Chapter 30

Standing across from her only friend, the red-haired girl felt lost. She couldn't think of fighting her friend, let alone killing her. The crowd was divided—some cheering for her, shouting "Red Beast!", while others were on the side of the black-haired girl, calling her "Black Edge". The girl wondered if anyone in that crowd ever thought about how both girls felt right now.

Her friend was standing straight, neither of them seemed to want to fight. But after a few seconds, she took a deep breath. "I am sorry."

That was all she said before charging at the red-haired girl, claws poised to strike. Thanks to the amount of time spent sparring together, the other girl blocked the hit at the last second, additionally taking a few steps back. "W-wait! Why do we have to fight?! Maybe, maybe if we find who is in charge of this and talk, we won’t have to."

The girl she considered her friend repeated the charge, the strength of her slashes indicated she wasn’t playing around. "Don’t fool yourself. I really didn’t want it to end like this. Now shut up, please. Don’t make it harder. And fight for your own future." She said through clenched teeth before continuing the fight.

At first, the red-haired girl was speechless. She didn’t know what to say. She knew her friend was probably right and it was she who had taught her to stand her ground. For a long period, the girl was just defending against her opponent’s strikes. Fighting back? She couldn’t raise her claws against her friend. As a result, she was getting more and more cuts, yet none deep enough to matter.

The audience was silent, following every move of the girls in the arena.

She tried to think of the best way to get out of it. Running away was not an option, she heard someone had already tried and was killed by the guards immediately. She knew her friend enough to recognize the cold determination in her eyes — it was the same as those rare times she fought, back in the big room. With a heavy heart, she came to the sad conclusion that since the day she first talked with her friend, she had been training for that moment. It was time to take what belonged to her, what she craved—a promised name and freedom.

By that time, she was cornered, her back almost pressed to the cold, stone wall. She didn’t say anything. She tried to stop thinking about anything except the fight, just like her friend had taught her during their spars. The next time she parried a hit, her claws went forward in a counterattack.

After that, her mind focused on the enemy in front of her. Their claws flew fast through the air, trying to reach each other. Both avoided looking at the other’s face, especially afraid of accidental eye contact.

Minutes went by, but neither could deal a decisive strike. Both were breathing hard, trying to hold their tired limbs under control. Despite that, using the remnants of her strength the red-haired girl pushed on, slash after slash. Under her relentless force, the black-haired girl had to lean into defense, slowly backing off.

Then, suddenly a small smile appeared on her lips, sadness and pride glistening in her eyes. "I raised a monster, my own demise." The black-haired girl didn’t block the next hit, already on its way toward her.

It buried deep inside her, three claws pierced her toned stomach. The red-haired girl was shocked, swiftly pulling out as her friend fell to the ground, not even trying to stop the blood flowing from her. The other one fell to her knees next to her, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"You are strong, more than I am. Grow stronger and make a good use of your freedom, for both of us." The black-haired girl whispered. "Just remember… Don’t allow anyone to take what’s yours."

The girl stared at her face and nodded. Tears ran down her cheeks. "I am sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to teach me. If we hadn’t become friends, you wouldn’t die."

Yet her friend didn’t hear it, her eyes had already lost their spark of life, her breathing stopped once and for all.

"Beast! Beast! Beast!" The crowd roared like crazy. Two guards took the body away, while the stranger that had bought her out of the shop came into the arena.

"Stand up. A winner can’t be kneeling." His voice was calm, emotionless.

The red-haired girl slowly, silently rose up, her knees shaking a little.

"That’s better." He said before looking around at the crowd. "Everyone here is a witness to the end of our tournament! All of you saw who is the strongest of our young warriors, even if just slaves! But I think this girl deserves a reward for her deed, don’t you agree?!" The man grabbed the girl’s hand and raised it in the air. People were loud, many shouting name suggestions, but in chaos like this, it was impossible to hear anything properly.

"Thank you for your ideas, dear guests! But the new name is already chosen!" He turned to face her, releasing his grip on her hand, making it fall down along her body. "Your new name is… Tiralie!!!"

The crowd erupted, some disliking it while others shouted "Red Beast Tiralie!"

