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SilentSequoia Shadow_Cat - Yesterday at 7:36 PM

SilentSequoia: Yesterday at 7:36 PM

This is the wood-based cape you saw a few days ago. We fought the Empire 88 thugs, and stopped them from robbing that barber shop?

Shadowcat: Yesterday at 7:47 PM

I was wondering if you were actually going to contact me. Good to see you're not a complete idiot Woody. You want to be a survivor?

SilentSequoia: Yesterday at 7:50 PM

What the hell does that even mean? Look, all I want is the chance to meet up and talk shop. Indie hero to indie hero.

Shadowcat: Yesterday at 7:56 PM
It means you're willing to do what it takes to survive. Willing to fight. Where exactly do you want to meet, and when?

SilentSequia: Yesterday at 8:10 PM
That makes you sound extremely edgy. Joseph Memorial Park at one tomorrow night work for you?

Shadowcat: Yesterday at 8:20 PM
Works fine for me Woody, and it's just the way of the world. See you there, assuming you don't manage to get yourself killed before then.

A small grumble escaped me as I put my phone away. Maybe I should have waited another day… The bus hit a bump, jostling me in my seat. The bruise on my side shot a lance of pain up my spine, but I gritted my teeth and pushed it down. It was feeling a lot better with a good night's sleep and an entire day's worth of rest. Yet it still wasn't completely healed. It was times like these when I really wished I could use my power directly on myself. The best I could theoretically do was make some medicine for myself, but I didn't dare try it. If I screwed up, then there'd be no one who could help me.

So I just had to bear the pain as the bus turned. No one questioned a teenage girl in an oversized hoodie riding at this time of night. Even Downtown, everyone knew to keep to their own business. Sometimes I hated it, but it had a tendency to be useful. There was a shift as the bus stopped next to Joseph Memorial Park. Pushing myself upright, I made my way past the few people getting on to climb off. Light from a streetlamp illuminated me as I took in my surroundings.

The snow, once beautiful, was for the most part dirty piles of slush that had accumulated at the sides of the roads and buildings. It was mostly quiet, with only a bit of traffic and a few pedestrians. Most importantly, there was no one to be seen in the park itself. Plenty of shadows to hide in and put on my armor. As well as have this meeting with Shadow_Cat. Double checking the time on my phone revealed I had around half an hour before it was time.

It had taken a lot of thought to decide to contact her. Really, she was the only person I could talk to about this sort of thing. Besides perhaps, discussing it with random online groups. Last night showed me I really needed some guidance on how to do this. Paying more attention to the monthly self-defense lessons wasn't actually going to help me any. Neil only taught me the basics of how to fight, mostly focusing on how I could use my power to win. Separating myself from my power meant I'd have to learn an entirely new style of fighting.

If I wanted proper, in-person advice and feedback, they were the only option. Even if they were an asshole. My sigh escaped in a cloud as I decided that I had gone far enough. Now it was time to get my armor on. Snow crunched underfoot as I made my way into the shadow of what I thought was a walnut. A patch of already ripped-off bark provided easy access. Material flowed from the tree over me, my eyes closing as I focused entirely on the process. Even after only doing this a couple of times, it was already starting to become familiar. The way the material needed to be shaped to enable movement, where the padding went.

With what time I had before she was due to arrive, I experimented. The fight had shown me that despite my improvements, I had a long way to go. Blunt force trauma still posed a serious risk, I had the bruise to show it. Thus the padding needed to be better. A section of the tree was my subject, as I altered it into something else. The basic moss structure I had used before wasn't good enough, so I put more time into altering the cell structure. Really now that I thought about it, it made sense. Compression was how the armor dealt with blunt force trauma. Moss just wasn't particularly well suited to compressing in that way.

