Dawn Chan awoke in darkness, though she sensed that it was bright morning. Stretching her muscles to reach for the new day, she quickly recalled her desperate situation: trussed, gagged, and blindfolded, in the power of a group of seafaring Amazons. If she'd tried, she couldn't have dreamt up a more preposterous predicament-- and, yet, here she was. Muffled whimpering from the next bed assured her that Alyson was still imprisoned here with her.
After a few experimental tugs confirmed that she was still bound as tightly as ever, Dawn settled back, to try and take stock of their situation: on their way to wherever it was that these women called home, with at least a significant portion of them strongly in favor of simply dumping their uninvited guests over the side. Assuming that fate could be avoided, of course, there was no guarantee that this Ayesha would be any more sympathetic to them than Heron and her followers seemed to be. The woman called Jane seemed to genuinely like the two girls, and if her voice carried weight, then all might be well. On the other hand…
"Good morning." Dawn had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that Jane's voice startled her… she hadn't heard the woman enter. Dawn assumed that Jane didn’t expect a response from the gagged captives, but she did her best to cast Jane a grateful glance as the blindfold was removed; Dawn saw one of the other women doing the same for Alyson. "During the day, our need for security is less acute," the Englishwoman explained, "so the two of you will be allowed to remain unfettered… and we'll have some time to get to know each other!" she concluded brightly.
All Dawn wanted to get to know was how to get back home again, but after Jane finished removing her bonds and gag, and showed her and Alyson to their breakfast, she simply smiled and nodded.
Food was served up on deck, Jane indicating that the mess cabin was somewhat cramped, and only used during inclement weather. Dawn did her best to make small talk, both for Alyson's sake, and to mask any hint that she might not be planning to adopt this as a permanent lifestlye.
The fruit and bread tasted fine, though Jane assured them that, once on land, the food would be far fresher.
"Well, I'm certainly enjoying it." Alyson's voice trembled a bit, but the young girl was clearly trying to put on a brave face. "Anyone want more?" Dawn just shook her head as Alyson walked to a small table where the bowls of fruit stood.
"I apologize again for the need to imprison you both," Jane's face was all sympathy. "Heron, I fear, is inclined to interpret our laws very literally, when it suits her."
"Aye, our laws!" came a strident voice from behind them. Dawn jumped, startled… she hadn' t realized the big redhead was close enough to overhear the conversation. "Our laws once kept us safe and strong. Now, we have these castoffs of man's world infecting us, Ayesha pretends not to notice, and her lackeys--" the glare at Jane was clear enough-- "consort with those who would trample our traditions."
It might have ended there-- Heron venting her rage, Dawn doing her best to ignore it, but for the fact that Alyson, still unsteady from her night in bondage, tripped as she tried to walk past Heron without attracting attention, knocking the redheaded warrior to the deck.
Heron was back on her feet in an instant, delivering a cuff to the back of Alyson's head, the tray of food clattering to the deck.
"Stay out from underfoot, pestilence!" she snarled, taking another swing in the direction of the girl; this one didn’t land, though-- Dawn had seized Heron's arm in both of her hands.
"Don't touch her." Dawn spoke softly, wanting to defuse the situation, but refusing to see Alyson harmed. Heron yanked against the grip on her arm, overbalanced, and once more found herself sprawling. A few of the women unsuccessfully tried to stifle laughter at this, something which did not go unnoticed by Heron or her cronies.
Dawn put her arm around Alyson's trembling shoulder and turned to Jane.
"Please, help us. We are your guests-- we didn't ask to be a part of this."
"Nor did I ask for them!" roared Heron. "By the goddesses, if you won't do something about them, then I will."
Jane's attempt at placation was lost in the buzz as some of the women began to argue in favor of Heron; others for the newcomers. Heron had turned her attention to the woman whose authority seemed to be all that kept her hands from Dawn's throat.
"I demand trial by combat!" The tall redhead loomed menacingly over her commander, but the slender Englishwoman didn't even blink. She did, though, sigh, as she turned to where Dawn stood with her arm about the trembling Alyson. She motioned Dawn to come closer, and spoke quietly.
"It's barbaric, and should have been done away with long ago, but I'm afraid that Heron is within her rights to ask this. Of course," she hurried on, before Dawn could interrupt, "you are under no obligation to accept."
