Twisted Wonderland

Jack and a Game of Chase

"Okay so, why am I here?"

You stand next to Jack in the woods by the school. Jack had asked you to come with him but you didn't know why.

Jack turns to you, arms folded. "You need to learn how to defend yourself. One day, you may find yourself in a situation that you need to know how to fight back."

You tilt your head. "I don't think I live a dangerous life that I'd need to."

Jack twitches his ears. "You never know what could happen. A situation could happen where I'm not there to protect you-"

Jack cuts himself off and clears his throat. "Anyways, I thought I might teach you some basic defense moves."

You shrug. "Okay, how hard could this be?"

Jack gets into a fighting stance and you try to copy him. Jack shakes his head at your bad stance. He walks over to you and shifts your legs to the proper position.

"You want to have a good stance otherwise your opponent will knock you over easily. And you want to be light and fast on your feet so you can strike and dodge quickly."

Jack grabs your wrists and bring them to your face. "And you want to shield your head so your opponent doesn't do lasting damage there."

You nod, feeling light on your feet and ready to strike. "Got it."

"You want to avoid punching with your fists. If you don't know how to punch right, you could seriously hurt yourself. That is why using your elbows, and your knees at close range are better."

Jack takes a few swings in the air with his elbows and knees, showing you how to effectively hit. You repeat the moves shown to you with Jack helping to correct any mistakes.

"Next, kicks are effective strikes because you can keep your opponent at bay. Kicks are especially effective and do some damage when you learn how to throw them properly."

Jack shows you how to properly grow a good kick by leaning back on one foot and slam the heel of the foot into the opponent. He holds your sides to help steady you as you lean back and throw your leg in a powerful kick.

Jack nods approvingly. "And if push comes to shove, running away is important."

You nod. "That makes sense."

Jack stands in front of you, hands on his hips. "Now to get better at running, you have to train so you can outrun your opponents."

You grin at the wolf. "I know the best way to train for that."

Jack tilts his head. "And what's that?"

"Tag!"

You tap Jack on his arm and run away. Jack stares at you, not knowing what to do. You glance back at the wolf, seeing he isn't following you. Stopping, you turn around.

"You're supposed to chase me."

Jack still looks confused. "Why?"

"That's the whole game!" Exasperated, you walk back to Jack. "If you get tagged than you have to chase the other person and tag them."

Jack folds his arms. "And how is this game supposed to help you train?"

"Well the game is all about running. You run to tag someone and you run to avoid getting tagged."

Jack brings a hand to his chin. "I think I understand this game now."

"Great!" You grin."So, tag!"

You tap Jack on the arm again and bolt away from him. Jack grins as he watches your retreating form. Jack chases after you, quickly gaining on you.

Glancing back, you see Jack right on your heels. "Can't catch me!"

Jack only smirks, getting closer with every step. You weave between the trees, trying to loose him. You feel like you're getting ahead of the wolf. With a mighty leap, Jack wraps his arms around you, causing you both tumble down the hill.

You finally roll to a stop at the base of the hill as Jack lands on top of you. Jack taps you on the head.

"Did I tag you?" The wolf asks.

You laugh. "Yeah, guess that's one way to tag someone."

You and Jack share a laugh. You finally realize just how close he is. You feel your heart hammering in your chest. Jack stares into your eyes, running his hand across your cheek. Jack looks away, breaking the spell.

"You were right about the game being good at helping you run." Jack stands and helps you get up.

You laugh. "Yup. With a game being all about running, it makes a good exercise."

Jack grins and runs back up the hill. "Try to catch me!"

"Hey no fair!" You call out to the wolf. "You have the high ground!"

You chase after Jack, starting the game back up again.