Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (12 page)

Icefire gasped again. This time even Rust looked wary, “Are you sure, Razor?” he asked, “You know the consequences if Thunder were to lose.”

“
Yes, I know the consequences.” Razor answered, “But I’m also confident that Thunder will be the one to come out on top.”

Rust sighed. He obviously didn’t like this turn of events, “Very well,” he said, “I have no choice.” He turned to face Icefire again, “Razor has incited the Challenge of Determination!” he called, “May Thunder come forward!” The crowd of saloli slowly parted to make a path for the trainee. “Do you, Thunder, accept this Challenge, knowing full well what will happen should you lose?”

“
I do,” Thunder answered without hesitation.

Rust turned to face Blaze, “Do you, Blaze, accept this Challenge, knowing full well what will happen should you lose?”

Blaze paused. He had no idea what this “Challenge of Determination” was, or what would happen if he lost, but it seemed he didn’t have a choice. Besides, the most they would probably do was make him train for another couple of weeks. “I do,” he said.

“
It is decided then,” Rust said, turning back to face Icefire, “The Challenge will take place in one hour.” With that, he hopped down from the stone and made his way back to his tree. The crowd quickly dispersed, everyone chattering excitedly. Blaze left the stone as well and sought out Slicer, who was speaking worriedly with Faith.

“
Slicer?” he asked, “What’s the Challenge of Determination?”

Slicer’s expression turned grave, “And on top of it all, he doesn’t even know what he’s gotten himself into,” he said to Faith.

A seed of fear crept into Blaze’s heart. “What do you mean? What have I gotten myself into?”

Faith spoke this time, “Blaze, for someone to incite the Challenge of Determination is for them to defy your readiness to join Icefire. No one has done it in years. That is why everyone was so shocked when Razor did it.”

“
So what exactly is the Challenge of Determination?” Blaze asked.

“
The Challenge is called when a trainer thinks his or her trainee is more capable of tribe life than the one being promoted,” Slicer explained, “The two trainees then do battle, and whichever one comes out on top will be allowed to take the patrol.”

Nothing he said surprised Blaze. It was just the thing he expected in the rough life of the forest. One thing still confused him, though, “But what did Rust mean when he asked us if we ‘understood the consequences should we lose?’”

Slicer shook his head in disgust, “That is the reason no trainer has incited the Challenge for so long. The price of losing is just too high to risk it.”

“
But what is the price?” asked Blaze.

Slicer gave him a hard stare, which Blaze imagined could see straight through him, “The consequence of losing the Challenge of Determination is to be condemned to never be promoted to full tribe member,” he answered without a hint of humor in his voice.

Blaze gasped. This was the last thing he expected to hear. A trainee for life? “Why?” he asked.

“
To take the Challenge is to tell the tribe that you think that you are better than another trainee. To lose the Challenge is to fail your trainer, and all of Icefire as well,” Faith enlightened him, “It would shame Icefire to accept anyone so disgraced into our ranks.”

“
But it’s not the trainee’s fault, is it?” Blaze asked, beginning to become desperate, “I mean, it’s the trainer who calls the Challenge, not the trainee!”

“
The trainee always has the option to decline the Challenge,” Slicer corrected him, “Nobody forces them to do it. If they back down before accepting it, no saloli will think any worse of them.”

“
If I had known that I wouldn’t have accepted!” Blaze shouted. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned this to him before? Thunder was far bigger than him, and would probably be able to squash Blaze like a bug.

“
Well, it’s too late now,” Slicer admonished, sounding just as he did on Blaze’s first day of training, “If you back out now you’ll still shame Icefire.”

Panic began to grip Blaze’s mind, “What do I do?”

“
The only thing you can do is fight Thunder.” Faith answered, not a twinkle of worry in her gaze, “I wouldn’t worry about it, you’re a very gifted fighter.”

“
That he is,” Slicer said proudly, “If anyone can beat that lump of brown fur, it’s Blaze.”

Despite this praise, Blaze still didn’t feel reassured, “But what if I don’t?”

“
Well, you got yourself into this mess, it’s your own fault if you can’t get out of it,” Slicer chastised him. With that, Slicer turned and made his way back towards the Common Tree, where Icefire’s normal saloli slept. Not knowing what else to do, Blaze sought out Jasper. He found him near the Trainee’s Tree, gazing fondly into its branches.

“
What are you doing here?” Blaze asked.

“
Just saying goodbye,” Jasper responded, “This is where I’ve slept ever since I left the Nursery Branch. It’s like my home. You wouldn’t understand, probably having never slept in the same tree for a long time as an outsider.”

“
R-right.” Blaze said, forcibly reminded of his old house, no
Jeremy’s
old house. Blaze and Jeremy Lander were now two completely different beings.

“
But what about you?” Jasper asked, turning to look at his friend, “You accepted the Challenge! Why?”

“
I didn’t know what it was,” Blaze said miserably, “I didn’t know what would happen if I lost. How good a fighter is Thunder?”

“
He’s the best fighter of all the trainees. Or, at least he was.”

“
What do you mean he was?” Blaze asked, casting a sidelong glance at the runt.

Jasper had a wicked gleam in his eye, “Well, he wasn’t trained to fight by Slicer, was he?” He asked, every word soaked in confidence.

“
Yeah, trained,” Blaze responded, nervously. Trained a lot. Jasper didn’t seem to notice Blaze’s anxiousness, and turned to head back to the center of the camp, just as Rust leapt back on top of the stone.

