A sense of peace surrounds the quiet clearing an old Kiriga has chosen to rest in. The orange stranger – white haired, and clad in a faded blue robe – sits placidly on a large stone, allowing the sunlight to warm him. He remains still, possibly deep in thought… or possibly asleep. The tranquility is only broken when a tall, green, Zelak-ish insect emerges from a back door of the nearby inn, and dumps some trash into a barrel. It ignores the old Kiriga, and returns to the inn.

The peace is disturbed by a rustling in the underbrush, followed by the sound of a couple of small wooden barrels being toppled over, and a muttered curse.

One of the robed Kiriga's long, slightly tattered ears perks, and his eyes open slowly. He blinks a few times as he gets used to the sunlight again, but other than that, and a few mumbling, smacking noises from his mouth, (Hrrrmblp… nyup, nyup… ) he makes no move.

A second Kiriga, this one with a hide of azure blue, stumbles into the clearing, hopping on one foot, trying to kick a wooden bucket off of the other, muttering curses under his breath with each step. Seeing the first – and certainly more ancient – Kiriga move causes this newcomer to halt his progress, slapping both feet down to the ground (bucket and all), clapping both hands together, and snapping into a quick bow. "Master Long Tooth! It is I, a humble student of the School of the Open Arthritic Paw of Severe Drubbing, Narduwal!"

One of the old master's dangling white eyebrows arches, and Long Tooth squints at the bucketed blue newcomer. "Oho! Jou haffa traveled lonk way from Empire, Nerdy Wall. Please… sit… jou tell me why jou come."

Narduwal/Nerdy-Wall bows his head and shuffles his way into a position, trying to shake the bucket off one more time (in vain) before settling down.

There's a clatter from back in the alleyway, and a squeaky animal noise that almost sounds like a Skeek saying "Dead?" but it soon gets quiet again. Once it does so, Narduwal clears his throat and says, "I bring news, Master Long Tooth, from the Nagai Empire."

"Speak, Ne'er-Do-Well… trail of Sable Palm hassa grown colt." Long Tooth frowns at this remembered development, his scaly orange face wrinkling deeply. "He escape me once more. News fromma Empire be good to hear." He gropes around for a mug he'd set on the rock, and his frown gives way to a forlorn look as he discovers it to be empty.

Narduwal scratches at his captured foot, then elaborates, "The Emperor-Potentate has called for another contest between the Schools of the martial arts. All of the recognized schools across Sinai are to be included. Already, several champions have been eliminated within the Nagai Empire."

Tooth's eyebrows rise so abruptly, the free ends of them wobble slightly in the air. "Aie? Whatta happen to olt champion, eh… whassis-name?" The old Kiriga snaps his bony fingers a few times, trying to call the name up. "Ahh… Reppukan… Ruby-Ruby… Ryu-Beanie… "

"Ryubushi? According to legend, he was swallowed by the Emperor-Potentate," answers Narduwal. "But the truth is that he died of old age, I believe. That is why the Emperor-Potentate's advisors fell into another argument … and why the contest has been declared again."

Narduwal adds, "But there is more, Master! The list of schools 'invited' to compete includes … the School of the Sable Palm! And we both know that there is only one student known to be remaining in that School, and thus only one possible champion."

The old master hops to his feet, scattering bread crumbs from his lap! "Hah! Thissa perfect! Shikouju must haffa luret me here, so he no haffa face me inna tournament!" After staring grimly in no particular direction, he nods solemnly at the blue Kiriga. "You do well, Neverwood… Te honor of paying my inn tab is yours. Den, we musta leave atta once! Sable Palm cannot escape dis time!"

"The … the … honor … ?" The blue Kiriga's jaw gapes, and he looks for a moment as if he might cry. "That reminds me, Master. Our School is impov – er … of very humble means. We are currently without an arena. I am afraid that you will have to meet our opponents on their own grounds, rather than letting them come to you. But if you do well … perhaps we could draw the interest of a sponsor, and … " He lets that thought trail off, as he stumbles to his feet.

"HYOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIAHHHHHH!" comes a high-pitched shriek from the edge of the clearing.

The old master nods thoughtfully, rubbing his whiskers. "Remembah, student… the fish hassa no money, but yet swims like a gracefooh blade offa… arugh?" The sudden cry causes the orange Kiriga to startle, and he whirls around, stepping on his mug almost exactly like Narduwal's bucket. Fortunately, the mug is too small to fit the old master's foot, and merely makes him fall off the rock. From behind the rock, the fierce and commanding voice of Long Tooth rasps, "Who dere?!"

