NBG Marcus' Crush

“Marcus!”

He omphed as large and heavy Gabriel crashed into him and they rolled into the base of the arena. His head ringing, Marcus vainly tried to roll a moaning Gabriel off of him, but failed miserably.

“Aye, Marcus,” frowned Hugo, effortlessly flipping another apprentice, Vincent, over, “You need to be alert at all times.”

“Yes, master,” he grumbled, poking his fellow apprentice in the side.

“Ow,” groaned Gabriel.

“I can’t breathe,” Marcus gasped.

“Oh, sorry,” said Gabriel slowly climbing off of the small Koren.

Gabriel was fatter than a normal apprentice and struggled just as much as Marcus did, but once he planted his feet, there was no moving him. He was bit like a Thresh now that Marcus thought about it. Gabriel’s long blonde hair was shaggier than Hugo liked, but seemed to have a mind of its own as it grew within seconds of being cut. The spikes on the bridge of his snout were larger than normal and were almost completely aligned. His ears were tuffs of fur and, like all Korens, he looked like a hairy dragon.

“Ah,” moaned Leopold as Hugo wrenched his arm behind his back, almost breaking it.

Felix, another small Koren that was all sinew and muscle, silently stepped behind their master and target, the old (having just turned thirty-five) Hugo.

“We learned this yesterday,” said Hugo, pulling back Leopold’s arm, causing the tall and handsome Koren to wince, “How do we get out of this?”

Leopold was tall and thin with tightly formed muscles. He had been an amazing track star when he participated in the Virgil. His silver hair was short, but soft and his long snout and hazel eyes that twinkled with merriment drew the girls to him. He was also the only apprentice whose spikes were perfectly aligned.

“Felix,” warned Hugo just as the small Koren was about to jump him, “You attack me that way and I’ll break his arm.”

“Don’t do that!” panicked Leopold.

“Think,” said Hugo, jerking on his arm.

The silver Koren did the only thing he could think of. He bashed Hugo’s snout with the back of his head, surprising the old Koren into letting him go. Immediately Felix and Vincent rushed Hugo while Marcus and Gabriel brought up the rear. Hugo, despite the blood streaming from his snout, effectively side stepped his two older apprentices, causing them to head butt each other. He coolly tripped the lumbering Gabriel, who, once he picked up speed, was impossible to stop. Gabriel tripped and rolled and landed on a moaning Felix. Marcus’ eyes widened as he realized he was the only one left and what was worse was that she was most likely watching. Marcus did what had always worked for him in the past, he charged towards Hugo. His master rolled his eyes and jumped out of the way and Marcus crashed into a Leopold, eager to try and lock Hugo’s arm behind his back.

“Argh!”

They fell with a small thud and Marcus couldn’t help but feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

“Enough,” he snapped Hugo, flipping Vincent over again so the Koren landed on his back with a groan, “You five were horrible today.”

Vincent grumbled as he rose and rubbed his back. He was shorter than Leopold, but had an inch on their master. His grey hair was dull and wiry and his snout was slightly out of joint after being beaten so many times. His spikes were an inch or two out of alignment. He had inherited his father’s fierce appearance, but Marcus, more than most, know what a big softie he really was. He was the oldest of Hugo’s apprentices and he was the only one with a wife, although she was not yet pregnant.

“We could have taken you if someone had been paying attention.”

Marcus looked down.

“Give him a break,” grinned Leopold rotating his arm to ensure it was all right, “We all know why he was distracted.”

Marcus’ eyes widened and he gulped. Hugo sighed as the young female trainees raced around the track and all of his apprentice’s eyes were drawn to their lithe and developed forms.

“We’ll have to start training outside, away from all these distractions,” he said, causing Marcus to disappear even deeper into himself.

“Augh, I think you shattered my skull, Vincent,” said Felix, rubbing his head as he gingerly rose, “And you, Gabriel, you broke my spine.”

Felix was two inches taller than Marcus, but no one dared make fun of him. He was all muscle and had been known for defeating opponents three times his size. Felix’s spikes were scattered across his snout and a few were already broken. His black fur was thin and, out of all the apprentices, his resembled a hungry and desperate dragon the most.

