| It was her rite of passage in her clan that she stood at the opening of a cave with the fresh smell of blood emitting out of it. Barely within her sites in the caves were fellow clan members, clubs in hand to be ready when she would begin her rite. They would beat her as she passed through the cave, so she would either have to get through quickly, die, or skip the rite all together. But if I don't do this, I will shame my family and become a mere 'wife' she thought to herself. But even after the first test, it would only be the beginning. She was naked, save the two ankle sheaths that carried her sword breakers. Her tail swayed back and forth as she thought of her training for this moment. Her body was sleek and rather attractive for one of her people as a result of her training, and a a result she had to deny proposals of marriage to many suitors looking in her direction. She would not have to marry when she became of age if she succeeded the tests, and she would be able to have a say in her own affairs. I can go travel like I always wanted to also, and to see the places I have heard from so many travelers would be one great reward from this experience. She inhaled slowly before breaking into a sprint. The first thing she felt was the sharp sting from the clubs as her clansmen beat her. They did not go easy on her since she was a woman either as each sharp sound of a club hitting furred skin echoed in the cavern. But before long, her pain was replaced with adrenline. The pure rush of risking her life caused her to pick up her pace while she used her arms to guard her head. It seemed an eternity before she passed the last of her clubbers. Her paced slowed and her muscles already throbbed from pain as she took a look around herself. Not a single beam of light penetrated the deeper sanctions of the cave where she was in, but her feline vision could clearly make out the edges of the walls. She stopped and took in a breath while she listened carefully, wrapping her tail around her waist as so any ambushers would not be able to grab a hold of it long enough to detain her. Before long she was walking deeper into the cave. The passage continued for a while until it opened up into a large cavern. To the left of the cavern is a large lake and along the walls ledges jet out ledges. Another passage, magically warded off so that she would not be able to run before she completed the test, was on the wall opposite of hers. She waited and looked around, reaching down to both of her ankle sheaths and grabbing her swordbreakers. The sound of a small pebble hitting the floor caused her to listen more and watch less as she could make out the sounds of her next test. But she almost failed to hear her second assailant, who leaped from hiding from a ledge behind her. Her second assailant planted a hard kick straight into her back, almost landing on top of her as she tumbled to the ground. Her first assailant charged at her prone form, jumping at her to tackle and suppress her. She moved quickly, avoiding the tackle and leaping to her feet, stepping back and observing her two opponents, but she gasped as she realized who her attackers were. "You should have had her there, Yako," her first assailant commented. "You will get another chance, though. Just stay out of my way, brother, for I will not need your help." Yako nodded, standing up and stepping back while his brother reached for his axe. She took a low fighting stance, both blades forward and aimed at her first assailant as he charged at her. "I should have known it was you, Bara," she growled as she leaped out of the way of the axe. "If you could defeat me, I would be forced to marry you, you sick pervert. Then who knows what you would do with me. " She kept her distance as Bara swinged his axe back in forth at her. Each swing only touched air before she jumped up and onto one of the ledges, her focus maintaining on Bara. "You will be mine, and you won't be able to help it either." He leaped to her ledge, throwing his axe at her. The move surprised her as she barely avoided the axe, but his intention was not to strike her. As he landed on the ledge, he grabbed for her wrists, holding a tight, strong grip on them as she released her swordbreakers. She winced in pain as he lifted her off the ground by her wrists, kicking her feet wildly at Bara's chest. Bara growled, tossing her back down to the cavern ground as she rolled on the hard surface. As she recovered from the fall, she found her arms pinned down on the ground by Yako. She growled and struggled against his grip, but he maintained it easily as Bara landed on the ground nearby. The evil look he gave her frightened her as she kicked Yako off her. She rolled to her feet, looking around for her weapons as she backed away from Bara into the cavern wall* "Just give up, you have no chance against both of us." He's almost right, but there is no way I'm giving up, she growled to herself. The lake caught her eye for a moment just before Bara made a sprinting approach at her. Immediately she ran to the lake, checking behind her as Bara started to catch up to her. With