[Plot] Doom. Doom Hast. Doom Hast Jet.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The shyness routine was getting a bit easier to keep up as Jez realized that these weren't wee fair flowergirls. She leaned over and whispered to Nika, having to stand on her toes.

"This... isn't a contact sport, is it?"

[Nika Novak]

"I mean... it can get a little rough if that's what you mean." Nika says with a barely concealed smirk.

[Narrator]

An important-looking woman, wearing a long, white ceremonial robe, was giving a speech that Jez couldn't understand.

It was about the importance of Spring's End; about the transition from one phase of life to another. About how, once upon a time, in this place, evil spirits had lured the young women of the town away from their duties and responsibilities as part of the planting season, seducing them into dancing themselves to death. And how, in defiance of the evil spirits and to show the Symkarian pride in their ability to stand up against even the harshest foes; the Symkarian ability to withstand the might of evil conquering forces surrounding them on all sides, they now gather every year to dance until they fall. The last one standing to be crowned for their stamina and resilience; the true standards of any true Symkarian.

The girls around Jez and Nika listened politely -- this was the same sort of speech they had heard every year, and they knew why they were here.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez used her time not understanding what was being said to glance around the performance area. She may have been over-confident in her abilities, but she had a back-up plan. A plan that needed her to be able to disappear from eyesight for just a second or two when necessary without forfeiting.

[Narrator]

The path around the maypole did come tantalizingly close to a flower cart; it could be possible for her to duck out of sight behind it if necessary...

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez's plan burbled in her brain, the smaller woman having to stand on her toes to whisper into Nika's ear.

"Is there anything that can get you disqualified? Short of punching someone, I mean."

[Nika Novak]

"Only the obvious stuff like leaving the circle and such. Why?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"Is that considered in the circle?" Jez nodded toward the flower cart.

[Nika Novak]

"Sort of? I don't know, I'm not the ceremonial chief. What, are you worried about bumping into it?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"I'm thinking about incorporating it into my routine. For style points." Well, that was part of the reason.

[Narrator]

And with that, the music started up, and the circle began to rotate -- slowly at first, as the jostling for position was...restrained. For now...

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez started to skip-dance along, just trying to get a feel for things and get into the rhythm. Always on the watch for an opportunity for her to try her plan, some squabble between dancers or someone falling that would momentarily command the audience's attention.

[Narrator]

After one or two trips around the circle, it was clear some old grudges were being de-grudge-ified in the ceremony. Several of the girls had made a point of skipping around slightly too fast or slihglty too slowly, slamming into the person ahead or behind them -- exploratory contact, not yet an all-out-brawl, though the knowing looks from some in the crowd indicated it was only a matter of time.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Even if Jez was concentrating on trying to follow the rest of the pack, she still noticed the growing animosity between some of the contestants. She glanced back at Nika with a wink before she let herself start to fall behind the girl in front of her, until she was getting right into the larger woman's space.

[Alex Sablinova]

Meanwhile, from high up on the hill with the castle, Prince Alex looked down over the women circling the pole in the town square. It wasn't a large town, and from his balcony, he could see pretty much the extent of it without having to stretch too far, but it was his.

And it was only a start, too. Once Katarina had come to her senses, he'd be looking over a far larger piece of land. First, Symkaria. And then...

He frowned, looking down. There was something vaguely familiar about what was going on down below. Something scratching the back of his mind. What was it...

[Nika Novak]

Nika might be entirely wrong about Jez' plan but she thinks she gets what she's trying to imply. And so Nika aggressively twirls with (and thus past) the few dancers between her and the girl Jez is targeting. And promptly lets her momentum carry her into her, assuming Jez meant to pincer-tackle her. And if not then she's prepared to follow through and take down both of them.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

It was a bit like one of those executive desk toys. Nika's impact sent the girl forward into the next, who then hit into her. It wasn't a lot, but it gave her the opportunity she needed. The girl tumbled forward into a summersault that rolled under the flower cart, likely eliciting a few gasps from the crowd at such an early "elimination"... until she rolled out from the other side of the cart and jumped to her feet, arms above her head and quickly dancing back into the circle to grab her ribbon and resume her place in line.

