“Stitches are you ok,” Mateo says gripping her tightly.

  Stitches shifts in his arms staring up at him with her heterochromatic eyes.

  “Mateo, I’m fine, are you ok?” She asks.

  “Everyone is well I can promise you that,” a familiar and unwanted voice replies.

  “You mother fucker!” Mateo yells standing, but Natalia appears before him.

  “Wait, Mateo, we are no longer in battle.”

  Mateo takes a deep breath holding back his emotions. He moves to Stitches’ side rubbing her soft ears gently.

  “You were out for some time, might I ask if you saw anything when you were, indisposed?” Blanco asks.

  “I’ve often wondered about the afterlife, in my realm there was a heaven and a hell, when I was, indisposed, I saw a heaven that worried me, one that I couldn’t afford to enter, and my hell was listening to Natalia drone on and on about snacks endlessly,” Mateo replies.

  “Hey asshole,” Natalia snipes.

  “I don’t think it would be bad to spend endless time with such a beautiful young pixie,” an unfamiliar voice says in an off-putting Russian accent.

  “Oh Vlad, you’re so flattering,” Natalia says floating over to a strange pixie dressed in formal attire with two, large for his size, bat like wings.

  Mateo stares at them curiously, contemplates that they’ve probably been intimate, and then ignores them returning his gaze to Blanco. Blanco is no longer adorned in his bird like metallic armor but instead sports a casual open chest blouse strung together by a thick cord. He seems relaxed and his long dark hair and facial features make him seem somewhat feminine.

  Blanco raises his hand before Mateo can speak the silent rage his facial expression gives off.

  “I apologize for the way I treated your intended mate, battle is not limited to physical damage, emotional and mental stress can also cause damage, words are weapons so to say.”

  “Yeah, I don’t like you,” Mateo replies.

  Vlad and Natalia giggle in the distance. Blanco snaps his fingers, and a fire erupts between them. He pulls some cooking instruments, mainly an apparatus meant to slowly spin a speared piece of meat, from his inventory. Placing a large bird like carcass on it he returns his attention to Mateo as it spins over the fire.

  “We are enemies in battle, I know not of how you treat your enemies, but I have no remorse, no quarter, no empathy, I feel nothing for my enemy but the need to snuff out their existence, but now, we are not combatants, and I would share a meal with you before our next bout, if you so choose to challenge me again.”

  “And if I don’t?” Mateo asks.

  “In a trial you are granted three bouts, if you lose the first you can still win the next two, if you lose all three bouts, or choose not to continue then you will be penalized, the penalty will be that you are reduced to nine talons with an experience gain penalty of negative twenty percent, additionally any overflow experience that would transfer to your new tiger claw ranking would be forfeit, a three months probationary period would be applied while the order finds a new challenger for you, this allows you time to train and grow enough to face the new challenger, one that you will have to learn a new strategy to defeat.”

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  “That sounds like a lot of bullshit,” Mateo replies.

  “You may find that many things are bullshit,” Blanco says with a smile.

  “You’re right, everything is bullshit, how do I accept another challenge?”

  Blanco stands stepping toward him and holds out his hand. Mateo stands meeting his gaze and takes it shaking it firmly.

  Order of the Tiger challenge round two accepted. You have been granted twenty-four time displaced hours to prepare for this bout. Use them wisely and get that communist pixie away from my darling Natalia.

  Mateo stares at his menu curiously unsure of what to think about its narrator’s spontaneous outburst. Then he ignores it and returns to Stitches’ side. Blanco retreats into a large tent on the other side of the small fire as the bird meat turns over it slowly.

  “We didn’t do so great, maybe we aren’t ready to ascend to the Order of the Tiger,” Stitches says as he takes a seat beside her pulling her into his lap.

  Mateo pets her head softly and she gives of a low purr enjoying his company.

  “You’re wrong, we’ve worked hard, overcome so much, we are ready for this, we just need to try harder,” Mateo pauses for a moment, “the turn-based thing threw me off, I’m not blind to it now though and that takes that advantage away from him, I was fighting, and then when you got hurt I was fighting for you and not with you, we need to fight together.”

  Stitches stares up at him with a cute smile.

  “What are you thinking?” She asks.

  Mateo pulls Deadringer from his inventory.

  “I didn’t show him half of what I can do in the first match, let’s make the second more memorable,” Mateo replies with a smile.

  “I could kiss you,” Stitches replies.

  “You could, I won’t tell Mitsu.”

  Stitches reaches up her hand running it over Mateo’s cheek gently.

  “Tempting, especially looking at me with his eyes, but sorry, me and Mitsu are exclusive for now, that doesn’t mean you can stop playing with my hair though.”

  Mateo chuckles and continues running his fingers through her hair and over her soft ears. After an hour Blanco rejoins them removing the pheasant carcass from the fire and breaking it into pieces for everyone to enjoy. Natalia and Vlad return acting flirtatious.

  “My apologies for the off comment, one of my first tasks was to fell a neko lord, he was more animal than human, the suffering of his concubines affected me, I’ve had trouble seeing beastmen as more than animals since,” Blanco says opening the conversation.

  “No problem, just know that if you treat Stitches like that again I’ll fucking hurt you in ways that this realm might not be able to conceive of, even if it kills me,” Mateo replies.

  “Fair enough, and you young huntress?” Blanco concedes.

  “I was going to stitch a hoaram cock to your nose and call you a cockephant,” Stitches replies.

  “Interesting, I’ll try to be more graceful in our next bout, if not out of courtesy, then out of self growth.”

  They enjoy a short meal together as Natalia and Vlad chase each other about the air flirting in a language she is reluctant to translate for Mateo. Not that he wants to know what the two promiscuous pixies are on about. As they finish their roasted chikus Blanco retreats to his tent and Mateo and Stitches escape to a tent of their own.

  Mateo unfurls a bedroll for himself and then another for stitches a few feet away. She frowns staring at him nervously.

  “What’s wrong?” Mateo asks.

  “We’re still friends right, are you,” she pauses, “kicking me out of your bed?”

  Mateo stares at her oddly. She did say she was exclusive with Mitsu, so why would she want to sleep in his bedroll?

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Mateo replies.

  Stitches pulls the bedroll over to his combining the two and pulls a pelt over her motioning for him to join her. He lies beside her, and she cuddles up to him purring gently. Natalia lands on his head pouting.

  “Awe, I want a cuddle buddy too,” Natalia complains.

  “Cuddle with Vlad, or whatever his name is,” Mateo replies.

  “He sleeps upside down, I’m not much of a hanging fruit, I don’t really have an opposition to gravity, that’s why I usually sleep on your shoulder, it’s warm, it’s safe, it’s not on the ceiling, you’ve usually got an attractive woman with you for me to complain to about your snoring,” Natalia replies.

  “Hey, I do not snore, Stitches do I snore?” Mateo asks, but Stitches is fast asleep.

  Hours pass as they rest.

  The die appears in Mateo’s hand once again. He stares down at the small twenty sided obsidian rock marked with runes he wouldn’t be able to understand if not translated by Natalia. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath tossing it into the air.