It needed to absorb energy well, so I turned to the only thing I could think of. Thick but flexible strands of cellulose formed an intricate network, creating something similar to a foam mattress. More importantly, there just needed to be more of it. Some on the inside of my helmet so that I wouldn't get a concussion. A thin layer like I did before wasn't going to be enough to stop anything with serious weight. Which meant altering the armor's size, in general, to make sure that it all fits together. Is it just me or is this starting to get kind of heavy…

"... Did I just watch you gain a hip size?" The sudden voice made me jump. I whirled around, a scooped-out chunk of wood forming a knife. For a moment it seemed like a literal shadow had walked up to me. Then I noticed the hockey mask almost completely hidden by the hood. "Go ahead killer, take a stab at it, see how far it gets you."

"Shut up, you startled me… And I was making improvements to my armor. Adding extra padding." My eyes flicked down to the knife in my hand. I really made that entirely by instinct. Gripping it a little bit tighter, the material that made it up flowed into my glove, coming to rest in a block on my wrist. Shadow Cat let out a whistle as she watched.

"Neat trick. Didn't really notice it last time. Seriously though, more padding? What do you want to be, a hero or a pillow?" I bristled slightly at the jab. My arms came up and crossed, glaring at her from behind the mask. To make sure the point came across, I had the features of the mask shift to match my expression. "Okay, that's kind of creepy."

"Again, shut up. Not all of us have a power that lets us just phase through attacks. I'm not a speedster or a brute, so, I gotta have armor." It was hard to tell how she reacted to that. Her expression was hidden behind the hockey mask. Most of her body was hidden by her cloak. At the very least, I could recognize a shrug.

"I'd say just don't get hit, but considering you're green, that's probably a good way of getting yourself killed. So fine. Don't see why you needed to put all that on for this meeting though." My response to that was just a shrug back, as I changed the expression on the mask to something resembling neutral.

"It's my outfit. I figured I should wear my outfit when meeting with another hero." It just seemed logical. It must have not been for her, as she snorted. Is she just going to question literally everything I do?

"I mean I guess. We're not going to go on patrol together or anything, but if you want your bark to feel safe, you do you, Woody." Oh, you bitch. Despite not being able to see her face, I could feel the grin she had behind that mask.

"It's Sequoia. I wouldn't want to go out on a patrol with you anyway… Kitty." The nickname took a few moments to come into my head. If she didn't want to be called it, maybe don't name yourself Cat on PHO.

"... Let's get to business, I don't want to be here all damn night." Her curt response showed that I had managed to get at least one point. "I'm assuming you asked me out here because you can't fight for shit. Want me to teach you how to fight, right?"

"... I wouldn't mind a few pointers." That was the embarrassing part. Having to ask this bitch for help. Heat spread across my face. Thank god for this mask.

"Fine. You want some tips. The first tip, practice makes perfect. If you're going to be able to fight well, you have to put the effort in. Second tip, exercise. Doesn't matter if you've got the best armor in the world, if you're some skinny little bitch under it, you're gonna get your ass kicked. Good? We're done here." With that she turned, starting to walk away. I blinked rapidly, my mouth opening and closing. That's it? The most basic-ass common sense things she could say and then she's gone?

"Wait a minute! You can't seriously expect me to be satisfied with just that?! I didn't ask you out here to just get told the shit they tell Wards on day one! Why the hell would you even come out here if you were going to tell me that?" That got her to stop, as she turned to look back at me.

"Why the hell should I waste my time? I was checking to see if you were worth my time, and I don't see anything worth it. If you're not capable of getting good on your own, then it's not my problem. Law of the jungle Woody." That… didn't make sense.

"Isn't that something about wolf packs? I think you mean the theory of evolution." Several moments passed when neither of us moved. We just stared at each other. Eventually, she just let out a loud groan.

"Oh god, you're a nerd. I'm out of here." Mild panic filled me as she started to leave again. Getting normal lessons wasn't an option. Carol almost definitely would refuse, and get suspicious of why I wanted them. How the hell do I get her to stay?

"I can make equipment for you!" The knife reformed in my hand as she turned around. I held it up for her to see. "The stuff I make stays that way unless I change it back. In exchange for lessons, I could make armor, bolts, weapons, you name it. This stuff is better than you can find in a store."

