Thanks for sticking it out this long. After this, there are two more chapters, one a short wrap-up. If you've read this far, may as well as finish it! I'm reasonably satisfied with the artistic merit of my work, but frankly, I sometimes wish I could write things that are more entertaining. Fun to read, and the like. Aie, whatever. A disgruntled writer is me.
What began a dream…
Starfire traipsed lazily down the long flight of stairs that went to the basement of the complex. Her mind was reeling with one thought – fun! At the same time, she had been up for about sixteen hours now, and was beginning to get tired. But she had no desire to leave. Instead, she wanted to throw herself on a seat and just soak things in.
Reaching the basement, Starfire looked around for her sister. There were semicircle benches with tables in the center all about the sides of the room. In the center there was a large, chest height rectangular counter for the bar. There was light, but it was a strange shade of dark blue making it difficult to discern one person from the next.
Starfire's eyes caught the sight of her sister at the far end of the room. Blackfire was sitting lazily on a bench in the corner, with Xu'ffash beside her. There were six others around the duo, almost instinctively keeping their distance from them. There was much laughing and subdued talk going on, and they all seemed to be having a good time. Starfire made her way past the tables and peoples, who seemed indifferent to her presence, and towards her sister.
"Oh hey," yelled Blackfire as she noticed her sister. "Come over," she said, patting the empty space on the bench beside her. Starfire walked up to the group, stopping at the end of the bench. The three Tamaranians between her and the empty spot next to Blackfire filed out of the way, seemingly out of duty, and Starfire sat down beside her sister.
"This is my sister, Nightstar," announced Blackfire to the group.
That seemed to trigger a reaction. The rest of the group perked up and introduced themselves, seemingly more accepting of her presence then they initially appeared to be.
"Yeah, so I ran like the wind to get away from those guys who were chasing me," said one of the rougher looking male youth. A few of the others exchanged comments on weather or not he should have stayed to fight.
These youths are most unusual, thought Starfire. Her mind drifted away from the conversation and towards other things. The music, particularly the bass, was still audible, but thick insulation made it possible for modest conversation in the basement. She tiredly sunk into her seat, at last slowing down and trying to evaluate her surroundings.
There was a wide range of ages to be seen, though Starfire was definitely at the bottom of the spectrum. Tamaranian men and woman anywhere from ages fifteen to thirty were sulking around in the basement. Some were talking, some were laughing, some were drinking, some were arguing, and some were doing absolutely nothing. The crowd was generally a little gruff looking – not the people Starfire was used to seeing around the palace.
"No, seriously, I didn't stand a chance. Better I run than to be caught by those guys again. Once you've been in that stink hole once, you never want to go back." The Tamaranian pointed towards a small scar on his deltoid, the outside of his shoulder.
Starfire stared blankly. He has the criminal branding! Starfire had noticed the same mark on quite a few of the other people about, but having only been explained its meaning once or twice before, and having no criminals as friends, she thought nothing of it.
Starfire's intent stare changed into a look of mild panic. A few of the others at the table noticed her discomfort, Blackfire included. One of the youth was on the verge of questioning her when Blackfire interrupted.
"Alright," screamed Blackfire as she rose from her seat. "Would anyone like to challenge my arm tonight?"
A few people screamed and hollered from the tables around, seemingly anticipating the coming challenge. Most eyes in the large basement shifted towards the reigning queen; some looked about for the one who would rise to the challenge.
Starfire felt relieved that the burden of attention was transferred from herself to her sister. The room became remarkably quiet all of a sudden, as no one was yet willing to accept the challenge. The thumping from upstairs seemed to become more pronounced. A few whispers caught Starfire's ears.
"Vit'essque… Vit'essque hela forte".
As soon as Starfire began to wonder what this unknown word meant, someone rose on the far side of the basement. He was large – almost as large as Galfore, and looked even more intimidating. He had a thick, scruffy beard, an intense gaze, and wore nothing but a loose pair of purple pants.
"I accept."
Xu'ffash visibly gulped. "Uh, Ono'tari… I don't know if you can take this guy…."
Blackfire looked down, about to protest, but instead looked at Starfire. She appeared extremely nervous about all of this. Blackfire leaned over and whispered in her sister's ear.
"Chill, sis. We'll just have some fun together. He looks like he could use it."
She immediately vaulted over the table and walked towards the center of the room. The other sixty or seventy Tamaranians began to murmur as her opponent also made his way towards the center of the room. A small table was set up for the specific intent of arm wrestling. The two stood face to face, neither sitting down yet. A few people from the fringes of the basement stood up and moved closer in to get a better view of the sure-to-be-memorable action. The rest of Starfire's table took seats closer to the action as well. Starfire herself stood dazed for a moment, but promptly moved up. She didn't want to take her eyes off her sister for a moment in this place that was beginning to frighten her.
Soon enough, everyone was crowded around. Anticipation was high.
Blackfire kicked things off by sitting down and holding her right arm out in initiating position. She lazily propped her head up with her left arm and smiled stupidly.
