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They walked fairly slowly, hand in hand at Tika's comfortable pace. Soon Tika began asking questions, as Tira knew she would.

"Tira-Mother, were you afraid?"

"Yes, but not a lot. Still, more than I ever was before a challenge before."

"Why?"

"Three reasons. You are the first. If I had lost badly it would have affected you, and I would have had to make arrangements for your care." Tira was not about to discuss the small possibility that she may have died. "Second is that eight years is a very long time to go between fights. All the practicing and training in the world will not keep you sharp like fighting. It will be much easier next time. And third, the last fight I had before this one, eight years ago, did not go well for me. I lost very, very badly. I was worried that I might have lost some of my fighting spirit. I know I did, for a while, but I am better now."

"What happened, Tira-Mother?"

Tira did not answer for a minute.

"It was your father, Tika. I ... He ... I am sorry, Tika. I still cannot talk about it. Ask me some other time."

Tika was already wise enough to gloss over her mother's discomfort. "What did Paginna mean about wanting your spot in the tournament?"

Tira brightened.

"Every year a tournament is held for Tiger Women. One is also held for Tiger Men, and one for Lion Women, and so on. Usually there are eight rounds, and the first round is the round of two hundred and fifty-six. The best two hundred and fifty-six fighters in the rankings among all Tiger Women are invited to the tournament. After my last fight for rank eight years ago I was ranked ninety-seventh among Tiger Women. Still, I was surprised to find I was still eligible for the tournament after eight years of not fighting. The Elders must think highly of me. If Paginna had beaten me, she would have taken my rank at two hundred and fifty-second, and she would have been eligible for the tournament. I would have been ranked down, I do not know how far, at the judgment of the elders.

"Now as I say, theoretically there are eight rounds. The best two hundred and fifty-six fighters are matched in pairs, at random, and the winners go on to the round of one hundred and twenty-eight. They are matched in pairs at random again, and the winners go on to the round of sixty-four, then the round of thirty-two, then the round of sixteen, then the round of eight, then the round of four; also called the semi-finals, then the round of two, also called the final. The winner of that round is declared The Champion.

"In reality, some fighters will win, but be badly injured, enough so that they do not feel they can fight effectively in the next round. For instance, Paginna might have gotten lucky with that last swipe at my throat and beaten me, but she is still injured badly enough that she could not fight tomorrow. So, if this fight had been a tournament round she would have had to drop out of the tournament.

"Also, only a few of the fighters at the tournament really think they can win the championship. Most attend for fun and honor and fame and wealth, and to see how high they can go, hoping to get lucky in the draw. Now, if the person who is ranked two hundred fifty-sixth happened to draw in the first round the person who is ranked first, the lower ranked person would know that they would almost certainly lose. This is called a mis-match. The lower ranked person in the mis-match can Decline, or submit without fighting, with no loss of honor. If there are an odd number of fighters left after a round, the highest ranked fighter left does not have to fight in the next round.

"Often, because of injured winners and mis-matches, there are less than a quarter of the fighters left from a round, so the next round is skipped. Once long ago there were only two rounds in the Tiger Man tournament, the round of two hundred fifty-six, and the round of thirty-two. There were only three fighters left after the round of thirty-two, and two of them Declined to fight the man who was declared Champion.

"Do you understand all of that, Tika?"

"Yes, Tira-Mother."

"Good. Every two years the best two hundred and fifty-six fighters among all Tiger People, men and women, are invited to the tournament of Tiger People. Usually about a third are women. The winner is usually a man, but about one time in six the Champion of Tiger People is a woman. This happened last six years ago.

"Once every four years the best two hundred and fifty-six fighters in the world, among the men and women of all peoples, are invited to the Grande Tournament, also called the Grande Championship. The winner is declared Grande Champion. About one third of the time the Grande Champion is a Tiger Man, but right now the Grande Champion is a Lion Man from Africa. Once, about twenty years ago, there was even a Grande Champion who was a tech, a karate fighter from the city of Tokyo, in Japan."

"A tech!" Tika marveled. "I did not know techs were allowed to fight each other!"

