Treasure Town ~ Marowak Dojo

[Tanuki]

Zane could only spout out, "Wait! You said you wouldn't—" before he backpedaled into the dummy he'd thrown. He flipped over backwards, arms just barely catching the ground to take the fall instead of his neck. He cleverly used the momentum to roll away, curled up into a ball to protect his vital organs. For taking so many hits last fight, the thought of a few ice cubes skimming his skin sent him into a panic.

 

[windskull]

For such a big guy, he sure was cowardly. But he could think fast at least, and plan on the fly. Maybe he wasn't quite the dead weight Nip thought he was. If he wanted to hit him, he'd have to focus on making sure his strikes would hit, and the focus of honing his claws would certainly work, wouldn't it?

He took a deep breath, focusing on calling forth energy for the skill. But as he focused, he felt something else stirring inside him. Could that be... radiance? He latched on the feeling, closing his eyes. He felt energy flow from him, and when he opened his eyes again, a projection of himself stood beside him. He tilted his head, and the duplicate tilted its head at the same time. "Is this some sort of... double team technique?"

 

[Tanuki]

The lack of icy pain pelting his fur left Zane confused enough to peek an eye and check up on his incoming doom. Seeing not one but two opponents shot him up to his feet. He desperately tried to keep track of both at once, but unfortunately only managed to cross his eyes and dizzy himself.

A quick breath and he regained his senses (at least, what few he had). Nip(s?) seemed surprised as him. Likely as close to a chance as he'd get, he sprinted forward, unsure which he'd slash at until he leapt to slash at the left. Brilliant tactician Zane was, this left his back wide open for the Nip on the right.

 

[windskull]

Both Nip and his clone dodged to the right, though Zane's attack still struck the Nip on the left. His hand seemed to pass through it before the solid illusion burst apart into nothingness. Nip scowled, and slung forth two more shards, aiming them at Zane's back. "Fool! Never turn your back on your opponent! That's the quickest way to get yourself killed in a fight!"

As soon as he had launched the shards, he scrambled backwards to regroup. A few heartbeats passed, and then the fake Nip reformed beside him. Both of them opened their mouths to speak, but sound only came from the real Nip. "It comes back? Interesting. I wonder if I can..." He focused on the light again, drawing forth on that same power.

Now there were three Nips staring at Zane expectantly.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane didn't waste a moment turning around after the icy blast hit him. "That's a bit hard when there're two of you!" he snarled. Rage melted the icy pelt on his back. Goring Nip didn't seem all that bad an idea anymore.

Then, the second Nip appeared. The third. He trained his gaze on the second but focused on the original, sneer turning into a smirk. He had the luxury, this time, of seeing the fakes materialize. "Gotcha this time." He launched for the false Nip until changing course at the last possible second to tear his claws through the real one.

 

[windskull]

"Too bad! An enemy isn't going to fight fair!" Nip shouted back. He prepared to dodge once again, but this time, Zane was ready for him. The nasty claw strike sent him tumbling backwards with a yelp. He landed on his stomach. And when he stood, two small streaks of red were beginning to mat the fur on his chest.

If Nip had been reasonable at the moment, he would have stopped the fight then. Sparring was supposed to go to either knockout or first blood. But no, he refused to lose to Zane. Gritting his teeth, he focused, and a third duplicate appeared beside him. This time, he dashed forward, trading places with some of his duplicates as they maneuvered to try and flank Zane.

"Is that little nick all you've got in you?"

Ice seemed to form on all four of the sneasels, but when they flung them, all but the real ones vanished into thin air.

 

[Tanuki]

Time to panic. As increasingly pissed as Zane had become, four Nips preparing to hit him with a blizzard each cut it all down into terror. No time to run, he threw up his arms and prayed that shield thing would work again.

By some miracle, it did. He couldn’t notice, though. He’d curled up into as much of a ball as he could with his eyes screwed shut in preparation for the oncoming onslaught.

