- Naim picked up the necessary dueling skills quickly. It was a benefit of having observed their entire life-- they knew to look for the subtle way Aries's weight shifted as he demonstrated different stances, and to imitate the precise way he jabbed and swept and parried. Naim could watch attacks coming from different directions and intercept or dodge them, depending on the factors they considered in the split second before impact.
In a way, it was no different from climbing trees. To climb a tree, Naim had to be constantly aware of it. Would that branch hold their weight, or was it rotten? They had to make quick decisions. If a branch was starting to give, what was the best branch to move to? It even required physical strength in their arms and legs, which, although not quite the same as the muscles involved in dueling, helped nevertheless. And, lastly, Naim had the vision to think ahead and to plan. When they climbed, they thought a few branches ahead. After all, it wouldn't do to pursue a path upwards and then become trapped by a branchless stretch of trunk. They applied that to dueling-- if they feinted like this, they could catch their opponent in the other side, but if that failed, they still had the option to move there...
It was even, in a way, fun. Naim breathed heavily but with a small smile on their face as their opponent left the ring, defeated. It was their first round and they'd been paired with an older woman. She'd been a decent opponent, but had made a crucial mistake, allowing Naim to slip in and disarm her. The match had lasted five minutes.
As two others entered the ring, Naim walked to the second ring and perched on a branch of a nearby tree to watch. Below her, Betty was resting, evidently having won her match as well. She waved up at Naim, and Naim waved back.
Naim analyzed their moves. One of them had a constellation, apparently, and caused capricious gusts of wind to knock their opponent off-balance. Naim winced as their opponent hit the dirt hard. Aries called an end to the match.
The four winners gathered in front of Aries. Naim analyzed their competition and tried not to imagine going against Betty. With a grin and a voice like a refreshing downpour, Aries boomed his approval and dismissed them for the day.
~~~
The next match Naim had was against a young man with dark hair and blazing violet eyes. He looked at her solemnly from across the ring, and Naim tried not to feel intimidated. They gripped their blunted sword firmly.
Aries whistled to begin the match.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Naim narrowed their eyes, then rushed forwards. A hint of a smile flickered over the man's face, and Naim would have paused, except the ground had become like ice and they were sliding towards the opposite end of the ring...
The man stepped to the side, leaving a clear path for Naim to slide right out of the ring. With a grunt, they whipped an arm out and hooked it around his leg, nearly pulling him to the ground as well. A thump rang out as Naim slapped the hand with the sword against the dirt, which felt lumpy and yet as smooth as glass now. They scrabbled for purchase on the slippery dirt, but to no avail.
The man shook off Naim's grip, but Naim had stopped sliding by now. They growled. So, that was his ability: making the ground frictionless. They would be more cautious from now on.
He reached down towards Naim's sword arm, but at the last moment, Naim rolled out of the way. The ground returned to normal. Perhaps there was a time limit on his ability, or it required effort to maintain... that could be useful. Naim scrambled up and a few paces away.
They eyed him warily. His face had lost any trace of a smile, returning to intense concentration.
Both of them moved at the same time.
Their blades clanged in the chill morning air, adding to the din from the other ring, where Betty and her opponent were dueling. Naim danced backwards, then forwards again, deflecting their opponent's attacks and hunting for openings for their own.
Aries and the environment outside the ring faded into the background. Naim even began to tune out the sounds from the other ring. Nothing existed except the two of them in the ring and their blades, flashing in the sun as they clashed again and again...
The ground lost its friction again. Naim overbalanced and flopped forwards, desperately attempting to change their trajectory but unable to find any grip against the ground. Their opponent was unaffected as he stood in their way.
Naim shifted slightly to the side, aiming to hook their leg around one of his ankles, but he anticipated the trick and stepped backwards. Then he stepped on their blade, trapping it against the ground.
Something inside Naim panicked. All this work, pushing themself out of their comfort zone, and for what? Yes, if they were able to think more logically, they'd be proud of the experiences they'd already had. These past few weeks had likely involved the most interaction with other human beings in Naim's life, and they'd managed to cultivate a tomato plant better than they'd grown anything before, and they'd improved immensely in dueling compared to where they'd been previously. But in this moment, all they could think of was failure. The dull roar in their ears nearly drowned out the sound of flapping wings.
Crown flapped across the ring. A jolt went through Naim, and they activated their ability to blend in.
The man hesitated in the middle of bending down. To him, it'd look like Naim had disappeared. Naim took advantage of the momentary confusion to wrench her sword out from under his boot, grab the arm which had been quite conveniently extended to grab their sword, and haul themself up. The man was stumbling backwards now, but not fast enough to prevent Naim, still disguised, from maneuvering the sword out of his hand.
It bounced across the dirt, and Naim dropped the camouflage. The man stared at his lost sword for a moment, then nodded slowly at Naim. Naim nodded back. It'd been a good match.
They breathed heavily, their heart still pounding fiercely. Aries announced them as the winner, and details of the world around the ring filtered into their vision again. Betty was at the edge of the ring, cheering. Her opponent, who'd been one of the oldest in their group, was nowhere in sight.
Even as Naim smiled at her, their stomach dropped. That meant they and Betty were the last two left. And they'd be dueling tomorrow.
