Shadowed

7

Edited; 12/09/17

Later when I was finally dressed and wearing my clothes, I decided I would go outside again. I had been twitching with unspent energy and the only way I could think to use it was to dive back into my morning exercise routine. Just because I've been caged doesn't mean I'm going to go soft.

Stepping out onto the grass my eyes squint into the bright sunlight. Glancing to the fence I notice some of the guys are still sat there in the deck chairs chatting over several bottles of beer. I look away and try to ignore them as I begin a slow jog around the perimeter of the fence. I wished they weren't there, it felt awkward to be watched and eventually each time I passed their part of the fence they began to cheer me on.

I ran fifteen laps around the fence, my stamina even and my speed constant. The more laps I did the quieter the guys became, I couldn't blame them, it was a bit boring. I could have gone on longer but I pulled to a stop and walk towards the grass in the middle of the enclosure. Breathing deeply I stretch out my limbs, feeling the muscles stretch and occasionally popping with relief. Then I dropped to the ground and begin pumping straight into the tri-pushups. My hair fans around my face and I wish for a hair tie. After three reps, I'm then into sit up combinations. The guys have gone quiet now and have nearly forgotten about me at last, though I could still sense their eyes occasionally moving to my body as I push through the last five pushups. My skin is beginning to prickle with warmth and I can feel the slow trickle of adrenaline seeping through my body as I sit up and pull myself to my feet.

I stand for a moment my feet hip width apart and my hands loosely at my side with my eyes gently closed. Slowly I drag in a deep breath through my nose filtering through the many smells out the outdoors. I can pick them apart one from the other, the sweet freshness of the grass, the musky warm scent of the earth, the bark of the trees, cold of the large boulders, the fragrant wildflowers beyond the fence, and the distinctive individual scents of the other shifters. As my breathing slows I relax my body and fall into a calm white space of my mind. It was here that I could spread awareness through each part of my body, filtering through my muscles, and spreading awareness to my exterior surroundings. It was a trained way to ground myself, something my father had always asked me to do before he would train me outside in close hand to hand combat. When I felt ready I opened my eyes and shifted into the first position widening my stance and bringing my fists up. A steady smile grew on my face, he'd taught me well and I could remember each step of the pattern perfectly and execute it with precision and power. I could still hear him yelling at me as sweat began to bead upon my forehead.

"PUNCH, KICK, PUNCH, STEP, PUNCH, HOOK, BLOCK, KICK! DON'T LOWER YOU GAZE! KEEP THAT KNEE BENT!"

Before I had been a little clumsy and slow, my balance was never quite there. I'd never truly had a real opponent, my father would train with me and go against me but I'd always known he was going easy on me. I hadn't taken it seriously, I just went along with it, thinking it only as something which would ease the mind of a worried father wanting to know his little girl could defend herself. If only I'd known what was to come, maybe I would have put more effort into improving, I would have been better, I may have been able to save them. After my first shift, it suddenly became so easy; balance came naturally and speed was nearly effortless.

Going through all the patterns and drills he had taught me, there was only one left to truly perfect, and it was one I had only watched him perform. After he'd passed I made it my mission to prove to him and myself that I could do it, I was strong and I was determined.

As my leg swung in an arch cutting through the air I twist on my grounded foot and drag in the deepest breath I'd taken all day. It was four moves all choreographed together into a final blow which required a channeled strength from the shift to exert the power required to finish. Perfectly timed my hand splits through the air like a knife mocking a cut to the throat, a jab, left hook and then coiling my muscles I leap up into the air the ground spinning beneath me as I twist. My fist thunders down deep into the earth, dirt, and grass flying as the ground sinks into a small crater. A whistling breath sounds through my parted lips as my heart pounds in my chest. "...Shit..." I hear mouse gasp from beyond the fence.