by Robin Roseau
One of my cameras flitted in front of me then bobbed up and down twice.
"Cute," I said. I turned around and proceeded up the ramp.
The bars ended at the top of the ramp, but by then I was a good twelve feet off the ground, and from there the walkway was only a couple of feet wide. The height made me uncomfortable, but I tried to avoid looking down.
The entire structure followed along the curved wall of the arena, then doubled back at an angle towards the middle, then met the opposite side in the dead center. But it wasn't the same sort of structure everywhere. Initially the ramp was firm. Then the walkway reminded me of the metal catwalks you see overhead in some theaters, the ones used to reach the various lights.
But there were two scary parts. One section was built from wood slats, or what appeared to be wood, joined together by rope. It looked like a wood and rope suspension bridge you see in some adventure movies, but the supporting structure was all underneath. There were no sides. And it wobbled as I walked on it. I found it disconcerting.
And there was one section that was supported from above, and this was the part that reached towards the center. The thing is, it swayed forward and back. I had to time it to step onto it and then time it again to step off on the other end.
Clover was waiting for me, and the center section was a round platform about twelve feet across.
I came to a stop facing her but out of striking distance.
"There are two ways to earn points," she said. "If I am able to drive you back into the cage at the beginning, I automatically win. We won't do that today. Otherwise if you fall off, I win a point."
"I'll break my neck if I fall, Clover."
"We wouldn't let you break your neck, Andromeda. If that happened, I don't know when I'd see Peony. Don't you trust me?"
I looked over the edge.
"Oh, you won't enjoy falling, but you won't break your neck. I promise."
I lifted my staff. "I want that blanket, Clover. You're going down."
She laughed and lifted her own staff. "Begin."
I rushed halfway to her, stopping in the dead center. She was already swinging with her staff, but she hadn't expected me to stop, and the end passed in front of me. I used my own staff to help it further, and she partially turned away, over reaching and off balance. I hopped forward and poked her with my staff right in her side.
She yelped and pulled back, but then she swung her staff at me again, and I quickly moved away before she could hit me.
"Turn it up too high?" I asked.
"It must hurt enough you want to avoid it," she said. Then she came after me.
I was the next one to yelp, twice, as she caught me in one arm and then, with the other end of her staff, the other. I fell, but not off the platform. She zapped me twice more before I could fend her off. She stepped away and let me climb to my feet.
"Going easy on me?" I asked.
"I didn't want to drive you off that way. I'd have had to poke you too many times."
"I appreciate that," I said. And then I swung.
I got a few more strikes on her before she unleashed in a flurry of strikes at me. I deflected some, dodged others, then she caught me square in the side, and I jumped away from her, right off the platform.
I screamed, but I only fell five feet then hovered in midair, partway upside down, my limbs all flailing. I lost the staff and screamed for another few seconds then slowly got myself under control.
I looked back, and Clover was standing on the edge of the platform looking at me. "I told you your neck was safe," she said. "Point for me."
I looked down at the ground, still quite a distance below me. "Please don't drop me."
"I'm sure Dark Skies wouldn't drop you," Clover said. "But now you go back to your base and we begin again."
I would be having words with Dark Skies. As I hovered in mid air, it felt like hands wrapped around my ankles, although there was no one there. Then from my ankles I was lifted higher into the air. I squeaked as I hung upside down, and then as she lifted me even higher, I screamed again.
That was how she carried me back to my home base. The top of the cage opened, and she lowered me until I was lying on the platform. A moment later, she dropped the staff in beside me.
I lay there for a while, trembling as I got myself back under control.
"I told you that you wouldn't like falling," Clover called out.
I stood up and looked over at her. She was on the oscillating section, moving back and forth. "Did she have to do it that way?"
"Yes, actually," Clover replied. "That's one of the handicaps. Is it unsettling?"
"Yes." I sighed, collected my staff, and made my way along the path, stopping clear of the end. Clover was on the moving bridge, forward, backward, forward, backward.
"I want you to see if you can keep me from firm footing," she said. "If you don't earn this point, you're going to get another trip, and it will be higher."
"If I'd known," I muttered. But I raised my staff, moved to the end, and held my ground. After that, each time Clover came close, I did what I could to drive her backwards. She kept moving away, so I couldn't push her off, but I was doing a good job keeping her from moving forward, too.
"We have a standoff, Clover."
"That's what I was afraid of. The human wins if she's free for an hour. If you can hold me here, you eventually win."
"I'm going to enjoy my blanket."
"Don't get too warm yet," she said. Then we both looked up into the sky. It was hot.
"We can't stay out here forever," I said. "I'm going to burn, and I'm sweating. I'm glad I don't have to do the laundry. What are you going to do?"
"Try something risky." She stepped all the way to the far end of the platform, and then just as it began moving from its furthest to its closest position, she began running straight at me.
"Oh shit!" I crouched down, prepared to take her charge, my staff out in front of me. I thought she was going to run right through me. But right at the end she leapt, grabbing the overhead structure with one hand, and attempting to swing past me, over my head.
