Renevere Mars: Part One

Episode 6: Falling Behind

An assembly of glasses were held high in the small fish restaurant, followed by a chorus of cheers. Ren smiled and cheered along with them, nodding at her raised glass. Her eyes swept over the patronage filling Tichi's Trout, children gathered around their friends who just made it to the rank of Carnol. Ren found herself wondering why she was among them, but when her eyes fell on Sam and Cara, she was of course reminded. Perhaps she couldn't quite call them her friends, but they were something. She cared about them, and she was happy for their success in moving on to the next rank, despite the fact that she was angry and humiliated that she'd never been given the chance.

Still, she felt out of place in a room full of 10 year olds, 15 of which were now her superior. They weren't all 10, of course, like Cara who had turned 11 the month before. In fact, most of them didn't even belong to the Year of the Wolf. Some of them had been training for years, Year of the Ox, Year of the Tiger, and for some this was not their first attempt at the test. It took most 3 years as a Prelith to pass, so why then did Ren feel so left behind?

"I think we might be the only Year of the Wolf team to have two Carnols in it," Cara said excitedly.

"Yeah, which means we get first dibs on all the Charlie ranked missions," Samuel agreed, making a fist with excitement.

"I thought Carnols only got Delta missions," Ren said dully.

"Usually, but sometimes they're given Charlie missions if their team is deemed strong enough," Cara explained.

"It all depends on demand, kiddos, so don't get too excited. It's not wartime, after all." Ren peered up at the woman who was speaking and recognized her after a moment. She was Mecha, the young woman with a locked hair and muscled arms who had approached her once while she was with Duren. She had a cup in her hand and was wobbling slightly. She squinted at Ren before squatting down into a seat at their table. "I know you from somewhere..."

"Duren's student," she said.

She stared at her for a second more. "Ohhh, yeah. Duren's student, right..."

"We're Duren's students too," Sam said, smiling impishly. "Maybe you recognize us from the second test, were you there? I was the one who faced the giant scorpion!"

Ren rolled her eyes. He had only recounted the story a hundred times yet.

"Wasn't there, only the judges watch the fights," Mecha explained, repressing a burp with her fist.

"It was amazing, I destroyed that scorpion, it didn't even see me coming—"

"Oh, please," Cara interrupted. "You barely passed, you had the lowest score out of everyone who made it."

"So what! That was bogus anyway, but it doesn't matter because I passed."

"Why do you look so sullen, hu?" Mecha asked, tilting her head slightly too far to look at Ren. She was clearly drunk.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head and trying to remove her apparently sullen look.

"She's just mad because she couldn't compete," Sam said.

"Couldn't compete? That's rough, 'specially with your partners passing..."

"Yeah, I know," she said, glaring at Sam, and then back to Mecha. "But it doesn't matter, I'm happy for them."

"Why couldn't you compete?"

Her grimace returned and she tilted her gaze down into her cup to avoid anyone's eyes. "Duren wouldn't let me..."

"Ahhh," she said, ending in a chuckle. "You're pissed at him, aren't you?"

Ren shrugged, trying to look unfazed and unamused.