From up on his balcony Alex might notice the commotion, though had Jezabelle really made such an impression on him? Maybe it was because she was so much smaller than the other contestants. Or maybe the dress she wore looked familiar, one of Katarina's. Either way, it was very unlikely that he'd be able to see under the flower cart where Jez was also crouched, trying to remain hidden behind the overhanging blankets and foliage. It was pretty risky, but now that she'd done it once, people were less likely to question if she did it again - it was to garner favour from the audience and show off! And also swap out a tired and aching copy of herself for a fresh one.

[Narrator]

Jez's tricky roll was met with some cheers from the crowd -- style mattered, apparently, and Jez had style! Or the Jez currently in the dance did, at the very least; cowering under a cart works until one is discovered, and it might be difficult for her to get out of that spot without being noticed. It may get crowded underneath.

This left Nika alone against the larger woman she had crashed into -- larger and a bit bulkier than she was, for sure, but no royal family guard.

[Nika Novak]

In a real fight Nika would easily have the upper hand, but out and out violence is not on the table, so she'll have to rely on being more nimble and avoid just getting completely bodied by the larger woman and let her tire herself out or decide Nika's not worth the effort to go after.

[Narrator]

Nika wasn't getting away that easily, as the large girl gave her a nasty hip-check as she went spinning by. And a smirk, on top of everything!

[Nika Novak]

Nika stumbles, bouncing off of a couple other people before she catches herself with a grin of her own. "<Well alright then...>" she mutters to herself, narrowing her eyes at the other woman and bit by bit making her way towards her again. And this time she's straight up going for a Judo throw vaguely disguised as a twirling dance move aimed to send the woman off-kilter and using her own weight and momentum to send her right towards the pole.

[Narrator]

Nika's Chosen Opponent did not, apparently, have much in the way of combat skills, and she was sent rocketing into the pole -- a clear case of a former high school bully meeting more than her match, and a case of a face smashing into the pole with a satisfying *thud*.

Nika would have significantly more room to dance, at least for a while, as everyone else tried to stay clear of her.

[Narrator]

((Fast-forwarding some))

After a while, a significant number of the less talented girls had dropped out, and we were getting down to brass tacks. Some girls had simply stopped at some point, exhausted and out of breath -- they were in this more for a lark than anything else. Others had taken a more aggressive, offensive approach, and there was a not insubstantial amount of blood on the ground from various skinned knees and busted noses as people had gone down harder than they had hoped.

Jez, Nika, and four other girls were still in it, though the hotness of the day and the length of the dance had to be getting to them by now.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez was... well she wasn't looking too hot. As much as she had played long sessions of DDR and exhausted herself at cons, those usually didn't involve being out in the hot sun, or as stiff a competition. But now that there were so few competitors left the girl felt confident in playing the ace up her sleeve. With a bit of her last energy she started incorporating some simple exercises into her "routine"; kalinka-like jumping jacks, little twirls, and forward rolls. She did a couple of the latter before a big final one sent her under the flower cart again...

... and into her waiting self, who rolled out onto the other side. There wasn't an immediate change in her energy level as far as onlookers might notice, she seemed stiff and sluggish, but that tended to happen when you stayed crouched for a few hours. The more she moved in the dance circle, the more she stretched her muscles again and the more mobility she had, until she was back in full form. there was no guarantee that this would be enough, but not everyone got to tag someone else in either.

[Nika Novak]

Fortunately for Jez, Nika is doing her best to take out their competition and not at all setting up an excuse to take out Jez. Would it be strategically smarter to let Jez win? Maybe but Nika got Katarina into this mess, the least she can do is be her knight in shining armor the one to clean up the mess. Of course constantly picking fights in the dance circle has left even her stamina a little low.

