The figure leaned her head on one hand, the ice cream cone disappearing into the shadows of the hood. Somehow completely obstructed from Naren's view despite him staring directly at it. Her gaze still directed at Naren.
"Yeah?"
Naren slammed his hands on the table, immediately grimacing and jolting back from pain. Sucking in air through his teeth, he held his shoulder.
"Ow...You brute.."
The figure stood up from her seat, her cone gone. Approaching Naren she took his shoulder, bending it slightly. A rush of pain flooded Naren's arm as he squirmed.
"What'll you do if I am?"
He clenched his teeth, trying to grab her with his other arm. She ducked swiftly, dancing around him. Her movements were precise and elegant.
Her feet dug into the back of Naren's knees, buckling. Her grip on his left arm grew stronger as her knee pressed up against his back.
"Fine fine.. I give."
She held him there for a second, glancing at Vera.
"Should I let him go princess?"
Vera nodded violently. Too scared to approach. Something about the woman held her at bay, like she was her subject.
The hooded figures attention landed back on Naren.
"Hmm.. I'll let you go if you become my soldier...All you have to do is submit yourself to me."
Naren tilted his head, staring at Vera.
"Am I hearing things?"
The woman twisted Naren's shoulder, sending him into another frenzy of pain and yelping. Vera shaking her hands frantically tried to move but couldn't.
"J-just listen to her Naren."
"What?! OW...Are you crazy..OW..Why the hell would I submit myself to you?!"
The woman thought for a second before speaking.
"Maybe you don't need you shoulder."
"Fine! Fine! I give!"
The woman leaned in.
"Alright, you're number two from now on. I'll be one."
With that, she took one hand and placed it at the base of his shoulder. The other hand grasped his forearm. With one swift motion, she rotated his shoulder, clicking it back into place.
Naren screamed as an immense wave of pain shot through his arm. His clenched jaws almost biting down and digging into his lips. He swung around, the woman backing up.
"AGH! What's you deal..."
His grimace slowly faded as he could move his shoulder around more freely. He swung it around in a circle, enjoying the return of his range of motion. The woman watching as she dusted off her hands.
"I have no clue how you spent so long with a dislocated shoulder."
Naren stretched his arm, going deep, finally relieving the pressure built up.
"You coulda just led with this."
"I've got to get something for myself don't I?"
Naren stuck out his tongue.
"My foot I'll submit to you."
The hooded figure tilted her head. At the same time Vera's eyes widened.
"Uhm, Naren."
A tall, bulky man, with short blonde hair emerged through the floor below them. Almost floating up like a ghost. He stood right next to the hooded figure, rematerializing as his shoes gripped the ground beneath him.
The hooded figure pointed at Naren, two fingers held up, before pointing back at Theron right next to her.
"Okay number two, you're first job is to deal with him."
Theron lunged at Naren, leading with a fist. Naren jumped over, attempting to grab him with his newly fixed arm. Instead, he went right through Theron, falling flat onto the ground as Theron float right through him.
In the next moment, a back heel struck Naren's head sending him tumbling back. He got up, grasping his head.
"Dumbass fable..."
He assumed a boxer's pose, holding his guard high. As Theron threw a punch, Naren weaved out of the way. Theron simultaneously sent a knee tunneling at Naren's stomach, using his outstretched arm for balance.
Naren contorted backwards, his torso somehow completely avoiding the knee. He went to grab it, but just as before, he's entire body just went through.
Naren backed up a couple steps, his golden eyes focused on his opponent. The frog-faced man definitely had a heavy punch. But he was unbearably slow. Naren could easily dodge him without worrying. But unless he landed an attack of his own, he'd just tire out.
The hooded figure sat at her table, bringing Vera there as well. A white coat sleeve held around Vera, as she enjoyed watching the fight continue.
Theron continued an aggressive assault. Like a man swinging around a sledgehammer in a frenzy. His fists swung around, but never truly landed. Naren slipped and weaved each attempt. He would duck, side step, jump over.
