorn's leg, to little avail, what with the armor and all.
Manny was next, producing from...somewhere...a large jar of eyes, looking like something purchased for the shelves of the Hobblepot's shop....which it actually very much had been.
And then Whisper, who very boldly lifted up not one but two eyes, big as beach balls and bright purple, clearly previously having belonged to the legendary snarling snarlax of the deep dark woods.
Finally, it was Graham's turn. Quiet and uncharacteristically taciturn Graham, who just reached sullenly into one of his pockets and somberly held out the yellowish-red eye of the dragon from beneath the well. He took a moment, looking down at it with a stern, determined frown, fighting against the urge for more tears, and instead, he channeled some of that into a baleful look of ire, lifted and sent toward the Guard on the stage. He then glanced over to his fellow Knight Hopefuls, feeling Achaka's absense like a dagger to his gut; he looked to Manny, who gave him an encouraging gesture forward. Graham looked back to the stage and, unblinking, wordlessly, just held the large eye in his hand aloft.
"I'd look happier," one of the Guards said, leaning closer to a fellow guard and lifting a hand, though he clearly made no attempt to keep his voice to a whisper, "if that were my eye."
"I'd look less happy if that was my face," the other Guard deadpanned back.
"Look who's talking," the first guard volleyed back.
"Yes," the second one drawled, "look who is talking..."
But the person talking was the announcer Guard again. "Congratulations, everybody," he said, "we officially accept all the eyes presented. We'll see you tomorrow, in the Duels."
And, with that, the second day of the Glorious Tournament of Knights had concluded. Yay and huzzah.