Day 4 & 5

Let's get it on ~

 

Wasn’t that the girl from before? Isabella or something like that?

Éclair yawned and turned over, one arm flopping lazily onto the floor. Her legs were stretched out behind her, and even with her small frame, she kept anyone else from even perching on the edges of the couch. “How should I know that, Danzin? They all look the same after a while, and besides, she was just another new fighter.”

Danzin lightly bit Éclair’s fingers. Éclair yelped, but didn’t retaliate. She was the girl that you beat up in that mall. She was also one of the girls who told you that she wanted to become a fighter.

“…Sorry, I have no clue what you’re talking about, though if that’s true, it’s impressive that she actually became a fighter.” Éclair yawned again and flipped over lightly, not noticing the glares from all sides as she did so.

Letting out a small sigh, Danzin hopped onto the couch and began to lightly paw at Éclair’s face. I recognize her, Éclair.

“So?” Éclair turned her head away, irritable.

She’s been exhibited several times already. Her name is Tonnerre. She is known as the Thunder Goddess, and after you, she’s one of the best fighters around �"

“Hey you wanna go watch? Someone’s getting initiated today.”

Little ears twitching, Danzin turned to better hear the group medium-sized, well-built young men.

“Oh yeah? We got someone new again?”

“That’s right. And Tank’s doing the initiating.”

“Seriously? Why?”

“He thought he was gonna get some promotion or something after that lost job, but nothing’s come in for a couple months. He’s f*****g pissed.”

 “Alright! This should be good. Let’s go.”

…Do I need to say something? Danzin looked at Éclair and smacked her cheek with his paw hard enough to sting.

A noise like a dying elephant escaped from Éclair, and she grabbed one of the couch cushions and placed it over her head. After a moment, Danzin bit her exposed arm. She yelped and then yelled, the noise muffled by the pillow, “I don’t wanna go to her initiation. Those things are stupid, and besides, if she’s good, then she won’t need help.”

Another bite, this time hard enough to break skin, convinced Éclair to pick the pillow up from her head, chuck it across the room, grab Danzin and then charge towards the exit, taking a slight detour to grab a spare sandwich from the buffet table.

…Didn’t you already eat two lunches?

Taking a bit, Éclair jogged down the hall. “So?”

You’re going to get fat.

Éclair opened her mouth to reply, then forgot what she was going to say at the sight of a window. There was noise coming from the other side of the window and the latch was easily removable. Éclair stopped jogging and walked over to the window, throwing it open. It flew the entire way, bounced against the wall and came wobbling to a halt.

Poking her head outside, Éclair judged the distance from ground to window. “You think that I’ll die?”

Danzin poked his nose over the window and peered down. No. Concussion is possible though and a few broken bones if you’re careless.

Looking down again, Éclair sighed. “Why isn’t anything ever easy?”

Ears twitching, Danzin looked to the right, where he could just catch a glimpse of a large ring of people with lots of empty space in the middle. It looks like Tank is about to get started. You should hurry up and get there. He looked up at Éclair. Are you going to jump?

Snorting, Éclair snapped, “No, I’m not good at falling.”

I don’t think you have much of a choice. You should stop this before it gets started.

Sighing, the diminutive young woman scooped up the sable masked ferret. “Well then, if you insist, Danzin.” Tensing her muscles for a brief moment, Éclair flung her hands forward, propelling Danzin into the air. The creature flapped crazily for a moment, then decided that it was in his best interests to concentrate on landing without dying.

 He twisted in midair and tensed himself, ready to take a hard impact.

There was none.

With customary perfect aim, Éclair had jettisoned him onto the padded shoulder of a winter coat and rather soft hair of a woman mercenary. Danzin scrambled for a moment, a motion that made the woman shriek in surprise and then bellow in rage when she saw who the guilty party was. The ferret scurried off her shoulder and quickly whisked himself past Tank and up Tonnerre’s leg and onto her shoulder.

Back from the window, Éclair cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “NICE ONE DANZIN! I’LL BE RIGHT THERE.” Éclair took a brief moment at the window to let the idiots in a ring see just who they were dealing with and then backed up from the window and ran for the stairs.

