8. Get Your Fight On

[Antonia St. Myra]

Where the Crock O' Dawn had been hubbub, the pits were cacophony. Beasts clamored to place bets, to claim winnings, to beg second chances and to cuss out whichever fighter had lost them their last bet of the evening. The noise was usually familiar and gratifying - today, through the tail end of a hangover that felt like it came from Cluny the Scourge himself, it was rather less so.

"Aaaand betting is closed, betting is closed! Ladies and gentlebeasts, we come to the next fight on tonight's docket! We've called it Black versus White for reasons which will hopefully become clear! Fighting for your very great pleasure this day, The Last Sister of Blackridge!"

Two pit-paws pulled aside a pair of cratewood doors and she strode out onto the flat dirt, squinting against the lanterns and mirrors that the pit-lairds had arranged to light up their fights, raising her paws to, if not cheers, then at least a noticeable increase in sheer noise.

"And the challenger tonight! You know him, but she doesn't, so don't spoil the surprise - fresh off the boat and ready for a good old Craylock scrap, the Terror of Hafnaross: Bihto Snowridge!"

The opposite cratewood doors burst open and a creature unlike anything Antonia had ever seen surged out. The great gray chimera hissed to the crowd, opened its wings wide in recogniseable grandstanding. The cacophony amplified to a din, and Antonia winced against the ringing in her ears.

The bird reared back, flapped its wings twice. Antonia brought a paw up and grimaced as she realised what was happening, as the wingbeats swept a hail of dust and grit toward her.

"Fighting dirty from the gate! Oh, I like you already!" She bellowed, and flung herself toward the beast.



Mekai's jaw dropped. "But... why?"

"She said something about staying strong for her next enemy." Siobhan raised an eyebrow at Antonia's reckless charge, nodded in approval as the mouse dropped to the ground at the last moment and slid under the snakelike head of the beast.

Antonia kicked up hard, bracing herself against the floor to land a decent blow. The Snowridge bird jolted and slumped hard to one side, but recovered far too quickly for her to push the advantage. Antonia stood and Bihto swept her legs back out from under her with his tailfeathers. Siobhan tutted in frustration.

The mouse salvaged a roll from the fall, brought herself upright out of the goose's reach. She charged again, feinted left this time. The bird managed a glancing buffet with a hasty wingbeat but Antonia got under his wing and drove a heavy blow right into the tendons and muscles connecting wing to body.

A pained "ONGK!" rang out and Siobhan grinned - and realised that even Mekai, with her lingering look of horror at the whole business, had bunched her fist and tensed her arm in time with Antonia's punch.

The goose flapped awkwardly, lifting itself just enough to land and bring its head round in a sweep that Antonia barely saw coming. The blow connected, and Siobhan's ears flicked back. The mouse tried to keep her balance but her footpaws skidded out from beneath her and she hit the cratewood lip of the pit with an almighty thump.

But she stood, kept the bravado going with a laugh and a grin - and to Siobhan's eyes also a new tautness in her shoulder and an uncertainty to her stance.

The goose had a newfound confidence, his head swinging side to side as he loomed over Antonia. He leaned in and hissed loud right in her face, his own grandstanding gesture - and she caught him in the temple with one last mustered blow.

They both reeled: the goose from the impact, the mouse from overstepping.

Bihto brought a wing around, but came short of hitting Antonia by a few pinions. His balance was gone; his head veered close to her and she lashed out again but didn't have the strength or direction left to make it count.

"And what's this..." The tod fox announcer's voice rang clear. "Is this a deadlock? Neither of our contenders are looking well, folks, but neither of them are down and out! Yes, it's going to go to the judges, ladies and gentlebeasts! Please put your paws together for Blackridge and Snowridge, and if you didn't get that the snow was meant to be white then you're eating the wrong snow my friend!"

Pit-paws came out from their places, guided both of the staggering competitors out through a third door to the dust-down room.

The cratewood walls were patchwork enough for Siobhan and Mekai to see movement through, but not much else until a very particular colour gleamed through a crack in the panels.

"That blue!" Mekai tugged at Siobhan's sleeve, then let go the moment she realised what she was doing.

The vixen gazed levelly at her, raised a paw to her own ear. "You recognise it?"

"I do! Can you get me down there? I need to talk to her right away!"

They came to Antonia, clad now in the cardinal blue waistcoat she'd been wearing the previous night, wrapping linen round her upper arm.

"Oh thank the Forest, a competent face. Siobhan, would you tie this off for me please? Any other beast here and they'd tourniquet my arm off."

The vixen nodded, set to work on the mouse's makeshift support bandage.

Antonia looked over the young sable who had come with her, stared for a moment at her forehead, sighed.

The sable mustered.

"My name is Mekai, of Nest. I saw ten arrows in a dream and you're one of them, I can tell by the blue of your waistcoat and because your friend the White Arrow knew where to find you-"

Antonia held up a silencing paw.

Limped over to her table, poured a sizeable portion of rum into the little metal cup that stood there.

Tipped the whole thing down her throat in one gulp.

Took what looked like a playing card out of her waistcoat pocket, turned it so Mekai and Siobhan could see.

The shape of a bird, with wings unfurled.

"I do wish you'd shown up a day or two earlier," she said, her other paw on her bruised shoulder, rolling it to ease the swelling and the pain. "I might have avoided all of this. Never mind. Hello, Mekai of Nest. My name is Antonia St. Myra, and I'd be happy to join you."

The sable looked a little confused. "You... don't even know what you're signing up for."

"That's fine. I'll catch up when I'm not hungover." Antonia looked to Siobhan, tilted her head a little. "White Arrow?"

The vixen raised a paw, lifted her hood out of the way to reveal a little sprig of white jasmine tucked behind her ear.

"It suits you," Antonia grinned. "Come on now, miss Mekai. Lead the way."