Ivan landed a punch on Dimi’s forehead, making her lose her balance. This resulted with her landing on her behind.
“Come now, girl. We just got started.” Ivan hit his big gloves with extra padding together as the fifteen-year-old human girl wearing protective headgear and a pair of gloves blew a raspberry as she got back on her feet. They were sparing inside a square made of wooden fence that functioned as a makeshift boxing ring.
“This is dumb.” Dimi threw a combination of punches that Ivan blocked with his arms. “You are way too big to be my sparing partner.”
“We can’t afford hiring one.” Ivan hit Dimi on her left shoulder and then her arms, making her drop her parades. Instead of hitting her in the face, he pushed her with an open hand, making her take a step backward. “And I think sparing with me is what you need. Your opponent is bigger than you. Worse, she has a longer reach. That’s doesn’t just mean that she can hit you from a greater distance than you, it also means she can see your punches coming miles away since you have to keep your distance more than usual, meaning whenever you get closer to her she knows that you are about to throw a punch.”
“I know, I know...” Dimi pushed up her protective headgear to dry her forehead with the back of her arm.
“So we have to work on the three keys to beat a long-armed creature: Footwork, speed and timing. Your footwork has always been your strength, but you need to know how to time your attacks and when to step away. And so far you been unable to get near me and I keep making you land on your ass.”
Dimi scowled at Ivan as she raised her fists. “You are taller than Clarabelle.”
“Not an excuse, I’m going easy on you. And Clarabelle won’t have extra padding in her gloves like I do, so it will hurt a whole lot more when she uses your head as a drum.”
“You always know how to make me feel all special.”
Ivan threw a hook, but this one Dimi dodged. not only that, she seized this moment where the minotaur’s temporary lack of guards made him open. She dodged under his massive arm, took a step closed, and pummeled his stomach. But then Ivan stepped back and gently placed his gloved fist on her stomach.
“Better.” Ivan said. “But you take too long attacking me. You need to get out of the way as fast as you can after you hit me. Hit, run, hit, run. If I had punched you in the stomach right now, you would be flatten like a punctured balloon.”
“Ivan!” Aura came to the fetched square, carrying a chicken. “Minnie should do the trick, wouldn’t you say?”
Dimi looked at the chicken. “Is that our dinner?”
Aura grinned. “Nope, it’s your new sparing partner.”
Dimi narrowed her eyes while looking at Ivan. “... What?”
Ivan nodded. “Perfect. Dimi, take off your gloves and helmet, it’s chicken-catching time.”
“Wh...WHY?!”
“This is the speed part of your training. It’s an old training method that has been used by fighters with a low budget, meaning us. You are gonna chase that chicken, and if you can catch it with your bare hands, you can catch a lightning bolt.”
Dimi looked at the old minotaur as if he was insane. “You chased chickens when you used to box?”
“Of course not, animals are disgusting and I refuse to touch them.” Ivan jumped over the fence and leaned on it. He gave Aura the signal to release the chicken inside the fence.
Dimi landed in the dirt as she tried to jump on the animal. “Aura... doesn’t this count as animal abuse?!”
The sphinx shrugged. “Na. Minnie could benefit from some exercise, she needs to lose some weight.”
"It’s not enough to run after it, you need to outsmart it!” Ivan slapped his face as Dimi moved around like a crab. “We don’t have all day, I have horseshoes to make!”
Dimi panted as she leaned against the fence. She was almost sure the chicken looked at her mockingly. “Know something, Ivan?! It sometimes pisses me off that you always act like I don’t know what I’m doing!”
***
As Dimi kissed the canvas, she realized she had no idea what she was doing.
She grabbed one of the ropes that surrounded the boxing ring as she got up.
“Don’t rush it!” Ivan yelled from ringside as he hoped his voice wouldn’t be drowned out by the cheers and boos from the crowd in the Highway Hippogriff. “Don’t get up till the count of five!“
Back on her feet, Dimi raised her fists to show Maltus the Dwarf that she was ready to keep fighting, making the dwarf stop counting to ten and let the match continue.
The minotaur Clarabelle was a broad-shouldered young lady at Dimi’s age. But she had the advantage of weight and longer arms. Dimi was quicker on her feet, but Clara compensated for that by waiting for Dimi to make the first move to save her energy. She had the stamina to take a couple of quick hits if Dimi went past her longer reach and her punches packed more weight than the human girl’s did.
