The Price of an Enemy

      “‘Dasher’ Soley!” the announcer shouted into the loudspeaker.

      I waved my hand at the crowd, used to this treatment. After all, we did make it to round 3, the semi-finals, in last year’s cup.

      As my other teammates entered behind me, I stepped up to the center of the field and waited. As soon as the door closed behind our team, new doors opened. Out stepped a hulking Werekyrii, thick matted hair sticking out from any opening in his black and orange striped jersey. The sling on his arm showed bat wings on either side, and his eyes shone bright green. Krell Vitor, captain of the Haunted Woods team, stepped in front of me. This team had kicked us out of the tournament last year, and they weren’t going to do it again.

      Vitor chuckled as he looked down his nose at me. I swallowed hard and bored my eyes into him. I could feel his hot, musty breath on my face, and I wrinkled my nose at the smell that met my nose.

      “You’re in deep water, Soley, and you know sailors don’t swim easy.”

      I just grinned back at him. “We’re pirates. We can manage if we have to.”

      He snarled. “Well, get your life jackets strapped on, because you’re in for rough waters.” He grabbed my hand in a handshake, and squeezed at it. I tried not to wince as my hand was nearly crushed. Thankfully he let go quickly and turned to his team. Massaging my hand, I did the same.

      “Let’s do this.”

      The whistle blew, and we got into our positions. Vitor was diagonal from me, so I had the chance to get around him to the goal. He caught my gaze and smirked. Turning away, I saw that the Altador Cup circle in the middle of the field was opening up. I tensed, preparing for what was next. A shadowy figure emerged from the field. Suddenly light shone on it and it was revealed as a fire yooyu. The referee blew the whistle once again, and the game was on.

      I rushed toward the yooyu, but a Haunted Woods player reached it first. He passed back to another player, who started running down the field. He passed it off to another player, and I ran to him. I quickly snatched the ball from his sling and hustled in the opposite direction he had been going. The fire yooyu burned my hand, and I knew I’d have to pass it off soon. Just as the heat got near unbearable, I threw the yooyu toward Ealyn Hawkshanks, a good friend of mine. He caught it and almost immediately threw it. Although he was a good distance away from the goal, the yooyu was fast and rushed past the goalie into the corner of the net. I cheered, and so did the crowd.

      We all got back into position, awaiting the next petpet. Slowly the center opened up and the figure revealed itself to be a mutant. This time when I ran for it I reached it first, and immediately took off with it. Its sharp spines dug into my arm, but I was used to it from all of the practice I’d had. I ran nimbly around the forwards and defender, steering clear of Vitor. I threw the ball at the net, just as Ealyn had done. Our strategy was to shoot diagonally, as to throw the goalie off course. To my mild surprise, the yooyu swerved off course and bounced around the goal.

      Ealyn was charging toward the ball now. He grabbed it, but Vitor got to him before the quiggle had a chance to shoot. The hulking Werekyrii knocked Ealyn aside and scooped the yooyu into his bat-wing adorned sling. He was heading in my direction, so I decided to take on the challenge. I ran toward him.

      As I neared him, I decided one thing: he was definitely bigger up close. I gulped and swung my arm blindly—I felt something sharp against it once again. Reassured and happy to get out of Vitor’s way, I hurried toward the Haunted Woods goal.

      This time I was ready for the swerving motion of the mutant yooyu. I chose my angle carefully and threw the yooyu with all my might. Just as predicted, the petpet turned off course and made it directly into the net. A wave of relief washed over my head as I cheered. Going back to my original position, I carefully avoided a confrontation with Vitor.

      There were two more yooyus released, a snow and another fire. Haunted Woods and Krawk Island were at a draw, 2 to 2. The clock ticked one minute left, as yet another yooyu rose from the underground. It was gray and metallic, with bright robotic eyes. I knew I had no time to lose—this yooyu would explode in a few seconds. I bolted to the center and captured the clockwork yooyu.

      I could feel the petpet growing steadily warmer in my sling, a radiating heat that was quite unnerving. I was halfway to the goal before the yooyu started emitting a faint red light, and a Haunted Woods player snatched it from my arm. My heart skipped a beat. I needed to score before the yooyu exploded, or else we would have a lower chance of scoring before the timer reached zero! With this thought, I pushed ahead of the running Haunted Woods player and took the yooyu back. It was glowing bright red now.

      I ran as hard as I could, I knew that the yooyu didn’t have much time left before it exploded. The red light around it grew darker. I knew that was a bad sign. The goal was right in front of me. I took my position, knowing that this shot could determine the outcome of the game...

      BOOM.

      I felt a searing, white hot pain in my hand and arm. My feet left the ground as I was thrown backward through the air, finally slamming into the wall at the foot of the stands and having the wind knocked out of me. Stars danced in my closed eyes as I slumped to the ground, gritting my teeth. The yooyu had exploded.