[Narrator]

One of the last remaining girls had been eying Jez for some time -- this was the second time she had gone under the cart, and if that wasn't suspicious, nothing was.

As she twirled closer to Jez, she threw an elbow, hard into her ribcage. Not even really disguised as anything else, that - -just a solid slam.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez was taken completely by surprise. Normally in a fight she has at least one extra set of eyes to look out for her, but that wasn't the case this time. The girl doubled over and fell to one knee with one hand on her side and the other still clutching the ribbon.

[Narrator]

Jez's attacker smirked -- how had this little one managed to last so long? Well, at least it was about to be over, as she came around for another kick.

[Nika Novak]

And that's when Nika, begrudgingly, throws herself into the smug attacker hard enough to make the bullet-wound in her shoulder twinge.

[Narrator]

Nika's attack caught the other girl off balance -- but it let the fourth, and final, remaining girl get in her OWN shots on Nika, trying to take advantage of the situation to make it between just her and the tired, frail foreign girl on the side. A chance for a double elimination!

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Unfortunately, the foreign girl wasn't as tired or as frail as she appeared. In one swift and practiced motion Jez was on her feet and delivering a palm strike toward the woman's nose without so much as a word. It would seem that when it came time to fight, she wasn't one to try and disguise it as anything else. She'd probably be disqualified, maybe even arrested, but she was a little past caring about that right now.

[Narrator]

Jez's surprise attack was...well...surprising, and it staggered her back towards the pile of Nika and her target, a mass of humanity forming quickly.

The attack by itself wasn't enough to eliminate her or anything, but it did at least get her off balance.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

If anyone had expected Jez to just try and push her attackers away and look to Nika or the crowd for assistance, they would probably have been surprised to see her press the attack on the stumbling girl. One blow to the face was enough, and it had caused her opponent to raise their hands up to defend their face. this left their midsection open for a boot to the stomach, intending to leave the girl winded and gasping as she turned on the other, throwing a fist at the girl's kidney even as she grappled with Nika.

[Narrator]

The surprising amount of feistiness from the foreign girl caught her competitors by surprise -- not to mention the added fact that they'd been dancing all this time, while Jez had gotten a secret tag-team partner of herself, leaving her...well, relatively fresh, at least.

Jez's continued assault managed to keep the larger girls down -- helped, in part, by the injured Nika keeping her opponent on the ground. Which meant that Jez was the last girl standing.

The music stopped, and a cheer erupted from the crowd -- Jez was the Summer Queen! A slightly battered and bruised one, but that seemed to be more or less standard for these sorts of things. Jez would soon find herself mobbed by well-wishers and wish-wellers, placing a crown of local wildflowers on her head and generally shepherding her away from the pole in celebration.

And a few stragglers stood by to help the last contestants back to their feet and towards any medical attention they may well need.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez didn't really understand what was happening at first, but when she realized that it wasn't an angry mob that was swarming her she calmed down and was easily herded in the direction they desired. It was still so surprising to her, she thought for sure Nika would have come out on top, but through cheating and violence, and largely due to Nika's help, she'd managed to win! And now she was being taken away from her one lifeline in a strange country full of people speaking a language she didn't understand. The beautiful crown of flowers was askew on her head as she looked back toward the pole, her expression much less jubilant now.

[Nika Novak]

At least Nika is following along in the crowd, although it might be easy enough for Jez to miss her. She's not exactly trying to be noticed.

[Narrator]

Jez was being led towards a stage in the center of town. The same woman from before -- the important one in the white ceremonial dress -- was giving yet another speech, in Symkarian yet again, which was all Greek to Jez. Some girls, slightly younger than Jez (future Flower Queens?) were handing her some kind of golden scepter, and a goblet filled with something that smelled sweet as they led her up towards the stairs to the stage proper.

If they wanted a speech, they'd probably be sorely disappointed.