Seeing no other choice, Dimi moved closer to Clara and then exchanged blows with her, aiming at the girl-cow’s stomach to try make her lose her breath. Clara did take some damage, but Dimi was mostly at the receiving end as she staggered backward after a powerful left hook.
The the bell rang, ending round 3.
Dimi returned to her corner. She sat on her stool as a salamander guy entered the ring and paraded around the ring with nothing but a sign with the number four on it and a pair of tight pants that left little to nothing to the imagination. Clara was being tended to by her trainer who was a bald goblin with an eyepatch.
Ivan dried some blood from Dimi’s lip and then stuck a cotton-tipped swab inside her nostril. “You are doing fine, she is starting to get tired.”
“Not... soon enough.” Dimi groaned as Ivan sponged her now red-ish face.
Ivan nodded. “That’s right. So new plan: Aim for her big nose and eyes. Make it hard for her to breath and see.”
Dimi gurgled some water and spat it in the bucket Ivan held. “Eyes and nose. Got it.”
Ivan took the stool as Dimi got up. “And forget what I said about keeping distance for now. You have to take risks now, or you won't stand a chance at all.”
The bell rang, and Dimi practically ran toward Clara. Clara got surprised by Dimi being way more aggressive, and that allowed Dimi to land a couple of hard hits before Clara landed one on her stomach. Dimi rolled with the punch, but just barely. Dimi took a punch to the right shoulder that she could feel in the rest of the arm and then stepped forward and landed a hit on Clara’s flat ox-nose that was an easy target. and as a result, Clara winched.
Ivan nudged his temples while the rest of the crowd roared in appreciation.
Dimi looked worse for wear as she was bobbing and weaving to play defensively while still not getting too far from Clara. as Clara lowered her parades for an attack, Dimi used the opportunity to land three fast hits on the right eyebrow before the minotaur girl threw a punch so hard that it made Dimi step backward. Dimi got her guards up once more and saw that Clara nudged her now bleeding right eyebrow that had been split open. The minotaur girl now looked pissed as blood dripped near her eye.
“That’s right.” Dimi smacked her gloves together as she tried to smile as provocative as possible. “Come to mama.”
“Stop!”
The room became silent, mostly because everyone were surprised by the light but very loud and sharp voice that managed to cut through the many noise in the bar. Both Dimi and Clara looked confused as an male elf with red hair jumped inside the ring. Maltus looked annoyed at the elf with an armband that said doctor.
The elf went to Clara and held her head in his hands as he studied the cut. Then he went to Maltus and whispered something that made the dwarf look very displeased. It looked like the dwarf was pleading while the elf just shook his head. The elf then left the ring as fast as he could while Maltus went to Dimi and held her left glove, lifting as high as it was possible for him to do.
“The ring doctor has stopped the fight.” Maltus said. “The winner is Dimi the Human.”
And then, almost everyone in the crowd started to boo. Dimi looked at the very pissed patrons of the Hippogriff and heard words such as fixed, bribe and quack. Dimi looked and saw some satyr pushing Ivan who gave the guy a very patient but annoyed glare. Dimi then turned her attention toward Clara’s corner where the minotaur girl sat on her stool and narrowed her eyes as she stared at her own hoofs while her goblin trainer first had gotten her gloves off and then wrapped a bandage around the cut. Dimi awkwardly walked over to her. “So, um... that was unexpec-”
“DON’T THa-tha-TALK TO Mha-mah-ME!” Clare stood up and gave Dimi a furious glare as she stormed out of the ring.
“HEY! KIDDO!” The goblin yelled after Clara. “THAT AIN’T VERY SPORTSMAN LIKE OF YA, IS IT NOW!?” He sighed as he shook his head. He then shrugged at Dimi. “Sorry. Don’t take it personal or anythin’, it’s just her pride is hurtin’.”
“That’s okay...” Dimi had never felt this awkward after punching someone.
“Good fight.” The goblin jumped between the ropes and went to look for his fighter.
Ivan then came and split the ropes for Dimi. “Ivan!” Dimi looked completely lost. “What’s going on? How did I win?”
