The moon came out to watch a bloody festival. Screams and squeals of visceral satisfaction rang just a few feet away from the training hall. A dog howled into the night, pain in every reverb. Torture, scurries, bitting, death, all evils imaginable hung in the air. The violence within was not meant for children, but I would face it anyway.

Were it not for him.

Sen stood before the back entrance, letting all other fighters but myself pass. I could not bare to look at him directly. His face repulsed me and he seemed to know it. His eyes darted anywhere but right in front of him. Before his feet was the incarnation of shame and guilt, and it was repelling his sight. Sen stroked his budding goatee, daring not to say a word, and it was all I could do to not snatch the bristles of hair down to my level and punch him in his stupid face.

My rage greeted me like an old friend and I ached to use it.

“Lin. Look.”

I kicked him in the balls. He dropped. Far and fast than he should have were he prepared. His head dipped far enough for me to grab that stupid goatee of his. I pulled his face down before he could even register anything else but the pain in his loins and punched him in his nose. Hard.

Lady Yu’s gauntlets did more than release spirits. The silver rings overlaying the knuckles were filled with dense balls of qi. A moonlit night and an angry crab packed qi so densely that they felt like marble and hit like bricks. Sen’s head snapped backward, bloodied. In my hand, I gripped a clump of hair from his chin. As his face bounced back I readied another blow.

I felt nothing but joy in this. My knuckles should be in agonizing pain after I broke his nose, but the qi-laced gauntlets cushioned the blow for me and redirected all of that force into Sen’s face. It was like punching a pillow, and I started to laugh. Much too early.

Sen caught my punch in his hand without even looking. He barely registered my struggles as he touched his nose and saw it come away red. Blood fled from his fingertips with a flick of the wrist. When he opened his eyes, I went in for a headbutt.

“Woah. Thats enough from you two.” A hand intercepted my forehead and pulled me away. I stumbled back under the interloper’s strength, but my rage compelled me to rush forward in a yell. I slowed to a stop at the sight of my brother’s own rage and the girl desperately holding him back.

“Lay off him ya fat cow. I saw you bout to punch the kid. You trynna put your brother through a wall now? Calm down. You stupid. Bull. Before I tie you up in a whammy so tight your head will be kissing your ass.”

Xiao Yin’s absurd accent probably did more to calm my brother than her headlock. You could hear her voice anywhere in the village when she spoke and a small crowd was watching to see why a Li household paragon was all bloodied and struggling in the dirt against a girl half his size.

When he finally managed to relax, Xiao Yin let him collapse in front of me in two arms. As my brother’s head rose and I made to kick him.

“That’s enough out of you.” Xiao Yin lifted me away like a babe and held me away from her while I swung wildly. “Hey now. Hey. Stop it you ninny. Save all that for the fights.”

“What’s going on here?”

Xiao Yin put me down so she could face Lao as he ran up to us.

“I caught these two fuckers.”

“Language Yin.” Lao said with a huff. “Watch your language. Please?” Lao bent over onto his knees once he arrived. He had clearly ran at full tilt once Xiao Yin started yelling.

“Fine. You trough sniffing tight ass. I saw these two wank stains-” Lao inhaled deeply, “having it out with each other and stopped Sen before he could stomp this little nibbler into goo.”

“Again Sen? Really?” Lao transferred his irritation to my brother. There wasn’t much you could do about Xiao Yin but everyone expected better of Sen.

He rose to his feet snarling in my direction. “The little f-”

“Sen.” Lao narrowed his eyes.

“The little bastard sucker punched me for no reason.”

“You’re the bastard here,” I said. “and I have plenty of reasons.”

Sen rushed me but Xiao Yin and Lao held him back.

“Yeah. Hold him just like that,” I said strolling forward. Lao broke off from the struggle and held me away with one hand.

“Not here. Lin. You two are going to ruin this for us.” Lao looked around at the faces looking in our direction. Shopkeepers, visitors heading to the main entrance, and even the bouncer were looking our way–though the bouncer didn’t do much but flash me a wink and a nod of approval.

“Inside. Both of you. You can beat the crap out of each other inside.”

Lao and Xiao Yin didn’t listen to Sen’s complaints as they ushered us inside. Once we were in, Lao shoved us both onto a bench.