For Nika, the speech was fairly standard; something she had heard dozens of times before -- how the Flower Queen represented the strength and resiliency of Symkaria; the ability to overcome even the most exceptional odds. The flower of the country, from whom the next generation of noble Symkarians shall spring forth and yadda yadda yadda, we all have our roles to play, we should look up this young woman, etcetera etcetera. The fact that Jez was not Symkarian didn't seem to effect the context of the speech in any way -- which was good, because it included the general "and the Prince shall receive her to laud her efforts and grant her the ceremonial rights, privileges and duties of our Summer Queen" and all that. A ticket into the guarded castle, and one that Prince Alex presumably wouldn't find a way to wriggle out of. Tradition, of course, was very important in Symkaria.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez was, for the most part, fairly quiet during the entire ceremony. As they got deeper into the ceremony it became more obvious to everyone that she had no idea what was being said. Still she went through the motions, looking to others when she brought the cup toward her mouth to judge whether they were horrified or not, and generally watching their gestures as they attempted to guide her. Goblet raised in toast before being sipped and then slammed back - she had been to college after all. But then came the time to speak as she was pushed toward the microphone previously occupied by the woman in the fancy white dress. She hesitated at first but, finding no other option, she collected herself and spoke.

"... thank you." The foreign language might've gotten a reaction from the crowd, but that didn't stop her. "... for the honour you've bestowed upon me this day. I came here as a stranger, in service of a friend. My time here has been short, but during it I have been able to experience some of of the wonderful beauty and culture of your country, expressed through your people more powerfully than any piece of art or architecture ever could. I have a new appreciation, no, admiration for your strength and resolve; as individuals and as a people. The bonds you share are your greatest strength of all; be it with your family, your community, your nation, or your friends and allies beyond - like myself. There is no limit to what we can achieve when we lift each other up. Thank you."

As far as she was concerned the cat was already out of the bag, so she might as well run with it. Feigning being mute and her inability to understand would've brought too much questioning and suspicion. Owning up to it at least let her maintain some level of credibility.

... they probably should have just climbed over the wall at night.

[Narrator]

Even though Jez didn't have a clear idea exactly what was going on, and that became more and more readily apparent, she would find the people around her more encouraging than anything else. Not the old lady giving the speech, oh my no, but the younger generation, at least, helped her by giving her several hints as to what to do at various points during the ceremony -- motioning when to drink and when to wave and all that sort of thing. Generally speaking, smiling faces -- maybe they were a bit confused as to why she was here, but they were welcoming. The older generation? Eh, not so much -- lots of stony faces, probably not entirely comfortable with some sort of outsider coming and not only taking part, but winning, their cultural traditions. Apparently, Symkaria wasn't part of the EU or anything here.

English wasn't anyone's first language, but the gist of Jez's speech was understood by...most of the crowd, at the very least. Once again, it was better accepted by the younger members of the crowd -- perhaps a sign that Katarina's generation would be more willing to listen to the 'decadent West' than the older generation would be, necessarily. Either way, there was a decent round of applause when she was done, so this could have gone significantly worse, all things considered.

The man in a royal-looking uniform who had listened in stone-faced silence and had started back for the castle, presumably to beat her there, might be less positive, though whether Jez had time to worry about that as she was ushered towards a horse-drawn carriage thing for a Victory Ride was up in the air.

"Good! Nice job!" a girl about three years younger than Jez was saying as she began to lead her away. "English?"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

There weren't any torches and pitchforks, so Jez was willing to chalk it up as a success - polite applause was better than no applause at all. There was a lot for her to take in, and while she might have noticed the living nutcracker's disapproval she wasn't exactly in a position to follow up on it; she had bigger concerns. Like if she was going to be able to find Nika again.

""Oh, oh thank you!" Jez's attention snapped back to the younger girl as she was led away from the stage and toward the carriage. "Oh no, worse than that. American." She glanced behind her again. "I'm sorry, but my... escort, one of the girls from the dance, I really don't want to lose track of her."