Guitar Strings and Flower Petals

Prove Them Wrong

The Phoenix's strategy was simple, brutal, and effective. So efficient, so clear-cut, and so ruthlessly carried out that it was almost respectable in a brutal, no-ground-given, no-prisoners-taken kind of way.

Of course, if Skara wasn't the cornerstone of their strategy, she might have been able to appreciate it in a more... Pragmatic sense.

As it stood, she was just trying to avoid getting hit by it. And failing.

"Skara, watch ou-"

Cat's yell was cut off as Skara found herself being slammed by a huge glob of Abomination goop, hurled at her with enough force to throw her off her feet, and large enough to completely submerge her in it, so that she couldn't move, shout, or even breathe.

That was step one of the Phoenix's plan - The second the ball was on the field, hit Skara in creative and brutal ways, ranging from knocking the wind out of her with stone to getting thrown around the stadium by swinging vines. Anything that incapacitated her, or required someone to either heal or free her was essential.

For maybe the third time in this match, Skara found herself holding her breath, and trying not to swallow or inhale anything that would have made her violently ill. Each time, she found herself, for a split second, wondering if anyone was actually going to come help her. But Cat always did.

And that was part of the plan too.

"Bleh!" Skara heard Cat gag in revulsion as she clawed away the Abomination goop. As soon as she saw Skara, she reached in, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her out of the goo pile. She fell onto her back as she did so, and Skara fell unceremoniously flat on her face.

Step two - They waited for Cat to rush to Skara's aid. That meant that two of the three Banshee's were either distracted or completely indisposed. If they made it so that Skara had to be attended to, that left three Glandus players up against one Hexside player. And that was always Boscha. And as good as Boscha was at Grudgby, she wasn't three-on-one good.

Which led into step three: Gavin and Angmar running with the ball as fast as they could, whilst Bria would be the one to break off from the team, and fight Boscha one-on-one, while her teammates kept sprinting right past the final Banshee.

Picking herself up off the ground, Skara glanced towards Boscha and Bria as they fought one another, yet again. As always, Boscha tried to break-off, to go and grab the ball from the other two, but each time, Bria cut off her avenues of escape, and forced her to fight. Skara could just tell that this was the outcome Bria had wanted from the start. She seemed to enjoy duelling against Boscha just as much as she did winning.

And that inevitably led to step four - One of the two of them, this time Angmar, launching the Grudgby Ball through the ring, and scoring yet another point.

" AND THE PHOENIX'S SCORE ONCE AGAIN FOLKS !"

"I'm not quite sure I needed to be an Oracle to see that coming."

Around them, the Glandus crowd began to cheer and holler and chant their players' names. The Hexside crowd did... None of those things.

It was now sixteen-nil in favor of Glandus. Hexside had nothing to celebrate.

"Skara!" Cat reached out a hand, pulling the Bardup off the ground. "Are you okay, girl?"

"Physically? Mostly."

Psychologically? Never again.

Because after that, came step five in Glandus' strategy - Wash, rinse, and repeat. And that was what made it all particularly brutal. They never gave Skara an inch. Never gave her a chance to recover. Never gave her a chance to do anything.

Skara had trained constantly. She had made herself learn all manner of strategies to the point she could list them off of the top of her head. She could recite complex maneuvers from memory, and perform half of them with her eyes closed.

But that didn't matter one bit if Glandus never gave her the chance to actually do anything with that knowledge. All the theory and training in the world didn't matter when she didn't have any real experience in the match, and that was a weakness Glandus was exploiting to no end.

Angmar pumped his tiny fists in the air in celebration, while Gavin high fived Bria. "Great save, captain!"

"Oh, not as good as your little abomination trick! Sure kept your cheerleader busy, right Boschy?"

Boscha simply stood there, her hands balled into shaking fists that hung by her sides. Skara couldn't see her captain's face, but it was clear that she was just getting angrier and angrier with each score, and every word Bria said to her.

Preparing herself for another round of pain, Skara got herself onto her feet, and trudged towards her starting position. Thankfully though, the screeches of the claxons filled the air, and everyone stopped still.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! IT APPEARS WE'VE REACHED HALF TIME, SO GET READY FOR THE BEAUTIFUL MELODIES OF THE HEXSIDE MARCHING BAND AND GRAB YOURSELF SOME ROTTEN CANDY, WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE OF THIS GRIPPING ACTION!"

"All of which is utterly irrelevant in the grand endless scheme of the eternal void."

"Wow, you must be a... a blast at parties, huh Wendil?"

"I forsee myself never being invited to parties."

Thank the Titan, Skara thought to herself with a sigh. Half time had arrived. Thirty minutes of not having the living tar beaten out of her.

As she looked to the stands, though, her heart sank. Sure enough, most of the Hexside students and parents were already out of their seats, grumbling to themselves. All the noises combined, and Skara couldn't make out individual sentences, but with keen hearing and a little imagination, she could make a pretty good guess what was being said.

Total failures.

Sixteen-nothing. Sixteen- Nothing !

So much for Hexside pride.

Skara sucks.

That last one, she had to bite her lip at. Though right now, what could she say against it? Another exhale came out, this one more a groan than a sigh.

She was brought out of her self pitying though by the angry stomping of cleats heading in her direction. And who else could it be, but Boscha herself, looking like she was about ready to murder something.

Preferably not Skara, but at this point...

"Boscha, I-"

"We are gonna spend half time planning out the best strategy this stupid schools ever seen." Boscha's voice interrupted Skara, an angry hiss mixed with a HeckHounds growl. It was... genuinely unnerving. "And then, we are going to use it to put Bria and her entire stupid team in the ground!"

"Um, s-sure." Skara nodded, anxious to not infuriate her captain any further. "Right, yeah, we uh - We can try that."

Cat raised a hand. "But, well, first... can we go grab something from the concessions? I uh... didn't have much to eat before, and some Rotcho's REALLY sound good right about now."

Skara noticed her own stomach rumbling as well. Apparently, even with as great a meal as her mother could make, an omelet was only so filling when eaten in under five minutes. "Uhm, actually, can I uh... second... that?"

Boscha glared at them both girls with all three eyes before rolling them in angry exasperation. " Urgh, fine. Can't play on an empty stomach. Even if it's just carnival food. But you got five minutes to get it, or else I'm finding you both."

Skara let out a small sigh of relief. Well... it won't be mom's, but at least I'll get some food.

Now if only I could actually play this stupid game...

_______

"Well that... Wasn't great."

When not even Luz, enthusiastic, optimistic, and positive about basically everything found herself with only that to say, it really did speak volumes to the absolute thrashing the Banshee's had just taken. Whatever pride or enthusiasm there had been by the Hexsidians was just utterly deflated now. They all just sort of... watched the Banshee's limp off back to their players' room, while the Glandus team and all their supporters were celebrating their landslide lead loudly and clearly.

"That's... putting it lightly." Amity agreed, leaning back in her seat, as if to process everything so far. "That was brutal, even by Grudgby standards. And Grudgby doesn't even have any standards."

As the players left the field, they were replaced by a marching band, reading themselves to be the mid-game entertainment. For a moment, no one said anything as the band set up their instruments and began to play.

"You, er... you guys think they're okay?" Bo eventually asked. "They all took... Quite a beating."

"They'll be okay." Amity assured her. "Relatively speaking, anyway. Grudgby matches can get pretty violent. They should be okay."

"Y-yeah!" Luz said, more chipper than a few moments before. Ever the optimistic sort, it seemed her brief doubt had been overshadowed by her bright-side nature. "Sure, it's going badly now. But Hexside probably has a few tricks up its sleeve to help pull the win!"

"I hope so anyway."

That, Willow noted, was Amelia. She turned to her, noting her somewhat bleak tone. As if she didn't quite believe that.

Gus, apparently not hearing this, rubbed his temples, frustrated. "Well, I hope they're having fun losing. 'Cause we're gonna be the laughing stock of the whole district with plays like this."

A moment of awkward silence fell amongst the group. Everyone, including Amelia, just sat in silence among the noises of everyone leaving. Giving Willow the chance to hear what some of them had to say.

Freaking losers.

I can't believe they're considered good!

Is it too late to leave for Glandus?

Skara sucks.

"Uh... Anyway," Amity asked, breaking the silence. "You guys wanna... get anything from the carnival? We can grab some not dogs? Maybe some popcorn?"

"Ooooh, wait! " Luz shot out of her seat, eager as always. " You guys have popcorn here!?"

Gus nodded. "Sure do. So good, it'll pop your corn right off!"

"...Er... wh... I - I don't... What's a..." Luz seemed... slightly less enthused, and more confused. "...Ah, whatever, I mean, it's gotta be better than rotton candy with spiders in it."