“You two need to work out whatever this is now.” Lao was nearly as angry at us as we were with each other, but he managed it well and walked away.

“Hey,” Xiao Yin yelled. “You just gonna leave these two puffed-up pups here? They’ll kill each other.”

“Let them. Long as they don’t make a scene doing it. I need to go finish up with our employers.”

Lao disappeared into a crowd of bodies. Xiao Yin took one look at us, shrugged, and followed him. My brother and I turned to each other. I moved first.

“Lin,” he growled as he held back both of my fists. I moved to kick him and he just stomped down from my foot. “Enough Lin.”

“No it’s not enough,” I yelled. “It’s not enough until you know what it’s like to be stomped into the ground like a freaking ant.”

Something wet fell from my face, I tried to blink away my murky eyes but they just wouldn’t clear up.

“Lin.” my brother said releasing my weary fist. He spoke with more shame than I had ever heard from him. I wanted to see the look on his face but I could wipe away the tears from my eyes fast enough.

“I’m sorry, Lin.” My brother spoke words that I didn’t even know I wanted. I thought I wanted my fist buried in his stupid face and that’s what Lady Yu had trained me for, but here I was, with full access to a clean shot of my brother, and all I wanted to do was cry.

And Sen let me. He didn’t make the mistake of coddling me or sheltering me from onlookers. If he had touched me I would have fought him to the death. Instead, he left me alone and I didn’t know what to do. I was a tight little ball of anger and I wanted to rage against him. I wanted to smash his face into the dirt, I wanted to kick him in his side, I wanted to see the spindles of pain curl him up into a ball and kick him some more after that.

But I loved my brother too much to inflict any of that on him, and I hated myself for that. I finally had the chance to be the person inflicting the pain and misery, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. A person that could, wouldn’t be me, would never be me. I just didn’t have the heart to do what I fantasized about doing. Especially not after the big oaf apologized.

The dam burst. All the anger and violence simmering in me had nowhere to go but out. I cried until my tear ducts shriveled. Sen didn’t say a word until I stopped sobbing.

“I see you got your injuries healed,” Sen said as if he were not at all responsible for those same injuries. I sniffed and gave a bitter hiccup in reply.

“You should not be here Lin.” he filled my sudden silence with his voice. “It’s too dangerous and I can’t protect both you and Lao at the same time.”

“Really Sen? You’re going to say that to me again? While you’re sitting right here in this arena? You’re such a hypocrite.”

“I’m not a hypocrite. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not. I went home to find you but you weren’t there so I went to Tong and Edmund but neither of them had seen you either. By the time I got to Lady Yu’s place you were already on your way here and I just…Look, Lin. I’m really sorry for what I did.” Sen looked at his hands as if he couldn’t believe they were attached to him. “I feel like pig shit. I just felt pissed off at Lao and jealous toward you-”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“You felt jealous of me?” I scrunched my face in search of hidden mirth but Sen had none. “I thought I was a disappointment.”

“You’re not a disappointment, Lin,” he said. “I am.” Sen looked to where Lao had disappeared. “I’m not a cultivator like Lyn was. I’m not that kid everyone likes like you, and I’m not going to be the next mayor like Lao is. I’m just the bastard tagalong of the Li family, no better than a workhorse kept around until they fall lame.

“That’s not true, Sen.”

“It is Lin. You don’t see the looks Mom gives me. The looks Dad does. They can’t wait until I’m out of their lives.” Sen’s lips quivered with his next words. “I’ve been thinking of leaving the isle.”

“What?” I said the anger in my voice lost to concern. “You can’t go to the mainland. They’re savages.” I knew I had entertained the idea of joining the legions but I wasn’t a fool. The Floating Isles were a paradise people from the mainland retreated to. Even if I was an outcast I wouldn’t actually leave. Sen shouldn’t either. “They took Dad’s leg out of spite, Sen. Lyn’s dead because of them. You can’t go there.”

“There’s no place for me here Lin.” Sen shook his head.

“Of course, there is. Everyone loves you. Mom and Dad love you. I love you.” I hiccuped to hide my embarrassment. “And what about Xiao Yin? Aren’t you two-”

“We broke up.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say after that. I genuinely thought the two would be…I mean their breakup made sense when I thought about it.

“You know, when the cultivator arrived,” Sen said. “I had this weird thought that he would see something in me and take me away just like Lyn was.”

