Drifters

Dark side of the Moon

Sophie watched the Masks win against the Wasps, noticing no human had rooted for the black and grey team.

Then there was a brief break from fights. Rani said there were always breaks every few fights.

The battles resumed with the Bees and the Caterpillars. The Bees won, ruthlessly attacking the mostly-ranged fighters.

Following them came Dust and Windwards. Sophie cheered for Louis and Ebba, noticing Marie sitting silent and very still as she watched. Windwards won with only Nali standing.

The Foxes and Horns fought next. Sophie cheered for Foxes, and Razan's calm demeanor washed away as he paced back and forth in the stands, watching intently. Foxes won, naturally, and Razan sprinted off to congratulate Innoka.

There was a break for lunch at that point, and it surprised Sophie how late it was.

Everyone ate quickly, and the fights resumed with two teams called Spring and Paradigm. Having no friends in either group, Sophie cheered for everyone. Paradigm advanced.

Seabirds then fought the Poisons. Sophie cheered with Peter for Grace and her team. One of the women on Poison's team had a smoke bomb, which nearly took the Seabirds out, but they recovered beautifully, winning half a second before passing out from the smoke.

Rani left at that point, her team going up against the Parrots. Stars won with the quickest battle all day.

And then, finally, it was Drifters' turn again. Sophie gave Peter a quick kiss for luck, and took her seat. Her throat was starting to wear raw, but she was determined to cheer louder than ever.

"They're aiming to have fun, not fight," Marie said as she walked to the gate ahead of Peter and Razan. "And remember, only the person in armor is really there. Don't hold back for the others."

"Yes, Captain," Peter said.

"If I may," Razan said slowly as they reached the gate. "I would like to take the person with the bird mask. They seem unsure of their footing. An easy mark with my blades."

Marie nodded as the announcer called their name. "Peter, this time come with us to the center. I'll cover you while you reload."

He agreed, and the gate slammed down.

Marie stepped onto the dusty floor of the arena, drawing both pistols. She broke into a run, heading for the center. Across from them, two people were also running into the center. Behind those, one person ran left, and the last went right. Razan peeled off to the right, heading for his target.

It was the suit of armor and the diving suit who were running towards Marie. In their first fight, only the beekeeper had a ranged weapon, so Marie assumed that would be the case now.

She stopped as soon as they were in range with her pistols and fired, aiming for the left arm of the person on the left and the right arm of the person on the right. They moved closer together, avoiding her shots, and unknowingly making a better target for Peter.

The cowboy emptied one revolver in six seconds flat, and the suit of armor vanished. He switched to the second revolver, and was hit with a crossbow bolt from the side. Black paint splattered on his poncho, making him turn.

"Take the diver, I'll find the beekeeper," Marie ordered, sprinting for the block she suspected they were hiding behind.

Razan side-stepped the swing of a mace, then side-stepped again. He had his hands tucked into his sleeves, which annoyed the bird mask person.

He could practically hear the voice of his first master, "Are you here to learn, or are you here to play? Always take each fight seriously!"

Well, that annoying bastard was dead now, and Marie had encouraged playing with targets.

The bird mask screamed in frustration. "Stand still!"

Razan complied. He stopped moving, a grin on his face. The mace was swung around, aimed at his shoulder. An instant before it hit, Razan spun and caught the ball in his hands. He twisted it while yanking it down and to the left, dislodging the weapon from his opponent's hands.

He spun it in the air, got a good hold on the grip, and shoved the ball into the person's throat. Had the weapon been a spear, they would have been dead. Instead, they stumbled backwards, making a strangled sound.

"Would you like me to continue standing still?" Razan asked politely.

The person in the bird mask squawked, running at him with both arms outstretched. Razan drew his katana, and the point went into the person's stomach. He twisted, then sliced out. His opponent vanished as blood sprayed across the ground and the audience cheered.

Razan frowned at his blade, then sniffed the blood.

It smelled… sweet. More like honey than real, human blood. He wondered if there really had been a person in there, or if this was what the ravens were filled with, too. He couldn't remember the color of the liquid that had spilled out when he'd broken one.

Shrugging, he cleaned his blade and went to help his teammates.

The person in the diving suit ducked as Peter shot at them, using a short harpoon to deflect the last bullet. They ran towards him, and Peter had to pull out his knife. There was no time to reload.

The Mask got close and swung their weapon. Peter backed away, catching the blade on the spine of his knife. It slid easily off, and the diver jabbed at him.

Peter dodged, stepping in Marie's direction. He saw Razan running towards them and smiled before having to dodge again.

The Mask pulled another short harpoon off their back, and tried skewering Peter from both sides. Peter turned, unable to get away from both weapons, and felt a blade hit his ribs. He grabbed it with his free hand, trying to yank it out of the Mask's grip. The Mask was stronger. They pulled back sharply, and the ridged weapon tore the skin off Peter's palm and fingers.

