Chapter XXXIX (36)
Tesoro!?
"Mmm," was Sedena's annoyed response to someone shaking her shoulder. She rolled over from one side to another, facing opposite the person.
"Don't you have a day of fun to wake up to? Sheesh," Stone said.
"Since when did you make wake up calls?" Sedena groaned, giving up and stretching, yawning while at it.
"You better get used to it when you go for your soldierness," Stone said. She sat up and smiled, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh yeah, my soldierness. It beats working in a clothes shop."
"Oh come on, you like Tabitha," Stone said as Sedena got out of her bed, then he led her to the kitchen where a plate of eggs, ham and pancakes awaited her...a rather light plate, for her Sangheili self. But she didn't make a big deal out of it.
"Yeah, I do, but not working at a clothes store. Makes me feel too stereotypical," she replied, sitting down at her plate as Stone to his.
"No, teen girls like you work at fast food and box stores. You work at a nice, small shop owned by a good person and her family, and her products aren't shit on top of that," Stone told her.
"You're right, it's God given compared to other jobs I could be performing..." Sedena said, actually shivering slightly at the prospect of working in fast food or the likes.
"And there's no risk of you being killed," Stone added.
"You're not going to get all worried about me now, are you? Now that I'm all 'growed' up...somewhat."
"Sedena...I've been worrying about since the minute we met on High Charity."
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"See ya," Stone said as he waved at Sedena while she walked down the side of their drive way to walk to Zuli's, Stone in his truck heading off for work. She waved back, then continued in the opposite direction Stone was going. She made the short walk to Zuli's to see he was already outside. Though he was digging in Rose's car for something. The teen boy was on all fours, legs and backside hanging out the back door as he searched around. As Sedena slowly came up to his rear, a sly idea came to her. She stepped up to him, then pinched his ass. He grunted and sat up in surprise, but only hit his head on the roof. Sedena laughed as she stepped back, and he stumbled out, looking at her in surprise; but his expression quickly turned to annoyed.
"Very funny, but I'm looking for something," he said, going back in the car.
"And that is?" she asked.
"The nine-hundred fucking dollar camera that I got Rose for her birthday. I borrowed it that one time and now I've lost it! She doesn't know yet..." he said. Sedena then reached into her small rucksack, and held out the large, black camera to him.
"Guh..." was all he said in shock, taking the camera and looking at it.
"I found it two days ago on top of my refrigerator," she said with a sly smile. "I meant to return it yesterday but it slipped my mind."
"Well thanks for scaring me half-to-death," he muttered.
"Thank yourself, I didn't leave it up there," she retorted.
"Eh, yeah, sorry," he said, then held it to her. "Keep it in the bag." She took it and slid it back in, then the two of them began walking. It was a fairly long walk, about a half-hour, but they were Sangheili and didn't mind the long walk. Well, a half-hour to meet Morva and Aralo at their home, then another twenty minutes to their usual swimming spot on the lake; a rather beachy sort with loose dirt-sand.
"I'm so glad Summer's here," sighed Aralo as she kicked off her shoes, and took off her shirt. It was one of those criss-crossed cloths, making an X over her front and back, Sedena wearing the same, along with a pale green, loose skirt with gold lining.
"Yeah, Winter was terrible before," Sedena agreed.
"Winter's always terrible. I still miss those three suns, even now," said Zuli.
"Nah, it's plenty warm now," Morva said, taking off his shirt, then diving right into the water. Only when he came out he was rubbing his head.
"Every time!" cackled Aralo, the others laughing at an embarrassed Morva as well. Ever since they had come here, he always bumped his head on a boulder under the water, remembering and forgetting was common every time they came. They would think he would remember every time. "I think you were made for entertainment purposes, Morva," she said to him. He glared at her, but before he could respond, she ran to the shore to jump in herself. Only when she got near the water, her foot sank in a patch of mud, making her trip and fall face first into the water. Morva cackled at that, along with Sedena and Zuli.
