"The first lesson we must address, is getting your instincts under control... The outcome of such temptations can easily prove to be catastrophic... Therefor, we will focus on alleviating your primal instincts going forward."
These were the words spoken by Kenrir during Alena's training—words that had more meaning behind them than one.
"Come on Alena—! Show me everything you've got!"
It was at this moment, when all of Alena's training would come to be realized—whether she wanted it to or not...
Karra dashed forward, running towards Alena head on. Seeing this, Elijah's fur shot up, and Alena stood there, as a jolt of shock too instantly sprung across her face. Her instantaneous reaction—Alena threw up her arms in a cross shape as Karra's fist came plummeting towards her face, and Elijah jumped down. Pow! On impact, Alena was sent skidding backwards as she instantly crashed out on her knees, curling up in reaction to the surge of pain—holding her arms which had immediately bruised. Elijah immediately ran into the dojo in panic, and Alena gritted her teeth as tears seeped out of her eyes.
"...It hurts," Alena pouted. She had never before experienced an impact such as this.
Before she had even realized it, Karra was already upon her again. Time slowed, as Alena's eyes widened. Karra's serious expression was followed by another punch closing in. Alena couldn't let go of the pain in her arms, and began leaning back as time returned. Alena flipped back, breaking the grip on her arms as Karra's assault flew over her. Alena braced her fall with one paw, landing on the tips of her toes. As the third punch came soaring over from the side, Karra threw her back into the punch, bearing her teeth in quick annoyance. Alena responded by barreling off, following the direction of the attack and landing on all fours.
"Karra, wait—!" Alena pleaded, as Karra came running in.
"Shut up and fight!!" Karra's voice tore out as she charged in.
Karra swept in, throwing out a side swung kick, and Alena leapt off to the opposite side—bouncing back onto her feet. Karra planted her foot and threw out the other, dipping her gravity to raise her foot towards Alena's face. As the timing was right and the impact hit, Alena blocked with her arms as before, yet was knocked back. Alena rolled over her shoulder, and gripped her arms once again, favoring one side as she clenched over trembling.
"Ow~...!" Alena verbally responded, pouting and jolting into the pain inflicted.
Karra planted her foot, and stood there glaring at Alena with a strong irritation in wide-strung eyes.
"Stop defending and just fight me!" Karra screamed, her stance and expression growing fierce.
Alena had continued letting out little whimpering cries, the impact on her arms hurting more than the last—a vibrating numbness suddenly coursing through them.
"No—!" Alena cried out, shaking her head, "I don't want to!"
Karra's expression clenched, as she began to dash forward.
"Then fall!!"
Alena's alerted shock returned to her face as just before her, Karra was coming with another sideways kick, clearly pouring all of her power into it. Alena narrowly evaded, rolling off to the side. She felt the brush of wind flowing across her cheek mid tumble, and soon stood up, as all her fur was now standing on end. When Karra once again came charging in, Alena jolted, and spun herself to run away. The adrenaline pumping through her from the sudden shock left Alena feeling thoughtless, yet light on her feet. She dashed across the courtyard toward the exit, but Karra had sped out in front of her.
"Arrrgh~!" Karra sounded, as her high kick came flying fluidly in, following her charge.
Alena divided her legs, allowing all her weight to drop off. As Karra's kick whipped over her head, Alena quickly tucked her right foot in to kick herself up off to the side, continuing into a sprint. Karra relentlessly went charging in behind her, and leapt into the air above her. Alena realized the instant Karra's feet left the ground, as she looked over her shoulder mid dash to see Karra's fist soaring in. Close to the courtyard border, Alena spun 'round, taking her dash into reverse momentarily before splitting off to her left. Karra's paw grazed Alena's shoulder, as it crunched into the ground, picking up a small cloud of dust before Karra rose again to her feet.
Crack!
"Stop running—!" Karra shouted out in aggravation, and made a mad dash towards Alena.
Alena instinctively ran towards one of the cherry trees, and Karra charged back a mighty punch as she got close. When Karra thought she had Alena pinned between her and the tree, she stomped the ground and threw out her punch in full force—yet to her surprise, Alena had continued her sprint, dashing up the trunk of the tree to kick off and performed a back flip over Karra's assault. Karra's fist barreled into the tree with a crash, as bark blistered off. Karra spun 'round, casting a follow up punch within her rotation, but Alena had bounced back again and turned to run in the opposite direction.
