Clan Thief

Chapter 11

Vortex seemed excited. He looked around the training grounds as if he had just discovered a whole new world. He cracked his knuckles and laughed excitedly.

    “Man, this is awesome!” He started jumping in place with his fists raised above his head. “I get to train with you! Get ready to eat my dust, Kari.” I glared back at him, displeased. I started walking slowly to the center of the yard while still keeping my focus on him.

    “You’re the one that’s gonna be eating dust, Vortex. Don’t underestimate me.” I bluffed with my arms folded.

    “Heh, we’ll just have to see about that.” He followed me to the middle. He backed away from me, keeping his distance at a fair level. He got into a stance with one leg in front of him and his other leg behind. He leaned forward and chuckled under his breath.

    I simply just placed one foot behind me. My arms were still folded across my chest. I beat him down with my cold eyes.

    In a flash, our match started. He darted to the left of me and I made a quick prance opposite of him. Time froze as we both stared into each other’s eyes with competitive content. We paced around each other until I stopped behind one of the many wooden mannequins scattered across the field. Like I imagined in my head, he lunged toward me. He almost kicked me in my side, and it looked like a mean one, but I managed to dodge his attack by leaping onto the back of the mannequin. I held onto its head before Vortex engraved his foot into its side. The mannequin shattered into various sizes of wood shards; except for the head, which I was holding onto. The head separated from the body and I jumped high into the air with it and let it go. While it was still in the air, I shot it at Vortex’s head using my foot. It knocked him down hard to the ground.

    “Ow!” He rubbed at his head and his jaw when he noticed blood seeping down the side of his mouth. “Oh, you dirty little…” He stared me down, furious. He got up grunting. He looked down at his clenched hands. Figuring he let his guard down, it was my time to strike. I ran from side to side to try and confuse him. When I got close enough, I lunged at him with my fist raised. Before I landed my punch, he regained his focus in a split second. I was readying myself to punch him, until I saw a blazing light erupt from his hand. He knocked me down with a fiery punch to my face. I grunted as I spun off into the fence, knocking a hole in it. I looked weak trying to get up. Through half closed eyes, I saw the flames still running through his hands. He looked at me like he was surprised as I was.

    “Kari, I…” He urged to speak, but getting up with a limp, I cut him off. I huffed shortly. hopping back up to my feet, I plunged at him again. It became harder and harder to see him as I switched directions in a violent pace. His fist was raised up in front of him in a sign of defense. I swiftly evaded him, aiming behind him instead of straight forward. He lost his focus, and attempted to flip around to have his focus remain on me. Before he got the chance, I elbowed him hard in the back of his neck. A crackle ran down the core of his spine; he recoiled, and fell to the dusty ground. I kept him in place with my foot rested harsh against his back.

‘“Hah, looks like I won. Who’s eating dirt now, huh?” I shouted victoriously. My arms laid rested on my hips in a mocking manner. His head twisted in my direction with his teeth sharpened and clenched.

“You’re a brat,” He cackled. He trembled beneath my foot as he tried to escape its grasp. “Ugh, just let me up already. I get it, you won.” I didn’t realize I was getting carried away. I lifted my foot from his back, setting him free. Vortex stood, rubbing the back of his head simultaneously. “Gee, thanks Kari. Now my head hurts.”

“What the hell happened here?!” A familiar voice filled our ears. It sounded like Don. We unanimously looked toward the doorway to our right. The door was wide open, and there stood Don. He was wearing a bright pink robe with a red feather lining going past his knees. Below that was dark leg hair and pink and white fluffy slippers. He had a black mug in his left hand that captioned, ‘No Pain No Gain’ which smelled somewhat like coffee. Don looked petrified. “My yard, oh…” He swept his messy hair behind him and looked helplessly at the pieces of destroyed wood scattered on the ground. I rubbed my right cheek; It felt scarred and numb. I was too caught  in the moment to pay attention to my  until now. When I pulled my hand back, bits of ash covered my fingertips. I looked back at Vortex, who was trading glances with Don and I. He took notice to my face. Assuming he felt guilty, he looked down at his hands and started rubbing them.