The Farriga festival(2): Bamboo versus Hasilo

A clap of thunder suddenly bellowed causing all those present to instinctively duck down for a moment. Raindrops fell on the gathered lavels, but nothing would deter them from the show they were about to witness.

Lavels didn't have too many exciting lives, so they would flock to watch any that availed itself for them.

Hasilo had always been a superstar, a favorite for many and there was plenty that was looking to sponsor him in the upcoming festival. He was an obvious choice to many who already concluded that none could face Hasilo and come out victorious.

This was especially true for Badoo, Bamboo's great grandfather and the patriarch of their clan. His clan had been one of the smaller ones and had joined the settlement after it had been formed. As such, his clan didn't have much say in the running of the settlement. The old geezers from well-established clans had already subdivided the authority and leadership among themselves.

Moreover, given they had well-established connections and trading routes, they had managed to amass a lot of wealth and resources, they could easily give their young males an advantage over the competition. Of course, as long as an action or situation, however unfair, had not broken the rules, it couldn't be termed as cheating. Also, remember that it was those in governance that set the rules.

Once, before he was eligible for the competition for being too young, they even allowed female lavels to compete. However, the then head and his clique realized that their young ones might end up losing to a very ferocious female lavel who would put down both men and women, they came up with this rule enforcing that no female lavels could take part in the competition.

This decision was easily seen through, but the head faced little opposition even from the female lavels of the time as they didn't want that female lavel to take control. She was known to be a hothead, but that was not the reason. It was all because she was from Badoo's clan, and hence they wouldn't let a near foreigner take charge.

Many years had passed, and the good news was, they were no longer considered near foreigners. They had integrated with the community, and there were even nearer clans that had joined. They were no longer the new kids on the block. Even then, they would face opposition since they were not like the more older founder clans. Only the originals were regarded in esteem, more like nobles in this society.

Now, to his joy, there was one of his lineage hailed as the most likely to become the next head. One could understand his joy, but it overflowed when another, a dark horse that came out of nowhere and showcased awe-inspiring talent. It was a two for one shot.

As he watched the fight, unlike others who were bubbling with excitement and looking forward to a proper match, he was watching with a mixture of nervousness. He wouldn't want these his pride and joy hurting each other or rendering each other incapacitated in a deathmatch, so he was extra cautious.

First, it was a badly kept secret that as head, he planned to put the two cousins in one team to increase their chances of winning. Similarly, it was also well known that the two had had a rivalry since childhood, with Bamboo the victim. He feared the smaller lavel might do something desperate to avoid his cousin and childhood enemy from clinching the victory, but he hadn't expected that the lavel would rise to the occasion as well.

He, like almost everyone else, already concluded the end of this match, with Bamboo putting up a spirited fight before being put down by Hasilo. He only hoped that in his zeal, Bamboo wouldn't hurt himself or Hasilo too badly, in ways that would be unrecoverable soon. That would bode badly for the hope of the plan.

The mood of the crowd had gotten even to the players. Before the match, Bamboo's 2 companions could be seen fidgeting, as though they were dreading the match ahead. For not the first time, Bamboo found himself missing Maple and her headstrong attitude. She was the one who jumped into battle without care.

She did the brave thing, he did the worrying thing, and that was their thing. He secretly swore to himself that if he won, he would overrule that law that prevented females from participating, just so he can have his trusted partner by his side.

On the other end, Hasilo was brimming with confidence. Each of the fights he'd been in he had won without breaking a sweat, and having fought with Bamboo since he was small, this was a fight that was easy for him. He was more concerned with the fact that Thea herself, the clean beauty, had come out to watch their match. Quite literally everyone had come out.

Far more distinct than the sound of thunder from a distance, the gong jolted the players into action, simultaneously igniting the crowd watching to erupt into cheers and jeers!

Hasilo lunged at Bamboo, intending to tackle him to the ground. It might have seemed easy, but Hasilo had used this leap at both preys and while he was playing his games with the weaker lavels. It was one of his most overbearing moves as he was a giant compared to whomever he was leaping at, and he would have them in his paws before they knew what hit them.

Bamboo had been expecting this, so he instantly sidestepped and jerked himself out of Hasilo's reach. This was not an easy thing to do, but as he was tumbling down, he kicked at Hasilo's shin, sending him sprawling on the ground.