"How entertaining," Morva commented to Aralo when she got up. She growled and jumped at Morva, pulling him under the water. Sedena and Zuli smiled at each other, then jumped high into the air, and fell into the water, meeting fighting Aralo and Morva under there. They pulled the two apart and up to the surface. When they surfaced, Zuli said,
"Hold on, guys. I'm sure that we can meet N'tho sometime and he'll set up a fight between you two."
"No, it's too late, the moment's over," Aralo said to him. "Now I'm pissed at you!" She dove under, but Zuli intended to meet her down there. Morva and Sedena looked at each other, shrugged, then went under to fight each other as well. The first "wound" Sedena and Morva gave each other, was swimming right into each other's face. They pushed back in surprise, rubbing their faces, but grinning and grappling each other after recovery. Both kept trying to get each other in a headlock, but after a minute-and-a-half of struggle, they needed to surface for air. They gasped when they broke out, then laughed. Aralo and Zuli did the same next to them. But Sedena went under immediately again. She paused to look around the underwater scape. There were plenty of boulders strewn across the dirt bottom. She noticed an odd movement of some seaweed at the base of one of the large rocky hills that rimmed the lake, and the seaweed appeared to be swaying in and out of a cave. She glanced over to see Zuli come to a drift next to her, and he looked back, an inquisitive expression. She pointed to the cave and he noticed. He looked at her and nodded, and she smiled.
The two of them swam towards the cave, and pulled the seaweed aside. They looked behind themselves to see curious Morva and Aralo following. The four of them went in single file, swam upwards a few feet before coming into a pitch black cave. Sedena heard the others surface near her.
"You think we'll be able to see when our eyes adjust? I don't think they're this powerful," Zuli said.
"I don't know...this is kinda creepy..." said Aralo.
"What are you claustrophobic?" asked Morva.
"I am with you," she sneered.
"Oh my God!" Morva shouted.
"Nice try," Aralo replied flatly, then snickered at Morva's defeated grunt.
"What the hell is that?" asked Zuli.
"What?" Sedena asked as well.
"It...feels like a bottle," Zuli said.
"Well let's swim back to the outside and see," said Aralo.
"Where'd you find it?" asked Morva.
"This alcove right here," Zuli said. Morva felt it as well as the others.
"Hey I found something too," said Sedena. "Feels like a coin."
"So what's next? A pile of bones?" asked Aralo. Suddenly, she screeched in horror. Everyone else cried out in her in fright.
"What is it!?" asked Morva, gripping his sister protectively, even though he had grabbed Zuli by accident.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare the rest of you," Aralo said, not sounding sorry actually. Everyone else all gave her an irritated talk down at one time, the babble making her smile sheepishly.
"Can we get out of here now? I'm getting claustrophobic too," Zuli said.
"Anything else? Keep searching," Sedena said. Everyone scaled what they could reach of the rocky walls, and found nothing else.
"We should bring a flashlight next time," Morva said when they gave up.
"Yeah, but let's see what we already have," Zuli said, then the four of them swam back out of the cave, into the bright outer waters, then broke the surface. They took a moment to get adjusted to the light again, then swam back to shore, laying out towels to sit on while they looked over what they had found.
"Whoa, there's a note," said Aralo when they looked at the bottle. Zuli pulled off a plastic cork, then fished the note out with his long fingers. Not just a note.
"Wow!" exclaimed Sedena, when a golden necklace lined with diamonds slipped out into the palm of his hand. They admired the object for a moment, before Zuli placed it down beside himself and read the note.
