Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

"Come on, Urist! Come on, Urist! Are you gonna let a girl beat you?!"

The crowd was cheering along to the entrancing rhythm of the four drums that surrounded Amaterasu's and Urist's Geka - their Battle Ring. They were interlocked in battle, and neither side was willing to give in.

How had this all come to, though?

King Bruenor had recently announced a tournament, a traditional battlerite known as Nokzam, the ritualistic Combat of Dwarves. With the trolls having gone through a relatively quiet period recently many dwarves in Mithral Hall had found themselves restless and craving battle, which the strong dwarven ales could only drown for so long. Normally Nokzam were a way of settling disputes between dwarves without spilling blood, but they had been found to be just as effective a way to vent some stress and spar under a fair set of rules. For instance the only allowed weapons being those supplied by the commitee, with both fighters picking their weapon from the same pool to prevent trickery. As weapons were made of a light wood the risk of breaking bones was minimal, and even then special rules were put up to prevent eye-gouging, hits below the beltline and so on. Both fighters were placed into a clearly delimited square, the Geka, that they had to remain in. The victor was determined in a best of three match.

Amaterasu had done so little for the dwarves since her admissal into King Bruenor's halls that she was ashamed. She had trained herself, yes, she had learned the art of dwarven axe-wielding and in exchange taught the dwarves about japanese smithing techniques, archaic as they may be. She had also made use of her Prime-bestowed powers to make the lives of many dwarves easier by performing minor services here and there, and she had set up a shrine in one of the abandoned tracts of the dwarven city, to bring protection and prosperity. While Urist McGlodsson remained the only one of the dwarves who actually prayed at the shrine, it had been Amaterasu's intent to make this her own and Oki's place of worship mainly - not to convert other dwarves. But this all was but a fraction of the things she had wanted to do - she had not slain a single troll and only killed two predator animals. She had strayed from her path.

The Nokzam, the battlerite, had shaken her awake. She had seen the dwarves battling in the ring, and the drums on the sides of the battlefield had stirred something deep within her. In truth, she had stayed and done nothing because the summit of the Mountains of Madness felt more unreachable with every passing day, and she had made excuses to wait for others rather than to head out. She had waited for Fiara, who had gotten lost and sidetracked in the Frozen Fields according to her regular calls, but was fine. She had waited for the trolls to be less aggressive so that she would feel less bad about leaving the dwarves in a pickle. Then she had decided to wait for others to come, to join her. In truth, she'd wanted to enjoy the comforts of Mithral Hall, to be cut off for a while and have not a worry in the world. She had grown comfortable, warm and lazy.

This had to end. She needed to shake it off. And to force herself to such, she had signed up.

Nokzam was a dwarven tradition, so a non-dwarf, much moreso a woman, joining in was unheard of. But Amaterasu was an honorary dwarf with the honor of being granted access to Mithral Hall, something that most dwarves could only dream of. She had proven her worth as a warrior too, so nobody could claim her being a woman disqualified her. And when she said that she wished for her opponent to fight her like they would any dwarf, King Bruenor had laughed and declared that it be so - that Amaterasu was to join Nokzam.

The first three opponents in the tournament-arranged battles had been pushovers: Amaterasu had not held back, but they had, and it had costed them. Though she was wearing bandages to cover her chest and her pants were cut wide so as not to accentuate her legs, these men had not been able to get out of their mind who she was, and had fought miserably. Her fourth opponent had been a much more capable opponent and had driven her to the edge of the Geka twice before she had turned things around. But after that, her opponents fought with the force that she had desired, and each had driven her to her limits.

Now she was in the finale, her seventh battle, against a dwarf named Urist McJargal - a fierce man from Mithral Hall, a drill sergeant teaching the youngsters about handling a weapon. Amaterasu had observed him as he had observed her, and when their wooden axes had first clashed they had felt that this would be a close match. They studied each other's movements and patterns as they danced around inside the Geka in a most complex choreography to the rhythm of the drums, the only other sounds in the room being the hushed breathing of the spectators and the splats of their feet on the ground.

They were both drenched in sweat as they leapt away from each other. Their axes protested as they exchanged a pair of meaningless blows, waiting for the other one to make an error. They could not hold up much longer... the question was, who would fall first? Urist or Amaterasu? Who would break the other one? The dwarves were known for their exceptional strength and stamina, but Amaterasu had learned to use that strength against them. Dodging and weaving attacks had tired Urist out and though she could not land a strike herself because of his impeccable defense, neither could he as she blocked his strikes, or dodged them entirely. But that took its toll on her too, and the muscles on her arms burned as she raised her weapon for a strike when she saw an opening. But she was too slow, Urist anticipated her movement and once again the axes clashed. And again they backed away from each other.

That was when Amaterasu noticed her... the fiery red hair, the indistinguishable bobbing that accompaigned her steps, and most of all her size that allowed her to stand out even among the dwarves standing on benches to get a better view of the match. Fiara was there. She had arrived? Why had nobody told-

WHAM! Her distraction had given Urist ample opportunity to land a painful strike against her ribs, forcing her several steps back and to the edge of the Geka. She caught herself moments before stepping over the boundary and hastily side-stepped a finishing blow from the dwarf before dancing around him, back to the center. He'd probably cracked a rib or two with that blow, but she was still in the fight... and she heard Fiara's voice, though now she did not turn her head, instead keeping her eyes on her opponent.

"Go, Mother Amaterasu! Beat him! I know you can do it!" she was yelling. She could hear her joy of seeing her again, resonating in her every word. But she could also hear her impatience. She wanted to see her now.

"Let's end this, Urist..." she said and raised her axe. She noticed that there was a crack running along the "blade". Urist followed her motions and nodded. Then they both rushed forward and brought their weapons forward in a brutal display of strength. The drums reached their climax, the thumping resonated in Amaterasu's entire body as her axe painfully impacted against Urist's...

And they leapt back from each other. Amaterasu was holding a stick now, the remains of her weapon, with fragments laying around scattered, and a large piece wedged into Urist's axe. With a triumphant grin the dwarf shook his blade to get the big piece out, only to widen his eyes in surprise as his weapon split clean in two and left him with the handle, just like Amaterasu. Both stared at each other, unable to grasp what had happened. Someone gasped.

Then, King Bruenor's laughter resonated through the room. "Draw!" he declared. "You both fought valiantly, Urist McJargal and Amaterasu, but when even your weapons refuse to continue the time has come to stop."

Urist blinked, then laughed as he tossed the remains of his weapon aside as Amaterasu did the same. He stepped up to her and they grabbed each other's forearm, firmly shaking it. "Yer a hell o' a fighter. It's been an honor."

"It has indeed, Urist McJargal. I look forward to meeting again some day... though I hope that it will be on the same side next time", she replied. The drummers were standing up, covered in as much sweat as the both of them, and congratulated each other in much the same manner as Urist and Amaterasu had done with their handshake.

Amaterasu stepped out of the circle along with Urist as a sign of their draw, but once they were out they stepped in different directions. Amaterasu hastily cleaned her arms and hands on her pants. It was a measly alternative to a bath to clean the sweat off, but she couldn't meet Fiara without at least that much. The phoenix girl was already waiting for her slightly away from the crowd and without further word hugged her as soon as she was able to. Amaterasu held her in her arms and closed her eyes. Maybe waking up was what she had needed. She had woken up.

Fiara stepped back finally and grinned. "Mother Amaterasu, the dwarves have already prepared a bath for you. And you better go, because you smell like a pack of wet dogs."