As Alena approached the border corner, Karra zigzag sprinted after her, trying to stomp after Alena's footing—little clouds of dust kicking up with each one. Closing into the corner, Alena immediately knew a desperate maneuver was necessary, as she couldn't simply slow down. At this instant, Karra had leapt from the ground and kicked off the right border wall, effectively lifting herself slightly ahead.
"Now I've got you!!" Karra called out from above. Her curled paw came hurdling down.
Without hesitation, Alena began running along the side wall while effectively dropping her left paw to the ground below. All of Alena's weight was focused close to the ground, on her paw, as she rotated it—her run shifting to the front wall at a hairpin turn. Evading Karra by surprise, Karra's fist continued into the ground at the corner wall—kicking up more dust on impact, and Alena's feet made contact with the ground, lifting her weight as she sprang forward.
"You weaselly slime!" Karra hollered, as she darted ahead of Alena and swung her left foot towards the wall in front of Alena full force.
Alena pulled back her head, but her feet continued forward as her body dropped back, narrowly evading the blow. When Alena's back hit the ground, Karra screamed, throwing a left punch straight to the ground where Alena helplessly lay. Karra's fist made contact, and Alena barely caught it as her back ricocheted off the ground on impact. Alena became winded, losing out on her breath, and Karra stood before her—holding her down.
"Stop trying to avoid me and just fight!!" Karra shouted at Alena, just at arm's length.
As Alena took a sharp breath, she pouted under Karra's clutches as a tear seeped from her welling eyes.
"Why are you doing this Karra?" she pitifully, breathlessly asked.
"Shut up! You don't get to call me that! Not unless you stand up and fight!!" Karra hollered in Alena's face, subconsciously pressing her weight into Alena's chest as her face displayed her full, violent aggravation. Images flashed through Karra's mind, triggering her following words. "You're going to fight me—if you don't want to die!!"
Karra raged—her following fist barreling down. Desperate to avoid the oncoming strike, Alena saw little escape—her heart rate rising. Clack! Karra's fist met the ground as Alena shifted her head to the side. The adrenaline pumping through her allowed Alena to quickly grip Karra's fist with both paws and roll her shoulders, twisting Karra's balled fist off of her, as Alena put all her weight on her left leg—allowing her to shift her right foot up underneath Karra and kick off, rolling out from beneath her. Karra quickly caught herself with her blown paw, and threw her body weight in the direction of Alena's evasive roll. Somehow, Alena could sense the oncoming shift, as something began to brew within. Mid roll, Alena tensed up her left arm on the second come around, and launched her weight off the ground.
As Karra's shifted weight fell into her punch, clacking against the ground once again—her knuckles ripped across the surface, stretching out her digits onto her palm. Karra thrust herself up from the ground back towards Alena who was landing on her feet.
"YOU WORM—!" Karra's blood boiled, and her attacks grew more wild, more fierce.
Alena barely had time to react, but threw her shoulder back just as Karra clipped it with her punch. Karra's fist skidded over, shifting Alena in a spin that collapsed her to her knees. Alena's mind was now running wild, and Karra was throwing hooked punches left and right. Alena weaved her torso side to side, her heart pounding as her blood pressure spiked. When Karra threw a third wild punch angling towards Alena's core, Alena lunged back, hopping off all fours back to her feet.
At that moment, Kazran came running out from the dojo to see the commotion, standing on the entrance patio. His face showed that of shock as Elijah poked his head out from the corner and Cheiro soon followed, standing behind the boy with a matching surprise.
"Karra! What are you doing?!" Kazran called out in a panicked concern. His words were lost however, as Karra boiling determination left his words unheard.
Karra threw all her weight into a charging punch, zipping behind Alena as her opponent weaved out of her strike. On a hairpin turn, Karra followed up again, zipping passed Alena off to the other side. Alena had weaved away in the other direction, effectively evading her once again. However, Karra's attack didn't slow. Karra whipped through the air waves, twisting herself so her muscles ached in an unnaturally paced turn. Karra's rage reached its peak, and blasting forward she screamed.
"ALENAAA~!!" Her face showed no mercy, but a gripping determination as she came crashing in, fiercer than ever before.
