Talon paced confidently behind the gate, swinging his heavy bastard sword with nervous tension. This was it, this was the moment that would define his life. He wanted to be a knight, needed it, and now, with a few swings of his thick blade he could make it happen... he might die trying, but hopefully that wouldn't be the case. 

His sister Nala anxiously watched from the crowd, tight with anticipation. She looked around and saw the normal gathering of city folks; bakers, carpenters, farmers and the like. Then her sharp eye landed on a strange girl with black lips and strange markings on her eye lids. [i]"She looks like trouble,"[/i] she thought, making a note of where she was sitting. 

The gate below opened into the arena. Her brother stepped out, shirtless and sweating, cradling his big sword in the crook of his densely muscled arm. To her this whole thing seemed a sham, a pointless show of blood to entertain the people in the town; but she understood what this meant to Talon. To him this was the realization of his dream. The damn fool had always felt himself a knight, defending some fools notion of honor and nobility. Nala understood the world they lived in, a world of empty promises and hateful liars. [i]"Burn it all,"[/i]she thought, [i]"Burn it all to Hell!"[/i] and if this fools tourney killed her brother, that's exactly what she was ready to do.