"And if I don't accept?"
"Heron would probably ask for your banishment."
"Banishment? You mean you'd kick us out and send us home? Lady, tell Heron she can take her challenge and--"
"Not 'us'." Jane's voice was cool and measured. "You."
"What do you mean 'me'?" Dawn sputtered. "You have to let Alyson go, too!"
"Alyson would remain here, under the sacred protection of Ayesha. No woman would willingly reject that."
"Oh, come on-- Alyson!" Dawn snapped at the tiny redhead who stared blankly back at her. "I know you're scared, but snap out of it. Tell her that you have no intention of staying!"
"Alyson will stay with us!" Jane's voice was sharper now. "No one is to return to man's world with knowledge of our whereabouts."
"But you just said that I could go home if I didn't fight, and I know your whereabouts."
"I said you'd be banished-- nothing was said about sending you home. I promise you, if Heron decided to have you banished, you'd be lucky if you didn't find yourself abandoned on an iceberg somewhere."
"But--" Dawn drew another breath to protest, then let it all out in a heavy sigh. Refusing to fight seemed to provide no possible results but unpleasant ones.
"And if I do fight her, what then?"
"Heron is not over-generous to those she defeats in battle. While Ayesha long ago did away with slavery among us, you would owe the victor some obligation of servitude, and I don't doubt that Heron would arrange to make your life with us as humiliating as possible. But you would not be banished.”
“Ah.” Dawn nodded, noncommittally. No mention made of those who defeat Heron in battle. Probably never happened. Yet.
"Weapons?"
"None. You bring nothing to the trial but the… clothes on your back," Jane concluded with a hint of embarrassment as she regarded Dawn’s naked form.
Dawn nodded without responding. She probably imagines I'd want a gun or knife as an equalizer. In fact, Dawn knew that her only hope lay in unarmed combat. She closed her eyes, drew a breath, and exhaled resignedly.
“All right, let’s get this farce underway.” Trying to keep her tone light for Alyson’s sake did nothing to lift her own spirits; the pressure was too great for that.
Reluctantly, Jane sent one of the women to bring the entire ship's crew out on deck to watch the match, as their tradition demanded. As Heron’s cronies prepared to enjoy the show, Dawn spoke quietly to Jane.
"I don't understand," Dawn said. "This is insane. Why must we go through all this over a little pushing and shoving?"
"It's not about that." Jane sighed. "Heron has been chafing under my authority for many months, now. The fact that Ayesha has not seen fit to promote her above me, she interprets as weakness or lack of understanding on our leader's part. No," she shook her head, looking at Alyson, "you and your friend are not the cause of this trouble, merely the excuse. In fact, she was probably hoping I would refuse to permit the trial, thus allowing her to claim that I was neglecting my duties." For a moment, she stood, quietly. "It will all be different soon. We have been away from home for too long. Within the day, we will land, and when we return to Ayesha's embrace, you will watch the light of her wisdom make all conflict vanish."
"Ah." Dawn had her doubts. She looked intently at Jane: she presumed the woman was sincere in her beliefs, but that didn't make her right. It struck Dawn that the problems here ran deeper than Jane was prepared to admit; if this Ayesha could smooth over the sorts of conflicts that she sensed here, then she’d have a fine career as a therapist if she ever tired of being a goddess. She was mulling this over as Alyson came up to speak to her.
“Dawn… you’re not gonna kill her, are you?”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
“Seriously—I mean, not for me. Please. Please tell me you won’t harm her over me. I’ll be fine.”
“Alyson, look… you heard her: ‘only one left standing’.”
“I don’t care. I won’t see you hurt someone else just because you’re scared of what might happen to me.”
For an instant, Dawn pondered telling Alyson about the possibility of banishment if she refused, but realized that would only upset her young friend more. She smiled at Alyson.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. I promise, she won’t get more than a couple of bruises. Can you live with that?” As Alyson nodded, Dawn sighed. Now all I need is a plan…
The broad deck of the ship was ringed with women, Heron’s faction clearly separated from the rest. Dawn’s practiced eye ran over the combat area—confined, with footing made treacherous by the gentle rolling of the ship—both of which she knew Heron would be prepared for.
