In seconds almost every were-creature in the room was stripping down to the skimpy second skins they'd been given without any protest. Sierra noticed that Alyssa and Kalko were the only ones not stripping. Alyssa went over and sat with the humans. Sierra started working at the zipper on her top, eager to feel some air on her skin again after the long, sweaty morning.
"No, you can keep yours on for now. I think we'd better get started on some of the fighting basics instead.
"Does your kind need to transform?" Adam suddenly asked.
"Yeah. I get sick if I don't, just like everyone else," Sierra replied as she pulled the zip back up again irritably.
"If you feel the need, you can go out in the woods later in your free time," Kalko informed her. "Right now we've gotta get down to business."
He glanced around at his team mates. Devon was still fidgeting with his trousers, seemingly reluctant to take them off.
"What's the matter, Pretty Boy? Too close for comfort?" Kalko grinned.
"Yeah... I think I'd rather be naked. This things just... weird," Devon remarked as he plucked the fabric from his rear again.
Ken grinned knowingly at Anthony. Sierra guessed that the fit of their new costumes was a little different for guys than it was for girls.
"Tough luck, newbie. Suck it up and get ready to morph. You're running the gauntlet with the others," Kalko informed him.
Devon dropped his pants and held his hands in front of his groin awkwardly. It was a somewhat comical sight. He'd never have behaved like that if he actually was naked. The rest of the team started dropping to all fours and Sierra prepared to watch them transform excitedly. But before she could see much more than a few awkward bone pops and skin bulges, Kalko grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into another room.
"Aw com'on!" Sierra spat out with venom. "I don't even get to watch them change?"
She was starting to get beyond irritated with her new team leader.
"Not today, No," Kalko replied with finality.
"What are you afraid of?" she shot back, her eyes searching for his in challenge.
She knew she shouldn't but she was just so riled by him that she couldn't help herself. Unfortunately he somehow seemed to sense her intent, so his eyes avoided hers skilfully. Instead he dragged her over to a small cupboard in the corner of the room.
"I'm not afraid. I'm concerned. It's my job to look out for everyone in the team - including you," he informed her.
He dug around in the cupboard and pulled out some bandages.
"Pull off those gloves and hold out your hands," he instructed.
Sierra was only too happy to lose the gloves, but she was hesitant to give him her hands.
"I won't bite - in human form anyway," Kalko teased.
The attempt at humour rolled off him like water off wax. Comedy was so opposite to his usual nature that it was like he was out of practise at being human. Sierra wasn't amused. She crossed her hands over her chest and continued to search for his eyes defiantly, but he continued to avoid her gaze.
"Look, you can choose to leave your knuckles open, but the skin will probably split at some point in the next hour. I'm just trying to save you from a little discomfort," he reasoned.
There wasn't much point in resisting that. Sierra gave him a hand and he set about bandaging it for her, being careful not to touch her skin. A short while later, both fists were firmly wrapped up and he was leading her over to a punching bag that looked like it was more duct tape than bag. Sierra eyed him warily.
I'd rather use you as a punching bag...
"We'll start with some basic punching techniques and work our way up to some simple mat work later," he informed her, "Okay?"
She shot him a brisk, rueful face full of teeth that was meant to resemble a smile of acceptance but it looked more like a snarl. He ignored it and positioned her in front of the bag, then set to work showing her what to do. They started off slow, but Sierra had spent enough time rough-housing with guys as a youth to pick it up fairly quickly. When she reached a reasonable level of proficiency and started laying into the bag, the release of aggression felt so darn good that she didn't want to stop. Kalko braced the bag for her to prevent it swinging wildly with the force behind her blows while she slowly ripped it a new one - literally. When she finally stood back dripping with sweat, he reached over and pulled a length of duct tape off a roll to patch the new hole. There was a twitch on the corner of his mouth, like he wanted to smile but he'd forgotten how to.
"Lose a lot of bags to this lot?" Sierra inquired casually while she caught her breath.
She was pretty sure her super-human strength had more to do with the damage she had inflicted than any particular skill on her part.
"We get two new ones every month," he replied simply.
Wait... that's only one month's damage? Holy smoke!
As he worked at the repair, the skin over his bicep flexed and the bottom of his shirt lifted to reveal smooth, toned skin. Something flipped in Sierra's brain and her focus got locked onto the flesh at his waist until the shirt dropped back into place again. That was when she realised that a big part of her was irritation was her proximity to him. Her craving had been there, lingering under the surface all along.
