Chapter Text
This would be a good day. Dirk felt relaxed for the first time, well, since before he started planning for the tournament, certainly. The next day would just be celebration, and maybe he would actually feel like celebrating for once.
And why wouldn’t he?
Sure, there had been bumps in the road, but with Sir Vantas reaching the finals in both armed and unarmed combat, and after the results from the horse race finals, the only two people rivaling Vantas were Lord Egbert and Sir Strider. Dirk could easily reason out Egbert not getting the special reward, and, well, he could make something up to justify Vantas getting it over Strider, if it came down to it.
Plus, the princes were gone, the fey were all out of the competition so Dirk wasn’t sure if they’d be staying around to watch the finals, he already had his confrontation with Jake, and, well, sure, he still had the missing items to think about, but that hardly mattered compared to everything else. More of a nuisance than anything.
Karkat was up first against Jake in unarmed combat, and though the thought of them facing each other made his stomach twist in a way he couldn’t name, overall, Dirk felt relieved, and found himself humming a tune as he waited for the match to start.
He stopped abruptly when Rose appeared next to him.
“You know,” he said calmly, pretending he hadn’t about jumped out of his skin, “if I didn’t know better I’d say you were learning tricks from Roxy.”
Rose snorted. “Aspects don’t work like that.”
“I’m aware. What are you doing here? Won’t your entourage miss you?” he asked as she sat next to him.
“They’re big girls, they can take care of themselves. They’re exploring the stalls more now that they don’t have their own matches to worry about. I thought you could use the company.”
“I figured I’d be boring now that you figured out my game plan.”
Rose shook her head. “For one, I know why you’re focused on Vantas, not what you’re planning on doing with that focus. For another, dear cousin, I do actually enjoy your company outside of us trying to snoop on and out strategize each other, and I know you enjoy mine as well.”
Dirk smiled. “Fair enough.”
The trumpet sounded, announcing the start of the match.
Jake was the first to rush in, but Vantas met him in the middle. They grappled with each other, arms locked together, each trying to throw the other to the ground.
Jake was grinning again, probably pleasantly surprised by the shorter man’s strength.
The Prospitian still won out, though.
He shoved Vantas back, causing him to stumble and fall, but Vantas used it to his advantage, quickly propping himself up on one arm and kicking out at Jake’s legs.
Jake fell forward and Vantas barely managed to roll out of the way in time to not be crushed beneath him, then kicked out again with both legs, slamming into Jake’s side.
Jake grabbed one of Vantas’s legs, trying to drag him closer, but Vantas shoved off the ground with his arms and free leg and on top of Jake, stomping on his back like Jade had the day before, though Jake was more obviously winded this time.
Dirk was pleased to see Vantas was learning as he went.
He had hopped back away from Jake, but not very far, and as soon as Jake started to get up, he lunged at him, knocking him back down to the ground and slamming his knee into his gut as he went down.
Before Vantas could hop back up again, though, Jake grabbed him and flipped them both over so the larger man was on top.
Dirk could see his knight kicking beneath Jake, and the two wrestled on the ground for a few minutes, Jake trying to pin Vantas down and Vantas squirming out of his grip, but not out from under him.
Finally, Vantas did one of the stupidest things Dirk could have expected, if he was correct about the extent of the man’s previous injuries, even after healing:
Vantas headbutted Jake.
He headbutted Jake so hard Jake almost instantly was dead weight on top of him.
Vantas didn’t seem to be moving either.
Dirk was up, out of his seat, and at the edge of the balcony. He opened his mouth to call for the physician, but he stopped when he saw movement.
Vantas was wriggling his way out from under Jake, then unsteadily got to his feet.
The announcer went down to where he was standing, lifted one of his arms in the air, and said, “Sir Karkat Vantas! Champion of Unarmed Combat! Congratulations on your victory! You will receive your reward following the last event of the day.”
By the time he was done, the physician was next to Vantas as well and helped him walk off the field while her assistant was helping Jake up, who seemed more bewildered as he came to than anything.
Dirk sat back down and willed his heart to resume its normal pace, appreciating the light hand Rose placed on his arm.
“I enabled this,” he finally said once he trusted his voice not to shake.
“No, dear. Well, yes,” Rose corrected, “but he would have done this anyway.”
“What?”
“After your bullheaded push to keep him in the fight, I looked ahead. It was the only way to convince the girls to help, anyway. Not only did fortune show healing was the correct choice, I felt how terribly it would go had you not opted for this. No details just… Determination, stubbornness, pain, loss.” Rose shook her head as though shaking away the thought. “He would have kept fighting anyway. So, yes, pushing him to fight enabled him, but he’s just… like that,” she finished with a laugh.
Dirk couldn’t help but laugh, too, just a little, if only from the slight relief of what Rose said. She might be lying to make him feel better, but he’d take it.