“Girl, we can talk about that later, we have to get you out of here before it gets ugly!”
As Dimi and Ivan left the ring and dodged to not get a bottle thrown at their head, Maltus yelled at them from the ring while shacking an angry fist at them. “You won’t get a single damn coin for this fight! You hear me, human?! NOT! ONE! COINC!”
But among the many creatures who voiced their disapproval of the outcome of the fight, there was one creature who was calm as he stretched his neck to see Dimi. “It’s her.” This creature said. “It’s really her. I found her!”
***
“What the heck is a technical knockout? OUCH! It stings.” Dimi winched as she lied on her back on the bed in Nora the Elf’s home near the watercourse around Jadedale. Nora poured some sort of yellow cream on her face to stop the swellings.
Ivan sat on a chair next to the bed while eating a carrot. “It’s a new element recently introduced to the sport. If I get this right then it means that if a fighter gets a cut that is so bad that it worried the doctor at ringside, the fight can be stopped.”
“So, I won because I got lucky? AUCH! Nora, it smells like rotten egg.” Dimi tried to breath with her mouth.
“Shush.” Nora stood on a stool so she could reach Dimi’s face as she massaged the cream into her skin. “Don’t you dare expose the secret incidence in my healing goo.”
Ivan finished his carrot. “You won because Clara’s cut had been deemed so bad that she wouldn’t be able to see right, it would have been dangerous for her to fight with only one eye.”
Nora started getting cream on Dimi’s arms. “So yeah, you got lucky.”
Ivan gave the abnormally short elf an annoyed stare. “Nora...”
“Hey, I call a spade a spade. And I just don’t want her to get false confidence from technically winning.”
“Wow, thanks a lot...” Dimi sat up on the bed. Her skin covered in weird cream felt funny. The adrenaline from fighting was starting to fade away, so she could finally feel that she was in pain. “Man, I’m gonna feel this tomorrow...”
***
As she had prophesied, Dimi was still in pain the next day. Her head felt like it had been split open and stitched together, her shoulders were stiff, she was tired because she couldn’t sleep right and her hands were sore.
Scary thing was that she would have felt even worse if Nora hadn’t provided healing methods she had learned from her time as a nurse.
Another post-fight symptom was that she was enormously hungry. She sat on the grass and leaned against the wall to Ruby’s restaurant as she drank the potato soup in the wooden bowl with great delight while making several sounds that made it clear how much she enjoyed it.
Ruby the Gorgon snickered as she looked at Dimi from the window in her kitchen. She handed her an apple. “Dimi, feeding you is a delight, you know that?”
“Well, eating your food is amazing.” Dimi took the apple and dried her face for soup. She stood up and leaned her upper-body trough the window, resting her arms on the frame of said window. She watched as the gorgon wearing black glasses chopped spring onions with such a speed that Dimi almost worried that Ruby would have resulted in her losing a finger or two. Ruby’s hair observed while they played with their tongues.
Amethyst the Dwarf entered with a trey. she had ribbons all over her fluffy bears and was wearing an apron she had sewed herself. “Three more creatures want the soup of the day.”
Ruby made a nod toward the large black pot on the table next to her as she undisturbed poured the onions on a frying pan warmed up by the heat crystal underneath it. She then used a potato masher to break up the potatoes that mixed with the cream while Am poured up three bowls of soup who then left the kitchen and entered the restaurant where travelers and townspeople either enjoyed the soup or waited for it. the only reason to why there weren’t more than fifteen customers was simply that there weren’t room for more.
“So...” Ruby grabbed a glass with spices one of her snakes had wrapped around from the shelf above her head. She opened it and took as much she could have between a finger and a thump that was then added to the soup in making. “I think I can sit for a minute.” She checked how much of the soup she had made first was left and let the soup in making simmer by itself. She took a stool and sat next to the window that Dimi leaned against. “So, you had to leave without the pay for the fight?”
“Eh, don’t worry.” Dimi had eaten most of the apple and was now taking bites of its core. “There’s a contract we both signed, he has to pay me eventually. Even if he won’t let me fight in the Hippogriff again.”
“Oh, well, you will get paid for this match, that’s something.” Ruby gently stroke one of her snakes. “So... what are you gonna do? I hear there’s fights in the Undersea Temptress tavern.”