"Hey, Willow, you coming with?" Gus asked.

"I'll um, catch up with you all in a bit." Willow replied. "I just gotta..." She gestured towards Amelia. "I'll get us some rotchos."

"Alright then!" Gus nodded, waving farewell. "Meetcha back here in a bit once we all got the grub?"

"Got it!" Willow waved her friends off, all of them waving back as they left the stands.

Her rocky smile fading, Willow let out a short sigh, and turned back around. She tapped Amelia on the shoulder. "Hey, A-"

"Wha?!" Amelia jolted upright, surprised.

"Gah!" Willow recoiled, also surprised.

"Aiee!" Bo yelped, caught off guard by both of their yelps.

"What the - !" Amelia turned around to look at what had touched her, onto to see Willow, whereupon, she calmed herself down. "Ah. Oh. Willow, it's just you. Er, hey. How's it going?"

After a quick moment to calm down her own heart rate, Willow took a breath, and said, "I er, I was just wondering if you were alright. You seem... like you... aren't."

"Ah." Amelia fidgeted in her seat. " I'm fine. Just, well, see, these Glandus games, Boscha... she gets super intense with them."

"That's putting it lightly." Bo nodded. "She had Skara racing away from this big Handragoon while doing cartwheels for some stupid reason! It was ridiculous!"

"I saw that too." Willow scowled. She remembered seeing the cartwheel fiasco during class, and whatever that crazy... whatever it was Boscha forced Skara and Cat to do as 'practice' yesterday.

"But this... I don't know how she's gonna react to this." Amelia sighed. "We lost last time too, but it was at least closer than this ."

"I feel bad for Skara." Bo shook her head in annoyance. "She's been put through the wringer, tried her best, but now she's actually playing, and she's getting thrown around like a ragdoll. And in such a big game too..."

"I've seen how Boscha is when I tried my best and we lost. She's gonna chew Skara out hard ." Amelia continued. "Cat too. But I mean, Cat knows how to handle it, but Skara..."

Willow took in a deep breath through her nose. Ah. Well that... is not surprising.

Though it is depressing.

"...Thanks guys." Willow stood from her bench. "I'm gonna go find Skara. I wanna see if she's okay."

Amelia blinked. "Oh? Really?"

"Yeah." She turned and got up out of her seat, waving to a blushing Cat who was walking down the lower row as Willow herself walked past her, and off into the carnival.

_______

Sixteen- nothing .

The moment her teeth hit her not-dog, Skara discovered that she had lost her appetite.

She sat down on a knee-high wall, put her food to the side, and let out a sigh, looking up and glancing around the carnival stalls, and the people who went to and from them.

And as she glanced around, Skara both felt, and saw, Hexside fans around her that were glaring towards her. But they kept their distance, and none of them said anything. They just... Looked at her.

They were blaming her for Hexside being down by so many points. Skara could just tell they were from how they looked at her.

Worst part of it was, they were right to.

For the weeks that had been leading up to this match, Skara had been put through Titan knows what in the training sessions, and she had thought that maybe, just maybe, she would be prepared for the match when it came. Maybe she'd be able to do something. At the very least, she wouldn't be blamed for the loss if they didn't win.

But actually on the field - She was the least experienced player. She was the worst at the game. She did everything that she was told to, everything that she had practiced, everything Boscha had spent weeks drilling into her, and she had learned it all. But it all amounted to nothing. Bria and Glandus homed in on her, because she was the weak link in the chain. And because of her, Hexside was getting slaughtered.

They were going to lose. Everyone around her seemed to know it was a foregone conclusion.

And Skara did too.

"Just... One more half, and then it's done." She reminded herself, resting her head in her hand as she stared off into space. "I can be done with this after this game is over..."

She had to wonder what things would be like once the game was over though. How would the school react to her leading to their loss? Would the Grudgby obsessed teachers assign her additional homework out of spite?

Would Boscha-

"There you are!"

Blinking herself back into reality, Skara turned to look over her shoulder and towards the familiar voice. Willow stood there, slightly red in the face and out of breath, like she had been rushing around the carnival.

"Willow?" Skara blinked again, much harder this time. "What are you - Why are you here?"

"Looking for you."

"That... Okay, that's another question I guess - I meant why are you here at all? I thought you didn't like Grudgby?"

"I'm not much of a player," Willow said, stepping over the knee-high wall, and plopping herself down next to Skara. "Watching it is fun, though."

"I didn't think you'd want to watch a game with Boscha involved."

Willow exhaled. "I'm... rooting for Hexside more than anything." . She took a couple of moments to catch her breath. "Sorry, I just... I thought you'd be near the stadium."

"I er..." Skara blinked again. "Why were you looking for me?"

"I wanted to see if you were alright." Willow answered. Her expression took on a more sincere one. "The match looks... Brutal, so far."

Skara almost laughed. That's putting it mildly.

"And you took... Pretty much the worst of it." Willow continued. "Or, well, nearly all of it. I guess I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm... fine." Skara said, somewhat shakily. "Cat's been keeping me healed up, and I haven't had anything that Healing Magic can't fix in a few seconds."

"Are you feeling alright, though?"

"I just said-"

"That's... not what I meant." Willow clarified. "Are you feeling okay ?"

Again, Skara felt herself becoming more... shaky was the only word for it. She exhaled, and said, "Just two more quarters and I'm done - That's how I'm feeling."

The Plant Witch's expression fell. She didn't say anything though. For a moment, both girls just sat there, an awkward silence between them.

For a moment, everything felt... Different. Skara felt like she was back in the cabin, on the Knee. Where there was this atmosphere of uncertainty and awkwardness and not knowing how to talk to Willow, and Willow not knowing how to talk to her. How eventually, under it, Skara had found that not talking was more difficult than talking. That was when she finally told Willow what was bothering her. And that feeling came back.

"I just... I don't get it." The Bard rubbed her temples in annoyance. "I'm doing everything Boscha told me to do. I'm doing everything right. I know I'm doing everything right. Boscha tells me to follow a formation, and I follow it. I go where she tells me to, I do what she says, I follow the plans and strategies she taught me and just - Every time I get hammered by Glandus's stupid... Everything . And now we're losing and it's on me and I just...Urgh."

"It's frustrating. I get it."

Skara's first instinct was to snap at Willow. To ask h er what she knew about feeling like this. Her body turned to do so-

But she stopped herself. She didn't know why, but, frustrated as she was, Skara couldn't bring herself to put any of it on the girl who did literally everything in her power to help her.

Willow, unaware of what had just gone on in Skara's mind, continued. "I was in the Abomination Track. That's where I started getting called 'Half-A-Witch', because I couldn't do anything right there, even when I followed the rules." She sighed.

Half-a-Witch. Skara felt herself bit her lower lip when she remembered that particular nickname. The one s he had heard Boscha call Willow that at least a hundred times over the years.

Now, hearing Willow repeat it, hearing the clearly deep pain it caused, remembering it, and Skara had come this close to lashing out at her -

Skara felt the sudden urge to crawl into a hole and never come out.

"I mixed the goop clockwise, it all spewed on my face." Willow carried on. "Mixed it counter-clockwise, the Abomination blew up. It's frustrating. When you try to be good at something, even though you just... can't..."

Blinking, Skara looked down to the ground. Her frustrations were gone, and replaced by shame. "...Sorry. I...I'm just throwing my own little pity party right now."

Willow shrugged. "Well, I mean, if you need any guests..."

Surprisingly, a chuckle escaped Skara. More surprisingly, it was genuine.

"Why not?" She drew a small spell circle, and a small glowing party whistle landed in her palm. She blew into it, the end rolling out with the word 'PITY' written on it, before it vanished. "Misery is best when shared, right?" Then, she stopped after seeing Willow's expression bordering between concerned and confused, the joke having not landed as expected. "...Sorry, this... this is one of my... less proud moments."

You've seen me in a lot of 'less than proud moments,' lately, come to think of it.

"It's alright." Willow said, offering another gentle reassurance that both made Skara feel better and worse at the same time. "Like I said, I get it. I've had moments I'm not proud of too." She chuckled slightly. "That's how I met Luz, actually. I was letting off some steam, throwing some vines around, and like an idiot I grabbed her with a vine thinking she was a threat." Willow chuckled.

"So... You met Luz while you were acting like an idiot?" Skara raised an eyebrow, and looked back towards Willow from the corner of her eyes.

"Pretty much, yeah." Willow shrugged.

"...I guess that would explain why she's friends with you."

