Planet Omega

Chapter 14

Will and I clash wooden staffs in what feels like the most unfair of fights ever. Pitting a human against a mutant-shifter is the most bullshit of things I've ever experienced, especially because that shifter can literally shift extra muscles for added strength onto It.

The difference between Will and me though, is that I have actual weapons training, and Will has the ability to shift and fight feral if they so desire. We've been practicing for a couple of weeks, and Will finally figured out the footing for both offense and defense positioning. That, with the added shifting of muscles for extra strength, Will manages to sweep my feet out from under me and I hit the ground hard.

"Fuck," I curse loudly from the dirt, inspecting the palms of my hands for the damage done. Only a few scrapes as I'd caught myself from hitting my head in the fall. Still, pride swells up in my chest. "That was quick. You did a good job, Will."

Will blinks their yellow feline eyes at me, looking as proud as I feel. While normally in an animal form, Will's taken to using their humanoid form for combat training, which has been helping with their overall balance and technique. Of course, the only rule Will has to abide by when training and fighting in their humanoid form is they have to wear clothes. It might save their life.

"I've figured out the sequence of events and how to use up the least amount of energy while still damaging my opponent!" they say, grinning widely, revealing two healthy rows of sharp and jagged teeth.

Well, they're as humanoid as they'll ever get, anyway.

I get up from the ground and pick up my staff. "You did good. You used what you have to your advantage."

"Shifting is your strongest suit, Will," Emma says from the sidelines. "You trust that ability more than anything else, so when in doubt, use it."

Will grins. "Yeah, I will. Thanks!"

Emma nods at me. "Want another opponent?"

"Yes, but I'm fighting Phin next," I say, turning my head to look over at the tall redhead leaning against the lamp post. Her knives are already drawn and ready to be used.

Unfortunately, spending time around Phin didn't necessarily clarify anything about her. We trust her not to murder us in our sleep (for the most part), but nothing about her is predictable, and she's only mentally stable when she wants to be. Half of me is convinced she does it to unnerve us, the sudden mood swings and the instant shift from violence to adoring whatever creature she's caught scurrying around.

She shares only as much as she needs to, so we know very little about her. But I can't blame her. Being vulnerable is fucking hard, especially in a group of people who don't trust you yet. Especially when there's obvious shit to sort through mentally, because not everything's quite as it should be up there.

I toss Emma the fighting staff. "Besides, I've memorized your moves with the staff." Will begins doing excited tippy taps with their toes, and I know it's taking everything to keep from shifting into an excitable creature. "You're in for a treat. Watch how much energy you consume as the aggressor - she's good at keeping her defensive positions."

"Hey, no cheating!" Emma calls out to me as I walk over to Phin. I merely lift my hand so that it's visible over my shoulder and flash Emma my middle finger.

Since returning from Artehm, we've acquired a nice array of weaponry. Will's been working on making arrows for us and even spears and stakes, but turns out there's a benefit to living near somewhere people consider a junkyard. We also found a lot of rusted weapons that we eventually figured out how to clean off once I managed to remove top layers with magic.

Not that iron weapons are as expensive as they used to be anymore, and really, it's the guns and ranged weaponry that costs the most, but considering the fact we're all basically wanted criminals, we can't just saunter into a store. Even if we weren't criminals, we can't just saunter into a store, not without identification and several layers of secure measures. Most people aren't able to buy the higher quality weapons simply because the empire wants to hold that sort of monopoly over the people.