Drifters

Dark side of the Moon

Razan helped Peter climb a block, seeing Nali help Ebba onto the next one over. Nali smiled in his direction, perfect white teeth flashing.

Razan decided he was going to break that smile.

Peter stood on the block, his left hand itching insanely. He had no idea how he could concentrate with that going on.

Across a gap just too wide to jump, Ebba stood on another block. She grinned, right hand behind her back and left hand pointed to the sky. Peter couldn't tell what type of gun she held, but he assumed she knew exactly how to use it.

He turned, mirroring her position, and in tandem they took aim.

Marie was finally feeling like everything might be all right.

Her knife wove around Louis' movements, and his old dagger twisted through the air after her. Their feints and dodges made them spin in a circle, their hands still clasped in the center.

Because if they weren't touching, it wouldn't be a proper dance.

Louis flipped his dagger, stabbing at her backwards. Marie blocked the strike, then twisted around and pulled him close for a jab at his ribs. He flinched away, knocking her blade off-course before trying to stab her stomach. She released the tension in her arm, letting herself fall away from him.

Suddenly holding all her weight, Louis stumbled forward. He caught himself, hauling Marie in a circle until she was back on her feet. Where she continued around and stabbed at his neck. Louis barely avoided the strike, laughing.

And that laugh was all she needed to hear. Ebba was right; he didn't resent her.

Marie stopped fighting, smiling at Louis. He hesitated in his attack, watching her. They moved closer, weapons at their sides.

"What are you thinking?" she asked. He wouldn't lie. She wouldn't defend herself if he attacked.

Louis lifted her hand to his lips. "I've been waiting for this, my love," he said, his voice soft. "I've waited so long for you to be here."

"Tell me," Marie whispered. "Tell me anything you need to say, and I'll forfeit."

He looked into her eyes, almost speaking a dozen times, then shook his head. "We need to finish our dance properly." He took half a step back, raising his dagger. "I have far too much to say to say it here."

Marie didn't lift her knife. She didn't move at all.

"What's this?" he asked. "You don't give up."

"No, but I do cheat." In a flash, she dug her blade into his left arm. First blood was hers; the dance was over.

Louis cursed, stumbling back as she released his hand. Marie stood tall, watching as he bailed. She debated following him, but decided to see how the rest of her group was fairing.

At that moment, a paint ball hit her in the side of the head. She turned, glaring, to see Ebba sitting cross-legged on a block.

The witch waved, smirking, as a blue glow surrounded Marie.

Razan had both blades out, swinging almost wildly at the perfectly posed woman. Nali adjusted her position by approximately the width of a rice grain, and his strike went wide. At this point he was fairly certain she was using magic.

Nali flicked her wrist, and he barely managed to block her blade from reaching his heart. Razan knew he wouldn't be able to defeat her, he wouldn't deceive himself, but he'd never surrender.

He tried for a double slash at her hip and knee, which she blocked. Keeping the movement going, she twisted her sword up and made to cut his arm. Razan turned away, and her hair caught his attention.

She had long, silk-like hair folded up in an elegant fashion. The loop of one layer, laying perfectly against the back of her neck, looked just wide enough for, say, the blade of a wakizashi. And incidentally, he had one of those in his left hand.

Razan kept his face neutral, feinting right. Nali followed his movement, perfectly reserved. He tried to nick her wrist, forcing her to turn more.

And then he struck left. She ducked ever so slightly, moving only enough to make his blade miss her neck. Had he been aiming for skin, he would have been very annoyed at missing. Instead, his sword slid perfectly between the layers of her hair, and with a solid slash he cut the loop in half.

The world froze.

Nali's blade clattered to the ground.

She reached back with trembling hands as Razan grinned.

Her fingers brushed the ragged edge of her hair.

And then she let out an inhuman screech.

Nali dropped to her knees, acting like she was about to die. Razan pressed the tip of his katana into her neck. She looked at him, the burning fury of a thousand suns in her eyes.

"Bail," he ordered.

"I will kill you," she snarled, finally not poised. She grabbed her sword and spun to her feet, snarling insults at him.

Razan allowed her to stand.

She screamed curses at him, her voice starting to go hoarse, attacking wildly. Razan laughed, blocking each strike easily.

Suddenly she stopped, her eyes flicking behind him. He was halfway through wondering if it was a bluff when Ebba's elbow slammed into his spine. She grabbed his shoulder as he stumbled, spinning him off-balance. Nali kicked his ankle, and he fell onto his back.

Ebba pulled his swords away as Nali stomped hard on his stomach. Razan gasped, trying to roll to his side, but Ebba pressed her foot onto his elbow.

