Belligerent (Vicara)

by B. N. Mauldin

  Kenichi helped everyone on the climbing wall by free climbing over to anyone who was stuck and giving them advice. While he had little patience, they all managed to reach the top of the wall eventually.

  Logan led them during the weight training, helping to spot the ones who were doing heavy lifting and critiquing the ones who stuck with the smaller weights in order to avoid any bulking.

  Daylan organized the calisthenics portion of their training. By the time he was finished, Logan was exaggeratedly whimpering on the floor and Ryan panted, hands on his knees and head down.

  “Pair up for sparring. Hand to hand. No weapons,” Eva said, glancing over at Kenichi, who sighed before removing all his blades from their hidden locations in his armor. Once he had finished that task, Kenichi slung Clarisse over his shoulder and carried her over to the far corner of the gym.

  “If I look over to find you two not sparring, I will have you both run laps!” Mackenzie called out in warning.

  Kenichi sent a middle finger back in her direction, declaring to all how he felt about her remark.

  Aria and Logan moved to another corner of the gym and Eva briefly considered giving them the same warning. The two were notorious for launching into long-winded discussions of their latest projects if they were left alone for very long. Luckily, unlike Kenichi and Clarisse, the two tended to behave during training sessions.

  That left Daylan, Mackenzie and Ryan. The former two were already moving to another corner of the room when Eva realized her mistake.

  “Actually, Mac, could you spar with Ryan first? I need to observe his skills from a distance before I work with him. Do you mind sitting out this round, Daylan?”

  “Fine with me,” Daylan called over his shoulder, already heading towards a punching bag. He was one of the few who actually enjoyed training sessions and could be trusted to do his own thing. Mackenzie didn't look very pleased with the request, but she took a spot near Ryan and raised her fists in a habit that Eva had yet to get out of her system.

  “Hold back today, Mac,” Eva added.

  Mackenzie sighed. “Bad enough that you're only making me spar him because you think I'm the worst when it comes to combat, but now I can't even have fun?”

  “You're beginning to sound like Kenichi,” Eva scolded.

  “Heard that!” Kenichi shouted before narrowly dodging a kick to his head from Clarisse.

  “She doesn't need to hold back,” Ryan said, seeming far too confident.

  Confidence was a good thing except for when it could get you killed, Eva mused to herself.

  “We're trained fighters. You'll get hurt,” Eva said.

  Then, as if to prove her correct, a loud curse came from Logan followed by a shout from Aria.

  “Daylan!”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. “And how is my getting injured any different from the rest of you?”

  “Come on, Eva. Let me show him,” Mackenzie insisted.

  Eva sighed. “Let's deal with the injuries first, and then you two can go at it. Daylan, how's it look?”

  Despite being the medic, Daylan was still jabbing at the punching bag and ignoring the rest of them. At Eva's question, he glanced over. “Is there blood?”

  “Yes!” Both Aria and Logan replied.

  “This is your one injury for this month,” Daylan grumbled. “Sure you want to cash it in so soon?” He walked over to them and inspected Logan’s forehead. “That looks like it'll need a few stitches and I don't have any local anesthesia left.”

  Logan, who had been prodding at his head, froze. “Ah... Nah, man, I'm good. Just a little blood. That's all. No need for the needles.” He scooted away from the medic.

  Daylan smirked. “Then again, it's been a little while since I practiced my sutures. Aria, run and get the med kit please.”

  “Got it handled?” Mackenzie asked.

  “Yeah, continue on,” Daylan said, cornering his reluctant patient.

  Mackenzie turned to Eva. “Well?”

  “Fine,” she said. “Go at it.”

  Ryan immediately put up his guard and it was easy to see from his stance that any fighting he knew how to do had been learned from experience rather than training. Mackenzie was the opposite. The only experiences she had with fighting had been in an arena. True, her experiences were just as dangerous, but there were still limits. There were rules to be followed, and Mackenzie loved rules. She also relished finding ways to work around them. She expected others to do the same.