 

[windskull]

The ice shards bounced uselessly off fo the protect shield, prompting Nip to let out a low growl.

"Coward!" he hissed. "Don't just lay there and take it or hide behind some protect. Get up and fight!" More ice was forming.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane called the shield back the moment it shattered. His ears shot up the instant Nip called him a coward. “Do you even remember the last fight? Without me, you’d—” When he looked up to point a claw at Nip(s), he saw the unearthly light.

He took half a step back. “Nip, what the hell? You’re glowing!” Was there some kind of light type nobody told him about? It almost hurt to look at the sneasel.

 

[windskull]

Dark energy began to gather at his claws. "Don't try to make excuses! Or distractions! Just—" He stuck out an arm, pointing at the zangoose. Only then did he notice the light his body was giving off. His fur bristled as his anger gave way to alarm. The attack he'd started to channel died away, and he stumbled backward.

Only then did his senses begin to return to him, and he realized just how aggressive he'd become. It almost reminded him of... No. No. Don't think about it. He wasn't like that. He wasn't like her. He would never be like her.

Gritting his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. He raised one arm, conjuring a single shard of ice, and pointed it towards Zane. "That's... enough. Just. Go. Get out."

 

[Tanuki]

Zane kept his arms up for just a moment until he finally realized Nip was serious. "What?" he balked, tossing his arms to both sides. "The hell happened to your fight? You'd've iced me six feet under half a second ago!" Tacticians to be would look on in awe as the inevitable loser of a conflict demanded his opponent's spirit return.

Nip forfeiting out of nowhere bothered Zane. He didn't care, of course not, but if this happened in a skirmish, it could happen in a fight. If Zane had to get a bit more maimed, well, better now than to the next freak of nature they went up against. "You really gonna lose to a coward hiding behind protect? Just lay there and take it?" He tried to glare Nip down, whether he'd meet his gaze or not.

 

[windskull]

He was trying to hold it together. There was no reason to get angry at Zane's words. He needed to calm down. But he couldn't. Not with Zane here. And not when he kept thinking about her. More ice formed along his arms. Without thinking, he hurled the attack forward. "I. Said. LEAVE!"

And then he pitched forward, landing flat on his stomach. He was glowing so brightly now that it was hard to look at. His whole body ached like it wanted to tear itself apart. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. His arms tensed as he began to force himself back to his feet, only to fall back down onto one knee. Part of his mind urged him to keep fighting. But the other, more rational part was horrified at the thought.

 

[Tanuki]

Nip wasn't okay. He needed... something. Help? Simple enough. Zane just needed to help Nip. "Dude, what's wrong with you?" Somehow, even Zane recognized this as abysmal. "Er, I mean," Zane mumbled. He desperately searched for at least mediocre attempts. With only his mind to call from, he found none. "C'mon, buddy. Just, uh, let it out, y'know?"

He popped another protect barrier just in case and cautiously creeped forward to offer a helping claw. Zane might not have even the most basic understanding of empathy, but he could at least offer some basic emotional advice, right? What could go wrong? "It's... okay to cry?" Zane. Zane could go wrong.

 

[windskull]

Nip tried to latch on to Zane's words. He really did. Some small part of him felt like it was something he needed to hear. But it was hard to focus when everything was so bright. Ectoplasmic energy gathered around one of his arms, which he used to slash at the zangoose. Even without the protect barrier, though, the Shadow Claw would have done nothing to Zane.

Something did happen to him, though. The light seemed to pull inward for just a moment before bursting outwards in an explosion of radiant energy, making the clones fizzle out into nothing as they were engulfed by th elight. Nip let out a pained squeal as the light expelled from his body before falling forward, back to normal, but unconscious.

 

[Tanuki]

Now, Zane helping anyone in any sense other than existing in the way of their harm was of course bound to fail. Everyone knew that. I knew that. Even he knew that, yet that he could fail so spectacularly that Nip exploded belied belief.

