Renevere Mars: Part Two

Episode 8: Better

Five months passed. It had now been a year since Renevere Mars left her quiet home of Parinth and started on the path of the warrior. In the passing time she had turned 17. Her occasional dates with Tannah turned into the occasional nights spent at his apartment, which turned into a regular occurrence, which turned into an establishment of a relationship. Ren would never admit aloud to even an empty room that their relationship had begun out of spite for unrequited love, because it didn't matter. Once she'd given him a chance, she'd fallen for Tannah's boyishness, his love of parties and people, his eternally light air, his easy skill in battle.

Turned out, the bandages around his neck hid glands that filtered air as part of a secret cha. He never took them off except to wash and in battle. He was a skilled warrior, destined to soon graduate the Academy and make Homalith rank, becoming a true warrior. She was proud to have him as her partner, as he was to have her. After all, she'd finished her first year of the Academy, which meant she was done with traditional classes. The Year of the Wolf was over, signifying the time for a new rush of recruits to enter Ossilith, the Year of the Hawk. She was no longer the newest kid on the block. She'd come a long way in the year she'd been a Prelith, and soon it would be time to prove it.

"Good, mind your blind spot," Duren said, watching closely as Ren faced both Sam and Cara at once. It was a familiar set up; the three of them in an open field, no chas, only physical attacks and fake knives.

She ducked and rolled, dodging Cara's forward advance and moving far enough from Samuel that she was out of harm's way. Once righted she saw that the move had caught them slightly off guard, for only a moment. She took advantage, jumping forward and cutting Sam across his side, making for the second strike to his core.

"Gotcha," she said triumphantly, leading to a groan and a head shake from Sam as he trudged off the field. Now only Cara remained. The two girls looked at one another determinedly. Ren had the upper hand in size and strength, but Cara was quick, and fast witted. Ren would just have to be faster.

She darted in and their knives banged against each other, making wooden clacking sounds as they hit, clap, clap, clap! They danced around the battle field until they were both panting and dragging. They were evenly matched, but someone would slip up eventually.

Ren, in a moment of distraction, allowed herself to glance over at Duren at the edge of the field. He was staring down at something in his hands. She dropped her guard, letting her hands fall to her sides in exasperation. Without taking a moment to ascertain why, Cara flew forward and pocked Ren in the chest with the fake knife.

"Ow," she said, scowling at Cara and then at Duren. "You're not even watching!"

He glanced up after a pause and then back down to the paper in his hands, eyes dragged to the words. "Sorry," he said absently.

Ren shook her head and rolled her eyes, approaching him with Cara following. "The Second Test is tomorrow; I need to be ready."

Duren didn't respond for a long moment, making Ren glower. She stood just before him and used her index finger to pushed the top of the paper down over the bottom where he read so he couldn't any longer. He looked up at her, exasperated.

"You're ready," he said, for the hundredth time.

"I need to be sure."

"Well, I'm sure, you're ready. Now shoo, I've got to read this..." He walked off distractedly, Ren shaking her head at him as he did.

"Well, guess we're done for the day," she resigned.

"Thank god, I'm starving," Sam chirped, walking past Ren and Cara, heading straight for the Main Street restaurants. Ren skipped out on eating with her team, as she did unfortunately often, in order to meet with Tannah at his apartment.