The two women faced each other, Heron in a skimpy bikini-style outfit, Dawn… still utterly naked. There had been scattered protests when Heron had insisted that "clothes on their back" did not permit Dawn to obtain new clothes. All to the good, she thought. Makes me look more helpless.
Not that that was all that much comfort. Heron underestimating her would get her only so far; she still needed a plan to defeat the red-haired warrior; and for all her bravado to Jane, she had to find some way of doing it without killing or maiming Heron-- not only had she promised Alyson, but in her heart, Dawn knew that she lacked the killer instinct that would have been needed.
Dawn mused on the ironic fact that she had been permitted only one "garment"-- she was using one of the leather thongs that had bound her wrists to tie back her long hair; her opponent wasn't all that heavily clothed herself, her bikini-style top and thong leaving her arms and legs unencumbered.
Dawn had already decided to let Heron get the first blow in, but the tall warrior struck so quickly that it almost wouldn't have mattered. Dawn stumbled back, as a bony fist collided with her sternum. Heron had two balled fists held up in front of her as she watched her opponent regain her balance. O.K., first question answered-- she has some skill as well as strength. Dawn kept her hands and arms loose before her, trying to postpone the inevitable exposure of her fighting posture. She made a head feint toward her opponent, and dove at Heron's legs, hoping to bring her down with a flying tackle. The redhead's reactions would have done any of Dawn's instructors proud, though, as she took a half-step forward, allowing her knee to collide with Dawn’s cheekbone.
"Unngghhh!!" Dawn's vision buzzed as her head rocked back from the impact. She fell to one knee, only to feel steely talons on her shoulders, and Heron flung her backwards, sprawling to her back.
"Come now," the tall woman sneered, beckoning to Dawn. "We must give our audience some entertainment. Or do you choose to admit defeat?" she grinned as Dawn tried to get to her feet slowly enough for her vision to clear. "Surrender," she went on cheerfully. "You can be scrubbing my laundry this very day, with no bones broken."
Dawn gritted her teeth. Let your opponent do the talking… it will make them careless. She’d always believed that, but Heron’s sneer, coming atop everything else, goaded her into carelessness.
“Goddammit!” Dawn flattened both palms behind her, and sprung upright to the balls of her feet; not breaking stride, she balanced on her left foot, while her right leg swung out, toe aiming for the side of Heron’s knee; in her haste, though, she missed, and felt her toe collide with the woman’s muscular thigh: it obviously hurt, but did not impair her mobility.
“Aaaghh!”
Damn damn damn! Dawn cursed herself as Heron winced from the blow. Careless, sloppy… Even if she had worn shoes, her aim had been so clouded by her anger that the blow would have served to do little but annoy her antagonist… something she had clearly succeeded in doing now.
Heron’s eyes were narrowed to slits; unlike Dawn, she had overcome her anger at the pain enough to size up the situation: the young Oriental woman was a more formidable foe than she had appeared, and Heron would now keep Dawn at a wary distance.
Shit! Dawn had blown it. She had harbored some vague hope of taking Heron by surprise, perhaps knocking her unconscious without really hurting her badly. With the element of surprise gone, though, she’d have to fight Heron straight-up, and the rules seemed to indicate that one or the other of them would come out of this dead or maimed: “only one left standing.”
Standing.
Dawn took a deep breath, turning the thought over in her mind. She would probably get only one chance.
She gave a short, sharp yell, more out of habit than strategy, and lunged hard in the direction of her opponent. The two women bumped at the hip, Dawn took a vicious blow across the back of her neck, and she stumbled to the ground, on one knee. She could hear the mocking laughter of Heron's cronies, and the tall redhead's snicker of triumph. Heron was bellowing some sort of challenge, but Dawn barely heard her: she was concentrating on moving slowly enough so as not to draw attention to her movements. She slumped her head forward, trying to look dazed, and let the thick black ponytail slide over her right shoulder. Without looking up, she raised her fingers to her hair, and drew the leather tie from it.
"Fight, damn you!"
"Aaaaahhh!!" Dawn gave a startled gasp as the top of her scalp was nearly torn away. Heron had buried a fist in the silky locks which had come loose from their ponytail, and was yanking Dawn back up to her feet. For an awful instant, she was sure she would drop the leather strip, but she somehow managed to keep hold of it as she was pulled painfully upright.
