Tarine panted and spat blood onto the grass. She knew training would be difficult, but she hadn't expected an outright beating the first day. She balled her fists and bounced her weight from foot to foot. Piccolo held his stance with a sharp glare. He kept himself suppressed. She wasn't worth any more power than that. He was motionless and calm. Tarine gritted her teeth, tail lashing.
"You're open all over. You need to fix your stance. Lower your center of gravity." Piccolo informed her. Tarine gave a short nod and bent a bit lower, still shifting rhythmically. She kept a tempo, mid-paced, and tight.
"Close enough. Attack me." He decided. Tarine raced at him, throwing a punch for his face. Piccolo caught it with ease and jammed his elbow into her gut. She grunted and tightened her jaw, staggering backward. Tarine clawed Piccolo's gi but failed to reach his flesh. He swatted her away and took a calm step aside escaping a wild kick in her retaliation.
"I'm not sure I can even call this sparring anymore." Piccolo hummed. He ducked a fist and punched her gut. She coughed and dropped to her knees.
"O-ow…" Tarine whined. Piccolo shook his head and rubbed his temple.
"I keep underestimating how long this will take…" He said to himself. Tarine growled softly. She forced herself back to her feet and held the throbbing pain in her gut. She gave it one more go. Leaping at him and twisting in the air to slam her tail into him. He caught it and threw her into the dirt. She clamped her claws on his wrist and dug into him. Tarine gave a breathless triumphant laugh. Her only connecting attack was able to draw blood. However, she celebrated too soon. Piccolo used her grip against her, swinging her into the cliff face. Her body left a heavy crater on the side of the mountain. Her head was swimming. She didn't realize Earth had such strong warriors. Her jaw tightened as she realized this may have been a mistake.
"It was one match, you can't give up on this so soon," Piccolo said, placing a hand on her shoulder and mending her clothes. Tarine flinched with her eyes wide. She snapped her attention to him and swallowed the lump in her throat.
"H-how did-?"
"It's an ability of mine," he answered without allowing her to finish, "rest up and we'll start again. I won't go easy on you for very long." Piccolo gave her some space. Leaving for someplace else while Tarine remained behind. She watched him vanish over the mountain range. Her body felt heavy. She looked at her claws and clenched them, grimacing. She could fend for herself, but when it came to actual combat she was hopeless. Tarine raised her face to the sky. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Once she gathered her nerves she took her fighting stance. Swift kicks lashed through the air. Fists buried into the rock. Debris scattered at her feet, her tail sweeping it away. She punched into the mountain until she carved out a small nook. Her knuckles cracked as she flexed them, a grumble sticking in her throat.
"I thought I was better than this…" She sighed. Tarine held her hand and studied the knuckles. Blood started to well around the small pebbles stuck in the broken flesh. She shook her hand out and sucked a sharp breath through her teeth. She turned to the sheer drop in the other direction and sat on the very edge. The view of the full valley glistened in the noon light. Sparse vegetation, wide-open spaces, a lazily passing river.
Shortly, Piccolo returned. He landed behind Tarine and dropped something that immediately burst into a full, built home with a weird popping sound. The sound startled Tarine, making her whip around to the source.
"Woah, what is this?" She asked, walking up to it and looking in the window. It showed a small living area with a kitchen and a table. A house out of nothing? What is this place? Piccolo folded his arms and stepped back from it.
"I borrowed a capsule home from Bulma. It's where you'll be staying until we're finished." He explained. Tarine entered the little house and poked her nose into all of the cupboards and rooms. She got herself familiar with the new living quarters before leaning out the door.
"Where are you staying?" She asked.
"Don't worry about me." He coldly replied. Tarine slanted her mouth and leaned against the door.
"Fine, well... thank you anyway." She said, turning her face away. Piccolo grunted and returned to the clearing, studying the sun.
"Let's continue," he pointed to the distance, the river's source at the top of a far off mountain, "Reach that point without flying." Tarine stood beside him and looked out to the goal, shrugging.
"Alright, I guess." She jumped down the cliff, floating to stall her fall and land safely. Before she could reach the earth, a massive weight caught her shoulders and caused her to careen the remaining distance and crash. Piccolo floated over her head and smirked faintly to himself.
"And you have to keep those weights on." He added.
Tarine grunted and pushed herself up, wobbling and teetering. She finally caught her balance. The weights were covered in white cloth draping down to her knees. A cape just like his. She glared up at him in silence. Piccolo left her to her test. A quiet chuckle caught Tarine's ears. She flicked her tail angrily, stiffening it when her balance started to wane. Her legs trudged slowly. Bent terribly at the knees. The weight kept her from raising her arms. At this angle, the forest appeared insanely vast. Walls of brown and green rarely shifted as she advanced.
'Dumb asshole… this is insanely unfair.' Tarine grumbled in her mind. She looked at the sky to see if her mentor was watching. He wasn't visible, at least for now. Tarine took a moment to press against a tree and get the weights to catch on the wood. They lifted only slightly, but it was bliss nonetheless. A small breather was all she needed. Satisfied, she let the weights drop on her again, but now they felt almost 10 pounds heavier. She squeaked in fear. She grabbed the tree with her tail to stay upright. Punishment, of course. She swallowed her pride and continued to trudge on with the added annoyance.