by Billy Wong
Elliot excitedly raised a hand. "Wait, what about the kind of weapon they were killed with?"
"They were both killed with short blades according to the guards. Since anybody can get their hands on a short blade with ease and there seemed to be nothing special about the wounds, I doubt that'll be much of a clue."
They looked at each other for a bit, then Rupert asked, "By the way, why didn't you ever tell me Peggy joined?"
"Yeah," Elliot said, "I was a little surprised by that too."
Meg gave a weak grin. "I wanted to surprise you guys when you finally met as club members. Too bad that good surprise was marred by a bad one on the same day."
"Did you learn what her fighting style is? When I tried to ask, she brushed me off with an excuse about a lady's secrets."
"Actually, no. In Martial Club she tends to study techniques she's less familiar with, which doesn't give much of a hint."
"I'm picturing a bunch of tiny daggers hidden under her clothes to match her tiny frame," Rupert mused, "which might serve her well if she and the murderer meet."
Patrick laughed. "If something like that happened, I don't think any of us could say we'd be displeased."
#
They rescheduled the next stage of the tournament to earlier in the day to accommodate the two matches left over from the first. Commander Ravensgrave expressed concern that continuing the tourney might tempt the killer to strike again, but they convinced her to let it go on for the sake of showing solidarity with an increased security detail from her guards. Peggy greeted Rupert and Elliot when they passed close to each other now, but didn't seek out further conversation.
With a week's gap before the next tourney date, Elliot looked forward to a class event in the middle of it. "They're bringing tulvares to show us for science class," he reminded Rupert one morning on their way out of the dorm. "You said you've seen them before, are they really as scary as some of the kids say?"
Tulvares were carnivorous reptiles from the northwestern country of Kureau, which had been domesticated by the people there as mounts and guard animals. "They aren't that scary. I mean they're big, but the ones I've seen were docile enough." Granted they could be used for battle and wreak havoc with their claws and teeth, so some who had heard stories of such being intimidated by them was understandable.
When the time came for applied science class, Professor Grace led them outside to the courtyard garden for which they had been denied tourney use. Kind of funny they would let large animals in there by contrast, but then the animals probably wouldn't be doing much besides standing and walking around. Three creatures already stood at the center along with a single well-built trainer in his early fifties with a thick brown beard. The tulvares resembled lean bipedal lizards with a single horn curving forward from the top of their heads, over six feet tall and ten feet long with thick powerful tails sticking out behind them to balance their bodies.
Many of the students looked nervous at the sight of their much larger than human heads full of sharp teeth and equally fearsome claws, and the trainer reassured them, "Worry not youngsters, these babies have been raised since birth to obey the tamers of Kureau. They pose no threat, unless I were to order them to eat you."
Several boys and girls paled, and Grace remarked, "That may not have been the most appropriate jest. I would appreciate if you could stay professional at least while you are here."
"I apologize ma'am, just trying to liven up the mood. I'll stick to the facts from now on." Rupert thought her a little harsh, but then there probably was room for a variety of teaching styles at school just like there was for different styles of combat.
"These are tulvares," she said for the class, "predators native to the connected sky islands of Kureau which have evolved an extremely strong foot grip for navigating the thin rock bridges between islands and powerful legs for running and jumping. Despite their reptilian appearance, they raise their young in a similar fashion to mammals, and in the wild primarily feed on larger creatures they hunt in packs. Now Tamer Beck, can you enlighten us on how the tulvares came to be domesticated, and their relationship to humans?"
The man began, "It was originally discovered tulvares could be befriended by offering them food, by an explorer who was almost killed by them beforehand. As more interaction with them revealed great intelligence relative to other reptilians-"
"The beasts don't look too happy," Elliot whispered to Rupert.
He looked. They indeed glanced around agitatedly this way and that, opening and closing their great jaws in ominous manner. "Professor, the animals seem rather skittish..."