“Eh.” Dimi shook her head. “Ivan tells me that the fights there are pretty shady. I mean, I wouldn’t mind, it might even be a different sort of challenge if they fought a little dirty. But as long as I’m not sixteen, my caretaker has the final say.”
Ruby smirked. “It must be hard for your children not to have a say, to let us grownups dictate your lives.”
Dimi laughed. “Ruby, you are ONE year older than me.”
“AND I’m sixteen. A woman!”
“Welp, the lunch rush is dying out.” Am entered the kitchen and went to the water bucket to clean her beautiful beard of food spilled on it. “If creatures keep coming like they did today, you can afford that aquarium in no time.”
Dimi raised an eyebrow. “What are you gonna use an aquarium for?”
Ruby went to the pot to taste the soup. “First off, it could be something nice for customers to look at. But more importantly, it would mean that the fish I serve would be completely fresh. And I need fresh fish, REALLY fresh fish, if I wanna serve sushi.”
“What’s that?”
“Dish from the East my dad used to make for my mom when he tried to suck up to her. Raw fresh fish served with rice and seaweed.”
Am paused as she was about to do the dishes. “Wait, you didn’t tell me the fish would be raw. Creatures can eat that?”
Ruby adjusted her glasses as she looked at Am with a straight face. “No, Amethyst, it’s something only we gorgons eat. As you know, us snake people enjoy eating animals raw because of our uncontrolled hunter instinct.”
Dimi snorted with little self restrain as she laughed.
The dwarf girl gave Ruby a very tired look. “You will never let me live that down, will you?”
“Relax, I’m just pulling your beard.” Ruby laughed as she dried the bowl Am had washed. “You can handle a joke.”
“Ha. Ha.” Am rolled her eyes. “So, what were you two talking about?”
“That Dimi haven’t been paid for her latest fight. Maltus is pissed at her.”
Am looked worried as she dried her hands for soap. “Wait, he doesn’t wanna pay her?”
Dimi waved a hand. “Am, it’s cool, he signed a contract.”
“... Yes. So?”
Ruby looked confused. “What do you mean so? You never break a written contract, everyone knows that.”
"Ah...” Am shrugged. “Because... it would mean you broke the law?”
Dimi snickered. “No, because of the consequences. Am, contracts are made with fragments of dragon fur and they are enchanted by elves. If you don’t uphold your end of a contract you signed in less than 48 hours, things will get... well, uncomfortable.”
Am grew pale. “Dimi... Maltus is not gonna... die, if he doesn’t pay you, is he?”
“What? No. No, no, no. But, ah...” Dimi snorted. “It’s gonna be embarrassing for him if he doesn’t.”
***
Maltus the Dwarf huffed and puffed as he left the bathroom. His face was completely red as he walked back to the bar counter, making creatures he passed uncomfortable due to a certain aroma. Dimi and Ivan stood by the counter waiting for him. Dimi did her best to keep a straight face and failed while Ivan pretended to cough.
Maltus regained his breath. “Fine, FINE! You will get your stinking money!”
As he left to get the coins, Dimi snickered. “Something stinks alright.”
“That’s not funny, girl.” Ivan kept doing his best to disguise his laugh as a cough.
Maltus returned with a sack filled with coins. “Here! 1.800 coronets! 25 percent of the profit from the ticket sale. Now, get the hell out of my fine establishment! I don’t wanna see your faces here again!” And then he went back to the bathroom.
"So...” Dimi took the sack. “Guess I can’t fight here anymore. What do we do now?
Ivan shrugged. “We will figure something out. Meanwhile, best thing-”
“Are you Ivan the Minotaur?”
Dimi and Ivan turned around to see who addressed them. It was a broad-shouldered creature with blue skin, tusks and horns. His hair was black and collected in a hair bun. He was dressed in white silk that looked expensive. He also had a sword placed inside a scabbard attached to his belt.
But what Dimi found even more interesting about this creature that she had never seen before was that he was actually half a head taller than Ivan.
Ivan blinked. “Yes? Can I help you?”
The blue-skinned creature nodded. “My boss would like to have a word with you. In private. It’s about a job offering. Please follow me.”
Ivan shrugged. “Dimi you mind waiting for me outside?”
