![]() Day 4 & 5A Chapter by Esana Bridges![]() 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, “ 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. © 2011 Esana BridgesAuthor's Note
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Added on November 5, 2011 Last Updated on November 5, 2011 Author![]() Esana BridgesAboutI love mysterious things that send shivers down my back. I like emotion. I love craziness. Fairy tale rewrites or something to do with Alice in Wonderland will draw me in immediately. Feel free to .. more..Writing
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