  Eva signaled for them to start and Ryan lurched forward. Mackenzie ducked out of the way of his punch and neatly landed a jab to his jaw. He seemed surprised for a moment but quickly retaliated. As the fight ranged over the sparring mat, Mackenzie dodged all of his punches and kicks while landing some stinging kicks of her own. Ryan's frustration was beginning to show as the match continued on, and his moves grew sloppier. He dropped down and used a leg to sweep Mackenzie's legs out from under her. She fell to the floor and Ryan advanced to pin her down. However, Mackenzie didn't seem thrilled at being upped, and she twisted Ryan around into a suffocating hold.

  “Surrender,” she instructed, but Ryan refused. He tried to twist his way out of her grip, but she tightened her hold. “Give up already?”

  “No,” he managed to grit out.

  “Aren't you going to stop them?” Clarisse asked.

  Eva shook her head. “Wouldn't do any good.”

  Ryan struggled in Mackenzie's hold. He tried to use their size difference to his advantage, but Mackenzie's grip was unyielding. Ryan's vision began to dim at the edges. He couldn't lose. Not to some girl whose specialty was strategy and who apparently couldn't keep up with the rest of the team. He couldn't be the weakest. If he was the weakest, then he didn't stand a chance at earning his freedom.

  “Halt!” Eva called out.

  “Let him give in,” Mackenzie said through gritted teeth.

  “Halt, Mac! He's gonna pass out.”

  Mackenzie swore and Ryan felt her jump away from him. He lay there a moment trying to catch his breath and willed himself not to choke or show too much pain.

  “Why'd you stop?” he choked out. His neck would have bruises in a few hours.

  “We don't seriously hurt our teammates,” Mackenzie said, standing a good distance away from him. Ryan pushed himself up onto his knees and gingerly touched his throat.

  “Daylan,” Eva called out. “When you're done with Logan could you check on Ryan?”

  “I'm fine,” Ryan insisted.

  He didn't want any of them near him at the moment, not out of pity anyway. He couldn't let them think he was a weakling.

  “What's next?” He looked over to see that the others were switching off partners. Logan had switched over to working solo while Daylan was making his way over to Clarisse. Aria was already sparring with Kenichi.

  “Do I go against you now?” he asked Eva.

  “Mac, you should go spar with Logan.”

  Mackenzie hollered for Logan to join her in one of the corners, and Logan's hesitancy was obvious to all.

  “Take it easy on me?” he asked. “I'm bleeding. Possibly concussed.”

  “Get over here, already!”

  “So you against me then?” Ryan asked once more.

  “No, I'm going to show you how to properly throw a punch, and then you're going to practice against the dummies.”

  “You can't be serious.”

  Eva was already heading over to the practice dummies. “It's this or you sit out… And sitting out isn't an option here.”

  “Do you really think I'm so pathetic that I can't spar like the others?”

  “I think you need to learn some basics. When you've got it down, then you can try to spar with someone again,” Eva said.

  Not satisfied with that answer, he asked, “And how long do you think it will take for me to get it down?”

  She shrugged. “It depends. A few weeks, maybe.”

  “You can't train me any faster than that? I thought you
were supposed to be one of the best at what you do.”

  “She is one of the best, and I suggest that you remember that before she proves it by beating you to a bloody pulp,” Kenichi growled. He and Aria were both looking over at them. Apparently, Ryan had been a little loud.

  “Thank you, Kenichi, but I've got this handled. Please return to your sparring.” Eva directed her attention back to Ryan. “The first thing you're going to learn is how to properly punch.”

  Chapter 8

  Three weeks had passed since his first Friday training session and Ryan still wasn’t allowed to spar with the others. However, despite Ryan's decision to not care about his teammates, he couldn't help but notice the air of tension surrounding the group at breakfast that morning.

  “What's going on?” he asked while taking his usual seat.

