Cherry On Top

Once he was sure the bone was rendered useless; Lilo let go of the ankle and instead intercepted the last whip with his mouth. He bit down on the barbs, ignoring the cuts he was receiving within the inside of his mouth.

The perks of being a craver was regeneration, enhanced bodily functions, and the ability to control his pain receptors to an extent.

He was starting to feel the edges of pain trickle back into his senses. He had pushed past the limits of his body to endure the barrage of strikes.

Regardless, he forced himself to stand, because although his body was littered with wounds, his legs remained firm.

Footwork was the key to combat. Without having your legs under you, you are merely an immobilized corpse.

With the whip's tail in Lilo's mouth, and Pop's ankle crushed, Lilo now had the upper hand. Pop was in agony, clutching his leg and clenching his jaw to fight back his moans.

Strips of enchanted cloth which was once Lilo's cape was scattered around him. He slowly bent down and picked each one of them up, wrapping his arms and legs in them.

The red hue from the embroidered runes glowed bright and Lilo could feel a surge of incredulous power breath into his thin fragile limbs.

'So the cape wasn't useless after all...'

His wrists and knuckles were wrapped methodically and tightly as he had always done before putting on a glove to fight.

His shins and feet were covered in them as well, radiating that red hue that blended into his body being drenched in his own blood.

The once white cloth of the cape was coated in Lilo's blood, and his entire figure illuminated in the glistening liquid of his own life source.

His hair was naturally lighter shade of red and his open wounds were like ribbons flayed out across his skin. The audience was enamored by the grotesque beauty of such a small frail figure portraying a violent yet delicate indominable spirit.

Lilo was shivering from exhaustion, the damage his body had taken, and also the warmth leaving his body through his blood. Though his wounds were bare and blood was visible, Lilo was careful not to let himself bleed out; utilizing his craver ability.

His hands formed a fist and he raised his shaking arms in a high guard, with his lead leg tapping the ground lightly as he raised his knee.

It was his natural stance that he had drilled into his soul from the years of rigorous combat training.

Even in a fragile body as Soda's, the fight stance came natural to him. His breath evened out and a cadence of rhythm was established in his whole being.

He was entering into flow state, ready to rain hell down on his immobilized opponent.

However, as always, fate had other plans.

"Eat shit Kilo."

Was Lilo's last words before he passed out.

***

The scent of refreshing mint hit Lilo's nose with aggressive potency. His eyes fluttered open and the first person he laid on eyes on, was the beautiful Miss Peppermint herself.

Lilo was laying in soft silk sheets in a small room that glowed green from the runes etched into the walls.

There was a window by his bed and the pretty young lady that was sitting on the windowsill was hit with a brisk breeze, causing the smell of mint to wade towards Lilo.

"Hey...", Lilo's voice came out hoarse, "What happened?"

Pepper remained still, her head still facing the window, but her eyes darted to Lilo's figure.

"Hey, have you seen yourself?" The window in front of Pepper flickered. "Fat heavens, you fight like you have a glutton in you."

Lilo then noticed that what she was staring at was in fact not the window; instead it was a projection. A screen that portrayed his match against Pop.

There were runes glowing from a square amulet behind it that seemed to be powering it. It hovered just in front of the window and flickered each time a breeze interrupted the rune's glow.

On the screen, Lilo could see his bloodied figure, shivering and starting to get into his fight stance... and then... fall over pathetically; lying unconscious on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Lilo looked away from the screen. He looked down at his own clothes. He was changed into fresh pastel red linen.

'Oh no. Did I heal myself while I slept?'

"No, I watched over you. A kite rider had to use magic and healed you before your body's natural function took over." Soda said as he floated over to his bed.

Lilo rubbed his eyes to try to wipe away the disorienting feeling of waking up from being unconscious due to losing a fight.

He had never suffered loss before. He had sent plenty of opponents back to the hospital in a stretcher, but had never had to feel what that was like.

"I...Lost..." He muttered.

"Hardly." Pepper turned off the screen and faced Lilo. "You made a fool out of Pop and although that has gotten mixed feedback from the Fein's, it's looking like it will serve you well."

"Even the Fein's are looking into this?" Lilo scratched his head.

"Lilo, I don't think you realize the weight of what you've done." Pepper leaned in close, and more of her scent wafted over, almost causing Lilo's eyes to water from the spicy mint.

"...So what now?" Lilo asked.

"Mello, your handler, has placed you as a herder. Even though you beat one of our best shepherds you don't have any field experience." She explained.

'Wow, that was really their best shepherd? I'm willing to bet that the cravers are the real powerhouses of the battle field. These shepherds are just sheep in wolves clothing.'

Indeed, Lilo was right. While the shepherds like to flaunt their weapons and lead a legion of ferocious human dogs; the cravers were the real threat.

They had a lethal desire to slay anything in their path and that resonated with Lilo more than the noble shepherds.

He studied Pepper's lean figure. She was certainly not in shape to fight, at least not if anyone got close enough to her.

The only shepherd that was really built to fight was Jawbi with his bronze muscles that rippled with each of his movements.

The rest were simply strategists, a commanding officer that made the dogs fight their battles.

Lemon, Pepper, Jawbi, and Wonka did not have an army of cravers but they had their modified cursed candy weapons that served as their bullet (quite literally).

'Wait, If I'm a herder like Lemon... doesn't that mean I need to be an apprentice under a shepherd?'

"Okay... who am I working under?" Lilo secretly wished to stay with Wonka and his crew, but the expression on Pepper's face revealed otherwise.

"We tried to take you under our wing. Jawbi was surprisingly enthusiastic. He was the only one of us to see the spar live, so I guess you gave a good impression." Pepper shrugged. "But the higher ups had different plans for you."

"You know how our cohort is unique because we don't use any cravers at all? Well... So there's this one shepherd that only keeps one craver and he doesn't travel with anyone else. All other herders that has worked under him has either died or gone mad." Pepper said with a hint of worry.

'That doesn't sound good.'

"Well, the Fein's don't like how anonymous he is and thought that you might have a chance on keeping tabs on him." Pepper finished describing Lilo's new companion.

'So many damn new faces. I can't keep up with this bullshit.'

Fair enough, Lilo had a chaotic couple of days. He had to adjust to an entirely new world with its own set of rules and deadly traps.

He had met many new faces, many of whom seemed to be at odds with him. He had hoped to be reunited with those of the people that seemed to tolerate him the most... but fate had other plans.

"Great." Lilo muttered.

The door to the room creaked open and a familiar figure stepped in.

"I brought the food you asked for Miss." The raspy voice belonged to Soda's brother, the wiper who had been staring at Lilo during the match.

His dark yellow eyes met Lilo's slighter lighter yellow eyes and they stayed like that for a moment; almost long enough to be suspicious to Pepper.

But Soda's brother broke the stare to remain composed and carried a tray of food over to Lilo's bed. As he set the tray on Lilo's lap, a small envelope slipped out from his tunic's sleeve under Lilo's pillow.

Lilo glanced at Pepper, she didn't seem to have noticed. With that brief encounter, Soda's brother bowed and left the room.

Lilo glanced at Soda. His pitiful eyes were full of sorrow and longing.

'I need to have that conversation soon.'

"Hey it can't be that bad. Ya know, I thought you were a fluke and that you lied about the whole forbidden temple ordeal... but... You seemed to be able to handle yourself pretty good out there kid. You'll be a menace on the field."

With that comment, Pepper got up, patted Lilo on the shoulder and got up to leave; leaving Lilo to eat his meal alone.