#electricity whump
Oh friends, things get rough for Circe from here on out but I really enjoy writing fight and combat scenes. Hang onto your hats! This is also an introduction to Segar and Icarek, who are some assholes who are going to show up a lot more.
This is part 4 of the Circe story. You can find the start back here on my masterpost.
CW: slavery, slave whump, female whumpee, minor whump, combat violence (with swords), electricity whump (I’m not sure how to tag this, it’s a shock net instead of a collar)
The girl stood at the side of the room, hands tucked behind her back. Ka’hairal had brought three of his school friends back with him that evening and had requested that they be served refreshments. She kept an eye carefully on the glasses, making sure that they were never empty. And she listened.
“So when do you think you will be given your ship, Ka’hairal?”, the one furthest from her asked. He was slightly smaller than the others but had an erudite look to him. “Your brother got his when he was around your age, right?”
Oh friends, things get rough for Circe from here on out but I really enjoy writing fight and combat scenes. Hang onto your hats! This is also an introduction to Segar and Icarek, who are some assholes who are going to show up a lot more.
This is part 4 of the Circe story. You can find the start back here on my masterpost.
CW: slavery, slave whump, female whumpee, minor whump, combat violence (with swords), electricity whump (I’m not sure how to tag this, it’s a shock net instead of a collar)
The girl stood at the side of the room, hands tucked behind her back. Ka’hairal had brought three of his school friends back with him that evening and had requested that they be served refreshments. She kept an eye carefully on the glasses, making sure that they were never empty. And she listened.
“So when do you think you will be given your ship, Ka’hairal?”, the one furthest from her asked. He was slightly smaller than the others but had an erudite look to him. “Your brother got his when he was around your age, right?”
Ka’hairal sighed and leaned back in his seat. “I wish but my father has decided I have to continue schooling,” he moaned. “My brothers and him are already out fighting and two have been lost, honourable deaths. I’m tired of them treating me like a child though, I’m ready to fight.”
One of the boys leaned over to clasp Ka’hairal on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, my friend. I have been listening in on my father’s meetings. Soon, the humans and the Alliance will get what they deserve.” The group chuckled and moved on, changing topics to making fun of the way one of their teachers spoke.
The girl noticed the third boy looking over at her once or twice. She was used to this look by now. It was an appraisal, something the Batarians were good at doing quickly, assessing the value of the slaves around them. The conversation eventually slowed and the girl ducked around the group, refilling each of their glasses. When she reached the third boy, as she was about to turn away, he grabbed her wrist. She froze.
“Hey Ka’hairal, is this the one you were telling us about?”, he asked with leering eyes, “the one who your father allows to fight?” His hand tightened on her wrist, crushing the bones slightly. The girl was silent, looking at the ground.
Ka’hairal sat up a little straighter. “She is. My father has permitted her to become my training partner, so that I may better understand how humans fight.” He paused for a second. “She fights like a human.” They all let out a bark of laughter at that and the boy released her wrist, allowing her to move back to her position by the wall. Out of sight. Safe.
Until the furthest one, the small one, spoke up again. “I would like to fight her. I’ve never fought a human before. I think it would be an interesting experience.” The other two nodded and joined in.
“Yeah! I want to see what it’s like!”
“Come on, Ka’hairal!”
The girl felt her stomach drop. These Batarians and their fucking pride.
“Sure, why not?” Ka’hairal said with a laugh in his voice. Like he got to show off a new toy that the others coveted.
Fuck.
Ka’hairal always beat her in fights, though half of the reason behind that was because she couldn’t hit him back. And there was no way she could beat these three. Even if she could based on her abilities, it would likely shame them to be beaten by her and that would be worse. So she would have to lose.
The girl was starting to learn that she didn’t like losing.
The four of them stood up and Ka’hairal turned to look at her. “Go get the practice swords and ready the training arena. We will be down soon.” The girl bowed and left the room, dreading what lay ahead.
The girl had set up the training area by the time the four boys made it down. There was a selection of training weapons as well as some dummies that she had set up in hopes that they might take a swing at them instead of her.
It didn’t look like her distraction had worked though and Ka’hairal beckoned her over to select her training sword. She went for her favourite. It was slightly smaller than the others but the balance better suited her frame. He directed her to go stand in the middle and as always, she did as told. Her palms sweat slightly and she tried to wipe them off on her pants. The sand was hot beneath her feet.
She itched to run. But that wasn’t an option.
The erudite one was up first, since it had been his idea. He stepped up and, sensing that the girl was not going to make the first move, attacked. The girl sidestepped and parried, never pressing the offensive. It seemed that at first the boy was just testing her defenses but now he started in earnest, his strikes growing heavier and heavier. He was stronger than he seemed and it wasn’t before long that he slammed the hilt into her chest, knocking the wind out of her and forcing her onto the ground.
“Yeah! Go Icarek!” the other boys called from the sidelines as the girl coughed on the ground, forcing herself up to all fours and then to standing. They clapped him on the back as he rejoined them and the girl spat blood out. She had bitten down on her tongue on impact and the taste of iron filled her mouth.
The next one stepped up, the one who had boasted about his father, and again, the boys cheered. He didn’t spend any time testing the girl’s defense and went straight to it, raining down blows as hard and as fast as possible.
