Sun Harbor

Chapter 13: A battle and A kiss

It had been a couple hours since Sasha had Marcy had reunited with Anne and they had done enough catching up and talking about what had happened, they had an awkward moment though, like they each were keeping secrets from each other, It was pretty obvious,

It wasn't my business though and I had no intention of poking my head into theirs, I had a couple minutes before I had to make my way to the Gladiator Arena

Was there a battle? Yes,

Am I watching it? No,

It's more like I'm in the battle, but could I tell Marcy? Nope, she'd 100% try to talk me out of it and I had a streak to keep up,

Now you may be wondering, "Why is a 14 year old, small ghost-like child who's a 4 '2" girl fighting in a gladiator battle?" If you're not, then good for you, but if you are, your answer is there's a saying that the strongest warrior is not just man but one with the soul of goodness, both that and I have to prove myself, not to anyone but just myself,

I feel like it's the only way to prove to myself I have self worth, I've lacked that type of feeling for a while and it was draining,

For a moment I heard muffled voices, but then I realized,

It was Marcy talking to me,

"Tally-?? Are you okay?" She had a look of confusion but also concern, I don't know why but I felt of feeling of Relief,

"..What- Oh- I wasn't Paying attention" which normally happens, I've got the worst attention span that normally leads to me completely tuning out current situations,

"You looked like you were about to fall asleep standing...It sounds ridiculous but I wanted to make sure you were okay.." She looked at me like she was about to be broken up with, Again I felt a wave of relief, I'm pretty sure it was the fact she was checking up on my well being, It felt...relieving to have someone caring about me, I'm not sure if it was something I felt before

I'm not sure what face I was making but as soon as I felt my facial expression change Marcys expression changed into more a more concerned one,

It was enough for Marcy to put her arms around my shoulders and hug me, Which I don't know how but...I let her, I normally wasn't a fan of physical touch but Marcy was comforting and I wasn't sure if I should hug her back, Not gonna lie she was a little taller than I was,

She could easily wrapped her arms around my neck,

Then I realized It felt like internally like there was acid in my bloodstream and my hands, they had been shaking for the past 5 minutes, I didn't even realize It, I was having a panic attack that I didn't even know came on,

Then it faded after I realized it was a panic attack and it was a blurred experience, but after like 20 minutes all I had was sore chest from probably not being able to breathe,

But I eventually was on my way to the Arena, Marcy wasn't leaving my side for some reason, you'd think that after Reuniting with Anne she'd stay with her,

The hallways through the arena were open and made with stone there was a lot of people talking and making bets, Marcy was covering her ears I guess she didn't like loud noises, I gave her a simple pat on the back and gave her headphones I had, she seemed to look better,

My aunt Fiona started talking directly with Marcy, Sasha and Anne about something and I took that opportunity to slip away to the Arena's Bloodworks, it's like a Locker room for battle equipment and also for training all that but without the actual lockers

I had my battle gear in a chest on a stone shelf it was a leather with dragon scale gauntlets with and a leather chestplate like corset with straps that go over the shoulders, along with black cotton leggings with black leather boots with scales, a dark purple tank top underneath my gear, my scars were showing but I didn't care,

I had to pull my hair into a low ponytail with 2 braids pulled into it, the braids represented my past victories in battle,

I was given my newly polished spear and a dragon scale helmet it covered most recognizable parts of my face like my nose and my forehead,

Twenty seconds later the arena's seats were filled with people, the loud announcer Introducing my Opponent.

Cayden the Chaotic. He was 16, as Tall as a giant but didn't have any muscle on him, he had long black hair and 2 braids like me,

Then me,

The Talon. No one publicly knows my name or face as a Gladiator, But if it lost it would mean public humiliation.

He raised his sword and shield and the match began.

I was quickly able to avoid his attacks but he was able to get strikes in,

"Why fight? You're going down regardless!" He mocked, and he swung his sword at me again and I used my spear to block it. "You know you're useless. A pathetic girl!" Then I kicked him in the shin making him stumble and then shoved my spear at him which he blocked with his shield,

He was right though, I was Pathetic, I was Useless, his words just reinforced my constant hatred for myself. But at the same time he was also pathetic,

"You are too Dumbfuck. You're just to STUBBORN." I shoved my spear upwards knocking his balance off and tried to strike him down but he dodged and swung his sword at my head which I ducked, but then

My helmet fell off.

There were so many gasps in the crowd, Then i saw Marcy sitting in the crowd with Sasha and Anne tge three of them looking like someone just got murdered, my Aunt knew but she still looked surprised, I was caught so off guard Caydens sword slashed across my face cutting my nose and under my right eye,

Next thing I knew I was knocked to the ground and Cayden was declared the Victor.

I had lost.

I stood. Turned my back and held back burning tears and he grabbed my hair and slashed it short. Ripping my braids off and declaring I was the loser.

I was.

I was the loser.

I felt so exposed and weak. Everyone was escorted out and I was wrapped a linen blanket hiding myself and I ran past people before they recognized me, I ran to the Harvest fields and I couldn't stop crying,

What was wrong with me.

I felt arms wrapped around my neck hugging me, It was Geneva. I had known her since we were 9 years old, she was shy but kind, she had one of the most sympathetic smiles and she was always so sweet and caring,

"Its okay Tally...you did your best..." Her kind words were always Calming but it made me cry more. I really wanted someone for ages to say I had tried my best,

Hearing her say that, I knew how much she cared about me,

My eyes were burning with tears still, but she held my face and pressed her forehead against mine, I couldn't really help myself but I wrapped my arms around her waist, I had developed feelings for her years ago, I eas scared to tell her I was a Lesbian, but after time she began Subtlety dropping hints that she was also attracted to woman,

she would express interest in women by saying things like "I would date her if I was a Guy" and once made her girl dolls kiss, she once said she liked poems by the Greek poet Sappho who inspired her to start writing poetry and stories, which she's really good at, her writing is amazing

She had soft hands and I held one in mine, her other hand on my cheek, her thumb swiping against the cut on my face and it didn't hurt,

"That's gonna leave a scar.." Her face softened and looked sad,

"I know it will..it's stupid but I'm glad you're here right now.."

"It's not stupid Tally..."

"It feels stupid.."

There was a moment of silence before we looked at eachother and locked eyes, I can say for sure she blushed, our faces inches away,

She leaned in,

I leaned in,

We kissed.

It was a tender moment, her arms wrapped around my neck and she ran her fingers through the messy chopped hair, My arms wrapped around her waist and this was out first kiss together,

It was sweet,