"You're not worthy of a warrior's challenge, " Heron's snarl came from behind, as she shook Dawn by the hair, like a misbehaving pet. Dawn's eyes were watering, but she realized that this was her chance: she reached both hands to her head, as Heron no doubt expected her to do. Instead of trying to pry the wrenching fingers from her hair, though, Dawn gritted her teeth against the pain, and tied the leather strip tightly around her captor's wrist.
"What is this--?"
Dawn didn't wait for the sentence to finish. She had to make the best move of her life, now, pain or no pain. Reaching to the top of her head, she grasped Heron's arm with both of her hands. Dawn tensed her stomach muscles, and using every ounce of strength and agility that she had bought with years of training, threw her feet up over her head and behind Heron. The world spun crazily as she flipped herself all the way over, and finally came crashing to rest against Heron's back: her scalp ached horribly, but she could already feel Heron's grip loosening from the strain of Dawn's weight pulling the arm down her back. Dawn bit her lip, shifted her grip from Heron's arm to the leather thong, and used her leg muscles to throw herself backwards, pulling Heron back against her.
Oh, my God!!! For an instant, Dawn didn’t care what happened after this, because the tearing grip in her hair had finally been broken. She had to move even faster now, though. Heron's left hand was imprisoned by the leather strap, but the right was flailing behind her for her attacker, and Dawn took a vicious crack on the ear as she tried to slide out of harm's way. Her legs kept moving, though, and in a moment, she had pulled Heron's left arm straight out to her side before the larger woman could balance herself. Dawn's legs pistoned as she spun Heron around by the bound wrist. The redhead was scrambling to get some purchase, to exert her superior size and weight, but Dawn had momentum working in her favor. After a half-dozen turns, she let go the cord with her right hand, still holding it in her left. As Heron came spinning dizzily past her, Dawn used her right hand to seize her opponent's free right wrist, and yank it back behind her. Heron's bellows of rage might have been words, but Dawn paid no attention. Blinking sweat out of her eyes, she pulled Heron's wrists together behind her back. If she hadn't been so dizzy, Heron could have easily broken her captor's grip, but the few seconds it took her to recover was all Dawn needed to cross the wrists over each other, and use the tough leather cord to bind them firmly.
"God damn you!!" Heron bellowed, and Dawn screamed in pain as the woman kicked backwards, nearly dislocating Dawn's right knee. The redhead turned to face her opponent, with hands bound behind her: her green eyes were bloodshot, her mane of hair disheveled, and her face the most thorough grimace of hate Dawn had ever seen.
For a moment, the two women stood facing each other, panting.
"Foul! Foul!" The women of Heron's group were shouting at Jane. "She is using a weapon!"
The Englishwoman smiled slightly. "I see no violation here. Every part of Heron's body is a weapon, as we all know. Clothing is permitted… and our visitor has little enough of that as it is." There was a smattering of giggles; and Heron glared balefully at her titular commander. Jane went on briskly, "Resume the contest."
So far, so good, Dawn thought. But, then, we're not very far yet. Heron had wasted no time protesting Jane's ruling, and had quickly seen the futility of trying to break her bonds. Instead, while Dawn's attention was still on Jane, Heron launched a kick straight at Dawn's head, catching her under the chin.
Somehow, I just knew she'd be good with her feet, too. Dawn staggered back, her eyes tearing. Another kick caught her in the stomach, and she doubled over, doing her best to move ahead of the blow. She righted herself enough for one kick that caught Heron's ribs a glancing blow, then Dawn felt her feet swept from under her by the taller woman's kick. Heron drew back for another kick, but suddenly her target had moved-- not away from her, but toward her. Heron jumped to avoid the hands she expected to be grasping at her, but Dawn hadn't stopped to grab her; she had, instead, rolled under her opponent, and scrambled to her feet behind Heron's back.
For an instant, Dawn thought about ending the fight in the expected way, the way Heron would have; from here, she could easily have broken the woman's neck. But you can't, can you? For all her anger, she was simply incapable of the kind of savagery that some of these women seemed to accept as routine. Instead, her hands darted out to the thong holding Heron's bikini-style top in place. No time to try the knot: Dawn simply seized the cotton string in both hands, and bit down on one end of it, separating it, and pulling it free.