Neatly on Tonnerre’s shoulder, Danzin cursed to himself, his small heart still beating fast from his latest adventure at the hands of the lightning demon. He looked around and slowly, his fur began to stand on end.

Not only was Tank standing in front of Tonnerre, but all around them were Tank’s team �" Grover, VA, Corporal �" and their closer ‘friends’ among the other fighters. In a larger ring around the more central group were the observers, most of them old hands who had seen this happen before and who had once been the ones doing the initiating or newbies who had just gone through initiation.

 

It was something that every fighter had to go through when he or she joined a new company to learn the hierarchy and to show their strength in front of some of the best and worst fighters. An initiation could win someone many friends and supporters if one did well, even if the newbie didn’t win. A humiliating defeat could lead to expulsion from the company and a blacklist on all the mercenary websites.

Éclair had been around 16 when she’d entered Clan territory, though her contract said 18. She had been walking to breakfast on her first day when she was challenged by Tiger, a large white man with a shaved head and piercing green eyes. He was distinctive in that his nose was quite warped from being broken many times and his left arm had a long, brutal scar down it. In fact, almost his entire body was covered in scars that he had used no medicine on.

He was only in his twenties, had been fighting since the age of 4 and hated the frilly, faked fights that took place inside TV arenas.

Éclair’s response to this formidable opponent had been to refuse, and (with Danzin’s prompting) she had excused herself somewhat politely.

Tiger had been shocked for about 4.3 seconds and then had lunged forward and attempted to grab Éclair’s arm. He ended up on the ground with yet another broken nose along with mild concussion and some light bruising on his back and head.

This little incident, though it technically ended in Éclair’s victory, had not won her any fans among the other fighters, though after a few gang fights in which all the other participants ended up in the hospital, they left her alone.

 

“Summer?”

The surprised lyric of Tonnerre’s voice startled Danzin out of his memories and he looked around wildly. Nothing had happened during his moments of reminisce, but there were signs of anger and apprehension from the crowd.

“Why is she interfering? She never cares about anything that we do!”

“That stupid rodent. Who the hell does she think she is?!”

“Don’t be reckless now. We can’t take her head on.”

“That b***h.”

“F**k ‘be careful’. She’s going down.”

“Let’s kill this stinking rat first.”

The lean, tall woman who spoke suddenly collapsed and over her limp body stepped Éclair. Her hair had been twisted into a messy bun and she had taken off her sweatshirt somewhere between the dining hall and the courtyard. She walked over to Tonnerre and Danzin. Tonnerre was staring at her in disbelief and hope when, somewhat rudely, took Danzin out of Tonnerre’s arms and placed him on her head. Then, she turned to face Tank.

“My ferret doesn’t like this initiation. Quit it.”

Inwardly, Danzin let out of ferret sigh. Try to be more polite.

Éclair thought hard for a moment as Tank opened his mouth and closed it again, fuming, and then said, “Mr. Tank sir, it regrets me to inform you that my ferret thinks that what you’re doing is stupid and he doesn’t like it, so please stop before I kick your guts out.”

Was that last part necessary?

“It was to make up for the polite part,” Éclair whispered back.

 Across the circle from them, Tank fumed. He was a muscled, broad man, very aptly named, with arms thicker then Tonnerre’s waist and legs that were almost bigger then Éclair’s entire body. He had bleached blond hair and a colored tattoo of a dragon that started on the left side of his neck and traveled down to mid-chest.

“Get the f**k out of my way, b***h.”

Pointing at the man, Éclair asked Danzin, “That wasn’t very polite, was it?”

The idiotic question sparked a match under the fuses of the crowd and they began to roar, closing in on the pair. The question also had the side effect of knocking Tonnerre out of her dazed reverie. She, along with Éclair, used the shoulders of the crowd to launch herself outside the circle. “What �"” She blinked at Éclair. “Why are you here?”

“The ferret told me to come,” Éclair snapped, flicking a finger at Danzin, who yipped back at her.