"'Dear anyone, congrats on finding this necklace, it belonged to me, Jane Marie, who is now ninety-nine years old. Though I am too old to put it in that little cave I used to visit so often in my youth, my good grandson promised to place it there today. If you find it, take good care of it, but don't disclose the location of the cave to everyone you know. It's been a little secret for so long, and it's actually rather sad when little secrets of our wonderful natural world are revealed to everyone. It compromises the majesty of our world just by an inch. I wonder how far in the future you are, so hopefully the date I'm about to leave you will be a shocker'—" Zuli smiled, "—winking face—'Today is July fifteenth, 2008'—holy shit!" Zuli exclaimed...along with the others. Indeed it was a shocker. Even though the paper was old, one would think it would have disintegrated over the past five hundred years. Well, an isolated glass bottle in a dark, cool cave, and the paper being bleached and treated printing paper; it could survive quite a while.
"What about that other thing?" asked Aralo to Sedena. Sedena then frowned.
"You lost it?" asked Morva.
"Well, when Aralo scared us to death," Sedena said to her with a hard stare, "I must have dropped it then."
"We'll look next time with the flashlight," she said.
"Yeah, it's not going to disappear from existence," Zuli stated.
"Well, who keeps the necklace?" asked Morva. "I don't want it." Zuli shook his head 'no' as well, and that left Sedena and Aralo. Both held out their fists to each other. They shook them three times, before Sedena shot rock, and Aralo shot scissors. She sighed in some disappointment as Sedena looked over her new necklace. Even though Sangheili women usually preferred the ones that hung from the bottom arch of their neck, they still wore ones that wrapped around the base of their neck entirely. Sedena looked good in it.
"We should get back home and show everyone," said Morva.
"After lunch, up there," Zuli said, gesturing to their favorite restaurant on top of a cliff overlooking the lake. The Butte-E-Full Restaurant it was aptly titled. It was designed somewhat like a Mexican villa, but had an assortment of different foods. Ethnic, or just standard "American" foods. They went there commonly after swimming. Though this was really the first time they would be arriving for breakfast. Sedena smiled as they began their ten minute trek to the restaurant. Stone had given her a light portion of pancakes, probably knowing they would wind up having breakfast at 'Butte-E' (what they called it for short). She was gonna have some French toast and scrapple this time. She was always amused at how disgusted Stone would get when she ordered and ate scrapple. One knowing Stone would think scrapple would be the ideal side-meal for him...or main course. But of course he liked Spam, which Sedena was disgusted at in turn. So it evened out.
"Hey, Sedena, I heard one of the chefs at the Butte-E was experimenting one night, and came up with an amazing mixture," Aralo said to her with a sly smile. Sedena suspected it was something that would gross her out. Knew it had something to do with Spam.
"And that is?" she asked.
"Sprample."
"...Spam and scrapple?" Sedena asked, disgusted indeed, obvious by the sneering grimace on her face.
"I'm trying it," Morva stated.
"I as well," Zuli seconded.
"We all will...except you," Aralo said to Sedena.
"You got that right," she retorted. "Yeggh! Was it Dimitri that came up with it? He's always doing goofy shit in that kitchen."
"What do you think?" Aralo's counter-question was answer enough. The people at the Butte-E were like old friends to everyone in the T or C community. Everyone knew everyone that worked at the Butte-E, especially Dimitri. With notable recipes, such as homemade Sicilian styled pizza, but the "sauce" beneath the cheddar, goat and mozzarella cheese with your choice of toppings, was Shipwreck Galley Black Pepper and Ale salsa. A spicy, big-a pizza! Also, roasted chicken with Tri-Pepper strawberry jelly glazed over. The three peppers consisted of Jalapeño, habanero, and a touch of the dreaded Eastern Indian Naga Jolokia pepper. The hottest pepper in the world. It was a killer strawberry jelly that Sedena liked on her toast when she bought a jar from the traveling Northern Farmers Market, one that came to the desert to give out some "Northern foods" (mostly fruits and vegetables that were near impossible to grow in the desert). And it was evenly glazed on the roasted chicken for some spicy sweetness, but also mellowed out by the chicken itself.
And breakfast? A simple omelet smothered in mozzarella cheese, mixed with fried onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and...duck? Yes, duck meat in that fine omelet...oh yeah, there was Duck Parmesan for dinner as well. Sedena was extremely hungry by now, thinking of all the silly yet wonderful concoctions Dimitri conjured up after hours (or served to an unsuspecting customer for a sample, before giving the actual meal that was desired by said customer).