Peter screamed in agony, dropping to his knees. He was vaguely aware of the diver pulling back for a strike, but it never came. As Peter finally looked up, the tip of a sword burst out of the Mask's throat.

Throbbing pain faded as Peter watched Razan gleefully remove the diver's head, slicing it off with both swords like reverse scissors. It dropped to the dusty ground and bounced away, dripping red liquid.

The body vanished as Razan laughed and the crowd roared in approval. The head, the dripping helmet, stayed.

Peter felt sick. His vision started going dark as he gasped for breath.

"They're not real."

Peter looked up to see Razan grinning, holding a hand out to help him up. He looked down at the real blood pooling off his real hand, and shuddered. He was about to throw up.

"You're insane," he gulped out.

"Are you coming, or bailing?" Razan snapped.

Peter shakily grabbed the samurai's hand, and was pulled up. Razan nodded curtly and dashed off. Peter realized his knife had been dropped at some point and looked around. His side ached, and his left hand was still freely bleeding. As he bent down to pick up his knife his vision swam. Ignoring that as best he could, he grasped the handle and stumbled towards where Marie and Razan were.

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Marie was fighting someone who actually knew how to use a sword. Most people she'd fought in her life hadn't had formal training, just the basic advice of "hold here, sharp end goes in the other person, try to not get hit yerself".

Whoever was in control of this Mask, they'd trained and practiced.

Marie had her cutlass and dagger out, while the beekeeper had a thin rapier and nothing in their off hand. Marie tried to catch the thin blade in a notch on hers, but they were too quick to riposte or disengage. It was quite fun.

She grinned, pressing forwards as the Mask tried to daintily dance around her. Marie was annoyed at her opponent for putting small cuts into the sleeves of her jacket, but the blade had yet to come away with blood. She wasn't fast enough to block every tiny twitch and movement, but it didn't matter. As long as she blocked the fiercer strikes, she was fine.

The beekeeper noticed she was pressing them towards a wall and spun away in a ballerina's move. Marie wondered if they'd be willing to train Sophie, parrying an underhanded thrust. The Mask hopped back, then briefly tensed. As Marie swung for them, they turned and ran.

Razan dashed past Marie, both swords out and bloodied. He was grinning. The Mask ran behind a block, and Razan followed.

Peter ran up to Marie and stopped. "Orders, Captain?"

"Climb one of the ohshit!" She grabbed his arm, wrenching his dripping hand up. "You're just letting your blood all drain out? Bail! Immediately!"

He laughed a bit hysterically, stepping back. "Yes, Captain!" He fumbled for his bail device, getting blood all over his clothes in the process, and finally vanished.

Half wondering if her team was cursed to get terrible hand injuries, Marie jogged in the direction Razan had gone.

She heard the clashing of blades and hesitated, looking up at the block. The rock wasn't smooth; there were plenty of cracks and handholds. If she managed to climb up… Marie knew she would never manage to climb back down, but that's what the bail devices were for.

Wondering if she was going mad, Marie put her weapons away and pushed her boot into a crevice. Elbow complaining, she managed to shove herself to the top in a not completely undignified manner. She walked to the opposite edge and peered over.

Razan was fighting the Mask, very much aiming to kill. He'd put a long gash into the beekeeper's outfit, and red liquid seeped out.

Marie ducked out of sight and quickly reloaded her pistols. She heard a screech and moved back to the edge to find Razan had removed the Mask's left arm at the elbow, getting stabbed in the shoulder in the meantime. He didn't seem to mind his wound as much as the Mask did, a wild grin on his face.

Before Marie could take aim, Razan stabbed his opponent in the stomach, pressing his shorter blade in to the hilt. It burst out the other side as the Mask was bailed.

The crowd, human and rostari alike, screamed their approval as Drifters were announced the winners. Razan laughed, catching Marie's eye. She nodded, putting her pistols away.

"You! Cannot! Decapitate! People!" Nop screeched.

Razan watched the raven calmly as another two dressed his wound.

"I'm not allowed to insult you!" Nop continued. "If I were, I would be! Because what is wrong with you!"

Razan remained silent.

"Gaah!!!" Nop banged her head on a wall, then glared at him again. "Marie would like to see you!"

Razan nodded. The door opened, and his captain walked into the room. She looked him over, glanced at Nop, then sighed.

"What happened?"

Nop hopped onto the cot next to Razan. "This man decapitated one of the Masks!"

Marie snorted, smirking. "So that's what all the rabid cheering was about. Well done."

"Not well done!" the raven snapped. "Removing an arm was bad enough, but removing a person's head is completely unacceptable!"

"Good thing there wasn't a person in there, then," Marie said calmly, an eyebrow raised.

Nop stopped, staring at her. "You don't see what's wrong here?"

"I see nothing wrong with destroying a puppet, no," Marie said.

