Rheba charged in the direction that Kerra went first. The dark-furred warrior's ability seemed like the first to take head-on, and the girl’s attitude was a little better than Blenda’s, so she might be easier to deal with after being beaten to a pulp.
She only began to slow down once Kerra came into view. To her surprise, the recruit was not hidden and stood in a narrow alley. It was obviously a trap, but Rheba strode forward all the same. She stopped just far enough out of a spear’s range and put her hands on her hips.
To the left of Kerra hung a rope, and some crates had been tucked along the walls, but the alley remained empty otherwise.
“You don’t have you’re Needaimus?” Kerra said. Her eyes were wide, and Rheba wondered if she didn’t have enough time to prepare as she nervously swayed back and forth.
“Correct.”
“And you’re still going to fight me?”
“Only if you insist on wasting time like this.”
Kerra laughed, and she pulled the conspicuous rope hanging to her left. From the rooftop, a spring mechanism sounded like it went off, and bits of metal were thrust into the air. Rheba didn’t flinch as the sharp fragments flew above her head. She kicked a crate hard enough for her hooved foot to go through and launched it into the air.
The fragments either stuck or bounced off, and Rheba caught the box for a split second before launching it at Kerra. The recruit made a high-pitched cry, one from shock likely, and put out her Needaimus-covered arm to defend. As the box flew forward, it suddenly split into small bits that went around the dark-furred warrior. Kerra trembled as she clenched her Needaimus bonded fist, and then the recruit flashed a confident grin at Rheba.
She charged at Rheba, and the brown-furred warrior answered with her own sprint. Rheba threw her fist at Kerra but found her step suddenly gave out. She stumbled, and her opponent landed a blow on her forehead instead.
Grunting, Rheba backed up and surveyed the area. In the ground, she could see where the dirt had become fine and easily deformed by her foot. Kerra didn’t give her more time to think and closed the gap again, aiming for her stomach. Rheba took the blow and grabbed her opponent in a bear hug. Needaimus boosted defense, so Rheba squeezed as tight as she could until the girl whimpered.
Kerra grunted, and Rheba felt her footing suddenly give way like she was standing on sand. She twisted her legs before losing her balance and stood firm—feeling some sharp pains as the contortion became too intense. Her opponent squirmed in response.
Rheba kept her voice firm and calm as she spoke, “I can think of several ways to hurt you even with a Needaimus attached, but as this is not a fight to the death, I will refrain. I would like you to surrender so we can go find your friend and get over with this.”
“Ha, funny. You seem to be a decent warrior, but I won’t consider this a loss! You have to let go eventually!”
“Do I?” Rheba said with a smirk. Kerra said nothing in response but soon realized what Rheba meant.
Despite the pain from twisting her legs, Rheba held firm. Kerra tried to dice the ground again, but the brown-furred warrior expected it and moved her body appropriately to stay standing and maintain her grip. She assumed Kerra had relied on that trick to defeat opponents before; taking out footholds and getting good blows would likely work on any other Bentulousian children the dark-furred girl would have fought growing up.
In the end, the bare alley would be her downfall. When the trick with the ground failed, Kerra had nothing else to use to her advantage. She tried chopping a nearby crate, but the bits only fell to the ground without a care. Rheba held firm as the suns moved across the sky. Kerra tried to mock Rheba, which eventually turned to pleading as what must have been an hour passed.
Despite her holding tight, Rheba couldn’t help but worry about the timeline. Blenda still needed to be taken down, and she couldn’t risk leaving the alley as Kerra might get close enough to something her ability could work on. She debated if she should try to knock the poor girl out and end the fight. Slowly, she increased the intensity of her squeezing.
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Finally, Kerra whimpered. “Okay, I give up.” Rheba tossed her to the ground and moved her arms slowly. They popped and cracked, and she did her best to keep a hint that she was feeling sore off her face. Kerra’s Needaimus freed itself from her arm and scurried to her shoulder. The girl stared at the ground as Rheba moved from the softer chopped dirt to solid footing. She felt her legs pop as she finally moved them. Kerra rubbed the spots where she had been clenched, apparently also sore or maybe slightly fractured.
“Now that we are done here, maybe you can tell me where your friend might be?”