The first thing Karkat saw when he stood up and opened his eyes was a look of fear on his majesty’s face. Then the world blurred out again, barely hearing his victory announced, barely noticing he was being led out of the stadium. The few minutes of walking to the physician’s tent helped clear his head, though, so he was able to perfectly see how angry Dave looked when he showed up seconds later.
“Dave, it’s okay, I’m fine now, I was just dizzy for a--”
“Withdraw from our fight,” Dave said.
“What?”
“Withdraw from our fight or I will.”
“Dave, you can’t be serious! I told you, I’m fine, there’s no--”
“I’m pretty fucking serious, dude! You lucked out when you were magically better yesterday, and then you go and pull this shit? What the fuck? What the fuck ?”
Karkat wilted. “But… the physician said…”
Dave turned his attention to the physician who looked like a trapped animal and swallowed under Dave’s gaze.
“Er, he’s, uh, right. He doesn’t seem to have a concussion or anything serious enough to actively keep him from fighting, though I do still recommend against it. I have my theories as to why--”
“Fine. Whatever.” Dave turned back to Karkat. “Do what you want, but don’t expect me to sit back and keep watching you put your life in danger over a fucking competition.”
And before Karkat could say anything else, he stormed out.
Karkat stared after him, ignoring the awkward coughing of the physician, swatting her away as she tried to check him over one last time. He gathered his things and shuffled off, no direction in mind except away .
Dirk didn’t see Strider or Vantas in the crowd around the archery finals. Lord Egbert seemed to be distracted looking for someone as well, frowning as Roxy tried to engage him in conversation.
Dirk had been assured Vantas was fine, fine enough to still participate in the armed combat finals, but neither of the knights showing up worried him nonetheless.
Rose put a calming hand on his arm, and he relaxed back in his seat.
Egbert seemed to shake off his own worry, and smiled broadly as he shook Roxy’s hand as their names were announced.
The set up for the archery finals was different than what the matches leading up had been. The Automaton’s guild had gerry-rigged some devices that would launch wooden disks into the air at random intervals, but no longer than 30 seconds between each. He had three machines, set at different distances, and each had disks painted different colors to note which machine they came from. One hundred points for the nearest, two hundred for the mid, and three hundred for the farthest. There were five disks in each machine and the finalists had been limited to ten arrows each, fletched with different colored feathers.
At one guild member’s signal, they launched a test round, both to make sure everything was working and to give Egbert and Roxy an idea of what the event would look like.
Dirk could feel the excitement in the crowd. It wasn’t often his guild was able to show off their inventions. He couldn’t be prouder.
The announcer counted down as Egbert and Roxy readied their bows, then the trumpet sounded and the devices were started up again.
It took a few seconds for the first one to fly off, a blue one from the midrange. Egbert let an arrow fly, and missed his target. Roxy let it pass.
The next came a green disk from the closest, which Egbert got, but Roxy was ready for the red one that was flung from the farthest machine half a second later.
They both shot for the blue, which Roxy got again, but Egbert shot the blue disk that came ten seconds later and one of the two green that followed immediately after, while Roxy missed the one she aimed for.
It took another five seconds (such a seemingly short time, but so long when Dirk counted it out) for the next red disk to fly, which Roxy got again while Egbert lost another arrow in the attempt.
Now there were two disks left in both the near and mid, three left in the farthest. So far Lord Egbert had 400 points while Roxy had 800, but there was still time for Egbert to gain again.
Which he did as he hit the next red disk out of the sky, earning him another 300 points, just one green disk behind Roxy. He got that one, too, a few seconds later, but Roxy jumped ahead when she nabbed the blue that had shot out almost simultaneously.
This left Roxy with 1,000 points and Egbert with 800, another 900 up for grabs.
The final blue disk shot off, and both finalists went for it, but Roxy was just half a second behind Egbert, tying them.
The last two red disks flew one right after the other. Roxy nabbed the first one and Egbert just barely hit the edge of the second, keeping them tied.
It was down to the final green.
Seconds ticked past, this one seeming to not want to be released until close to the thirty second limit.
Finally, it was launched.
Lord Egbert and Roxy each shot off their arrows, but Roxy was just a breath faster, squeaking out the last 100 points to break their tie.
The finalists both visibly sagged, tension draining from them, though Roxy obviously more happy than Egbert.
They shook hands and patted each other on the backs as Roxy’s win and the award ceremony were announced.
“I’m honestly surprised about how close it was,” Rose said. “Your noble really gave her a run for her money.”
Dirk couldn’t help but feel proud about that, too, but he just nodded his ascent.
The final event was next. Armed combat between Sirs Strider and Vantas. And then Dirk would finally, finally , get what he had been waiting for.