Forging Family

by Bob Dattolo

  My group pulled me to the side. “Have you ever played this?” Nathan asked.

  “Not even remotely.”

  “Okay…the goal is to get the ball and keep it from the others. That typically means you get it and huddle up and let the other two guard you until the ball’s taken.”

  “We’re allowed to hit people?”

  They all nodded, looking excited. “Hit ‘em. No broken bones. Try to keep torn skin to a minimum. You can pick them up and throw them out of the circle if you want. That works as a good tactic if you can do it.” Rhett sounded positively overjoyed at that.

  “What about magic?”

  Destanee sucked in a breath, “You can do magic?”

  “Yeah? Like I said, I’m mostly a mage.”

  They smiled wider, “If you can do it, go for it. You just can’t create a barrier around yourself or the ball. They have to be able to get to you.” Destanee patted me on the back. “Now, get ready. The wolves will get it first. They’re fast as hell.”

  Nathan laughed and cracked his neck to the side, “Not as fast as I am.”

  “True. Between the three of us, we have a good cross-section of skills. Nathan can get the ball and keep it away pretty well. Rhett and I are strong, with Marisela being the next. Probably. We’ve won before with this team. Give him the ball and guard him, then let him run and then guard him again when he stops.”

  “Okay, got it.”

  The coach held up the ball, getting kids to move towards the center of the space set aside for us. “Ready…go!” She threw the ball in, and all hell broke loose.

  As my team said, the wolves got it, fighting for it viciously, all six of them going to town, laughing as the hits began to rain down. Around the edge, Marisela, Alan, and Tara moved in, with Marisela leading their little wedge.

  “Thoughts?” Nathan asked, whispering.

  I smiled at that, “How long do we play this?”

  He shrugged, “10 minutes a round, usually.”

  “In that case, how about we weed out some of the people? Can we throw them?”

  Destanee moved forward, “I like how you think.”

  Nathan pushed me forwards, “Let’s see what you can do, new girl.”

  Rhett passed me, his smile huge, “Time to thin the playing field for a minute.”

  I’d like to think that I shocked the crap out of them by darting forward and grabbing two ankles in the wolfy scrum and yanked them to the side, sending both bodies flying out of the edge of the circle, nearly 20 feet away. Thank God we’re on gym padding for this, otherwise they might have been pissed at that.

  With the reduced crowd, Marisela’s group moved in hard, but not before Bruce ended up with the ball, leaping out of the bodies.

  Right into Nathan.

  The wolf had time to twist, but that only had him hitting the mat like a dropped bag of rocks, ball springing free.

  “Remember, if the ball goes outside the line, then everyone gets back in!” The coach pointed at the two I threw out, “Watch your time! Don’t go in before the minute passes!”

  Nathan reached the bouncing ball and stopped it before it crossed the line, but he was right at the edge, with two wolves launching themselves at him.

  “Throw!” Rhett held up his hands, getting a tossed ball coming his way. Nathan got it off just before the two wolves hit him, sending all three of them outside the barrier.

  Marisela was on Rhett before he could take more than a handful of steps, and she grabbed him up in a brutal looking wrestling move as he struggled against her. Destanee got to them next, tossing aside the other two wolves, and grabbed at the huge orc. Too bad she didn’t pay attention to Tara or Alan, because they grabbed her from behind and began prying her off of them.

  That had me moving, running across the circle until I hit the two wolves, taking them down in a brutal tumble. I didn’t hear anything break, but their surprised curses practically filled the gym.

  One got tossed outside the line a second later, while the other tried to wrestle me to the ground. The look on her face when I pulled her hands out and spun in a circle, launching her away from me, was priceless.

  All wolves off of the field, I proceeded to shoulder block Alan, taking him low across the hips. The impact jerked him away from Destanee, and we ended up rolling across the floor. He got in a good kick that broke some of my ribs and had blood pooling out of my mouth, but I laughed, standing, as my ribs popped back into place. He just stared at me in horror as I licked my lips and ran back at the group again, leaving him behind.

