[OOM] Festival of the Red Snow.

[stuck_mynock]

Atton takes Guppy out onto the surface of Kazic III, into a large settlement the centre of which seems to be almost completely taken up by a festival. Which means merchants lining every street with stalls, tents for fortune-tellers, a performance going on at one end of the city centre (it appears to be the story of a particularly bloody war, represented with physical theatre by some very athletic dancers) and a stage at the other end which is currently not being used, judging by the burly men socialising and posturing at each other on it.

Atton's dressed up warm, because even though it's the warm season, it's still Kazic III, which makes it about as cold as a Scottish winter.

Comments

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Nah, not this time."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Okay." Guppy nods.

"I've found a bit of time for practice lately, so I shouldn't be in too bad shape."

He glances around at a rather shady looking character, who seems to be keeping them in his sights.

"Don't look now, but I think that guy's thinking of robbing you. More fool him..."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to see him try," Atton says wryly.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Maybe we should let him try, might give us a chance to spook the opposition before the tournament."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Ha. Maybe."

[guppy_sandhu]

"What do you reckon, I lure him and then we kick arse?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton laughs. "Leave him be."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Fair enough." Guppy nods. "Shall we go check out the tournament?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, sure," Atton said, leading Guppy towards it.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy heads forward. The shady looking man tails them, then tries to pickpocket Guppy.

Sadly for him, all he finds in there is a snotty tissue Coral gave him earlier.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton chuckles slightly then stops at the edge of the platform.

[guppy_sandhu]

"I've got a cat biscuit in the other one." Guppy comments to the thief, who legs it.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton just grins.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy gets ready to compete, firstly establishing the dress code.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The platform seems to be a lot warmer than everywhere else - when he gets close, the air suddenly changes to something more akin to a hot summer's day.

The dress code appears to be barefoot and barechested, with most of the participants wearing shorts.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy gets dressed into his shorts.

"Did they use the same forcepower as you to heat this?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Huh? No, they're not Force sensitive."

[guppy_sandhu]

"How's it done then?" Guppy asks.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Very thin particle shielding, probably," Atton says.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Oh, like the force field around my house?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Similar, yeah."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do I have to go register or anything?" Guppy asks.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Nah. There's no referee or anything. See that guy?" Atton points at a man taller than he is, with broader shoulders, shaggy hair and a lot of tattoos. He has a red band around his arm. "He's last year's champion. You sit around the platform, and he'll call up whoever he feels like fighting - or if he's beaten, whoever beats him will do it - until nobody's left. Fight is over when he - or the guy that beats him - says it is."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Okay. I'll do my best." Guppy grins and goes to sit around the platform.

He'd do it in a half lotus position, but his flexibility won't quite allow it, so he kneels instead.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton slips into the crowd.

Up on the platform, the champion peers around the various gathered competitors, before calling up a very burly looking man. They take their positions, and then the burly man starts offloading blows into the champion's torso. The champion takes it for a minute, without reacting, then knocks the burly man to the ground and bludgeons him with one hand until he's nearly unrecognisable.

When he eventually relents, several people drag the burly man off, and the champion starts looking around again.