CHAPTER TEN: THE "WRESTLING" TRIAL
Octavia's head hurt. It wasn't a pounding, debilitating pain, but it was enough to make her wince. She had only had a few sips of whiskey, she had barely even gotten buzzed. The same went for Cameron who seemed comfortable enough.
The same did not apply to everyone else.
Many campers had spent all morning sicking up all over the place, leaving only a couple dozen students capable of partaking in the wrestling trial. Those who did were still wincing and covering their faces. They shifted in place, squinting in the morning sun as they waited in a grassy clearing near the edge of camp.
"It's a wonderful day not to be hungover," Hubert whispered smugly to Octavia, who was pinching her brow.
Octavia forced a smirk. "You mean hanged-over,"
Before Hubert could indignantly respond, Coach walked out in front of the hungover teens. He bore a knowing smile that told them he knew exactly what had happened. "Ain't sleep well last night? Well, this oughta wake your asses right up."
First, he made the twenty campers jog two laps around Deadwood, calling the three-mile jog a "warmup." He hung at the back of the group, encouraging those who slowed to pick up the pace. Octavia would have been one of those people at the back if everyone else wasn't so hungover.
After they returned to the clearing, Coach made everyone set up the wrestling arena with almost assembly line precision. Everyone had one task, and Octavia's was to toss plastic poles to Brutus, who would hammer them into the ground. Cameron wrapped an elastic band around all the poles, forming a makeshift turnbuckle, while others laid a tarp over the grassy ground.
For what it was worth, Brutus didn't seem to pay any mind to Octavia, mostly flashing an evil grin at Cameron, who looked as if he were on death row.
Once the arena, as Coach had called it, was finished, they had but one last task. Weight measurements.
All of the lumbering brutes in the Hogtusk cabin weighed in at over 800 pounds each, all muscle. The only one that weighed less was Marbles, being remotely normal sized.
Next up was the Glitterfang cabin. All three of them teasingly refused to weigh themselves and said the other should go first, until Coach yelled at them to keep things moving. Courtney took her weight first of the three.
"Umm, Coach? This weight is OBVIOUSLY not right, I am not 155 pounds," Courtney whined.
"Must be all of the lip filler," Octavia cynically thought. Given Coach's unamused glare, he was likely just as annoyed.
Up next was Possumpaw. Hubert was excluded from wrestling, much to his delight; his weight wasn't even recorded.
Octavia stepped on the weight, watching the number increase before stopping at 130. She hadn't checked her weight in months, but that seemed right.
Cameron was next, and though Octavia couldn't see his number, she knew it was bad, based on the grimace from Coach.
"Alright, everyone, keep checking weights. Write it down in my log." Coach glared at the crowd as he put a hulking hand on Cameron's shoulder. "If I find out any of you lied, you're running seven laps around the lake!"
He led Cameron aside, beckoning Octavia to follow. Once they were all a reasonable distance away, Coach leaned in. "Alright, I pulled you two aside for a reason. Octavia? You clocked in at around 130 pounds!" Coach guffawed. "Heavier than you look! Good job!"
"Thanks," Octavia replied with a half-lidded glare.
Coach then looked over to Cameron, wincing. "Cameron though… my man. Don't they feed you back home?"
"Uh…" Cameron scratched his head awkwardly, seeming not to want to answer.
Coach sighed grimly. "Listen, kid, you're at 120. That's real bad." He gently hit his hand against Cameron's shoulder, knocking him back a step. "You need a sandwich or three."
Despite the news, Cameron seemed slightly elated. "So I won't be wrestling Brutus, right? Just to confirm."
The coach momentarily looked at him before bursting into boisterous laughter, startling the two. "Boy, you ain't wrestling nobody till you put on some pounds!"
Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. Octavia could see the tension leaving his shoulders, and she couldn't blame him. About half the campers would crush him, hungover or not. But then he perked up, confused. "But if Hubert and I aren't competing, that means Octavia-"
Coach nodded. "She's competing by herself," he finished for Cameron. "Both of you are the lightest of the lightweights, and there isn't a single boy here in your weight class, Cameron. Besides, after what happened last year…"
"Oh, come on," Cameron moaned in exasperation. "It wasn't that bad!"
Leveling an unamused glare, Coach crossed his meaty arms. "Your opponent broke half of your ribs by sitting on you."
Cameron spread his hands indignantly. "He was, like, 400 pounds, and-"
"What you can do," Coach interrupted, reaching into a crate and handing them protective equipment. "Is spar."
Cameron's eyes widened. He looked to Octavia, then back to Coach. "You want me to wrestle Octavia? But… She's a girl!"
"So? She weighs more than you! Besides, it'll help you," Coach pointed at Octavia, "warm up for the wrestling match against you know who." He thumbed at Courtney, who snickered at something her friends said.
Coach leaned in to whisper in Octavia's ear. "Tell you the truth, I'm rooting for you, but I got a bet with Cole that Courtney wins. The diva bitches always got them long-ass claws. Scratch your damn face off, y'know?"
"Again, thanks," Octavia groaned with half-lidded eyes.
Cameron looked around in concern. "Wait, claws? What are the rules here?"
The coach patted him on the back, pushing him towards Octavia. "You win by three-second pin or KO. That's it. Get to sparring; you got ten minutes."
As Coach turned to leave, Octavia and Cameron were left staring at each other, both confused.
"Well, I guess we're doing this," Octavia said, sweeping her hair back before donning the helmet. It awkwardly squeezed down on her avian head but fit well enough.
Octavia wasn't sure how to start. She had never been in a fight before, and she hadn't even known she'd be wrestling until yesterday! But, judging by Cameron's stance, he hadn't been in a fight before either.
"So uh…" Cameron awkwardly shifted on his feet. "What…part am I allowed to grab?" he asked awkwardly. "Like, you know?"
Octavia cocked her head. "Sorry?"
"Well, it's just," he quickly added, "I can't grab the chest because, y'know… but like, I also can't grab…because girls…uh… help me out here?" His face was quickly reddening, much to Octavia's building amusement.
Octavia put her hand on her hip, smirking. "You're the one making this weird," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you so scared of touching a girl? Worried about cooties or something?"
"You know that's not what this is about, don't you dare invoke that word!" Cameron indignantly said as his blush crept up. Cameron was distracted, and if there was ever a moment to push the advantage…
"Fuck it," Octavia thought. "I'm already here. I may as well have fun."
Octavia suddenly lunged forward, reaching for Cameron.
Cameron yelped, stumbling back and raising his hands defensively. Octavia grappled with his wrists, trying to pull them aside as Cameron wildly flailed his hands in front of himself. The two stumbled back and forth with the grace of mating sea lions as they scrambled for purchase.
Cameron tried to push forward, his hand grabbing her shoulder as he tried to push her down. She reactively brought her arm up and over Cameron's arm, tucking his wrist under her elbow. She put a foot behind him, then placed her hand on his chest and pushed.
She felt satisfaction as he tripped over her heel and tumbled to the ground. Wasting no time, she quickly put her weight on him, holding him down. Cameron squirmed helplessly under her, trying to push her off, but she pinned his wrists to his chest.
For a moment, her eyes widened in disbelief. "I… I won." She felt pride begin to flutter in her chest.
"Yep. Think you could put a little less weight on my ribs? They never really recovered from last year," Cameron groaned from beneath her. Octavia gave an apologetic nod and stood up.
Cameron dusted himself off, looking left and right to ensure nobody saw him lose. "Okay, you can handle my wrestling guard," he noted. "But what about… this!"
Cameron lunged forward, trying to shoulder-tackle Octavia to the ground. As his arms wrapped around her waist, her stance widened. She skidded back a few feet before Cameron was brought to a halt, his feet uselessly scrambling around. It was like she was under attack by a 7-year-old.
