The Rookies
Part Twelve. Where Rain gets dragged back into the real world.
Months had passed since that fateful night in Blackmont. Rain Delacruz and the rest of her friends had mostly split up by now. Niko Komarov stayed away from Artem Delacruz because of their friendship that had merged into a rivalry, with Niko moving on to make a name in Valladares and Artem managing to top him by becoming one of the top scorers in the Gallian Union. Mara Mandaric hadn’t talked to Rain since the last night in Blackmont, where the Crown Day celebration had turned into something new for both of them. In fact, more than a dozen of her calls and texts had been left unanswered, and as much as she tried to reassure Rain, the other girl wasn’t having any of it.
Lucas Alberg was still focused on keeping his career at Odena going well, and for once, he was learning to stay out of the papers for the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, the Andrade sisters both departed for Terranea, with Livia keeping in frequent contact with Niko but not actually seeing him. She was signing for Tir Snake Strike to become one of their hottest prospects, while Catia was following her to the same country but signing for a different club, Polaris. And Polaris was a fitting choice, for the reputation that Cat had. It would have fit either sister, really. The one that talked to voices in her head, or the one that had a reputation for getting into fist fights with teammates and for polarizing dressing rooms.
And Rain couldn’t help feel like she had ruined everything, even as she left for her own new club, AFC Corvistone. The hated Nepharim outfit had picked her up cheaply and were looking to make a run at the top division, and they did seem like a good fit for her. Both the club and herself had chips on their shoulders, and Rain had always played with the tenacity and fight that would make someone a hero in a country like Nephara, that valued blue collared players who could remind the fans of themselves. But she just couldn’t get her head in the game, no matter what she did. At her new club, she felt so alone, isolated from her friends and not making much contact with anyone outside of her brother, either in person or otherwise.
Another night was going by when there wasn’t any club activities for her to attend, so she was just sitting around her apartment and watching the TV, as she drank from a small bottle of liquor and ate take out. That was the reason why she was having a hard time staying at playing weight, or at least a large part of the reason. Ever since backing away from the amateur MMA scene in the Gallian Union, because of being unmasked, her weight had went up about twenty pounds. Those underground fight clubs had been the last place where she could be herself with no judgement, and the end of her career as a part time masked fighter affected her in other ways. Not having to stick to a strict diet wasn’t helping her.
She didn’t know why she was so attached to that previous career. She didn’t know what it was about punching people in the face and attacking them on the ground that was so appealing to her, and she didn’t know why the adrenaline was like a drug. But she had somewhat of an idea. That was the last place where she was free. She hadn’t been Rain Delacruz, she had been the Huntress, and she didn’t have to worry about anything. Not her family and their stupid expectations. Not her football career and everything that came with it. Not what her friends thought of her, or what anyone else thought of her. When she was at those underground fight clubs, the only thing that mattered was victory. And she wanted it that way.
Her future opponent had ruined that for her by removing the mask, and because of that, she’d likely cost herself a fight with the big ticket fighter of the organization. Rain was probably walking away from that sport now that she’d lost the best thing about it, and she knew her coaches in her main sport wouldn’t be fully satisfied with anything else. She didn’t know why she had thought it was a good idea to try to focus on two sports at the same time, and in hindsight, it couldn’t have ended in any other way. That just made the situation more depressing.
She took another long sip from the bottle, but she set it down quickly when her phone rang. She did a double take at the name that was calling, because it was one that she hadn’t spoken to in a good while. Ricardo Hale, national team midfielder and the one who almost became her boyfriend, back during the Independents Cup. Her main memory of him was nearly kissing him, before being interrupted by circumstances. That was before Mara had complicated things, and it was a better time for her, one where her life was a bit simpler and definitely more pleasant than it was now. She swiped to take the call. “Hello?”
“Rain, it’s Ricky. Ricky Hale. I know we haven’t talked in months, but it’s time to get the boys back together. And I mean the entire group. You, Artem, Lucas, Niko, the Andrade sisters, Mara, and myself. I know we’re all playing in different countries at this point. Well, everyone except for me and Lucas. But I’ve talked to Artem about you, and he agrees that this current path that you’re on… It’s not helping anyone, yourself included. He says it’s time to get our friend group back together. He even came up with a name, and everything,” the voice on the other end of the line says, quickly. “You in?”
“I don’t know. I have duties with my club that are more important. That’s why we haven’t seen each other in so long in the first place,” Rain sighed. “When are we talking about meeting up again? In the offseason? That would be fine-”
“No, I’m talking about right now. We’ll get together when it’s midweek and there’s no club stuff to handle. James Almeda has that place in Blackmont, we can go there again-”
“I’m not going back to Blackmont. Too many demons from there that remain unresolved. I’m sorry,” Rain replied, and she took another long sip from the bottle.
“Alright, fine, Blackmont is out. What about Strasburg? Or Odena? Or any other location in Bojikstan? Just name it, and I’ll get back to James about heading there. James has land in a lot of places, so we have some options. The most important thing is that you get out of that little apartment and get back into the world, you know. You can’t run from Mara forever, and you can’t run from the rest of your friends forever, either. We’ll always be here for you, Rain. I know I will. Even if it’s not in the way I thought I would be here for you before.”
Rain paused, rolling her eyes but allowing herself to smile. And then the smile quickly faded from her face. “You’re sweet, Ricky. But how the fuck do you know about anything that’s going on with me and Mara? Who fucking told you? Because I don’t recall saying a word to you about that-”
“Yeah, well, it was obvious what was happening in Blackmont. At least for someone that knows as much about you as I do. I haven’t said anything to anyone, though. Your secrets are safe with me. Now, are you in? Or am I going to have to fly to Corvistone and drag you out of your apartment to get you to talk to the others again? Hell, we’ll come to Nephara if that’s what it takes to get the group back together. We already have the others in on this. We just need you.”
There was a long silence, before Rain took one more drink and set the bottle down. “Against my better judgement, yes.”