“Sorry,” grunted the large Koren, “But you know how I get when I start running.”

“Is your snout all right, master?” asked Marcus timidly.

“Yes,” said Hugo, snorting out blood, “Unorthodox thinking, Leopold.”

“It worked,” he shrugged.

“We should have been coordinated,” snapped Vincent, “Marcus, you know better!”

“Yes, he does,” said Hugo, shooting a dark glance at Marcus, causing the small Koren to duck behind Gabriel, “But you, Vincent, should have been able to salvage the attack. The four of you should have easily defeated me without Marcus’ help.”

“Yes, master,” said Vincent, bowing his head.

“But if we cannot count on each other, how can we ever hope to attain victory?” asked Felix.

“It is not trust, it is the unexpected. Some of you will die in combat and you must adjust for that inevitability. An attack cannot rest on one Koren alone. There must be other alternatives considered and you must place yourself in a position to utilize them if you need to.”
They nodded their heads and cowered before him.

“You should have let me break my arm, Felix,” sighed Leopold.
“So you can be useless for the next few months?” scoffed Felix.

“We could have won.”
“There is no point in making a long term sacrifice for a short term victory,” asked Vincent as Hugo suppressed a smile.

“Do not let this defeat depress you. Learn from it and we will try again tomorrow,” said Hugo, placing a hand on Vincent’s shoulder, “Now, the rest of you go and get cleaned up. We will meet again later tonight to review how to care for your weapons. Marcus, come with me.”

He gulped and shared a scared glance with Leopold and Gabriel before following Hugo across the arena, his eyes trailing towards the running girls and lingering on the pretty auburn Koren. She was his size-or as Gabriel liked to say, pocket size-and had the toned and lean body of a marathoner. Her dragon like face was soft and gentle and she had delicate ankles and wrists. Her fur was always well cared for and her tunic was spotless.

“Who are you looking at?” asked Hugo, stopping in front of a bucket of water to wash his snout.

Marcus gave a start and gulp.

“Well, who is it? The sooner I take care of this, the sooner we can focus on turning you into an effective warrior.”
Hugo was powerful despite being old for a Koren. His long, brown fur was braided around the neck and snout to resemble a beard and his soft brown eyes hid a pain only his apprentices truly recognized. His clawed hands often felt like they were the size of Marcus’ face and he could easily throw Gabriel around like a rag doll. His sharp spikes were aligned in a perfect straight line and Marcus often expected fire to burst from his sharp snout. For training purposes, he was wearing a dark brown tunic, but normally wore the heavy Niveus fur lined coats required for the general class and every weapon imaginable. He took a towel and gently dabbed his snout, twitching as he jabbed a sensitive area before turning to face his young apprentice.

“So?”

The young Koren looked down and wrung his hands.

“I uh I don’t know her name. I just see her on the track when we train.”

“Point her out when they pass by,” said Hugo as the girls ran around the bend, mere seconds away from their position.

Marcus immediately pointed to the runner in the front, outpacing everyone with an enviable ease. Hugo sighed and nodded his head.

“Of course. Well, come.”

“What? Where are we going?” asked Marcus, tripping over his own feet as he struggled to keep up with his master.

“I’m assuming you planned on talking to her at some point.”

“Yes, but…now?”

“Why not?”

“What would I say?” gulped Marcus.

“Introducing yourself is always a good way to start,” said Hugo, suppressing a smirk as they approached Avita Urbs, Gabriel’s mother and overseer of the track.

Marcus quickly adjusted his large tunic and tried to suppress the strange cowlick that stood straight up on the top of his head. Marcus was a pocket sized Koren that made up for his lack of height and muscle with his agility and speed. His light brown fur was often tangled and stood up on end at random places. His snout was round and flat and his spikes were scattered up and down the ridge.

“Avita,” called Hugo.

The tiny and thin Koren turned around and smiled.

“Did my Gabriel do that?”

“No, he was too busy shattering his own teammate’s skull,” smirked Hugo as Avita rolled her eyes.

“You should be stricter on him, Hugo. He needs discipline.”

“I’ve come to ask for a favor. My young apprentice Marcus would like a minute to speak to one of your girls.”

