[Chapter Size: 4100 Words.]
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Pessoa Thrid POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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The atmosphere in the arena quickly grew and was boiling with excitement. What was initially thought to be a rather boring competition by everyone, especially the nobility, took a turn when a child decided to participate. It was a girl from the high nobility, adding to the thrilling bet between Jon Ártica and Renly with Olenna. People developed a new perspective on this contest, capturing their attention.
"Father, do you think the Articans will win this competition?!" Desmera Redwyne asked, her gaze admiring Jon as she saw her knight on a white horse.
"I don't know... but it certainly has become interesting. But will that Artican archer truly prove the confidence the Artican king has in him?" Paxter Redwyne commented.
"Our brother is competing... But I don't think he will win," Desmera didn't hesitate to comment.
"You think our brother can't win? He is the best archer in all of Arbor!" Horas, the heir, defended his twin.
"Don't be hasty, Horas. Your brother is certainly a great archer, the best in our family, but the field is full of skilled ones. Our knights are very skilled, whether with a lance, a sword, or a bow and arrow..." Paxter Redwyne said with a tone of lesson.
Meanwhile, many conversations were happening around the stands.
"Arya Stark competing in a tournament made for men and commoners... that is certainly wild. She seems to have truly become one after traveling beyond the wall..." A lady mocked, though they were no longer claiming Jon had kidnapped her.
"It seems that despite her blossoming beauty, she is not all that..." Another lady from a social circle that Arya and Seryna did not know mocked, seeing the little girl in the crowd.
But this was not limited to unknown ladies; even those who had met Arya and talked to her in the past days looked at it with disapproval. However, if Arya knew their thoughts, she would drop the Lady posture her brother always demanded of her and call them Stupid, despite feeling embarrassed by Jon's nicknames and how the nobles found it ridiculous. But she would never give up her war skills, no matter what people said.
"Now, let's all get to your positions before shooting your first arrow!" The Judge shouted as the target was seen. It was a tree trunk set diagonally. This was the eliminatory test, as there were at least 300 competitors among them, and before 50 meters, those who missed would be disqualified until the real competition with center targets began.
Arya walked alongside Eldric the entire time, hearing the dwarves and even giants cheering for her with the Artican men and women.
"I'm jealous, princess, you have an audience and I don't..." Eldric commented with a smile, pretending to be sad.
"They all know you will win this competition..." Arya commented in response.
"Or will our princess surprise us today?" He retorted as Arya gave a small smile.
"I hope so..." Arya admitted, wanting to show her training and even win the competition to show off to Ygritte.
"Lady Arya, you are stunning..." A voice emerged next to Arya, and she looked at a young noble even older than Jon.
"Who are you...?" She asked, raising an eyebrow while the young man seemed disconcerted by this.
"Lady Arya, I am Hobber Redwyne. I tried to invite you to dance at the banquet... But you were indisposed..." He spoke.
"Oh yes, what do you want, Lord Redwyne?" Arya asked again with a formal tone, leaving no opening.
"I just wanted to know how you were... if you needed any tips, after all, I am an experienced archer and will most likely win this competition..." He said, trying to boast.
"I am fine, Lord Redwyne. Thank you for your concern," she spoke dryly as she resumed walking, leaving the noble unsure of how to respond.
"Our princess is being courted even in a competition..." Eldric commented beside her, laughing at the child.
"Tsk. Do you think my future husband will be a southerner?" Arya spoke with conviction. She preferred to remain single for the rest of her life rather than leave Ártica or Jon.
"I understand... anyway, good luck," Eldric said, and they began to position themselves. There were at least 9 trunks where their goal was to land the arrow on them.
To identify the arrows, all of them had a symbol on their rear ends so they could be recognized by the judges who would analyze them. The symbols represented nobles with the designs of their houses, while commoners who had the money to pay for the entry created their own. Arya and Eldric had the Artican symbol at the end of their arrows, which were also dyed with white paint.
