Solo Night Fight

[Asterope]

5th of spring, 521 AV

(Continued from Night Flight*)

Aster bit down on a scream of terror as she fell through the air; her eyes were fixed on the hilltop below her, and as it approached rapidly, she almost panicked and did nothing. Almost; as the ground lurched up towards her, she remember herself, and she flared her wings out wide. The air caught them with an audible sort of thud sound, and Aster grunted as her fall was slowed abruptly, her body jerking. The empty, floating feeling in her stomach was replaced by it feeling as heavy as a rock, and she felt vaguely nauseous for a moment.

Nightblood had been determined to have her try a diving land, and Aster was regretting having agreed to do so. She was tired, and sore, and now she felt dizzy and nauseous; as the ground rushed up to meet her, she flapped hard, but her senses and thoughts were all over the place and she had waited too long to spread her wings. She crashed into the ground, doing her best at the last minute to tuck her head down so that she didn't break her skull open on an ill-placed rock, and went rolling across the ground with a low, drawn-out groan.

Aster squeezed her eyes shut as she finally came to a stop, the world spinning around her. Everything hurt. She could hear Nightblood laughing so hard, she thought the Zith might choke to death. "I'm never doing that again," Aster muttered, slowly cracking her eyes open, to peer up at the sky, which was beginning to slow its hazy spin. She wasn't sure why she had attempted it in the first place; she could have seriously hurt herself if she had messed up the timing any further. But Nightblood made it look and sound so easy, and they'd been practicing for what felt like forever, and she was beginning to enjoy herself...it hadn't seemed quite that unreasonable at the time.

She needed to stop being so spontaneous. Grunting, Aster sat up, gingerly prodding at her shoulders, arms, and neck, flexing her feet, checking for any sprains or breaks or fractures. The shoulder she'd landed on hurt, and her ribs ached. Her neck and back were sore as well, but nothing seemed too badly hurt, which was a relief, at the very least. Nightblood walked over to her, hands on her hips, and looked down at Aster with feral delight. "Very bad," she pointed out, as if Aster hadn't realized. "Almost went crunch. Are you hurt?"

"No, not really. I'm done with flying for tonight though, I think." She grimaced, standing up. She was going to hurt tomorrow; well, tomorrow night. If she chose her Zith seeming again. Perhaps it would be best to avoid it for a few nights.

Nightblood snorted, letting out a huff. "Give up so soon? Weak," she accused Aster, who frowned at her.

"No, not weak, I just don't feel like breaking something or worse. That landing could have been much worse."

The Zith woman huffed again, scowling at Aster, eyeing her critically. Aster frowned back. She saw Nightblood's eyes light up for a brief moment, as if the Zith had suddenly had an idea, but before she could say anything, Nightblood pounced at her. Aster let out a cry of surprise, throwing her arms up. Nightblood grabbed her wrist, yanking her arm down, and in a moment had her pinned on the ground. Fangs flashed above her as the Zith cackled.

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[Asterope]

Without thinking, Aster flexed her fingers and slashed her hand upwards. Nightblood's cackling abruptly changed into a shriek, and the weight of the Zith vanished from her. Aster scrambled to her feet, tensed, hands held uncertainly in front of her; her sea glass-like claws were extended from her fingers, blood dripping from them on one hand. Nightblood was poking at a set of superficial scratches on her arm. She looked up at Aster, licking the blood from her fingertips with a wide, fanged grin.

"You don't know how to fight. Instincts there, though. Your claws extra sharp. They're not normal?" The last sentence was a question as Nightblood approached again, as if she hadn't just knocked Aster to the ground and had the Zith-Eth claw her. Aster stood uncertainly, and let Nightblood take hold of one of her hands to examine her slightly bloodied claws.

"Why did you do that?" Aster asked, hesitantly. Nightblood snickered, dropping her hand.

"You're not a good Zith. Can't fly, wear clothes. Very strange. Wanted to know if you could fight, thought probably not. I was right." She seemed smug, examining Aster with her piercing crimson eyes. "Having fun trying to teach you to be a proper Zith. If no more flying, I teach you to fight a little bit."

Nightblood was weirdly invested in her unconventional Zithness, but Aster supposed she was a very strange creature to her indeed. She glanced at the horizon; she probably still had some time before the sun rose and she had to leave. She'd been meaning to learn to fight, as well, and if anyone knew how to fight with claws it would be someone who had their own set.

It was a strange, feral way of fighting that Aster wasn't sure how to feel about. But she was beginning to learn, between her ordeal in the wilderness, her time in Sunberth, and now her strange training from Nightblood, that feral wasn't necessarily always bad. Being wild could be useful, and it didn't have to contradict the rest of her.