The Swedish woman knelt down, casually spinning a gun in her hand. She pressed the barrel against his temple. "Bad form, samurai. Nali will now explain in detail why it's wrong to damage a woman's hair. That or we'll find out if a paint ball can make it through bone."

Razan hissed through his teeth, not struggling.

Nali screamed one more time and started kicking him in the ribs.

In Sophie's opinion, it was taking far longer for them to bail Razan than it ought to have.

This wasn't… fun. It wasn't fun any more.

The announcer loved it, and the crowd roared with every amplified, echoing crack, but Sophie felt terrified.

To her side, a raven appeared and told Rani it was time to get ready for the next fight. In the arena, Razan finally vanished. Ebba and Nali bowed as they were taken away. Sophie hesitated as her friend left, wondering what to do. She wanted to watch Rani's fight, but she needed to know if Razan was alive.

She bounded up the steps, heading for the medical area. Nop appeared when she called, and a few seconds later a door opened. Sophie cautiously walked towards it, half-afraid of what she'd see.

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Razan was laying on the cot, several ravens around him. He turned his head towards her, then rolled his eyes.

"Do I need to apologize to you, too?" he grunted through clenched teeth.

"Why would you apologize to me?" she asked.

"Because you are a woman. With hair."

Sophie shook her head. "No, I- I just wanted to make sure they hadn't killed you."

"How kind."

"Is- Do you need help?"

"Undoubtedly."

One of the ravens turned towards Sophie. "We are not allowed to remove clothing except in extreme cases. The patient cannot move his arms enough to disrobe himself. Would you be able to help?"

Sophie stared at the bird, panicking.

Razan started to laugh, but was cut off with a wince and a cough. "Go on, thief… I promise I won't tell Peter."

"I- Well- Innoka-"

"Her fight has just begun," the raven said.

"Marie-"

"No," the whole group of ravens snapped, wings fluttering.

Sophie took half a step back at that, then nodded. "I came here to help, so I'll help." She walked to the cot, adding this to her mental list of things her mother would have a fit about if she found out.

Marie sat on the cot in the medical room she'd been sent to, feet on the ground as a raven helped get paint out of her hair.

The bird paused in throwing away a final rag. "Louis would like to enter. Is that acceptable?"

Marie nodded, failing to keep a smile off her face. "He's allowed."

The door opened as the raven finished, and Louis walked in.

"You were only hit once, correct?" the bird asked.

"Aye," she said, fingers tightening around the edge of the cot as she held Louis' gaze.

"Good. If you need anything else, simply call out." It hopped away. Marie didn't see where it went. She didn't care.

Louis smiled, sitting down next to her. Close but not touching. "Well, my love? There's no dishes to wash, no floors to clean. What would you like me to do for you?"

She found herself automatically leaning against him. "I don't know. We'll say best out of three."

"That would mean dancing again."

"Given the nature of this place, I assume it will happen," she said, turning to look at him, leaning in. "And I will dance with you whenever you ask."

Louis looked down. "Marie… Do you remember St. Kitts?"

She stopped. She moved away from him, not sure what part of her stay there he was referring to. "Aye."

"The letters you wrote to me."

Marie felt her face start to burn, which was unacceptable. "You… actually received them?"

He examined the hem of his coat. "I watched you write them."

Marie put her face in her hands.

Louis laughed softly. "A dozen people on that island read those letters, and you're embarrassed they got to the person they were addressed to?"

"I thought you were dead! It was a gambit, and one that worked," she said, glaring at her knees.

"If…" He stopped, the laughter gone from his voice. "If it hadn't worked, the rostari would have allowed me to get you. Or they would have brought you here, if you'd been sentenced to immediate execution."

Marie went cold. She couldn't move, unable to speak.

"I begged them to let me go to you," he told her. "I would have given anything, I promised anything. But your life was too exciting. Too profitable. There were several points when, should your situation prove impossible to escape, I would have been allowed to intervene. But you- you were always smart enough and strong enough to get out on your own. Your trial on St. Kitts broke a few records for how many people watched. And then your escape, as you were being shipped to Trinidad… You have no idea how many thousands of people wanted to know what you did next. I was absolutely not allowed to do anything but watch. No matter how much I wanted to."

She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Louis took her hand. "I'm not sure I was allowed to tell you that. I was warned- But I don't care. I love you. I will tell you the truth. I just wish you'd say the things you wrote in those letters out loud."

Marie closed her eyes.