  “Nothing for you to worry about,” Mackenzie remarked sharply.

  Ryan shrugged it off. He was getting used to Mackenzie's wild mood swings. He waited for someone else to tell him and was surprised when everyone remained silent on the topic.

  “Are you guys ready for the pit games this weekend?” Logan asked randomly.

  Aria refilled her coffee cup. “Shifter said he found me someone interesting to go against.”

  “Don't embarrass your opponent too badly,” Clarisse teased.

  Aria smirked. “No promises on that.”

  “What about you, Mackenzie?” Logan asked.

  Ryan had had it. “Is no one going to tell me what's going on?”

  “Let it go,” Kenichi said. “It doesn't concern you.”

  “Kenkun,” Clarisse said, her tone scolding. Ryan looked to Clarisse, hoping she’d inform him of whatever the others were trying to keep hidden. “I'm sorry, Ryan, but it's kind of a personal thing.”

  “I thought we were supposed to be a team,” Ryan reminded them.

  “You're the one who doesn't trust us!” Mackenzie's hands were clenched into fists and her voice was one pitch away from shouting.

  “Everyone, calm down,” Aria reprimanded in a soft tone.

  Ryan ignored her. “How am I supposed to trust any of you when none of you ever tell me what's going on? I've been here a month, and I still don't know where you guys go when you disappear on one of your trips. I don't know what happened to your last transportation specialist. All I know is that I have to go to classes four days a week then train with you guys on Friday. And you haven't even been letting me train with you!”

  “You're not ready yet,” Eva said. “That's why I want you to continue solo training for right now.”

  Ryan slammed his fist on the countertop. “This is complete and total bullshit!” He shoved away from the table sending his chair clattering against the floor. “I'm out of here.”

  No one tried to stop him. He stormed out of the villa and toward the main part of campus. Near the end of the ten minute walk, he realized how early for classes he was and slowed his pace. He eventually decided to explore the courtyard. As he wandered around the mostly deserted area, he spotted other students leaving their villas. From a distance they looked like small ants moving across the landscape.

  “Ryan!” Eloise jogged up to him. She seemed to notice his sour mood. “What's wrong?”

  “You can't trust anyone on this campus,” he said, a bit harsher than he would have liked.

  Eloise nodded. “It's hard, sometimes. The Owners throw us together and assume that because we all belong to them we'll automatically like each other or at least trust each other. It's the same way they expect us to trust them.”

  Ryan remembered the day Shifter had dropped him off at the academy. He remembered the Owner telling him he didn't care what Ryan thought of him. Shifter hadn't even tried to get Ryan to trust him.

  “I don't think Shifter's very big on the trust thing,” he said.

  “Oh! For a moment, I had forgotten your Owner was Shifter. No, Shifter's not very big on trust, not from what I've seen anyway.” Eloise reached over and locked hands with him.

  “Remember though,” she said, “even if you don't feel like you can trust me, you can still talk to me.”

  Ryan wanted to ask her how he could talk to her if he couldn't trust her. He had thought the two things were reliant on each other, but as he stared at Eloise he realized that out of everyone at the school, he trusted her the most. Hours spent working together in the garage and on the training courses had led him to become closer to her than any other student.

  A boy sporting a silver tie approached them. “El, you forgot your tablet,” he said and pulled the device from his backpack.

  “Oh. Thanks.” Eloise's face flushed as she took the device from him. “Oh! Ryan, this is Stewart. He's my team's strategy specialist. Stewart, this is Ryan.”

  Stewart held out a hand which Ryan tentatively shook. “You're on Shifter's team, right?”

  Ryan nodded. “Hopefully not for long,” he muttered.

  “What? Right. You’re just the temp placement until James gets back. Is he coming back? I thought he was either dead or had stolen a pass somehow.”

  It disturbed Ryan how casually students at Proserpine seemed to take death. “I don't know anything about James, and as far as I know, Shifter considers me a permanent team member.”