It frustrated the girl. His defenses were wide open and he didn’t protect his core but she couldn’t take advantage of that. Instead, she simply defended the blows until she couldn’t anymore.
This time, it was a leg sweep that took her out and she tumbled back onto the ground, landing roughly on her side. The boy moved the tip of his sword to her throat and pressed a little.
The girl could hear the cheering and the laughing on the sideline as he pressed harder. The tips of the swords were dull but the pressure was painful and by the time he walked back to the sidelines laughing, her eyes had filled with tears. Rasping a deep breath, she pushed herself up her feet.
She rocked her neck side to side, stretching it out. Being knocked down was nothing new. She slid a foot backwards, readying a defensive position.
“Come on, Segar! Show them how it’s done!” Ka’hairal called out from the side. The boy who had crushed her wrist earlier stood up with a wicked grin.
He stalked towards the center lazily. They both stood still for a moment before Segar lunged at her. The girl swiftly knocked his blade away. The blows rained down, slamming into her.
The girl was forced backwards as the onslaught continued until her back was pressed up against the arena wall. Her eyes glanced down as her heels scraped again the wall.
In a second, he had disarmed her and reached for her throat, lifting her up off the ground. Her hands struggled to find purchase on his arms as she was lifted up against the wall. The group of boys were laughing. They were cheering and whistling and she couldn’t breath. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t fucking breath and her vision was starting to go and she needed to do something now!
“AHH! Fuck! Kra’tash fucking kicked me!” Segar cried out as he staggered backwards, clutching his gut. The girl fell to the ground for the third time, coughing and struggling to breath.She leaned her back against the wall in an attempt to get to her feet.
The other boys had rushed over to surround their injured comrade, checking him over. It was clear that nothing but his pride had been hurt. But his pride wasn’t nothing.
The girl started to make her way towards the exit, leaning on the wall. Her vision swam in front of her as she turned to look behind her. Panic filled her as the loud one detached from the group and storm in her direction.
She tried to curl over but he grabbed her by her hair. The girl let out a cry as he started to drag her back to them, throwing her on the ground in front of them. “Well, Ka’hairal,” he huffed, arms crossed, “what do you do with them here?”. He pressed a heavily booted foot onto her back, leaning heavily.
Ka’hairal shrugged, looking down with distain. “I don’t want to replace her, so we can’t tell my father or he’ll get rid of her. I don’t really care but she’s useful.” He said with a shrug before taking a moment to think. Appraising.
“I want her to stay that way.” He concluded, giving a nod with his chin. The weight of the boot lifted every so slightly and the girl drew a shallow breath.
Segar stood up to his full height. “I have an idea. Let’s fight again. Except this time, we can use real weapons.” The boys looked around at each other with glee.
“We can’t give her a real one though,” interrupted Ka’hairal, “that’s also against Father’s rules-”
“- So?” interrupted Icarek, “Give her the practice ones. She brought this upon herself.” Ka’hairal clapped him on the back with a grin and stepped back. The pressure left the girl’s back and she was able to push herself up, grimacing.
She couldn’t see a way out of this one. If she just gave up, they would be disappointed and make it worse for her. If she ran, then they would enjoy it too much and might get carried away. Best to stand her ground, for however long that might be.
The girl noticed that they had formed a ring around her. They were all of age to carry their longswords with them. Ka’hairal kicked her practice sword over to her and she knelt to grab it, her body already sore.
She didn’t pause for a moment as she reached for it and started to sprint to the other side of the arena, where she had set up the dummies. She slipped by Icarek, who hadn’t been prepared for the sudden movement, and pivoted to see the boys running towards her, grins on their faces. Segar lunged for her and she kicked a dummy into him, knocking him backwards momentarily. She ducked as a slash from Ka’hairal that decapitated the other dummy next to her.
The girl twisted around in time to parry a blow from Icarek and to slam his sword into the ground. She stepped on the blade, forcing it to the ground, then let loose a horrible scream.
The biggest boy, the one who had grabbed her by the hair, had his sword bloodied. The pain that spread across her back was so intense that it blinded her momentarily. The vision of the blood dripping off the sword seared itself into the back of her eyes.
Her arms spasmed and she barely managed to dodge another lunge from Segar without dropping the sword. Ka’hairal kicked her knees from behind and she fell to her knees, hands still clenched around her practice sword.
Looking up wildly, all her mind could register was Icarek’s blade swinging for her throat. Her training was not perfect, she panicked and tried to duck the blow. A burning hot pain exploded across her face. She cried out, sword slipping out of her hand to tumble to the ground. Her hand reached for her face, coming away soaked with blood.
And then everything was pain. She had forgotten Ka’hairal’s submission net until it had knotted itself around her, restricting any movement. The electricity caused her muscles to spasm, forcing blood out of her back and onto the ground. Her face twitched and seized, agony arching through every exposed nerve. Looking up, she saw the four Batarian faces smiling down at her.
It was too much. She needed to scream but she was already screaming. Blood pumped down her face and pooled on the dirt beneath her head, soaking her cheek and hair.
All she could smell was blood and ozone. Maybe hair burning.
It was getting hard to breath. And she was so weak. And so cold.
The blood felt warm against her face as her eyes flickered closed.
Mercifully, the world went dark.