"Everyone, prepare to shoot the first arrow!!" the judge shouted, and everyone placed the arrow on the bow and pulled it back while aiming at the target only 20 meters away.
While almost all of the 300 people raised the target slightly upward and pulled the string with just enough force to hit the target, Arya and Eldric, along with a few other southern archers, pulled the string with great strength and aimed straight, relying on their power to hit the target.
"She can pull a bow? How strong is this girl?" Olenna on her podium couldn't be more shocked, seeing Arya pulling that bow without seeming to struggle.
"This is certainly surprising..." Margaery commented, knowing she could never do something that a child a few years younger than her was doing with some ease.
"Do you think she will go far?" Seryna asked.
"She will, but she won't beat all the southerners," Jon said, watching the position that all 300 competitors were handling their bows from, having an aerial view from hundreds of meters away with his two eagles.
Jon decided to share his thoughts. "There are at least two southerners who will be a challenge for Eldric..." Jon spoke, having seen and known many legendary archers in the world's history and recognizing when someone handled the bow like an excellent archer.
"You're not going to lose 200 million, are you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you think I would bet to lose? We will be 20,000 gold coins richer by the end of this competition," Jon said with a small smile to his wife.
"Let's begin, shoot!" the judge suddenly shouted.
In the next moment, the sound of hundreds of arrows with the noise of the strings snapping was heard, but not very loud as they didn't put much force with a target so close.
Arya shot her arrow, which flew at high speed along with Eldric's, covering that small distance before hitting the wood and exploding out the other side, revealing its tip embedded in the wood while the arrow seemed to tremble from the impact. Another Artican arrow was embedded beside it, qualifying the two.
But not all news was good, as 80 arrows fell outside the target, missing the wood, most of them from commoners and some inexperienced young nobles. This was much worse for the commoners, who had come here to try their luck and spent much of their small savings to enter the tournament, missing either from nervousness or sheer bad luck.
"She did it, King Artican!" Renly clapped for Arya, seeing her hit a target. Even for a target so close, a little lady doing something like this was impressive to many people, even those who looked down on it.
"Don't be too surprised, she will pass the entire elimination phase," Jon replied to Renly with confidence.
"I'd like to see that," Renly said, displaying a smile while taking his bottle of wine.
The competitors stood still while the judges checked the symbols on the arrows that fell off target, calling out names for them to withdraw, as they couldn't cheat this part due to the symbols pinned to their chests as identification.
"Fred, out!" the judge began calling.
"I hit it! My arrow just bounced and didn't stick in the wood!" a commoner protested.
"You're out, leave here," the judge demanded again with a severe tone.
"No, I refuse. I spent all my parents' savings to be here, I will win this competition!" the commoner refused to leave.
"Guards, take him away!" the judge ordered, and some Tyrell guards quickly approached the commoner, surprised by this and starting to drag him out while he tried to break free, until he disappeared as the crowd commented on the event.
"Mik, out!" the judge ordered another commoner to leave.
"Gelion Foresty, out," the judge said to a commoner representing his house. He was the same age as Arya and had to leave, looking at Arya with anger since he had lost to a girl.
It was something to be ashamed of, after all, the nobles began mocking Gelion's parents, saying that their son couldn't even beat a little girl.
And it wasn't just him. As the nobles were eliminated, they became the butt of jokes from their peers, while Arya had hit her target, having two Artican arrows embedded in one of the trunks.
The judge continued eliminating competitors, leading to some fights and arguments where the guards were called in by the sore losers. Then the competition resumed, and the trunks had the arrows removed. Some men organizing this had difficulty extracting the Artican arrows, wondering how they embedded so deeply into the wood.
Now the target was 30 meters away. "Prepare to shoot!" the judge shouted again as all 220 people aimed their bows.
Once again, the spectators watched with anticipation to see who would advance in what had become more than a common archery game.
"Shoot!" the judge shouted as the sound seemed louder than before, with hundreds of arrows flying, most hitting the wood, but 50 arrows falling off target. Once again, two Artican arrows were embedded in the wood.
