Assimilate All Talents

Reena tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at Sol. "What kind of game?"

Sol grinned and pointed toward the group of orc children still kicking the leather ball back and forth across the courtyard. "That one, of course. Whatever it's called. How about it?"

Reena followed his gesture, watching as one of the children lunged forward with a determined yell, intercepting the ball mid bounce. Another child spun around and delivered a sharp kick, sending the ball flying through the air. It bounced off a wall, ricocheted once, and rolled just shy of the stone hoop embedded in the side of a nearby building. A chorus of laughter and exaggerated groans echoed as the group celebrated the near miss.

Reena's gaze lingered on the children. She didn't recognize the game, but she could tell what the objective was at a glance. She turned back to Sol, brow raised.

"Is this some kind of trick?" She said plainly, voice flat with suspicion.

Sol placed a hand over his heart, feigning innocence. "Tricks? Me?" he said with an exaggerated tone that was very offended by her remark. "There are no tricks. I just thought it might be fun."

"..."

She didn't buy his explanation one bit as she continued to stare him down.

Sol sighed dramatically and said, "Alright. How about we make it a bet?"

"A bet?" Reena's suspicion deepened thinking this was what he intended for all along.

She was about to decline his bet, but then she heard the rules of the bet.

"If you win," he said, "you get to ask me for anything—within reason. No, I can't release you or anything along those lines, but aside from that? Your call."

"And if you win?"

He scratched the back of his neck, his voice softening a little. "Then I want you to at least try to enjoy being here. I know your situation isn't exactly the best right now, but we're at an event that happens maybe once every fifty years. You'll regret it when looking back later if you spend the whole time sulking instead of having some fun."

Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, wondering if there was some trick in his bet but there was no way for there to be any. If he won there really wasn't anything for her to do, at most pretend she was having a good time but that's it. But if she won, she already had a few ideas what to ask from him.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Fine," she said. "But Thorwyn's on my team."

While Thorwyn was part of Sol's group, she had more trust for the large Raijin than she did for Sol and Amber. Not solely because Thorwyn wasn't a human like them, he was associated with them after all, but simply because she couldn't bring herself to hate him after seeing his sleepy expression from last night.

"Thorwyn?" Sol asked not expecting her to make such a request, but eventually nodded. "Sure, I don't mind. You okay with that Thorwyn?"

Thorwyn let out a short, affirmative nod, he didn't care who's side he was on as long as he got to play too.

With the bet settled, they strolled toward the group of orc children. The kids, seeing the odd group of a human, an elf and a large beast looked at them in awe. Especially for Thorwyn, who towered over them, his thick fur bristling in the light breeze.

Sol took a moment to introduce himself and asked the children more about the game itself.

One particularly eager boy stepped forward immediately, wanting to be one to do the honors after winning the last game. "It's called Crashball!" He announced, loud enough for half the courtyard to hear.

The rest of the kids nodded along as if this declaration alone was explanation enough, but the boy wasn't finished.

"It's two versus two." He continued, bouncing the ball in his hands for emphasis. "One team tries to score through the stone ring over there." He jabbed a finger toward the hoop set into the building wall, "and the other defends. You can use any means to get it through or stop it. Kick it, throw it, wrestle for it, knock 'em down, doesn't matter. Just get the ball in or keep it out."

Reena's gaze flicked over the gathered children, noting the scuffed elbows, scraped knees, and even one kid whose lip looked freshly split. The injured boy grinned like a war hero. The orc could see their gazes landed on him and said, "That's Grol. He got those scrapes stopping a score yesterday, with his face!"

Grol lifted his chin. "Best block of my life."

Reena arched a brow. "Sounds… violent."

The boy grinned wider. "That's why it's fun."

Sol chuckled. "Simple rules. I like it."

The boy wasted no time, pressing the ball into Sol's hands. "Give it a try! You and your friends."

"Oh. We're not frie–"

"Perfect. Thanks!"

Reena tried to correct their misunderstanding, but was cut off by Sol who took the ball, spinning the ball once in his palm. But before he could set up the match, another kid piped up.

"You're still short one person," She pointed out. "Two teams means four people. You've only got three."

Sol glanced at Reena and Thorwyn. He briefly considered asking one of the kids to join his team, but after catching the glint of determination in Reena's eyes, and thinking about how Thorwyn could forget to hold back if the game got too heated he quickly abandoned that plan.

He rubbed the back of his neck not expecting it to be a four player game. 'Guess I'll have to make another player. I can make a shadow with [Umbral Domain]—'

Before he could finish the thought, a new voice called out from the side.

"Seems you are one person short for Crashball. Mind if I join Savior?"

They turned to see Orla standing not far away. Wearing casual clothes for the cold instead of the bloodied armor at yesterday's feast.