"You know you could save yourself a few bags if you let me practise on you instead..." she mumbled.
Where the hell did that come from?
Kalko looked like he wanted to spin around and face her, but instead he just sort of looked at her contemplatively out the corner of his vision.
"You're not ready to practise on me yet - though I like the determination," he replied with a surprisingly level voice.
There was something almost patronizing about they way he said it that got her hackles up. Luckily she couldn't do a partial transformation - or that might have looked really strange...
"What would I have to do to get there?" she asked through gritted teeth.
Her proximity to him and her great exasperation were starting to make her see red. She watched him step back to admire his handy work on the bag. He shrugged.
"You'd have to surprise me, I guess," he replied nonchalantly.
Sierra didn't need a second invitation. With a grunt of effort, she bolted at him and tackled him around the waist before he had a chance to even register what she was doing. An 'oomph' escaped his lips as she made contact, but then somewhere between falling and actually hitting the ground, everything turned upside down and she found herself flailing through the air like the blades of a helicopter. She landed in a heap on the far side of the room, barely registering Kalko's neat little tuck and roll back to his feet.
"Okay, I'll admit it - that surprised me," he remarked as he made his way over to her.
Kalko crouched down and put a hand carefully on her back.
"You hurt?"
Like you care!
She glared at him as she started to regain control of her senses after her involuntary and disorienting aerial display. As soon as she was sure which direction was up and which was down, she started gathering herself to her feet. Kal backed off and let her find her own way up.
"I'm fine," she grumbled, fully aware that parts of her body were stinging from... some part of that crazy little scuffle. She tried to pretend that the injuries didn't exist.
"You sure? That was quite a nasty landing," he remarked.
"There's nothing a transformation can't fix," she replied bravely as she felt a massive bruise start to well-up and pulse on her left hip.
"Good," Kalko replied. "You've got grit, but you need to learn to pick your battles," he remarked with a measure of admiration.
Sierra felt her anger spike again.
A smile did creep onto his lips then - only just. He threw her gloves back at her and waited for her to pull the bandages off and re-cover her hands.
"Let's start off your mat work by teaching you how to fall," he remarked.
That didn't sound like a good idea and at first, Sierra thought she might just try rip Kalko apart with her bare hands - well, her gloved hands. But pretty soon she realised that he wasn't trying to work on her nerves by showing his mastery of skill over her non-existent expertise - he was showing her how to protect herself from injury and recover quickly when she needed to. At the end of the session he gave her a soft launch vaguely reminiscent of her initial impromptu one, and she managed to twist around and land on her haunches instead of falling into a painful heap at the end of it.
"Good! Whether you know it or not, it seems the reflexes of the animals you've absorbed have been hard-wired into your system. Accessing them in human form is just not as intrinsic for you as it is for most of the others," he observed. "Well I'd say that's enough for one day. Let's hit the showers before lunch."
She watched him throw a small sweat towel over his shoulder and retrieve his water bottle before sauntering airily out the room with envy. She wasn't entirely sure she could walk much, let alone amble along effortlessly.
Sierra let herself fall to the gym mat and just lay a while in recovery. The bruise on her hip had blossomed into a painful lump that made her attempt at relaxation less pleasant than planned.
"Tired?"
She lifted her head to see Adele leaning near the door, arms crossed and a small smile on her face.
"Yeah," she replied as she let her head fall back to the mat.
"Annoyed?" was Adele's next question.
"Hell yeah!" Sierra replied without hesitation. She propped herself up on her elbows, wincing when her bruised hip momentarily touched the hard mat.
"I'd love to beat the snot out that guy," she growled.
Adele chuckled knowingly as she walked over to hand Sierra a bottle of water.
Sierra remembered how the youth had wiped the floor with Devon earlier that morning and an idea suddenly sparked in her mind.
"You could help me," she suggested.
Adele hesitated, then her eyes widened as understanding hit.
"You want me to help you beat Kal?" she asked in surprise.
"Yeah – I mean, I doubt I'll ever be good enough to really beat him. But, if you can help me get a little more even..."
For a minute, Sierra thought Adele was going to say no. But then a cunning little smile crept over the teen's lips.
"Sure, why not?" she mused. "However are you sure you shall be up for it? Kal is going to be drilling you fairly hard for a while."
