Page 63 of Beyond The Maples
I stand, breathing heavily. Pain radiates from my forehead, where we connected. He stands straight, blood trickling from his nose over his lips and chin. His eyes darken and something like amber glints in them, probably a reflection of the firelights around the room. Then he grins, blood lining his perfect smile.
And this is when I know there's something wrong with me–– because that rage turns into something else entirely, deep in my gut. He looks like a god, standing there with his broad chest heaving, blood dripping onto the mat.
"Stop making yourself less, so that others can be more. You aren't doing your peers any favours out there, and get some better hair ties, or cut it. That mane is a hazard." With that, he storms off, broodyand bleeding.
"What… inIgnius'sflaming dick… did you do?" Deacon asks, stepping down beside me to help me up off the mat.
"I didn't do anything!" I protest, pulling my sore body.
I hobble to the side and sit on the bench with a sweating Farra, who's just come off the other mat.
"You alright?" she asks, taking another swig of her water.
"I'm fine, just Valo being a dick. Are we that surprised?" I ask, muttering a thanks to Deacon as he hands me water with a concerned look.
"Why is he always a dick?" Deacon questions.
Farra glances over at me with a hint of a smirk. "Seems like he's a dick to some, more than others."
My only response is an eye roll.
"Well, you held your own pretty good out there, little tree. I can't believe you got away with that. He was a bloody mess, walking away." He gives me a surprised look. I don't respond; I'm too wound up, already worrying about all the ways Tane can make me pay.
"I'm doing a couple of extra rounds. See ya both at lunch." He smiles at me, giving my knee a quick squeeze, before hopping up and moving towards his crew.
I feel Farra's intense stare on me, so I turn, and the look of pure giddiness on her face stills me.
"Little tree? Maple, that is the absolute stupidest nickname I've ever heard."
On my other side, an otherwise quiet Berkley chokes on his water, and then openly starts howling.
"Shut up, my last name means tree in some old language or something, and obviously so does my first name, so..." I'm trying to defend it, but now they are both laughing at me, so I give up. I swat them both with my sweaty hand wraps. "You two are the worst."
"Wait until I tell Leo, little tree. He's going to die," she snorts, another fit of laughter slipping out.
I knock on Sibyella's door quietly, the thick gnarled wood looking too precious to bang on, for some reason.
Inside my brown, Providence-issued jacket is a tiny package. One I hope that, once I show Sibs, I can leave behind and no longer worry about getting caught with.
I hear a couple of thumps and then the door whips open to reveal a very chipper old woman grinning at me. Her beige box dress falls to the floor around her feet, with a robe that looks like it might have been green once spilling over her stooped shoulders.
"Why, hello, doll. I thought maybe I'd be seeing you," she says, grabbing hold of my arm and ushering me inside.
"I hope I'm not interrupting you," I respond politely.
"Oh, of course not. I meant what I said –– come by anytime. I don't have a lot going on these days," she says with a little wink.
I chuckle.
"Tea?" she asks, although she doesn't wait for an answer as she hobbles to the kitchen.
I sit awkwardly, wondering when I should bring out the plant. I take a minute to look around the room, noticing it seems like Sibs has moved things around. It feels the same as last time; dust-covered trinkets lining the walls, and a warm, earthy scent filling the air. All familiar, but oddly dissimilar to last time.
"No friendstoday?" she asks.
"No, Farra and Leo do say hi, though, but they had some errands to run. Maybe next time?" I add, not wanting to disappoint her.
"Of course, sometimes it's nice to chat alone, anyway. Easier to hear each other." She brings the tea over and I pop up to take it so her hobbling doesn't spill the hot liquid.