About one second of silence followed. And then, Willow started to laugh - Not a gentle, reserved chuckle, but outright, uncontrollable laughter. And after a couple of seconds, Skara felt herself smirk, and start to laugh as well. And all of a sudden, for just a moment, it felt like nothing was wrong anymore.

"I - I have to ask," Willow said, once she was able to speak again without laughing getting in the way. "Do you know what the deal is between Boscha and the Glandus Captain? It kind of seemed like they knew each other."

"Oh, you saw that?" Talking didn't feel like this cumbersome, heavy affair anymore.

"Yeah - Amity said that they had a rivalry with one another that Boscha took extremely seriously and that's... It. And the way they fight on the field, it's clear they have an... interesting rivalry."

"That's about as much as I know, to be honest." Skara shrugged. "Bria and her crew actually came to the field once just to trash-talk with Boscha. They said they were there to scout me, but spent most of their time arguing with her. I don't know what that's about."

Willow raised an eyebrow. She seemed... confused? Intrigued? Worried?

Then, her eyes lit up.

"Oh. Oh." It was like a lightbulb had gone off in Willows head, like she realized what was going on. Her lips curled into a smirk. "Oh. Oh I get it."

"Huh?" Skara blinked. "What? What d'you get?"

"Yeah. What do you get, exactly?"

Both girls turned around to see the new voice - Quite possibly the single worst person in the entire Boiling Isles to be standing right behind them, was standing right behind them - Boscha. She stood with her arms folded, and a look on her face that conveyed naught but sheer irritation.

"Boscha!" Skara felt her blood freeze. "How... Long have you been-"

"I've been here long enough." Boscha said through gritted teeth. She turned her focus back to Willow. "So, go on, tell me - What exactly do you get?"

To that, Willow didn't say a word.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Boscha sneered. She turned back to Skara. "Anyway, come on. We've got a strategy to plan."

Willow blinked, and quickly summoned her Scroll to check for the time. "The next round doesn't start for another twenty-or-so minutes. You've got plenty of time."

"And if you've been paying any attention, you'd know I've got my work cut out for me."

"She hasn't even eaten yet."

"I told her and Cat they had five minutes to get food. Skara's had ten. If she hasn't eaten then that's on her, we've got a game to win"

"It's fine." Skara said. "I'll-"

"Pushing them the way you have been isn't helping, Boscha." Willow said, a bit more firmly this time. "Overworking them and stressing them out doesn't make them better players."

Boscha glared Willow down. "And how would you know how I train my players?"

"Willow, it's-"

"I saw you on the fields yesterday." Willow snapped. "I saw you put them through drill after drill, yelling at them if they couldn't keep up with your time limits, putting them through the most ridiculous trials, and not giving them the chance to breathe."

"And when did you become an expert on Grudgby? How I train my players is my business, and no one else's." Boscha growled. "Back off, Half-a-Witch. This has nothing to do with you."

Half-a-Witch.

There was that name again, uglier than ever...

Willow stood up, and turned to look Boscha right in her bottom eyes. "I think that it does."

Neither Witchspoke for a moment. They just stared one another down. Skara hadn't seen Willow stand up to Boscha like this before. Take her on in a Grudgby match, sure, but not squaring up to her like this. She didn't look even remotely intimidated, and if she was, she was hiding it incredibly well. Boscha though... Boscha didn't bother to hide her anger and frustration and irritation and fury, and all the other adjectives for mad Skara's brain could think of.

And in that one brief moment, Skara genuinely thought one of them was about to punch the other.

But somehow, against all odds, both girls restrained themselves. And against even greater odds, Boscha was the first one to back down. Probably because getting into a fight with one of the spectators during match hours wouldn't go down too well, but still. She turned to Skara. "Five more minutes. I can drill you on the plan in the fifteen minutes we have left after that. If you're not back in five, I'll drag you back there myself if I have to, whether or not she's still here."

With that, Boscha turned around, and stormed back towards the players' rooms. Willow let out an extremely long exhale, and all but collapsed back onto her seat.

"I... I'm sorry, but I think I just made things worse for you."

"I... Don't worry about it." Skara... Didn't know how to respond to what she had just witnessed.

Adrenaline starting to fill her system, Willow chuckled. "Well that... actually felt kinda... nice."

"What? Tempting fate to clock you in the face?"

That got even more laughter from Willow. "To get Boscha to back down. To tell her off like that."

Skara slowly raised an eyebrow. "You have a... weird definition of 'nice.'"

"No," Willow waved. "It's just, it felt nice, to stand up to a bull-"

Willow froze. But Skara knew what she was about to say.

The heavy atmosphere returned. But this time, it was... different. It was lighter than before, but still heavy, in a way that didn't make a lot of sense.

With it, there was... Skara couldn't quite put a word to it. Unless that word was 'weird.'.

That atmosphere was broken by a loud notification. Willow blinked, and summoned her Scroll. Looking at the screen, she chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Skara asked.

"Hmm? Oh, Gus just sent a pic of him waving his flags. He asked when I'm getting back with some rotchos."

"Ah."

"Yeah... I should, uh... probably grab some and head back to the stands." Willow kicked herself off of the wall, starting to strut away.

And Skara could have just let her keep walking.

"...Willow?" She called out, loud enough for Willow to stop, and turn around.

"Yeah?"

"...Can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Sure."

"...Why do you care so much about what happens to me?"

To that, Willow's eyes opened up slightly, and she stood still for a moment. When she next moved, it was to blink. An answer didn't follow, though. She stayed silent for a moment. And Skara had a feeling that Willow herself didn't even know what to say herself.

That had been the answer Skara had expected, of course. But still -

"I've already told you before, haven't I?"

Skara stared at Willow. She had that same, gentle smile on again that she had seen back when this had all started. With the Witch Trap, at the cabin, in the weeks that followed, and now.

"'Cause I know what it's like not having anyone to stand up for you, and how it feels to be somewhere you don't want to be but feel like you need to be."

She had said that before, Skara noted. When all of this had started. But...

"No, I mean... Why do you care about what happens to me?" Skara asked again, this time prodding herself in the chest to accentuate the point. "Me, specifically. I mean..."

Again, her hands just sort of gestured vaguely in front of her, not really signalling anything.

"...After everything - Everything that's happened over the last few years, after... You could have just left me to stew in my own little world of misery and no one would have blamed you. But between the Knee and now..."

Willow's smile fell. She seemed, for a moment, to not know the answer herself. Or at least, it just wasn't something she thought about. She stood there, eventually looking away from Skara, and towards the nearby trees.

"...Because I... I feel like I know the real Skara now."

That was certainly... a response.

Not the response Skara had expected, to put it very lightly. She didn't know how to respond to that. How to interpret it, after everything...

Looking back towards Skara, Willow had that same gentle smile again. As soon as she saw it, Skara suddenly felt like she did know how to interpret it.

Though that didn't mean she knew what to say to it .

So she just... Didn't.

"...Skara?"

Skara looked back up at Willow. She had turned around, and she had an expression on her face. Not an unkind one, but her eyebrows were furrowed. She looked resolute.

"Prove them wrong."

Prove them ... It took Skara a moment to realize what Willow meant. She felt her eyes open up wider. But before she could say anything in response, Willow had already turned and left.

Once again, Skara found herself on her own. And for a moment, she didn't do anything. She had a couple of minutes before Boscha expected her back.

She looked at the not dog beside her, and picked it up. It had cooled down, and was almost cold. But she took a bite anyway.

Her appetite had come back.

_______

Prove them wrong.

The words rolled around inside Skara's brain as she walked back to the players' room. She kept playing them, over and over again, dwelling on them for reasons she couldn't fully explain. Something about them... coming from Willow...

Skara wasn't a Grudgby player. She'd trained for so long under Boscha's coaching, and sure, she was technically proficient on paper, but in practice she was a colossal failure. Amelia was the one who was supposed to be here, not Skara. She was a literal punching bag. A weight dragging her team down. Why would Willow think she could prove them wrong? How did she expect her to?

More to the point, what did that even mean, really? Prove them wrong in that she could play this game? Skara didn't even care for it, Willow knew that! Prove that she wasn't a failure? A sixteen-nil score against them seemed a pretty strong argument otherwise. Prove them wrong by showing them the 'real' Skara? What would that accomplish?

Besides, she wasn't even sure if she knew what that meant.

Arriving at the player's room, she took a sharp inhale, readied herself for whatever the heck mood Boscha was going to be in, opened the door, and stepped inside. "Hey, I'm... back?"

Glancing around the room, she found that it was empty. She blinked, and closed the door behind her. Peeking her head around the lockers, and into the other adjoining rooms, she found that she was well and truly alone.