Tamer Beck frowned. "Nobody said it was your turn to talk yet. They're fine, I'm sure it's just the env-" One of the creatures walked forward behind him and slashed him across the neck with its front claws. Blood sprayed as his eyes bulged and he pitched forward, landing facedown in the flowers.
Students screamed. Some tried to run for the exit only for the largest tulvare which had struck down Beck to leap over the spread out line of them and block their path. The other two stalked towards the kids, who milled about aimlessly in panic. Professor Grace interposed herself between them. "Everyone stay calm! There are dozens of us and only three of them, if we don't show fear maybe they'll hesitate to-" A tulvare lunged. She tried to jump back, but was too slow as its claws ripped across her middle. Falling to her back with bloody furrows on her upper abdomen, she looked up dazedly with fluttering eyelids, and the terrified cries of the students intensified.
"Gods we're all going to die!" "Somebody do something!" "Wake up the trainer so he can stop them!" "The trainer's dead, you moron!" "Where are the guards, Commander Ravensgrave help!" "This never happened before, so they thought the trainer and his creatures could be trusted..."
Rupert reached for the knife procured from Avery's friend and drew it. A surprisingly calm voice spoke up behind him. "You're going to fight them with that?" Peggy asked.
"Somebody has to try, and I'm pretty dangerous with my bare hands let alone even a small blade. Anything's better than standing there and waiting to die."
"True, but it still seems tad too risky." She stepped forward past him, pulling what looked like a tiny wand from her belt pouch. "Let little PP handle it this time."
"What on earth are you going to do?" The wand looked solid... to some extent... with its sturdy handle and ball-like head, but would be much less effective as a bludgeoning weapon of its size than even his knife. "Do you... cast spells?"
"No." Then she shouted, "Lolipop Full Scale!" The wand glowed white, and there was a flash of light. When it subsided enough to see again, Peggy held in her hands a gigantic version of the wand—the handle as long as she was, the round metal head rivaling her whole torso in mass. "PP may stand for my name, but it also stands for something else—Pow Pow!"
"Pow Pow?" Elliot asked in bewilderment.
"As in going Pow Pow upside monster skulls!" She darted at the pair of tulvares, swinging her wand—well, more like a giant mace now Rupert supposed—in a wide arc. It collided with one's head in a shower of teeth, then went on to slam into the neck of the other and visibly snap it as it folded around the metal. Both beasts flew backwards, flopped down to lie still with blood pooling under them. Rupert's jaw dropped. That mace must have weighed as much as her if not more—no way she should be able to wield it, let alone swing it with such torque and devastating force.
"What, is that thing enchanted to make it feel lighter to you?" Elliot asked, echoing his thoughts.
"You can think that if you want." Considering it had been magically shrunken so she could carry it around with her discreetly, Rupert assumed something like that to be the case, especially since the alternative involved her having nigh impossible strength for her size.
Peggy strode towards the last tulvare, the big one around seven feet tall with a particularly long horn which stood snarling in front of the door. "Be careful," a girl warned, "that's the alpha!"
"Did you just make that up?
" a boy asked.
"I've heard of some animals being alphas among their kind... given its appearance, I figure it might be."
As she approached it, the tulvare sprang. She leapt straight up over its bite, raising the mace high. "Gate to Peg-atory!" It came down, crushing the reptile's head into the ground so that it burst. Blood shot out in all directions, painting the foliage with streaks of crimson.
"It seems like PP might be the bigger alpha," said the girl who had spoken before.
"Gate of Peg-atory sounds silly," Rupert commented while she hefted her weapon out of the wreckage of skull with a squishing sound and the rest of the class gaped in disbelief. "And you call your weapon Lolipop? Naming it after a sweet snack popular in Plasbias isn't the most intimidating."
"It looks like a lolipop. Why does its name need to be intimidating, when its function serves for that?"
He gazed around at the mangled corpses of the tulvares. "Fair point."
Elliot ran over to Professor Grace. "Professor! Are you all right?"