  Marisela saw me coming, because she let go of Rhett and faced me, shoving Destanee off. She shocked me by jumping forward so that we hit hard, grappling and grasping for a handhold. My shirt tore from her grip, sleeve and part of the side of my shirt tearing away, then I managed to lift her up entirely, holding her more than 400 pounds over my head.

  Only to get a face full of Tara’s fist, which collapsed part of my face and shot more blood out. She jerked away in shock, but Destanee stopped her from moving by wrapping her up entirely and taking her to the ground.

  Marisela was staring at my face as the bones healed with a clicking grind, making me grunt as I moved to the side of the circle, throwing the much bigger girl towards the edge.

  Unfortunately for me, she never made it. Alan appeared in front of her and grabbed her. They both almost fell out of the circle, but he caught them just in time.

  Then it got brutal as the first minute passed and those outside started coming back in.

  Chapter 5

  Laughter filled the locker room as we made it in. My shirt didn’t make it through gym, but my sports bra is much more elastic, so it was only pulled mostly off and not destroyed. Not that the others made it through unscathed. Destanee was down to her underwear, gym clothes destroyed, and bra wrecked. Laura, Angelica, and Bruce were completely naked. Not that Bruce was in here with us. Marisela’s sports bra was destroyed. Rhett got his hand caught in it as Alan and Tara took him down, and it got shredded.

  We dropped our destroyed clothes in the huge trash can on the way in, the norm girls staring at us as if we’re crazy.

  “Oh my God, that was fun!”

  The shifters laughed at my comment.

  Tara pushed Marisela, “Did you see how quickly she healed? Freaking hell, when she went down under the pile and her back broke? I thought that was it, then she freaking dragged herself across the floor and pulled Chris down?!? What the hell’s up with that?”

  Shaylyn giggled, “Seriously, Ceri, that was messed up. Scary as fuck, too. I’d still be healing out there if that happened to me!”

  “Sorry, that’s just how I am. I heal really, really well.”

  One of the norm girls kept looking down at me, making me think she’s looking at my chest. “Uhh, you have blood…”

  Sure enough, I do.

  “Damn, I didn’t bring any towels or anything for a shower.”

  Tara laughed again, “No time, either. I’m sure the wolves would lick it off of you if you asked nicely.

  The norms looked scandalized, but the shifters with us just looked interested.

  “No time for that, either. There’s enough of us that we wouldn’t be done until after school was over.”

  Tatiana smacked my ass, “Now we’re talking!”

  “So…what, paper towel?”

  Marisela and Destanee had blood on them as well, so we carved our way to the sinks, leaving our clothes behind. The other girls stared at us since we’re naked, but the other two don’t care. I’m working on it, so although I care inside, the reality is that…I don’t. Like at all.

  There are a number of sinks, so we each took one over and wet some paper towels, working through the blood. The girls did each other’s backs while I concentrated on my front. It only took a few minutes to clean off, so we were back in the locker room area before everyone left.

  “Is that really a normal game for you guys?”

  Tara looked at the others,
then nodded, “Yeah? They don’t let us mix with the norms much unless it’s something like running.”

  One of the norm girls that is in my history class nodded at that, “Yeah, they’ve tried it a few times, and it never ends well.”

  “Why? Did you guys get hurt and can’t heal quickly?”

  She nodded again, eyes sort of haunted, “Yeah. That, and the shifters get really…umm…scary?”

  That made me think for a second, “Ohhh, yeah, I guess that’d be the case.”

  She frowned, “What do you mean?”

  “It’s the whole challenge thing? Do you guys know about that? The hierarchies?”

  Some nodded, but she didn’t.

  “It’s pretty simple. You know how groups form pecking orders?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s like that. Except most shifters are driven towards finding out who’s in charge. I can see a game like we just played being possible with mixed shifters, but with norms in the mix? I bet it drives the more pack-connected shifters craaaazy.”

