“All is fair in Love and War”
John Lyly's novel, “Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit,” published in 1578, is the earliest known origin of the sentiment “all is fair in love and war.” The novel recounts the romantic adventures of a wealthy and attractive young man. It includes the quote, “the rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.”
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As to be expected, he didn’t receive an answer.
The woman had simply shaken her head, before curling up into a ball and crying. He almost felt bad, except he had saved her from two people that had been in the process of assaulting her, only to be repaid by her immediately assaulting him, then breaking down.
Is this one of those… PTSD things? I’ve grown so used to shit like this in the city, even the city-center isn’t entirely safe these days, that I have grown numb to it. I guess if you grew up relatively ‘safe’ from monsters or even crime you might be a bit… soft.
Turning his head to glance at the man he killed he looked back towards the woman again. Listening to her cry and be a general annoyance was rough, having to look at the body however was worse.
Although, I do still feel like shit, so it’s not like the city made me completely different. I guess it’s different when it happens to you…
He knew she spoke English, at least enough to scream for help, so he just had to convince her to calm down and speak to him… Which he already knew was going to be difficult.
He wasn’t the best ‘people person’.
Kneeling beside her he tried to talk to her as kindly as he could, which only resulted in him sounding like he was talking to a scared pet.
“Listen I haven’t seen anyone in days, and I am lost as all hell, so when I heard you yell for help I rushed over here, I didn’t mean to hurt you if I did, and I… didn’t mean to hurt that man. I don’t know if you knew those men or if you’re scared I am going to hurt you - which I’m not - but I really need your help finding a way home, or at the very least to the nearest city. I don’t expect you to trust me, or to guide me anywhere, but if you want I can bring you to your… group? Tribe? Whatever, whoever you’re with, and let them decide.”
As he spoke he could see her calm down, her shaking and crying coming mostly to a stop. By the time he’d finished speaking she had turned to face him, wiping her face.
“You no eat me?”
Eat her? The fuck?
“Why would I… ‘eat you’? I am not a cannibal, and there are perfectly good fish in the river, and beasts in the forest for me to hunt.”
Unless she doesn’t speak english well, and ‘eat’ means something else.
She gazed up at him, confused for a moment before her eyes widened. For a moment he thought her eyes were going to pop out of her moment, before she hurriedly asked another question.
“Are you not from the Ginte tribe? A Cannibale?”
He didn’t need to know her language to recognize the word Cannibale in the context given.
Gin-tee? Who? Wait, there are actual fucking cannibals out here?! I was mostly joking when I thought there might be some in the wilderness, who the fuck would eat a human when there are animals and beasts all over the fucking place? Hell the river below is practically filled to the brim with fish for fuck sakes!
He must have shown his disgust at the question, because her eyes seemed to fill with something else… hope, or at the very least relief.
“You are not Ginte - you are lost - yes? What tribe are you from? There are no other pale-skin tribes around here save for the Ginte, they all moved towards the falling sun.”
Jesus, she doesn’t stop once she starts. Also, ‘moved towards the falling sun’? Does she mean west? Good to know there are other groups out here at least.
“No, I uh… I was sent out here by my… mentor of sorts. She wanted me to learn how to survive outside of the… tribe. I was hoping there was another tribe nearby I could meet up with after being out here for the last two days, maybe even find a city.” Glancing around at the destroyed city he added, “One with people still in it.”
She seemed to believe him, even with his rather shitty talent at lying, but when he mentioned finding a ‘city’ she looked like she’d just been told the sky had disappeared.
“City? No city, not anymore. All gone, after the end-coming. End destroyed all the cities. End destroyed all.”
Shit, she’s full-tribal. It’s not unheard of to find tribes like this, but the last time one was contacted and brought back to civilization was… two years ago I think? Most of them usually end up getting wiped out by beasts or other tribes.
“Alright, no city… What about uh… Large tribes? Somewhere neutral or just somewhere I can sleep? I have been out here sleeping on piles of dirt for the last few days and I would much rather somewhere with a bed.” Or a Television and AC.
She tilted her head to the side, either trying to make sense of my words or trying to think of any tribes that would fit that description. After a few moments of thinking she shook her head.
“No ‘large tribes’, largest one is Ginte tribe, bad men, cannibales. You no want go there.”
