Kotah's Book of Chaos

Fighting Class

Title: Fighting Class

Characters: Kotah(she/they/star), Somebody(she/they), Arson(he/they/xe), Different(she/it), Sock(she/her), Maya(she/her), Khasa(?)(she/they/flae), Axie(she/her), Syd(she/they), Human(she/they)

Word count: 1178

Sock made her way through the hallways of the mansion, heading for the gym. Kotah had invited her to watch one of her lessons, and she wasn't going to be late. Sock pushed a door open, stepping out onto the second-floor balcony. She glanced around, noticing the gym was decently occupied, for a Sunday afternoon. The gymnasium was a large, two-story room with balconies on the second floor and a roof dotted with skylights. The floor was padded with mats, and racks of weapons - both real and practice - lined one of the walls. Kotah and Axie were sparring on the mat, while Som and Arson watched. Syd and Human were on the far side of the room, using some of the punching bags. Khasa was perched in the rafters and Different was sitting on a table, her fox fluff poofed out. Sock leaned against the railing, looking down onto the mats as Kotah and Axie faced off.

"Never let your opponent get you on the ground. If they do, there's a ninety percent chance you never get back up." Kotah was saying, as she offered Axie her hand, pulling the smaller girl up.

"What about the other ten percent?" Arson called cheekily from the sidelines. Kotah looked at xem.

"That's the chance that someone comes along and saves your sorry ass." She turned away and refocused on Axie. "You can take a break, get some water." Axie nodded and stepped neatly off of the mat.

"Your turn, dragoness," Kotah smirked.

"I cannot tell if you are talking to the creature sitting in the rafters or me." Som quipped as she pushed off of the pole she had been leaning against. Different yipped, standing up and bouncing slightly, accidentally knocking a healing potion off of the table. Syd caught it quickly, and the little fox sat down, looking slightly guilty. Kotah nodded to Som as they stepped onto the mat.

"Today, we are going to be learning how to escape a headlock." Sock blinked, and in an instant, Kotah had Som in a headlock. "You have exactly sixty seconds to escape my hold. Starting now." Som twisted, grabbing at Kotah's arms with her fingers. Sock leaned forward, watching Somebody's eyes as she tried to form a cohesive plan. She jerked her hand down and drove her elbow into Kotah's stomach, at the same time stomping hard on the Shiftling's foot. Kotah reflexively released her, stumbling back a bit before Som spun and threw a punch towards her face. She dodged, shifting and then bolting forward, swinging around Som and shifting back. Sock leaned forward, startled by the sudden appearance of something black and silver in Kotah's hand.

Where did this child get a knife? She thought, watching as Som ducked out of the way.

Kotah grabbed her arm, the point of her knife pressed against Som's throat. Som didn't let them savor their victory, though, as she grabbed Kotah's wrist and flipped her onto her side. Kotah shifted and landed on her paws, starting to turn away. Som lunged forward and lifted the cat into her arms, pinning them against her chest.

"Gotcha!" Som grinned triumphantly. Kotah meowed loudly, looking irritated.

"She wants you to put her down so she can shift back." Different called, now in human form. Its heterochromatic eyes gleamed as she looked at her sister. "She concedes the battle to you."

"Pay up, Arson." Som grinned, setting Kotah's cat form on the ground and sauntering toward her friend. Arson rolled his eyes but dug into xyrs pocket and pulled out a fistful of WatcherPoints.

"I'm disappointed in you, Kotah." They said to the cat, who gave him a death glare. Different stood up and offered Som a potion of healing, then walked over to Kotah, who shifted back to accept the potion.

"Did I hurt you?" Star asked Som, uncorking the bottle and swallowing the contents.

"Couple of bruises, a scratch or two, but that's it. You?"

"Just bruises, aching feet, and sore spot from your elbow." Kotah shoved themself to their feet. "Who's next?" Human volunteered, taking her glasses off and handing them to Syd. She walked onto the mat, looking fixedly at Kotah's knife. Kotah sheathed it and handed it off to Different, who was back in fox form, sitting on the table with her array of items.

"A headlock wouldn't be effective on me." Human said as she walked toward Kotah. "Do I still need to learn?"

"If you want to, yes. If not, you can put me in a chokehold - you were here for that lesson, right? - and I'll show you how to prevent someone from escaping." Human nodded, and Kotah padded around her.

"Here. This spot - you can't see it, Human, but I'll show you after - this is where you should aim if you want to take down your opponent quickly." Kotah tapped a spot near the top of Human's spine. "See where it connects with her collarbone? Just under that, strike it with your elbow. Hurts like hell, and guaranteed to get their attention." Kotah turned to the others. "Partner up, and try it out." She quickly showed Human where to hit, as Axie and Syd partnered up and Arson and Soma began sparring. Sock stepped back from the railing, realizing she hadn't moved from her leaning position for the past half hour. Others had joined her in watching, she realized in surprise, noticing Crystal sitting on the railing nearby, and Honesty, Thia, and Q sitting on couches on the balcony across from them. She grabbed one of the armchairs from the small lounge area and dragged it closer to the railing, not wanting to be as daring as the robot perched on the edge nearby. She sat down and leaned forward, as Crystal started cheering. Kotah had pinned Human, but as she watched, Human grabbed Kotah's wrist and flipped her onto her back, neatly rolling them over and reversing their roles. Khasa started chuckling from the rafters, and once Human let her up, Kotah flipped her sister off. Sock rolled her eyes with a small smile and turned to check on the others. Som was on the ground, Arson's foot resting on their stomach. Syd had caught Axie's arms and held them behind the smaller girl's back.

"Okay, everyone, refocus. Arson, let Som up." Kotah called, nodding to Human. Arson remained in place for a moment, before stepping back and allowing the voidwalker to her feet. Kotah waited until everyone had walked over to her.

"I think that's enough for today. Y'all learned some new moves, I got my tail handed to me by Human, Som won a bet, Arson got to pay her back for winning that bet, and we gained an audience! A pretty good session, if you ask me." Kotah smirked. "Next session is Tuesday, if we don't run into each other around the Abode, I'll see you then!" With that, she dismissed the class.