Your Life In an Anthro's World

A Sporting Chance

Your face dropped when she uttered those words, "Oh my god...." You breathed. "You mean we would have had to go toe to toe with..."

"A former police captain and an ex trainer," Hunter nodded, "We wouldn't have stood a chance."

An image briefly flashed through your mind of what that might have looked like. Tanya had hunter in a headlock in one arm while she was holding Annika upside down and by the ankle with her other arm. You were pinned in the grass on your stomach under her foot, struggling fruitlessly. Luna was leaning against the house sipping on a glass of tea.

"Are you sure you don't want to tag out?" She asked with a smirk.

"Nah," Tanya replied, "I'm having too much fun!" Immediately after he comment, both canine's burst into a laughing fit as if they were watching the greatest comedy ever.

As the laugher faded from you're brief daydream you quietly nodded in agreement, "I'm grateful that you guys saved me from that fate..." You admitted, "But I'm not sure this is much better."

Hunter shrugged, "Best we could do."

"Okay!" Tanya called out as she walked back over spinning a ball on the tip of her claw. "We have this half of the court for the next hour," She explained, "During that hour, Kiba and Hunter will play a one on one game to ten."

"And why do I have to play a one on one game against my own teammate?" Hunter asked.

"Think of it as a sparring match," Tanya replied, "This'll give you the chance to show off a little bit and practice getting rid of some of those bad habits." Hunter scoffed at his aunt and opened his mouth to protest when Tanya interjected again, "And if you don't have any bad habits; too bad, do it anyway. We need to see what we're working with." As she finished her sentence, you noted that her eyes drifted to you, indicating that she wanted to see what you could do on the court.

"Do you even know how to play?" Hunter asked.

Before you could answer, Tanya interjected on your behalf, "Of course he does! Wouldn't have brought him down here if he didn't!"

Hunter sighed, "Come on, let's get this over with."

"Fine," You replied flatly.

After checking the ball in at half court, Hunter blazed by you with his speed. There was no finesse. No post ups or fake outs, just raw and unbridled speed and power. He did a basic dribble and ran right to the goal. As soon as he was in the two-point range, he fired off a shot; which predictably fell right in to the basket. This is pretty much how the first fifteen minutes went for you. You tried to steal the ball before he blew past you once or twice, but he would just move beyond your reach or speed up before you could really do anything. Before long, Hunter had racked up a seven-point lead to your zero points.

Tanya and Annika watched from the bleachers. Tanya had neutral expression glued to her face while she watched the game with her arms crossed. Annika on the other hand clearly felt pity for you.

Honestly though, you weren't really focused on that. You were too busy thinking about how to turn the tables on hunter, "He's faster and stronger," You thought, "That much is certain, but it's all just brute force. There's no real skill or strategy here... which means I can take the game back!"

With seven points on the board, Hunter was standing patiently waiting for you to check the ball in. Like you'd done before, he bounced the ball to you and you bounced it back. However, as soon as the ball bounced you ran forward and made as if you were going to steal it. Hunter immediately jumped to his left, just like every time before. In the moment that he froze and jumped left, you mirrored his action. As hunter moved to dribble the ball, he froze up as he found you standing right in front of him. You didn't waste any time as you took the opportunity to take the ball. You dribbled to the goal, hunter was close behind you though. When you reached your shooting range, you stopped hard and set up for the shot. You heard hunter closing in as he prepared to block you. You made like you were going to shoot the ball. Hunter smirked as he saw his opportunity. The ball was away from your body and just above your head, all he had to do was reach out and take it. For a brief moment, you heard hunters footsteps group together before they fell silent. You immediately tucked the ball close to your chest and ducked. Hunter's face dropped as he could do nothing but watch as he glided past you while kicking his feet uselessly in the empty air. After you felt the wind rush by from his vault, you calmly rose and took your shot. The ball bounced off of the backboard before falling into the hoop.