Tonnerre looked at Danzin, confused. “Summer �"”

Before she could finish the rest of her thought, a roar came from the crowd. “You b*****s! The pair of you �" you’re going to get what’s coming to you!” Crashing his way through the spectators, Tank charged them, screaming with all his rage. Behind him followed the rest of his group and behind them the rest of the spectators. Only a few of the sensible or the overly cowardly decided to stay put and simply watch the commotion.

Automatically, Tonnerre fell into a fighting pose, standing on her toes, knees bent, and arms held up high in a blocking position. In contrast, Éclair simply blinked at the oncoming mass, hands held loosely at her sides. To Danzin, she asked, “Should I fight them?”

As much as I hate to say this, yes, take them down.

With a light sigh, Éclair replied, “Okay.” She looked at Tonnerre, stared for a moment, and then sighed. “You can go. I’ll finish this.” Tonnerre looked up at her in surprise, but when Éclair handed Danzin to her, she backed down, relaxing into her normal pose and falling back as Éclair turned to face the stampede.

Being professionals, the group had split so they were now in a large, loose hemisphere with elbow room between each fighter. They all kept their paces about even so they’d reach Éclair at the same time.

Éclair waited until there was about five feet between her and Tank, who was running in the middle and then kicked outwards, swinging her leg in a full circle kick. On instinct, all the fighters stopped and jumped back, and in the middle of that jump, while they were still in midair, Éclair slipped to the edge of the hemisphere.

She ducked below the edge’s guard and caught him in jaw with a hard punch that bowled him over and sent him into unconsciousness almost immediately. She then proceeded to the next, next fighter, taking him out from the back with a well-aimed kick.

She went on like this, taking out every other or every third fighter until she got to the other end, whereby she turned around and did it again. Every blow that she dished out either (if the fighter was not that good) simply knocked them out immediately, or (if they had something to boast about) put them in a state of such intense pain for a moment that Éclair had time to drive in another blow, the second one, the assured finishing blow.

Finally, there was only Tank left.

After waiting for a brief moment to allow Tank to wonder, panicked, about just where the hell she was, Éclair swooped in, delivering a hard kick down to Tank’s abdomen. Tank blocked and the kick slammed straight into his arm, snapping his elbow.

The fighter for hire was an old hand, experienced despite his obvious bad-guy tattoos and general bad temper. He had learned, as all fighters did, how to deal with pain. He could fight through broken arms, legs, anything that might hinder his ability to give 200% of his effort.

Still, it was hard to not react when a bone was broken, and despite his training, for a brief moment, Tank lost control of his body. During that moment, Éclair stepped behind him and brought her left leg up and to the side, hitting Tank right at the base of his cranium, at the place where head and neck combined.

Very slowly, Tank toppled over, landing on the ground with an impact that literally shook the ground. Éclair waited for a moment in case Tank decided to turn into a zombie and drag her down with him, and then hopped over his body and headed towards Tonnerre.

Very well done. I approve.

Smiling, Éclair took Danzin back. “Good.”

Tonnerre blinked. “What?”

Éclair’s smile disappeared. “Nothing.” She stared at the taller girl and sighed. To Danzin, she said, “Don’t get me into anymore fights over something so trivial again.”

It was not trivial! I was trying to save a poor soul from being corrupted by that group.

“…Sorry, Danzin, but that’s pretty trivial to me.”

“Um…” Éclair looked up at Tonnerre. “Are you talking to Summer?”

After a moment to consider the question, Éclair replied, “We’re having a conversation. He speaks into my mind. And his name is Danzin.”

Danzin let out a sigh. You’re making yourself sound crazy.

“I don’t care if I sound crazy,” Éclair retorted.

Tonnerre’s eyes widened. “Oh �" no. I don’t think you’re crazy.” Before Éclair could tell her that she had been talking to Danzin, Tonnerre went on, “In fact, I �" I still really think that you’re amazing. Even more amazing now. I �"” Tonnerre bowed in half to Éclair, moving so fast that she created a small breeze. “It doesn’t matter to me how you act, Ms. Éclair! I’ll always love you!”

The ferret snorted. Éclair closed her eyes in brief horror and thought, Oh that’s great. I just got confessed to.

Author's Note

Day 4 (yeah it was pretty bad) & Day 5 (not much better, but more quantity? xD)