"Only a very, very, small percentage of them do." Tira explained. "On the other hand, there are sixteen billion techs. They never hunt each other, and can only fight other techs who are declared fighters, and only under very specific conditions, in designated arenas. Most of their fighting is silly, ritualized combat, done as sport with many rules and restrictions, and no weapons. Many even put big pads on their hands and feet, so they cannot really injure each other unless they get very lucky."

"That is funny!" Tika laughed. "Techs are stupid!"

"I think it is funny as well." Tira said, "But you must not call them stupid. This is important. The techs fulfill a different role in life from us, and they think differently from us. We need them, and they need us, and we cannot judge them by the same standards we judge ourselves by. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Tira-Mother." Tika said contritely. "Has there ever been a Grande Champion who was a woman?"

"Yes Tika. About one in six Grande Champions have been women. You have met one. Davdan won the Grande Championship five times, and held the title for over twenty-eight years in total."

"Davdan? The old woman from my testing?"

"Yes Tika. Davdan was one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. She has a totally unique Gift called 'Knows-How-To-Beat-You', and she also has the Many Moves Gift. She knows almost every move from every fighting style, and always seemed to know what move or strategy a fighter was most vulnerable to. She could watch you fight for five seconds, and she would say; 'I have seen you move, and I know how to beat you.' And she would, almost every time. She is the only fighter to ever retire from fighting while still Grande Champion.

"Now she is very old, and it is against the Bans to challenge one who is retired, but if it were not, I would still hesitate to challenge her, she is that dangerous."

"Wow." Tika marveled. "Why did you not tell me when we met her?"

Tira laughed.

"As she would tell you herself, she has had enough praise and hero worship to last ten lifetimes, so she does not like her record mentioned much. She was my trainer for three years, from when I was a little older than sixteen. I care for her very much."

"Why did she stop training you?"

Tira shrugged.

"She became the most senior of the Tiger People Elders who judge fighting, ranking and tournaments, and had less time for me. I became an adult and challenged for this territory, and won, while Davdan lives in the Elder's Enclave in the Brahman Region of the forest, far from here. I could have taken a territory closer to there, but this is one of the finest territories in the world, and I have loved it since I first saw it."

"I love it too." Tika said.

"Will we ever see Davdan again, Tira-Mother?"

"Well Tika, I am thinking of having a gathering tonight to celebrate my victory. I do not know if she can come, but I can invite her. Would you like that?"

"Yes! I would like that very much!"

"All right." Tira laughed. "Who else should I invite?"

Tika considered.

"Naz? Jena? That pretty new boy with the kinky hair, the African looking one we saw at the children's ground last time, what is his name?"

"His name is Mot," Tira said, "But he and his mother and father are on vacation in Europe right now. The others are good choices though. I had already decided on Naz. I am sure he will come. We will sing and dance and feast. It will be great fun. Race you to the med!"

Mother and daughter ran down the path, laughing.

At the med, Tika watched as her mother's wounds were stitched. Tira made calls while a Med named Beth worked on her.

"Tira!" Davdan said from the screen. "It is good to hear from you!"

"It gives me joy to speak to you, Davdan." Tira replied happily. "Did you see my fight today?"

"I was too busy to watch it when it happened, but I watched the recording three times a few minutes ago." Davdan told her. "Well fought. Well fought indeed. You have forgotten nothing that I taught you, and learned much besides."

"Thank you, Davdan. It means much to hear it from you. I am having a victory celebration at my den tonight, and Tika and I would both be honored if you could attend."

"I will not walk from the trading post, Tira. Can I have a flyer land me by your den?"

"Yes, Davdan. The med flyer landed there to fetch Paginna not twenty seconds after the fight ended."

"They take good care of you. I will be there at eight. Do not hold dinner for me; I should only eat certain things anyway. Will there be at least four adults?"

"Yes Davdan."

"Good. I will get a fire permit. Build a fire pit."

"How great you are, Davdan! Thank you! Oh and Davdan, one more thing. Fighting is not the only thing I have not done in eight years. I was wondering if you would know..."

"Say no more, Tira, I would indeed know. End call."

Tira's screen blanked, and she put it away.

