World of Taroo

by Jimmy Eriksson

  Gon and the girls walked down to the training grounds of the castle. Sophia was seen carrying something in a long box that they had brought from their house all the way there. As soon as they entered the ground, the soldiers stopped training and looked at the famous fighter. Gon looked around and found the raised platform that was for one on one training. The soldiers came close and looked at the champion. When he was in the middle, he told the men on the ground, about 250 of them, that he would fight any soldier that dared to step on the platform with or without weapons. He pulled his cape off that had been covering his body and threw it to Sophia. The soldiers cheered, and the first man entered the ring. He was a tall man and brought his fists together ready to fight. He punched, but Gon moved fast and brought him down in a movement that made the man not able to move much on the ground but then let him go. The man thanked him and another one came up.

  Ten people fought with no weapons until the first man came up with a non-sharp sword. Sophia opened the box and threw the weapon that had been inside to Gon. Made from the same sort of tree as his previous staff and as long, it was a mighty sight to see the famous fighter with the weapon that moved as it was part of him. The soldier attacked fast but no one had a better understanding about how to defend with a staff as Gon, and he easily placed the man in a submissive state. He could easily disarm him and tripped the soldier so he gave up. Many soldiers fell, and no one could come close to touching Gon. In the end, Gon said he would invite six people to fight him simultaneously and jumped down the platform then walked in the middle of the battle ground. He stood without a weapon, and six soldiers came up to him. The others surrounded them and cheered on as they all warmed up.

  They started, and it was a great sight for everyone to see such a combat, and it didn’t take long before the only one standing unhurt was Gon. The soldiers were happy and Gon as well as he had had a chance to fight with some soldiers. He finally started to truly think about going back to the tournament after coming back to their room. The morning of the wedding was busy for the kingdom because of the festivities that were about to begin. There were many different people that had come to entertain for the couple, and since Nami was related to Queen Lisaro, she got a royal party. Gon went up to Jay and got him ready while the daughters took place at the ceremony.

  Jay was nervous and said it was easier to fight in the war than going through this day, but Gon said he would soon feel better once the bride walked down the aisle. When the ceremony began, Nami was escorted by a few of her assassins and two of them that were brothers. Their names were Akairo and Kuroi and also were carrying the rings. Gon was right because as soon as they stood and got blessed by the priest he had all but forgotten that he was nervous. Gon made a speech and told stories about their travels together. Nami looked very different than usual, but liked the dress since she made changes to it herself. Instead of the boring white, she had added red as well as some black parts to it.

  Jay’s former employers from Shetana cheered loudly, and also some friends from the Grasoll land’s army made themselves heard. Kane was one of the people that made the dance start as he started playing an instrument no one knew he could play. Jay had, until then, never met Nami’s brother, Char, but they talked for a brief moment until Nami took him away to dance. After a while of dancing, the newlyweds retired to a small fountain where they were left alone by the guards that made sure no one came in.

  Nami looked at Jay and said she was very happy. They knew so many people that had come to congratulate them, and thought everyone was there. Nami looked into the fountain, and said she only wished for her father to walk her down the aisle. Jay knew she was reluctant to speak about her father so he just said he would have been proud. She smiled to him and said maybe he would not have approved him as his son in law then punched him on the arm. He said her father, of course, would have absolutely loved him and made a funny face. She laughed a little then told him she only remembered small parts of him since he died when she was five but what she knew was not very good. She was quiet for a few seconds then said her father was a criminal that turned against those he fought with. Jay didn’t know what to say, but before he had a chance to think about it, she said her father left many of his comrades to die in a fierce battle on the island of Besidil across the sea. His group of assassins were on the island to kill a gang of bandits that terrorised the land of Besidil but switched sides and let his friends all die while he escaped. She said she felt shame every time she thought of it and his grave was still placed on the island he died in.

  She never went there, but some of her assassins had seen the grave. She had always had sadness for her father over the choice he made. A tear ran down her cheek, and Jay leaned in to kiss her. He told her it didn’t matter because she now had a life of greater happiness to look forward to. She smiled and punched him again then told him they should go back. They did and saw Sophia reach for the wine when she thought no one saw. She saw Jay and pulled her hand back, but when he turned away she took an almost empty bottle. She drank from it fast underneath a table. She loved it, and since the table was covered with a cloth, she couldn’t be seen.

  Everyone enjoyed the party that went through the night, and Gon and the girls came back to the room very late. They slept before lunch until they got a knocking on the door. When Gon opened the door, one of the soldiers was there and said they had found the man that attacked them before. Gon was led out on the courtyards to identify the man. He was injured and had an infection in the face from the knife that Sophia threw. They took him away and would lock him up in the jail outside the castle. One of the soldiers asked Gon to come with him to collect the bounty on the men, and Gon looked a little surprised. The soldier told him there was a bounty out for them, and since he killed some and identified the last one, he was entitled to the reward. Gon was soon given the money and then told his daughter they should spend the money well the next couple of days.