  “The team hasn't told you about their last transport specialist?” Stewart asked, one dark eyebrow arched up above the frame of his glasses before he shook his head. “You're not going to get anywhere with a team that doesn't trust you.”

  “Stewart,” Eloise hissed. “Be nice.”

  He shrugged. “It's the truth.”

  “I'm sure your team will work-”

  Ryan grunted. “He's right. My team has no chance if we don't trust each other. I'll have to find another way to escape.”

  “Maybe we could be of some help,” Stewart said.

  Ryan scoffed. “Why would you want to help me?”

  “If we help you escape, it'll be that much longer before Shifter's team gets a new transportation specialist. That means less competition for us. Not that they're real competition. They may get some of the higher scores, but they're too reckless to be a real threat. It'd really just mean one less annoyance and it would give us a chance to focus on the actual challenges.” He was quick to clarify.

  Ryan didn't care whether Shifter's team had a real chance at Vicara or not, and from the way Stewart had stumbled over his words, it seemed like they did. If there was any way he could get his freedom faster, he would take it.

  “How can I escape?”

  “Ryan!” Clarisse's voice rang out loudly.

  Stewart shook his head. “We'll finish this conversation later. I'll contact the rest of the team and one of us will get in touch with you as soon as we have a plan.” He placed his hand on the small of Eloise's back to steer her towards the main building. “Let's go before we're late for literature. Ryan, we'll see you around.”

  They were a far distance off by the time Clarisse reached him, skipping along at her usual strange pace. She gave him a curious look. “You're not still mad, are you?”

  Ryan took a deep breath. It was like dealing with a child sometimes. “What do you think?”

  “Are you mad at me?” She blinked up at him.

  “I'm not mad at just you.”

  That didn't seem to make things any better.

  Her smile never left her face, but it grew a little tighter. Her eyes watered to the point that it looked as if she would start crying at any moment. “We've agreed to have a meeting today after classes. We'll tell you what we can. We want you to trust us.”

  Ryan suddenly felt guilty that he had snapped at the girl, especially when one tear finally did fall.

  “We are very sorry that we've been keeping things from you,” she said.

  “I accept your apology. Please stop crying.” He reached a hand up intending to brush away the stray tear, but Clarisse jerked back before he could touch her. She seemed as shocked by her own actions as he was. Her mouth open
ed then snapped shut before any words could escape, and they both stood there for a moment staring at each other.

  They were spared any further awkwardness by Aria's approach. She looked them both over then turned to Ryan. “I assume you've been filled in.”

  “I told him,” Clarisse replied quickly.

  Aria continued to stare at him. “From now on, please keep your comm at least in listening mode. She shouldn't have to run around campus chasing you down to give you a message.”

  “Sorry about that,” Ryan said, wondering why Aria seemed so tense. She was normally one of the most relaxed members of the team. He quickly tapped at his comm and forgot he’d turned it off when he had stormed out of the villa.

  Aria took one of Clarisse's hands in hers. “Let's skip morning classes today. You can help me pack for my pit game.” Over her shoulder she called, “We'll see you after classes, Ryan.”

  Ryan watched them go with a sense of de ja vu before he finally decided to go to his own classes. It didn't matter what they told him that afternoon. His plan remained unchanged – escape and get back to Alex. She’d help him get rid of the bracelet.

  *

  When the girls were a good distance from Ryan, Aria stopped and pulled Clarisse to face her. She brushed away the tears that had streamed down Clarisse's face and tried to fix the running eyeliner as best as she could.

  “Are these real tears or fake ones?” Aria asked.

  “They came from my eyes.”

  Aria smirked. “Smartass.”

  She nudged Clarisse's face up to where the shorter girl was looking at her. It was an old habit. One finger placed under Clarisse's chin to indicate that the informant was to look up. There was no real force behind the action and Clarisse never protested the unspoken request.