Love of Two, Fate of Many Chapter 3
#3 of Love of Two, Fate of Many
Chapter 3
"Come on love, pin his ass to the ground!" Tsukiko yelled from the edge of the crowd. Her brother was locked in a grapple with a steer from the next village over. Weeks had gone by since the night they had their dreams and it was now the day of the annual wrestling contest.
She had already had her match and lost, but not before breaking her opponents leg by messing up one of his falls. The massive bear had still pinned her and won, but he had been deemed unable to continue.
Her opponent had had his leg set and wrapped and was given a makeshift crutch but refused to leave till he could see what his opponents brother could do. When he had taken a seat at the edge of the crowd to watch the next match, she went over and sat next to him. She had shook his hand, "Sorry I broke your leg like that," she said with her ears flattened and her ears down.
He surprised her by laughing and pulling her into a one-armed hug. "Little girl, if I had known you could do that, I would have asked to be matched with your brother. I think he would have beaten me."
She looked up at him and giggled. "He may be stronger than me, but I'm faster than he is. Fighting you, I'd say speed was anyone's greatest asset." She looked down at his leg, and frowned. "May I see it?" she asked.
"Of course little lady. You broke it after all," he said, lifting his leg for her.
She held it in her lap and felt gently along it for the break. She felt really bad for hooking her leg behind his and sitting on his foot when he landed like he did. She wished very much that the abilities she'd been told of had manifested already. She wished she could make it up to this honorable soul. She wished... She wished...
Her hands began to glow a soft white, and became filled with a cozy warmth, like when she was in front of a fire on a rainy night. The bear saw her hands and watched with wide eyes as the light seeped into his leg and seemed to alleviate the pain completely. He blinked and felt along the leg. He had all the feeling back, but no pain. He took it from Tsukiko's lap and placed it on the ground, testing it and found it to be completely solid. He looked back at her with a slightly gaped jaw. "You're a little young to be a priest little one."
She was astonished at what she had just done. She knew it would happen eventually, but she figured it would all start out small, not with a femur she had broken into four places. "I'm not," she finally admitted.
"You're even younger to be using magic." He said, his surprise growing.
"I don't," she replied. She looked up at him with a panicked expression. "Please don't tell anyone about this. You cannot imagine what might happen." She felt intense curiosity through her mental link with Hinata along with a small voice asking What's wrong mate?.
Don't worry, she sent to him along with a sense of calm. The link had gotten strong, but still wasn't completely reliable. Only about half of want they wanted to say went through. Is anyone watching us? She sent a sense of curiosity, warning, and the feeling of being watched.
There was a pause as she waited for his response. What she got back was a sense of security and safety. She sighed with relief.
During this exchange the bear studied her face and finally said, "Alright. But just tell me one thing." She nodded her ascent. "Now I'm not judgin' or nothing, and I personally think it's wonderful you found love so early if it's true, but" He looked around and asked, "Is it true that you and your brother are mates little one?"
She blushed and had a fleeting thought of denying it before catching herself. Being able to say it in public is exactly why we went through the ceremony in the first place, she berated herself. Out loud she said, "Yes we are." She said and made to get up and leave.
He put a paw on her shoulder and sat her back down. "Now wait a second. What are you leavin' for? I told ya, I think it's wonderful. I was jus' curious was all. It's just a rumor in our village and I wanted to know if it was true."
She felt a little aggression from her brother at the bear's paw on her shoulder. She looked at him and saw his own paw straying near his belt where he kept his daggers. "Yes it's true. And before I say anything else, you might want to take your paw off my shoulder before you gain an injury I don't know that I can heal." She said this as she pointed towards her brother.
The bear looked in the direction she indicated and jerked his paw away when he saw Hinata's expression. Her brother relaxed visibly, but kept a watchful eye on him. "That says it better than any words." The bear said with a smile.
"Ya know, it really does." She replied.
Hinata grunted as he tried to reverse the grapple to work to his advantage. The constant feeling of encouragement in the back of his head helped very little. He looked down and saw that the steer's right leg was locked. He ran the rules through his head quickly, even though he didn't have to.
No killing your opponent
No dismemberment
Broken bones allowed
No striking areas below the belt and above the knees
Pin count to ten
Count cumulative of all times you have been pinned
Automatic win if you knock out your opponent
Ring out loses
He saw nothing wrong with what he was about to do as the rules saw it. He quickly lifted his right leg and slammed his footpaw into his opponents right knee, shattering it on impact. Unfortunately, the move allowed the steer to topple him over and land on top of him. He weighed too much for Hinata to budge him.
"One." The official called.
The steer snarled in his ear. "How dare you break my knee you insolent whelp. I'm going to kill you for that."
"Two." The count increased.
"You couldn't even touch me in a real fight." Hinata spit at him, struggling to get out from under him.
"Three."
"No, but maybe your sister." His opponent said with a wicked smile.
"Four."
He looked up at her, and asked rhetorically, "Is she really your mate?"
Time seemed to slow around them as Hinata suddenly ceased struggling and focused intently on the steer.
"Oh, she is, isn't she. That's disgusting. Maybe I ought to take her out to the forest."
"If you touch her-"
"Seeeeeveeeen" The official seemed to be in slow motion.
"Maybe I'll punish her for fucking her brother. Show her why she shouldn't do something so repulsive." The steer was breathing a foul odor that infested Hinata's nostrils, like brimstone and rotten flesh.
Hinata was enraged beyond the point of rational thought. Even the calming, and questioning feelings in his head couldn't bring him back. If the steer said one more word...
"And I'll make you watch as I rape your sister, over and over and-"
Hinata exploded, his rage seemed to coalesce and take physical form, as an invisible force emanated from his hands and sent his opponent flying across the drawn circle to the other side, shattering his ribs with the force of impact. He jumped on top of the steer and saw that he had been knocked senseless. He looked around and realized what he had done.
The crowd erupted with applause as he stood up from his victim and showed the ref an unconscious opponent. The steer whispered something something to Hinata that only he could hear, but his eyes stayed closed and he remained unconscious. "And so you begin your descent into darkness, whelp."
Hinata watched as a small wisp flowed out of the steers mouth and disappeared into nothing. He looked to Tsukiko who was sending him worry and curiosity at the same time. He ran to her and grabbed her up in his arms. "What did he do to make you so... hateful?" She asked into his shoulder.
"He said things about you, that he was going to do to you for loving me, that I should have killed him for. And I would have if it was actually him." He replied, two tears streaking down his cheek towards her shoulder at the thought of what the massive male had been threatening.
"Oh, Hinata." She said as she kissed his cheek.
The bear Tsukiko had been talking to walked up behind them, faking a limp with his crutch. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Err, excuse me, Tsukiko? I hope I'm the only one that realized this, but not once did your brother show enough strength to lift that guy let alone shove him off and fifteen feet away. What happened?"
She looked at him then looked her brother in the eye looking curious and worried. "A very good question. What did happen? Was it..."
He nodded and hugged her tighter. He looked back at how it had felt to use the power. It had felt like a terrible thing to use, but it felt good to use it to defend the one he loved most.
Tsukiko also looked back at how it had felt when he used his power. But for her it was different. For what she had felt, was the beginning of the taint in her power.