The girl herself felt bittersweet. She had gotten a name, something that she a few years ago she couldn’t imagine happening. But the death of her friend couldn’t be so easily forgotten or pushed from her mind...

* * *

"Ow, I am sorry to hear all this. It sounds horrible." Nicole sighed.

"Don’t worry about it too much. I don’t have regrets nor do I feel bad about it. I couldn’t change anything for the better, I think." Tiralie said dismissively, but Nicole felt that it wasn’t completely true yet decided not to pursue the topic.

"Sorry if I didn’t get it, and the story is interesting, but… How does it answer either of the questions?"

"Right. Look, my scars have been with me since childhood. They remind me of the times when I was too weak to fight back. And new ones are a symbol of my weakness, that I was too weak or slow to evade hits. They remind me to never stop getting stronger. Of course, that’s for me. My enemies are supposed to get scared of them. Weakening enemy's morale is always good."

She paused and right before Nicole opened her mouth to ask, Tiralie continued.

"And I don’t need clothes for two reasons—again, it may make enemies afraid, for them it’s a show of confidence. If someone is not hiding behind armor, they are either a fool or incredibly strong. If they take me for a fool, they will be easy prey. If they are too cautious, I may use that as well. And the second reason is to force myself to be cautious and not allow carelessness. After all, no matter how strong I am, having no defense leaves no room for mistakes."

"Oh, that… actually makes sense, sort of." Nicole nodded. "But isn’t it reckless? Even a bit of armor could save your life one day."

The catwoman chuckled. "It is. But that’s my choice. I don’t ask you to fully understand it."

Fair. Yet maybe there is much more to the story and what happened afterward, something that made her be this way.

"I understand. Thank you for sharing this whole story. And I still feel bad for what happened to you."

Tiralie growled. "I don’t need your sentiments, Nicole. Save your pity for the weak."

"Hey, hey, chill. I get it, okay."

The conversation seemed to end as both of them lay in silence, except for the sound of the ocean and occasional sounds coming from the celebration.

Ten minutes later, Nicole whispered. "Um, are you sleeping?"

"No."

Great. It may be the last chance for me to ask her about my idea.

"Alright." Nicole went back to a normal tone. "I have a question… Or rather a proposition of sorts…" She chewed on her lower lip. "Would you mind me tagging along with you? I won’t hold you back in your job, I promise."

"Huh?" The sudden question made Tiralie sit up and look at Nicole. "What do you mean? Why would you want to go with me in the first place?"

"I… I want to get stronger. And I thought that since you are traveling around, fighting monsters and things like that, it could be great practice. Also I could learn more about the island and visit the capital and maybe even other tribes."

"No. I don’t want to be a teacher. And I travel alone, not counting my dear Erta. What happened with the Beast was a rare thing." Tiralie’s voice was tired and almost resigned.

"I’m not asking you to be my full-time teacher. Just… a chance? Maybe I could do something to persuade you?"

"Stop it."

Nicole sat up and got on all fours, taking a few steps closer to Tiralie, now very close, their bodies almost touching. Her naked shapes glistened in the moonlight.

"Are you sure~? I would make sure your evenings are spent well during your travels~" She purred, moving her body a bit to make her breasts sway enticingly.

Nicole took one step closer, pressing her torso against Tiralie’s and whispered right into her ear. "Come on. The way you made me eat your pussy when we first met tells me you are rather lonely. Now you have a chance to change that."

Tiralie sharply stood up. "No. How many times do I have to repeat myself!?" With those words, she stormed off.

Okay, I fucked up. First I made her remember of her past, and then tried to seduce her. With a sigh, she got up as well. I hope she won’t hate me after that. I don’t need an enemy like her.

The little flirt she did made her remember how she appeared on the beach at all. The ache and need inside of her appeared again, fueled by the visions of Tiralie’s body and smell. But looking back at the village, the music had already faded and voices were almost gone as well.

It seems I lost my opportunity to have a nice fuck tonight. Eh, doesn’t matter. It’s not like there is a shortage of sex. And—

Nicole softly sat down on the sand. In one hand, she formed a big, stone dildo.

I hoped it wouldn’t get to this, but I really have to do something at least.

After the first insert of the toy into her wet core, she licked her lips.

Slightly crude, but that’s what I call being stone-hard, haha.