Several moments passed and I thought she wasn't going to agree. Then she trudged back over to me. One hand was held out towards me. It was obvious what she wanted, so I handed the knife to her. Bringing it up to her eye, she inspected it from a couple of different angles. Suddenly, she turned and slammed it point first into the tree. Taking a step back, I watched as she inspected how far it went in. Then she yanked it out, and just went to town on the tree, stabbing and slashing at it with the knife.

I was worried it might break, but it surprisingly held up. After a bit, she stopped and inspected the knife again. It had some obvious damage, the edge being blunted and chipped and the tip had snapped off. "Most knives I could get for cheap would have snapped completely. Fair enough, it is better than a lot of store shit. You can fix this pretty easily, right?"

Nodding, I reached out and touched the flat of the blade. It shrunk a bit as I rearranged some parts, but before long it was essentially brand new. "That took me a literal second to make. You got a weapon you want, I can do it."

"Make me a sheath for this, and you've got a deal." It took me a second to realize what exactly she meant. My hand went over to the tree, scooping another small chunk of it into my hand. Taking the knife back, I shaped the wood around it. Before long I had a sheath for it, complete with a buckle to keep it from falling out. There was a faint bit of pride as I handed it back to her. I'm getting good at this making weapons thing.

She flipped her cloak back, revealing a very practical outfit underneath. It looked like a surplus army jacket and pants with combat boots. Absolutely covered in pockets, she slid the knife into one of them and tested to see if she could get it easily or not. "Alright then Woody, seems like we've got something good here. Make that bow of yours, I want to see how awful you actually are with it."

I was already starting to regret my decision. Grumbling to myself, my hand went back to the tree. More material flowed out of it, this time taken from the roots rather than the branches or main trunk. This was a little more difficult. Experimenting had shown me that the body had to have a pretty specific shape and composition for it to work. The string sprouted out, tightening to give it the curve. "You want me to just shoot it?"

"Yeah, take a pot shot at… the knot on that tree over there." She pointed away from us, another tree nearby with a large lump on its side. An arrow formed in my hand, the cells aligning in just the right way. This time I gave it a proper sharp tip instead of the blunt tip that I used against the thugs. Knocking it, I drew the bow to the mask's jaw as the video had shown. My arm shook slightly as I tried to aim.

I let go, and the arrow whistled through the air. A groan escaped me as it completely missed the tree entirely, striking the snow beside it. Snorting at my performance, she clapped. "Congratulations, you missed. Your stance is shit, gimme that thing so I can show you. And an arrow."

"I'd like to see you do better." Her hand snapped up to grab the bow out of the air as I threw it at her. Taking the arrow from me, she threw her cloak back so it was out of the way. Taking the same stance as me, she pulled the arrow back to a spot on her mask. The arrow flew and struck the knot off center, digging in slightly. Silence filled the air as she stared at me. I just looked everywhere but her.

"I am better than you dipshit. The bow was my first choice for a weapon before I swapped over to my crossbows. Did you see what I did right that you didn't?" I just glared at her, not giving her a response for several moments. Eventually, I just shook my head no. You did the exact same damn thing as me!

"Seriously? Ugh, fine, take this thing back. No arrow this time, just draw it like you were gonna shoot it." Rolling my eyes, I did as she asked. It wasn't comfortable to hold the position for long, so I hoped she'd make this quick. "First things first, you're holding it wrong. Quit trying to strangle it, just let it press into the palm of your hand with a loose grip."

The bow dug into my glove as I shifted. Reaching out, she turned the angle I was holding the bow. "Relax your elbow a bit, you should be using your bones to deal with the weight when drawn. Not your muscles. Quit leaning back, you should look like a T. Relas now, I gotta show your dumb ass how to properly draw the thing."

Letting the draw reset, I let go of it with one hand to wiggle my other arm. Damn cramp. Laughter send a surge of anger through me as she shook her head. "Yeah, drawing it like an idiot is going to make it painful. Don't use your actual arm so much. Use your back more, it'll be better for your weak ass."

"I might shoot you in a second." Her snort was ignored as I followed her instructions. Trying to use my shoulder and back more than my actual arm to draw the string. It definitely felt a little better, and it all seemed to shake less.