  Tatiana nodded, “It does. We can’t really help it, either. It’s hard in a mixed group, but we know that someone like Marisela or Destanee can tear us to pieces if they get us. We still want to push for dominance, but we can let it slide. Mostly. With norms in the mix? It’s harder to do because we feel like we should be dominant because we’re stronger.”

  The same girl blinked a few times, “But…none of the mages were playing with you? Shouldn’t they have been there as well?”

  “Wow, no. Not even remotely. Not for a game like that.”

  “Why?” A different girl asked.

  “They can’t handle it. At my last school, everyone fought for dominance in their class and then over the whole school. The mages aren’t driven towards it, so only a few actually tried to get a position. A shifter or a vampire can wreck their worlds physically, but the magic can destroy a shifter or a vampire if used right. Out there? Unless they used magic to protect themselves…some of them would have been dead or in the ER for weeks based on what was done to me.”

  Marisela clapped me on the back, “You ain’t kidding. I’ve never seen someone take damage like that. Maybe a vampire, but even Nathan was hurting that one time.”

  Shaylyn snorted, “It took him almost the entire third round to heal. What the hell did you do to him?”

  The huge orc shrugged, “Stepped on him by accident. His stomach. I had some people on me at the time, so he had something like a thousand pounds come down on him.”

  The girls watched us get dressed, with the first one to ask us questions finally saying, “I can’t believe you guys are treating this like it’s no big deal. Like you’re all friends. I’d be so hurt if one of my friends even slapped me, yet we all saw you go after each other. I don’t understand how she’s even alive still!” She pointed at me. “And you guys treat it like it’s nothing? How do you do that?”

  We all shared a look and a smile, “I’m not used to this myself, but I think it’s just a part of being what we are. My last school didn’t have gym, but they did have challenges. People rarely carried a pissed off mood after a challenge.”

  Angelica hugged me from the side, getting one in return, “What she said. If we carried a grudge for every challenge or fight for domination, we’d be angry all the time. Or dead. For most of us, it sort of slides off of our back once it’s done. I usually only see it as a problem with someone like Destanee.”

  “Uhh, why her?”

  “Because I’m an elephant shifter? We have small family units, so we’re not quite as driven to fight for dominance. It’s sort of the same for Marisela and Tara, too.”

  They both nodded, “Goblins don’t fight for dominance. Either do orcs. Then again, our people are…more aggressive, I guess?”

  Marisela smiled wide, showing off her tusks, “We don’t heal like shifters do, but we’re far faster than humans. Fighting is a pastime for most of us on some level. I’ve never been to a family thing where there hasn’t been at least one fight. It’s a bonding thing.”

  “Aaaaand mages don’t have anything like that?”

  “No.” I spoke up again. “They may want to fight for dominance, but that’s an ego thing. For them, they might as well be humans that way. Just with the ability to do magic.”

  A girl that hadn’t spoken before sighs, “I wish I could do magic!”

  “It’s pretty sweet.”

  Everyone looked at me again. “You can do magic?” The same girl asked.

  “Yeah? I may heal like a vampire, but I’m sort of human. I’m not really, but I’m more of a mage than anything else.” She looked hopeful, so I pulled at my magic, finding that it responds much easier than before with the help of the ring. A small bead of light appeared and floated up to the ceiling, illuminating everything.

  “That’s too fucking cool.”

  Tara moved me towards the door, “Mages and their cool tricks. Come on, we have to go, we’re gonna be late!”

  I wasn’t prepared for how big the lunch room would be. I guess when you have to get more than two thousand kids fed each period over the three lunch periods, you sort of have to make food preparation and sales an art.

  And they do it well.

  They have multiple paths to get food, a big number of stations to do it at, and more tables than I ever would have guessed possible. It’s ridiculous.

  Marisela met me right inside the door, smiling wide, “Hey, you made it?”

  The smell in the place made my stomach growl, causing her to laugh, “Yeah. I’m freaking hungry, too.”

  She took my arm and pulled me towards a line, “So…do you eat like a mage or more like a shifter?”

