Calamity Hoppers ~Reprise~
by Christopher R. Martin
Chapter 5 – The Woo Foo Blood Inside My Veins
Chapter 5 – The Woo Foo Blood Inside My Veins
"Nice try, log boy, but it's not going to cut it!" I exclaim as I parry another one of Dave's punches and sweep him off of his feet. Holding him in an armbar, I pin him to the ground by his shoulder with my left knee, and grin.
Dave, seeing that I've outmatched him, taps my lap with his unbound hand, and I release my hold on him. I help him back on his feet and brush off the blades of grass that have lodged into his person. The ones that have found their way into his mouth, he expels them in a sputter.
I look around the backyard and see my other friends either seated on the ground or lying flat on their backs, groaning from the exertion put in their training. Actually, it's more from me dispatching them with sheer ease. Films of perspiration have risen from their pores, signifying the progress they've made. Our grand battle with Eradicus and his faction aside, it's clear to me that they're still very green. That they've yet to see conflict in a degree and way that my sister and I have. For me and Yin, this—training and actual combat—is just another normal day. And it will be only a matter of time for them to get used to it as well.
Maybe. Somewhat. Eh, I'm keeping my feelings reserved for the time being.
"Could we please…take a break?" asks Dave, his wobbly feet giving way, causing him to fall on his behind.
"I don't think…I can handle much more," Roger Jr. whines, his chest dilating and retracting from breathing.
Lina and Coop are too preoccupied with their breathing to even get a word out.
As I observe the two of our Woo Foo inferiors and hear their requests, Yin passes them one by one and offers them a drink from her water bottle and quick wipe from the towel around her arm. She soon makes her way to where Dave and I are, the latter greedily yanking the bottle and sucking on the nozzle.
The more these guys complain, the more I feel compelled to push them. The harder I want to push them. If us rabbit twins are tasked with training a new line of Woo Foo Knights, then it only makes sense for us to teach them the way our master trained us, except much less lenient.
Fortunately for them, I'm still rather new to this teaching thing myself, as is Yin. That, and I'm feeling merciful—completely different from complacency—today.
"Alright, fine," I say and shake my head, to which I receive slight cheers and sighs of relief from everyone.
Yin makes her way towards my side and puts a hand on my shoulder. "You kinda went a little overboard, don't you think bro?" she asks with a quirk of her eyebrow.
"It's what I do." The bitterness in the response stuns my sister and momentarily steals her will to speak.
She merely sighs at my statement. Reclaiming her bottle from Dave, she gazes at my friends and flashes a smile at them. "So since you guys have done a terrific job, why don't we reward you for your efforts? Throw you a little bone, perhaps." The comment earns her an unamused look from Lina. She turns to her and adds, "Figuratively speaking, of course."
"What have you got in mind?" asks Roger, holding his knees against his chest.
Yin leans her head on her fist in consideration. "How about a movie? Our treat." The suggestion is met with agreeing murmurs from everyone. Well, everyone except me. "What about you, Yang? Feel like joining us?"
I say nothing at all to her and, instead, just shrug at the question. I am still fuming at her from what had happened the other day. From the blow she and Dad had dealt to my pride. Of course, I'd never tell her this. That's up to her to decipher. And the fact that this remains between us, and that it makes her want to rip the fur out of her stupid little head, makes it somewhat bearable.
"What exactly is"—she imitates my shrug, annoyed—"that supposed to mean? Yes? No? What?"
"Eh," I reply with an ambiguous pout of my lip.
She concedes by rolling her eyes. "I'll take that as a 'yes', so…movie it is, then."
My friends rise up off the ground and let out a chorus of cheers and whooping. Inside our room, Yin and I change from our Woo Foo gi to more casual clothing. While she chooses a short-skirted lavender sundress, my choice of clothing is a pair of violet jeans and a brown long-sleeved buttoned shirt.