"Boscha must've gone to find Cat." She muttered aloud, as she let out a heavy exhale of annoyance. "Unreal. After all that flack she gave me, she's not even here? She made it sound like Cat was waiting on me..."

Well... Whatever. If Skara knew Cat, then she was out looking for Amelia, or had already met up with her and was getting licecream, or playing a quick carnival game like whack-a-troll or just... well, whatever those two would get up to on their own. While Boscha was hunting for them, maybe she could just relax for a little bit before they both showed up. And give her the chance to mentally prepare herself for the second round of battering that she was about to take on the field.

She sat herself down on a nearby bench, leaned her head against the wall, and placed her left hand atop her right one. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath, before exhaling again, slowly, and fully, like she was trying to rid her lungs of any air whatsoever. Without even meaning to, she pondered Willow's words, mulling them over.

Prove them wrong.

The voice in Skara's head started to sound less like Willow's, and more like a malformed parody, a Grom-like distortion of the encouragement, twisted and shaped into something Skara couldn't even quite recognize as her own thoughts.

It'd be great if you actually could do that. But you can't. You're no Grudgby player. You're a Bard. You only ever played as a replacement for Amelia, and now...

Now you can't even do that.

Skara opened her eyes. Being alone with her thoughts was... A bad idea. Wow, who could have seen that coming.

I gotta do... something. Something to help me focus, to think about anything else, to...

And as always, when all Skara's problems flooded her mind, Skara had only one answer:

Music.

It was a simple and elegant solution to her troubles, honestly. Whenever Skara's mind felt trapped in a loop of intrusive thoughts, depression or anger, music was the key to freeing herself from it. Or of at least drowning out the bad thoughts. Even if it wasn't always a perfect solution, she could let herself escape for just a little while with a simple tune.

And so Skara spun a circle and opened her sub-realm of musical instruments to grab the guitar she... borrowed from the 'absent' residents of the cabin. As always, it looked pristine and perfect, something Skara almost envied in her currently frazzled state.

I guess one little tune won't hurt.

She fiddled mindlessly with the strings of her guitar, no particular song in mind. When the right song came to her, she would adjust her playing to match it, but for now, she just strummed. After a few seconds of mindless playing, a tune began to form. Not a concrete song, but at least a musical bit.

"Bum, bada bum bum. Bada bum, badum bum bum."

Her mind began to clear as she began to play the tune on the guitar. Some notes were more out of tune than others, but it didn't matter. This wasn't the time to spend perfecting every twang and minor chord. All that mattered was being lost in the music, the rhythm, and the simplicity of it all.

"Bum, badum bum bum. Badbum, bad um bum bum."

The song had a strangely lively quality for something that wasn't even fully born yet. It reminded Skara of the simple joys of spring, of sitting out in a field on a nice day and letting yourself just feel it. It made her think of the sun and warmth, but strangely not the harsh sun and warmth of the Isles; the sun and warmth of a world Skara felt was both real, and, potentially, long dead.

Her fingers faltered for a moment. Something about the feelings felt... Weird. Not in a bad way, mind. Just... Weird.

'BUM BA DUM DUM BA DUM!"

Skara nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden screeching barks. "GAH! WHAT THE-"

But as she turned, she saw one of the lockers, a smile on its face and its one eye gleefully looking at her as if to ask Well? Shall we continue?

Which... threw Skara for a loop.

Never heard a locker try to sing before. Or seen one... genuinely smile, for that matter.

Huh.

Wait, was it trying to... harmonize with her?

As if to try and satiate it, Skara played the tune the locker sang on her own guitar. But it didn't feel exactly right on it, and the locker's smile faltered. She tried playing her original tune again, to see if that would work.

"Bum, badum bum bum. Badabum, bad um bum bum."

"BUM BA DUM DUM BA DUM"

It wasn't a perfect duet. In fact, Skara's duet partner could barely hum, let alone sing. And yet, something about the togetherness, the feeling of connection and working in tandem with someone on a song.

It made Skara smile.

She tried again, continuing her guitar pluckings as the locker attempted its best to sing in tune. And soon, Skara noted, more of the lockers were attempting to sing. They weren't... particularly good at it, but they were attempting it, and Skara thought it was endearing if nothing else. If there was one thing she thought she would never find endearing, it was the same lockers that had tried to eat her three times in the last few weeks, but here she was. She continued to string her guitar, trying to sing the tune and melody as best she could. Lyrics would take her out of the moment to create, but general music could be concocted with some notes.

Skara continued on, a smile forming on her face as the world seemed brighter, the sounds seemed cheerier, the flower petals tickled her nose-

The what now are what now?

Looking around herself again to make sure she hadn't just gone insane, Skara confirmed that yes, really, there were bright red flower petals floating around the room now, from Titan knew where. She blinked, and wiggled her nose as she felt one lightly dust by her. They flew overhead, seemingly matching with the rhythm of the music. It was such a fascinating sight, all these red petals twisting and twirling and dancing like an oversized crown around her head, their grace a personal sight for Skara's eyes alone. It felt almost weirdly sacred, the image. Skara couldn't quite place it, but in this moment, she felt as if this was what it meant to be a bard.

No fears about scores. No terror in losing. Just a lovely song and a guitar and red flower... petals... from... somewhere?

In her momentary confusion, one of Skara's fingers slipped, and the whole tune ended with a screeching DWWWWWING! and as if on cue, everything shifted; The lockers stopped singing, Skara's mind started buzzing, and the petals turned to... snow, of all things, and fell to the ground, covering the floor and forming piles around the room.

Entirely thrown off by the sudden shift of, well, everything, Skara stood up from the bench, and just looked around her. What... exactly just happened? Everything was now, essentially, as it was before the song; dull, drab, and mostly gray. Except, of course, the snow from the petals.

That was... A new one? At least for her, anyway.

Kneeling down, she poked the snow cautiously, as if it was about to strike her. Instead, much like most snow, it just sat there, cold to the touch.

How did that happen? How do flower petals magically come into existence and magically shift into snow?

Well, magic, duh, but-

Hang on...

Skara's mind started to put pieces together. This magic happened because of Skara. And because of Skara as a Bard. Not a Grudgby player. It had been so long since she'd done something like this that she almost forgot that she was even capable of it. It wasn't like she hadn't done similar stuff in class before. Nothing quite this... Varied, granted, but still.

Even then, she hadn't even meant to do it. It had been an accident. Maybe because she got too into it, or because that cabin guitar was a lot stronger than she thought it was, or something else but...

What if she actually put her mind to it on the field?

Maybe... maybe that's how I prove them wrong!

She wasn't a Grudgby player - She'd been forced into that position. That wasn't what she was good at. That wasn't what she was comfortable with. That was what she had been made to do to suit this game because that was what Boscha had had in mind. Skara was a Bard. She knew what Bards could do. And so did everyone else. And they all seemed to underestimate Bards in this sport. They didn't expect her to know how to fight back.

But she knew how to.

"...and you've got all the time in the world to hang out with Amelia after we win this thing! You don't think it might be more fun for her if she's hanging out with a wiiiIIIIIIIIII-"

Her revelations were cut short by Boscha entering the room, and as soon as she took a step inside, unceremoniously tripping over a pile of snow near the door, and fell face first straight into another. Instantly, she got back up onto her feet, and instead of being annoyed, she just looked utterly flabbergasted for a few seconds as she looked around at whatever the heck had happened to the room in the five minutes since she was last here.

"What in the- What - What the Titan happened here?!"

Cat poked her head around the doorframe, and made sure to avoid tripping on any of the piles of snow. "A er... blizzard? That lasted less than five minutes? That just happened... Entirely within this room?"

Boscha just blankly stared at Cat. Cat just shrugged.

"Hey, I've seen weirder."

"Er, that er, that might've been me, actually." Skara said, revealing her presence to the two of them. "Sorry, I just... I was playing music, and I didn't mean to use magic but it just sorta... happened."

"That was you?" Cat asked, eyebrows perking up.

"You - You heard?"

"Well, I heard a guitar, and then what sounded like a bunch of dying lockers."

"Okay, yeah that... Was me."

"Well, for what it's worth, the guitar bit was lovely." Cat said, giving Skara a thumbs up."

"Oh." The Bard blushed lightly at the compliment. "Well, thanks."

Boscha shuddered. "Well, except for the screaming demon noises." Boscha dusted herself down, wiping away stray strands of snow that coated her face. "Ugh. Look, we got like, ten minutes to get a strategy together!" Boscha began to walk away to the back of the locker room. "You two sit at the bench and I'll grab a chalkboaaaarrrRRR-"

Boscha's final word began to echo as she tripped on a small pile of the snow, landing flat onto her face once again.