"Anytime," she said, sounding bored.
The crowd seemed to like this, as a few people exhaled grunted.
"Tell me, little girl," spat the stern and unkempt challenger, "what will you give me if I win?"
There was complete silence in anticipation of "Twilight's" answer.
"Uhhhhmm… a BIG hug!" replied Blackfire, with gestures to match.
A few people started laughing at the sight of a sixteen year old girl playing with a twenty some odd year old man who looked like he could shatter stone with one finger. At the same time, others laughed because they had seen her in action before, and knew that the challenger was about to be surprised.
"You look like you could use some love if you're trying to benefit off an arm wrestle."
The challenger eyed her carefully before sitting down and extending his own arm. The two slowly locked fingers around each other, palm against palm.
"Someone, arbitrate!" ordered the challenger. Xu'ffash promptly, and nervously, began to count down from five. Four. Three. Two. One.
HUUUurrrghghh…. The challenger grunted fiercely as he put most of his strength into pressuring Blackfire's arm down. Blackfire looked intently at their warring hands, seemingly infusing her arm with strength. It seemed to be working – she was slowly forcing his arm down.
The noise began to increase. A few people were calling to the competitors, trying to egg them on.
Blackfire pushed on, steadily pressing the challenger's arm to the table. She was almost there when, for seemingly no reason, she looked off over the challenger's shoulder to see her sister's concerned, scared face.
Well, mused a doubting Blackfire, I did say that we should keep a low profile, and she's probably worrying that I'll get sucker punched if I beat this oaf. Maybe I should just let this guy win. Barely.
Blackfire's lead gradually faded as the challenger pushed with all his might. Suddenly, they were back up to starting position, with momentum in favour of the challenger.
The noise seemed to double at this development. People now began chanting the challenger's name.
The look on the challenger's face went from concerned to aggressive, even violent, as he now held Blackfire's arm at about twenty degrees from the table. He was, in fact, quite strong, and he seemed to feed of the crowd's clamour and his own success. He smirked as he whispered something at Blackfire across the table, barely audible.
"…"
As soon as the insult left his mouth, the noise abruptly stopped. All the observers redirected their gaze from the hands to Blackfire's face, wondering how she would react to being called a prostitute's pet.
A prostitute's pet.
Blackfire's appearance went from counterfeit strain to mild anger.
"Is that what I am?" she said, flatly.
The challenger's momentum came to a complete halt. His expression changed from exertion to… pain. Blackfire smirked viciously as she slowly began crushing his hand with her superior strength. The challenger started to gasp for breath, but Blackfire was undeterred.
That was, until she caught her sister's glance. Starfire looked like she was ready to both cry and faint. By this time, a few others were taking notice of Starfire's discomfort. She was out of place like a fish in the clouds.
Blackfire decided to end things. She immediately turned his arm all the way back against the table with a resounding thud. The challenger, despite the tortured look of agony on his face, managed to show a hint of shock none the less.
"Well, I guess we animals just don't know our own strength, do we?"
She casually stood up from the table, smiled warmly, and proclaimed, "same time, same place, tomorrow night! See you then."
Blackfire shoved through the dispersing crowd towards her sister and grabbed her by the hand. She yanked her sister towards and into the stairwell that led back up to the main floor, in an attempt to gain some privacy.
"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Blackfire. Her face was genuinely warm in Starfire's eyes, all the more so amidst the grimy rock walls and dilapidated stairs. The whispering and talking from the basement hummed from below; the pounding, harmonious beats echoed from above.
"I…" muttered Starfire. "I do not like it here."
"Why?" asked Blackfire.
Starfire stared back in silence, unable to speak. She felt as though some invisible force was clamping her mouth shut.
"It's okay," said Blackfire, "we can leave if you want." Her little sister nodded acceptingly. "Go wait just outside the doors. I'll be there in two minutes after I say bye to Xu'ffash."
"Okay," accepted Starfire. She plodded up the stairs towards the main floor, obviously glad to be leaving.
Blackfire leapt back down the stairs and into the basement. She held the gaze of all as she walked towards the bench where she was originally sitting. Most were staring in awe while some, namely, the challenger and his few friends, were glaring with seething hate.
"Hey, I've got to leave early tonight." Xu'ffash looked up from the chair he was sitting in.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, I guess."
Blackfire started to turn away, but Xu'ffash spoke up with an unusually confused tone.
"Your sister. I mean… your sister. How is she? I mean, you two don't even look alike…." Though he trailed off and used broken language, Xu'ffash had communicated his point very well. Blackfire seemed to reflect for a moment before answering.
"She is humble, shy, honest and generous. She builds other people up with her speech and shows concern for all fellow beings. I've no doubt that she'll see a different side of life than me, but that's fine. I know she'll be happy, and that she'll make her lucky husband very happy as well."
Xu'ffash seemed to be absorbing the answer, not getting the response he expected.
"Anyways, I'm out. See you tomorrow night."
"Yeah," said Xu'ffash. "See you."