  “Shifter. Definitely shifter.”

  “I had a feeling that’d be the case. This way. They give bigger servings over here.”

  “Good! I’m so hungry…”

  She tugged me harder as my stomach growled again, getting us into a line with a bunch of others that smelled like shifters. I saw two people that nearly made me trip, but then I got pulled into the line anyway.

  “I hope you like our table!”

  “Who all sits there? Do I know them? I haven’t met a ton of people so far.”

  She frowned and looked like she was thinking, “Umm, I’m not sure? Tara, Destanee, Rhett, and Nathan. You’ve met them for sure. Have you met Syl and Melissa yet?”

  “No? Who are they?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Are you guys all friends?”

  She waggled her hand, looking like nothing more than a normal girl, no matter that she’s green and has tusks. “Mostly, but not really all of us? We’re sort of the outcasts, at least a little.”

  “Ummm…what?”

  She waved around, “Well, you’ve seen us, right? We sort of don’t fit in with others. Most of the shifters sit with others like them. There are more of them, so it works. The mages tend to sit with other mages. For us? Destanee and Rhett are the only two elephants and rhinos in school. Tara’s the only goblin. Alan and the others are here, but I’m the only orc in this lunch period. Derek’s the only troll here, but he stays with the marching band tables.”

  “Uhh…marching band?”

  She nodded down the cafeteria to a guy that has to be seven feet tall. He has on a marching band uniform…and he’s definitely a troll.

  “Marching band. You should see him play drums. He’s fucking amazing.”

  I never would have guessed that, which just goes to show you how narrowminded I am sometimes.

  “Back to our table? Nathan’s the only vampire.” We entered the food area just as she stopped talking, and I moaned at the sight of the food.

  “I can’t wait to eat this!”

  She nodded to the side, “I’m not sure if you eat more than one tray, but they have carts for us if we need it. You can always go up and get more, but due to the length of the period, I recommend buying everything to start. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been screwed out o
f food because I didn’t have time to go through the line again.”

  We both grabbed carts, joining the little line of shifters. Most of them had carts, too.

  She was awed by the amount of food I took. I don’t think I overdid it, I’m just freaking hungry, so seven plates seem about right. Mounded plates.

  I’m so not a cheap date. Not that I’ve ever been on one.

  “Damn, girl, you eat a ton!” Tara came up from behind us as we cleared the line.

  “Yeah. You’re not doing too bad yourself?”

  She pushed her cart with four plates of food on it. “We don’t eat as much as others do, but still more than norms.”

  A norm made a comment about the fat pigs as we walked by. The girls continued walking as I flashed the guy my abs. I’m thick with muscle, and they’re pretty defined, so I have abs that many would die to have.

  He stared in shock, so I put my shirt down and continued walking, catching up to the girls. They were headed towards an area thick with the scent of shifters and what I’m coming to think of as the mage scent. It’s much stronger in a group like this. Mark, the mage, was to the side leaning into Dave as the guy tried to put his tray down on an empty table.

  At the currently empty table, the girls started putting their food out. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s up with Dave and the mages? Why do they treat him like shit?”

  My new orc friend, hopefully, shrugged, “No idea. They just don’t seem to like him for some reason.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “No. He barely talks to anyone.”

  “Huh…” Eric pushed him more, practically leaning him over the table backwards.

  I lost the room for a bit as I tried not to freak out.

  I…don’t like bullies. At all. I can’t stand them. When I see them I rather want to let the part of me that wants to bathe in blood out to play.

  And I don’t mean that like an expression. There’s a part of me that would loooove to slaughter most of the kids in this cafeteria, roll around on their dead bodies and torn open guts, and then raise them back up as my own little zombie army. It positively loves that. Adores it. Mom once told me that I needed to let that part of me out to play periodically, but that I need to know when to use it. Just as when I learned to light a candle with magic and then burned down the world of five different families that burned my things, I needed to learn that the world isn’t a wick. Not everything can be settled with flames.