"And get rid of this snow already!"

Skara didn't want to, but had to laugh, and quickly turned around to hide that from Boscha. And thankfully, Cat did the same.

As she laughed though, Skara looked down at her guitar.

I'm not a Grudgby player. I'm a Bard.

I should act like it.

_______

"-and AFTER Skara throws the ball to me, I'll smash myself into Bria, who will-"

As Boscha attempted to explain her plan yet to win the game, most of which involving her beating up on Bria, her Scroll popped up, making a bat-like screeching and demanding the attention of all the Banshee's.

Cat immediately covered her ears in an attempt to drown out the horrifying noise, Skara following closely. "BOSCHA! CAN YOU TURN THAT THING OFF?!"

The captain swiped at the Scroll, turning off the alarm. "That was the bell for the end of half time. We gotta be out on the field in no later than fifty-six seconds."

Skara removed her hands from her ears. "Wait, seriously? You needed something that loud to-"

"Fifty-four, fifty-three, fifty-" Boscha either pretended not to hear Skara's interjection, genuinely did not hear, or didn't care it as she walked out of the room. With little other choice, Skara and Cat turned to each other, grimaced, and left the bench.

This is it, Skara. The second half. All you gotta do is... prove them wrong.

The team jogged to the field, nothing coming from their mouths other than heavy panting and Boscha's aggressive countdown, giving Skara a brief few moments to think.

I got this. I just need to play to my strengths. I can't take a punch, but I'm dexterous and quick like a dancer. I can't throw the ball to save my life but I can feed off the crowd to fight harder for myself. I'm an entertainer, a Bard. I got this.

I can prove them wrong.

"EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, AND STOP!"

Boscha's jogging ended suddenly, with Skara and Cat forced to pull back on the balls of their feet to stop. Skara had been so busy giving herself a pep talk she barely noticed they'd arrived at the player entrance.

Right! Back to playing Grudgby.

Let's hope I'm right...

"ANNNNNNNND... NOW!"

Boscha's phone beeped again, the same loud shrill, before being thankfully silenced. She turned to her fellow players, gave her best 'Lets do this' look (or to just glare at them, Skara couldn't really tell), and stepped out onto the field, followed by Cat, and finally, Skara.

The crowd, mostly Glandus's side, exploded into a roar of laughter as she entered the arena. She tried to ignore them, instead focusing her attention onto the Hexside group, who seemed... less than enthused at her arrival. Barely any of them looked happy at it. Even Amelia appeared to be mostly taking a "smile away the pain" approach, her sign barely waving in the slightest anymore as her grin appeared too wide to be genuine.

At this point, one thing was clear; everyone thought, no, knew , Skara was going to fail. And honestly, even Skara had her doubts still.

But three words continued to clatter in her mind, three words that reassured her that, if nothing else, she should at least try to fight back;

Prove them wrong.

"Oh, hey, it's the Bard!"

Skara turned away from her fellow Hexsidians to see the Glandus trio, taking up their positions. Bria facing down Boscha, Angmar on Skara's side, and Gavin on Cat's, all three bearing an equally smug, self satisfied grin, and all looking towards Skara.

"Well look at that," Gavin chuckled. "I thought you would have decided to just be the team cheerleader after the hammering you took."

"Nah." Skara shrugged. "I'm gonna kick your butt's."

All three of Glandus's finest blinked, seemingly surprised at the sudden intensity of Skara's words. She seemed determined, almost as if the ragdoll they'd been toying with just came to life to seek revenge. Skara's determination... surprised them.

Of course it didn't last long. Angmar was the first to break into a laughing fit, practically bursting a gut at the notion. Gavin followed close behind, with Bria as a close third.

"HA! Really?" Bria exaggeratedly wiped a tear from her eye, doubling over in uproarious glee. "I'm sorry, who got thrown through their own team's goal like, four times already?"

"Don't remind me." Skara's ears caught Boscha grumbling. She paid it no mind.

"Call it a change in perspective." Was all Skara said.

Bria rolled her eyes as she got herself ready. "Suuuuure. Let's just get on with it already. The sooner Boschy gets crushed, the sooner I get a good laugh."

As everyone got themselves ready, Boscha's eyes glared at Skara, all three of them giving one message: You better not screw this up more.

She didn't actually know what Skara had in mind - Skara hadn't said anything, because if she had, she knew that Boscha would have dismissed her immediately. It was going to be hard to screw up worse than she had done in the last half, but still.

Skara simply looked forward, staring Angmar in the eye. The other Witch smirked, grinning ear to ear as it took position, looking ready to pounce the second that the match began.

Every time Skara had been flung around, it was primarily done by the power of the Witch placed in front of her, moving as harshly, quickly, and efficiently as they could so she didn't have the chance to respond, before the others would join in ganging up on her. So if Skara wanted to avoid getting smacked around, it was going to start here. She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on anything that might clue her in as to what Angmar was going to do.

"Alright, Witches!" The referee stood off to the side, his numerous eyes glancing between the two teams. "No one wanna back down? Surrender maybe? No? Alright, guess this slaughter's gonna keep on going then." He raised up a small switch, readying to launch the ball. "In five-"

So Angmar's going to probably try and grab me with vines again, which means I need to dodge them. Easier said than done.

"Four-"

Alright, Skara, just stay calm. Break it down. He's thrown vines at you from every direction. There's got to be some way to tell where he's going to launch them from next. Think!

"Three-"

Spell circles were usually easy enough to spot, and the larger they were, the stronger they were, usually. These ones had to be small, with how quickly they were able to cast them, but it seemed like these three could make even small circles unleash powerful spells. And even if she could see them, that didn't mean they were easy to know where they would activate. Some spells came directly from the circle, and others could show up from anywhere. From the air, like her own Bard magic, of from -

The ground! That's gotta be it! Okay...

"Two-"

Underneath her feet, Skara heard something. It was tiny, but it was there; a shift in the ground, and the slight feeling of something coiling under her feet. The dirt was lifting slightly, so slightly that Skara wouldn't have noticed had she not been paying attention to her surroundings like this.

But she was.

Got it!

"ONE!"

Skara had less than a second to react. As the field around her contorted and began to erupt, the vines broke the surface, heading directly for her.

It was a song and dance she was familiar with at this point in the game. She'd be ensnared by a vine, thrown around, get hurt, need Cat's help, and Glandus would come out one point ahead, and she wouldn't have a clue what was happening until it was too late

But this time, she was ready.

She launched herself to the side, narrowly dodging the vines as they threw themselves at her. Skara skidded right of where she had been, Angmar's initial attack just barely missing her. With a flick of her wrist, Skara then formed a spell circle, summoning a black portal in the air. Falling out of her instrumental pocket dimension, Skara caught the cabin guitar. She yanked the guitar pick from between the tuning chords, and sent it crashing against the strings. They shook, bellowing a loud warcry, loud enough to shake the very air with a crimson glow. And from that crimson glow, circles grew, shockwaves shooting from the guitars center and out to the Pheonixs.

Both Angmar and Gavin were thrown off their feet, stumbling back down the field like they were rolling down a hill. Angmar had been the closest, and Gavin just hadn't reacted fast enough. Bria had thrown herself to the side, getting out of the way of the shockwaves before they reached her.

In response to that, after a brief second of stunned stillness, Boscha threw herself at the ball, which had fallen to the floor in the commotion She bolted, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her, attempting to reach the other side of the field in record time. Skara looked at the display and smiled. Boscha could make it! Score the team at least one point! She could-

From the corner of her eye, she spotted it; a stalagmite, rising before Boscha, just out of her view, but enough to trip her over. "Boscha!"

But she didn't seem to notice, too determined on her predestined path. Which, unfortunately, was why she did, in fact, trip, causing the ball to fly from her arms, landing just outside the goals.

A rough grunt escaped Boscha, but before she could push herself up, a new set of pillars formed, shoving along the ball from behind, and directly into the hands of Bria.

"Sorry about that, Boschy." She taunted, "But-"

Before Bria could finish her snide remark and run, Skara tackled her from behind. She didn't exactly have much of a plan, only focused on making sure Hexside got at least one point out of sheer spite for what Glandus had put her through. The two collapsed to the ground, Skara on top, witnessing the ball rolling away from them.

"Yo, Cat!"

As if on cue, Cat was there, kicking the ball onto the top of her foot and grabbing it in midair without stopping. Skara picked herself up, avoiding Bria's attempts to claw and grab her, and ran after her teammate. Gavin was in the way, and still clearly dizzy from the hit he took, and stunned by Skara's sudden actions, but he attempted to conjure up some Abomination goo to combat the approaching Banshee.