The blast shot him out of the dojo, protect shields unharmed and quite ready to break his landing into a crate of oran berries. They smashed the fruit and left the juicy jam all over his mangled flesh and fur, unfortunately saving his miserable life.

His head spun. That or the world. He really couldn’t tell. He hurt, that was certain, but he couldn’t parse much else. He decided a drink would dull the pain and wobbled up to toddle into the nearest wood. His razzled mind deemed the untamed wilds the best place to find liquor.

 

[Tanuki]

<><><>

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Morning, Day 20.​

Fixing things with Starr. That surely couldn't be so hard, could it?

Nearly a week since her fuck-up. Four days since she'd seen Curio. Two since that conversation with Astrid. The dojo had been repaired, well enough, but there was still no sign of repairs on her friendship. And every day she worried if it was becoming too late to start.

Brisa took her usual booked slot in the dojo, bruises be damned. She still felt battered from her recent battle with Astrid and Cabot, but she'd refused to go to the clinic again so soon. She could still do low intensity training and make use of the healing items available. She tested out attacks on dummies, exercised, even meditated a little. It was something new she was trying out.

There was something else new she meant to try out. Starr's slot was after hers, with a five minute gap to be certain they wouldn't bump into each other. It was a stupid little arrangement, meant to keep them from aggravating each other, but all it did was make Brisa want to stick around and fight. Today, though, with her mind on her mistakes...

As it turned out, meditation and gentle exercises were a great way to let her mind chew itself up. In this case, she ended up thinking over how bad an idea it was to try to apologise to Starr. So she worked harder, like she always did, training until she felt and looked a mess. By the time it was over, she had about as much anxiety as she’d had when she’d arrived. At least she’d stopped it getting any worse. She would go ahead with her plan: hang around after her session, take steady breaths, chew imitation jerky. Starr would be along shortly.

She'd clear the air, and then they'd have no more of this stupid feud. She'd bet on it.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Training every day was a good, familiar routine. Something that had remained consistent from back home. Granted, she didn't have to keep to a rigid schedule the way she had for most of her life, but that habit was hardly the worst thing that had stuck with her from before. It was nice, being on a team. Sparring with Owen, practicing moves with Cabot. Helped ease the sting of training without her team from back home.

Training in the morning was generally less social. Starr liked a bit of quiet time before the start of the day. As she walked back up the path from grabbing breakfast in town, she noticed that someone was already training inside. Not a problem--the dojo was big enough for multiple people to do lone training without getting in each other's way. At least, it wouldn't have been a problem if not for who it was.

Brisa.

The two had sort of... arrived at a silent agreement to not be in the dojo at the same time. Brisa was usually gone by now. Starr checked the time on her badge. Yeah, she was late clearing out.

Starr entered the dojo anyway. It was her time slot and she wasn't about to be late on account of anyone else. She'd already resigned herself to saying nothing, but of course the Shinx had to go and stare at her while trying to be subtle about it. What a pain.

"Usually you're gone by now," she said curtly, hoping Brisa would get the hint and clear off.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa almost balked at the hostile tone, but... it was hardly the most aggravating thing Starr could have said. That, and she'd spent long enough psyching up already. Here went nothing.

"Yeah, well… I was hopin' you'd turn up if I hung around. I've had somethin' on my mind for a minute. Practically all I've had on my mind the last few days, to be plain. I… I made a mistake. I did somethin' shameful the night we got back from Aegis Cave. And it got me thinkin'. Well, I mean..."

She scoffed at herself and looked away. She'd rehearsed what she was going to say, hadn't she? Why was this so hard?

"Fuck, it's just, I don't know how to make things right. So I just come here and I beat on training dummies as long as I can and excogitate over and over about it."

And work up the sand to talk to you, she thought.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Mm. So Starr had guessed right, when talking to Curio the other day. It was weird as hell to see this wanna-be tough girl acting like one mistake was the end of the world. Confusing and aggravating.

Starr glanced away, trying to look indifferent. “You still beating the shit out of yourself for what you did to Curio?"