Each attempt from Theron left him more and more tired. At the same time, it diminished the already tired and hungry Naren even more. It was like watching a machine constantly fight a slimy lizard.
"You ever hear about the story of David and Goliath?"
Vera's eyes were glued onto Naren. She would wince a little every time it looked like he'd get hit, only to sit up whenever he'd find a way to dodge. But the woman's words snapped her out of her daze.
"David and Goliath?"
The woman ruffled Vera's hair.
"David was a shaman. He was a fairly small and weak shaman though. Goliath was a golem. A fearsome faint actually, a monster that earned a name. He terrorized David's village, attacking with no remorse... With all the warriors' absence, the frail David decided to fight Goliath. Somehow, someway, the small and feeble David was able to slip through all of Goliath's ruthless attacks. And somehow, someway, David did the impossible."
Naren's crimson scarf streamed through the air. Like an elegant dance, flowing in a rhythmic beat, followed by the thrashing of Theron. Vera was torn between the two. Naren and his impossible fight. The hooded figure and her alluring story.
"But do you know something strange? The stones of furnaces, of wells, of houses. They were all the fallen kin of Goliath. Slain and humiliated, turned into steps for their killers. And David? David was forced to fight his best friend."
Naren pivoted on his left leg, whipping his right leg through a tight arc. His shin was supposed to drive right into Theron's ribs, but instead it went right through. The arc completed his bare right foot immediately pushing off the ground into a step back.
"Golem's were the companions of the villagers, until they learned of their value. Of the jewels stored inside their cores. The villager's betrayed them and Goliath was furious. Even David sided with Goliath until the villagers took his little sister hostage. He had no other choice but to kill Goliath. Kill his best friend."
Theron shifted his stance. Heaving in exhaustion. Similarly Naren was also tired and hungry and thirsty. He put his hands down, shifting his weight back and forth on the balls of his feet. Golden eyes staring right at Theron.
Naren couldn't find any use of his reflections in this scenario. What use was it on someone who couldn't be hit. What an annoying dude.
"Hey hoodie, if I'm your soldier, shouldn't you help me out."
The hooded figure leaned her hands on the table, as she laid her head down facing Naren.
"You should call me princess. I am your master now."
Naren scrunched his face as Theron threw a shoulder at him. He ducked slipping through the dematerialized shaman. He realized by now that Theron would just become intangible after every attack, so he might as well use it to dodge.
"Princess my foot, just help me!"
The hooded figure sat up, oversized coat sleeves grabbing the sides of her hood in a surprised expression.
"You want little old me to help you, a soldier?!"
Naren lifted a side of his face, letting his teeth show in a look of annoyance.
Theron doubled back around, spinning over his own pivot foot. He drove his heel blindly in an arc, Naren easily jumping over it. But for a second, Naren grew distracted. A familiar voice spoke from just below, just out of ear shot for any normal person: "Get out here, princess."
In that second of misdemeaned hesitation, Theron grabbed onto his scarf, pulling it tight. Naren pulled in, his stomach colliding straight into Theron's hulking fists.
Vera gripped her hands, trembling as she tried to run off the table to Naren. The figure stopped her though, pulling her back, speaking through gritted teeth.
"That ugly scarf really did him in."
At the same time, the hooded figures attention was drawn elsewhere.
A flash of orange and red burst from a couple buildings over. Walls bulged at first, like skin, before scattering into pieces in each and every direction. A spray of burning debris raining down as a mini shockwave rippled through the air.
Then the sound hit a deep bone rattling BOOM, stopping Naren's fight. He immediately fell to the ground, smushing his ears in pain as he winced.
Just as fast as it hit it disappeared, now flooded by the sounds of panic and mutiny. The crackle of fire and spilling debris hidden behind mobs of people scattering.
Then a voice. One that not only Naren, but everyone atop the terrace could hear.
"YOU PISS-EYED FUCK AND WEED-HEADED BITCH COME OUT HERE!"