Aster flexed her fingers again, wriggling them and examining her clawed fingertips. "Okay," she said after a moment. "For a little bit."

Nightblood nodded eagerly; the Zith was so used to disliking others her age, but Aster was so very strange and she loved it. She would hate to see the strange Zith get killed because she couldn't fly or defend herself. Others of their kind might have ripped her throat out by now, with her being strange and alone and at the moment, useless, and that seemed a shame to Nightblood. Strange was interesting; it was fun. And if she could teach the strange Zith to be useful, then all the better.

Aster watched Nightblood somewhat warily, wondering what could possibly be going through the feral, winged woman's mind. She didn't have long to think about it, because Nightblood was already prowling around her, looking for all the world like a cat that had just trapped a particularly juicy mouse. "Reflexes there, that is good. But must be more thoughtful. Precise. Watch enemy."

As with flying, Nightblood didn't seem to be a particularly good teacher; Aster was already watching her, slowly pivoting to keep the Zith in her sight at all times. She lunged forward suddenly, and Aster automatically stepped back, but Nightblood laughed wickedly, not following through for an attack. Aster flushed, swallowing hard, trying to calm her nerves and quiet her pounding heart. Something about the situation reminded her of facing down the cougar in the forest, and it made her uneasy.

Word count: 597
Total: 1,176

[Asterope]

Aster could see a dagger strapped to the Zith's thigh, but she seemed content for the moment to make use of her hands and claws, which Aster was fine with given that she was currently unarmed; she'd left her whip in her room, the thought of landing on it awkwardly and accidentally slicing her leg open on the razor-sharp edge too much of a concern to bring it with her to flying practice.

Nightblood lunged again, and this time Aster grit her teeth and held her ground; the Zith barreled forward, carrying through, arms outstretched as she reached for Aster's shoulders. She wasn't sure if Nightblood was trying to shove or grapple her, but either way her instincts kicked in, and she dropped into a crouch. Nightblood stumbled for a moment, and then next thing Aster knew, the Zith's knee was knocking into her chin and sending her sprawling. She could taste blood in her mouth where her fangs had cut into her lower lip.

Nightblood leaped, straddling her, and Aster felt panic flare up when the woman above her bared her fangs and her claws went straight for Aster's face; she was beginning to regret taking fighting lessons from a Zith. Aster threw her hands up, feeling searing pain as Nightblood's claws still gouged along her cheek on one side. Anger sparked in her chest, and Aster let out an involuntary snarl of her own. Nightblood grinned wildly, seeming delighted.

Aster surged up, not quite managing to knock the Zith off her; Nightblood was grappling at her, trying to grab at her wrists. Aster slammed her head forward, knocking her forehead into Nightblood's. It probably made her just as, if not more, dizzy than it made the Zith, but it served the purpose of stunning her for a brief moment. Freeing her hands, Aster shoved at Nightblood, and then pulling her arm back, slashed her clawed hand out at Nightblood's abdomen, raking her claws across it. For a brief, white-hot moment, it was just the two of them under the night sky, claws and fangs and blood.

Nightblood rolled off Aster, hissing, and Asterope held both hands up, palms open, as she suddenly came crashing back into herself. The brief overtaking of feral instinct had her feeling shaken; the claw marks across Nightblood's abdomen weren't overly deep, but they were leaking blood, and Aster felt like throwing up as guilt overtook her. "I'm sorry," she managed to say. "I got...I got caught up in the moment."

Nightblood peered at her incredulously and then threw back her head and laughed. "Sorry! This is nothing. Real fighting with Zith, not over until one is dead or too bloody to see. Good practice. I got you too," she pointed out, with a grin, pointing at Aster's face. She reached up to gingerly touch the cuts along her face, wincing slightly, her fingers coming away wet with blood.

"Again, one more time," Nightblood said, seeming unbothered by the cuts on her abdomen. After a long moment of thought, Aster nodded slowly, hesitantly, standing up.

"Not so rough this time; either of us," Aster said, and Nightblood rolled her eyes.

"Sure you are a Zith? So soft," she scoffed, and without warning she swept forward, striking out with her arm towards Aster.

Word count: 548
Total: 1,724

[Asterope]

Aster was mostly expecting it, this time; the Zith was mercurial with her moods and unpredictable in her actions, moving quickly, and Aster had been tensed while they spoke, expecting Nightblood to lunge at her at any moment. She threw an arm up, managing to knock Nightblood's arm aside, but the Zith's other arm came up and shoved at her, sending Aster stumbling back.

