I felt my brother tense beside me. Seven days of challenges with empty stomachs? That would be torture. His fur brushed against my bare shoulder, while the pig girl's warm breath tickled my neck as she pressed close, probably hoping she could just vanish behind me.
"Begin whenever," the giant wolf muttered, settling down like he might nap. "Just don't bore me to death. I've seen enough pathetic fights today."
My brother's gaze locked onto the Ape across the mud arena, his low growl rumbling. Around us, a crowd of young animals gathered closer, placing their bets.
"Ten berries on the Ape!" a young fox started betting against us.
"Make it twenty!" chittered a python. "That wolf's already limping from the last fight."
"Fools," grumbled one of our previous opponents, a brown bear. "Watch the furless one's eyes. He's planning something."
I couldn't hear them all, but I could guess. This "trial" wasn't organized from the start. If you can fight, you will fight, if you get injured, you are out. If you kept winning, you kept fighting—simple as that.
We'd only scraped by so far, one win out of three matches, thanks to me yielding before my brother could get hurt recklessly. But now we faced the Ape's team, who'd knocked out every other opponent we couldn't beat.
"Brother," I whispered.
"Don't you dare yield this time," he growled back. "I can smell the meat they're saving for the winners. Real meat, not those bitter roots you keep forcing down my throat."
I glanced at the Ape, then back at my brother, wondering if it was even worth it. But my brother needed that meat. He couldn't keep going on seeds and scraps like me and the Pig girl.
"Getting cold feet, little furless Bone Monkey?" the Ape taunted, pounding his chest.
So even he couldn't ignore me? Intuition or not, he probably just sees me as weak prey, an easy target.
Suddenly, my brother lunged forward. He couldn't wait any longer—or maybe he didn't want to give me the chance to yield.
The Hyena darted in to intercept, meeting him with a snarl. "Too slow, pup!"
They clashed, exchanging vicious swipes. Moments later, the Cat joined, hissing as she slashed through the wet mud.
"Disgusting," she spat, clearly annoyed at the mud clinging to her paws.
Even facing two at once, my brother held back. He wasn't aiming to win outright—he wanted them to strike first, to risk a sloppy bite so he could counter.
"What's wrong, wolf?" the Cat sneered. "Lost your nerve? Or are you just protecting your precious toy?"
Make up your minds, I thought. Am I a Bone Monkey? Furless? A "toy"? At least stick with one.
But they weren't taking the bait. Both the Hyena and the Cat stayed cautious, avoiding any risky move. They knew my brother could handle injuries—he had me, to tend his wounds. They'd seen how fast he recovered.
But they didn't know my limits, I can't mend bones or rapidly heal internal injuries. I am no magical healer, they just assumed I could patch him up like new.
The Ape gave a deafening roar and charged into the fight. "Enough playing around!"
Meanwhile, the Hyena, grinning like he'd already won, edged between me and the fight. "Your brother's gotten soft," he sneered. "Forgot what a real wolf is. He's nothing but a dog now."
I ignored his childish taunts, keeping calm.
"Not so brave now, are you, Bone Monkey?" His yellow eyes gleamed as he circled closer. "What are you, anyway?"
The Ape had boxed my brother in, blocking any chance to break free. It was obvious they'd planned this. The Ape and Cat kept him pinned, wearing him down, while the Hyena stayed on me, stopping me from interfering.
"Brother!" My wolf brother's voice panicked as he struggled to break from the Ape's grip. "Don't you dare touch him, scavenger!"
The Hyena's laughter echoed across the muddy arena. "Or what? You'll watch helplessly while I finish what that bear started?"
"I'm fine," I said, loud enough for my brother to hear. My calmness seemed to settle him, even as he fought.
The Hyena thought he was clever, as if I didn't see their childish plan from a mile away. I couldn't help but chuckle.
Keeping my eyes fixed on the fight, I bent down, my both hands deep in the mud. My brother and the Ape were circling, exchanging weak attacks and fients, both waiting for an opening.
The Ape moved with less caution, just looking to wear my brother down and finish him off once he got tired. He had the advantage of those beefy arms, thick fur, and the brute strength of his upright stance.
But my brother wasn't exactly naive, either. He knew that the Ape's neck was his best target for a deadly bite, and he wasn't going to waste energy on attacks that wouldn't matter like the thick fur arms.
However, he also can't just wait for the opportunity to come to him so he started taking risks.
The Ape was waiting for this exact moment.
"What's that furless monkey doing?" the Python hissed, noticing me.
"Wait and watch," the brown bear murmured with a grin, clearly pleased to see his hunch about me proving true.
Then it happened: the Ape's foot slipped on the mud, his short legs wobbling as he lost his balance. My brother seized the moment, launching himself at the Ape's upper body, his paws gripping thick fur, his jaws aiming for the exposed neck.
The Ape's eyes widened, but with a grunt, he recovered his footing like he never slipped in the first place and swung his thick arms around for a death grip, his gaze lighting up with confidence in his easy victory.
_THWAK_
"AAAAGH!" The Ape bellowed in pain as a sudden unexpected pebble struck his forehead, mud splattering into his eyes.
Then, with a fierce bite, my brother's jaws sank deep into the Ape's shoulder, missing the neck. The Ape roared in pain, thrashing in an attempt to shake him off.