*SHING!* The sunlight reflects almost audibly off of the glittering shoulder-pads of a broad-shouldered Nagai warrior who stands tall above Long Tooth. Well, tall, because he happens to be on the roof on the inn. And broad-shouldered, because the garter Naga is wearing the most oversized pauldrons and garish cape that ever such a small snake has worn.

"I am … Ryubushi! Champion of the School of the Joyous Wiggle!" proudly squeaks the diminutive warrior from his elevated perch. "And I challenge you to combat. I shall defeat you, and be one step closer to winning a boon from the Emperor-Potentate himself!"

Tooth springs back to his feet, and reclaims his position on the rock, pausing only to kick the offending mug off it. "Ryubushi? Most excellent student Narduwal say you die… but jou haffa real nice cape, so maybe you notta impostah. We find out! Iffa jou cannot fight like Ryubushi, we know… iffa jou can… I beatah jou up anyway! Hrah!"

Narduwal loudly whispers, "Ah, Master Long Tooth … Ryubushi was a Kiriga … not a garter Naga."

Ryubushi strikes a dramatic pose. "Prepare to meet the Golden Serpent, Master Long Face! HYOOOOOO-AHHHHH!"

Narduwal shrugs. "Maybe I should … ah … get out of the way of the fight. I wouldn't want to invalidate it with my presence, after all… " He shuffle-clunks his way back out of the clearing with as much haste as he can manage without falling flat on his face while doing so.

"He was? How come he lose two legs and shrink? Well, it no mattah! Hyah!" With a deep crouch, Master Tooth launches himself into the air. Dust swirls from the point from which he leaped, and he turns over in the air to land on the roof, falling into a fighting stance, and ignoring the cracking sound from his back.

"Lightning LASH!" shrieks the garter, as he winds up like a spring and launches from his perch on the roof. He shoots right out from between the massive shoulder-pads. Somehow, the pauldrons stay standing, along with the cape, on the roof. The gleaming black garter Naga shoots through the air toward Master Tooth, arcing so that he comes in tail first, wiggling menacingly, as the space around him seems to distort into glowing speed lines! "YAAAAAAA!"

The black garter shoots towards Master Long Tooth's face, and in a flash, the snake's tail slaps against the orange Kiriga's face. In an amazing feat of Wiggle-Fu, the garter snaps his tail back and forth, whipping the Kiriga's face across the nose countless times, the force of the attack enough to keep himself in the air for a moment …

The old master's expression is one of surprise. "Hey, how jou shoulder-pads stay… awp! Apth! Ack! You… pthah! I-… ackpth! Stop th-… ow!" The Kiriga's expression changes with each slap, until finally, he arches his back and hops backward, landing on his hands. His feet clap together around the Naga's neck, and with a push of the Kiriga's arms, the both of them lift into the air again, reorienting in the arc, garter-side down. With a primal shriek from Tooth, they head towards the roof.

The snake says, "Uh oh – ACK!" as Tooth's feet come slamming down onto the shingled roof of the Levitha's Blanket Inn. There's a sickening *crunch* as Tooth comes down on his diminutive opponent.

*crack* *creak*

Tooth takes a step back, straightening out of his fighting stance to look his foe over. "Hmph. Jou haffa 'nough?"

A squeaky "meep!" comes from beneath Master Long Tooth's feet. And then …

The section of the roof Master Long Tooth is standing on caves in.

"Jou see, it useless to oppose… uh? Oouuuaaahh!" The orange reptile's arms flail around suddenly as the roof gives way in a grinding creak!

A high-pitched shriek is heard as the two combatants (only one of whom is readily visible) come crashing down into the main room of the Levitha's Blanket Inn. Narduwal, standing across from the Aelfin proprietor of the inn, hastily slaps some shekels into her hand, and says, "Well … all paid! I'll be going now." He shuffle-clunks as quickly as he can for the door.

A black garter head pokes out of the pile of shingles and broken wood. "Ah! I am victorious! Dramatic pose time!" He starts to wiggle out of the debris.

A nearby table upends itself, and Master Tooth springs to his feet from beneath it. He looks rather much like he did before, except his robes are dustier, and someone's river-trout dinner is lying across his face. A savory sauce trickles from the fish, greasing up the Kiriga's left whiskers. "Notta so fast! Jou cunning tail-slap-to-trout technique, I haffa never seen before! But it take more den dat to beat me!"

The garter frowns, then coils up to spring. "All right … This time … you shall meet your doom! Prepare to face … Nose … DRILLLLL!" He shoots into the air, the interior of the inn shrinking into speed lines as he launches toward Master Long Tooth!