She brought her arms around his torso and spun, bringing him face down into the dirt under her. "Yep, I think I'm fine," she said cockily, resting her head in her palm as she laid her body weight on him. She began to wonder if all humans were so weak or if it was just him.
The wrestling practice continued for ten minutes, but Cameron and Octavia called it quits after five, instead catching their breath and exchanging small talk while everyone around them grunted and slammed into each other.
Coach clapped his hands together once, calling out to get everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone. Stop what you're doing, focus on me. We're going to be doing this one at a time. I'm gonna pick one of each cabin, and match them against…" Coach trailed off as Brutus raised his hand.
"Coach, do we get to choose our opponent?" the lumbering brute asked. Everyone immediately looked to Cameron, who shrunk. Word had gotten around that the mismatched duo would be dueling. "I wanna wrestle with the Human," he added.
Coach eyed Brutus with bewilderment before he burst out laughing. "You wanna wrestle him?" He gestured to Cameron. "Why don't you wrestle a squirrel while you're at it!"
Brutus huffed. "Mr. Walt said I-"
Coach raised his hand. "I ain't Mr. Walt, so we ain't playing by Mr. Walt's rules."
Brutus opened his mouth to say something, but Coach's glare showed that there would be no negotiations. Brutus glowered at Cameron, though with a more resigned look.
"Now, as I was saying," Coach continued. "I'll be picking two cabins, each of similar weight class," He pointedly looked at Brutus. "Each member of those two cabins will go against each other, one on one. One token per win, the cabin with the most wins gets extra tokens. The rules are that there are no rules, anything goes. Any questions?"
Mustering her courage, Octavia raised her hand. "I'm the only one in my cabin competing. What exactly does that mean for me?"
Coach nodded, taking a deep breath. "Well, uh…" He scratched his shoulder hesitantly, grimacing. "You'll need to compete against all of Glitterfang till you lose."
The crowd of campers regained that vicious glint in their eyes as a new grudge match formed. Octavia groaned as Courtney and her friends grinned like wolves on the hunt.
"This is bullshit," Octavia muttered, the phrase seeming to become her new catchphrase for summer camp.
Cameron put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's the worst that could happen? It's just wrestling."
It was not just wrestling. It was more of a high school fight club led by a fat gym teacher.
"Yeah, fuck him up, Brutus!" yelled someone from Hogtusk Cabin. Brutus was currently straddling the waist of a heavyset camper's waist and pummeling him with right hooks and left hooks. Each strike made his opponent's head bounce off the dirt. It was like watching tree trunks slamming into the other demon's face.
Brutus' opponent had been a goatlike demon from the wrath ring, but by the time Coach stepped in and called Brutus off, he looked more like roadkill. Brutus huffed and puffed, his chest heaving as he rolled his shoulders. He gave a smug look as everyone cheered and clapped.
Hogtusk Cabin had decimated their opponent, Moosetrack Cabin, 4-0. It wasn't even close, the Hogtusks had all been hulking behemoths, except for Marbles, who had won by cheap tricks. Octavia wasn't even sure where he'd gotten that pocket sand.
Brutus pocketed four tokens from Coach, while Moosetrack claimed none. It was unbelievable to Octavia that a lumbering twat like Brutus had somehow claimed first place by such a landslide. She wasn't even sure her Cabin, Possumpaw, could catch up.
But that didn't really matter. All that mattered was beating Glitterfang, and especially Courtney.
"And now the grand finale! Possumpaw and Glitterfang!" Coach bellowed. "Come on and step into the arena!"
Octavia's heart quickened as she stood up straight. She took a deep breath, and brushed past all the campers surrounding the arena.
For lack of better words, the arena looked like shit. It looked like a shitty arena that had been cobbled together by stupid hungover teens.
