Polar Opposites

Chapter 5: Slow Steps

Cora yawned, flopping back into the grass next to Leo, who looked at her calmly. They had just finished patching up the wall, which was exhausting in such warm temperatures, even with the shade of the canopy.

Both of them laid there for a moment, satisfied with the job they had done. Cora smiled, glad that the awkward silence that once stuck between them had vanished.

"Come on." Leo said suddenly, grabbing his crutch and standing up.

Cora sat up, "That was abrupt."

He nodded, "Yeah, well, so was my decision."

He started walking further into the woods and Cora tilted her head in confusion. "Where are we going?"

"The creek. There's a good clearing for this over there." He answered.

"So why are we going?" She questioned.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Leo asked in mock exasperation.

Cora glared, "Just answer it."

"I'm going to train you." He stated.

"Pass."

"I'm the leader of this team, so I'm in charge. You've got to know how to defend yourself, Cora." He told her.

"I know, I just..." She trailed off, her thoughts drifting to memories she had pushed down long ago.

"Don't worry, this is simple stuff. You'll do fine." Leo assured her with a smile.

Cora's mouth turned down in a bothered frown, but she did not say anything more, choosing to follow him silently.

Leo came to a stop in the middle of the clearing by the creek, turning to Cora and giving her a reassuring smile. At the sight of it, her distress faded for a moment and she breathed out a sigh.

"Okay, first thing first. Footing." Leo instructed, bending over and moving her feet into the correct position.

Cora let him drag her feet around, calming down as she realized that he wasn't going to hurt her. It was stupid, she knew, but that didn't stop her from panicking at first.

Leo finished explaining the different foot positions and then moved onto showing her how to throw a punch. He demonstrated first, slowly moving his fist forward.

Cora followed his example slowly at first and then began to speed up. Leo gave her his approval and then pointed out areas that she should aim for. The throat, eyes, nose, chin, and abdomen. Kraang bot attacks were best done by severing the head from the body or directly attacking the alien itself.

She listened to his instructions intently, glad that their training was mostly him telling her where and how to hit someone.

When Leo was satisfied with the lesson, he quizzed her, asking what her stance should look like and telling her to point to the weak points to attack, should she be facing a bot or a biological enemy.

"Not bad for your first ever training." Leo told her.

"Are we done, then?" Cora asked, breathing out a sigh of relief when he nodded.

Leo shook his head in bewilderment. Cora seemed like the type of person who would do great in martial arts. She was strong, carrying around wood all the time. Cora had grace and balance, demonstrating that clearly when she jumped off the roof of the farmhouse.

But she was so hesitant. Almost as if she was afraid of learning to defend herself. He found it confusing, but of course, Leo found most things about Cora confusing.

They approached the house and went inside. And for once, Cora didn't feel like an outsider.

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