"You know," Tira said absently, "I really love that woman. And a fire permit! It must be nice to have such power!"

She turned to Tika.

"So, Jena and Jela will attend, as will Naz and his twins, Raz and Pina, and Davdan, who will bring someone for me to meet. Nine of us, altogether. I think that is enough for a good victory celebration.

"Listen, Tika. I tell you this now because it is something that Naz, Raz, and Pina may be sensitive about. Pina and Raz had been living with their mother Pika. Pika never made it beyond the status of Serious. She could only hold the least productive territory in the zone, and only because nobody wanted it. She lost almost all her fights since becoming an adult, and many of the men in the region took to using her for rough sex because she is beautiful and easy to beat. I think she would have Renounced being a Tiger Woman long ago if it were not for her love of Raz and Pina, and her wish to not disrupt their lives. Last month a group of nine male Adolescents took turns challenging her for sex, and they raped her and hurt her for two days and two nights. Her mind broke, and the Meds had to remove the memory of the event from her mind. She still knows it happened, but only as information, she does not remember the emotions or sensations of the event. She Renounced being a Tiger Woman, and has since been accepted by the Elephant People of this zone. Naz has gotten special dispensation to finish raising Raz and Pina himself, with the assistance of the Tiger Women of the zone. Also, Naz got special dispensation for Raz and Pina to visit their mother at the Elephant People's trading post, and they talk to her every day on screen."

Tika absorbed that for a moment.

"Tira-Mother, will anything happen to the nine male Adolescents?"

Tira's face got so hard that Tika flinched.

"Only Adolescents would be stupid enough to do what they did, Tika. Over the next year and a half they will all become Adults, and as they do, Naz will hunt them or challenge them without honor. Many who cared for Pika will hunt them as well, and some may declare death-feud on them. What they did was despicable, dishonorable, and barely within the Bans. Some will run, but there is nowhere on all the world or in space that we cannot find them. If they Renounce, we will attack them with all the power of our credits, and do everything we can within tech law to make their lives miserable. Have no doubt, they will pay for what they did."

The mood was broken by the snapping sound of Beth removing her gloves.

"All done." she said. "I had to glue a bone chip in your arm, and a tendon in your finger, but it was all pretty basic work. You'll be careful with them for a few days, right?"

"Of course." Tira said. "I thank you for your excellent work, and for the speed of the response of your team. It honors me."

"I live to heal." Beth intoned with a smile. "When two Magnificents fight, there's always interesting work for Meds. I'm honored to work on your injuries, Tira, but I wish I'd drawn Paginna. Now there was some interesting injury work, particularly a tricky bowel resection. She asked to see you when you were done, by the way. She's in room four."

"Thank you, Dr. Beth."

The door to room four was open. Paginna lay in the bed with the blankets pulled up to her armpits, an intravenous tube in each arm, bandages on her hand, shoulder and arm wounds, and a huge bandage on her nose.

"Greetings Tira, Tika." Paginna called cheerfully, her voice sounding funny from the bandage on her nose. "It is good to see you. Great fight, was it not?"

"It was." Tira agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You seem in good spirits, all things considered."

"I have good reason to be." Paginna explained, "I have had a great fight, the best I was ever in, and," she paused dramatically with a mischievous grin, "I am in the tournament!"

Tira opened her mouth, paused in surprise, and closed it again. Finally she spoke.

"How can that be?" she asked.

"Well," Paginna paused, taking pleasure in extending her announcement, "It seems that after reviewing our fight, the Elders decided that they had unfairly under-ranked you. I have been given your ranking at two hundred fifty-two, based on my performance in the fight, even though I lost. You have been ranked upward to eighty-seventh among Tiger Women, one hundred fifty-third among Tiger People, two hundred forty-sixth among all fighters!"

"You deserve to go to the tournament, Paginna." Tira told her. "You are fast, vicious, and you can fight through a great deal of pain."

Paginna shrugged.

"Part of my Gift. Thank you."

"I do not understand." Tika said, looking from her mother to Paginna, "How can you be so happy when you lost the fight so badly?"