      “Soley takes a hit!” the announcer boomed over the roaring crowd.

      No kidding, I thought as I opened my eyes, the air finally coming back to my lungs. I looked at my arm. The sling had been thrown off and my arm was red and blistering up to my elbow. My head hurt terribly, and one of my ankles felt twisted. I saw the rest of my team run to me.

      “Dasher, you alright, mate?” Ealyn said anxiously.

      “Fine, fine...” I muttered, trying to stand. My ankle didn’t hold my weight, so I slid to the ground again.

      “You can’t play in that state. We’re going to have to find one of our reserve players...”

      “We don’t have any reserves,” I said. “That Silem person quit a month ago; he was our last one.”

      The red Scorchio wearing the black and white striped referee jersey jogged up. “Mr. Soley, if you can’t play, you’re going to have to send in a reserve or forfeit the match.”

      I grimaced. “There are no alternatives?”

      “Well, there is one. A Haunted Woods player could bench a player to even up the sides.”

      “Fat chance,” I said.

      Krell Vitor caught my eye and walked over. “Is there a problem?”

      “Yeah,” I said sarcastically. “If you haven’t noticed, a yooyu just self-destructed in my hand.”

      He glared at me. “Not so sharp on the field then, are you?”

      I was about to retort when the referee interrupted. “The Krawk Island team is currently in a position of deciding whether to send in a reserve player or to forfeit.”

      “And I’m guessing you don’t have any reserves?” Vitor said thoughtfully.

      “Good guess,” I said, sneering at him.

      Vitor ignored me and turned to the referee. “So they have to forfeit?”

      Great Fyora, I thought. He’s probably relishing this moment.

      “Either that or your team has to take out a player.”

      Vitor thought for a moment, turning his green gaze on me and back to the referee. “I’ll come out.”

      “What?” I said incredulously. This was not possible—Krell Vitor, allowing Krawk Island another chance at victory?

      Vitor turned to me again. “Would you prefer to forfeit?”

      “No, I...”

      “Well then, don’t protest.”

      I kept my mouth shut as a green Gelert from the Neopian hospital trotted up to me. “Would you like us to help you to the medical tent?”

      “I’m quite fine here, thanks.” I said. The Gelert walked away and the rest of my team dispersed. Vitor sat against the wall next to me.

      “Resume play!” Players were running around the field again.

      “How’s your arm?” Vitor asked. It wasn’t a taunt as I would have expected, rather a plain question of concern.

      I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “It stings, but it will heal.”

      He nodded and turned back to the game. The clock was ticking down again, and this yooyu could mean the outcome of the game. It was Darigan, so the players had a lot to handle. I looked up at Vitor, his arms bulging with muscle and eyes shining with a fierce pride.

      “Why did you do that?”

      “What?”

      “Come out? You just gave Krawk Island a chance to win again!”

      Vitor still gazed at the game in front of us, watching players fumble with the unpredictable yooyu. “What’s so bad about that?”

      I gawped at him. “Krawk Island and Haunted Woods are enemies after what happened last year!”

      “Is that why we’re enemies? Because we’re on different teams?” Vitor shook his head. “An odd coincidence we were painted this way, isn’t it? That different paintbrushes can create such disputes. Who cares if one has a hook for a hand and the other carries a broomstick around? Without our specific colours we would all be the same type of neopet. Take away our positions and teams, we’re all just the same.”

      I looked thoughtfully at Ealyn, who was throwing the Darigan ball the opposite way he wanted it to go, in an attempt to score. “I suppose you’re right.”

      Vitor crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, the sharp, proud glint returning to his eyes. “Also, if I had let you forfeit, there would have been a draw, and that’s nothing to brag about.”

      A smile played about my lips. This was the Vitor I knew.

      “GO GO GO!”

      The crowd was roaring, going crazy in their seats. I saw a blue Techo with bloodshot eyes, screaming at the top of his lungs about what was happening on the field. Looking up, I saw the clock, displaying the time left. “0:02...0:01...”

      The Darigan yooyu looked like it was going to run away for a fleeting second, then thought better of it and rolled into the net. The Haunted Woods net.

      The crowd went wild. The referee blew into the shrill whistle, and the teams gathered together to shake hands.

      “And Krawk Island pulls off a victory, 3 to 2...”

      “Captains, shake hands!”

      Still sitting down, I shook hands with Krell Vitor. He was careful to grab the hand not reddened, and I thanked him with my eyes. “Good game.”

      “Yeah, we’ll see you next week,” he said with a faint snarl, then winked and was ushered away by his team.

      “Game on,” I muttered under my breath. I was helped to my feet by my beaming team and I stood proud, waving to the fans cheering in the stands. They knew me and recognized me for what I did, not for what I was. The memory of Vitor and I sitting together on the sidelines spurred my mind, and as I limped with my team across the field, I thought one thing. These fans would never know me for who I was. Only friends could see that.

The End