Fuck, so I’m either stuck out here with some village people and possibly dealing with cannibals, or I go back to the forest and possibly deal with more Rox’s.
This shit ain’t fair.
The woman had long since stopped cowering beneath him, but she still hadn’t risen. He didn’t really feel all that good about standing over her like an abusive parent or something so he decided to just put the issue to bed for now.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I can try and make my way to a city after I find out where I am exactly, bound to be some maps nearby afterall. I may not know exactly where the cities are but I know the general area, and that’s better than nothing if Lilliha doesn’t drag me back after a month or two. Either I find my way towards a city where I can bargain or work towards getting transport back to my own city, or Lilliha drags me back once she believes I have learned my lesson.
Foolproof plan, can’t go wrong - until it inevitably does. Until it eventually falls through however, I should probably get this girl back to her parents, or her husband or whoever the hell she’s with.
Reaching down with his hand he attempted to pick her up from the ground, but stopped when she flinched back.
Right, scared of me.
Deciding to simply let his hand stay in the air instead of pulling back or grabbing her he waited for a moment as she looked from him to his hand. Tentatively reaching out she placed her hand gently in his, before he pulled her to her feet.
“Arm is decorated? What tribe does art like this? Who is your craft-kin?”
Decorated?
He took a moment to register that she didn’t mean any tattoos or scars, but the Symbiote. In the city the arm could be passed off as a custom made prosthetic or implant designed to look scary, out here however he doubted she would even understand what the word ‘prosthetic’ meant, let alone explaining to her that it was actually a parasi- a dull thrum echoed from the Symbiote before he could finish the thought - a symbiote meant to strengthen him.
Sorry little buddy, didn’t mean it.
“My uh… Mentor, second in command of our Tribe Leader made it for me, it’s… stitched into my skin to show my dedication to the tribe.”
The answer made her widen her eyes, at first he thought because he’d stated it was ‘stitched into his skin’, which he could have worded better, but when he suddenly felt… something behind him he realized he was wrong.
I’m going to die.
She was frozen in shock, her eyes widened and staring directly into his own, his hand still holding hers… At least that’s what he thought was happening at first.
His skin was prickling, a chill spreading throughout his body, a sense of fear radiating throughout his form coming directly from his link with the Symbiote. He could see as clear as day that the woman was not moving, because time had slowed so completely that he could simply feel it. His fear, his response to it at least, had tensed the ‘muscles’ that controlled his perception of time to less than that of a crawl, more like he was staring at a photo of life. He could feel the strain from the ability, splintering across his mind and body the longer it went on, he could feel as if it was stretched as far as it could go, before it began to snap apart entirely.
In the reflection of the eyes of the woman he’d picked up he could see… something blurring towards him, so fast that even as he began to turn around he knew he wouldn’t have the time to move the both of them out of the way, or dodge it without possibly putting the girl in danger.
By the time he’d turned enough to see what was approaching his reaction ability was fading, the pain was beginning to feel like a constant stabbing across his body as everything he was fought against itself to move faster than he ever thought possible.
He couldn’t make out what it was, it was long and thin, blurred by speed it was moving at, and he’d had just enough time to begin to throw his Symbiotic fist towards it before time shattered entirely, and he was left back in the real world with nothing but his normal reaction speed to aid him.
He launched his Symbiotic fist forward, using all the strength and speed he could muster as he felt his skin prickle and his body involuntarily tense at the approaching assault, before it was instantly met with his intended target.
To say whatever he’d hit exploded would be an understatement, it nearly turned to powder after he hit it. The combined force of the terrifyingly powerful throw mixed with his own strength imbued with the solidity of the Symbiote meant that the only thing left was splinters of wood and stone, mixed with the sand dust and stone powder he’d created by the instantaneous pulverization.
He’d obliterated it, but he knew that his problems were just beginning when he was met with the sight of a woman, made more of muscle than anything else, standing a mere dozen meters from him with another spear waiting to be launched.
Oh fuck me sideways.
The woman was similar to the one he’d saved, except this one was seven feet tall and covered in muscles and scars from head to toe. She simply had to be a Bruiser, but the fact that she looked so… healthy only meant one thing.
She was the real deal.