"Ouch," she said, writhing weakly on her back. "Hurts like... well, like being clawed by a giant lizard, but I'll probably live. How's Beck?"
He went over to check, paling at the sight of exposed bone. After a moment, he confirmed softly, "He's dead."
"Damn. He's been bringing his beasts over for a decade and a half and nothing even close to this has ever happened. It sounds like the tulvares are no longer attacking, how were they stopped?"
The danger over, Rupert tucked away his knife. "A certain pigtailed girl showed them her initials stand for Pow Pow." Seeing that the trainer was dead, Peggy looked more somber as she wiped blood off her mace.
Not a minute later, Sabina appeared with a handful of guards and coolly appraised the carnage. "What happened here?" After being told, she approached Peggy while her subordinates tended to Grace and Beck's body. "That's one hell of a weapon. Mind if I take a look?"
"Sure, just be careful." She handed it over, and the guard leader's eyes widened. Apparently surprising her, it dragged her arms downward with its weight and almost hit the ground before she adjusted and held it up.
"I'm shocked a girl like you can wield such an unwieldy club. How did it even get here, you don't carry it around."
"I do. It shrinks down for ease of travel." She demonstrated as she took it back and said, "Lolipop Small Scale." It returned to its tiny size, and she replaced in her pouch.
Sabina blinked. "Interesting. I suppose I need to thank you for halting the rampage before any more blood was shed."
"You're welcome, and no problem."
The guards determined the tulvares' food had been poisoned with a drug which reverted them to a feral state causing them to go berserk. While not certain, it soon became popular theory that the murderer was also behind this. If they didn't care too much about taking lives by their own hand, they might be willing to let other beings aid in terrorizing the school.
Later, Rupert and Elliot met up with Meg. "The twintailed sugar princess is that strong, huh?" she mused after they recounted the day's events. "She sounds almost like my old friend Taryn, except for being half the size. Not surprising she kept her style a secret in hindsight."
Rupert chuckled. "Indeed, the lolihammer of doom doesn't go so well with the rest of her. Her image is probably well established enough by now that people won't view her too differently, though. After learning this about her, think you might induct her into the inner circle with me and Pat? You and her might go well together, Meg and Peg."
She raised her brow. "That reminds me of another Peg. But PP would be a lot less defenseless than her... Anyway, I don't know. She may have skills, but I doubt she'd want to put as much time into promoting fight training as us."
"I guess so considering all her other interests," Elliot said. "Well, at least we know how qualified a judge she really is. I hope now with another good fighter revealed among us, the murderer will be more hesitant to act again."
"Hopefully, but I doubt it'd deter them for long being as deranged as they are. If they're the same person who drugged the tulvares, it should at least narrow the suspects down to those who had access to their food."
"We don't know if anyone gained unauthorized access to it though, but investigating who could have gotten close to the food might help. Wait, could it have been somebody from our class while we were there? Depending on how quickly the drug acts..."
"I doubt it," Rupert replied. "When we arrived the tulvares were in the center, no way one of us could have gotten to them and tainted their food in the short time before they went out of control. Besides, they didn't even eat when we saw them."
"You're right, it was just a thought. Considering only one trainer accompanied them, I wonder if anybody assisted him while they were here?"
"Now that's a better angle to explore," Meg said. "I'm sure the guards are already looking into it, but let's keep our ears open for anything they might miss."
The next day, Rupert was on his solitary way to lunch as usual when someone poked him in the arm. He looked quickly to the side and down to see Peggy. "D-do you need something?"
"Ever the awkward one, I see. Considering you have friends and an important position in a club now, are you really still this jumpy?"
"Even if I've become a little more sociable, I still have times I prefer to be alone like when I eat. Anyway you hardly know me, isn't it a bit rude to call somebody out like this?"
She grinned. "It's just small talk, I'm not seeking to have an in depth discussion of your personal issues." That was besides the point, but he could let it slide this time—better that than to risk a catastrophic collision with the dread lolihammer, after all. "I only mean to ask, when are you going to ask me to join your little private sessions with Meg and Patrick?"