The man himself was a young guy from Russia, Siberia specifically, so he looked Oriental, but was Russian in fact. When he lived in Russia he was close to the Mongolian border, so he shared some mixed blood between Russian and Mongolian, as did many near that border. What was the most surprising of him was that when he was a small child, he asked many different peoples of different nationalities of their home language, since the small town he lived in was basically a miniature melting pot. He knew French, Italian, Chinese, Mongolian, Russian of course, as well as English; but above all else: Sangheilian. That, however, was taught by the four Sangheili friends themselves when they met him two years ago. One would think knowing all those languages would eventually wear down your ability to memorize new languages, but he picked up on Sangheilian quickly. "Oh Dimitri" everyone would say with an amused smile, while he pretended to be irritated by that. Grudgingly cutting up some meat, boiling noodles, tossing a salad, or basting a chicken. Learning and cooking were his two passions, and learning to cook was his "metaphorical orgasm" as he would call it.
They arrived at the restaurant, then sat at their usual seat near the window that looked into the kitchen, where waiters called in orders. Dimitri was right there of course, frying something up.
"Well hi, come to order food from the genius I assume," Dimitri said as he flipped a sausage patty.
"I have a special request," Zuli said, turning around in his seat, since it was facing away from the window.
"Let's hear it," Dimitri said in a neutral tone. He was always neutral in the morning, on purpose. Just to seem slightly uninterested.
"Scrambled eggs-" began Zuli, but Dimitri interjected,
"I've already made them before." Zuli smirked.
"Covered in hot fudge," he finished.
"Eww!" Aralo said, grimacing, along with Sedena. Morva only looked amused and interested.
"Go on," Dimitri said slowly, now very interested, but still focusing on what he was cooking the most. A good chef.
"Maple syrup poured into that-"
"Oh my God," Sedena said lowly beneath a facepalm.
"-with one piece of French toast covering, sprinkled with a mix of powdered sugar and cinnamon. More syrup on the French toast, along with cream cheese. Bacon on the side, also sprinkled with powdered cinnamon sugar, a sausage patty, and Sprample of course."
"I would kill you if your meal wasn't about to," Sedena sneered.
"Oh, and mind your own fucking business, Sedena," Zuli added as an afterthought. She put on an affronted look, but hardly felt so in reality. Zuli seemed to be the wiser of that as well.
"You want ketchup with that?" asked Dimitri.
"Don't!" both Aralo and Sedena exclaimed at both Dimitri and Zuli.
"If you make me a second small dish of corned beef hash, sure," Zuli said.
"Okay, crazy and awesome concoction with a second small plate of corned beef hash and ketchup, coming right up!" Dimitri proclaimed as he got the ingredients.
"I want the same!" Morva called.
"Two orders...no, four orders, because I know—I fucking know you two want to try," Dimitri said sternly to the girls. "Abandon your feminism a little bit and conform to the male world of food." Sedena and Aralo glanced at each other, then said back to Dimitri in unison,
"Sure, fine." He grinned, clapping his hands together and rubbing them, then going to make four orders of the next popular dish the Butte-E-Full Restaurant ever had in its history.
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"I'm gonna be sick," belched Sedena as she pushed away the practically licked-clean plate.
"No you're not, you're just being dramatic," Morva said, absently picking some Sprample from between his teeth with a claw.
"I'm not," moaned Aralo however, then stood and walked towards the bathroom. Morva now got concerned and followed, Sedena and Zuli casting each other concerned glances as well, and following. The women's restroom was a single toilet one, like the men's, and Morva could hear enough when he waited for his sister outside.
"Wow, poor girl," murmured Sedena as she and Zuli stood back a ways, only Morva remaining constant at the door.
"I feel bad...I mean for her! I'm not going too..." Zuli added quickly to Sedena when she gave him a surprised look. She sighed and looked over just as the door opened.