Avita sighed at the trembling Koren and frowned.

“Which one?”

“The one leading the race.”

“No, you should talk to her parents. Arrange a meeting that way.”

“Marcus is too young to marry,” said Hugo as Marcus’ eyes widened at the thought, “He just wants to speak to her.”

“This goes against tradition, Hugo.”

“I have always gone against tradition.”

Avita scrunched her snout before sighing.

“Five minutes.”

“Thank you,” said Hugo taking Marcus to the side.

As the girls ran their last lap and Avita called them over, Hugo looked his young apprentice over.

“Well, at least you look slightly better than I did when I first met Portia,” he sighed, also trying to defeat Marcus’ cowlick.

“What do I say, Master? A whole five minutes is a lot of time,” gulped Marcus as Avita sent the young girl their way.

“Follow your gut, Marcus. It has never let you down.”

The young Koren solemnly nodded his head and Hugo smiled.

“Excuse me, sir.”

The old Koren turned around and saw the pretty young girl bowing before him.

“Madam Avita said you wished to see me.”
Well Hugo knew why Marcus was smitten by her. She was very pretty and had large doe eyes. If this meeting went well and Marcus wished to continue seeing her, he would have to work hard to arrange their marriage. He would be surprised if her parents hadn’t already agreed to review at least five different proposals already.

“Yes, my apprentice here would like to speak to you,” said Hugo, pushing Marcus in front.

He swallowed and would have run away, if Hugo had not kept him in place.

“His name is Marcus.”

“It is an honor,” she said, nodding her head towards the young Koren, “My name is Seraphina.”

“That’s very beautiful,” sputtered Marcus, a smile flirting across his snout.

Hugo quickly squeezed the young Koren’s shoulders before rejoining Avita, who was watching them very closely. Marcus was both relieved and terrified when Hugo left. What was he supposed to do say? Seraphina’s face softened as the silence grew and barely cocked her head to the side.

“What did you wish to speak to me about, Apprentice Marcus?”
“Oh uh I uh,” stammered Marcus, rubbing the back of his neck, “I uh you’re a really good runner.”

She blinked in surprise.

“Sometimes, when we train, I uh I watch you. You’re really fast.”

“Thank you.”

Marcus flashed a smile before looking down and wringing his hands.

“Is that all?”

“Well, no, uh….I was uh wondering…I know it’s not proper but uh my master never does anything proper.”

Her face softened as his tongue tripped over itself.

“See I uh I think you’re uh.”

She stared at him uncertainly as he swallowed and his snout twisted this way and that.

“Seraphina, back on the track!”

Oh, no! Where his five minutes up?!

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” smiled Seraphina, bowing her head before turning.

“No! Wait!” said Marcus, grabbing her delicate wrists.

She spun around and would have smacked him if he had not jumped back.

“I’m sorry, but I need to tell you.”

“What?”

Seraphina!”

“Oh uh I uh.”

Marcus took a deep breathe, closed his eyes, and sputtered, “Ithinkyou’rereallypretty.”

There was silence except for Avita calling Seraphina’s name and Marcus slowly cracked an eye open and was relieved to see the young Koren still standing before him.

“Seraphina, now!”

“I uh I don’t know what to say. Thank you?”
Marcus opened his eyes and swallowed, figuring he might as well go all the way since he had already made a fool of himself.

“And I was uh wondering if maybe, if my master could arrange it, we could uh train together or something?”

“If my parents approve,” said Seraphina carefully, “Then, yes, I think so.”
“Seraphina, stairs!”

“Oh, you should go!” said Marcus his face falling, “And I’m sorry.”
She squeezed his hand before racing towards her trainer who first made her perform sixty pushups before sending her up the endless stairs. Marcus watched with a sigh, a smile pinned to his snout.

“How did it go?” asked Hugo.

Marcus jumped, not realizing his master had walked towards him, and his smile turned into a grin.

“I think she likes me.”

Hugo tossed Marcus’ fur and smiled.

“Good, now come. We need to resume our training so we can convinced her parents you are worth marrying.”

“Oh, dear,” said Marcus, his face falling.

“Don’t worry. If I can convince someone to marry Vincent, I can convince someone to marry you.”