Star-Crossed - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Feeling something cold and hard press to her forehead, Blake jarred awake and froze when she found herself staring down the barrel of a phaser.  Somehow, she didn’t move a muscle, even as her adrenaline shot through the roof and her body tensed in preparation of battle.

“Wake up, grunt.  Initiation time.”

Recognizing Cinder’s voice, she scowled and resisted the urge to strangle the woman right then and there.  As if Cinder’s presence alone was enough to set her on edge, the Blackguard commander had somehow slipped into the room without waking her up.  Which meant she would sleep much more lightly from here on out...

“Well don’t just lay there,” Cinder sneered, finally removing the weapon from Blake’s forehead.  “Get the fuck up.”

Biting back a sarcastic remark, Blake rolled out of bed and quickly put on her shoes.  Falling asleep in her regular clothes turned out to be prescient, though she hadn’t anticipated such a rude awakening.  She should have known better...

Hearing an exasperated sigh, she shot Cinder a glare but kept her mouth shut.  Anything she said right now was guaranteed not to be nice.  And, while she didn’t think Cinder could shoot her for no reason, she wasn’t positive about that.  She also wouldn’t put it past Cinder to make up an excuse and shoot her anyway.

“Do you need something?” she asked through clenched teeth once Cinder put the weapon away.

“Just a moment of your precious time.”

Though Cinder’s smile looked sweet and cordial, it masked malice unlike anything Blake had seen before.  The dueling emotions scared her, quite honestly, which was why she jerked away when Cinder reached towards her side.  The reaction was a mistake, as evidenced by the simmering glare it earned her.

“Leave that here.”  

The second time Cinder reached forward, Blake forced herself to remain motionless and let Cinder grab the knife from her side.  Once it was in her hands, Cinder chucked it into the wall on the other side of the room.  The blade nicked Blake in the process, but she didn’t give Cinder the satisfaction of a reaction.  Even as a trickle of blood ran down her ear, she maintained a stony expression and didn’t touch the cut.  

Evidently that wasn’t the response Cinder wanted, as she scoffed and stalked out of the room with a curt “Come on.”  Before following, Blake glanced over her shoulder and found the knife lodged perfectly in the wall.  Not an amateur move, and even more reason to fear the woman walking in front of her.

She had no idea where they were headed or why, but it couldn’t be good.  Being woken in the middle of the night and dragged out of bed hardly preceded anything favorable, as the first few weeks of Alliance training had taught her.

The hallways were empty at the moment, but any notion that the crew was sleeping disappeared when Cinder led her into a large, cavernous room filled with members of the Blackguard.  The room was probably used for recreation during normal times, but the tables and chairs had been stacked together and pushed aside.  Now, the space served as an open area with a metal floor and dozens of Blackguards.  From their excited chatter and the hungry gleam in their eyes, this was a planned event.

Cinder’s presence quickly drew their attention, and they made room for their leader to walk to the center of the room.  Whispers followed Blake as she trailed behind, with many of the crew hypothesizing on her history and fighting prowess along with more...sordid...matters.

“Wait here,” Cinder ordered before moving to the edge of the room.  

Blake did as told, but her nerves grew as she looked around what could only be described as an arena hemmed in by Blackguards.  When a young man was shoved into the circle across from her, she realized that’s exactly what it was.

“Listen up, grunts.”  

Cinder didn’t need to raise her voice to get the crew to quiet, as everyone hushed in a show of considerable respect - or fear.  

“You thought it was that easy, didn’t you?  That we’d let you in without a test?”

The onlookers jeered at the comment, and Blake’s apprehension edged higher.

“We’ll let you in all right,” Cinder continued, her smile implying genuine happiness at what was to come.  “But we’re only taking one of you.”

Blake’s heart sank at the words as she looked at the young man across from her, who looked hardly out of his teens regardless of the thin stubble on his chin.  She should have known it wouldn’t be so easy.  She should have expected that a ruthless group like the Blackguards wouldn’t hesitate in resorting to violence.  Now he stood in the way of her mission...and Command said that the mission was more important than anything.

