40 Sparring with Minh

The tournament was a few weeks away, and the entire guild focused on training for it. The tournament had different divisions and the top people in each guild would compete in the various matches for points. There would also be a non-scored event for the new recruits to take part in.

Tyr signed Macha up for the non-scored event. He told her it would be a good way to test her abilities against various opponents. Tyr explained that everyone has a different fighting style, so this would be a great way for her to expand her experience.

Every day after the office work was taken care of, Tyr and Macha went their separate ways to train. Macha would go to Mia's center to improve her basics and spar with the other guild members. She did not mind sparring with others, but she sensed that they resented her presence.

Some trainees avoided Macha because they recognized her as the captain's secretary. They saw her with the captain often and were unsure if she had been ordered to spy on them. Other trainees dreaded when Macha would come because they did not know if they should lose to her or not. Her status in the guild left everyone with questions on how to treat her. The overall consensus was to avoid Macha unless she addressed them directly.

The only person who would willingly engage with Macha was Minh. Minh was a tanned woman who started her training five years before. She wore her hair in a long braided bun and had shorter ears. Minh initially did not like Macha because she thought Macha looked funny. She had never seen such a small woman before. Minh did not care for Macha's almond-shaped eyes and accent because she felt it stood out too much. Her dislike increased further because of the treatment that Macha received from everyone. Minh liked that Macha came daily because she could beat her up under the guise of a sparring match.

Macha made her way into the sparring room. Her eyes focused on Minh and she pointed to the woman, "Today's the day Minh! I'm going to land a hit on you." Macha smiled. She enjoyed sparing with Minh because the woman did not hold back. A lot of times the other trainees went easy on her. Macha hated this because it was unhelpful. If Minh was not around, she preferred to work on her stealth techniques while training at Mia's center.

"Yeah, right twerp," Minh retorted. She threw her loose jacket to the side and swaggered towards Macha. Minh thought Macha was stupid. Every day she said the same thing to Minh before getting beaten up. "Today I'll give you a handicap. I'm gonna beat you with kicks only. Same rules, first one to fall loses." Beating Macha with a handicap was satisfying for her. Minh liked that it rubbed in the difference between their skills.

The other sparring matches stopped. They did not want to risk interrupting Macha's match. Everyone moved to the side and waited for Macha to lose.

Macha drew her wooden practice daggers. Both women stood on the balls of their feet feigning attacks to gauge the other's reflexes. Macha shuffled in and thrust her dagger to stab Minh's chest. Minh easily shifted to the side and raised her knee towards Macha's throat. Macha brought her arms in to block the attack. The impact caused her to stagger back.

Macha's arms formed a pink bruise from Minh's knee. The adrenaline kept her from feeling the pain. Macha nodded her head and grinned. "Nice try."

Minh knew she had a greater reach than Macha. She kicked the side of Macha's knee to throw her off balance, but Macha lowered her stance and stood firm. Minh tried to kick Macha's leg again, but Macha spun around and kicked Minh squarely in the stomach.

Minh flew back but regained her balance. She put some distance between Macha and herself. Minh was angry that Macha got a hit in. This was the first time she did not block one of Macha's attacks. Minh dashed in and kicked downward to hit Macha in the hip. She followed that kick with a swift kick to the face from her other leg.

Macha stumbled to the side to recover. She was forced to drop her wooden daggers to regained her balance. Minh pressed the attack. Seeing that Macha lost her weapons Minh dashed in to finish the match. Macha dropped to the ground to dodge a roundhouse kick aimed at her head. Macha extended her leg, sweeping Minh off her feet.

Minh rolled onto her stomach and slammed the ground in frustration. She had lost the sparring match. Macha got up and reached her hand out to help Minh up, but Minh ignored it.

"Thanks for the practice. I wouldn't have been able to win without the handicap." Macha sensed Minh was angry, so she did not want to gloat. She enjoyed sparring with Minh and did not want to break their relationship over one match.

Minh dusted herself off. "Don't mention it. You've gotten better quickly. How?" Minh was upset because Macha improved faster than anyone else in the guild. She tried to control her temper so she could find out Macha's secret.

