Thank you for the reviews, guys. Sorry I can't answer your questions without revealing too much. You understand.
Thanks to Hellacre for the editing.
Chapter 14 - The Way of the Warrior
Day 9
Planet Fred - Fortress of Solely Two - 5:30 Hs.
"WAAAAKE UUUP! COME ON, LAZY ASS! GET YOUR SORRY SELF OUT OF BED!"
"Wha...what's happening...?" A startled by all the shouting, but pretty much asleep Clark opened his eyes. "What time is it...?"
"Di?"
As his vision was clearing, Clark could see Diana standing in front of him, in full warrior gear, her hair tied in a bun with her own Lasso. Instead of her star spangled hot-pants she was wearing a leather 'pteruges' with metallic frills, and a blood colored top with silver straps and a steel eagle on her chest. Her feet sported open toe sandals strapped to her ankles and metallic greaves as tall as her knees. Besides her sword, which she kept pointed at him, she was holding her shield with her left arm. Two red and blue lines were drawn on her cheeks at either side of her nose.
The Kryptonian rubbed his eyes in surprise.
"Diana? What's going on?" he asked.
"Why are you still in bed? Get up-get up-get up-get up! Come-on!" the Amazon demanded, banging Eunice against the shield.
"Why? What for? What time is it?" he kept asking.
"Today marks the beginning of your Amazon training, little man. Those muscles won't stay in fit condition unless you use them, and you really need to work in your combat techniques, now that you can't rely on your powers." Diana spat at him, "I'll show you what separates a boy from a fully grown warrior. Rise!"
Clark lay back, covering his head with the pillow. "It's not even dawn yet! Call me back in two hours."
"Incredible!" The Amazon rolled her eyes. Grabbing one end of the bunk in which he slept, made by them so they could sleep in the Fortress, she pulled it up until he fell out of it.
"Hey! What the fu..!" the reporter shouted.
"Language, Kal! Language!" she chided him, whapping his butt with the flat of Eunice. "Pick yourself up! Come on-Come on-Come on-Come on! Put on some comfortable clothes and follow me outside. Move!"
Cursing the day he was born, Clark put on shorts, a tank shirt and sneakers. He splashed his face with cold water and brushed his teeth. When he got out of the Fortress the sky was just beginning to illuminate with the first morning glow.
"About time! Start stretching. We are going for an invigorating run to warm up," Diana stated.
"Sir, Yes-Drill-Sergeant, Sir!" he joked, stretching as he was told. So did Diana. When he was ready, the Amazon gave him a round shield made of a thick piece of wood and a heavy six foot seven bar made from the spars of the Javelin's wing.
"What are these?" Clark asked.
"Every Amazon must run with her spear and shield, and so shall you," the Princess answered.
"How long have you been planning on this?" the Kryptonian asked.
"Since day three. Come on!" and she start running through a lavender color prairie.
"Shit!" Clark, unable to refuse, ran behind her. At least, the view of Diana's tiny waist, her long legs and her firm butt bouncing in front of him, kept him entertained to avoid thinking on how tired he was getting.
When the first rays of light began to appear on the horizon, Diana stopped. Clark wanted to fall on his knees, but remained stoic, although breathing heavily and covered in sweat.
"Three and a half miles. Pretty decent for the first time. The goal is that you reach, at least, twelve. You are stronger than a common man, even without your gifts, so you should do much better." Diana's voice was calm and steady. No sign of sweat on her olive skin. Clark opened his mouth to snap something sarcastic at her, but no words escaped his lips under his exhaustion. "Take five to regain your normal cardiac rate while you flex your muscles. We've only just begun." She threw him a canteen filled with water she brought with her.
For another hour and a half she made him do push-ups, sit-ups, squatting, jumping, etc., until she was satisfied.
"Not too bad. Okay, Big Boy, show me what you've got," she said with a defiant smile, throwing her sword and shield.
"What? What do you want me...?" Clark started.
"Fight me. Let's see what are you made of. Don't be scared, I'll go easy on you," she teased.
"Okey-dokey. Here goes nothing." He remembered her fighting style from when they used to spar when he still had his abilities, and tried to use that knowledge. She kept blocking every blow he threw though.