Would she take one life to save millions?  Now that she was here, she didn’t have a choice - it was his life or hers.

“Ready grunts?” Cinder asked while the onlookers whistled and clapped for the impending fight.  The young man straightened to his full height, nearly a full foot taller than Blake, and squared his shoulders before lifting his fists.  He had a definite height and weight advantage, but speed and quickness were on her side.  The question then became which of them was better trained - hopefully, her.

Raising her fists, she fixed her eyes on her opponent and tried to think of a way out of this.  Based on the crowd’s excitement, they wanted to be entertained.  Maybe if she refused to give them that entertainment, they would give up and go to bed.

“Go.”

As soon as Cinder uttered the word, the young man burst forward with fists flying.  It took only three swings for Blake to determine that he had real fighting experience, and only a few more to understand that he was taking the challenge seriously.

Ducking under his arm and skirting to the side, she did her best to stay out of his reach.  The circle of Blackguards didn’t give her much room to operate in, but she used it to the best of her ability while he pursued her every movement.

“Come on!” he roared after she dodged a few more attacks and again moved away.  

Her strategy was working in at least one regard - he was losing his calm and taking more risks trying to win.  Unfortunately, their spectators didn’t sound remotely close to calling it a night.  And, based on his growing aggression, it wouldn’t be long before he launched himself at her with vigor she couldn’t fend off.  She needed to convince him to slow down and back off.

The next time he lunged towards her, she grabbed his arm, yanked him off balance, and brought her knee up into his chest.  The crowd roared at the first legitimate impact, which sent her adrenaline even higher as she leapt away from his counterattack.

Any hope of him taking the blow as a warning disappeared when he rushed her again.  She deflected his fist, but when she tried to move away he stuck out his foot, tripped her up, and sent her stumbling forward.  The brief lack of balance was all it took for him to grab her arm and send a fist hurtling towards her head.

She managed to duck the first blow, but there was nothing she could do about the follow-up landing squarely in her side.  A gasp left her lips from the force of it while sharp pain radiated through her abdomen, but there was no chance to recover.  Another fist was already on the way, and she raised her hands to protect her head but reacted too slowly to his leg flying towards her shoulder.

Cheers erupted as the resulting crack of shin on shoulder knocked her to the floor in another burst of pain.  No sooner had her knee connected with metal, however, did a pair of strong hands jerk her back to her feet.

“Get up,” Brenci growled before shoving her forward.  “I’ve got a hundred credits on you.”

Her shoulder and side pulsed with agony, yet she had no choice but to continue.  If she didn’t defend herself, he would kill her.  If she didn’t want to die, she had to kill him.  

Maybe her next best option was knocking him unconscious - even criminals had to have some sort of code against killing someone who was rendered unconscious.  The only issue was that she wasn’t sure if she could knock him unconscious without seriously hurting him.

And that was before Cinder casually tossed a knife on the floor in between them.

As soon as Blake heard the sound of metal hitting metal, she lunged forward to grab it.  Her opponent did the same, but his strategy was to lower his shoulder and barrel right into her.  With his size advantage, his shoulder connected with her chest and knocked her backward to the floor.  By the time she scrambled to her feet, he’d grabbed the knife and was already swinging it towards her.

Jumping back when the blade sliced through the air in front of her, she retreated even further when he kept coming at her.  She couldn’t block anymore, not without being severely cut in the process, so she had to find a way around.

When she took another step back, a set of hands shoved her forward.

“Get back in there!” someone yelled in her ear, but she didn’t dare turn away from her opponent.  

Having reached the edge of the ring, she moved sideways while he kept pace with her.  From the glint in his eyes, he knew he had her exactly where he wanted her.  With no room to back away, she had to go through him to find more space.  And going through him was guaranteed to result in a serious injury for her.