a great leap, she dove into the water, holding her breath as she looked around in the near darkness. The lake was deep enough to hide her, but she would have to come up for air sooner or later. She waited and waited for Bara to jump in the pool, but it was Yako who entered in the chase. She quickly found a hiding spot and waited, barely avoiding being spotted as Yako began his search underwater. He started a good distance away from her, but as his search continued, he swam closer and closer to her with every passing moment. She wanted to take Yako out right there, but patience would help her if she waited for an opportunity to surprise and overwhelm him. She found herself almost out of air and time running out. She wanted to swim up to the surface so badly or jump Yako right there. But instead she kept waiting and waiting, the air fighting to escape her lungs. It was when she released her breath when she saw her best opportunity. Not bothering to go up for air, she accelerated at him like a torpedo, aiming her fists at his stomache. On impact, Yako released his breath as bubbles floated to the top of the lake. The two struggled with each other, but she was clearly in advantage. He lost consciousness shortly after, but she dragged his unmoving form to the surface. She did not want to deal with the guilt of killing something needlessly. She surfaced, grinning at the disappointed Bara as she dragged his brother to the shore opposite of Bara. As she exited, the water dripped off her fur as she barely shaked herself off, her tail unwrapping around her waist and swinging lazily around behind her. Bara could barely hold off from staring at her as she slowly walked over to him. He scanned her body as she got closer, grinning mischeviously at her. "Giving up I see." She remained silent as she brushed her tail and hand against his chest. He froze, unable to move and under he charm as she circled him, her gaze scanning over his body. She finally stopped in front of him, her hand still on his chest as his breath quickened at the change of events. It worked better than I thought she thought to herself. Having a clear advantage at this point, she struck him multiple times in the stomache, knocking the air out of him as he gasped in surprise. Bara fell to the ground, clutching his stomach as she continued her attack on him. Finally he was down and severely beaten before she stopped, spitting on Bara before walkking off and looking for her swordbreakers. As she picked them up, she thought about killing them both, but she shook her head and walked to the magical ward. "I have defeated my two opponents, and I am ready to continue." The ward faded, and out of the passage came a clansman larger and older than Yako and Bara. Their father Horro no doubt, who will try and save their pride right now. When it came to pride, her clan was vicious, and she knew it would mean life and death right now. Horro readied his two handed sword, a blade that outsized hers, but she kept her cool as she waited. Horro charged at her, slicing downward in a strong swipe. She sidestepped the overconfident swipe and thrusted her sword breakers at the blade, catching it on two different points. She started to turn the breakers, struggling to keep the blade from coming up and striking her. But as he kicked at her, she snapped his blade in two as the foot connected with her stomache, knocking her back and causing her to lose grip of her blades. He growled at her. " Your are now defenseless. You will not succeed where my sons have failed. Not a single woman of our clan has passed the final test. " Harro grabbed one of the breakers and threw it at her, scratching her thigh as she made an attempt to get out of the way. She glanced at her other breaker, not too far away from her prone self as he caught sight of it also. Immediately the duo raced for the other blade, but she managed to outrun him but inches as she grabbed the breaker. Without a second thought she threw the blade at him as it struck him in the chest, lodging itself deep into Harro. When she realized what she did, she gasped as he tumbled down on the ground, dead. She started to cry, upset because she had to draw blood. She pulled her swordbreaker out of the dead body and cleaned it off in the lake before she got her other breaker. She sheathed the breakers in her ankle sheaths before she thought of what Harro had said. Final test........ She began to walk back the way she came before she gazed at the once magically warded passage. Her curiousity took over her sense of thought as she entered the warded passage, gazing around at all the markings along the wall as she entered. To her surprise, the passage was short, and with the end came the end of markings. Her eyes started to adjust to the light that began to shine off the wall at the end of the passage. Soon she found herself blocking the radiant light with her arms so that she would not be blinded. But the light weakened her, as if to tell her what state her body is in after the last tests. She fell to her hands and knees, the light taking over her senses as she fell unconscious. |