"She is really good!" Alerie couldn't help but praise Arya, standing beside her husband Mace, with Arya's second success.
"That's it, Arya!"
"She did it! I knew she would!"
The Articans shouted their support for Arya, who smiled at them with this encouragement. The judge again announced who had been eliminated, and once again, there was outrage before the guards had to be called, even taking one to prison after he punched a guard. The nobles who were eliminated again looked at Arya with anger, starting a reputation that they would lose to her.
"Stupid..." Arya commented, looking at those idiots and shrugging.
The targets were moved another 10 meters back, now 40 meters away.
"I don't think she will win this one, King Artican," Renly commented.
"A thousand gold coins, how about it?" Jon asked, and Renly nodded.
"Alright. A thousand gold coins," he said, wanting to bet.
"Prepare to shoot!!" the judge exclaimed, and everyone raised their bows, even Arya and Eldric, as they didn't have Weirwood bows, which were far superior to these in their hands.
"Shoot!" the judge ordered, and a new volley, larger than the last, was launched, with most hitting the target and 70 arrows, more than before, missing and those competitors about to be eliminated.
"Looks like I won a thousand gold dragons, Prince Renly," Jon said, while Renly, having no choice, tossed a sack of coins to Jon under the watchful eyes of the nearby nobles.
"Impressive, I never imagined seeing a girl with such archery skills. Maybe she will really pass the eliminations," Renly exclaimed cheerfully despite losing money, as the competition seemed increasingly interesting with the child showing her skills and remaining while two-thirds had been eliminated.
After the judge eliminated the 70 competitors, the herald returned to the stands and podiums. "As you can see! We now have 100 competitors for the final elimination round, among them many famous archers of the kingdom, our Artican guests, and among these two foreign guests, we have Arya of House Stark, only 11 years old, hitting a target at 40 meters!" he exclaimed, knowing this would draw much attention.
Many rounds of applause erupted from the nobles. Despite their disdain, they couldn't deny the skills this girl had shown, standing out among the majority of adults who had been eliminated.
"I knew the North had women who took up arms, but I never imagined they knew how to produce archers..." a noble had to admit to his peers.
"Looks like the honorable Eddard Stark knows how to raise a daughter," another said.
"You know she has been to this place called Ártica, so I don't think she learned her skills at Winterfell. I heard that Catelyn of House Tully raises her daughter strictly to become a lady and even queen of the Seven Kingdoms. I don't think she would allow her youngest daughter with a bow when she follows the Seven to the point of building a sept in the heart of the North," another noble, a more sensible one, spoke calmly.
The discussions continued about Arya while the commoners commented, and the Articans made noise for the girl who laughed. She had impressed many there, and Jon knew she could do much more than that.
"Now let's move on to the last competition of the eliminations! At 50 meters!" the herald shouted while the judge prepared to command the next task.
As soon as the targets were set at 50 meters, the wood full of holes, he turned back to the competitors. "Prepare bows and aim!!" he said as 100 bows were raised in the air.
"Shoot!" he demanded as everyone was ready, and an explosive sound emerged with 100 arrows flying, the sound of them hitting the wood being at least half of them.
"She hit it!" Margaery was surprised to see two white arrows, which were the Artican ones.
"Yes, she hit it..." Olenna couldn't help but comment, surprised by that; Arya was much more skilled than she had imagined.
"Let's see who is in the final round!" the herald exclaimed once more as the judges checked the arrows that fell.
"52 competitors are eliminated, leaving only 48! One of them being Lady Stark, remaining with her skills!" he shouted again as the judge removed all those who lost.
People clapped, some even cheering for Arya, while some nobles who lost continued to be mocked for the same reason as the previous ones.
"Now let's set up our targets!" the man exclaimed as the servants went to fetch dozens of targets with circles. Here the competition was much more difficult, as it required hitting the center for better points or the second circle; missing it meant elimination.
As the targets were set up, the judge asked everyone to get ready while they aimed their bows at the 60-meter targets. Arya aimed at her target and felt the wind with the pressure as she pulled the string, knowing the weight and shooting capacity of the common bow.