"It's not- These aren't-" Nop banged her head on a wall again. "How to explain a neural link to humans." She fluttered, turning to face Marie. "These bodies? They let people controlling them feel what they feel. If you break this wing, it will feel like you've broken my real arm. When you stab someone, they feel that stab. When you cut off their head, the person in control of the Mask felt that!"

Razan was suddenly very nervous, but Marie looked impressively calm.

"If they joined a contest like this, they must have been expecting pain," she pointed out. "Surely you've had them sign something saying the puppet will be damaged, and they understand what that means."

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then what's the issue?" Marie crossed her arms. "You've seen Razan fight before. It has never been with the aim to kill. This is the first time he's done anything that would cause permanent damage, and it's the first time he's fought an opponent he knows isn't really there. That is no coincidence."

Razan smiled, bowing slightly as the ravens patching his wound finished and hopped away.

Nop sighed, extremely annoyed. "Yes, that was part of it. The other part is… politics. The person Razan killed is a very disliked political figure, who was trying to show how much he enjoys things normal people like. He will not be happy."

Razan finally spoke up. "Then tell him to come down and face me in person."

"That… You don't know what you're asking for by offering a direct duel."

"I'd rather die in combat with an asshole than be sent back to Japan with no say by an asshole," Razan said.

Marie smiled, proud amusement in her eyes, and Nop banged her head on the wall again.

"Fine," the raven snapped. "I will let everyone know… all of this. I'll just send them the recording. I wish you luck."

"Thank you," Razan and Marie said at the same time.

Grumbling, Nop left.

Marie looked at Razan. "How bad's your shoulder?"

"I'd be more worried if I'd been trained to only use one blade at a time," he answered. "I've been recommended to not move it too much until tomorrow."

She sighed, rubbing her face. "You can fight one more battle today?"

"Captain, I will fight until death or until you order me to stop."

"What a good samurai you are," she laughed, turning towards the door. "Stay here and rest for at least half an hour. I have to check on the other idiot under my command…"

Peter watched as a sparkling goo was put on his hand, then covered with a bulky mitten.

"Move your hand as little as possible," the raven attending him said. "It will itch, but you must not attempt to remove the mitten or scratch the wound."

"That ain't a lie," Grace said. "It itches like f-" She cut herself off, glancing at Fael, then grinned at Peter. "Quite a lot."

"Something to look forward to," Peter shrugged.

Fael nodded. "The faster things heal, the more it itches. I feel it's best to get things over with as quickly as possible."

"And I don't think itching is worth it," Grace said. "Still, it's good to have experienced it at least once, so you know what's possible if you're willing to put up with it."

The raven looked at the door. "Marie would like to enter. Will you allow it?"

Peter nodded. "Let her in."

The door slid open, and Marie paused before entering. She nodded to Grace and Fael. "Seabirds."

Fael bowed. "Drifter."

Grace smiled. "We got Peter the fastest available healing medicine. His hand should be as good as new by tomorrow."

"Thank you," Marie said. She looked at Peter. "Will you be able to fight again today?"

Peter hesitated. He didn't want to. He really didn't want to.

"I'd recommend he follow from a distance, and bail if anyone gets within melee range," Fael said. "It is possible to fight one-handed, but not ideal."

Taking a deep breath, Peter nodded. "I can shoot, but not much else."

Marie smiled faintly at him. "That's all I ask." She turned to Fael. "No offense, but why are you here?"

"I believed you would be occupied with Razan," he said. "A severe hand injury isn't something one should endure alone. I asked Grace to come with me to offer Peter moral support. And I must say, I was glad to see you order him to bail as soon as you noticed his injury."

"Thank you for your kindness," Marie said, bowing to him. "I'll try to repay it."

"No worries," Grace laughed. "What else are friends for?"

Peter smiled, a bit shakily.

Friends.

These people were his friends.

It'd been a long time since he'd had true friends, not just people he worked with.

He wobbled on the table, his vision momentarily going dark.

Grace steadied him. "That would be the painkillers and blood loss. It'll pass quicker if you eat something."

"I will bring food," Fael said, and left.

Marie smiled, an eyebrow raised. "I see Peter is in good hands." She glanced at the door. "Do you know where Sophie is?"

"Last I saw, Rani was teaching her how to place bets," Grace said.

"Oh dear."

Peter smiled. "I'm sure she won't do anything reckless."

Marie almost spoke, then decided not to. Then changed her mind. "I'll go make sure she isn't draining our coffers." She nodded to Grace and Peter, and left.

Grace gave Peter a nervous smile. "Sophie won't try to strangle me again if she finds me here alone with you, will she?"

"I… don't know." He looked at his hand as the itching began. "I see why they put the mitten on."

"Fael will lecture you if you use more than three curse words in his presence a day, so you should get them out now," Grace suggested.

Peter hesitated. Then his hand spasmed, and he took her advice.