Jim gripped his knife gently by the blade. He made a couple of small experimental motions in the air, testing the weight and his grip. Drawing in a deep breath he planted his feet carefully on the ground. He raised his knife once more, feeling how heavy it felt in his grip.
Behind him Braxton groaned. "Do you really have to do that every time?"
"Yes, Braxton." Jim rolled his eyes. "This isn't a blaster, you know. There's a lot more to it than just shooting."
"This is our seventh round," Braxton protested. "Half the period has gone already and you still don't know what your set of knives feels like?"
Jim was saved from answering by Puss's whistle. At the signal that the field was clear, he drew his arm back before whipping it forward and releasing his first knife. The blade sank cleanly into his target. Aim doesn't matter, he reminded himself. All you have to do is stick the blade.
His second knife bounced off and landed in the dirt. The third and fourth both stuck, but his fifth missed completely. Jim frowned at his results and crossed his arms to study them. He was still throwing to the left. All three of his knives that had stuck were distinctly on the left side of the target. Only one blade was to the right hand side, and Jim suspected that was merely because of the angle at which it had bounced off at.
The whistle blew again. All blades had been thrown. Jim trudged towards his target to collect his weaponry. It took a little muscle to remove the knives from the wood. Jim took it to be a good sign. On his walk back he muttered to himself. "Throw's strong enough. Aim needs a lot of work. Why do I keep drifting left?"
"Talking to yourself, Hawkins?" Braxton accepted the knives from his friend. "Are you going as nutty as Stalkinew?"
"I can hear you," the leopard responded, arms crossed.
"I should hope so. Aren't cats supposed to have good hearing?" Braxton was utterly shameless as he looked down at their classmate. He still had his legs extended just enough to be taller than the leopard. Stalkinew was still not impressed.
"Try not to get yourself scratched to death, Brax." Jim started for the back of the line. As he approached Matt he heard the whistle blow for the next set of throwers to start.
Matt bumped fists with Jim as he fell in behind him. "Braxton getting into trouble again?"
"When isn't he?"
"Think they'll fight?"
"Honestly? I'm impressed they haven't yet. It's been brewing basically all year. Braxton's always ready to throw hands. Stalkinew must have an impressive patience." Jim peeked up towards the front of the line in time to see Braxton throw his last knife. "I'm not sure why he's so determined to have it out with him though."
Matt shrugged. "It's Braxton. I don't understand half the things he does."
"True." Jim chewed his lip as he thought over his next words. He trusted Matt's opinion, especially on matters regarding Braxton, but he also did not want to seem as if he couldn't trust their friend. It wasn't until after Puss had blown the whistle to collect knives again that Jim finally decided to speak. "Did Brax seem...hostile towards Zephyr this morning?"
A smile touched Matt's lips. "Yes. And I know your next question, the answer to that is "yes" as well. I do think he's accepted Sy as one of us."
Jim's shoulders relaxed. "Thanks Matt. I knew I could count on you." He peeked up at the front again.
"Count on him for what?" Braxton flashed an easy smile as he joined his pals. "You can always count on Matt, he's more reliable than the tides." Braxton bumped fists with Matt. "If I didn't know better, I'd have said he was related to me."
"There's nothing reliable about you, Braxton." Jim answered, laughing.
"That's not true," Matt defended their friend softly. "You just need to know where to look for it."
"And that's why Matt's my favorite." Braxton ruffled Matt's hair. "And I make no apologies for that."
"I don't expect you to." Jim shrugged innocently. "But next time you start teasing me about Sy…."
"This is completely different!" Braxton snorted. "I'm not asking Matt out."
"I haven't asked Sy out!" Jim protested. Braxton just laughed.