She'd been training with Jamie's patrol for little under a week and hadn't encountered any serious problems with the others in her group. After the first day, they'd taken it harder on her when they realized that her being assigned with them hadn't been a joke. So she went from being the most skilled fighter in her patrol, to being absolutely pummeled.

She loved it.

But this afternoon she was enjoying a break from training by going to play with the other young hares in the wooded area on the side of the mountain.

Walking with Del, she stopped as they encountered the large group of hares, most of which were cheering and waving their arms about in the air. "Somebeast must be lickin' the others on the log," Del said as they came up and tried to get a better view.

The log was what they nicknamed a popular game that was played out in the woods. Being short, she couldn't get a proper view of the happenings. Eula pushed and slipped her way until she could see what was going on.

What she looked at was a long, thick log that spanned a small pond. Although it could hardly be described as a pond. Where the water would be was instead a very thick, sticky mud. The game was simple really. Two opponents meet on opposite sides of the log and try to push the other into the mud.

She arrived just in time to see one of the hares get pushed into the mud. A loud cheer went up throughout the onlookers as the beaten hare, completely covered in mud, squelched his way out, laughing good-naturedly and waving to the hare who he'd just competed against.

She clapped half-heartedly along with the ecstatic crowd before flicking her gaze to the victor. It was an older male, who, she was pleased to see, was smiling kindly and giving a rather modest shake of his head.

When the applause died down, she watched the champion immediately change back to a tough stance. She quirked a smile.

"Twelve wins, would it be, chaps? Anybeast try their luck, wot?"

Eula arched an eyebrow. Twelve wins? That was very impressive. She turned and glanced about for Del before realizing she'd left her behind the crowd. She shot a glace at the game before turning and trying to get back through the mob. She ignored all the jostling before she nearly toppled over, colliding with someone else.

A pair of paws quickly grabbed her and righted her before she could fall. Regaining her balance, she brushed herself off a bit needlessly and glanced up to thank the one who'd caught her.

The 'thank-you' got caught in her throat as she realized who it was. She jerked her arm free of his grasp and narrowed her eyes. "Don't touch me."

The older male blinked, as if just realizing who she was. "Oh- I- you- sorry..." He held his paws up, as if afraid to touch her again. "Look I-" He stopped, looking to another who seemed to be pulling him along.

"Come ON, you cad. You're next!"

He glanced vaguely to Eula, then turned away, allowing himself to be lead away.

Stupid Daikon, Eula fumed. She shook herself, wanting to over dramatize the fact he'd touched her. Never mind the fact she'd blindly walked into him. That just wasn't the point.

She turned to go find Del again, with more purpose. She had to tell her about THIS. Just as she was about to go on, she heard a new competition starting up. A loud yell resounded over the crowd.

"The next competitor is Daikon Lysander!"

Eula hesitated. No. She didn't care about seeing this competition. Who cared? Not her!

Pause.

It wouldn't hurt. Silently chiding herself, she went back to where she could see the game. She would get her own pleasure out of seeing Daikon tossed though. Who could blame her?

By the time she struggled her way back through the tightly packed creatures, a hare was already in the mud. A delighted smirk crossed her features. How long had Daikon lasted? Twenty, maybe thirty seconds?

Then she got a proper glance of the victor. She bit back a few inventive curses. He won!?

She watched in disbelief as he turned and smiled, taking a bow to his applauding audience.

"Next?" Daikon shouted when the cheering died out. Eula glanced around and noticed everyone was kind of melting back, not wanting to be noticed. She rolled her eyes. Daikon probably won out of a burst of luck anyway. As if mocking her thoughts, she heard a voice hail her as she turned to leave.

"Eula?"

She turned about, replying smoothly. "Daikon?" She'd mostly avoided conversation with the older hare over the past week. Only the occasional sarcastic remark had been exchanged. She'd never really gotten what his impression was of her joining the patrol.

"Don't s'pose you'd care to try against me, wot?" Daikon spoke casually, and most watching must've assumed the two were friends.

"Shame, I was just leaving," she replied coldly, turning to leave again. Ha. She wasn't going to be made a fool of on his account.

"C'mon now, m'gel. The others will think you're frightened."

Eula might just have walked away, if it weren't for the several snickers she heard among the crowd. Those bounders. They were the ones that were too scared to test their skills.

She turned about, scowling at him for a moment. Then she walked forward confidently, with a cool "Fine," loud enough for the onlookers.

Well... she'd taken him down once. Right?

***************

A/N~ Sorry it took me so long to update. Been uberly busy, y'know? I'm on Spring Break now though, and if I don't become a lazy slacker (mayhap it's too late) I'll take this week to do some proper updating.