“Thank the heavens he didn’t.”

“No. I wanted it. I wanted someone to see the value in me, but the minister didn’t. He only saw the value in you while humoring me.”

“He just noticed I was spirit touched. There’s no value in that. Only pain.” I rubbed at my tattoo. The crab was itching for a fight.

Sen scoffed at me. “You’re so special you don’t even realize it. It’s not just being spirit touched, Lin. You have a way with people others don’t.”

“Hah,” I shook my head. “I wish I could meet the image of me you have in your head. Maybe he could get BaoBao to stop beating me up.”

“You could stop him if you tried.”

“Thanks for being so patronizing.”

My brother just shook his head. Apparently, he decided that was time for a lull in the conversation. Sen leaned over his knees thinking deeply. I swung my legs waiting for whatever came next.

“Will you stay for Lao’s plan?” he finally asked.

I looked down at my fist. The gauntlets had an almost unnoticeable pulse, quick as my heartbeat, and one that had been slowing since I had first punched my brother. I didn’t care for these fights. I had taken these gauntlets to punch my brother in the face and I had accomplished that. So what was I doing here?

“I’ll stay if you will. Mom did tell me to stick by your side and learn something from you. Maybe that’s fighting.”

“I can teach you how to fight away from this place, Lin.” My brother fell again into deep contemplation. I waited for him to put his thoughts together.

“I’d only stay to protect Xiao Yin and Lao if things go sideways. Do you think anything bad will happen?”

“I think you should do things for yourself for once Sen. I don’t know if something bad will happen, but I’m sure if something does those two can take care of themselves. If you’re going to stay, do it for the money. Do it so that you have something for yourself if you end up joining the legions.”

“You think I should enlist”

“I think you should be happy.” I punched my brother in the shoulder. I was grateful that I had no tears left to cry. “You’re not happy here Sen, I see that now, but you deserve happiness nevertheless.”

“Move aside. Move aside.” A bald man marched down the hall, forcefully pushing away anyone within a foot of his entourage. Behind him, a shirtless boy about my age waved inelegantly at the crowd. One hand was behind his back and a lackadaisical smile was plastered on his face as if he were some prince from afar coming to bless the peasants with his presence.

The fighters all grumbled and a few spit in his direction. No one actually made a move. Three other men were guarding the boy and each wore a smug. They flashed poorly concealed gestures at us, beckoning the waiting combatants for a fight.

I didn’t rise to the bait. None of us did. They looked like they could tear off a head with their bare hands, but I barely looked at them anyway. Instead, my attention was focused on the only girl in their group.

She was beautiful. Her skin was flawless like a painted goddess come free from the canvas. She wore flowing pink and purple robes that somehow managed not to track the dirt of the training hall with her, spotless amongst the brutality.

“See them?” My brother asked even though I could see nothing else. “That boy’s the mark.” I turned to the boy but my eyes followed the girl.

Sen rubbed at his forehead. “Look, Lin. When the battle starts. I want you to run as far away from them as possible.”

“You’ve decided to stay?”

Sen sighed. “Yeah. I still don’t like the idea of what Lao’s doing but something about that kid makes me think he probably deserves it.”

“Yeah. He’s got a punchable face, but those other guys look like they might be trouble. Shouldn’t I be close by to help?”

“Help yourself, Lin. Your intuition is right. They are strong, but much stronger than you’re imagining. Lao told me that all of those men are crippled Cultivators sworn to protect the boy.”

“Crippled?” I went to look for the group but they had turned down the hallway. They were scary looking but I didn’t feel any ominous presence from them. “By how much? Can they shoot lasers from their hands? Use qi still?”

“They can’t. That’s what Crippled means.” Sen rubbed at his head. “They can’t use qi anymore but being crippled won’t erase a lifetime of training. Their forms will be flawless. You can’t even recognize the forms. They’d break you in half before you can even understand what you’re seeing.”

“Lady Yu says I don’t need forms.”

“What?”

“She says forms are for losers with no instinct. She says forms were created by people with actual instinct for those losers, and that people who have instinct like I do will always win against those losers.”

Lady Yu’s wisdom crashed on my brother’s face. He pondered my words, mouth aghast and not breathing. “Lin…” my brother struggled with what to say next. “Try not to die. Please?”

