Sun & Moon

Chapter 29 - Astrid

She steps out onto the courtyard shooting eyes of protest at the old man.

Guru told me many of the fighters in the barracks were quite inexperienced and it would help to see how someone like them could handle a match up against someone like Bianca. He would have asked Valentina to spar as a live demonstration on how to defeat a stronger vampire, but she's currently incapacitated by the thin mountain air.

So, I accepted Guru's request because Bianca and I haven't done this in 4 years since high school.

And also, because I want to kick her ass a little.

"For the sake of the fighters watching, you may shift at will," Guru suggests.

"I'll stick with hand-to-hand," she replies. "Wasn't exactly a fan of having my arm crushed between large tiger fangs this morning."

I raise an eyebrow at this and catch sight of a young man in the corner scoffing at her remark.

"Begin!"

I take off my black parka jacket to reveal the white turtleneck underneath and tie up my hair. Bianca still dons the tracksuit she wore before. Her shaggy and short hair was a surprise when I first saw her shift out of her wolf. All my life, she's had the most beautiful, long, blonde hair that framed her figure like a golden cloud. But the Bianca I knew is gone. She's changed in such a short span of time.

Bianca gets into her stance and comes at me. She always made the first move because I was cautious of her speed. She starts with her signature jab-uppercut combo, all of which I memorized and she grins at our mirrored movements.

"Just like old times, huh?" she says.

As she steps in for another jab, I push down on her inner elbow. As the collapse disorients her a little, I take a step to her side and backhand slap her across the face. She looks startled, but I know it barely hurt her.

"What the hell, Astrid!" she exclaims.

"You didn't see that coming, did you?" I taunt her.

Yes, it's a little mean, but it doesn't hurt to get some of my frustration out on her in a healthy sparring session.

Bianca flares her nostrils at me and we go again. This time, she leaves no opening for me to strike her back until she deals a blow to my rib and immediately apologizes for it. I retaliate across her jaw. She stumbles back, confused, and I smirk.

"You wanna do it this way? Fine!" Her voice is gruff like she's activated a part of her wolf counterpart.

Her green eyes glow brighter as she pulls her lips back to snarl. That's when I realize my eyes are glowing as well and somehow my canines have elongated.

Bianca isn't punching anymore. Every forward step and strike she makes is open-handed as her posture hunches down a little. She's tapped into her beast. Our training sessions when we were teens were never like this because the transitional stage between human and beast could get unpredictable. I guess all bets are off now.

Bianca gets a good, deep scratch on my thigh and it buckles to the ground. With the other hand, she open palm uppercuts my jaw, leaving me to fall back. Some of the fighters watching us gasp at the savagery of Bianca.

That's it.

Before she can get me while I'm down, I roll over to the side and shift into my tiger form, shredding my clothes into pieces and shaking out into a mass of fur. I manoeuvre myself a safe distance away from Bianca. I roar at her in all my rage, then charge forth and tackle her to the ground. Her green eyes are open wide and manic from the weight that I push against her. Suddenly, her features change and morph as white fur seeps through every pore until she herself has shifted into her white wolf.