  The day was spent with the newlyweds, and they talked about the future. Gon said he had thought about it and believed he would once again enter the tournament. The girls said he would win, and Jay said he would come to watch him win as well when the tournament started. Not much for them to do other than enjoy the day in the kingdom and much happiness had spread through the kingdom. The next day, Gon and the girls went home, but this time, they were escorted by the soldiers that had come from the Grasoll lands kingdom and had no problem all the way home. Well at the kingdom, Gon rode to his house, and when he entered the door, the students were happy to see him and asked to hear about the trip. One of them gave a letter with a seal of wax locking it. The letter had a mark that Gon recognised and understood it was from the tournament. He opened it out and read his invitation for everyone there. When the day was done, he sat in his room and wrote to the tournament to accept the invitation to the tournament. He would bring some of those trained under him since there were a bunch of other schools that were bringing their own best to compete. He heard from one of the men at the wedding it would be good publicity for his school and would have some time to prepare for which students to pick.

  A Legend Is Born

  Many months had passed, and Gon had, under the time, been training strong. His oldest daughter, Sophia, had proven even more she had talent for martial arts. She was 14 then and was already better than some of the others that were older. With her weapon of choice, she was one of the best, and Gon felt she would learn more by being in the great city of Shetana. Then the day had come, and Gon had picked out the five students that would represent his school. The girls were excited since they got to go to a new and interesting place, and Sophia was, in particular, eager to leave. It was a long way, and they were having the kingdom behind them when Isabel said she was worried her father would get hurt during the fights. Gon calmed her by saying that the judges were very good and would break off any fight that looked like anyone would get seriously hurt.

  The trip took days, and they stopped and camped many times. They had br
ought a lot of provisions, so they ate well every day. The way had a lot of villages which helped in adding to the provisions so there was never any lack of food. Since the great tournament was held with the greatest fighters specially invited many they met told Gon how excited they were. The interest for anyone going towards Shetana was great, they could tell. They had a last stop on the way and set camp a couple of hours outside the city. They were sharing the campsite with many others. Sophia asked if Shetana would be full of people so they couldn’t move, and Gon said it would be even fuller than that this year because of the many fighters that had been offered a place in the biggest fight of the history of the tournament.

  Isabel asked if there would be anywhere to sleep, and Sophia said they would stay with Mr Pan’s daughter. When they came in, some of the people recognised Gon and greeted him. He had told Kuun who he had worked with before in the old restaurant that he was coming and he then met him at the entry. They talked for a while, and then they left to the house. They arrived and Bianca let them have half of the house and many servants were available to them. Sophia found it strange to be having people to give her whatever she wanted, but Isabel found it funny and let them get many treats for her.

  Gon brought the children to see Kuun who he had worked with before, and they sat in the restaurant that was now a little bigger. Kuun had bought the house next door and expanded his restaurant. They spoke about what had been and what Kuun had in mind for the future. It became a short meeting but a pleasant one with good memories relived. Shortly thereafter, Gon took the girls with him to meet the other students to sign in for the match. There were a lot of people there, and there was a line for the sign up for the different matches. There were now one hundred and twenty-eight fighters in the same group that Gon was in and he would most likely had to stand for a while in line.

  Sophia asked if she and Isabel could walk with some of the students to have a look around. Since the stadium had so many guards, Gon deemed it safe to do so and let them go. They walked around and saw many fighters from the other matches with weapons and multiple fighters’ tournament. Sophia had seen all the posters around the city on the previous fighters including her father and was proud. Many of the fighters had won several times and looked strong. They walked to the other side and saw a bunch of people standing against each other. The men looked angry and called bad words out. Isabel wondered what they were doing and Wame who was one of those that came told her they were from some schools that didn’t like one another.

  Suddenly, a voice came from the side of them, and when they turned, they saw a group of people with a certain type of clothing. The new group saw the brand on the clothes that showed Gon’s school and asked for the master. Sophia wondered what they wanted with him, and the older of them told her to be quiet unless she wanted a smack over the head. She told him to watch his tongue or she would cut it out, but Wame grabbed her and walked back to Gon. He said to her to be careful since they were too many, and her father would deal with it. The other group screamed back to Sophia that if she wanted to marry someone, she had to learn how to be a lady, and Sophia poked her tongue out to them as they laughed. Gon heard about them as he was almost at the sign in and told them to be careful since he had not been in the city for many years. He didn’t know who were the people of power since it constantly changed. After he signed in, he stumbled upon the man he saw at the wedding that bought part of the arena from Mr Pan and they talked about the great city. He said the old mayor was replaced, but with him gone, there were a lot of new gangs loose since no one was controlling them.

