Chapter Fourteen. The title may or may not have come from VeggiTales: Esther. I love that song.

I don't own Neopets. Tamara and all them are mine.

"The Battle is not Ours"
Chapter Fourteen

There was no mistaking that mop of frizzy, brown and blond hair. Or the cruel, malicious glare in those deep, hazel eyes. A swagger snuck into her gait as she strutted to the center of the field. Her Scorchio, clad in leather armor, walked with the same, unsightly swank.

"Bella! What are you doing?" I cried, freezing only a few meters out of the archway.

Fangore froze, too. He panted between whimpers; white-tipped tail tucked between his knees. "Mistress! I can't do it! I can't fight Firetail!"

His apprehension made me nauseous. I felt my stomach turn over and my mouth filled with bitter bile. I bit my tongue to keep from throwing up. "I know, Fang. I'm sorry. I should have known or realized it before." My eyes locked on Bella; witnessing a cold sneer creeping up on her face. "She wants to do more than blame me for everything. She wants to hurt me any way she can."

"And the best way is by hurting me." Fangore finished. His weight shifted from paw to paw. I knew he was uncomfortable with having to fight Firetail. He still considered Firetail a friend. Fangore didn't fight his friends just out-of-the-blue.

I called a time-out and a prissy referee sauntered over as I started to make my way to the center.

"Is there a problem?" the ref. asked.

I ignored him. My attention focused completely on Bella. "Why?" I asked her. "Why are you doing this? Is it not enough that I'm suffering for Maya's death?"

"No." Bella answered, smirking.

"What more can you possibly want with me?" I demanded.

"I want to see you hurt so badly you'll wish you'd never heard of me." Bella said.

"Look, Bella. This isn't the way to go about this. Maya was my best friend, too. I was there to watch her die. I wish it hadn't happened but it did and I can't change that."

"Why did you take her up there then?" Bella demanded, the cold smile now gone.

"I didn't. She said she was going to come with me. She didn't care about the consequences. She went with me because she wanted to. I didn't make her. I tried to talk her out of it."

"It's still your fault she died." Bella said. Her words sounding like a steel, fire-stirrer had been jammed in my heart. I spent so long blaming myself that it no longer mattered when I said it. But, to hear it from my former friend hurt. I knew that old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt" did not apply here.

I was trying to reason Bella out of it. I knew she had been looking for an opportunity to publicly humiliate me; make me feel worse than I already am. Whatever reason or method behind her madness, I knew I was going to suffer. Which was precisely what she wanted.

"I'm not going to take the blame anymore." I said, darkly. I glared at her to make myself clear. "I'm not taking the blame and neither is Thor. And, I'm not going to assist you in any means to publicly humiliate me." My fingers wound around the knot holding a blue band to my wrist. I started to undo it. "Find someone else to pick on. I'm not your scapegoat anymore."

I had only taken a few steps back to my archway when the ref's shrill voice forced me to stop. "If you leave now, Blue player, you will have forfeited the game."

I turned to him. "Can't you switch me with another player?"

The ref shook his head. "No. The matches are set player to player. There can be no changes."

Bella snorted. "Just goes to show that you're a coward. Always have been and always will be."

"I'm not a coward." I snarled and Fangore bristled at Firetail; fur standing out like millions of tiny needles.

"Then why are you running away?"

"I'm not running away. I'm through with this petty war between us."

"You're always running away when something happens or when things get tough." Bella retorted. "That's called 'cowardice'."

"No, that's called 'I'm gonna take this shoe and jam it up your butt' if you don't quit your little blame game." I snapped.

"Then what do you propose?" Bella polished her fingernails on her emerald-green Trainer's vest. "You obviously have your pride and I don't think you really want to forfeit the game. Make me a proposition."

I thought about it. "If I win, you have to stop blaming me and Thor for everything."

"Sounds reasonable." Bella said. "But, what happens if I win?"

I paused. My other choice was giving her exactly what she wanted. "If you win," I exhaled, deeply. "I take all the blame."

Her eyes lit up and her hand shot out. "Deal."

A time-in was called and the fight began.