I let her, sort of. I reached up with my staff and shoved, and instead of landing square on the walkway behind me, she was off balance and slid off the side.
"Yes!" I yelled, pumping my fist. I moved to the edge and peered over. Clover was suspended in the air, just like I had been. "Point to the human. Take that, Catseye!"
"Well done, Andromeda," she said. "Wait there."
And then I laughed as Dark Skies lifted the Catseye by her ankles, and she was carried back to her start the same way I was.
She didn't scream, but she wasn't exactly quiet about it, either.
"Good one, Dark Skies," I said, still laughing. But I found it disappointing Clover never dropped her staff.
She made her way back to me and was soon back on the swaying bridge. "Want another easy point, Human?" she called out.
"Sure. I'll wait right here."
"We're supposed to be testing the event, and we'll test what needs testing."
"Sure. I'll wait right here."
"We'll do one more point here then move to the next section."
"Wait, wait. Don't tell me. The suspension bridge thingie." I pointed.
"Exactly."
I sighed. "Fine." I lifted my staff. "Come and get it, Catseye!"
She timed it and ran to me. I thought she was going to do the same thing she did last time. Instead, right at the edge, she stopped herself with one hand on the supporting wires, right at the edge, and she poked at me with the staff, catching me right in the chest. I flew backwards not from the power of the strike so much as the pain in my chest. The bridge began moving away, but Clover leapt the gap, landing off balance.
If I'd been better balanced myself, I could have pushed her right off, but by the time I recovered my balance, she was swinging for me. I went on the defensive, but then I ducked down, falling to the walkway. I swung for her ankles, connecting, and she began to fall.
Two for the human, and I got to laugh as she was carried back to her start.
"You know where to meet me, Andromeda! And I'm going to get you, Dark Skies. I swear I am."
I thought about retreating to the rope bridge on my side, but instead I hopped onto the moving platform, then to the center, then again, and then I was on her side for the first time. We met at opposite ends of the wood and rope bridge structure. I eyed it nervously.
"The rest of our points are here," she said.
"This is the last point," I said. "I can already feel that blanket wrapped around me." I stepped onto the rickety platform, and then so did she.
I didn't like it. It was bad with just me, but with both of us, it wobbled back and forth, and I didn't like it at all. I crouched low and moved slowly. Clover made it to the middle long before I did, and she looked far more confident than I felt.
I reached the middle, just out of thrusting range of our staffs. She offered a small bow to me.
And then she began bouncing the bridge.
"Stop that," I screamed, dropping to hands and knees. I barely kept my staff, and I clutched one slat, trying to hold on. "Stop that!"
She didn't stop. Instead, she began bouncing unevenly. At any point, I think she could have pushed me off with her staff. But instead she simply bounced me right off.
At least I kept my staff this time.
Dark Skies lifted me upside down into the air, then she turned me so I was facing Clover, our eyes at about the same height, with ten feet separating us.
"Funny, Dark Skies," I called out. "Very funny."
"I think we'll keep this," Clover said. "The human won't be foolish enough to fight here twice. But I don't like the other one. I'm going to make a change. You have a choice. You can hand me one more easy point here, or we can test my change."
"Oh, we'll test your change," I said. "Assuming you're the one who is on the moving bridge."
"Agreed. I'll meet you there."
And then Dark Skies lifted me into the air, higher and higher.
"This isn't funny!" I called. "Oh god, don't drop me. Please, don't drop me."
"I wouldn't drop you," she whispered into my ear.
I looked down then slammed my eyes closed and whimpered. "This isn't funny."
"It's part of the handicap," she said. "Higher each time. It was the human's idea."
I didn't open my eyes until she lowered me into the cage at the beginning.
* * * *
I approached the end of the platform, right before the swaying bridge. Clover was waiting for me. She looked relaxed.
"You'll want to stop there," she said.
"Oh, I don't think so."
"Suit yourself."
I stepped to the end of the platform. She stood casually at the middle of the swaying bridge, but then as it approached, my feet began to hurt, and then the pain moved up my legs. I began screaming and fell onto the platform. And like that, the pain shut off. I lay there on my side, panting.
"What was that?" I asked.
"I warned you," she said. "I was going to explain, but you got cocky."
I sat up. "That's cheating."
"The meter nearest the bridge does that. It begins as the bridge moves closer and fades as the bridge moves away."
I quickly scrambled away from the end, still sitting on my ass. "It stopped when I fell."
"Dark Skies turned it off," Clover replied. "Did you notice how it started in your feet and then moved up?"
"Yes. Not nice, Clover."
"I tried to warn you," she said.
"I suppose you did." I climbed to my feet. "Three feet?"
"A meter. Just over three feet."
"That's probably not enough for you," I said. I eyed the distance, moving closer, coming to a stop when I thought I was four feet from the end, a one-foot safety margin. From here, I thought I could keep her from gaining ground.
"If it's not enough, we'll make it a meter and a half," she said. "This is our last point."
I nodded. I wasn't feeling very confident I'd be getting my blanket.