"You okay?" asked Morva to a sullen Aralo.
"Yeah...I think I need some rest though," she mumbled.
"Alright, let's go," Morva said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We can call Mother or Father to pick us up."
Another good day turned out to be bad, Sedena thought dismally. Atleast it wasn't as dreadful as yesterday. The four of them called up the Mera parents and Irisoi came to pick them up, after dropping off her children at their house, she offered to drive Sedena and Zuli back to their homes. After that was agreed, Sedena was driven to hers.
Now there was nothing to do. No friends to hang out with, Stone was at work, she had no interest for any video games about now, and she finished all her books...but she often wasn't able to blast music on Stone's huge stereo system...this could work.
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Stone stepped into the station with his lunch in arm, a simple toasted Reuben sandwich from the town's best deli, along with a brownie. The deli made the best damn brownies in the world. It was so rich and moist, unbelievably, and lathered with chocolate ganache on top. And of course a signature pecan placed atop. He had been eating the same lunch, consistently, for two years now. Atleast his work lunches. No one joked about it anymore, though, so he didn't get any jokes from others, unless he spilled some on his uniform or something rather.
Mendez came out of his office suddenly as Stone went to sit at a break table, and said,
"Hey, Stone, I'm not sure you wanna be here at this particular moment."
"Huh? Why not?" Stone asked, taken aback.
"Is that him?" asked a deep, Sangheili voice; full of contempt. Stone felt an ice pick go into his spine, travel up his spine and into his brain. He was the one that had attempted to abduct Sedena yesterday. Usually if a Sangheili committed a crime on Earth, as a visitor, not a citizen, he would be imprisoned temporarily at the nearest precinct, and the next day Sangheili soldiers would escort him to a ship, imprison him on that, then give him a trial at Sangheilios when they returned. He was no doubt being escorted out by Sangheili soldiers at this very moment.
Stone turned to him. Two Minor Domos had paused as the prisoner regarded Stone. The man was in plasma cuffs, both arms and feet, and...
He grinned wryly as Stone recognized him.
"Yes, it has been a while. Quite a coincidence," he said. That man had been one he encountered on Sangheilios. The resentful one in the restaurant during the first vacation there with Sedena's grandparents.
"So you tried to abduct Sedena? And do God knows what to her?" Stone asked.
"Yes, God knows what to her. Exactly my plan," the man replied, that contemptuous little smirk not leaving his face. The scary thing about what he said: he meant it.
"Well, too bad, guess she got the best of you," Stone replied.
"Mm, yes, it appears she still retains some Sangheili in her, despite being subjected to filth like you."
"Yep, we're all very proud of her. You can take him away, now," Stone said to the Minors. They both chuckled darkly at Stone's casualness and led the man away.
"He shows signs of being a stalker, both human and Sangheili psychologists say," Mendez told Stone.
"So when he gets out after serving his time, he could try again."
"They won't let him near Earth at all anymore...but chances are, they're going to execute him for his tendencies. Sangheili have a very strict, zero tolerance to sexual predators. The guy knows he's going to die," Rando said.
"Jeez. On one hand, I'm not one for the death penalty; on the other, I wish all freaks like him would die slash be killed," Stone replied.
"I hear ya, man," Mendez agreed. "Fucking sickos."