Gaining approval from our master-slash-father and bidding him goodbye, we leave through the front door and head on out of the premises.
The town on a Monday afternoon is fairly busy, but it's nothing compared to the hustle and bustle one would see on other days. Only a handful of people stand and walk among us, minding their own business as do us. I can count the number of cars we've sighted on both of my hands. On the other hand, the whole place does look orderly since it isn't that active. There is nary a wad of gum or a crumpled ball of paper or an empty bottle or an uptight driver to ruin this pleasant, if not so-so picture.
It takes us a good five or so minutes to arrive at the cinemas. Every one of us gives our suggestions as to what to watch, looking over at the posters and signs to get some ideas. For me, Camp Bloodslaughter 7 stands out the most from all of these movies, but alas… If it wasn't for that damned PG-13 rating, I'd be screaming the title at the top of my lungs, and they'd agree to go see it, too. On that note, I'd have seen the previous installment in the Camp Bloodslaughter series as well.
Before I can have my say on our flick for the afternoon, my head starts to feel light as a balloon. I can feel my senses distorting or outright deadening in short order. My eyes now see nothing but black and white, the same gray accents from my dream, instead of the bright and vibrant palette of everyday life. And above all, my friends are nowhere to be seen.
In fact, there is no one else in sight. Am I back in that purgatory from the other night? I can't be, since I'm still on this sidewalk. Still in front of the cinema that we're about to go in to. Or is this just another game? Another trick my mind is playing on me, a hallucination? No, this is too real, too tangible, to be one. Another one of my mentor's borderline sick methods of teaching me a lesson, maybe? It had better not be. Why is this happening?
A moment spent gaining my bearings later, and I do see someone else besides myself. He approaches on the very same side of the street as me, and his apparition sends a coarse sensation streaming in my veins. It is a canine roughly twice as tall as me in grayish fur, wearing nothing more but a pair of loose pants—the bottom half of a gi, I believe—and a very long coat that stretches down to his knees and barely hides his well-trimmed features—six-pack, chiseled chest, the works. The most noticeable part of him, however, is the weapon he carries with him. A small sword safe in its sheath.
His features become more defined the closer he comes. His eyes are vacant, trained only on the path before him. On his destination. Not once do they deviate. Not once does he glance. I wonder if he's noticed me staring at him. If I am not the only one to pay him heed.
As he draws near to me, the sensation in me burns hot as the sun. It is practically screaming. I feel every pint of blood flowing in me growing in temperature. This Woo Foo Knight's Blood. Could he be the one I seek? The one who visited me in my sleep? Is he Woo Foo as well? The signs all point toward this possibility, but I can't be sure until I follow through on it. If I ever decide to follow through on it.
Bedazzled, I mutter, "Whoa." Whoever this wolf is, he must be what I'm looking for, especially if he can make my blood churn as it does now.
In my reverie, I feel my whole world rocking to and fro. My senses returning, I hear someone call my name.
"Yang?" That's one voice. Coop's voice.
"Yang." Another one. Lina's, this time.
"Yang!" A final voice says to break me out of my trance at last. My sister's voice. "Come back down to Earth, bro."
"Oh. Sorry," I say, my vision normalizing. How long did I dose off for?
My friends have formed a circle around me and share concerned looks. They're all so close to me. It's a miracle I haven't stopped breathing or my heart hasn't skipped a beat.
"Something wrong, dude?" asks Roger, leaning his head closer and waving his hand directly at my face. Failing to notice that I've already woken up.
I catch his arm, finding no humor in any of this. "Stop it."
"You seem completely out of it," states Lina, foregoing her sass for a moment.
"Are you alright?" adds Yin, to my suspicion. That had better be a serious question.
I shake my head quickly three more times and gain my bearings. "It's no big deal. Come on, I'll go get us our seats."
The six of us head for the booth. I glance over my shoulder one more time to try and find the wolf, but he is nowhere in sight…