Okay so it's me again. This is still pretty short but I'm getting the hang of things. I can't promise a fast update because I'm working much but I'll try my best! Enjoy and thanks to those who read :)
The sun stood high and was shining mercilessly into the pit. Santana felt the sand underneath her shoes squirming to adjust to her feet. This was important because fighting in sand was different than solid ground. It was one of the first things Noah had taught her. He made her sprint thought the sand relentlessly, learn how to navigate and use her feet to get a good grasp and be fast. Because that was her strength – her speed. That's what her weapon was for – a catskinner. A short sword used in medieval times by knights that needed weapons that could be drawn quickly and do damage through fast stabs. The sword weights about 1,5 kg which was important because although Santana was strong she was still a woman and could wield a really heavy sword only for so long. The blade is 60cm long and had a wirily decorated hilt to protect the wielders hand. Since both Noah and her knew that the enemies would probably be bigger than her they opted for a light weapon that could do fatal damage if she got close enough to use it. They knew Santana couldn't win by using a spear and just keeping her enemies at bay. She needed something real that she could wield without problems anytime.
So here she was with her catskinner , she named it Odin after the nordic father of the gods who was among other things associated with war, victory and also death. A fitting name.
The arena was very vast, formed a neat circle out of solid rock which rose up to 3 meters until the first line of spectators formed high above the ground. They wanted to see every detail, smell sweat and blood but still be far enough to not get hurt in the process. The nearer Santana got to the middle of the arena where her opponent stood the calmer she got. He wasn't that much taller than her but very bulky and in his hand he had a huge battleaxe. A fucking battleaxe. She had heard about him. They called him 'the butcher'. He was relatively new but had made a name for himself because he wouldn't let an opponent walk away without losing at least one limb. And he tried to skin that one girl he fought last with. She knew he wasn't the smartest but the insanity in his eyes made him even more dangerous. People that are willing to do anything to you are the most dangerous because they fight against you with everything they got, they have no inhibitions as you may have and you can only expect the worst. That's what Noah had told her, she believed him and seeing this 'butcher boy' she thought she began to understand what he meant.
So when she finally got to the middle of the ring, the announcer Will, started to introduce them to the crowd.
"Today I'm very pleased to announce that we have a greenhorn in the ring. Well and as you can see she is up against none other than, you all know and love him, the Buuuuutcherrr! He has won 8 fights so far and let me tell you we all got a good show out of them. He is up against our newbie, the successor of none other than Puck. Let's hope she can live up to our expectations. Welcome Santana Lopez." The crowd started to roar and she thought she heard people chant "Axe on limb".
Will was now looking at both of them.
"Do I have to remind you of the rules doll or do you think you can handle yourself?" he addressed Santana and Martin bickered.
"I'm ready just ask if that dumb gorilla is ready. Don't want King Kong to be in the dark for too long." She smirked and watched as Martin stopped to bicker and glare at her. Will just chuckled.
"Okay then fighters get ready." Both of them got a foot length further away from the other and readied their weapons.
"Alright let's get to it. Begin." Will screamed and ran to the sidelines. Santana's face didn't betray any emotions and before she started to run towards Martin her last words were "Don't run little butcher boy or you won't see my blade coming." And then it was mute, and all Santana could hear were her footsteps in the sand.
Martin smirked as he saw her charge him but that soon was over. Santana was fast and her light catskinner allowed her to strike and stab at him in fast succession and he had problems to block all her attacks with his heavy axe.
Santana couldn't let him get her she knew then the fight would be over but she could attack him until he ran out of stamina. At best she would get a good hit in and could finish this fight early. Santana was concentrated as she sidestepped a mighty swing of Martins axe and tried to stab him into the stomach. What she didn't realize was that the boy anticipated her move thrust her blade to the side with his axe and punched her jaw hard. It landed so hard that the girl was jerked on her back. But she hadn't time to get her bearings because the large axe was already over Martins head ready to descend into her body. So she rolled to the side and Martins axe hit the sand. Santana's jaw pounded and her lip was split but that was a small price to pay. She knew she had to be more attentive because Martin was better than she had anticipated. Martin was already starting to charge her trying to overwhelm her with the raw force of his massive body and the deadly force of his axe. To his surprise Santana ran towards him to at full speed. They ran and Martin swung his axe fast and hard in the direction of Santana's left arm but just as the axe was about to hit Santana stepped to the side as fast as a cat let the blow slide down her catskinner and kicked the boy square in the face. She hit him not only with the full force of her muscular legs but with the weight of his own body. Martin howled in pain when Santana's foot connected with his face and you heard bones crackle under the force. Blood streamed out of his nose like a gushing spring. He landed on his back and howled in pain. Santana had to be quick she knew that he would be on his legs in no time so she sprinted in his direction and just struck with her blade. She felt it enter his arm but it was stopped by his axe. He had somehow gotten into a sitting position and stopped the blade from slashing deeper in his arm. His face looked feral with blood gushing out of his crooked nose and eyes wide open. He didn't even react to the sword that slashed his arm. Instead he forced the sword out of his arm and stood up faster than it seemed to be possible for him and threw his axe in blind rage at her. If it wasn't for Pucks endless drills in the sand, Santana is certain she wouldn't have been able to quickly sidestep the axe so that it only hit her thigh leaving a big gash on it. She growled in pain as the blade tore through her flesh but didn't lose her footing. Instead she swirled around looking at Martin who seemed stunned that she actually avoided his attack and jumped on him leaving the blade of her catskinner at his throat.
