Drowning

It Takes No Fear

Typically, Saturdays were spent on getting ahead with homework, playing with dogs, or just chilling and falling down the YouTube rabbit hole. And that was what Finley had planned once again, but a text from Miguel changed her plans. Captain Marvel had come out and Finley hadn't planned on going to see it in theaters, but now she was told she was. Miguel, Hawk, Aisha, and Demetri were all going together and for some reason, Miguel was insisting on dragging her along. Not that Finley would ever oppose seeing a Marvel movie, but based on the trailer... well she wasn't exactly dying to see it like most every other Marvel film.

So here she was on a Saturday walking to meet up with the group so they could head to the movies. They all, except Demetri, had karate practice beforehand and were planning on heading to the theater once it was done. Miguel had texted her to meet them at the junkyard because for some bizarre reason that was where practice was being held. Finley was willing to bet that parents had not signed off on this, but oh well.

She got there 10 minutes before 6 and walked into the junkyard, curious to see what practice looked like in such a weird environment. All she had to do was follow the yelling and cheering, and she came across the Cobra Kais gathered around a dumpster. She watched with wide eyes as one by one they walked across a single plank of wood, sharp metal filled the container, ready to break their fall. There was a fine line between brave and stupid... and these guys were kicking at it.

From what Miguel had told her, Johnny had some weird methods, but they usually worked. The aforementioned boy noticed her presence and lifted his hand to wave to her. She waved back, a small smile on her face, but she stayed where she was. The last thing she wanted to do was interfere with their practice.

"Alright we have time for one more drill before we call it a day!" Sensei Lawrence yelled. "Everyone fall in!"

Finley stood off to the side watching with curiosity as the man began handing something out. Was that jerky? All of the students looked just as confused as she was. The older man's gaze briefly landed on her, confusion flickering through his eyes, before he decided to ignore her presence and continue.

"You wanna win? You gotta be hungry. You guys hungry?"

"Yes Sensei!" Everyone yelled at once.

Finley couldn't help but smile slightly, but she wasn't quite sure why. The older man stood facing the group now that the jerky had been passed out. A smirk was begging to play on his lips as he stared at his students.

"Good. Cause so are they."

He lifted a small, silver cylinder to his mouth and blew. A high pitched tone came from the device and Finley stood up straighter. What was he doing with a dog whistle? Suddenly the sounds of dogs barking filled the junkyard. Finley's head snapped towards the sound and saw 2 German Shepherd mixes of some sort running full speed towards the group.

Aisha was the first to react and yelled for everyone to run. The group quickly dispersed, Finley wanted to yell at the idiots that running was literally the worst possible thing to do. Students scrambled across the junkyard, running as fast as they could. Some jumped up on top of cars trying to gain higher ground so the dogs wouldn't get to them. Surely the dogs weren't actually going to bite them, that wasn't safe for insurance policies. But as she watched jaws snap on empty air, mere inches from a boy's foot as he leaped onto a car, Finley realized the Sensei was indeed that crazy.

Her eyes quickly darted around and landed on a blue mohawk who was a few yards to her right, still on the ground.

"Don't be afraid! They smell fear!"

Yeah, okay Johnny. Not entirely accurate but whatever. She had more important things to deal with than correcting the man. One of the dogs had caught Hawk out of the corner of its eye and was now running straight for him. The cars near him were all stacked two high making it impossible for him to jump on top of them. Panic filled his eyes as the dog quickly closed the distance between them.