Disclaimer: Werewolf the Forsaken and all related names are copyright White Wolf.

CHAPTER II: Breaking bonds

I got my ass handed to me today.

My legs hurt like hell, my ribs keep screaming bloody murder, my head is spinning and my stomach decided he is not digesting any food today. Still, I'm feeling alive again!

It all started this afternoon, after lunch. I was sitting under this big tree we have in the front yard. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it doesn't give fruit, so it's usually cleaner and doesn't smell like the mango trees in the backyard. I like mangoes, but the strong smell can make your head dizzy after some time, so it's not cool to relax under them. Specially not in mango season. Mangoes to the head hurt.

So, I was there with my survival knife, you know, the one that looks like it came out of Rambo, and I was carving a horse. I like to carve stuff, specially animals, but I can carve vehicles and people too. I used to carve toy trucks and cars and leave them at my little brother's front door. His foster parents always let him have them, and there was even this time they left some cookies at the door too...

But that was then, this is now.

So, I was sitting in the sun, carving my little horse, when this big shadow looms over me:

"So, I heard you served under master Bonebreaker..."

Only those who served under him or those who are not Talons call him Sergeant, or Sarge, most members of the Lodge call him Bonebreaker.

"Yeah, I did. Was his scout and assassin."

I answered without looking up, I was too focused on the horse's hooves. Whomever she was, tough, she was not leaving so easily:

"So, you're Moonbiter then? I heard you where taller and dark skinned..."

"Hey! Don't compare me to that backstabbing bi..." I looked up and saw her, framed in the sunlight. She was tall, and she was wearing sportive shorts and bra, her legs were toned as where her abs, and she smelled of sweat and cheap perfume. Her head was round, with large, very expressive eyes and a grinning mouth full of white teeth. Long, braided hair of gold, with a silver streak in the middle. "Oh, it's you again"

My deadpan tone was not enough of a "fuck off", it seems. She sat down, uninvited, by my side and kept asking questions:

"Sooo, what do they call you?"

"Aw, come on! You knocked on my door yesterday, you numbskull, you know my name!"

I didn't look at her, but I could feel her smile. That wide, cheerful smile only a gibbous moon can give.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I thought that was some other little isolationist. You're Snake Eyes, then, right? Knife-fight specialist. Won three inter-lodge competitions in tracking, and seven official duels. Bonebreaker's favorite ninja."

I gave her an angry chuckle.

"So, you know a lot about me, huh? Why the act, then? And, by the way, why don't you go take a shower? You smell."

She laughed out so loud it startled me and I chopped of the horse's leg. I'll not lie, I felt tears coming, I hate when I break something I'm carving. But I was still feeling pissed by then, so instead I began verbally assaulting her:

"What the? See what you made me do? This is useless now and it's your fault, you dissimulated bitch! Why don't you go pester someone else? Someone who gives a fuck about you and your stupid questions and stupid knowledge!"

I'm not good with verbal assaults, okay?

I didn't even noticed I was jabbing my finger between her ample bosom until she held it with one hand and twisted. It hurt, but I was so caught off guard I didn't even try to stop her.

"Hey, let's not get touchy here. Look, if you're that fired up, why don't you come face me? I want to see if Snake Eyes is really that good of a fighter."

I put on my game face. It was on.

"Challenge accepted. What are you terms, then?"

"Human form, fists only, no gifts, we fight in the training room's mat."

"I'm good with that, when do you want to get your ass kicked?"

"In twenty minutes. I do need to take a bath, and call some friends"

Her nonchalant response was only made snarkier by the smug smile she had plastered on her face. I hate smug smiles. I wanted to knock her down and punch her face until it broke the moment she smiled to me, but I have honor. I would do that in the mat, in twenty minutes.

All I did in the meantime was changing into my own set of sportive shorts and bra. I'm not fighting wearing a jeans, and no bandages in my hands, either, I wanted to punch her as hard as I could and I wanted it to hurt as much as it could without breaking any rules.

My first mistake was getting to the training room too early. I had ten minutes or more to spare, so I decided to go punch a bag instead of psyching myself up for the fight. When my quarry arrived, I was sweating and had built up an anger reserve. While she was rested, smelled of roses, and worst of all, she had moral support.

Three other she-wolves came with her, one was this dark skinned Elodoth who was wearing a big, loose shirt with some band's logo on it, the other was a heavily tattooed Ithaeur who had shaved her hair recently and should really be wearing more clothes and the last one was this Rahu of Japanese descent, tall and lean, and carrying a training sword.