After a moment he continued. "I don't care about anything else. I can forgive anything; I hold nothing against you, I just want you to say you love me and need me and-"

"Those letters… were for show. I needed to convince a priest I'd been stolen from a husband; they weren't-"

"Stop. Please. I can't-" He got up. "Marie LeFleur, I am sorry for everything I put you through. None of it was ever your fault. I'm sorry I tried to keep you. I won't try again. Good-bye."

"Wait, Louis," Marie shouted, holding onto his hand with both of hers. She stood, almost panicking, then finally realized what was wrong.

She wasn't in control. She was always in control; he'd fallen in love with her because she was in command of any room she entered. The first time he'd asked her to marry him had been directly after she'd punched him to the floor.

As he looked at her she wondered why she'd been acting so stupidly timid. She wondered why she was letting fear control her. It was time for that to stop.

"Marie-"

"No, my love," she said, grinning. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. "We were apart for thirty years, and yet you expect me to still have feelings for you? I may love you, James Fleming, but I'll be damned if I say that before you've earned it." She put her arms over his shoulders as he moved closer to her again. "So tell me, Louis Goldtooth, Louie Fogg, whatever the hell you call yourself, why should I say I love you? What have you done to deserve that damned phrase?"

He laughed, setting his hands on her waist. "There you are." With that, he finally kissed her.

Peter made his way to where Sophie had spent the day, and found the area empty. The Stars were fighting the Foxes, and at the moment it looked like the battle could go either way. Peter would have assumed Sophie and Razan would be eager to watch the fight, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Marie wasn't around, either, and none of Ebba's group was in the stands. Peter almost wanted to ask Nop what had happened after he'd been shot twice in the chest. Instead Fael caught his eye, and he made his way to the Seabirds.

"How'd my group's fight end?" Peter asked, stopping in the row behind Fael and Grace.

Grace grinned. "Razan pissed off Nali, and she kicked the absolute sh- stuffing out of him."

Fael nodded. "I believe Sophie went to make sure he survived."

"Kicked?" Peter asked, tensing.

"Ebba helped," Grace said. "He deserved it, but it's probably best you weren't around."

The crowd across from them roared, and he looked down to see Rani vanish. Chimeg laughed, bowing before reloading her crossbow and taking a shot at Paola.

Peter realized he was absently scratching at the mitten over his damaged hand, and looked down at it. He paused, then looked at Fael.

"And Sophie went to check on him?"

Grace answered, "In her defense, he looked over half dead. You got hurt but were still moving."

That didn't make him feel better.

The crowd roared again; standing alone on a block, Chimeg had won for the Foxes. She held her crossbow up high, basking in victory. The announcer gave everyone five minutes to make final bets before the last fight began.

Peter turned to find Sophie, but at that moment she appeared at the top of the steps. She jumped down to him, clearing an impossible distance with the low gravity, and stopped herself by grabbing his shoulder.

"Foxes won?" she asked, smiling.

"Yes."

"Pity; lost that bet." Sophie looked at him, happy and excited. "Who do you think will win the last fight?"

Sophie held Peter's hand, watching Ebba's group face off against Innoka's team.

Partially. Antoni had been clawed hard in the back by Rani last fight, and Nali was too emotionally distraught to join.

Innoka, tired from two fights in a row, was losing a fight against Asani. Louis was hacking away against Mateo, neither man looking particularly invested in the battle. The most interesting thing happening was Ebba and Chimeg's fight around a block.

Ebba moved faster on her feet, able to dodge every bolt aimed at her, but Chimeg was able to aim, shoot, and reload every three-quarters of a second.

Sophie watched, eyes wide, as they chased each other around one block and then the next. There was a proper fight, both participants enjoying themselves immensely. They cheered when they hit, and cursed good-naturedly when they were hit.

Elsewhere, Asani knocked Innoka to her knees and hit her in the back of the head. The woman vanished, and at the same time Louis was defeated by Mateo. Asani took a moment to breathe, then ran to battle the Mexican.

Chimeg finally got Ebba's left leg to turn blue, but at the same moment Ebba took out Chimeg's right arm. Chimeg cursed, trying to reload her crossbow with one hand, and Ebba used her distraction to shoot the woman in the head.

Chimeg vanished, and Ebba let herself collapse to the ground, exhausted. In the center of the arena, Asani caught Mateo in a headlock. After struggling for a few moments, Mateo broke away and bailed.

"Windward wins!" the announcer boomed, the crowd going wild.

Ebba lifted a fist into the air, smiling as she vanished. Asani managed a much more dignified exit.

Sophie jumped and cheered as the announcer went back through the fights, declaring Drifters got third place with the Stars. She hugged Peter, listening to the ranking of all the other groups.

And then, finally, it was time to go home.