He couldn't manage to do anything before Skara was up close, and made it a point to trip him up and knock him onto the ground again. A small bit of payback for all the Abomination garbage he put her through.

Almost in direct response to it though, another shift in the ground shook her, and vines began to erupt from the ground. Though they didn't aim for Skara - Instead, they aimed for Cat.

"Cat! Watch out!"

The vine slammed into her stomach before she could react though, sending Cat reeling onto the ground. Glancing behind her, Skara spotted Angmar, hurtling towards them, readying another spell circle.

"Quick. Skara." Cat sounded as if the wind had been knocked out of her, but even so, she tossed her the ball without hesitation. Skara caught it, then instinctively ran.

"Gavin! Angmar!" Bria's cry was loud and very much filled with bitter embarrassment. "Get up and grab her!"

Looking over her shoulder, Skara saw Gavin, head in one of his hands, using the other to try, and mostly failing, to cast a spell-circle on the ground. Still, Skara looked down, worried she'd spot half forming abomination goop.

But instead, she saw a flower.

A large, growing, wild flower.

Oh Titan.

Angmar's toothy flower shook its oval petals violently as it opened its bud to scream. It reminded Skara of the Witch Trap, though smaller and more purple-ish. It was the last thing standing between Skara and the goal, but it was a big last thing, blocking it off with its whole body. W

It looked like the Witch Trap - but, there were differences. The colors, the leaves, the bulb - Maybe they were similar enough that it could be beaten in a similar way? What was it Willow did to make that thing spit up Amelia, again?

Oh, right!

As the plant shot towards Skara, she side-stepped and dodged it's lunge, before reaching with her free-hand for the guitar pick again, adjusting the guitar so if fraced the monstrous plant, channeled her Magic, and strummed the strings as hard as she could.

More shockwaves shot out from the guitar, right behind the bulb.. The effect was immediate - The plant screeched and lurched back, and curled up, like it was trying to clutch the injury even though it didn't have hands.

Skara meanwhile, shot past it as fast as she could, towards the goal.

She took aim.

And fired!

Through the goal!

Hexside scored.

No, wait! Not just Hexside. Skara!

Skara had just scored a point!

Surprise reigned for a moment as Skara just exhaled at everything that just happened, the fact she had just scored not quite registering with her quite yet. When it finally did, Skara turned to the loudspeakers, witnessing the shock in the stands as everyone registered what had just occurred. She scanned the stands, witnessing wide eyed looks of shock and awe from both Hexside and Glandus fans, some with their jaws hanging low. To be frank, she felt the exact same way.

In about thirty seconds, she went from the laughing stock, to the person the Hexside students started to cheer for.

" AND SKARA SCORES HEXSIDE ITS FIRST POINT OF THE GAME!"

Hearing those words over the loudspeakers, the roar of the crowd... Skara almost just laughed .

"Skara! You did it!"

Skara turned to Cat, followed closely by a bewildered Boscha. "I... I did!"

"I..." Boscha shook her head. "You... actually scored?"

"I uh... I guess you can call me Scoring Skara, huh?"

Not the best nickname, but she'd take it.

"Beginner's luck."

To the side of them, Bria spit the words like venom. Angmar and Gavin were picking themselves up, glaring at her. "You got one point on us, Bard. I promise you, that's not gonna happen again."

"I mean... It's one more point than you thought I'd get, isn't it?"

Bria growled. "Whatever." She turned back to the center, motioning for her lackeys to follow. "Come on. Let's go beat these three up some more."

"Sore losers." Cat shrugged. "Well, sore winners, I guess. For now anyway. What happened, Skara? How'd you do that? That was... Impressive, even for Grudgby. Especially for a Bard."

"I er... I'm a really good Bard, I guess."

Cat chuckled, and patted Skara on the back. "That you are. But I don't think they're going to let you get that close again."

"I've got a few ideas to back you guys up. I... I think I can do this!"

"Get back to your positions." Boscha ordered. "We've got to do that another fifteen times."

"Oh, is that all?" Cat muttered. "How hard could that be?"

Boscha and Cat jogged back to their side of the field, as Skara walked, farthest in the back. She felt that her crazy move earned her at least a little lateness. She wasn't sure that she was going to be able to do that again - That had been mostly sheer adrenaline and determination. She'd at least proven she wasn't a total burden.

What she really wanted to do, though, was to look into the stands.

Her eyes scanned them, until they glazed past Amelia's pretty little sign, the perfect marker for her to look to to find Willow.

And by the grin on Willow's face, Skara could tell she was doing what the Plant Witch had said.

Prove them wrong.

_______

Sixteen-Twelve.

Even before the third quarter ended, the Banshee's had risen from the absolute nadir of nothing at all, and now stood at twelve whole points.

The Phoenix's original strategy of simply beating up on Skara was proving lackluster results now that she was actually capable of fighting back. She focused on keeping her senses sharp, listening for even the slightest change in the breeze, feeling for the smallest shift in the ground, and when she did, she was able to jump out of the way and dodge her way past whatever traps they laid. And trying to pull their attacks on Cat and Boscha didn't work, since the more seasoned players knew how to look out for their attacks already, meaning the Phoenix's were forced on their back foot. The Banshee's were actually getting somewhere!

And Skara was in no small part responsible for that. After her initial goal, she moved primarily into a support role, using her music to screw with Glandus's own abilities with her cabin guitar, from creating beautiful melodies distracting their senses to ear-piercing sound wave attacks to some minor-but-effective spells to mess with the field the same way Glandus would.

Bards were often considered poor Grudgby players because of how they relied on an instrument to make their magic truly shine - That meant that they couldn't grab the ball with their hands, had to keep track of their instruments, ran the risk of them breaking in the middle of the match, of other players grabbing hold of them - there were too many things that they had to keep track of that being a Bard on the field was more often than not an actual hindrance rather than an asset. And because most Bards only really practiced a very limited amount of magic outside of their Track, Bards and Grudgby were often seen as polar opposites.

But Skara was, as she had put it herself, a very good Bard. Maybe she wasn't a 'Charge in and beat up the opponents and steal the ball' kind of player, but she was good at backing her team up - She combined her training with providing cover fire, putting up obstacles that the enemy had to deal with, granting her team energy and power boosts, that sort of thing. Attention had to be divided far more evenly between her and her teammates, and that went against the foundation of Glandus' strategy of ganging up on one person to weaken the whole chain. It was a role she carved out for herself, and not one she was trying to force herself into. And now that she was focused, using her senses, thinking, and was determined to prove everyone wrong for doubting her, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Even if they were still a bit behind, Skara couldn't help but feel herself radiate with pride. She was actually doing things. She wasn't just Glandus' punching bag! She was able to fight back!

If things kept going this well, they might be able to catch up. They might even be able to win!

As the ball was tossed yet again, Skara dodged an Abomination stomp, throwing herself to the side before again pulling back her guitar, and unleashing a shocking soundwave strike. Too slow to dodge the assault, the Abomination exploded into chunks of goop that coated the surrounding field.

Parts of the creature sprayed onto Skara and the other Banshee's, but the largest chunks seemed to coat the Glandus team the most. Bria blocked the goo coming at her with a pillar, but Gavin was splashed with a large chunk, and Angmar was sent flat on his face by the headpiece of the Abomination, covering him completely.

Cat grabbed the ball from the air as all this was happening, and was on her feet rushing toward Glandus post, while Boscha and Skara followed close behind, Skara slightly lagging behind with the weight of the guitar.

"Boscha, I got this!"

Skara's ears perked up as she began to make out the words of her teammates.

"No, I can make it to the other end faster than you!"

What's going on between them?

"Just guard me a round and we can-"

"CAT! You know I can score faster than you! Just throw me the ball and I swear-"

Boscha's yells were cut short as she collapsed to the ground. Skara stopped herself on instinct, skidding on her heels as she turned to see that, as she suspected, a stone had risen from the ground, and Bria herself was scrambling to her feet, her finger in the air in the aftermath of a spell circle.

"GAVIN! GET THAT BALL!" Bria's usually cocky and self assured attitude had been replaced with an anger that caused her to bark the command with a vengeance. She was now starting to get backed into a corner, and that led her to acting more and more aggressive,

It kinda reminded Skara of another captain she knew....

Gavin dusted off the rest of the goop on him and nodded. He summoned the surrounding puddles of Abomination to him, a small wave forming beneath his feet to carry him towards Cat.

Oh no you DON'T! Skara raised a hand to blast the abomination wave-

Only to feel the sensation of a stone slab thrown against her back.