Standing behind Heron, there was no way that Dawn could see the look on the woman's face as her full breasts swung free; the looks of shock and amusement on the faces of their audience, though, told her all she might have wished. Dawn had to give one more tremendous tug to pull the garment from under Heron's pinioned arms, but in a moment, she found herself holding it as Heron spun around, looking even more enraged than before, if such a thing were possible, her face mottled, her mouth moving incoherently.
Dawn wasted no time enjoying the sight; she dove at Heron's legs, her shoulder folding the larger woman in a flying tackle.
"UUUnnnggghhh!" Breath came whooshing out of Heron's lungs as she collided with the deck, with Dawn atop her. Distracted by the pain of landing on her bound arms, Heron was unable to see what Dawn was doing; she found herself rolled over to her stomach, and her ankles collided as Dawn used the thong to bind them together. Heron used her powerful legs to try and fling Dawn away, but the younger girl hung tenaciously on, all the while pushing the bound ankles back up toward Heron's helpless wrists. Finally, Dawn's leverage prevailed, and the red-haired warrior gave a groan as Dawn succeeded in bringing hands and feet together, tying the loose ends of the leather thong to the cotton cord around Heron's ankles. The powerful leg muscles flexed, the redhead’s entire body arching, and Dawn watched apprehensively; after several moments of straining, though, it was clear that Heron simply couldn't bring enough muscle power to bear where she needed it-- she was bound hand and foot, and not going anywhere.
There was a hushed silence as Dawn fell back on her heels, panting. After a moment, she rose shakily to her feet. There was confused murmuring, and it was clear that Heron's group, anyway, felt that the test was far from over. Dawn ignored them, and addressed Jane.
"I've won," she said simply. "I am the only one standing."
Howls of protest went up, with more than one voice accusing Dawn of deliberately misunderstanding the rules. She simply shrugged wearily, and said, "If she can get to her feet, I'll fight her. But if she can't…"
Now, some of the protests began to turn to laughter, and it became apparent that Dawn's unique "interpretation" of the challenge would be accepted… by most.
"Curse you, bitch!" Heron's voice was strained as she raised her face from the ground where she was tied. "If you have any honor, you'll free me and we'll settle this properly. If you don't…" and Heron followed this threat with a string of obscenities that would not have been out of place on a sailing vessel of man's world.
For a moment, Dawn listened tiredly to the screeching filth. She knew she should just ignore it. She had won, that was all that mattered. But as Heron continued to rail, Dawn found herself moving toward her prisoner, and almost without conscious thought, she had pulled off the last of Heron's garments, a small bikini-style brief. Somewhere, deep in her mind, Dawn knew that she was going to regret this some time, but she was too tired and angry to care. As the redhaired warrior drew breath to protest this latest indignity, Dawn tied a knot in the center of the brief, and jammed it into Heron's open mouth.
"Huugghhh???!" Heron's grunted protest seemed as astonished as it was angry. Dawn sawed the cloth back and forth, to insure that it wedged itself firmly back against the corners of Heron’s mouth, then knotted it tightly over the long mane of red hair.
There was a moment of silence, followed by a burst of laughter, and shouts of congratulation. Dawn shook hands with a few of the women while casting wary glances toward where Heron’s friends were untying the infuriated warrior. She had hoped they might join in with the others in regarding the match’s outcome as a good-natured joke, but no such luck—the tension was unmistakable, and growing by the moment. For the first time, it was becoming clear to many of them that a choice had to be made, between Jane and Heron, and that there might not be a middle ground available. Dawn was wondering just where that left her and Alyson, and Jane’s blithe disregard of the potential danger wasn’t exactly reassuring. She had just about made up her mind to try once more to persuade Jane to release them, when she heard an extraordinary sound coming from above, as though some exotic jungle bird was perched in the rigging of the ship. She and Alyson craned their necks, looking above them, but could see nothing through the mass of rope and canvas. The women around them, though, didn't need to see the source of the sound.
"Our lookout," Jane informed them. "She has sighted land. We return to Ayesha, now; we are home."