Dimi walked passed a few tables with creatures sharing stories over drinks or playing for money with tarot cards on her way out of the tavern. Once she was outside, she took a coin out of her pocket and flipped it and grabbed it, a small exercise of her own making to pass the time and train her reflexes. She always used a one-coronet coin since if she accidentally lost it while flipping it wouldn’t be as big a loss as a fiver or a tenner.
“Excuse me.”
Dimi grabbed the coin and turned her attention toward a centaur. He was dressed in a green vest with gold trimmings, white cuffs, a light green collar, and a white handkerchief. He was clearly not from around the area, his clothes were too expensive.
“Are you the human called Dimi?”
“Well, I’m not the grindylow Bernie.” Dimi smirked.
“Ha, funny. You are very funny.” The centaur made too big an effort to laugh at Dimi’s joke. Dimi knew a suck-up when she saw it. “Young lady, I meant to have a word with you the other day after your match, but the... situation did not allow me to get a hold of you. Terrible shame.”
“Right...” Dimi crossed her arms as she leaned her back against the wall and looked up at the horse-man’s face. “What can I do you for?”
“Miss Dimi, my name is Canon, and I come from the Capital City. I’m a talent scout and represents the presidents of Eje Arena who are about to reopen it. And they ask me to look for promising young fighters to prove their worth in the grand opening. Talented fighters as yourself.”
Dimi was at first flattered. This was the first time a talent scout had been interested in her. But that was part of why she grew bitter since she knew what she had to say.
***
Ivan went up the stairs with the blue fella. They reached the second floor of the tavern where the rooms that could be rented for the night were, and they reach one door guarded by a similar-looking creature, only this guy had red skin.
“Well, this is very formally-like.” Ivan wondered what sort of big-shot person who had two huge guys hired as muscle. that, and what this person wanted from him. It couldn’t be a talent scout after all. “So, who do you two work for again?”
Ivan got no answer from either of them. the red guy just stepped aside and opened the door, waving at it to signal to Ivan that he should enter the room.
And he regretted it immediately.
The creature who had asked for him sat at a writing desk in this room that had furniture such as a mirror and other objects only offered to guest who paid a bit extra for a more comfortable stay. The creature was wearing an Eastern-styled dress of a design Ivan didn’t recognize. She had golden bands around her arms that represented wealth. Even the snakes she had for hair were wearing golden jewelry. This woman with white scales for skin was writing something down in a book with a black leather-cover. Next to her on the table was a candlelight and an ashtray. The gorgon heard one of her hired muscle close the door and looked up, adjusting her dark glasses. She smiled while her snakes hissed.
“Well, what do ya know?!” The gorgon folded her hands and rested her chin on them. “Ol’ Ivan Hammerhand! What has it been, sixteen years or somethin’?”
Not long enough is what Ivan wanted to say. “Hello, Veronica.” He looked behind his back. The red and blue guy had entered the room and stood by the door with their arms crossed. Leaving did not seem like an option. “I thought you left the kingdom.”
“I did, Ivan, I did. Relax, babies. Relax.” Veronica reached for one of her snakes attached to her head and gently stroke one of them with a finger. They began to relax. “Yeah, I’ve been traveling, gone to Rijita. Take a seat, would ya?” Veronica pointed at a chair placed in front of her desk.
Ivan wanted to come with suggestions to where Veronica could stick up her chair. “I think I prefer to stand.”
Veronica snickered. “Sure. You stand all you like. Good for your back.” Veronica picked up the cigar placed on the ashtray and placed it between her teeth as she found a box of matches. “As I was saying, been traveling.” She lit a match that she held at the end of her cigar and took a couple of puffs while rotating it before exhaling. “And sure, traveling can be fun. But not when it ain’t by choice. And you left me no choice, Ivan.”
Ivan didn’t say anything.
Veronica held her cigar over the ashtray. “You see, Ivan... I’m cross with you. I really am. Because of you, I had to get the hell out of Nesredna, had to shut down my business, lost most of my hard-earned fortune. I had to start all over. And sure, I got back on my feet, got into the business of selling silk and spices. I’m doing well now, can’t complain. But it’s the fact that you crossed me, Ivan. You crossed me. And that ticks me off.”