"As usual, you are telegraphing your every move. You need to learn not to rely on your strength alone. Besides, you are leaving many openings in your defense. Like this!" The Amazon threw a punch to his stomach, making him bend over.
Almost out of breath, the Kryptonian gasped, "You hit like a girl..."
"I know, thanks!" She caught his neck under her arm, forcing him to bend even more. From that position, Clark saw an opening to the back side of her right knee, and hit as hard as he could, making her loose balance and fall, with him on top of her. "Very good, Kal! You are not such a lost cause after all!"
"First fall is for the Smallville Crows. Go team!" he said proudly. "Most people always forget that, even when I had my powers, I often have to fight opponents as powerful as myself or more, like Darkseid or Mongul. I've learned a thing or two along the way."
"Yes, but don't get cocky. You took me by surprise; don't count on it happening again. Now get up," the Amazon ordered.
After his first victory, she managed to throw him down every time.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Clark asked, wiping the dust from his butt.
"Immensely. This is for all the times you used your heat vision and arctic breath during our sparring sessions," Diana answered with a smile.
"Hey! It was you who insisted on me going full force on you!" he defended himself.
"I was talking about your combat skills, not your tricks and gimmicks!" she chided him.
"And what about your Lasso, Princess? You always used your Lasso." Clark crossed his arms on his chest.
"Eehr...obviously not the same thing! And don't call me Princess!" Diana rammed the Kryptonian to the floor.
The attack ended with her sitting on his chest, immobilizing his arms under her knees. From his position, her scent reached his nose. Wild orchids mixed with burning wood and some very, very feminine fragrance insinuating its way through it. It was intoxicating.
Before he got aroused, he shouted,"Uncle! Uncle! I give up!"
Diana helped him stand. "Enough dust biting for you today. Let's get to some techniques now."
For as long as another hour, she taught him evasive movements, blocking maneuvers, how to attack even when taking a defensive stand, and how to balance his body to make his blows more potent.
It was nine o'clock when they returned to their settlement.
"It was a good first session. Get used to this, because we're doing it every morning from now on," the Amazon stated
"Yaay..." he answered wryly.
Diana let her hair down, saying, "It's time to go up there and resume the search." The Princess pointed her finger to the sky. "Let me bath first, so I can go change into your uniform."
"Okay. I'll take a bath while you're in orbit. I'll prepare breakfast now," he replied.
Diana kept a basin with water scented by black flower petals in it to freshen up. Clark used it to wash his armpits and neck before breakfast.
After their morning meal, Diana went inside the Fortress to change. When she got out she approached their fireplace, where they made a bonfire every night to have dinner, chat and sing, and took up a partially burnt branch. The Kryptonian watched her with curiosity. When she turned to face him she had a sooty 'Happy face' drawn in the white circle of her chest.
Laughing, Clark asked her "And what is that for?"
"A little optimism doesn't hurt, does it?" she said smiling.
"You're absolutely right, it doesn't" he responded, handling the golden Lasso to her. Clark was still holding the other end when the Princess wrapped it around her waist. Diana wasn't susceptible to the magic of the Lasso, or so she thought, but an irresistible impulse invaded her, making the Amazon shortening the distance between them.
She looked straight into his eyes and then lowered her sight to his lips. It was but a second, after which she said, shaking her head, "Got to go. Wish me luck," and she took off.
"Good luck...," he said, tying his end of the rope to his waist.
As she was flying towards space, Diana wondered,"What in Hades was that? The Lasso never had that effect on me. I was about to kiss him!" And then she asked herself, "So? Would it be that bad? Why can't I show him my feelings? No! He's in a very vulnerable state right now. It wouldn't be fair. And, most importantly, I don't want to be chosen because I'm the only available option around! I want him to be completely mine, by choice. I want us to share the same feelings, not to be occasional sex mates because we are isolated on this planet! Great Gaea! We have to get out of here soon! I don't know for how long I'm going to keep up this resolve!"
Clark welcomed the cold water like a balsam. He'd taken the alarm clock with him and the Lasso was still attached to his waist. The workout had left him tired, covered with bruises and scrapes, but his muscles weren't sore. Not yet.