The Kiriga grimly meets his opponent's charge… oddly, instead of blocking, his paws busy themselves seeking out a tankard, bucket, keg, or anything else that might be handy.

A sizeable tankard finds its way into the orange Kiriga's grasp … right as the incoming garter's tail impacts him on the nose … and slips right up his nostril! A most disagreeable sensation follows as the garter warrior wiggles his posterior viciously up Master Long Tooth's nose!

The Kiriga's sour expression deepens for a moment. He holds the mouth of the tankard behind Ryubushi's head, claps his free paw over his other nostril, takes a deep breath, and snorts as hard as he can.

The garter lets out a surprised SQUEAK as he launches out of Master Long Tooth's nose and into the tankard, with a resounding *clang*! The garter's tail flops around from the mouth of the tankard. In an echoing voice, the garter says, from within the tankard, "All right! You've had it now! There is no hope for you!"

"Hmph! Jou skills ah disgustingly effective… but-ah my sinuses haf nevah been clearah!" With a squeeze, the Kiriga attempts to crumple the base of the tankard… not enough to cut off air, but enough to make it hard to remove.

*crunch* "Aaaaaaaa!" shrieks the garter from within his pungent prison. "Let me out! Let me out or … or … I'll make you die slow and painfully!"

The garter's tail lashes about wildly.

The old master grasps the tail, and lets the abused tankard and its serpentine contents dangle. He wags an index finger at it, as if the garter could somehow see it. "Jou give up!" rasps Tooth sternly. "Give up now! Or I keep doink this!" By demonstration, he flicks the side of the crumpled bundle.

"OW!" howls the garter from within the tankard. "I will never surrender! I … I shall beat you senseless!" His tail starts whipping at the orange Kiriga's hand and anything else within reach.

It's a long, long way from making Master Long Tooth any less senseless than he already is, though.

"Oho! Fine! Jou giffa me no choice!" With a flip of the wrist, the reptile tosses the tankard into the air, and winds up, pulling one bony fist back far enough to stretch the old master's spine out nearly level with the floor. "Curmudgeon… BLUDGEON!"

The Aelfin innkeeper cries out, "Noooo!" and covers her face with her little arms.

The tankard takes a mighty follow-through punch … and goes sailing through the air … through one of the intact windows … and can be heard crashing out in the alley.

A moment of silence follows.

Tooth straightens up again, and dusts his hands off. He stolidly hobbles over to the window to peer through it.

Outside, the tankard can be seen half-imbedded in a pile of debris. A limp garter tail protrudes from it. "Guhhhhhh… " comes an echoing voice from the tankard.

Suddenly, the main room of the inn is suffused with an unnatural, golden light.

The orange Kiriga eyes his opponent. "Jou technique is good. But you lack… discipline." Turning away from the window, he glances around, and stops abruptly, blinking confusedly at the light. "What… what is dis? Oh, no… I hopah my heart did not stop again… "

"Master Long Tooth," rumbles a disembodied, guttural voice, in the Imperial tongue. "You have proven the School of the Arthritic Open Paw of Severe Drubbing to be superior to the School of the Joyous Wiggle. Ryubushi has been eliminated from the competition. You are victorious … for now." And then the light fades.

"Aie! No surprises! No… hhk!" The Kiriga reels, and clutches his chest. Stumbling drunkenly backwards, he falls flat on his back, his feet raised in the air for a second before they too come down. The old master exhales once, and then lies still… and the trout finally slides off his face.

A curious Skreek walks over to Master Tooth, and checks his pulse.

The Aelfin comes out from behind cover and timidly asks, "Is he … ?"

The Skreek nods solemnly. "I'm afraid so."

Narduwal comes clunking back into the main room. "Master Tooth! Master TOOTH! Oh no … Master!"

The Aelfin says, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to charge for the damages, sir."

Narduwal looks up at the innkeeper, back to Tooth … then weeps openly.

A look of peace has settled into the craggy features of the old Kiriga's face. His somewhat greasy whiskers lie limply to either side.

The Aelfin's ears droop, and she bites her lower lip. "But… uh… please stop crying, sir… um… if you'd rather… uh… take him where he can be at peace, you can come back and pay later… sir, please don't cr-… oh, you poor thing. There, there." She pats Narduwal on the shoulder. "Pond, help this unfortunate man… Bennie, I'd appreciate it if you got the Marshal." Finally, turning back to look over her beloved inn, she sighs. "And get Milo the carpenter, while you're at it… "