Ivan still didn’t say anything. His throat felt like it was tying knots on itself. He looked past the gorgon and spotted a window, wondering if he could somehow reach it.
“Shit like what you did to me, Ivan... gotta say, it makes me wanna to do things that wouldn’t benefit me. Unwise things.” Veronica took a couple of satisfied puffs while looking at the minotaur who did a surprisingly good job at keeping a straight face, not showing an inch of fear. She smiled. “But luckily for you, I’m a pretty smart snake. See, I realized long ago that in order to be a good boss, you have to see the future, and that means you gotta put the past in the past. Hell, plenty of the creatures who has worked for me were chumps who crossed me. Like my souvenirs from the east over there, Mez and Goz.” Veronica pointed at the blue and red guy behind Ivan with the lid end of her cigar. “Mez, he tried to whack me in a back-alley with a rock, but I forgave him. And Goz, he threw oil and a match in my boat to burn me alive, but I forgave him. And now those two onis works for me, all because I can see the bigger picture. So, Ivan... I can let the past be past. All ya gotta do is work for me. See, I decided to set up my business once again here in this kingdom, and I could use someone like you. Sure, you are past forty, but you have experience I could benefit from, and I say you look like you are still one tough bastard who could be useful in a couple of ways. Say yes, and that mess back then when you hurt my business? Fuggedaboutit!”
“No thank you.” Ivan replied as soon as Veronica was done.
"Wowie! No hesitations?” Veronica took another puff. “Gotta say, you have balls. I respect that. But I think you should rethink your answer.”
“Not interested.” Ivan blinked twice.
“Well, that’s a shame, ain’t it?” Veronica pouted. Then, she smiled coyly. “How about that little slugger I hear you have taken under your wings? A human who got a punch, amirite?”
Ivan narrowed his eyes. “We are not talking about Dimi.”
“A human boxer... either things has changed more than I thought since I left, or you got yourself an rarity. And I could use one of them rarities, sell tickets.”
“We are not talking about Dimi.”
“Well, frankly, Ivan, I don’t got to talk with you about nothin’. Maybe I should go see the little lady, have myself a word with her abo-”
“TOUCH HER AND YOU’RE DEAD!”
Veronica kept her coy smile while her snakes aggressively hissed in the direction of the wall that the chair Ivan had grabbed and thrown had crashed into. Ivan looked at Veronica with wide eyes filled with rage and hatred as his whole body was practically trembling. The two onis stood next to him and had their swords placed inches away from his throat.
“Wow wow wow, hold on.” Veronica held up her hands. “Mez, Goz, no need for that, pull those knives away, would ya? We are having a conversation here. How about you two skedaddle, go get some fresh air, eh? Let me and ox-boy have some privacy.”
Mez and Goz hesitated before placing their blades back indie their scabbards. They then left the room.
Veronica ground her cigar in the ashtray, and she did it with so much force that it bended it out of shape. Her snakes kept hissing at Ivan. “That was stupid, Ivan. That was very, very stupid.”
Ivan was so angry that he was practically steaming. “Touch her and you’re d-”
Veronica stood up. Ivan had forgotten that she was as tall as he was. She looked him directly in the eye, her dark glasses lying on the table.
Ivan once again felt the knots on his throat as Veronica stood up from her desk, her eyes still locked with his.
“Ivan... did you forget who I am?” Veronica now stood in front of Ivan, placing a finger on the minotaur’s chest. Her pupils changed shape from round to slits and the veins near her temples started to bulge. “You must have, or you wouldn’t raise your voice at me. You would know that it would be excuse enough for me to gut you like a fish and sell you as mincemeat.”
Ivan didn’t say a word.
“Hmm... you now what?” Veronica patted his chin. “I think you did forget. So I will let it slide.” She walked back to the desk and put on her dark glasses again. “You can leave. But a day will come where I will chew you up and spit you out. And then remember I offered you a way out.”
Ivan wanted to do something, say something. But he just stood dumbfounded. So he turned around and left the room. As he did so, Mez and Goz returned. “Everything’s alright, boss?”
“I learned what I wanted to know. and now...” Veronica rubbed her hands together. “Now, I reopen my business, starting here in Onyxville."
***
Canon the Centaur looked confused. “Young lady, I’m not sure you understand.”
