The Shadow Court

Chapter 12 - Tutoring

Despite several screaming major muscles, Harley decided to pick up his old training routine again. It involved a lot of parkour around the outskirts of Wyong, followed by a series of fighting combos against tree trunks. It usually took a couple of hours and resulted in many bruises, but it was worth it.

Thinking about Estella made it easier to get through. A thousand plans had already been made and discarded inside Harley's mind, and he was starting to lose hope. Hell, he wasn't even sure she was still alive, but something told him that not even the Shadow King would be that cruel. Still, he seemed to Harley like the type of guy that didn't do anything without a plan. That being said, he was probably expecting the rebel league to show up when they did. The team had been played from the start.

Instead of discussing the valid yet debatable facts that trickled through his fragile mind every few seconds, Harley kept to himself these days. Whenever he talked to Joel or Tristan or Kira, he'd tell them he was fine. It was easier than explaining the crippling state he was in. Estella wasn't the only thing on his mind, although she took up ninety percent of it. Harley had also been thinking about why he was still doing the things he did. Why he still shot at people he didn't know. Why he still stole things that didn't belong to him. The Crime Lords were originally formed as a way of surviving in hell on Earth, but that was over now. Harley had left the group over a year ago, yet here he still was. He'd even dragged Estella into his crazy life, and look how that turned out. The only answer he could find to answer the question was that the crime war wasn't over. That there was still a massive amount of criminals and thugs that threatened Harley's life every day, and he needed to be able to protect himself and his family. Then again, he'd left his parents alone a long time ago.

"I wonder how they're doing..." Harley mumbled to himself. "I wonder how much of a disappointment I've become to them..."

He kicked the tree trunk in front of him so hard that it shook the ground. Then he hugged it and said sorry.

"Call me crazy," someone said behind him, "but that's a little strange."

Harley was surprised to spin around and find Ella standing before him. She giggled in that childish way of hers and cracked her knuckles. "Instead of beating the poor tree to death, you wanna go a few rounds with me? You look like you could use a spar."

Harley rubbed his head. "How could you tell?"

Ella flowed with the sarcasm and shrugged. "Lucky guess."

Two minutes later, the two squared off on the flatter surface just outside the house. Harley wasn't intent on trying very hard, considering he'd just used up all his energy from training, but Ella looked ready to run a marathon. She bounced on her toes and executed each attack with more enthusiasm than a toddler at a fete. However, despite the lack of effort, Harley beat Ella seven times in a row. There was something off about her strength-based fighting style, like someone had tried to teach her a method that didn't suit her strengths. Harley had noticed it earlier at the duels.

"Wills taught you to fight, right?" He asked, helping Ella up for the eighth time.

She brushed off her jeans and rolled her eyes. "Yep, like everything else."

"You sound disappointed." Harley pointed out.

"Not disappointed," said Ella. "More like annoyed. I learned a hell of a lot from him, and I don't regret that, but I felt like a pet rather than a commander the entire time. I liked him, and I was prepared to help him with whatever he was planning, but it was the loneliest time of my life." She sighed. "It sucks that my little school-girl-crush had to be on a sociopath." A flash of recognition crossed her face and she gave Harley an accusatory look. "Why do you ask? Is there something wrong with my punches?"

Harley chuckled. "It's, well... all of it. It's like you're trying to attack with more strength than you have."

"That's what Wills told me to do!" Ella exclaimed. "He said 'use your weight against your opponent' and stuff like that."

"And that would work." said Harley. "If you actually had any weight. Or strength."

Ella opened her mouth to retort, then furrowed her eyebrows. "Okay. Fine. I don't have many muscles, but I use a mallet for Christ sake. Who needs muscles when you have a mallet!?"

Harley blinked. "I don't really know how to answer that. But, what I do know, is that there are more ways to fight than one."

Ella crossed her arms. "Well, unless someone volunteers to-" Her eyes widened. "Could you teach me?"

"Huh?"

"Teach me."

Harley could practically feel the heat vision searing through his brain as he looked into Ella's eyes. She was so determined that it was impossible to say no.

Therefore, the ninth match of the day commenced. This time, Harley didn't attack. He simply dodged or blocked Ella's attacks and gave her pointers. He picked up her lack of hip and shoulder movement, which she corrected almost immediately. Then he showed her a better way of head-locking an opponent, which she mastered in all of three attempts.

"Wow," said Harley. "You learn fast."

Ella shrugged. "One of my hidden talents, I guess. Anything else you wanna correct?"

An idea suddenly sprang into Harley's head. "Actually, I wanna teach you a few things that I think you'll enjoy. How's your gymnastics?"

"My gymnastics?" Ella stared into space for a moment. "I can cartwheel pretty well, why?"

Harley grinned excitedly. "Because you just found yourself a tutor. C'mon, we'll start with the basics."