More mugs of beer seemed to appear on the table from nowhere. And always they came as four mugs. Thankfully, the guys helped me with mine. They seemed to be able to drink huge quantities of the stuff with little effect. After the first mug, I didn’t believe I had the same capacity as they did.
Later in the evening some men from the Hunters came in and the room got instantly tense. We all noticed the lack of noise suddenly but it was Tupac who commented with only a glance, “Here it starts.”
I looked at them. They were all trying not to make eye contact with the new men. “What starts?”
“It’s Dreng’s fault really. He’s the reason they changed the rules of the The Hunt.”
Dreng reacted in his own defense, nobody else seemed to be, “Hey, the wording at the time was ‘survive’, that’s what I was doing.”
“No argument from me, Dreng. I’m just telling it like it is. You see, Maia, it is commonly held that nobody has made it into the afternoon of the second day, besides you. Well, that’s not quite true. Our companion here, made it late into the second day. When it was all over, Dreng was nearly beaten to a pulp and roped to a tree. There were also ten others injured in what was the only all out brawl of any Hunt.”
I looked at Dreng, he seemed so shy around me, “So, to ‘survive’ you decided to fight them?”
“Not quite like that, no. A small group finally trapped me and I … well …”
Tupac laughed and was joined by Herve, “He cracked one of the guys with a very hard stick, nearly split his skull open.” They continued to laugh. “Anyway, we thought the kid had guts and took him with us. Now, we sometimes get this, someone decides they can join us by proving how tough they are. It’s getting tiring.”
I picked up my mug, but it was empty. I had no idea who drank it, but I was now thirty. I checked with the others and mine was the only one empty so I said I was going to get a refill. From behind me I heard, “Is she going to be alright?” I didn’t hear anything else.
Along the way I was bumped very hard by a man. I looked at him and he was sneering at me, but I was working out in my head how payment of the beer would be accomplished, so I just ignored him. He might have taken offense by that, or just his general personality, but he grabbed my arm and spun me around and pushed me with his hand sharply into my chest. I stumbled backwards and ended up on my ass on the floor. I saw Tupac rise from his chair but I put my hand up to him, ‘stop’. I stood up and approached the man while others gave us more room.
“Did I offend you in some way?”
“You’re with the Warriors but you don’t look so tough. If you can be with the Warriors, they are letting anyone in.”
I looked around the room with a big smile, chuckling as I turned back to him. “I don’t know, how long did you last in The Hunt?” He took a swing, but this time I was ready and he lost his balance. This time he stumbled and I put a foot to his ass and pushed just enough to send him sprawling across the room. Of course, I wasn’t helping the guy’s attitude any.
As I maneuvered to the side in anticipation of him getting up, I noticed that Tupac and the others were now standing on the edges but staying there for the time being. A chair went flying across the floor and like an idiot, I watch it. The next thing I knew I was having to duck another swing meant for my head, but only just in time. As I spun away, he grabbed my flying dress and pulled me back to him and landed a hard punch to my stomach, which sent me staggering back right into the arms of Tupac and Herve.
“Are you done with him? Can we take over?”
“No! He hit me.” I was angry now.
“Then, what did your father teach you about fighting?”
“Avoid it! But … if it can’t be, my strength isn’t my strength; my strength is my quickness. Do you have something better?”
“No, I think he knew you pretty well. Only … lose the dress, don’t let him have that advantage, again. Then use your quickness against his clumsy strength.”
I stared at him, then Herve and Dreng. “Naked? In here, you want me to fight naked?”
“I don’t want you to fight, at all. I would just as soon finish him. But, if you insist, I want him beaten so I don’t have to see him doing this ever again. Besides, when he sees you naked, you’ll have all the advantage you need. Then, I want him hurting. You understand? Think about what Dreng would do.”
I looked at Dreng, he was all smile. I looked across the room at the guy and he looked like he was ready to charge, except for the Warriors behind me. I smiled. Okay. I stripped off my dress and the place went silent. I felt a tap on my arm. It was Dreng and he had a length of cordage in his hand.
“Your hair, like you do when you are hunting.” I smiled at him, took the cordage and pulled my hair back and tied it. I smiled, again, at a memory. They said it looked like a pony’s tail.
Once completed, I stood with my hands on my hips facing him. The room had gotten past the initial shock of my sudden nudity and there was a buzz of whispers throughout the room, then the taunts started, directed at me and the man from the different groups of support. I heard the Warrior group behind me taunting the man about his problems with a little woman. This, of course, got him steamed even more and he soon ignored that I was naked and charged directly at me. I wasn’t going to be able to match his strength, so I did what I was trained to do, I pivoted out of the way and swung my foot around into his ankle, which sent him head long into men. I followed him, though, and when he put weight on that leg, I was there to kick directly into the knee from the side. That sent him to the floor holding his knee and shrieking out in pain. As he lay on the floor, holding his knee, I jumped into the air and landed with both feet on the same knee. My father told me something else about fighting: If you can’t avoid the fight, and you get the other guy on the ground, don’t let him back up. This guy didn’t get back up, not by himself, anyway.
I finally took my eyes from the guy writhing on the floor, searched the faces of the men surrounding us, then stopped at the Warriors, Tupac gave me a nod. I moved to the bar, leaned on it in front of the barkeep, “Now, the reason I was coming over here to begin with, I need another beer.”
From behind me I heard, “Better make that four.” I turned and saw Herve hold his mug upside down. I smiled at him and waved that I heard him.
“Like he said, make that four beers.” I pushed the four mugs into a group and squeezed them together to carry them across the room. I turned around just in time to see two men helping the guy out of the building. I casually noted their exit but continued to our table and distributed the mugs.
Tupac held his up for a toast, “To Maia, what could be better than a naked woman kicking some asshole’s butt?”
We took a drink, but Herve’s mug was raised again, “To Maia, what could be better than a naked woman bring beer?”
We all drank, again, but now Dreng had his raised and I was worried, “To Maia, what could be better than a naked woman …”, he looked around us and lowered his voice considerably, “… than a naked woman at your campfire.” This one resulted in a cheer along with drinking, causing nearly the entire room to look to our direction. Finishing our beer we turned for the door to leave. I was next to Tupac when I heard Dreng call out, “Maia, you might want this.”
I turned around to see my dress flying toward me. I caught it and pulled it over my head. “Thank you.” And we left the building with the room again buzzing.
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Continued in Chapter 6: A Coming Storm
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