"I'm gonna be sooo sorry tomorrow," he thought. "But I will show her I'm no 'Cry Baby'. I can take it, can't I? Yeah. I'm gonna be the best Amazon...wait, Amazon? Aren't Amazons all girls? Amazon-o? That's it: 'Amazon-o'. Best Amazon-o ever! Man, that sounds kind of stupid... Anyway! My biggest worry is too much physical contact with Diana. Her soft skin, that beautiful scent of her. And my damn body reacting as if I were a teenager! I almost grew a boner earlier today, for pete sake! Heh! That's a problem the Amazons of Themyscira never had, for sure!"
After his bath, he picked up his things and went back to the Fortress. Looking down, his shadow called for his attention. Besides the common, well defined silhouette, there was a barely noticeable second edge to it. "That wasn't there a week ago." he said out loud. He went into the Javelin, to the control room, and removed two remaining pieces of the crystalline titanium shield still attached to the window frame after the explosion that crippled the ship. This crystal had the property of darkening when exposed to sunlight, much like photochromic lenses, but with a wider spectrum. With the two crystals, one in front of the other, shielding his eyes, he looked to the suns direction and saw a variation in the stars position: the white dwarf was sticking out from behind the red giant, which meant that in a few months it would be clearly visible at least a quarter of it
"I wonder how it would affect my condition. Will I have my powers partially restored? It's not a yellow sun, and I've never been under the influence of a binary system before. Under the blue sun of Almerac my abilities diminished, but pretty much it was all there, but now I'm in 'terra incognita'". He decided not to keep his hopes too high, and not to tell Diana about it still. She surely would find out by herself and probably arrive to the same questions, but it won't be him to be the one to lead her into disappointment.
In that moment, the alarm went off. He pulled the Lasso to warn his companion. Again, a reduction in the rope's tension told him she was coming back. "Thank goodness," he sighed.
At the same time, he heard the wind whistling above his head. Looking up he saw what looked like a huge bird, blue and green in color, with four legs finished in blue claws, a six foot tall body and a wingspan of about seven yards diving at full speed on him. Clark threw himself to the floor and the claws missed him by the skin of his teeth. He stood up immediately to grab the Plaser pistol from over the table, but the animal swatted it off his hand with the tip of its wing, regaining altitude afterwards. Knowing he got only a few seconds before the beast's next attack, he grabbed the estranium spear Diana made for his training.
Pa Kent once told him of a hunting trip he took with two friends into the Western Woods, where they were chased by a grizzly bear. The only way to get rid of the animal was making a long spear, letting the bear chase one of them where they had the weapon readied, and, when the beast was over them, lifting the tip of the spear to its chest, so the bear would impale himself with it by means of its own inertia.
"Sounds like a plan, Pa. Not an easy one, though. I only hope this spear is long enough." The Man of Tomorrow stood in the open, waiting for his attacker to return, holding the lance by his side. When the 'bird' threw itself on him for the final blow, he let himself fall on his back, holding the bar perpendicularly to the ground.
In that precise moment, Diana broke the veil of the clouds and saw the animal throwing itself over Clark.
"KAL!" Her scream thundered for miles. She took a dive with such speed the air around her started to burn and a sonic boom could be heard. The bird was shaking, and Diana thought the worst. She landed with her fists on the monster's back, with full force.
"Ooow! Stop! Di, stop! cough...cough!" It was Clark's voice from under. She finally saw the end of the lance emerging from the body of the dead beast. Diana lifted it.
"Kal! Oh, Kal! Are you alright!?" The beak of the animal was stuck in the ground just millimeters of his right ear.
"I was, until you punch us! Get this monster off me. It weights a ton...Thanks!" he coughed, covered in mud and brown blood from the beast. Diana helped him up, checking his limbs and torso, looking for injuries or broken bones. When she was satisfied everything was okay, she took Clark in her arms in a long, tight embrace. His heart was racing.
"Oh you, brave...stupid, stupid man! Don't you ever do that to me again!"
Clark had his arms hanging at both sides of his body and, slowly, raised them to encircle her torso, returning her hug. They remained like that for a long while.