"I wasn't aware we were going to ask you. Besides, my meetings with them were just to help plan the tournament. Now that the plans are complete and the tourney is already underway, we don't really need anyone else to pitch in." Peggy's face fell in disappointment, and he added, "Aren't you too busy for any more extracurricular activities? Not that I know much about your schedule, but you're practically infamous already for having a whole lot."
"I mean, that's kind of true. But not all of them are equal priorities for me. Now that my secret's out of the bag, I figured I could associate more with others like myself such as Diamond Fang and the Breastslayer."
He smacked his forehead. "That nickname is on the verge of making me quit school... and what secret, your fighting style? It raises more questions than answers, but aside from that you needn't come to any special elite school warrior meetings or something. Just talk to Meg and Pat more if you want to know them better, they're pretty open and will probably get along with you. Heck, I already suggested that 'Meg and Peg' might go well together."
"You did? What about you, would you mind me sitting with you at lunch?"
"I, um, I'm not really good with girls."
She pouted. "What kind of reaction is that, aren't you friends with Meg? I'm not asking to court you, you know."
"Okay, but I barely think of that little scarred up monster as a girl. While you're pretty girly."
"You don't need to think of me as a girl. I may not be that scarred, but I can be fairly monstrous as you saw. Just let the words flow, maybe we won't make good friends but you never know until you try."
"I normally prefer to eat alone..." Rupert smiled. "I suppose I can make one exception for a very special girl."
"That sounds suspiciously like a flirt."
He recoiled. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that! I'm just intrigued to uncover more of the secrets of the mysterious Pow Pow."
"And I the same towards the Br—actually, I'll be nice and not use that name."
"I'm grateful for that."
In the cafeteria, they picked up their trays of food, then Peggy followed him to his usual spot. "I thought you said you weren't good with girls? But you sit with a bunch of them."
&nb
sp; He glanced at the occupants of the other side of the table, who didn't look back. "Yeah, but we don't talk."
"I was just teasing, I figured as much." She stuffed chunks of beef and potato into her mouth, her rapid chewing seeming to hardly interfere with her speech. He felt a slight camaraderie that she ate quickly like him and didn't mind talking with her mouth full, though he at least had to slow his chewing when he did. "Where are you from and what do your parents do?"
"I'm from Wuherth, in the north of Ostuh. My father's a carpenter, and my mother just takes care of my younger siblings and her husband when he's not at work."
"A carpenter? That's a tad surprising. Not many craftsmen send their children off to college with the cost, plus I'd have expected him to want you to carry on the family trade."
Rupert shrugged. "My father's pretty successful as far as carpenters go, and saved up enough money. My parents tell me they want me to explore more options before deciding what to do with my life since I have a brother who loves woodworking and could inherit the business, but I think they had me come here more in hopes of having me get out, meet people and be less of a loner. I didn't think it would succeed, but I guess it is to some extent."
"I bet your carpentry background helped Meg and Pat out making those rings. Do you really have no friends at all back home? That sounds like a tough life."
Her candor could be slightly irritating at times, but he supposed it was also part of her charm. "It's not tough when you're used to it. There are things you can spend your time doing alone, like read."
"Seems boring to have your head stuck in a book all day, but maybe the books you read are more exciting than the ones we do for class."
They shared a brief silence, then he thought maybe it would be appropriate for him to return the interest she'd shown in him. "What do your parents do, to have a daughter with such a unique combination of personality and fighting skills?"
She giggled. "I wouldn't have taken you for a flatterer." Unique wasn't inherently a positive trait, though... "My dad is a famed southern warrior who moved to Ostuh after falling in love, and my mom a powerful sorceress though more than competent in melee herself." Oh. "My weapon Lolipop is modeled after Dad's, and enspelled by Mom so it can be carried around easily. As for my personality, I don't see why it would be so strange. My parents were both carefree adventurers in their day, so they just molded me to be much the same way."
