“Also, you punched Harry in the stomach. Are you crazy? He is twice your size!” Delma said, looking worried.
“He is, and yet he was the one coughing up blood,” Rose replied, smiling at the memory.
“Because Taylor got there before he could retaliate!” Delma protested.
“Even if he hadn’t, Harry couldn’t have done shit to me,” Rose said, starting to stuff her face with dessert.
“When is your first match?” Anna asked.
“Tomorrow. I need to compete in three selection matches before I qualify for the quarter final," Rose replied.
"Are you sure about this? No one has ever died, but it has resulted in some serious injuries. Just in the last competition, one of the competitors lost their leg,” Delma said.
Rose sighed and put her spoon down. “Look, I know you girls are worried, but this is all I have ever wanted. These people might be bigger and stronger, but I am faster, more agile, and sharp witted. They use strength alone. I use agility, momentum. I read body language, and I know how to play mind games. I can strategize better than any of these fools. I got this, you girls! I just need you to trust me and cheer me on!”
Delma sighed. “Yea, okay. We do trust you, and nothing would make us happier than watching you win.”
“Yea, you go girl. We are behind you at every step,” Anna said.
“Aww, thank you, guys,” Rose said, pulling them in for a hug. “Now, if you excuse me, this girl has to for training.”
Rose got up, drinking some water. She gave her friends a wave and then ran off. She had a competition to win.
∞∞∞
Rose had been training hard the past day. In fact, she had barely done anything else. Today was the first day of the selection matches, and Rose was waiting for her turn.
Currently, a young wolf named Albert was having a match with Taylor, and Taylor was clearly winning. The young wolf didn’t stand much of a chance against the more experienced and stronger Taylor. The match ended as expected, with Taylor snagging his first victory.
Both Taylor and Harry had already won their matches and stood in the crowd, drinking Sayor and cheering loudly. The next match up was between Shella and Andrew, both powerful contenders. Rose continued to warm up as she watched the matches. Her turn was up next.
The match started and almost instantly Andrew had the upper hand. He was vicious, snarling and growling, attacking Shella. He barely gave her time to respond, keeping her on the defence. Rose continued to stretch, her eyes on the match. She was rooting for Shella, but it seemed like Andrew would win this.
Andrew kept on attacking, slashing at Shella repeatedly. In fact, it seemed like the match was decidedly going to be won by Andrew. Then, the battle turned. Rose even stopped stretching, she was so shocked. Shella had somehow managed to slash Andrew in his eyes, and when he had fallen back in pain, she had pressed her advantage. She attacked him just as viciously as he attacked her, slashing and biting.
She managed to pin Andrew down for the required ten seconds and won the battle. Rose was so impressed by her, that she barely heard her own name being called.
“Rose vs Brenda,” the announcer called out. Rose finally heard the second time and ran towards the clearing.
“Alright. We have Rose on the left side, our first-time competitor! On the right side, we have Brenda, who has competed in the last two championships and made it to the semi-final!” the announcer said. “I want a clean match, ladies. No tearing off limbs, no deep slashes that damage the internal organs, no attacks to the neck or to the head.”
Rose nodded and got ready to shift into her wolf form. Brenda, her opponent, was tall, broad shouldered, and experienced. She smiled at Rose, looking at her up and down. Rose knew she was judging her to be an easy target and faked a smile back.
“Alright, shift,” the announcer said, and Rose called onto the wolf deep in her. She felt her bones and muscles start to contort, her claws and nails start to elongate. Her body became covered in hair as she slowly turned on all fours. Brenda had transformed as well, and as a wolf, was even larger than before.
“Fight,” the announcer said.
Rose lunged at Brenda, knowing she wouldn’t be able to do much damage. She planned on getting Brenda to dodge and use her momentum to hit her. Only Brenda took her head on. She let Rose land on top of her, and then gave her a powerful kick. Rose went flying through the air, falling to the ground.
Rose got up, but she wasn’t fast enough. Brenda had long powerful legs, and she lunged at Rose, slashing her in her back. Rose howled as she felt the claws in her back, her body starting to bleed.
She pushed Brenda away, and jumped at her again. Brenda jumped as well meeting her in mid-air. Rose turned at the very last moment. Sinking her chin down, she curled up. Brenda went flying over her head, and Rose slashed her stomach open.
Brenda fell down, bleeding. Rose had finally managed to land a blow, but she knew she hadn’t cut deep enough to cause any serious injuries. Brenda got up and lunged towards Rose. Rose dodged at the last moment and turned to slash at Brenda again. Only, she miscalculated her movements.
Brenda had taken a leaf out of Rose’s book and used her own move against her. Brenda had curled up and turned around, slashing Rose in her shoulder once again. The wound opened wider, and Rose collapsed on the floor. Rose made a move to get up, but Brenda was faster. She jumped on Rose, pinning her down.
The announcer started to count, and Rose tried to struggle and get out of Brenda’s grip. The struggle was futile, because Brenda’s strong legs meant that she could pin Rose down very well. Rose heard the announcer reach to ten, and the buzzer went off, declaring the match had ended.