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Sedena smiled in content ecstasy as he big speakers of Stone's stereo system, complete with extra big subwoofers, blared the music of her MP3 player. One of her favorite ethnic ambient groups, Kaya Project, was playing. Of course, her favorite song by them: "65 Percent". It consisted of water drops in beat with drums, flutes (or a keyboard mimicking flutes) and so on. It also related to the fact that human bodies were made up of water by sixty-five percent; the same with Sangheili as well. It sounded so amazing on these thumping speakers. The stereo was located in the garage, as to not disturb neighbors. Why would the garage be any different than the rest of the house? Stone had eventually made the garage soundproof so he could blare music from this monster of a stereo system as loud as he wanted. Usually it was shitty Metal, but on occasion when Sedena was not out and about, she would just kick back and blast some Kaya Project...Mystical Sun...Tripswitch...Solar Fields...Aes Dana...Carbon Based Lifeforms...H.U.V.A. Network—which was a collaboration of Solar Fields and Aes Dana...this and munching on some homemade pizza...life is good. And of course when she was really in the mood: she liked some old-school, conscious Hip-Hop. KRS-One, "Sound Of Da Police", oh yeah. She felt enticed to change her MP3 to that, but Kaya Project switched to the next song "Twin Soul", and she lost her will to do so as she loved this song as much as "65 Percent".
It was sad these artists weren't widely known...the genre as well. They were all very obscure, but still retained a good underground fan base, and she was proudly among that underground. Sedena stood suddenly, and walked to a corner of the room. She grabbed a tarp resting on something, and pulled to reveal a large, black grand piano. Stone had known a little, and had taught Sedena on it a bit, but she took everything else to the next twenty levels with it. Mostly self-taught, and with the help of Tabitha, who was proficient, Sedena was a formidable opponent in "Pian-offs" as Johnathan would title Sedena and Tabitha's small challenges.
Sedena switched her MP3 to play "Pure" by Mystical Sun. She loved playing the piano to it. Whether improvising, or playing along. As she played along, fingers dancing over the keys (the keys being worn, for Sedena's claws had tapped and scratched them for years), she didn't notice Zuli stealthily enter the garage, a smirk of evil but playful intent on his face. He approached the stereo, turned on Stone's MP3 player, then switched the setting to that. Sedena cried out in fright as the soothing pumping of Mystical Sun was replaced by the retarded growling of Godsmack. She whirled around to see Zuli laughing by the system. She growled, got up, pushed him out of the way, then switched it back to the right player.
"Come on, it was a joke," Zuli said when she glared at him.
"I don't care, that was really obnoxious," she retorted. "I was trying to play to that." Zuli's smile fell when he saw she was serious.
"Sorry," he said. Lesson learned: don't interrupt Sedena when she's playing piano.
"What's up?" she asked, getting friendly again.
"Just figured you were bored. I know I was," Zuli said with a smile.
"Well..." Sedena trailed off, not knowing what to say. Zuli knew what she wanted though; she was having a grand old time on her own, listening to this music. He didn't want to disturb her anymore.
"I'll leave," he said, smiling.
"No, you don't have to," Sedena said out of impulsive politeness.
"No, I'll find something else to do. Have fun," he said, turning and walking out of the garage. He shut the door behind himself and she sighed, feeling a little guilty, but she did want to be alone. She looked at the piano, but still felt enticed to play along with that song. She restarted it on her MP3 and began playing to it. She soon felt more at peace, and proceeded to play more for hours on end.
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Stone stepped into the house, munching on a second brownie he had acquired from the deli, and walked down the hall.
"Sedena?" he called. He stood still, then smiled, feeling the floor thump slightly as his "Superwoofers" played her ambient music. He walked into the laundry room, and through that into the garage. He grinned wider as she played the piano to...
He stepped over to her player and looked at the title. It was "Singtree" by Solar Quest. A very quiet song, but the stereo system wasn't very quiet, was it? Sedena pushed the keys lightly to get the soft tones out of the piano, to match the sound of the song. He waited for four minutes as she continued the song. He smiled as the song came to a close. When it ended, he shut the player off. Sedena waited for another song to start, and Stone waited for her to turn to investigate and jump at his appearance. But he cried out in fright when she launched from her chair and tackled him.
"I heard you coming in," she said to him with a smile as she laid atop him, and he huffed in exasperation.
"The one time I try to get you back for sneaking up on me all those times before..."
"Maybe next time," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She got off and helped him up, then asked,
"The...man from yesterday. Did you see him?" Stone was surprised at the question.
"Yeah...why?"