Being defensive felt more natural to her, but it didn't seem to be working very well; inhaling deeply, Aster tensed up, rolling onto the balls of her feet, and darted forward, aiming her claws for Nightblood's shoulder this time. The Zith easily side-stepped, leaving Aster swiping at the air, and then kicked a leg out, hooking her foot behind Aster's knee and sweeping her legs out from under her.

Aster hit the ground with a grunt, and immediately rolled to avoid having Nightblood straddle her as she had last time. The Zith pounced after her, and Aster lashed out, managing to catch Nightblood's upper arm with the edge of her claws. The Zith hardly flinched, pinning Aster down with a delighted shriek and laugh.

Aster thrashed beneath her, scrabbling at Nightblood's shoulders with her claws, but the Zith hardly seemed to notice. She bared her teeth, her fist colliding with Aster's jaw. Aster's head snapped to the side, her vision swimming for a moment. Nightblood snapped at the air above Aster's throat with her teeth, toying with her; despite her head still spinning, Aster took the moment to try and headbutt Nightblood again, but the Zith jerked her head back and avoided it.

Aster took advantage of the moment and shoved her arm up between their bodies, claws digging into Nightblood's throat, though this time around she was mindful of where her claws were and how much pressure she was putting into them. The Zith hissed at that, breaking her hold on Aster.

Aster lunged up as Nightblood backed off, managing to throw the Zith off her and scrabble on top of her. Nightblood laughed as Aster pinned her; a moment later she had Aster's right arm gripped tightly with both her hands, her leg spreading to brace outside of Aster's right leg, and then the next thing Aster knew she was being flipped over Nightblood's shoulder and onto the ground.

She flared a wing back, feeling it knock into Nightblood and send her staggering, but the Zith was on her again quickly. Aster scrambled to her feet as Nightblood approached again, whirling around, her hands already up, body tensed. She didn't let Nightblood get too close before she lunged forward, trying to angle herself to the side this time so that the Zith couldn't avoid her, striking with her claws. It didn't seem to make much of a difference; Nightblood batted her arm aside regardless, but Aster swung her other arm around, managing to rake her claws over the back of Nightblood's shoulder as she darted around her.

Word count: 493
Total: 2,217

[Asterope]

The fight didn't last much longer; Aster managed to get a few more glancing blows in, but Nightblood was clearly more experienced. Her claws raked over Aster's side at one point, and then she knocked the Eth-Zith onto the ground again, and it was over. Nightblood stood, brushing herself off as Aster struggled to her feet, sweaty, exhausted, dirty, and bloody. The claw marks along her side were bleeding freely, deeper than the scratches on her face.

Nightblood clicked her tongue. "I have seen worse, but you're not very good. Much to learn. But day is coming soon." Aster glanced up; the Zith was right, she could see the horizon beginning to lighten in colour. "Both of us need rest, I think."

Aster glanced over, watching curiously as Nightblood took a cannister out of one of the small pouches strapped to her, sprinkling some red powder out onto the worst of her wounds. From where she stood, Aster could see the bleeding immediately slow, and then stop.

"Here." Nightblood said abruptly, capping the cannister; Aster barely managed to throw her hands up in time to catch it as Nightblood tossed it at her. "A parting gift, for making my night more fun. But next time, you owe me something." Nightblood smiled at Aster, all gleaming teeth and wicked fangs. "It stops the bleeding right away, no matter how much. Useful for you, since you are so bad at fighting. You must get hurt a lot."

Aster turned the tin over in her hands curiously, wondering where she had gotten such a thing. She probably didn't get hurt quite as often as Nightblood was thinking; though then again, maybe she did. Regardless, it was certainly a useful item to have. She opened her mouth to say thank you, but Nightblood shook her head violently.

"No thanks! Just owe me. Try not to die, would like to have fun with you again sometime." The Zith wriggled her fingers at Aster, turning, and with a few powerful flaps of her wings, launched herself into the air. Aster stood, watching her go until her winged silhouette vanished over the craggy hills. She had no idea how Nightblood still seemed to have so much energy and power; she felt exhausted, and she was sore everywhere, ready to simply collapse into a pile and fall unconscious.

"What a strange woman," Aster mumbled to herself. What a strange night overall; she certainly hadn't been expecting to meet another Zith, confirming her race and getting lessons on both flying and fighting all in one night. Regardless, she needed to get back before it was light; ideally, if she hurried, she could get back before she shifted and get her wounds cleansed and bandaged. Otherwise it would have to wait until tomorrow night.

She debated using the strange red powder that Nightblood had given her, but decided against it; if what the Zith said about it was true, then it was potent and powerful stuff indeed, and judging by the small container, there was only a limited number of uses.

Item Acquisition :

Blood powder from this challenge*

Word count: 511
Total: 2,728