"Congratulations, you've managed to become not completely shit. Quit leaning back, what did I say about looking like a T? Get yourself an arrow, and try putting it all together." Okay, definitely going to shoot her. Growling to myself, I practically tore a chunk free from the tree. It morphed in my hand as I brought it to the string, taking its full shape as I knocked it. Using everything she had told me about, I brought it up to the mask's jaw line and aimed.

Just like before, it flew through the air. This time it didn't hit snow. Instead, it struck the tree just below the knot. My eyebrow twitched as I stared at the arrow, and she hummed beside me. "If that had been a torso, I'd say you took out that guy's dick. Congratulations, you made a difficult shot entirely by accident."

"Oh shut the fuck up." I spat out at her, ignoring her laughter as started marching over to the tree. She followed after, shaking her head as I gathered the arrows. "There's no way in hell you didn't miss most of your shots when you started out."

"That's why I switched to crossbows. They're a lot easier to get good with quickly. Especially with my power helping out. Not my fault you chose a weapon that needs a lot of training and strength to use." Wood ran through my fingers as I merged the arrows back into my armor. Turning to look at her, one of my eyebrows quirked up.

"Why bring up how strong you are?" Sure, the bow wasn't the easiest thing to draw, but it didn't seem as bad as lugging around some giant sword or something. One of her hands came up to smack into her forehead.

"Do you not know what draw strength is? Did you seriously just like, look up a picture of a bow somewhere and just copy that?" My arms crossed defensively as I shook my head.

"No, I did my research. Draw strength is how difficult it is to draw the bow, and how much force the arrow carries. Why does it matter?" That just seemed to frustrate her more, as she rubbed her mask.

"It matters because you're a weakling, and your bow has a super low draw. Frankly, it isn't much better than my crossbows, and those only really do much damage because my power lets me bullshit actual penetration. I'm just that awesome. You, however, are gonna have trouble getting through even a jacket. Assuming you hit in the first place." My mouth opened slowly, before closing. I just stared at her for several moments before finally shouting.

"If I'm not gonna be able to really hurt someone, why the hell did we go through all of this?! Why not do something more productive." She held up a hand, three fingers coming up. Somehow, someway, I could tell she had a smug grin behind that mask.

"One, because it's fun to point out how bad you are at it." This is starting to get under my skin.

"I'm going to stab you." She just laughed.

"Try it, Woody. Second, because this is something you don't need me here for you to practice. I can still go on patrol while you park your ass here and practice." I couldn't ignore the practicality behind that, even if I wanted to.

"Third, the only way to get a better draw is to get stronger. Working with this weak-ass bow is going to make things better for you in the long run. Also, frankly, get some damn exercise in. Teaching you how to fight is gonna be pointless if you hit like a toddler." Again with the insults, it was like she couldn't resist it every ten seconds.

"I exercise regularly!" The most I could manage was maybe a day without Carol insisting I do some kind of Cardio. Said it was important to New Wave's image that I stayed fit.

"A five-minute jog to keep from getting fat isn't exercise, princess. I'm talking about an actual exercise routine. Lifting weights, crunches, planks, the whole works. If your entire body isn't sore afterward, then it isn't an exercise routine." That just got a groan out of me. If there had been one thing I wanted to avoid, it was doing more exercise.

"Fine, I'll start going to the gym more regularly." She just shrugged at me, despite it being her idea in the first place.

"If you want to get yourself killed because you're a fat-ass, that's your choice, Woody. I'm just telling you the truth. Do you think I could take three thugs on by myself if I didn't exercise? Either way, get to practicing. I've got a date with some ABB thugs." If looks could kill, I'm sure mine would have disintegrated her. Leaving me behind, I flipped her the bird as she walked away.

Before forming an arrow from my armor, drawing it while trying to keep in mind what she told me. In my head, I made myself a promise. I'm gonna kick her ass. Maybe not in a week, maybe not in a month, but at some point, she is going down. The arrow flew, and I cursed violently as it proceeded to miss the target.