"I don't know," she said, shrugging. She studied Stone for a moment, and before he could try to use a different subject to deflect her probing stare, she knew he was troubled. "There's something else about him, isn't there?" Stone knew better than to dodge and lie, so,
"Yeah...you remember that man from the restaurant back on Sangheilios, when we first went to visit your grandparents?" Sedena remembered...oh no.
"It was him?" she asked.
"Yeah. A coincidence...but he recognized me and you and...well, psychologists say he's a wacko, so no doubt he'll be executed when brought back to Sangheilios. Don't worry about it, let's go out to eat somewhere," he said, grasping her shoulder (slightly awkward looking, as her shoulder was just above his head by a few inches), and leading her out of the garage.
"Alright," she said, smiling. "Just not the Butte-E...Aralo had a bad run in with a concoction Zuli made up."
"Ooh, is she okay?" Stone asked.
"Yeah, she's fine. But where to?"
"Pacific Grill."
"Of course," Sedena said, rolling her eyes. "But chicken fried steak does sound good." Stone smiled, she knew he was going for that, every time. That and cheesecake with guava sauce for dessert. Two orders of each for tonight.
One week later
Rose stared at Zuli in nervousness as he took off his shirt, and he was nervous as well. Sedena was right there, as well as Stone, as they waited for Zuli to prepare himself. Today was the Ascension Battle, the one to be fought against Master N'tho Sraom, to gain the privilege and honor of ascending to the military academy, to complete his Special Operations training. Attending the event was Shipmaster Hu'jiana Lesono, and another Councilor from the State of Lom, where N'tho had graduated. The Shipmaster would be the one that recommended Zuli be accepted, and the Councilor a second opinion.
"Are you ready, Zuli?" asked Rose. He took in a breath, then nodded. She patted his arm, then gestured him to leave the room. N'tho was letting him use the guest room of his trailer to ready himself; N'tho and the other two waiting outside for him.
Zuli stepped through the door, the others following, went down the hall, and to the backyard; where N'tho stood shirtless and barefooted in the sparring ring. Hu'jiana's golden armor glistened brightly as he stood near the sparring ring, the Councilor in his gray, striped armor standing beside. Stone held back the urge to snort at the Councilor's headdress. It looked like a hood ornament to him.
"Zuli Sirkeinmin," N'tho said to the Councilor.
"Sharpeye," noted the Councilor, nodding to Zuli. "Long ranged weapons, I assume."
"Everything," Zuli corrected. The Councilor nodded in satisfaction; to become Special Operations, you had to be proficient in everything. But it was okay if you had certain strong point.
"I am Councilman Dralin Sratin, cousin of Kaidon Iluz Urlom. You look strong enough..." Dralin nodded at N'tho, whom nodded back. Zuli followed N'tho back to the ring, where they stood in front of each other. Hu'jiana then stepped in between them.
"The Ascension Battle, not a fight to the death, for that would defeat the purpose of a young warrior in the making; but a grueling battle nonetheless. If either of you feel too weary and abused to continue fighting, simply call out, and the fight will discontinue. It does not matter if you win, Zuli Sirkeinmin, only that you fight your best, and let it be enough to convince the Councilor and myself of your abilities. Good luck, and be strong." Zuli and N'tho took steps back from each other, and got in combat positions. Rose watched, clenching her fists, Sedena seeming just as worried as she; but they all were confident nonetheless.
Hu'jiana stepped out of the ring, raised his hand, then shouted,
"Now!" Zuli immediately took a swing at N'tho's face. It was a bold act, and left him vulnerable in all ways; but it seemed N'tho was as well. Both felt each other's fists slam in their faces, and they staggered back from the enormous blows. Despite Zuli not being as big as N'tho, he still packed quite a punch. This N'tho knew but...damn!