" TITAN-"

Skara fell on her face, the chunk of stone firmly on top of her. She was lucky the guitar was so surprisingly sturdy, otherwise she didn't know how she hadn't just crushed it.

Looking up, she spotted the clock, just ten seconds left, and Cat, continuing to rush the field. She was so close to the goal, almost within throwing distance!

C'mon Cat, you got this...

But Gavins wave stopped, forming a large, intimidating purple wall in front of the goal. He looked battered, but no less willing to fight the Healer for control of the ball. Skara felt her heart sink. Though Cat didn't stop...

"OK!" He jumped to the ground, raising out a hand. "JUST STOP AND DROP THE BALL AND-"

Whatever Gavin's ultimatum would have been died on his lips. Or with his ribcage, given that's where Cat, still not stopping, elbowed him, with enough force to knock back a griffon.

As Gavin fell to the ground, clutching his sides, the wall collapsed, most of the goo falling into a giant puddle again. Despite getting hit by some of it, Cat simply gave a mighty roar and hurled the ball through the triangular goal with all her might.

And as the buzzer screamed, the Banshee's scored their thirteenth goal.

Skara was able to scramble to her feet, running towards Cat, who now stood before Gavin, a smug smirk of satisfaction on her lips.

" That was for calling Amelia useless." Cat teased as the Abominations boy tried to push himself back onto his feet. "I'd suggest getting to the healers. Best decision you'd ever make."

"Girl, that was amazing!" Skara threw her arms around the others' neck, laughing and unperturbed by the globs of goop that had landed on her friend. "You did awesome with that elbow!"

Cat laughed as she hugged Skara back. "Eh, just thought I'd give him a little piece of my mind for insulting my Amelia."

Skara noted the interesting description, but chose to tease Cat about it later.

"AND THAT'S THE END OF THE THIRD QUARTER FOLKS!" The loudspeakers blared, Perry Porters sounding even more excited than usual. "WITH SKARA'S CONTRIBUTIONS HELPING TO SUDDENLY TURN THE GAME AROUND, CAN THE BANSHEE'S CLAIM THIS ONCE IMPOSSIBLE VICTORY?!?"'

Hexside's crowd roared to life, all its members chanting and cheering the team on. Fans that had once felt crestfallen now seemed invigorated as what had once been a one-sided match began to even out. The Glandus side shouted and encouraged their team on as well, trying to motivate them to fight on in a now close game.

As Skara looked into the stands, she found the familiar landmark of Bo and Amelia, both waving Amelia's sign ecstatically. And near that, just above, was Willow.

She stood in her seat, laughing, cheering as she looked over to Skara, fists in the air. The Human and Amity seemed to be just cheering in general, and Gus had his flags in the air, waving them like he were directing a parade. It almost seemed like Willow was genuinely cheering for Skara. As if Willow actually did believe in her. As if Willow actually had believed that Skara could prove them wrong all along.

Skara waved back, hoping, in some small way, Willow would know it was for her.

Her view was suddenly obscured by a set of three eyes, staring her down in a very in-your-face manner. Skara almost stepped back, as if Boscha had been a horror movie jumpscare.

"What the Titan were you and half-a-witch doing?"

The question was so out of left field even Skara was taken aback. "Huh?"

"What. Happened. With half-a-witch?"

"...What?" The Bard was dumbfounded. "I... I'm sorry, what're you talking about?"

"I spent Titan knows how long preparing you for this!" Boscha stepped back, now heading to start the next round. Skara jogged close behind, trying to keep up, both with Boscha physically and her bitter anger. "We had meeting after meeting, spent hour after hour, trying to perfect and hone our skills. We should have been as ready for this game as if we had Amity back on the team."

"So we had a sloppy start. Now we're catching up! So what? I thought you wanted to win!"

Boscha shook her head. "Why did we start off with the worst first half I've ever played, and suddenly we're almost winning, because you're completely disregarding everything we practiced?? What did that loser do that suddenly made you so good?"

Now Skara was getting annoyed. So annoyed that she couldn't help it - She actually laughed, against all common sense that it actually surprised herself. "First, you're mad because I'm terrible and that we were losing. And now, you're mad because I'm playing well, and we're starting to catch up?"

It was all just so... So insane, so utterly absurd, and so... So beyond anything to Skara, she couldn't even put it into words. All she had been able to do was laugh.

"I can't win with you, can I? There's nothing I can do that'd make you happy with me, is there?"

"I'm not upset about doing well!" Boscha snarled the words, an almost feral anger coating them. "I'm upset because you spent your first half getting beaten up, and now, suddenly, you talk to her and start getting good? What did four-eyes do?"

"Well, three eyes , we just talked , she gave me some encouragement and-"

"Oh, so I spend weeks getting you into fighting shape for this game and you suck," Boscha stopped on her heels so fast it made Skara stumble, before catching her balance and stopping along with her. The captain spun, fury apparent in her face. "But they tell you, ' Oh Skary, just believe in the magic of pixie dust and unicorn farts and you can achieve anything ' and suddenly you're actually halfway competent?"

Skara took an aggressively deep inhale. "Yeah. Exactly like that."

Then, after a moment's thought.

"Well, not exactly in those words. But, yeah."

Boscha's whole body bristled. "Really." It was phrased like a question, but the intonation made it sound more like a threat. For the first time in a while, Skara found herself not even remotely intimidated by it.

"Are you serious? " Skara blinked " Are you honestly so obsessed with Willow and your stupid pride we need to have this fight now?"

Boscha grit her teeth, fangs bared, like a predator. "I am. Not obsessed. With half-a-witch."

"Then what in the name of the Titan's Mercy is your problem?!"

"MY PROBLEM IS THAT APPARENTLY WILLOW'S SOMEHOW BETTER THAN ME AT MAKING MY PLAYERS ACTUALLY FUNCTION!"

"WELL SHE'S ALSO BETTER THAN YOU AT BEING A DECENT FRIEND!"

Boscha stepped back, shock in all three of her eyes, as if Skara had just slapped her.

And Skara wasn't entirely sure she hadn't.

For a moment, the whole of the Isles stopped. The noises of the stadium evaporated, the world outside her periphery vanished. All that mattered to Skara was exactly what she just said.

"I... look, I didn't mean..."

The anger Skara had vanished, disappearing as quickly as it came. She hadn't meant to say something that harsh. Boscha was her friend. She could be intense and push a little hard but she was still her friend, right?

But-

Before Skara could say anything else, Boscha was already heading to the center of the field. Her stride seemed... off, though. Heavy and weighted, as if her feet were made from twenty tons of lead.

Skara exhaled sharply. Boscha got upset, even at her friends, but something about this, about her reaction to what Skara had said. It felt almost... wounded.

And that probably scared Skara more than anything.

The straggling Banshee followed Boscha back to the center of the field, taking their place to her right, Cat to their left, across from the Phoenix's. Bria took the position, smirking. "Oh, Boschy . Ready to get back to losing?"

Like every other time, Skara expected a response. An insult, a retort, or even just a growl. It wouldn't be out of character for Boscha to even snarl at her enemies.

But her captain just moved her feet into starting position, raising her arms, as if it were on instinct. She seemed to not even hear Bria at all. The Phoenix's face contorted, as if she felt insulted, but she and the other Glandus players simply prepared for the next round.

Skara took the position as well, but didn't take her eyes off Boscha.

She barely paid attention to the countdown, so worried about Boscha she almost didn't hear the "ONE" being called. As it was, though, Skara blinked back into the existence of the game, back into her current fight.

Lunging for the ball first, Skara took it into her hands, and rushed down the field. Being so physically active for so long, Skara could feel her body waning, but she was still fast as ever. If she just kept moving forward then maybe-

She didn't notice the rock rising from the ground, or Cat's warning. In fact, she didn't even register that she'd tripped until the ball flew out of her hand, and she noticed how fast she was seeing the ground.

Ohhhhhhh Titan.

It wasn't even the worst Skara'd been hit during the game: It barely registered in the top thirty. But after all the other painful attacks she'd suffered, her entire body flared up, as if all the cumulative injuries had been vaulted inside them, containing all this hidden pain, until her face met the dirt.

The Bard could barely even groan as she heard the sounds of the ground behind her breaking, and soon she saw Bria, atop a moving trail of jagged stones like a surfer. "Oh, this for me?" A tiny mountain shot from the ground, hitting the ball towards Bria, who snatched it eagerly. "Awww. You shouldn't have." Skara huffed as she saw the smirk of self-satisfied glee upon Bria's lips.

But as Skara tried to scramble to her feet, she heard another sound. Footsteps of an aggressive variety.