At that instant, Alena caught a glimpse of the fist rocketing towards her, moving too steadfast to avoid. Alena's eyes widened, responsive to the oncoming impact as time seemed to slow. Before her eyes, Alena's vision whitened around Karra, seeing nothing but the pure aggression homing her way. The sounds of wind seemed to grow airing on by, and as Karra's punch grew close to impact, the screen focused on Alena's eyes reflecting Karra's image back at her...
SNAP!
Alena's pupils instantaneously constricted sharply—displaying the primal instincts that had awoken and emerged to the surface.
As time barely sped, Alena's voice began to howl—her foot grinding back against the ground's surface. Her primal energy surged! Her body had begun moving with a mind of its own. Skzzzt! Then in that moment, Alena pulled her arm back, charging a barreling thrust of her own within that fractional second—a fierce ferocity glimmering in her eyes.
"HHRAAAAHH~!"
Time continued, then Alena's head and core fled back, down and forward as her fist tore ahead. Karra herself felt like time slowed, as the memory of her loss against Kazran flashed before her eyes.
SMASH!
Alena's fist opened at the last moment, barreling into Karra's diaphragm with an open palm. Shockwaves exploded throughout Karra's entire being. Coughing up saliva in a reactive slow motion, Karra was sent barreling against the hard surface, ricocheting off of it time and again until velocity broke —bringing her to an abrupt halt.
That instant, Alena blinked and jolted back in shock, her eyes dilating back to normal as she realizes what she had just done.
"Karra—!" Alena cried out, as she darted over to her, concerned for Karra's well-being.
Kazran stared upon the scene in wide surprise. Never did he imagine someone else his age was capable of tapping into their primordial instincts as he had. He stood still, watching in disbelief.
"Oh that poor dear..." Cheiro muttered, watching the unfolding scene with more concern than one.
When Alena got to Karra's side, Karra was shivering in shock—her earlier rage boiled down into fear.
"Karra—! I'm sorry! Are you okay?!" Alena shouted to Karra, who was huddled up in the fetal position, gripping her chest. She had been so winded that her eyes were wide with desperation to breath, saliva seeping across her face until she began coughing for air. Karra's demeanor soon turned into that of panic, as she lifted herself onto her paw and knees.
"Don't—! Don't come any closer! Go away! Leave me! Get away from me!" Karra screamed her heart out to Alena, facing the other direction as she threw dust up in Alena's direction with her paw in a panicked tone. Karra was balling her eyes out, feeling completely defeated with a hanging pain in her core unlike anything she thought possible. "Leave me alone~!"
Alena stepped back as dust and pebbles were kicked up towards her. She held her paws cupped together over her chest, her knees and legs tightly together as she huddled at a safe distance in deep concern. Kazran soon dashed over, attempting to help Karra up and provide comfort, but Karra was too distressed. As Kazran tried to assist her, Karra immediately shoved him away, now screaming at him instead.
"No!! Don't you touch me! I don't want you! I don't want any of you!!" Karra cried out hysterically.
She slammed her head into the ground below, and let out a heavily desperate cry, her tears pouring out uncontrollably before them.
"Karra..." Alena murmured as she tiptoed closer, gazing at Karra with glossy eyes.
That moment, Karra began beating her head repeatedly against the hair ground, while Kazran and Alena watched helplessly unsure of what to do with shock their faces.
"I'm a failure! A failure!! So pathetically weak!" Karra screamed between slams. Her forehead was turning red amongst her self abuse, and she soon stopped hitting her head as she held it there, her voice growing weak. "Why can't I be strong enough...?" she asked herself, her voice trembling and broken. She never let go of her chest, and her body steadily convulsed as she cried in heaves. Her screams had finally come to an end.
Lady Cheiro finally approached the others, stepping forward between Kazran and Alena, and she gently tried to lower her hand to Karra's back. As her hand came close however, Karra swatted it away and soon rose to her feet. Her flow of tears had come to a halt, and her expression returned to it serious nature before slowly, Karra turned her eyes alone to Cheiro.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me..." Karra spoke with melancholy, "Now please... just leave me alone."
Karra began walking away, making sure to stop by her knapsack to reacquire it before slowly walking out of the courtyard and exiting the scene with a new tear dripping down her face.
Cheiro did not react, and simply stood there with her hand hovering in the air, as her and the two children watched this torn up girl slowly flee the scene.
Kazran then stepped toward the exit, hesitant in wonder, as a new state of concern took hold—his voice nearly silent.
"Karra..."