For one, the turnbuckles, simple wooden pikes, had been stripped of their bark, giving them more of a ramshack DIY appearance rather than anything you'd see in a proper sports arena. And the ropes were literally just fiber ropes. She could see them sagging under their own weight.
As she stepped into the arena, she was met with a surprising amount of cheers. Some laughs, but some cheers as well. She rationed they were just bloodthirsty, eager to watch her Hellhound opponents tear her apart.
"Oh em GEE, Jessica pleeeeeaaaase!" Courtney begged. "Just let me borrow your phone to record, it'll get so many fucking likes!"
Octavia looked to see the Hellhounds eagerly discussing which one should be given the privilege of beating up Octavia in front of everyone. They cast sidelong glances at Octavia, snickering to themselves. Octavia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
Coach seemed fed up, too. "That's it. If you ain't gonna pick, I'll do it for you." Ignoring their grunts of indignance, Coach pointed to the skinniest of the Hellhounds. "Abby, you're up first."
"Ummm, it's Abigail, fatty," the girl said to Coach, before reaching into her pocket and handing her phone to Courtney. "Don't forget to record horizontally, girl!"
"Thank you sooo much, Abigail!" Courtney said, putting a hand on her chest. "I'd use my own phone, but the counselors still haven't found it!"
Coach leaned in next to Octavia. "Do me a favor and fuck her up," he whispered. Octavia nodded, her heart racing as Abigail crouched under the ropes, entering the arena.
As Octavia sized her up, she realized that Abigail was about the same size and weight as herself.
"What are you looking at, freak?" Abigail leered at Octavia, her eyes full of contempt.
"Just weird to see someone skinnier than me," Octavia quickly shot back, mentally fist pumping at how good of a comeback that was. The entire crowd went wild, enraging Abigail.
"Ugh! Well… W-well at least I'm not as skinny as your new boyfriend!" she said, pointing to Cameron.
Octavia's eyes widened as she tensed up. "I-I… He- I mean, we aren't… Fuck you!" she cried indignantly, crossing her arms as she tried to hide her flustered expression.
"Ladies, ladies!" Coach yelled, pacing around the outside of the ring. "This is fight club-I mean, wrestling, not Meet the Kardashians! Get to fighting, ding ding ding!" Coach pounded the turnbuckle, signaling the start.
The crowd roared, and the fight was on.
Abigail raised her fists, taking a few tentative steps towards Octavia who brought her fists up as well. Neither of them knew what they were doing, but that made things even. They circled each other, both scared to take the first hit.
"Fuck her up, Abby!" Courtney cried, holding the borrowed phone up.
Behind Courtney, Octavia saw Cameron. He flashed her a thumbs up, which put a confident smile on her face.
That smile was promptly wiped off her face as Abby's pawed hand slapped her. She could hear the slap in her head as a brief stinging sensation flashed across her cheek. She stumbled back, instinctively bringing her arms up to cover her face as a flurry of strikes hit her head.
The campers flared with excitement as Abby pummeled Octavia. Coach leaned over the ropes a bit. "Abbigail, what are you doing? Hit with the knuckles, not the palms! Octavia, keep that guard up!" he yelled.
Though the initial slap had surprised her, Octavia noticed that the girl wasn't very strong. Not that Octavia had any experience, but she could tell Abby's striking form was dogshit.
Octavia waited for a window of opportunity when Abby eventually tired herself out. That moment soon came, and Abby's flurry of attacks slowed. It was then that Octavia suddenly rushed forward, shoving Abby back.
The exhausted hellhound stumbled backwards, falling over herself in just a few paces. Octavia ran forward hoping to pummel the Hellhound even half as hard as Brutus had with his opponent.
Before she could straddle and pummel Abby as Brutus had done earlier to his opponent, the Hellhound brought her legs in and kicked at Octavia from the ground. Octavia cursed at her, before grabbing Abby's leg. She kicked Abby in the ribs.
"Holy shit," she thought. "This is actually happening. I'm fucking fighting!"