"I'll be up for it," Sierra replied, feeling oddly rejuvenated just at the thought of being able to pull a fast one on her new mentor.
"You know, he is really not so bad," Adele remarked. "I know that he irritates most people..."
"Well that's the understatement of the year!" Sierra retorted.
Adele grinned knowingly.
"The thing is, he really does care about his team and he is a good trainer. Actually he's the best there is. We're pretty lucky to have him," she remarked. "Besides, when you really come to know him, you somehow learn to like him."
Sierra harrumphed her doubt.
Adele offered her a hand up and she took it. The moment she found her feet she realised just how exhausted she really was. She had to stand still a moment while she tried to will the life back into her shaky limbs.
"If you love the guy so much, why did you agree to help me?" Sierra mused.
Adele shrugged. "I think it could be entertaining."
"Gee, thanks!" Sierra shot back grumpily.
"I did not mean..." Adele protested. She sighed, then continued. "I get bored. A lot. And yes, it probably will be funny to watch you try the first few times. But the day you finally get it right - let's just say if there was a Youtube for were-creatures only, the video would be all over it."
Sierra smiled softly at the thought. "When do you want to start?" she asked.
"I'll be ready to start tonight - if you're up for it," Adele answered.
"I'll be ready," Sierra replied as she hobbled stiffly towards the door at her new friend's side.
After a difficult but soothing shower, Sierra was late down to lunch. Fortunately Devon, Luc and Ken were still finishing their meal so she had company.
"About time you got here," Devon remarked when he saw her.
She took a seat on the bench and started stuffing a plate with food, which she proceeded to devour without exchanging a word.
"Judging by your mood, I take it your one on one time with Kalko wasn't too enjoyable?" her old friend remarked.
"Let's just say I would have rather stayed behind with you guys and seen what you saw," she replied.
"It was okay," Devon replied with a shrug of is shoulders.
"Just okay?" Sierra mused, picking up on his disappointment and curious as to the cause of it.
"I think Devon's referring to the fact that Senka got called away on a mission before she could join them," Luc informed her. "Her and Adam left for Nepal about an hour ago to investigate a report."
"Ah, now it makes sense," Sierra replied with a little smirk.
Devon chaffed a little at the teasing, then buried his gaze in his plate.
"Did you make any progress with Kal?" Ken asked in his soft voice with its Japanese accent.
"I dunno. I split open a boxing bag and learnt how to fall better. Is that worth anything?" she replied despondently. Her craving started to flicker to life again now that her appetite was settling. She tried to throw her focus into her plan of revenge rather than let her mind ponder over what it would be like to just reach over the table and touch the quiet young man.
"It sounds less painful than my first day with him. I think I nearly split myself open that time," he remarked with a friendly little smile.
"So what did you guys do after I left?" Sierra asked.
"They all morphed and ran the gauntlet. It's just a bunch of exercises designed to challenge their animal abilities. The three of us worked on our weapon skills," Luc informed her.
"What, like shooting guns?" Sierra asked with surprise. She hadn't heard any gunshots.
"No, not guns. We do use tranq guns from time to time and we know how to handle the real deal, but it's almost considered bad sportsmanship for anyone in our world to use real bullets."
"I get that - but... you guys are human?"
"Yes we are, but its still bad form. Besides, we want to defend and incapacitate most of the time, not kill. Sometimes we need to use non-lethal weapons to do that - like fighting staffs or batons. Kal says he's going to teach us swords and knives soon - so that it's like we have our own set of claws if we ever need them," he informed her with a little glitter of enthusiasm in his eyes.
Boys will be boys... Oh hell, who am I kidding - that sounds awesome!
"So what's on the cards for this afternoon?" she mused over another mouthful of food.
"Ken and I have a watch shift. We have to sit and sift through all the information that came in this morning and see if there's anything that raises a flag," Luc informed her. "You two shall be heading down to the library for a little 'Were-creatures 101' course with my mother."
Sierra perked up at that idea. It sounded like the sort of thing she'd enjoy learning about. Plus it would give her a chance to recoup a little of her energy. She shoved the last three mouthfuls of food on her plate down her throat and chased it with what remained of her wine, enjoying the way its golden fingers crept deep into her body to dull her aches and pains.
A moment later, Luc glanced at his watch, excused himself and left, followed closely by Ken. Sierra sighed deeply, her head resting on her palm as she watched the short Asian man leave the room. She seemed to be in good company, because Devon was just as wistful as she was.