As they both rose to the ground, Bamboo smiled as he knew he had gotten into Hasilo's head. One thing was obvious now, he couldn't compete with his cousin's strength. Interestingly though, since his encounter with the dragon and all that followed, he had noticed that a change had occurred in his way of thinking.

Things that seemed hard and impossible to him now seemed doable, and indeed even obvious. He wondered what had happened to him, and he very much suspected that whatever it was, it had something to do with the dragon. This thought was buried deep in his mind, as he chose to believe that all this was as a result of the new power that he had.

Secondly, he had also received an amazing gift. As he had awakened a high-grade affinity for the thunder element, he had received the elemental blessing Quick Reactions. Dane had been pleasantly surprised and even marveled at Bamboo's luck glow as very few were able to awaken an elemental blessing as well.

An elemental blessing was considered a godly talent and those that had it highly sorted after as they were true geniuses. It was no wonder Bamboo had been able to skip the novice rank and produced the element from within, though he had only thrust it 3 meters, for a newbie, that was not commonly seen. Of course Bamboo himself knew nothing about this and all he knew was that he was smarter and faster.

He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so when he received his boon, he decided to use it, and where was it more perfectly suited than in raising his status in the clan, and in the settlement. Maple wanted him to use his power against Hasilo, but he knew that this was born out of fear that he might lose, hence she wanted him to go all out.

Call it confidence or arrogance, Bamboo knew that he didn't need to go all out to take down Hasilo, he knew he could take down the opponent he once hated so much. All this had started some time ago while he had gone hunting. Shamelessly, he had used the would-be prey for training.

Next came the first match, he wanted to see how well he had honed his skills. It was expected to be a tough fight, as opposing teams were people of equal strength and standing in the clan. The leader was also like Bamboo, just another face in the crowd, but he had his entourage.

The first thrust had been a probing fist. He had heard of Bamboo and he knew he was formidable, and though he stood a chance of winning this fight, it would be a hard one. That was what Yufan told himself. Little did he know that that was the moment he lost his initiative.

One swing of the paw after another, Bamboo could easily predict his moves and block them. Moreover, every attack was met with a counter-attack. Bamboo was toying with him, and he was powerless to do anything.

Now as then, as Yufan watched on, he realized that was the same thing that was happening with Hasilo. Hasilo was a brute that only understood brute strength. While this was the way of the lavel, Bamboo's move was so eye-catching that by now, everyone had gone completely silent.

Hasilo's massive paws were continuously being swung at Bamboo but never finding a mark, yet every attack was followed by a counter-attack that would hurt not only his body but also his pride.

Hasilo tried grabbing at Bamboo, throwing his fists and even jumping at him but the lavel would always evade his attacks. He tried herding Bamboo to a corner, or out of the game, yet even then, Bamboo was as slippery as an eel and would evade his encirclement before it even began.

Bamboo was like a phantom that was unreachable, which only served to build up Hasilo's exasperation. He just wanted to wipe the floor with that smile on Bamboo's face, but hard as he tried he just couldn't touch his opponent.

Usually, in such a case, his strategy was that he would help his teammates quickly get rid of their opponents before ganging up on the main rival, but that only worked in cases where he had a modicum of control, yet now, Bamboo wasn't having any of it. He wouldn't let up. Bamboo's teammates also seemed to perform well, as none had fallen despite him picking the best among his lackeys.

Throughout his life, Hasilo has always had it easy in life. His big body and agility had been enough for him to gain pretty much whatever he fancied, and everyone in the clan and indeed the settlement gave him face, after all, who would want to disrespect the next head. Even females gave themselves to him, and the males offered their paws to serve him even without him asking.

Unfortunately for him, his winning streak seemed to have come to an end. He was being plummeted and what was even more frustrating was that he, with all his strength, could do nothing about it except watch as he lost.

He could feel tiredness setting in, and his muscles were losing the power they had. All this time, he had never had such a lengthy fight, usually, just the first few exchanges are enough for him to clinch victory, yet now defeat was bearing down hard at him.

NO!

That has never been him, this was not his fate! This was the match he should win, the final match to determine who's the top dog in his clan, and while he had always worn that crown without an appreciation for it, he couldn't bear someone just snatching it away.

Unknown to him, something was happening within his body that would cause even Bamboo to change his attack plan.