"Fire!" she heard the judge and released the bow smoothly, watching her arrow shoot up, swaying in the air like a serpent, flying far along the imagined line. It kept rising until it started descending, heading towards the target and embedding in its center.
The sound of arrows hitting the painted wood was heard, and now everyone was shocked not only by Eldric's precise target but also by Arya's. The two Articans remained strong in this contest.
"Arya Stark hit a 60-meter target with perfect precision!" the herald shouted, leaving everyone astonished.
Silence took over the place, while Jon started clapping first. "Very well, as expected." Jon said firmly, making sure his voice was heard by everyone.
The Articans started making noise again, cheering for Arya, and the nobles had to clap, though they were surprised by this.
"6 competitors were eliminated! We have 42 left for a 70-meter target!" the herald shouted to the audience.
All the competitors who made it past the eliminations were excellent archers, so it was no surprise that most of them started hitting the target, but the challenges were just beginning.
"Father, how can she be so good with the bow...? I want to do the same, I want to train too!" Desmera demanded while Lord Redwyne didn't know what to think.
His son was stunned in the middle of the competition, seeing it get harder with the girl still there.
"Prepare and aim," the judge demanded again. "Shoot!" The arrows flew towards the 70-meter target.
The two Artican arrows embedded in the target again while 12 others fell outside the middle circle or even off the target. "She hit it again!" the man shouted to the audience, who seemed to absorb this better and started clapping for Arya Stark, with some even cheering for the girl.
"Damn, what do they do in Ártica to make a child lethal with a bow? She could take down at least a dozen men before they reached her!" Garlan commented, stunned.
"Garlan, you heard before about the bard's song, playing the ballad of little Jon, where an eight-year-old boy hits bandits from dozens of meters away?" Willas said to his brother.
"Damn, I still thought that was a fantasy..." Garlan murmured.
"She is drawing a lot of attention..." Seryna commented as there were 30 competitors left.
"She likes to show off, so she must be enjoying the attention she's getting..." Jon couldn't help but comment.
"80 meters! Can anyone stop this girl, already one of the best archers in the kingdom present here?!" the herald urged the audience.
"Prepare and aim!" the judge shouted, and Arya focused again, forgetting all the noise around her, while the only sound she could hear was her breathing as she tried to control it.
"Shoot!" The 30 arrows flew again as the wind didn't seem to help, pushing some off target, while others already anticipated this to aim without being hindered by the wind, embedding 12 in the target while 18 arrows fell outside.
"She hit it again..." Olenna murmured with closed lips.
"Mother... how is it possible... she hit an 80-meter target!" Mace sought answers like a lost child.
"Even I don't know, Mace. Just be quiet and let's watch." That was the only thing Olenna said without calling her son an idiot.
"12 competitors left, and among them a child!!" the herald shouted as the crowd went wild once again.
"Prepare bows and aim!" the judge ordered, and everyone did so. "Shoot!"
The arrows flew, and once again, two Artican arrows hit the target, although Arya almost missed the first circle.
"..." If people were surprised by Arya passing the eliminations, surpassing 250 people, seeing her among the last 5 competitors was extremely shocking for everyone.
Even the judge looked at the child with a furrowed brow, but he had to continue the competition. "Target at 100 meters! Prepare to shoot!" he shouted, and everyone aimed their bows. "Shoot!" he exclaimed, and the 5 shot.
Four arrows hit the middle circle, while the last one missed by a bit. This middle-aged man looked disappointed and turned to the child, not knowing what to think, losing to someone almost four times younger, despite his fame.
"4 competitors! We have only 4 left, and our competitor is still in!!" the herald shouted.
"Arya Stark!!" The people shouted for her, especially the commoners.
"The Lady of the Bow!" someone exclaimed, and this nickname seemed to stick, as everyone started shouting her name in the next moment.
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"Yes, 'The Lady of the Bow!' hit 100 meters! Now the competition will be in increments of 5 meters, with the next being 105 meters away!" the herald announced, and the judge waited for the servants to set the target 5 meters from the last position.