“I understand just fine.” Dimi frowned. “I just don’t want to fight in the capital.”
“Why on earth not? Your latest match, you made... what, around 1600 coronets?”
“1800.” Dimi corrected him.
“Well, my clients would like to offer you 3000. And this fight could lead to bigger opportunities, making that sum of money look pathetic.”
“Sir, I appreciate the offer, but for... personal reasons, I have to sat thanks but no thanks.”
“Is it because of your species? I can assure you, the capital city may be run by orcs, but you would be invited to the town as a guest, your safety is guaranteed.”
Dimi groaned. “Sir, no offence, but leave me alone already.”
Canon the Centaur looked disappointed, but mostly confused. “Human, you don’t realize what you are declining.”
As the horseman left, Dimi narrowed her eyes. “I actually do.” she mumbled. “That’s the problem.”
"Wheu-wheu-why wou-would you dth... do that?”
Dimi blinked and turned her head. She spotted Clara the Minotaur. She recognized the long braid. The girl minotaur was wearing more clothes than she did during the fight, including a vest often seen worn by the creatures working at the docks. She was carrying a barrel that she lied down on the ground as she gave Dimi a practically accusing glare.
“Um... Hey. Clarabelle.” Dimi blinked as the minotaur stepped closer. Dimi recalled how furious she had been when she had left the ring. And now she just looked at Dimi without saying a word. “Ah... I don’t want any trouble, is there-”
“I have...”
“Yes?”
“I... I hah... I have trouble with... I don’t-” Clara sighed. “I tha-talk funny.”
Dimi blinked. It took her a second to understand what the minotaur meant. “Oh... OH! Well, that’s okay.”
Clara glared angrily at her. “Nnnno, it’s nah-nah-not okay!”
Dimi blushed. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean... I meant that... Take your time.”
Clara cleared her throat. “I've talked with that... that talent scout too. He said I have... talent. I’m going to ffh... to ffh-fight as a pro next week.”
Dimi’s awkward pout was replaced with a wide smile. “Wait, you are gonna fight professionally? That’s amazing! You deserve it.”
Clara made a meek smile. Then she looked at Dimi very seriously and sighed. “Know what? You are rha... you are right. I do deserve it, I shhh... I ssh, I ssh-SHOULD be a... pro.” Then, a grave expression came over the young cow woman’s face. “So wff...” Clara sighed. Then she looked at Dimi with an accusing stare. “So... wa-why are you not?!”
Dimi looked at Clara confused. “I’m sorry, what?”
Clara grind her teeth as she placed her thumb on her chest. “If, if, if I’M good enough to fah-fight in the capi...kh-kh...” Dimi was about to ask is Clara was trying to say capital, but then bit her tongue as she realized how rude that would be. Clara sighed again. “... fffuh-fight in the cah... big city, then sh-sh-so are you!”
“Well... that's nice of you to say so.”
Clara rolled her eyes. “I’m not complih... I’m not compiimah... I’m not bein’ nice to you! I overheard wha-what you ah-ah-and the scout said. ANd I heard you said... said no. I want thi-thi-to know wwwwhy you are wasting your thi-thi-TIME!”
Dimi bit her lower lip. "Look, it’s kind of complicated-”
“Wha-wha-WHY would you... do that?! Don’t you... don’t you realize that that that so many creatures like... like us get’s their face bah... bashed in, hoping they get this... CHANCE, chance. And you said... no?! How am I...” Clara groaned. “How am I... sssh-suppose to ffhi-fffhi-feel about you wasting your... talent fffah-fighting chumps for petty cash? How am I sssh-supose to... sssh-supose to live with that?!”
Dimi could answer that question. And it killed her not to do so since she would be kind of pissed if she were in Clara’s shoes.
So she just shrugged. “Clara... good luck next week.”
Clara rolled her eyes. “Right.” She picked up her barrel and turned her back to Dimi as she was about to walk back to the docks. Then she stopped an turned. “Bhu-by the way... no hard ffh-feelings about how our fight... ended. If I couldn’t see out of... out of my right eye, you... you would have won. Probably.”
And then the minotaur left to return to her last day of work at the docks, leaving Dimi feeling very small.
“Dimi.” Ivan had arrived he looked very stressed for some reason. “Dimi, I think we should go home to Jadedale right now.”