"It is not whether you won or lost that decides if you have had a great fight, Tika." Paginna explained to her. "What matters is the quality of the fighting, and whether you fought to the limit of your ability.

"I took a great chance challenging your mother today. This morning I was ranked three hundred eighty-third among Tiger Women, and my trainer told me I was being impatient and foolish to try to jump one hundred and forty-one rankings in one fight. Since our fight, Tira has been ranked upward, and now stands at eighty-seventh among Tiger Women. So, the woman who was ranked three hundred eighty-third, challenged the woman who should have been at eighty-seventh, and got her claws into her in five places! That is accomplishment indeed! And I am going to the tournament! I have lived for nothing else since I was nine years old!"

Tika looked at her mother with amazement.

"Eighty-seventh! Congratulations, Tira-Mother!"

"You know, Tira," Paginna laughed, "You are not supposed to improve by not fighting for eight years! It is an interesting training strategy. By the way, I want to thank you for leaving your knife in my shoulder. The Meds tell me that if you had removed it, the extra blood loss may have cost me an additional four days of recovery time. You will find it in the drawer beside you. The Meds have cleaned and sterilized it for you." They both chuckled at that.

As Tira fetched her knife from the drawer, Tika could not help saying: "I like you Paginna. I did not think I would. You seem so different from this afternoon."

Paginna laughed again.

"I need to be in a snarly mood to activate my Gift, Tika, but when I am not fighting I laugh and love as other women do."

"I have enjoyed talking with you, Paginna." Tira said. "You have great honor. I wish you a speedy recovery, and good fighting in the tournament."

"I hope to see you there, Tira." Paginna replied. "You have almost three months to train for it, and you could win it all. It would be a great waste of talent if you did not attend. I only hope I do not get you in the draw!"

They all laughed at that, and said their good-byes. As they left the med, Tira said to Tika:

"That one was a surprise. She could record a course on how to lose with honor." She shook her head, and whistled under her breath. "Eighty-seventh! Imagine that!"

Naz was waiting for them outside the med with Raz and Pina.

"Greetings Tira, Tika. Well fought, Tira. It is very good to see you in action again. I have something for you."

He held forth a large folded card patterned with roses and knives. Tira opened it and read the message inside out loud.

"Congratulations Tira, on a Challenge well fought. We are all very proud of you. You are Our Champion.

"It looks like it has been signed by nearly everyone in the zone! I sense your hand in this, Naz." Tira finished with a smile.

"Perhaps." Naz admitted with a grin. "But it took no convincing for them to sign, they were eager to do so. Few zones are lucky enough to contain one who is Magnificent, and we all are really very proud of you.

"Tira and Tika, I am proud to present my children, Raz and Pina."

The two were nine year old twins, and looked as much alike as a boy and girl could, their skin dark and hair the black of native stock, both quite large for their age. They were overawed at meeting Tira, and merely nodded and smiled in greeting. Tika did the same when introduced, not wanting to make them feel uncomfortable.

The children trailed behind as the group set out for the trading post.

"So," Tira asked, "Have you heard I was ranked upwards?"

"Yes." Naz replied. "Will you attend the tournament?"

"I am considering it. The thought fills me with an excitement I have not felt since before Tika was born. Do you know where it will be held this year?"

"Shanghai. The Tiger Women of China have lobbied hard for it. I think they deserve the honor. Close to half the fighters there will be Chinese this year, and they have not hosted one for eight years." Naz spoke thoughtfully.

"Almost half will be from China?" Tira asked with surprise.

"Yes. Their best have taken to training in groups of ten or twelve, and it has made a difference. It is strange, for Tiger People, but within the Bans. I suppose they wanted an edge. Though they fielded many champions twenty years ago, from sixteen to two years ago they sent few fighters to the tournaments. They are definitely in resurgence now though."

"Hmm." Tira was thoughtful. "I am thinking that if I risk attending a tournament, I should aim high. There are six months till the Tournament of All Fighters. With my new ranking, I could attend."

Naz considered.

"You would have the extra three months to train. And the Grande Tournament will be in New Delhi. You would not have to acclimatize."

"There is that, as well." Tira mused.