Kerra crossed her arms, wincing at the movement, and turned away.
“She’s hardly my friend.”
Rheba held in a groan but wasn’t sure she prevented an aggravated inhalation of air. After waiting a moment to calm down, she pointed at Kerra.
“You… just wait here; I’ll come back later.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Rheba wasn’t sure if the tone was too sarcastic and didn’t ponder on it for much longer before she sprinted out of the alley into the base. Some warriors shouted as she barreled past, but the golden-furred target was nowhere to be seen. Rheba must have run around for thirty minutes before she finally stopped to catch her breath.
“Where did she go?” the brown-furred warrior muttered while surveying the scene. She watched carefully as some recruits put a banner on a wall and some higher-ranked girls trotted by while engaged in peaceful conversation. It was as ordinary a day on base as Rheba could expect; she wished she could enjoy it by listening to some beauideal music—in secret.
Finally, some shouting from behind caught Rheba’s attention. A pointed ear on her head turned the direction before her head did.
“I can’t believe you, get out. Get out!” One of the older Bentulousian chefs pushed a young golden recruit out of the kitchens—Blenda out at last. The young warrior rolled across the ground until she found a position on her hands and knees.
“I’m telling you, my Needaimus ability can—”
The older chef poured out a pot of dubious-looking stew on the ground.
“There is no way I’d let anyone eat something made with a Needaimus!”
Blenda’s fingers made indents in the ground as she balled them into a fist. She slowly began to push off the ground—eyes glaring at the chef. Rheba interrupted with a fake cough in her hand. Blenda jumped, then grinned.
“Come to get beat then?”
Rheba sighed and readied her fists. The movement of Blenda’s eyes suggested she was looking to all the brown-furred warrior’s limbs for a Needaimus. Rheba wasn’t one to let the opportunity go to waste. The gap between the two vanished instantly, and Blenda snapped her arms to protect her stomach. She stumbled back and gritted her teeth.
The chef, wide-eyed, dropped the pot and fled as the two tall warriors glared at each other.
“Your friend has been defeated; ending this farce would be best for you.”
“You beat— she’s hardly my friend!”
Rheba shook her head. She hoped she wasn’t as difficult as a new recruit as they were.
Blenda pulled what looked like a dagger from under her uniform; at a closer look, Rheba could see that it was a spear cut far too short. Her eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t block the attack—the blunt end of a full-length spear jabbing her in the stomach. Rheba grunted and held the spot as Blenda spun her now long weapon over her head. She snapped the spear and aimed the blunt side at Rheba again.
Injured as she was, Rheba was ready the second time. She caught the extended handle and snapped it before it could impact her. Blenda made a smug grin, and the broken end grew again, ramming Rheba’s chin. The brown-furred warrior stepped back as she watched Blenda break the end again.
With a proud laugh, the golden-furred warrior chided Rheba, “Worthless! And you are a higher-ranking officer? My abilities are far above your own!”
Rheba shook her head. It seemed both the girls relied on Needaimus tricks rather than fighting ability—as their senior, it was her responsibility to beat some sense in them. She made a soft, friendly smile at Blenda; the look on the golden warrior’s face told Rheba it may have come off in another way. Calmly, the brown-furred warrior strode to her opponent.
Blenda chuckled and aimed her spear’s blunt end at Rheba. It was a good trick if she used the pointed end, but stabbing a higher-up would obviously be trouble. Either way, Rheba wasn’t worried. As the pole extended, Rheba grabbed it once again. With a shift of her hands, she angled the spear so that it shot over her shoulder. “Do you think you can pull it away? Many have tried, but I’m confident in my grip strength!” Blenda said.
Rheba spun so her back was aimed at Blenda and used both hands to grip the spear. Blenda yelped as she was thrust into the air over Rheba’s shoulder. The golden-furred warrior was completely flipped over, and her head would hit first. She let go to position her hands for impact, and Rheba took the opportunity to strike. She jabbed the blunt end of the spear into her junior’s stomach and used the motion to slam her back into the ground.
“Learned your lesson?” Rheba asked as she spun the spear around, but Blenda was out cold. “Perhaps that was too harsh?”
Rheba spent the rest of the evening explaining to Zenith why the two new recruits were in the infirmary.