"Now Gorilla just give up and I won't have to end you." She snarled in a low voice. She saw Martins hand moving and before he could even reach her she buried it under her foot. "Do that again and it's my sword in your hand. Now say it." She all but screamed. She saw the boy think but about what she couldn't say. This was the best bet he got. He had no weapon, his face looked as if it kissed a rock and she had him pinned down with a sword at his throat. Martin scrunched his eyebrows, "I give up." he gurgled and Santana lifted off him. It was only then when she knew she won that she heard the crowd again. They were cheering, fucking cheering at the two bloody teens in the arena. Santana didn't wait for Will to even say anything but left the arena as fast as possible. She felt her vision starting to swim. The sun, the exertion and blood loss have taken their toll on her. Not to forget the pain she was in. So she limped with her head held high to gate from which she came. Inside she was greeted by Noah.
"You did it.", was all he whispered. She knew he wanted to hug her but that was a sentiment for another time in another place so he remained with touching her forehead with his fingers. Santana knew what he wanted to say to her just by the look he gave her. He was relived to see she wasn't seriously harmed, that she didn't have to seriously harm anyone and that this day was over for them. Since the arena was too far from home they both had a room at the quarters close to the arena. Santana would be able to rest and her wounds would get attended to. Santana and Noah didn't wait for anyone to corner them and just started to make their way out of the arena and to their designated quarters. When they arrived the owner greeted them and got them their keys. He then looked at Noah and whispered something in his ear. Santana saw him look up at his words and scrunch up his eyebrows but he just nodded at the man and got the keys to their rooms.
Santana just followed him and didn't notice anything about her surroundings. She was in pain and although she didn't let it show her focus and attention were all over the place. Not before she sat in her room and Noah went to grab the healer did she notice her surroundings. The room was pretty big, the walls ware painted a faint yellow and the floor was wooden. She sat on a really big bed if she had to guess she would say king or queen size with two big fluffy cushions and a giant blanket. In the right corner of the room was big creme colored divider and behind it Santana guessed was the bathroom. Before she could study her room more Noah entered her room with what Santana supposed was the healer.
"Santana this is Beiste. She is a friend of mine and a very skilled healer. She will take care of you."
"Okay thanks Noah. I guess I can handle it from here. I'll let Beiste do her magic and then rest." Santana smiled faintly at Noah and Beiste. "Don't worry Spitfire I'll patch you right up." said the large woman and took a seat next to Santana.
"Santana ahm when Beiste is finished..." Puck began, " Noah please get out of the room. I want to tend to her wounds." Beiste gestured to her wounded thigh for which she wanted to take Santana's pants off. Noah's eyes widened a bit. "Sure but I just have..", Beiste sighed.
"Noah whatever you have to say can wait until I have her bandaged up. And now out with you." Santana saw Noah shuffle for a moment mumble something to himself and leave the room. Beiste then turned to Santana.
"Alright your face looks fine to me we'll just clean that cut on your lip and you'll get some ice for your face. But I don't think your thigh will look good. From my experience these wounds tear the flesh pretty badly. So I'll have to stitch you up. I can get you anesthesia but that will cost some of the rations." Beiste explained to Santana whose ears perked up at the mention of the rations. "No no I can handle it don't trade in these rations."
"Are you sure Spitfire? This will hurt." Santana gulped but her mind was set. "Yeas I'm sure let's just get this over with."
And hurt it did. Just removing her pants was painful but when Beiste disinfected her thigh Santana let out muffled screams of pain. Before Beiste started to sow, the at least 12 cm long gash, she gave Santana a little wooden stick to bite onto.
"Don't want you to bite your tongue off." Beiste had said as she started to stitch together Santana's abused flesh. The pain was indescribable and Santana was growling through the stick in her mouth. Tears were running down her face as she clamped her teeth down on it as hard as she could. She wanted to scream and thresh about but that would only ruin her stitches so she tried to hold her leg as still as possible which got harder with every stitch. Just before Santana thought she would pass out because the pain wasn't bearable anymore Beiste had finished.
"All done. You still with me?" she had asked Santana. The girl only nodded, happy the pain was slowly subsiding. Beiste didn't say much, just bandaged her thigh, cleaned her face and left her with the orders to 'don't overdo it' and ice for her face. Whatever that meant.
As soon as Beiste had left Santana had plopped down fully onto the bed and fell asleep.
It was some time later that knocking on her door woke the resting fighter. She had none other than Noah with her so she called him to come in.
Just this wasn't Noah. In front of her stood a tall girl with blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a faint smile on her lips. She wore a light blue summer dress which showed an ample amount of cleavage and stopped mid thigh and showed of her toned legs. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and the few golden locks that escaped framed her face. Santana sat in her bed staring wide eyed at the girl.
"So are you Santana Lopez?" her voice was soft yet firm. It took a moment for Santana to regain the control of her mouth.
"Uh yeah that's me. How can I help you?" Santana watched the girl's smile turn into a smirk.
"It seems I'm here to help you." the girl whispered seductively and sauntered over to Santana.
Oh boy.
A/N: Leave a review or don't. You could also eat chocolate. Your choice!