“
It is time for the Challenge of Determination to take place!” he called, “May Icefire gather around the Speaking Stone.” Once all of Icefire was assembled around the rock, Rust continued, “May Blaze and Thunder both come forward.” Blaze’s heart raced as he made his way to the front of the crowd to stand beside the Speaking Stone. Thunder did the same. “These two trainees have accepted the Challenge, both knowing what will happen should they lose. But let them know that no matter how disgraced they become, there will always be a place for them here in Icefire.” Icefire was absolutely silent with anticipation. Most of them had not seen anything like this before. A fight between tribemates? It was unheard of! “Form a circle five feet across in every direction,” Rust instructed his tribe. The other saloli hastened to obey him. Soon there was a circle just as he had described around the Speaking Stone. Blaze and Thunder were in the center. “Blaze, Thunder, move to opposite ends of the circle,” They did. “Face each other.” They did. “There will be no underhanded moves in this fight,” Rust instructed them, “No biting ears, no eye or neck strikes. You will have a clean fight. Do you agree to these terms?”

“
I do,” said Thunder, his gaze cold, angry, and focused entirely on Blaze.

“
I do,” Blaze repeated, sizing up his opponent. Just like he had surmised, Thunder was larger than him, and more heavily muscled.

“
Good,” Rust raised a leaf off the stone. “I will climb to the top of the nearest tree and drop this leaf. When it reaches the ground, the fight will begin. Understand?”

Blaze and Thunder nodded. Without another word, Rust leapt down from the Speaking Stone, and raced up the closest tree. Arriving at the top branch, he scurried to the end of it, which was just above the center of the ring. He waited a few seconds, and then dropped the leaf. It slowly floated downwards. Five seconds. Six seconds. Blaze fixed his gaze on Thunder, just as the other trainee did the same. Ten seconds. It was almost to the ground. Twelve seconds. Three feet from the ground. Fourteen seconds. Almost there. Sixteen seconds. One foot from the ground. At eighteen seconds, it finally touched down.

Without warning, Thunder charged straight across the circle at Blaze. When he was only a foot away, he sprang into the air, claws extended. Not allowing himself time to think, Blaze dodged to the left. Thunder streaked past him, missing Blaze only by inches. Before the bully could turn to face him, Blaze sprung forward and lashed out with his claws, giving Thunder a good scratch in his side. Thunder spun around and tried to scratch Blaze back, but he was so close that he ended up only striking Blaze with his paw, knocking him off his feet. Taking advantage of Blaze being on his back, Thunder jumped on top of him. Holding Blaze down just with his weight, Thunder slashed at his opponent’s face with his claws. Blaze felt blood trickling down his face. Relying on his instincts, Blaze raised his back legs, and ran their claws down Thunder’s stomach. This hurt the older trainee enough for Blaze to push him off. Jumping to his paws, Blaze gave Thunder another wicked scratch, this time on the side of his face, leaving a red slice. Blaze realized, then, what the difference was between their fighting styles. While Thunder was stronger, his strikes also came slower. Blaze, on the other hand was slightly faster, but his strikes were lighter. He decided to use that to his advantage.

He took a step backwards to avoid another slash from Thunder, then jumped forward again to lash at Thunder’s face again. It caught the trainee on his cheek, leaving another bloody mark behind. This one seemed to stun Thunder, as he put a paw to his cheek, and drew it away to see the blood. Suddenly his face contorted with fury, and he jumped at Blaze, bowling him over onto his back. Unsheathing his claws all the way, Thunder swiped them down Blaze’s face again. Sharp, stabbing pain lanced through Blaze’s face, blinding him momentarily. When he regained his sight, he saw that Thunder was raising his paw, about to ravage his face again. Before he had the chance, though, Blaze shifted his weight, throwing the other trainee off of him. Scrambling to his paws again, Blaze jumped on top of Thunder. The fiery pelted saloli raised his paws, extended his claws, and began swiping them across his opponent’s face in long, fast swings. Bloody scratches appeared all over Thunder’s face. Part of Blaze was shocked that he could ever be this brutal, but that part was buried by the animalistic rage that consumed the rest of him. All that mattered was to make sure Thunder never had the chance to harm him again. For almost half a minute Blaze continued to rend Thunder’s face, then the brown trainee copied Blaze’s earlier move, and raked his back claws down his opponent’s stomach. Leaping off to escape Thunder’s claws, Blaze glanced down to inspect his newest wounds, but jerked his head back up again as he saw Thunder come charging straight at him again, his face bleeding all over. The brown saloli leapt into the air, once again, claws outstretched. Thinking quick, Blaze fell onto his back and, when Thunder was just about to land on top of him, thrust upwards with his back legs. They connected with Thunder’s stomach, making him “oof” in pain, and continued upwards, in an arc, until Thunder was thrown into the air, over Blaze, and into the crowd of watching saloli. Icefire gasped, and parted to allow Thunder to make his way back into the ring, but Rust didn’t give him the chance. “That’s enough!” he shouted, quickly making his way back down the tree, “That’s enough!”

Razor pushed his way through the crowd until he stood in front of his chief, “What are you doing?” he demanded, “Don’t interfere!”

“
The fight is over,” said Rust, moving to stand in front of Razor, “Blaze has won.”

“
What do you mean he’s won? Thunder’s still standing!” Razor shouted. It was true, the brown trainee came limping back into the ring just as his trainer spoke those words. His face bled from over a dozen face wounds, many of them obviously going to leave scars, and he held his front left paw awkwardly, as if it pained him to put weight on it.

“
Thunder is no fit condition to continue fighting,” Rust decreed, “Besides, the rules of the Challenge of Determination state that if a trainee leaves the ring, he automatically loses. Blaze threw Thunder into the crowd. Blaze wins.”

For a moment, Razor stood still, too shocked to move. Then he turned to face Blaze, his eyes shining with fury. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then thought better of it. Instead he turned to Thunder and shouted, “I hope you enjoy your life as a failure, Thunder, because you just blew your chances at ever being anything else!”