—-

The training hall was packed tonight. My brother let me up on his shoulders so I could see through a slit leading from the waiting rooms to the fighting grounds. I had always wondered why the training hall had more seats than our village had people but this cleared everything up.

It was a stupifying amount of people all cheering beneath the night sky. Moonlight lit the stadium in a beautiful pale white and if I had a brush and paint I’d stay behind and paint this place instead. Or I would if not for the blood.

There were many fights before the penultimate free for all. It started with animals. Roosters against each other then dogs against rats. My stomach churned as a swarm of rats came upon a frothing dog that tore into their hides with abandon. The dog’s ailing legs crumpled but the rats did not stop swarming when it fell. Its howls continued even as the trainers shooed the rats away from their still-living meal.

It was sickening. The dog howled as men swept its body toward the edge of the arena. There laid a sewer drain and they shoved its half corpse through.

That dog deserved at least a burial but it would be flushed away from the isle down into the savage sea below. Would the organizers do the same to me if I ended up bloody and beaten on the battlegrounds?

No more animal slaughter after that. The crowd demanded more. The bloodshed started with a tournament. Men and women fought one on one to first blood, and first blood often meant a mouthful once as a spear poked through your side. The combatants were thankfully not swept into the sewers but taken away on stretchers where I prayed they would receive medical help better than any our island could provide.

Sen, Lao, Xiao Yin, even Tong the Younger, and his family did not enter the tournament. We were conserving our strength. BaoBao did though, and he smiled at me as if I were a coward for staying back with the others. BaoBao being here was surprising, but I’m sure Lao had convinced half the village to come tonight for what was truly starting to seem like an unbelievably large payout. I started to wonder if Sen had been right and that this was too good to be true when our mark kicked BaoBao in the face.

The boy and his team easily swept the tournament. He took first place. The girl took second. Neither of them had used weapons. BaoBao had taken that for weakness and ran towards the boy with crazed enthusiasm, oversized mace swinging overhead. A kick from nowhere was all that was needed to get BaoBao to bow in surrender. I flashed him a happy smile when he returned.

After the tournament was the free for all.

I thought it was weird that more people looked forward to a large-scale brawl than the one-on-one duels of the tournament. After all, anyone could win a brawl if they got lucky. Lao said I was missing the point. Winning was secondary. Fighters came here to blow off steam and settle grudges. Prissy tournaments were for the mainland. In the islands, you swung at whatever you could hit until there was nothing left to hit at all.

There was something about the island fights that flicked a switch in everyone around me. These were farmers suddenly thirsting for the blood of their neighbors. Maybe we all had a deep predilection for war and this was our only way of fulfilling that suppressed need.

Maybe there was justification needed. Maybe you just had so much rage you needed to fight everyone person within ten feet of you until you could satisfy it no longer.

The bloodlust slowly spread to my brother. Sen had stopped sneaking looks at me and started bouncing on his heels once the brawl got closer. He practically jumped when we were ushered into the arena. Sen’s weapon of choice was a wooden spear. Not steel but sharpened all the same. I looked around the room at all the potentially deadly weapons. Lao had a sword on each hand both steel with each having a red string lashed around his hands. Xiao Yin had brought a flail and was spinning it to the detriment of everyone behind and to the side of her. Tong brought a pitchfork. The lanky man seemed unsure of how to use it.

I clenched my fists. There was comfort in the cold iron chains brushing against my skin. In the moonlight, I could see the ghost chains again. They floated around like the wooden remains of an anchor or a jellyfish ready to sting. Even the crab on my arm was itching for a fight.

It was silent before it started. No one in the arena spoke except the announcer, and even he only vocalized a whisper. It still carried. There was too much tension in the air to give way to much more than that. Salt and sweat permeated the night's air, muscles were taught with the grip of their weapons. I looked around at all the men and women grinning for a fight and felt a deep wrongness with all of this.

We had arranged ourselves against the walls of the circular arena. Before the announcer began this bloody festival the boy all eyes were on walked forward. The girl and his men hastily trailed behind him unaware of what he was doing. They arrayed themselves in a half circle but the boy shooed them back to their original spots. He walked alone to the center of the arena and casually raised two fingers at both fighter and crowd.

With that, the island fights began in earnest.