Zuli was the first to charge, and N'tho got ready, but Zuli dove at his legs. N'tho cried out in surprised as he was knocked face forward on the ground. Zuli whirled while on the ground, and took a grab at N'tho, but he grabbed Zuli instead, and planting his foot in his stomach, flipped Zuli head over heels over himself. He crashed to the ground on his back, but simply sat up as N'tho tried to take a punch at him. N'tho grunted when he hit the ground, but was knocked back as Zuli knocked him in the face with his elbow. Zuli stood but didn't go after N'tho, he stepped back. N'tho got to his feet again, and both waited for each other's attack. When neither of them attacked, N'tho charged, as Zuli continued to wait. Zuli saw as N'tho took a glance at his legs, and knew what was coming next. N'tho mimicked Zuli's earlier attack, going for the legs, but Zuli jumped up. However, N'tho grabbed his legs, and sent him to the ground beside him. Zuli felt N'tho come right on him, but grabbed N'tho's face, and shoved him violently back. Both the Councilor and Shipmaster glanced at each other with raised eye brows. Unorthodox, but the boy could really improvise. N'tho rolled to his feet, and was knocked down as Zuli made a sliding kick.
"Power slide, give him a guitar!" cracked Stone in a hushed tone, but Sedena and Rose both hissed,
"Shut up!" at him.
But N'tho rolled on the ground so he was on his back, and kicked Zuli as he turned, in the chest. Zuli coughed and fell back, Rose gasping and covering her mouth; Sedena merely clenching her fists and parting her mandibles slightly, but pulling them back as well; the Sangheili equivalent of grinding one's teeth.
Zuli tried to get up, but N'tho pounced on him, and raised his fist to strike, but Zuli moved his head so N'tho only hit dirt. He then grabbed the back of N'tho's neck and pulled downward, attempting to head butt him, but N'tho was the wiser as he placed his hands on Zuli's shoulders, then pushed up, getting out of Zuli's grasped, though his claws cut his neck, leaving long, bloody scratches. Zuli punched N'tho in the stomach, and he coughed, and Zuli did it again, N'tho then rolling off at that. But Zuli did not let up as he wailed on his face. N'tho kicked him in the leg, and he made a growling shout, rearing back impulsively, and N'tho gave him a right hook. Zuli's head snapped sideways painfully, and he fell on the ground. N'tho head locked him, and the Shipmaster looked ready to answer Zuli's call to discontinue, but Zuli didn't give up. As N'tho squeezed, Zuli dug his claws in his skin. N'tho growled, and Zuli stood, trying to shift his weight to fall on N'tho, but he was not big enough to do that yet. Zuli struggled, until he fell to his knees, looking exhausted; ready to pass out due to lack of oxygen. Rose wanted to scream for him to stop, but she had been told that could be the worst possible thing a Sangheili child could receive from a parent during an Ascension Battle, so she stayed her tongue. N'tho looked baffled as well, not expecting Zuli to go to the point where he would pass out from strangulation.
"That's enough!" barked the Councilor. N'tho let go, and Zuli gasped, falling on the ground. He coughed, blood and spittle dripping from his mandibles. His left eye was swollen, two huge bruises on both cheeks from N'tho's punches, more cuts and bruises on his body. N'tho came to one knee next to Zuli as the Shipmaster and Councilor approached.
"Zuli? Are you okay?" asked N'tho breathlessly. Zuli only nodded curtly, still catching his breath.
"Zuli Sirkeinmin...consider yourself accepted," the Councilor told him.
"I better fucking be," Zuli snarled, raised his head to look at the smiling Councilor.
"That's the spirit, young soldier. The rest will be expecting you in the coming weeks. Take care now," the Councilor said, then proceeded to leave. As he passed Sedena, he said to her,
"I cannot wait to see your abilities as well." She smiled and he nodded, then went off. Zuli sat up and waved Rose over. She strode over and got on her knees, then hugged him.
"I'm proud of you," she said, grinning. "You did amazingly."
"Thanks," he said. He looked up at Sedena. "We'll see if you can beat my record."
"Fuck off you little shit," she replied, then she got on her knees and hugged him as well.