Abby recoiled in pain, giving Octavia an opening. She moved in, attempting to pin the girl. And for a few moments, she held her still, just like she had with Cameron. Unfortunately, Abby was stronger than Cameron.
Abby bucked Octavia off, grabbing her shirt and rolling over so Octavia's back was on the ground. Then, to Octavia's surprise, Abby straddled her waist, grabbed her by the throat and started strangling her.
Octavia's eyes widened as Courtney cheered and the crowd yelled excitedly. As fingers wrapped around her neck, every instinct screamed at her. Her feet kicked and her hands scrabbled around, reaching for Abbigail's face, but the girl leaned back, craning her head away.
She couldn't lose here. Not to this side bitch.
Octavia cupped her fist and brought both her hands down into the crook of Abby's elbow. Abby jerked down as her arm gave way, and her face fell into Octavia's shoulder. Before the Hellhound could pull away, Octavia hooked her hand around Abby's head and thrust her to the side.
The tired girl fell off Octavia, who quickly scrambled to her feet and straddled her. The tables turned.
With one hand, Octavia grabbed Abigail by her jowls. "Hold still," she growled as she raised her fist, before jabbing Abigail right in the snout, which was conveniently long enough to poke out of the protective helmet.
Abigail yowled in pain, her hands going to her snout as Octavia brought her fist back again. Hearing the cry of pain made her pause. In that moment of hesitation, Abigail cried out.
"Foul!" she screamed as she whined, squirming under Octavia. "Coach, get her off me NOW!"
Octavia gawked at her as the crowd pointed and laughed, and, for once, not at Octavia. "Are you serious?" Octavia said in disbelief, still feeling the tightness around her own throat from being strangled.
"No foul," Coach announced with a grin. "And also, you've been pinned on the ground for five seconds, Courtney. First round goes to Possumpaw!"
Octavia then remembered she was sitting on Abby's waist, and Abby then remembered her back was touching the ground. They both made surprised eye contact for a split second.
Octavia's surprise turned to smugness. She resisted the urge to spit on Abby as she got up, dusting herself off.
"That's SO bullshit!" Courtney cried, phone lowered, as Abby retreated to her team tearfully. "Coach, the snouts are like, SUPER off limits," she added, hand on her hip. "It's the most sensitive part of the Hellhound body."
Coach grinned and shrugged. "Well, shouldn't have said that. Now Octavia knows your weak spot."
As Glitterfang cried out in outrage, Octavia regrouped with Cameron, panting slightly. He was furiously fist pumping, a huge grin on his face. Octavia couldn't wipe her own smile off her face.
"Wow, that was awesome, you totally handled her!" Cameron eagerly clapped her on the shoulder. "I'm not one to endorse violence, but I can't lie: That was awesome."
Octavia nodded, pride flaring up. She had never hurt someone before. It felt… kinda good. She hoped she wasn't becoming a serial killer. Or if she was, that she'd only kill Courtney. And maybe Mr. Maxson.
She shook those thoughts as her name was called. Coach was waving her back into the ring. "Come on back, Octavia. Glitterfang picked their next opponent."
As she entered the ring, Coach tapped her shoulder and spoke in a lowered tone only she could hear. "You did real good. I just want you to know that." Coach was speaking as if she was going to die or something.
Octavia raised an eyebrow. "I thrashed the shit out of Abigail, how much harder could the other two be?"
Coach winced. "The fourth cabin member to Glitterfang showed up. She's one of the exchange students."
Octavia cocked her head. There was four? Abigail, Jessica, Courtney… "Who's the fourth?"
As if on cue, the crowd started to part as everyone went silent, their excited chatter dropping to low murmurs. Octavia looked around in confusion, before spying Courtney giving her a wicked shit-eating grin.
Beside the three Hellhounds was the fourth member of Glitterfang. Another female Hellhound, unsurprisingly.
This one stood about as tall as Brutus.