Macha reaped the rewards of Tyr's personal training. She was thankful for his instructions. Tyr moved much faster than anyone else here, so they all seemed slow compared to him. "I've been training with Tyr every night after we digested our dinner," Macha said casually. She picked up her practice daggers and put them in the sheaths.

When she said that, the room became silent. The other trainees stopped moving because they wanted to listen to the conversation. Everyone wondered what she meant by every night and our dinner. Macha referring to the captain by his first name only also shocked everyone.

Minh gave Macha an odd glance. Minh knew everyone was curious, so she asked the question everyone wanted an answer to, "You eat dinner together every night? Where?" She never saw the captain eat dinner in the mess hall, so she was not sure where he ate.

Macha moved to the side to stretch out after the match. "Yeah, at home. Hey, can you help me stretch out?" Macha wanted to do a deeper stretch.

Minh sat on the ground and pulled Macha's arms. She did not expect Macha to answer her so honestly. Minh watched the other women in the room make bitter faces. She leaned in and said in a whisper that only Macha would be able to hear, "You stupid runt? The others are gonna want to kill ya now."

Macha was happy with today's training. She showed improvement today and wanted to tell Tyr about her small victory. When Minh whispered those words to her, she was confused. Macha mouthed, "Why?"

Minh let go of Macha's arms and reached over to grab her jacket off the floor. She looked back over her shoulder and said, "Don't blame me. You dug your own grave." At that moment, Minh's suspicions had been confirmed. Macha was stupid. No woman would admit to eating with the captain every night in his house in front of so many admirers. Minh did not care for the captain, so it did not bother her, but she knew a lot of other women cared.

****

That night, Tyr had to go to a meeting with the other guild leaders regarding the tournament. Luna knew this, so she asked Macha to join her for a Girl's Night Out. Luna occasionally did this with Macha, rotating through her secret locations. Tonight, Luna had Macha join her down by the waterway that separated the city park from the middle-class districts.

Macha took a staircase down to the bottom of the waterway. There were small passageways and walkways down here. It was already a cold dark night, but it was darker down there because the walls of the city stretched up for three stories.

The waterway comprised three different levels, but Luna preferred the lowest level. On the lowest level, some artists painted on the walls. Sometimes Luna liked to watch the artists as they worked. Other times she would walk around and daydream. This was one of the treasured places she shared with Macha.

Luna was waiting at the bottom with a blanket and a picnic basket. She waved at Macha. "Did you bring the lights?"

Macha nodded and reached into a bag that she slung over her shoulder. She pulled out two orbs and held them in front of her eyes. They looked like big bug eyes in front of her face. Macha focused her energy into the orbs and they glittered brightly with small blue streaks that twirled around inside. "I know you didn't call me here just for the lights. It's cause you'd be blue without me," Macha joked as she moved her head playfully before handing one orb to Luna.

Luna snorted and grabbed an orb from Macha. "Your jokes are so bad sometimes." Luna led Macha to their favorite spot. It was a large alcove where an artist had painted a picture of the world tree in many metallic colors. The tree stretched up to the ceiling and at night the movement from their lights, made the tree appear to sway.

Macha helped Luna open the blanket for them to sit on. She unpacked their snacks from the basket and her heart stopped. Today Luna attempted to make a chocolate cake for them to eat. Macha looked at the cake and secretly thanked Tyr for the meal they had eaten earlier. She loved Luna, but her friend could not cook or bake. Macha understood Luna was trying to improve, so Luna always brought her creations for Macha to try when they had their secret meetings. "This looks better than last time," Macha volunteered.

Luna looked at her deflated cake. She made a little pout and confessed, "I forgot the eggs. I think that's why it collapsed."

Macha nodded. "Yeah, I think so too. At least it'll still taste fine." Macha took a mound of crumbs and placed it on her plate. When she put in her mouth, she realized it was burnt. Macha swallowed the crumbs with some milk and did not say anything.

Luna wanted to change the subject. The real reason she asked Macha out tonight was that she heard an interesting rumor. One of her friends mentioned that she saw Tyr and Macha at a concert a few weeks ago. "So, I heard you went on a date recently."