And then she heard a guttural yell, and a violent jump, from right next to her. Skara's head lurched to keep up as Boscha, with all the ferocity of a Slitherbeast, lept off the ground, throwing herself directly at Bria, shoulder first. The Glandus captain had no time to move before Boscha slammed into her, full force. The rock ridge crumbled to dust, and as it fell apart Skara witnessed Bria slam into the ground, ball rolling out of her arms. Boscha stood over Bria for a moment, as if savoring a small victory, before grabbing the ball.

"HEY, BOSCHA!" Cat shouted, waving her hands. She was standing near one side walls, closer to the Glandus goal, hands flailing. "I'M OPEN!"

Skara tried to push herself off the ground as she kept an eye on her captain. What's she doing?

Then, Boscha began to wind up.

But as she did, Skara noticed something.

That's weird. With the angle Boscha's arms at, it's gonna fly right over Cat. She looked back at Cat and tried to predict where the ball might land.

Then, her heart stopped.

No. Oh NO!

Behind Cat, in the stands, sat Willow Park. The same Willow Park who cared enough to ask Skara if she was okay after her breakup. The same Willow Park who she'd spent the night trapped in some stupid cabin with.

The same Willow Park I just told Boscha is a better person than her.

Time seemed to slow around Skara as the revelation sank in of what Boscha was doing. Already, the sparks of her Magic began to make themselves known underneath the ball and in Boscha's palms. She didn't intend to just throw it - She intended to launch it - Use her Magic to create an explosion underneath the ball, and propel it with as much force as she could. With the players all where they were, rushing to intercept, it would look like she was merely trying to get the ball to Cat before any of them could stop her.

Boscha's going to hit Willow and make it look like she was aiming for Cat so she can get away with it.

She's going to hit Willow because of me.

She's going to hit Willow.

As her head began to register Boscha's actions, Skara felt her arms move to pick herself up. She wasn't sure where this spark of energy came from. Her body was tired and sore from the beatings it endured from Glandus, and the general exhaustion of Grudgby should have been getting to her.

But call it adrenaline, a Witches natural strength, or magic, whatever it was, Skara bolted. Sweaty and tired, every part of her body hurt. But the mantra Willow gave her was replaced by a new thought. A new horror she imagined as she burst across the field.

She's going to hurt Willow.

She's going to hurt Willow and it'll be my fault.

Unless I do something.

The ball left Boscha's hands, and Skara got to her feet, beginning to bolt as far as fast as her legs could carry her. The ball crackled with a surge of magical power, and it took all Skara's strength to keep herself from collapsing, but by some Titan-made miracle, Skara was able to reach just a foot away from her.

Skara's eyes darted to Willow and her friends. Maybe they were stopping it themselves? But no one seemed to notice what was happening - They hadn't registered what was going on. They hadn't seen it like Skara had! She kept running.

The ball was inches away from being over the railing.

She had another surge of energy.

She felt herself leave the ground.

She was inches from reaching it, just a few more...

Suddenly, Skara felt the ball connect with her stomach. It smooshed itself at the sensation as her body continued to move forward. The wind left her in that instance. Still, she clutched the ball to her chest like a treasure, her fingers digging into it to keep the sphere from leaving her as if it could fly out and smash in Willow's face still.

As she did so, she realized that although it hurt like the Titan itself had smited her, it hurt much less than she had expected it to. In the briefest of moments before gravity pulled her back to the ground, she realized that she was being enveloped by a barrier spell. One cast by Cat, at the absolute last second, when she realized what was happening.

Then, gravity claimed her.

She smashed onto the ground, tumbling down the field. She felt her body get covered in scrapes and bruises, the rough grass staining her uniform as she rolled along. Despite knowing the roll was only a few seconds, her mind made it feel like days as it tried to process everything that just happened.

Boscha tried to attack Willow.

She was willing to risk the game to hurt her. Out of nothing but spite.

But I stopped it.

Before she could continue her thoughts, Skara's tumbling slowed to a stop. She blinked, trying to reclaim her bearings. Her body felt sore and torn, but as she pushed herself from the ground, she looked around, and realized just where exactly she was.

I'm right in front of the Glandus goal.

Indeed, she was. Right in front of her was the tall triangular goalpost of the Phoenixes.

"WELL?"

The yell. The aggressive, familiar yell. Skara turned, knowing full well who she was about to see.

Boscha.

She was holding Bria back, wrestling the Construction Witch from being able to cast a spell by holding her hands as aggressively as Skara had ever seen anyone do anything of the sort. But even still, all three of her eyes were transfixed on Skara.

"THROW THE BALL SKARA!"

Skara looked down. The ball was in her hands. She was right at the goal, right where she needed to be to score another point for Banshee glory.

Then, she looked back up. But not at the goal, and not at Boscha.

Her eyes landed on Willow.

The Plant Witch's own wide eyes were on her, positively stunned. Did she realize how close she'd just come to getting bashed with a Grudgby ball? Skara honestly wasn't sure.

And frankly, she didn't care either. She was just glad Willow wasn't hurt.

If someone had asked Skara a lifetime ago if she expected to be saving Willow in.... Any capacity at all, she would have laughed. She would have choked back jokes about her and called her half-a-witch and thought you were crazy.

Now here she was, saving her. From her friend. Who was about to attack her because...

Because Willow actually cared about me.

Her eyes wandered back down to Boscha. Despite Bria's hands breaking free, all three of Boscha's eyes hadn't left her at all. If anything, they'd only gotten angrier.

"SKARA! THROW THE BALL, FOR TITAN' SAKE!" She raised her hands, as if to signify for her to throw her the ball. If Skara wasn't going to score, then give her the glory of the next goal.

Or to get another chance to hit Willow.

There was so much Skara was willing to put herself through. So much that she was willing to accept in the name of friendship. In the name of this reality that Boscha talked about. In the name of the years that they had known one another. There was so much that she was willing to put herself through. So much she was willing to take.

Skara just dropped the ball.

And let it fall onto the ground. It bounced a couple of times, and then rolled away.

Everything stopped. The noises from the crowd, the movement of the players. It felt like even the wind had stopped.

The limit had been reached.

From across the field, Skara looked into Boscha's face. Skara's own was probably battered and torn from the tumble, but all she cared about was getting across the single message that mattered right now.

Screw you, Boscha.

And with that, she walked. No players tried to stop her. No one even said anything.

No one except Boscha, anyway. "Skara!"

"SKARA!"

But Skara didn't even turn. She simply kept on walking, until she walked right out of the stadium.

______

QuirkQuartz: Everyone remember when we said that this chapter would be done sooner than the last one? Yeah this is why you should never trust a word I say

HELLO AGAIN - This one was a bigger challenge than I think either of us honestly expected it to be, but it's also a chapter we've been looking forward to writing for a very, VERY long time. The first major "Arc" of GS is nearing completion and it's been quite the ride getting here, but I'm glad we finally are! As for what comes next, ooooooooo find out next tiiiiiiime! Or maybe not who knows with us honestly.

Wanna say thanks for all of ya'll still reading this even though we've been terrible at keeping it updated - We've both been super busy with Uni and work, but we've found a few new tricks to keep ourselves on task and productive so you MIGHT see us being a bit more frequent with updates!
I hate social media, and everyone who uses it, including myself, but I have a Twitter if you want to follow me on there for whatever Godforsaken reason, as well as a Tumblr!
Twitter- https://twitter.com/QuirkQuartzTumblr- https://www.tumblr.com/blog/artofquartz
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Fanart of the chapter - They're all on youtube and Skara is a dork - https://www.instagram.com/p/CbfTgfRByK6/ 

DesmondKane - AND FINALLY! THIS BIG CHAPTER IS DONE! PRAISE THE TITAN, THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER, WHATEVER YOU WORSHIP, IT'S DONE!

Honestly, this chapter was a LOT to write. Not that it wasn't still fun, but both me and Q are mostly dialogue and romance writers. Action isn't either of our strongest suites, or the thing we have the most fun doing. So a big Grudgby game took us a bit longer to get right. Still, I'm happy overall with this chapter, especially how baby Skara's grown. Her telling Boscha walking away from her finally... *wipes tear from eye*

Finally, thank you all for the support: the kudos, the reading, the comments especially. It means the world to us. Keep up the support for Skarlow!

I'm terrible at social media and the notification for this will be the first post I have on my Instagram but you can check out my linktree for all my online places: https://linktr.ee/DesmondKane

(Pro tip: I'm actually most active on Reddit, where I post all my Skarlow commissions. Should do it on all of them and I will on of these days buuuut...)

Song of the Chapter: Lovers Desire, an old Afghan love song that was actually the basis for Skara's little locker duet this chapter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15TIPTb3qZI