Many Bruisers developed deformities such as disproportioned bodies and other defects such as brain damage if they didn’t receive enough nutrients as children, their bodies draining whatever they can get their grubby little mitts on to feed the muscles and bone structure rapidly growing without care of the damage it did to the rest of the body. This was common knowledge, and made it rather sad to think of how many Bruisers there were in gangs with barely first grade reading levels, but the more terrifying thing about them was what happened when they were raised on more nutritional foods, such as Altered meat from Altered Beasts.
They kept their brain functions, their internal organs were kept nice and healthy, hell they were far more advanced in many cases, and their bodies practically exploded in power as they aged and ate more of the Altered meat. To top it off, their children were far more healthy than others, hell if the child was also a Bruiser, they were far more powerful even by the already high standards set for Bruisers.
Being an Altered didn’t guarantee that your kids would be Altered, although the chance was certainly higher, and it certainly didn’t guarantee they’d be in the same class… But when it did happen, it was like watching the growth of a Demi-God.
And all it took was looking at the monster of a woman in front of him to tell… She was healthy, and all natural. She had no deformities, no obvious defects, and was stronger than any tribal had any right to be.
A fucking pure-breed Bruiser, shit I haven’t seen one of these since those old military recruitment videos I watched as a kid. What is she? Second generation? Third?
Can I win?
Any other Altered, in the city, outside of it, hell even if this was a few months in the future he’d be more than comfortable with a fight against anyone of any class or type, but this woman was obviously trained to use her already substantial strength, and he barely knew how to run straight for Goddess sakes.
She looks similar to the one I saved, if I can talk this out I can get out of this easily, but if she refuses to listen…
This might end up bad for me. Judging by the speed and force of that first throw, she has to be at least A-Tier, maybe even higher. Most Altered in the city don’t even have the ability to buy pure Altered meat, certainly not at the level and power this one has obviously been munching down on since birth, with possibly generations of strength backing her. If that spear had been made of anything other than simply wood with a stone tip it would have pierced right through me and the Symbiote.
So let's try diplomacy first. Short and sweet, get her to at least hear us out.
Raising his hands above his head he did his best to clearly yell out; “FRIEND!” as he prepared to dodge the next throw. If she listened, good, if not he wasn’t going to stand still and let her hit him. The first spear was aimed directly at him, but the angle was odd to say the least. If he’d been a normal person the spear would have gone through him and possibly clipped, if not outright pierced the woman as well.
Maybe an internal struggle? I don’t know how primitive tribes work, maybe there is a line of succession and she was hoping to wipe us both out? Maybe she just panicked and thought I was trying to assault her sister or daughter or whatever and threw the spear without thinking? Goddess I hate not knowing what is going on, if only I could read minds or something.
Whatever the case was, his obvious surrender had given the woman a reason to pause. With short brown hair, an angry scowl and the eyes of a woman with no patience for any bullshit he knew he would have to play this one as subtly as possible to avoid a fight.
“I am friend! I helped… girl? Sister? I helped against gang- bad people!”
Yeah, that’ll do it. I hope.
It took her a moment to register what he said, English obviously not being her first language, if she understood him at all. The fact that he was attempting to speak to her instead of using the woman as a hostage was probably enough to get her to pause for a moment.
After a few seconds she readied her spear, but before she could launch it at him the woman he saved jumped in front of him “Juli no! c'est un ami!”
The Bruiser - Juli seemed shocked by the woman’s attempt to defend him. Before long they were in a heated argument in their native language, moving too fast for him to make out the words, even if he could understand the language he’d probably have a tough time keeping along with the argument as the Bruiser began yelling at her while gesturing with the spear.
Ah shit, I wish I knew what they were saying.
After a few minutes of arguing with him standing in the background they finished. Juli seemed annoyed, if not a little relieved and the other woman he still hadn’t learned the name of was walking back towards him to speak to him.
“We bring you to home, yes? Repay you for help?”
My home or hers? Scratch that she already said all the cities were destroyed, she doesn’t know where my home is.
Hopefully this ‘repayment’ involves food and a soft bed at the very least.
He nodded to her, and she grabbed him by the hand and began leading him down the road opposite of where the man before had run away, ‘Juli’ following closely behind looking at him suspiciously, before quickly taking the lead and leading them to wherever they were heading.
Hot food, soft bed, in that order if possible.