They walked in silence till they reached the trading post. There Tira bought fruit juices, salads, cooked spiced rice, and ice cream. She also rented a spit to cook a whole small animal, and a shovel.

When they were back outside Raz pointed to the shovel.

"What is that for, Tira?"

"Well Raz, you know it is a digging tool?"

"Of course! I am not a..." Raz began indignantly, but at a sharp look from his father he stopped, got his emotions under control, and tried again.

"I am sorry, Tira. I do know that it is a shovel, a digging tool, and that this kind is called a folding spade. What I meant was, why do you need it, why will you be digging?"

"That is what I thought you meant," Tira said with a smile, "But I wanted to be sure. I will use it to dig a fire pit for the gathering tonight."

"A fire pit!" Pina exclaimed, "But fires are Banned, except at gatherings of the Elders!"

"This is true, Pina." Tira explained. "Because an unplanned and unsupervised forest fire can hurt many who live in the forest, and ruin many territories. But for special occasions an Elder can get a permit for a fire, as long as there are going to be at least four adults and one Elder present, and even then the request is often refused if the forest is too dry. A Great Elder named Davdan is going to be at the gathering tonight, and she is getting a permit for the fire. We will not light it until she arrives."

"Tira, I would be honored if you would allow me to build your fire pit." Raz stated with formality.

"Why thank you Raz. I was not looking forward to it, so I appreciate your offer. I hope you know I am not being condescending when I say that it is very important that the fire pit be well built. We would all be shamed if we burned the forest."

"I realize the responsibility, Tira, and will fulfill it well." Raz stated, and an air of pride came over him that he should be trusted with this task by the Magnificent one.

The five of them set out for Tira's territory. Naz and Tira led the way, discussing the state of the local animal populations. Raz brought up the rear, and called up information on his screen as to how to build a fire pit.

Tika and Pina walked silently for a while, listening to the adults' conversation. After a few minutes Tika got bored of that, and asked Pina:

"Do you like living in Naz's territory?"

Pina nodded, but said nothing. After a minute Tika tried to make conversation again.

"Is the hunting good there?"

Again Pina simply nodded.

After another minute Tika wondered out loud:

"I wonder why other children do not like me. Adults seem to like me well enough."

Pina's reserve melted.

"I am sorry, Tika." she said. "It is not that I dislike you, it is that I resent you, and it is not your fault. Our father uses you as an example against us. Whenever we grumble about having to spend time practicing hunting or fighting, our father says:" Pina imitated Naz's deep voice, "'My friend Tira's daughter Tika is two years younger than you, and she does not grumble about fulfilling her responsibilities. You could learn a thing or two about being Tiger People from her.' And I know that you must grumble sometimes when Tira asks you to do these things. Every child does every once in a while."

Tika shrugged.

"She does not ask me." she explained. "When it is time to fight, we fight. When it is time to hunt, we hunt. When it is time to learn, I learn. I never thought about it."

Pina stared at her a moment.

"You are not helping me like you. Do you ever just do something because it is fun? Just because you like to do it?"

Tika shrugged again.

"I like to fight. I like to hunt. I like to learn." she stated.

Pina threw her arms up in exasperation.

"Come on! There must be something you like to do besides fight and hunt!"

Tika thought about it.

"I like to watch the sun come up. I like to climb trees. I like to cuddle with Tira-Mother after the evening meal and watch recordings of fights. I have watched all of her fights many times, and all of the local fights for the last three years. I like to swim in the river, when the crocodiles are not hungry. Mostly I like to fight, but the other children at the children's ground will not fight with me, and my mother will not let me Challenge them. They say no if I just ask if they want to. I guess it is because the ones who are as good as me are all much bigger than me, so they will look bad whether they win or lose. So I fight with Tira-Mother a lot. About six hours every day. She beats me almost every time."

Pina went a little pale.

"You have won against your mother?" she asked, aghast.

Tika blushed.

"I am sorry," she said with downcast eyes, "I should not exaggerate. I am really not that good yet. I have only beaten Tira-Mother twice, and they are only training fights. She is a very good fighter. Her fight today was magnificent! Do you want to watch the recording? I recorded it myself." she finished proudly.