  They headed back, and they took a road through a park but when they were in, they saw more of the same sort of people that made trouble on the other side of the arena. Gon greeted the men who seemed to be from a school in the city, and they looked more like random strangers than a group of students from a martial arts school. One of them walked up to Gon and said it was their park and to pass they had to pay. Gon’s pupils prepared for a fight but a voice said to let them through. A man in his 50s sat on a bench and asked Gon if he had signed in for the match yet and said he remembered him when he was there many years ago. He said he doubted Gon would have any chance against many of the fighters this year but was excited to see him fight. Gon who had a cloak on him was hiding his body and looked different from the last time he fought. Those that had seen him before when he was smaller in size would think so, but one of the men said Gon looked nothing like the man on the poster.

  The other master told his pupils that Gon probably could take on all of them by himself and told his cocky protégé to back down. Gon nodded to the master and said he hoped he would come to watch the fights then walked off with the others. They came back to the house, and Bianca told them about the gangs and other groups that ran Shetana then. She was allowed to continue her business despite that her father died, but since he had a lot of friends they let her be. Gon would fight in two days and would see some of the masters from the other schools the day before to get to know them.

  The morning came, and Isabel stayed at the house and studied her writing with Bianca while the rest of them came to a place where a market used to be. Gon used to buy groceries for the restaurant in several of the shops there. When they found the entry to the then big temple that lay where the markets once lay, they were shown into an open hall. Some other schools with their students had already sat down. They had a designated space and would wait for some more schools. Sophia told her father and pointed to the men from the previous day that it was them who were making trouble.

  Gon looked at them and nodded but said nothing. When they were all assembled, one of the masters who look liked a man with influence welcomed the others. He talked for a while about some of the schools in Shetana and how they had had quarrels in the past. He hoped for reconciliation between them, and some of the masters from the schools started to talk several at a time. There was some anger in the room Gon noticed and felt the tension. The main speaker asked finally for Gon to introduce himself for the group. He was known by the masters as they had all seen the posters many times and some had seen Gon as he fought. A master stood up and said he would have his best man win for a 3rd time and said someone like Gon who won so many years ago would not be able to match today’s fighters. Another man said he would beat the previous master’s pupil himself and take the victory. Gon sat down and listened to them argue, and the annoying man from earlier who told Sophia to be quiet was now saying that the schools from outside the city were weak. He said they should all leave before they got hurt by the tough Shetana schools.

  Sophia had heard enough and told the man to kept his uninformed opinions to himself and that she would make him be quiet unless he did so himself. It became quiet at first, and then some people started to laugh at Sophia who continued to insult the man. Gon kept his eyes open and so did his students but they sat quietly listening. When Sophia looked at her father to see if he wanted her to stop, he said nothing but smiled and nodded. She turned around to the group again and told them even if she was the smallest fighter in there as well as the only girl, she would beat anyone they put in front of her. They would know how good her father’s school was if they dared to face her. The men were not laughing anymore and looked at each other across the room. They were quite angry and surprised by the little girl who disrespected them. One of them told her she would wish she stayed home in the house while another one of them offered to marry her so she could take care of the baby as she should. This was when Gon stood up and looked at the men inside that were now silent. Because of the look in his eyes, they quieted down because even if Gon did not look the part of a master under those clothes, he still was a champion. They all knew he won the tournament the first time he tried it so clearly he could fight.

  Gon knew his daughter was good and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and he told the group of people they would be wise never to underestimate their opponents no matter who it was. He said he would let his daughter fight one
of the other pupils to prove her skill if they dared. The other side was surprised about the move, and one of the masters started to laugh. He grabbed one of his own men and pushed him out to the floor. He said she had to fight him and said he expected Sophia would not last long against the man. The master who was in charge of the meeting backed away and asked Gon if he felt she could fight well enough for the task. Gon said he believed her to be as good as any of the cowardly men across from him who now all began to swear. He kissed Sophia on the forehead and told her to do her best which she said she promise to do.

  On the floor, the pair then stood and the rest of the people were cheering. Some of the others said loudly that she would get hurt and Gon should break the match. Gon stood firm and started to cheer her on telling to her to not knock him out too quickly. The fight began, and the man tried to kick as well as punch her, but she blocked them easily. He moved her to the edges and was clearly in advantage for a second. She tried to kick back but was swiped so she hit the floor and had to roll away on the floor before the man kicked her in the side. She was fast up, and as he continued to strike at her, she blocked them. He suddenly got in a punch over the nose on her and she moved back. She never stood still and kept herself calm.

  The pupil who had been making some comments to her the most said maybe they should stop because she was bleeding a little from the nose. He said he didn’t want her to start crying then laughed again with the others. Some blood came from the nose, but Sophia responded with perhaps he was afraid of blood and should leave the room before he fainted. The master who pushed the pupil out told him to finish her off quickly so they could continue. He went in for it, but as he struck, he opened up his chin, and Sophia gave her all strength to deliver an uppercut so hard that he stumbled after moving back. Before he could recover, she took aim and jumped. The student was brought down by the kick that she delivered with great speed which made him lose his breath lying on the floor. The other schools were silent, but soon other pupils from the same school came up and got closer to Sophia as well as the man with the big mouth.