“Fine by me.” Dimi scowled. “I think staying any longer will make me feel as sick as Maltus is right now.”
As they walked away, Dimi had no idea that she was being watched. “It’s her again!” The creature said. “Fate has allowed me to see her once more!” The creature decided to follow them.
***
After getting home and doing her chores, Dimi had asked Aura and Ivan if they would be okay with her going to the forest outside town to be alone and clear her head.
Going to the lake, she exercised with her skipping rope. But she didn’t do it that well. After ten small jumps and then she landed on the leather rope again. She yelled in frustration and threw the skipping rope at a tree. It was usually her favorite type of exercise. But she just couldn’t keep her focus.
Clarabelle’s words still stung. The minotaur girl was right, she SHOULD move to the bigger leagues, she should stop fighting in Onyxville and try her skills against real boxers and for a pay that was decent. While other rookie fighters left the small harbour town if they managed to be picked up by a talent scout, Dimi knew she was stuck fighting in minor league.
Knowing that she had no choice since she had to keep a low profile till she turned eighteen was no comfort.
Dimi took in a deep breath as she decided to quit feeling sorry for herself as she picked up her rope once more. She pulled herself together. She relaxed her knees and bended them just a bit as she lept so her bodyweight did not take it’s toll on her legs. She landed on the balls of her feet and relaxed her shoulders as she finally found her rhythm. There was something meditative about the amount of focus needed to leap in a rhythm with the rope, you could stop thinking about anything else
She did trip once again. But this time because she saw something that very much distracted her. Something she had not seen in a long, long time and almost didn’t recognize.
The unusual creature looked worried and slightly embarrassed as he offered Dimi a hand. “My deepest apologies, I fear that I distracted you while you exercised.”
“It’s fine.” Dimi got back on her feet and studied the creature. He had no horns, no tail, his skin was pale, he had feet instead of hoofs or paws. Heck, he didn’t even have pointy ears or or any trace of fur.
It took Dimi a second to comprehend the fact that she stood in front of another human.
Then she studies his clothes. His shoes were black like the night and reached his knees. His pants were kinda puffy and he was wearing a cape as well as a hat with an enormous feather on it. And his silk gloves made it painfully obvious that he was either of money or of a high social status.
“Did you hurt yourself?” The human boy asked with a worried look. “It so happen that I have a bottle of healing oils on my, good for scratches and bruises.”
“Ah, no. No thanks, I’m good.” Dimi took a step backward to study the human a bit more. He was a little shorter than her, so they were most likely around the same age.
And then Dimi realized that the guy looked... extremely happy?
“So... hey. Human... person.” Dimi felt a bit uneasy about how the dude smiled so blissfully. “Are you... lost or something? Need directions? Help?”
“I am in need of nothing. My life is complete.” The guy stretched out a hand to Dimi. “Would you join me on a ride on my beautiful stallion Phillip?”
Dimi took another step backward. “Oookaaayyyy.. You seem like a nice enough guy, but I don’t really know you and-”
“Oh, I beg of thee, do not eave me now that I have finally found you!” The guy took a step closer toward Dimi.
Dimi was worried. Had her cover somehow been blown? And was it a bad thing if the guy was a human? “You know who I am?”
“We have met before so many times! Tell me you remember, I beg you!”
Dimi blinked, she was completely lost. “We have? From... where, exactly?”
“My sweet darling, we met once upon a dream!”
If Dimi’s jaw had been long enough, it would have dropped to the ground.
“That gleam in your green eyes, it is a very familiar gleam.”
The guy was bonkers.
“In my sleep I have heard your voice, such a warm and gentle one.”
And he was a creep on top of that.
Dimi was paralyzed in horror as the guy took her hand and held it in his own. “Now that we have met, I realize now that my whole life had a need that left me hungry. Without knowing so, I have been graving your sweet, soft lipFFFTHBHFF!”
The human guy lied in the grass and coughed after Dimi had punched the air out of his stomach. She would have been angry if she had not been so confused. “Stay the hell away from me, you sicko!” And then she picked up her skipping rope and left in haste.
The human boy sat up after catching his breath as he watched the girl of his dreams run for it. And then he smiled. “She is playing hard to get!”
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