She had to disarm him.  Either of them might be gravely injured in the process, but at this point...it was him or her.  Even the onlookers sensed the importance of her next move, as their raucous cheers quieted in preparation for what came next.

Focusing solely upon the movement of the knife, she tracked its progress across his body before he jabbed towards her stomach.  He projected the attack, but she barely slipped out of the way before spinning around and making an attempt to take it from him.  She’d only managed to grab his wrist when a metal hand reached out of the crowd and wrapped around the end of the blade.  

While Blake backed away in surprise, her opponent didn’t release the knife fast enough.  Instead, he held on, and Yang jerked him forward while bringing her knee up and landing it right between his legs.  He instantly yelped and dropped to his knees in agony, and Yang crushed the knife in her hand before throwing it on the floor.

“What the fuck is going on here?” 

For as boisterous as the room once was, it was deathly silent as Yang glared around the circle of Blackguards.  After several tense seconds passed and no one dared a response, she jabbed a finger towards the exit and issued a terse, “Get back to your rooms.”

All-too-willing to escape a reprimand, the crew dispersed with nothing but whispered comments on their way out the door.  Any notion Blake had about following disappeared with just one glare from Yang, however.  Instead, she stayed put and watched the room empty until the only ones left were her, Yang, Cinder, and the young man who had yet to regain his feet.

As soon as the spectators were gone, Yang stalked over to Cinder, not the least bit afraid or intimidated by the woman.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Just having a bit of fun -”

“Bullshit.  If you want to have fun, go fuck one of the pilots.  Do not mess with her -” Yang jabbed a finger towards Blake with the word, which only made Cinder’s scowl deepen.  “Unless you can suddenly read Valerian.  Because that’s the only way I’m not tearing you apart limb-by-limb, got it?”

From Cinder’s sour expression, she had a lot to say to that.  Rather than respond at all, however, she shot Blake a dirty look - as if this was somehow Blake’s fault - and stalked out of the room.  The lack of response only pissed Yang off more, as she made a disgruntled noise and crushed the mangled knife under her heel.

“You,” she directed to the young man finally pushing himself back to his feet.  “What’s your name?”

“Cutler...ma’am.”  

“Cutler, are you stupid?”

“Um -”

“Say yes,” Yang snapped, and he nodded without a second thought.

“Y-yes.”

“Figures.  If I ever catch you doing something so shit-faced stupid again, you’re dead.  Understand?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” he stammered, his wide eyes suggesting he hadn’t expected nor wanted to face Yang’s wrath today.

“Good.  Now get out of my sight.”

Still hunched over, he nodded and hurried out of the room.  With his exit, Blake was the only one remaining.

“Thank you,” she said without thinking about it, but Yang turned towards her and scowled.

“What about you?  Are you stupid?”

From the way Yang asked, Blake knew she was supposed to say yes.  Her instinct was to say yes and avoid as much of the scolding as possible, but that’s exactly what a grunt would do.

“No.”  

As soon as the word left her lips, Yang’s scowl deepened.

“Well you sure as hell act like it,” Yang shot back.  “Do something like this again, and you’re out with tomorrow’s trash.”  

With that, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the room, but Blake waited only a second before rushing after her.

“You told me to do what I’m told,” she pointed out while following Yang into the hall.  “She told me to kill him -”

“Killing another grunt won’t impress anyone,” Yang interrupted without so much as a glance Blake’s way.  “Killing an entire ship of grunts won’t impress anyone, so don’t bother.  You want to impress someone?  Kill Cinder.  That would be impressive.”

Clenching her jaw, Blake let Yang believe that’s what she was trying to do, even though what she was only trying to stay alive.  Coming off as an overly-ambitious mercenary was far better than earning a reputation as an overly-obedient grunt.

