The three of them rolled around like a tiny but vicious storm. There were no rules and no holding back. Shoko was lost in the swirling trio of aggression. She didn't think beyond the quick instincts of attacking. She saw an exposed arm and Shoko bit. Seeing a patch of hair, Shoko reached out and pulled.
Shoko kicked and punched like a ferocious animal. A gleefully ferocious animal. The whole time, Shoko never stopped laughing. Not when a fist was being shoved into her stomach or when her face got shoved into the dirt as the two boys fought atop her obliviously.
She'd managed to worm her way out, the grin never fading as Shoko knocked the two over with a sweeping kick. They went down like stones and Shoko dove in, already balling up her fist.
Somewhere across her body, there were dozens of bruises forming and waiting to be formed. She had scrapes and dirty patches. Shoko's hair was full of twigs and dirt and blood. Despite all this, or possibly as a result of all this, Shoko felt fantastic.
She was an animal as she fought those two. Nothing existed beyond the ruthless scrap. Nothing was real and nothing needed to be. All Shoko required was the feel of her fist making contact, and the returning sting of pain.
It seemed that she never grew tired, just as the two boys never seemed to. The fight went on forever, becoming a whole world of its own. There were surely other children about, but they existed in a different time and place.
Shoko drove her knee into Peepers' stomach and saw him choke from the impact. His eyes popped out a little at the same time, but that didn't stop him. The boy reached out toward Shoko's hair, but a hand caught it in midair.
The fight dissolved in a moment.
The storm went away and they were suddenly just three kids among many. They fell apart and sat on the ground separately. Tommy and Shoko stared at Peepers from either side as Stephen grasped his hand from above.
The air was still and empty, silent as they waited for Stephen to speak. Looking up at the man, Shoko felt fearful of what might come next. They'd been fighting, rolling around and fighting. Who knew what was going to happen to them. What was Stephen going to say? What was he going to do?
Still looking down at them, Stephen released Peepers' hand and said, "You'd better break it up if you don't want to miss training."
Shoko felt herself sigh and relax, even though the whole inside of her was ready to boil. It all flashed back to her in that moment and Shoko started to climb excitedly to her feet.
Training! Adventure was coming back to her. The prospect of adventure always made Shoko excited, but this was training. Adventure training! Stephen was going to teach them how to be adventurers. He'd promised her yesterday and it was actually happening.
Shoko could almost feel herself buzzing from the excitement.
Peepers and Tommy both leapt up at the same time and ran back toward the building. Starting just a second later, Shoko ran after them. She could see now that they were the last ones heading in.
However, Shoko could see a horde of girls filing out behind Mrs. B. They were all talking among themselves and stretching out the sleep. As she passed by, Shoko wondered how long she'd been awake.
For the most part, the girls went past obliviously. However, it seemed that Meg recognized her and Shoko saw her eyes nearly pop out of her head at that moment. The girl stared at Shoko as they passed, a question apparent on her lips.
Just as suddenly as she'd appeared, Meg was gone and Shoko was inside the building. There were still some girls coming up the ladder, and the trio had to wait for them before heading down. Both Tommy and Peepers slid down the ladder, creating a sharp thud as they landed.
They waited for Shoko to descent before they went on.
Running down the stairs, Shoko followed closely on the two boys' heels. They shot down the stairs as a group, flying over the silver floor at the bottom. The big door had been left open and the boys led Shoko into the right-hand rooms.
They stopped quickly, standing in front of an open room. It was larger than Shoko's room, being at least thirty feet by thirty. All the boys were down here, acting as excited as they had been above, if not more so.
Shoko knew that she was excited, so very excited. Adventure training! Adventure training! ADVENTURE TRAINING!
Stepping into the room, Shoko looked around, wondering what it would be like. The room was plain silver all around, completely unfurnished.
Footsteps resounded behind her, and Shoko spun around quickly. Stephen was standing there, a strange look on his face.
"Who's ready to train?" he asked the room.
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