I should not have accepted that challenge. The girl who challenged me, Sound of Thunder, had the same smug smile in her face, she had tied up her hair in a bun, only the silver streak left hanging out, and also had put on this tank top with a big heart stamped on. She didn't look like she respected me, and that made me even more mad.

Her friends pulled up some benches to sit on, and me and the dumb blonde got into the mat. We stopped, saluted each other, then she said:

"Night, count to three, please?"

Oh, yeah, the dark skinned chick was Night's Voice, then. Cool. Oh, wait, no, it's not.

I barely registered her counting. When I heard "go", I got knocked on my ass. Really, that fast. The stupid blonde charged me with such ferocity I never thought possible. She got me by the legs and send me to the ground so fast I almost got dizzy from the impact.

I hate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and mixed martial arts in general. I see no point in fighting on the ground, rolling around, grabbing and pulling. It looks silly and highly homoerotic, if you ask me. That also means I can't defend myself when someone goes BJJ on me. Like that would happen in a true battlefield.

But that was not a true battlefield, that was a 'friendly' duel between members of the same tribe. She manhandled me. She pounded my ribs with those powerful knees of her, then swept to the side and tried an armbar that I escaped just barely, My escape just allowed her to switch positions again and go for a rear naked chokehold, that, I'll admit, I powered through on sheer determination. That was the only moment I almost did something to her, as she hang to my neck to strangle me, I stood up and tried to crash her into the wall.

It takes a lot of strength to stand up while you can't breathe and there is a seventy kilograms, maybe eighty, woman on your back actively trying to put you down with knees to the back of the legs. And I'm rusty. I got so exhausted from that effort that I could barely take a step forward, so she just dropped the choke and took me down again.

She went for my leg and I could do nothing. I just watched as she got in that leg lock and started twisting it. I swear I tried to punch her, put I couldn't even breathe!

"Tap out!" She yelled.

"Why don't you?" Yeah, I'm stubborn like that.

She twisted a little more, and it started to both hurt like hell and feel like my leg was going to break in two.

"Tap or I'll snap it..." She teased me! You don't tease someone with a broken limb! Even if said someone will be fully regenerated in a few days.

I was royally pissed, but I tapped on her thighs. I gave up, the most humiliating way possible. And she laughed. Not a mocking laugh, tough, just a laugh of relief. She sat down on the mat and looked at me. Her hair was a mess, the tight bun was gone and the silver streak was completely obscured by the golden locks, her face was red with strained effort:

"Phew, that was close. I thought I would have to snap that knee to make you quit, you little stubborn thingy."

She had this cheerful smile, and her voice sounded more like a praise than a mockery. Hell, the other girls where even clapping. That was when I disarmed, I guess. Yeah, I got my ass kicked, but it was fun, in a sense. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as my lungs gasped for air, I could smell my own blood and sweat, the sweat of my enemy, and the soap she used earlier. It felt good, you know? As if suddenly my body remembered how it is to be alive.

Sound of Thunder was still smiling when she helped me to my feet and the other three gathered around us:

"You're cool, Snake Eyes." The Elodoth, Night's Voice, said. "You're as stubborn as Shibata here." She made a head gesture to the Japanese one. "Now, before you decide to gut us or some other bad stuff, why don't we talk this over a bowl of popcorn and a silly movie?"

"You girls did all this just to get me to watch a movie with you?"

Thunder raised her hands in a defeated gesture.

"My fault. I knew just inviting little miss badass wouldn't do it, so I thought of something interesting. I did some research on you and found out you where easy to anger. I also found out you couldn't wrestle if your life depended on it, and, hey, I'm a ex-amateur MMA Fighter! Jackpot"

I punched her. In the face. Hard. She went to the ground so fast I almost laughed, but she got up fast too. She was still smiling even though I gave her a black eye. But then again, said black eye would only last what? Fifteen minutes?

"Okay, I'm in, if only because this was the stupidest plan I've ever seen."

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"Oh, shut up!"

We watched some romantic comedy, the one about the girl who can't remember everything after one day and there's this guy who needs to make her fall in love with him every day in a different way. Funny movie.

And that's how I got my ass handed to me today, and made some new friends in the process. Life is weird.

Oh, and I'm starting the hardest training of my life tomorrow. I'll even learn some BJJ. That dumb blonde is getting payback. Stupid teasing someone with a broken limb...