It's just a jump to the left

"You appear to be supporting the Challenger," the woman said. "But your outfit seems a bit off."

Nendi looked around and noticed that while most of the audience were wearing what one would expect on a religious holiday, there were several women wearing more or less successful imitations of the costumes worn on stage. Most of the "supporters" of the topless one [72129] had taken some liberties about that part - some appeared to be wearing flesh colored tops, while others simply wore whatever they had that was good enough. Apparently the curious woman had taken Nendi in her bikini for one of those.
So that would make Valinda's character the Challenger, and according to what Pomona had said [73026] she was going to win. Which presumably made Pomona's losing character the Champion.
It almost made sense now. The holiday must be to commemorate some major change that was somehow ended or started by this uneven duel. But why would anyone bother showing their "support" for either side in a staged fight? There was no obvious enmity between the two groups, they seemed to get along pretty well, and Nendi thought she could see money changing hands in a couple of places. Surely they were not betting on the outcome of a staged fight!

"I am new here," she stuttered.

The other nodded. "I see. Well, I know where you can get a better costume if you like. Don't worry, we have plenty of time. I have seen some of the rehearsals, and there's a fair bit of posturing before the real action begins."

Now Nendi had thought about getting some better clothes for a while, and blending in with some local color seemed like a good idea. She had hoped to find something a bit less revealing, though.
Of course, if there was no true enmity between the groups she could always "change sides" and become a Champion supporter, even though that meant she was going to "lose".

1. She rejects the offer.
2. She accepts the offer as it stands.
3. She accepts the offer but wants to "change sides" for more coverage. Sorry, fanboys.
4. She asks about the apparent betting.
5. She asks about the "supporter" thing.
6. She wants to know everything about the background history.
7. Suddenly feeling hungry, she decides to look for something to eat.
8. Valinda makes a misstep and falls off the stage, landing right in front of Nendi. At this distance it is obvious that she is not wearing an 'invisible' top like some of her supporters.
9. The maiden and the unicorn from the first tapestry [71876] enter stage left. Okay, that was unexpected.
10. Even more unexpected, the woman sitting on Nendi's other side turns out to be Josh Burbank in drag.

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