CHPT 271: Ego Extinguished, Resentment Reborn

Another week-- or what felt like one, blew by in a flash of blood and claws. Ever since his last fight with Bengal, when he'd gained his first glimmer of understanding for the Shifter's Dance, he'd thought his climbing of the ranks had began. Dolion seeming to recognize his power was the first sign of that.

He'd never been so incorrect in his life.

After his fight with Bengal, Dolion had began to bring him up to fight the higher rankers. Not always though. He was following a system-- a strategy.

The bronze-skinned Alpha would let the battles go on as they should. Samuel and Bengal would let loose on each-other, ending the fight with different partners or injuries that healed faster than ever. Sometime's he'd win, other times Bengal would tie him....other times he'd win against others.

That's when he'd feel the Alpha's eyes burning holes into his back. As soon as he started to win.

That was the purpose of Dolion's plan. Build on his ego, stoke it's flames before having one of the higher ranking Lupines snuff it out of existence as violently as possible. That was how it was supposed to work, in theory. But-- sometime's to his own detriment, Samuel's ego was indestructible in many ways. At least that's how it seemed so far...

In the Deviant home of the Lupines, all it did was reward him with more cuts, bites and bruises. But it also kept him near the strongest. He was learning, more and more. He was witnessing their difference and learning how to close the distance.

He just had to get beat to a pulp along the way.

****

Much like today...

As usual, the Lupines littered the lush grass field in a systematic cluttered mess while rain showered them infinitely. One second, they all stood facing each-other and circling others. And then, at Dolion's command, they engaged in the Clash.

Steam rose from every body on the field and the ground quaked with the rise of human grunts morphing into wild growls.

At the front of the field-- closer to the Alpha and his Hitmen, Samuel faced his opponent head on a losing battle to gain the upper hand.

He'd just come off of one win and a tie against Bengal and another low ranking Lupine. So, naturally, he now faced his usual tormentor from the higher ranks.

She was his first look at what the Lupines usually were.

Brash, powerful, wild and merciless. Only difference between her and the rest was, she ran her mouth and didn't look bothered in the slightest while everyone else was in such a stressful environment. Her and Bengal had that in common. They'd both seen enough to make a common nightmare seem like a daydream.

That comfort and familiarity inside the Deviant also translated to her combat. She moved with a comfort and feral fluidity that told him she'd been a Lupine for quite a while, but he didn't know how long. Like everyone else, she looked at the prime of her age and health.

Standing at the median height of six foot with pumped muscles and tight scarred skin, she looked strong. But that's where her similarities with the rest ended for the most part. She was also beautiful-- not like Aiko in all her horrifying glory. Or like Dolion who was equally as menacing as he was good looking. She was truly beautiful-- in the classical sense. Aside from a body made for combat and on the feral side. She looked like royalty with her shimmering blue eyes, slim nose, sun-tanned skin and lush brown hair. He could easily imagine her once living in a massive estate with a much more dainty build hidden under expensive dresses and other regal attire.

Maybe that was a possibility a long time ago. But that's all it would be, history. Now she was the big sister Lupine, Aline. Also known as, Samuel's currently unbeatable opponent.

"Come on, Samuel. You can push harder than this." Aline poked in her crisp English accent while they strained against each-other in the midst of a Clash.

That accent made Samuel want to rip her throat out and eat it, "Shut up!" He growled.

"Mind your manners, boy..." She replied, accent thickening and voice dropping an octave in response to her applying more pressure to Samuel while her black claws sunk into the back of his palm and quad where her other hand resided.

SHCK!

He clenched his jaws to stifle the roar rising from his throat. Showing her he was in pain seemed to only satisfy her, and he didn't owe her an ounce of satisfaction.

Instead, he turned it into an opportunity to learn.

While he held with every ounce of power he had to keep her from throwing him onto his back, he let his glowing purple eyes scan over every inch of her in an attempt to pick up any advantages he could make his own.

She was smaller than him, in height and bulk, but she had no trouble against him and seemed to be forcing herself lower to the ground. One hand held his at bay while the other held his quad tightly forcing her left shoulder to jab into his gut, allowing her to go lower than if she simply locked hands with him. He thought it was odd at first, but now it seemed purposeful.

With her lower to the ground, she had a better center of gravity and could acclimate to her shift better since they were built to fight more effectively on all fours.

Two advantages against him. Aside from the glaring power difference.

"I see..." He growled before removing the hand that held her shoulder from stabbing into his gut and grabbing her hand that gripped his quad.

She rose as soon as his hand closed around her wrist and smashed her shoulder into his nose, following the flow of him trying to pull her up and away from the ground.

CRACK!

Dirty-blonde dreaded strands of hair wet by the rain flew as his head snapped backward, spilling blood like a fountain. He didn't need to be an expert in anything clinical to know his nose was broken. Wasn't the first time.

He shook off the pain, ignoring the instant blurring of his vision due to tears and copied her, making his hit more impactful with the use of his Aura.

Crck!

She backed away in response just enough for him to dive and get the low-ground. He wasted no time and moved to copy the position she once held.

Shlck!

To his surprise and her enjoyment, he slipped and landed flat on his face. From his spot on the ground, he could feel the way the cold water pooled around his feet and nowhere else. It was like he'd randomly found himself in a pond.

A growl escaped his lips as he looked up at Aline. She stood a few feet away from him, holding her black cloak all lady like while she waved with her right hand. It glowed a stunning shade of blue with the use of power.

"A Water user.....how fitting." He grumbled before shooting a ball of fire at the pond near his feet and evaporating it.

"Release!" Dolion's words stunned him and broke the clumbs of grappling Lupines, changing the tide from dueling to all out war.

Samuel had barely enough time to mutter a single word, "Shit..."

That very tide overwhelmed Samuel who was bested in the first act of the battle with as much difficulty as one showcased when breathing. He never got the chance to get back to his feet. Dolion wasn't training idiots or honorable men in combat. That was for the humans.

First purpose of the Shifter's Dance. Fight naturally. Aline was given an advantage. So, naturally she snapped at it with the jaws of her true form, ripping into him from the floor like the wild animal part of her was. And whenever he tried to fight her off or do anything to work in his favor, he found himself drowning. Alone, under a dark sea made specifically for him, looking up at two glowing blue eyes that held no care for if he died in the waters in that very moment.

For the thousandth time, there was no hope of winning. Only this time it was different. Aline consumed his ego and took it to the depths of her ocean of skill where it could shine for no one to see. Not even himself. When she was drowning him and the dozens of other Lupines fought above him in a feral war, even he forgot of his sense of self importance. His specialty.

It affected him in a way not even Dolion and his Hitmen's beatings did. Aline was only one person. And she banished his nobility, his Rare Class, his destiny for greatness. All in the span of half an hour.

His ego was truly wounded. Leaving only a rising sense of resentment and self loathing in its place.

A rather toxic mix some would say...