Pina stared at her a full minute as they walked. Her resentment rose again.

"I am really not that good yet! I have only beaten her twice!" Pina imitated Tika in a cruel, mocking tone. "Do you know what they call you at the children's ground when you are not there? Snow heart, or snow head! And do you know why? Because you never play with us, you never smile, and you never laugh! They hate you! We all hate you!"

Naz and Tira stopped and turned at this outburst. Naz's face darkened with anger and he began to walk back toward Pina, but Tira restrained him with a touch on his arm and a subtle shake of her head, though she subtly moved closer. Tika and Pina were oblivious to this exchange. Raz was so engrossed with what he was studying on screen that he walked past the other four without noticing anything.

Tika stared at Pina for a moment, shocked, then covered her face in her hands and began to cry.

"I know they hate me!" she sobbed. "I do not smile there because I know they hate me! I do not laugh because they never say anything funny to me! I do not play with them because none of them will be my friend! None of them will ever be my friend! No one has ever been my friend, except Tira-Mother, and that does not count because she is my mother!" She began crying whole-heartedly, her little body shaking with sobs, tears flowing constantly from under her hands.

Now it was Pina's turn to be shocked.

"You have never had a friend? Not even one?" she asked.

Tika shook her head no.

Pina's heart melted, and she gathered Tika into her arms and started to cry a little herself.

"I am really sorry, Tika. I should never have said those things, and I would never have said them, except I am so sad because my mother had to go away. We do not really hate you; most of us are afraid of you, and the rest envy and resent your skill. There is not one of us who will ever be able to beat your mother even once, even if we live to be a thousand, and we all know it.

"I will be your friend, Tika, and I will show you all the children's games, and when the other children see that I am your friend, maybe some of them will grow to like you too."

Tika uncovered her face and looked up at Pina, barely daring to hope.

"You will really be my friend, Pina?"

"Yes Tika. I really will."

Tika threw her arms around the older girl's shoulders, and burst into tears again, this time from happiness and relief.

"Thank you Pina! Thank you! I will be the best friend you ever had, I promise!"

The two adults turned and continued walking down the path after Raz, leaving the girls hugging and crying.

"You are wise, Tira." Naz said. "I could not have made it come out so well if I had interfered."

"I had to take a chance, Naz. They both need someone very badly right now, for something we cannot give them. You do your best, but you cannot fill the void left by her mother. And I do everything I can for Tika, but I cannot make the other children like her. And besides, if it had gone very badly, I was pretty sure that I could stop Tika before she killed Pina."

Naz looked at her with surprise.

"You are completely serious?" Naz asked.

Tira laughed.

"No, Tika is completely Serious. I am Magnificent!"

"That you are, Tira," Naz said with a laugh. "That you are. And perhaps you could use a little more friendship in your own life as well."

"Perhaps, Naz, perhaps." Tira said, sliding her arm around his waist and leaning her head on his shoulder.

He slid his arm around her waist as well.

"You know," Naz said thoughtfully, "I gave the entire world open odds on your fight today, over the Web. I made just over forty-seven Mega! If you and Tika would only fight more often, I would soon be the wealthiest man in the Solar System!"

"You are a gambling fool, Naz." Tira laughed.

"Perhaps." he said with a grin. "Tika has truly beaten you twice?"

"I am lucky it has only been twice. She pushes me to my limit every time. Soon we will have to fight for points, or we will injure each other every day."

"Amazing." he breathed. He looked behind them to see Tika and Pina walking hand in hand, talking. They could barely hear Pina explaining the rules of hide-and-seek. He smiled.

"So," Tira asked, "What are Pina and Raz like?"

"Ahh, Tira." Naz sighed. "I do not know how two such children could have sprung from my loins. Raz insists he is going to attend the University of Mumbai when he becomes an Adolescent, and be a Construction Engineer. He says he will Renounce the day he becomes an Adult, and move to Mars. He says there is nothing new to do on this entire world except build deep sea colonies, and that he does not want to be a Shark Man. He says that on Mars they are building a new world, and he thinks of little else. He will probably do it, too. His tech marks are at least six years ahead, especially maths and physics."