We lifted our staffs. She walked to the end. As she approached, I thrust at her, but she turned my staff aside and stepped onto the still platform. Then she was inside my reach, but she managed to tap my side three times with her staff, and I went flying into the air beside the platform.
Then I hung there. "Didn't that hurt?" I asked.
"Yes, but I didn't linger."
"Congratulations, Clover. You can put me down, Dark Skies."
"I am satisfied with the event now," said Clover. "I will meet you at the exit."
Then without waiting, she turned around and walked away.
"Andromeda," said Dark Skies. "The human in this event has a hobby."
"You can tell me all about it later."
"It is applicable now. She has gone all over your country, experiencing roller coaster after roller coaster."
"Oh god. Please. You wouldn't."
"If you close your eyes, I get to shake you. You won't like it." Then she lifted me by my ankles, higher and higher.
"Some humans like to do something called bungie jumping," said Dark Skies. "Others use something called parachutes."
"Oh god. Please don't."
She dropped me.
I began screaming immediately, flailing all my limbs as I fell. Of course, she caught me, and at the end she tipped me right side up and set my feet on the ground as gentle as could be.
And a short while after that, I stopped screaming.
"Please do not be angry," Dark Skies said into my ears. "The human's opponent does not know she is fond of this. This was an offered handicap in exchange for something the human needed to have even a chance in the arena. Her challenger was watching, and he is smiling. He will be over-confident."
I muttered. "Don't be angry," she said. "Drops me from the sky, but I'm not supposed to be angry. You have a mean sense of humor, Dark Skies. I'm of a half a mind to cancel our meal."
"If you do," she said, "I'll..."
"You'll what?"
"Cry."
"You will not!"
"I will," she said. "I promise to make it up to you."
"How will you do that?"
"By making you tell me everything you've always wanted to tell a lover but were too repressed to tell her."
"Oh god!"
"And then I'll do them, or at least some of them."
"Oh god," I repeated.
Fur
After we ran the event for the mating candidate and her challenger -- she won -- Clover ordered me to return to my cell via the showers. And so I found myself -- annoyingly naked but clean and refreshed -- sitting on the bed.
I used the time on my visor, reading more about my four women. I had an hour, and I filled it.
Clothing arrived, and it was another of the skintight jumpers, boots, sunblock, and another of the floppy hats. I dressed quickly, and then my guards were there to escort me.
* * * *
"Hello, Soft Rain," I said when I could see. I was hugged in the chair with my arms restrained by the table. Over time, I would grow accustomed.
It wasn't Jasmine in the room with us, however. It was Clover. "Is this necessary?" I asked, looking down.
"You are a mating candidate and will be treated like one," she said. "I am helping you to select your challenge, but it will be Dark Skies who runs it. Do either of you have objections?"
I shook my head.
I turned to look at the Wookie. "I have a demand."
"Mating candidates do not frequently find their demands met," said Clover. "And are frequently punished for making them."
"In the future, I expect to be hugged by you before being pushed into this chair, unless you are not in the room. If you walk into a room and I am already like this, then you will find a way to hug me anyway."
She rumbled. "It would be my pleasure, Andromeda." She rose from her chair and walked around. Then she knel
t beside my chair and wrapped her arms around me. I turned to her, and I pressed my forehead to hers.
"That's better," I whispered.
"We have not had our first challenge, and you already ask for more."
"You have the sexist voice I've ever heard," I replied. "It makes me swoon."
She rumbled again.
"So does that," I added.
She caressed my cheek as she pulled away.
I turned to Clover. "I do not know what our challenge is, but I will request proper hugs shortly before the start of each of them. If that is impractical due to the nature of the challenges, I understand."
"We'll work it in when feasible," she said. "Otherwise we will allow your hugs prior to departure."
"Thank you," I said.
"Your challenger has requested permission to hunt you."
"No," I said. "She asked for a hunt. I presume she was asking me to hunt her."
The Wookie rumbled. "I believe you are attempting to tease me."
I smiled. "I'm not sure I would have accepted a challenge if I realized you wished to hunt me. We're on Earth, after all, and you're the one who looks like something a human would hunt."
Again she rumbled. "This land belongs to the Federation of Allied Planets and carries the same legal status as an embassy. That means it is Federation land. And on Federation land, it is the Wookies that hunt the humans. Which I believe you knew."
I laughed. "Fine. But it needs to be fair. I'm not remotely a challenge for you."
"Do you allow me to make this challenge?" Clover asked.
"Yes. But no shock sticks. And it needs to be fair, or at least close to fair. And I want some good exercise out of it."
"Is a ten kilometer run too far for you?"
"That's about six miles?" I asked. I didn't run much, but I bicycled a lot. Six miles on a bike was nothing. "No, I think I could run ten kilometers. But if this is a race, she'll win."
"It is a hunt," she said. "We will use the same arena you witnessed the first day."
"The one where Soft Rain's brother won Emma?"
"That's the one," Clover replied. "You both have some familiarity with the land now. You will be dropped at one starting point. Your challenger at the other. Freedom is to the north. Your visor will display your location. Soft Rain's will give the distance to you and an approximate direction, but not precisely."