"Prepare bows and aim!" the judge shouted, while Arya looked at her target at a very long distance, but she was still focused and confident that she would hit it.
"Shoot!" the judge commanded, and the arrows flew, hitting all the targets in their circle.
"All hit the targets at the same time!!" the herald announced. "Now let's move to 110 meters!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
The people kept calling for Arya the entire time.
"Prepare to shoot and aim!!" Everyone heard the judge's voice, and he gave the next command. "Shoot!"
The 4 arrows flew into the air until 3 hit the target, and one white arrow fell beside it, missing.
"Arya Stark was eliminated at 110 meters!!!" the herald shouted as Arya looked disappointed at losing.
"Girl, I've never seen anyone like you. Don't be sad; you put all the other competitors behind you, remember that." One of the competitors looked at the girl and spoke to encourage her. Even he had to recognize that this girl was a prodigious talent, or something like that, for surviving and hitting targets up to 105 meters away.
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
"The Lady of the Bow!"
The crowd seemed not to care much that she had lost, fervently applauding her for finishing in fourth place, which no one there had expected. Jon stood smiling proudly at his sister while Seryna clapped. Many nobles who had looked down on her in this competition couldn't deny her skills at that moment, and everyone seemed excited that she had brought some lively competition to a generally tedious game.
"I think I'll go now... good luck..." Arya said to Eldric as she began to leave.
"Thank you, princess, I will bring victory to Ártica by the end of this competition," Eldric smiled and spoke confidently.
"Let's see if you're as good as you say, Artican..." one of the competitors said, with only three left now, aiming at a 115-meter target.
"Now we have in the field, Ser Gawen Florent! Lord Stervo Oakheart! and Eldric of Ártica!" the herald announced as everyone applauded.
"I'm already surprised by your sister's skills... I'm starting to think your archer will win this competition, and I'll have lost 11 thousand gold dragons today..." Renly commented with a smile more forced than sincere; 11 thousand gold coins was not a small amount, even for the Prince of Westeros.
"I promise to spend that money very well, Prince Renly, if that's what you fear..." Jon joked, as defeat didn't seem like an option for him, making Renly's smile even more forced.
"Prepare bows and aim!" the judge shouted as the place fell silent, with nobles and commoners holding their breath for the next move.
"Shoot!"
The three arrows flew into the distance and began to fall. The sound of wood being hit was heard twice, while one arrow fell outside, belonging to Ser Gawen Florent.
"I lost, damn it!" Ser Gawen Florent shouted angrily, breaking his bow over his knee in a fit of rage. He left frustrated, stomping on the grass as he exited.
"Now we have the best archer in the Reach, Lord Stervo Oakheart!" This man was very famous for his skills, so no one was surprised by his reaching the final.
"And as his opponent, we have the greatest archer of Ártica, Eldric!" the herald lied, as he said this without knowing who the greatest archer in Ártica was; he just wanted to draw attention.
Jon saw that Stone was about to disagree, shouting about the poor man, and almost saw the giant protesting with him, but Stone stayed in place despite his face wanting to tell the man who the best archer in Ártica really was.
"Now we have 120 meters, who will win the competition!" the herald announced again, leading the audience to mostly cheer for Lord Oakheart, while only the Articans were left to cheer for Eldric. Arya was already next to Jon, a bit sweaty, shouting for Eldric to win.
"Prepare bows and aim." the judge announced again. "Shoot!"
The two arrows hit the target at 120 meters.
"Incredible, both hit!! Our field only goes up to 130 meters; will they surpass the limit? This looks incredible!" the herald said as the target was now at 125 meters. Everyone stopped shouting as they watched the two archers position themselves. "Aim bows!" the judge shouted.
No one could breathe now, as time seemed to stop with the two archers who had confidence on their faces. "Shoot!" The two arrows flew into the sky before starting to descend at a distance, with one white arrow embedding in the center of the target and the other falling outside its target.
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