Hatchling

Fire vs. Fire

Tenuous grey clouds swirled overhead, it wasn't raining, but light struggled to penetrate the dark curtain that shielded the surface. The ground was springy and damp underfoot and the smell of rain permeated the air. Rain and anticipation with a hint of excitement.

Terry vaulted over the fence and into the enclosure that would serve as a ring for herself and a random challenger. Her Persian red primary feathers flared out slightly and she willed them to lie flat. There was no room for fear or weakness.

She steadied her breaths and forced herself to pay attention to Lin Chan Xue, who was trying to pick a contender out of the sea of unwilling crowd. She smiled slightly, they were unwilling because she could beat them all and she had, without mercy. It made sense, she had practised for so long and she had experience in the field.

Suddenly, a hand shot up from the crowd and Lin Chan Xue looked surprised. Terry couldn't hear what she was saying due to the distance but saw her mouth move and an 'are you sure?' look passed over her face. She could see her shoot a glance toward her wife, Bai Yue. The woman shrugged with her pale blue fan, which matched her hanfu, not moving from her face.

Terry squinted at the person the hand that was raised belonged to and blanched. Copious amounts of jewellery were woven into his long pink braid and his sharp sangria eyes scrutinised Terry. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and a buzz of excitement rose from the back of her mind.

She scolded the small voices as she told them to use 'inside voices', as much of a melody for deaf ears they were, they could get extremely irritating at times. At least they listened like little children when she scolded them. The small thrum died down to a tame hum but not before teasing her with 'mothering innit', 'but we are inside?' and 'mom is it my turn on the Xbox?'. She had no idea what an Xbox was.

Technoblade easily swung his legs over the waist-height barrier and approached her, taking long measured strides before stopping a couple of metres in front of her. His deep-set eyes bored into her. Watching her, analysing her like he was a hunter in the forest. Waiting patiently to strike the unfortunate fawn which crossed his path, to strike her down.

Fool, she sneered in her mind and the thrum spiked with delight at the insult. She had changed. She was no longer the fawn that was mercilessly slaughtered. She was a bird of prey and she had her sights on Technoblade.

Terry could feel the adrenaline flood through her veins and her fingers twitched as she waited somewhat impatiently for Chan Xue to give the signal to start. Chan Xue lifted her arm high into the air and counted down.

"sān,"

Techno's dominant foot shifted in front of him, instinctively dropping into a fighting stance.

"èr,"

Terry's mind goes haywire as her mind yells at her in pure ecstasy at the feel of being dragged into a fight again. 'Mess him up, Your Grace', 'Yeah, mum! get 'im', 'Chaos Queen' and other words of encouragement running through her head. She smiled, the curve not quite meeting her eyes.

"yī!"

Chan Xue brought her hand down, leaving only an after image of the black sleeve rimmed with a rich purple.

Her heart lept into her throat as her opponent watched her. She just stood stock still with a small smile and a faint look in her eyes that was aching for her to burst into barking laughter. The man opposite her seemed to have full confidence in himself but seeing her not react spiked his eyes with a minuscule amount of hesitation.

A few moments passed where the two of them just stared at each other, the air between them dead and unmoving.

Then Terry's mind screeched at her to 'dodge!' and she stepped nimbly out of the way as her opponent's hand left only a quick streak of colour where her figure would have crumpled from a jab to the liver.