What I hadn't noticed about Bella was, she directed Firetail with a crack of her whip instead of order techniques. Over cheers, ooh's, and ahh's of exstatic fans, I screamed techniques at Fangore until I was hoarse. My throat tight with yelling. Every muscle in my body ached as Fangore rolled about in the dirt; keeping excellent holds on Firetail with his teeth and paws. Wounds were inflicted on both in this full-out brawl.

Now I understood what Professor Nielson meant about Battledome fights. "In the Battledome, you can feel what your neopet is feeling. Sometimes, this drives people to insanity."

I felt every little tooth and claw that Firetail set into Fangore. My own skin prickled unpleasantly and turned a bright and unhealthy red.

Finally, the two combatants broke away. I saw the perfect opportunity to try a legendary maneuver.

"ICE PAW!" I cried.

Fangore's paws turned white and froze into two, large chunks of ice. Rearing back, Fangore hit Firetail on both sides of the head, rendering the Scorchio monetarily dazed.

"FLURRY KICK!" Came my next command.

Fangore performed a neat, side-step then lashed out with his hind paw. The muddled Scorchio was sent flying back to the arena wall. The back of his head cracked against the wall and he crumpled into an unconscious heap.

For a moment, neither of us moved. A loud gasp erupted among the onlookers. Bella turned back to me; her face a hard mask of absolute fury. She raised the whip as though she was about to swing it at me.

"Cheater!" she cried.

"How did I cheat?" I asked. Ice Paw and Flurry Kick were legal and legitimate moves. There was nothing in the rules that said I couldn't use them.

"I don't know how you cheated but you did! You will pay for that, Tamara! I swear you will!" She marched off, pausing only to scoop the senseless Scorchio from the dirt.

I had won. But I felt no victory. I was so exhausted and sore from the fight, my bed now beckoned me.

I ignored the ref who was trying to grab my arm and raise it above my head. His constant fumbling annoyed me. I turned away from him and glared at him until he left me alone.

Fangore lay in the dirt; side heaving. I could tell he was exhausted. I could feel it seeping from him. I knelt by his side and gently touched his flank. "Let me carry you." I offered.

"No, Mistress." Fangore said, rising to his feet. "I can walk." But he leaned into me and I attempted to steady him.

"You're tired." I observed.

"So are you." Fangore said.

"You're in no condition to walk back on your own, four feet."

"I'll be fine, Mistress." Fangore answered. I could feel his pride washing over me.

I touched him on the shoulders, enforcing the idea. "Fang, you did so much for me. Let me do something for you."

"Alright." Fangore said as I lifted him onto my shoulders. I carried him, army style, back to the dorm; staggering under the weight. We mounted the stairs, I carried him into the room and slowly deposited him on the table so that I could work on him better.

Other than a few, miner scratches, bite marks, and bruises, Fangore was fine. I cleaned him of any blood traces and washed his wounds. Then, I checked his paws. There were only a few traces of frost bite on the rough pads. Nothing too major.

Then, I lowered him to his bed and he curled up in a tight ball; quickly going to sleep.

I grabbed a change of clothes from my footlocker, filled Fangore's bowl with food (topped off with a treat) and hurried off to the bathroom with my clothes and cleaning supplies in hand.

The warm shower loosened my tight and aching muscles; washing the sweat from my skin. I washed until battle trace were gone. Then, I stepped out. Water running down my sunburnt skin in tiny, clear beads. My hair stuck together in thick, black clumps. I changed into clean, dry clothes and went back to my room.

I was surprised to see Mom and Teresa there. Mom wrapped me in an enormous bearhug; swinging me around until the soles of my feet brushed the wall. Teresa only tousled my hair.

Kara was in the room, too, fixing up Callaban as I had with Fangore. Kara was smiling and she gave me a hug (the first ever from her which surprised me) and Callaban's tongue brushed my knuckles.

Teresa told us just how proud she was of us; saying that we couldn't have represented the Academy or Tyrannia Dorm any better.

"Thank you, Teresa." Kara and I said.

Teresa was bubbling with enthusiasm. It appeared that any moment, she was going to burst.

"There's more?" Kara asked.

"The Bosses are pleased with both of you. They want to speak with you. Now."