“If that’s what I need to do…” 

“That’s not what you need to do.”  Finally stopping, Yang spun towards Blake with a fierce red glare.  “You’re here for one reason - because you’re somewhat useful.  If you want to be a Blackguard, you earn it through loyalty, not by killing other members.”  Tirade over, Yang waved a hand towards the wall of the ship and stalked away with a grumbled, “Only Adam gets to do that.”

“If only Adam gets to do that, how will you toss me out with tomorrow’s trash?”

The sarcastic remark slipped out, and Blake wanted to take it back the moment Yang froze and slowly turned around.  She nearly apologized, even though that wasn’t a mercenary-like thing to do, but instead said nothing while Yang stared her down.

“You’re dumber than you think you are.”

With that last insult, Yang turned around and walked away, leaving Blake to bite back annoyance in her wake.  

But Blake was relieved to be free of Yang’s imposing presence, so she didn’t attempt to follow.  Instead, she watched Yang exchange a few words with one of the Blackguards at the end of the hall, who nodded and walked over.

“She doesn’t think you can make it back to your room, so I’m supposed to take you there.”

Catching one last red gaze before Yang turned the corner and disappeared, Blake looked at the man standing in front of her and scoffed.  Before responding, however, she glanced around and realized that she didn’t know how to get back to her room.

“I’m guessing you’re going to escort me whether I do or not,” she responded instead of admitting one way or the other.  When he nodded, she sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Besides,” he added while a sneer crept onto his lips.  “Wouldn’t want a pretty thing like you wandering around alone late at night.”  

When he reached out to touch her hair, she grabbed his hand, twisted his arm behind his back, and shoved him into the nearest wall.

“I hope, for your sake, it’s not you that I run into at night.”  When he didn’t immediately answer, she pulled his arm tighter and heard a soft protest slip from his lips.  “Right?” she prodded and, this time, he nodded.  Only then did she release his arm and motion for him to lead the way to her room.

Without another word, he headed in the opposite direction at a brisk walk.  While Blake followed, she internally breathed a sigh of relief.  One less person to worry about, as he would think twice before trying anything with her again.  She wished the same could be said for Cinder, who’d proven to be dangerous and volatile in alarming ways.

Determined not to need an escort again, she paid sharp attention to every turn they took and felt a small measure of success when she identified the hallway leading to her doorway.

“Nice meeting you,” she told her guide with a fake smile, but he took off without giving her a second glance.  Hopeful that the night might finally be over, she let herself into her room and felt her adrenaline finally begin to wear off.

As her adrenaline disappeared, however, pain took its place.  Her shoulder, in particular, throbbed from where Cutler kicked her, as did the spot in her chest where he leveled his shoulder, and her hip where she hit the unyielding metal floor.  Injured most of all was her pride, as she considered herself a far better fighter than what she just showed.  But training against the disciplined members of ISA ill-prepared her to fight someone schooled through a much harder life.

While not the ideal way to begin this foray in the Blackguards, the injuries were minor and should heal quickly.  Overall, the night served as a wake-up call.  Not only was she in enemy territory, but her status as ‘one of them’ wouldn’t be enough to protect her from the rest of the crew.  It especially wouldn’t protect her from Cinder - something she’d learned all too quickly...and painfully.

Crossing the room, she pulled her knife out of the wall and looked it over before slipping it back into its sheath.  That reminded her about her ear, so she went into the bathroom and took stock of the damage.  The cut was small, and the bleeding had stopped on its own, but not before dripping down her neck and leaving a dried mess in its place.  

After running her hand under the faucet, she gently cleaned off the blood before washing her hands and splashing water on her face.  Once done, she returned to the room and gingerly laid down on the bed, which was just big enough for one person.  When she closed her eyes and her mind immediately replayed the events of the night, however, she sighed.

Now that her thoughts were racing and her body aching, she doubted that she could go back to sleep.  But she had to try.  After only a few hours on board the Inferno, she knew that she needed rest if she wanted any hope of making it through whatever was in store for her next.