Making her own path

Chapter 2 - Training

South of the castle was a large field meant for training, about one kilometer in length and two in width. It was designed for training both in human and wolf form, so it needed a large area. It had a wide variety of training grounds, such as target practice for weapons, a running field for sprints, both in wolf form and human, a large swimming pool, a sparring field for both weapons and without, an obstacle course, and some other things. Today her group was sparring while in human form, so she walked to the center of the field where people had already start to gather. The sparring field was round and had smaller circles inside on its perimeter with different types of ground for different experiences, like sand, gravel, concrete, and more. In the middle of the sparring circle was a round elevated platform for observing people compete or seeing training instructions and demonstrations from the trainer.

“Aysha, over here!” A tall girl with tan skin and short brown hair yelled. She was standing next to two other people; Kate, who was a little shorter with shoulder-length blond hair, and a tall dark-haired boy named Shawn. All three of them were wearing black outfits like Aysha, telling which training group they belonged to.

“Hey, Jordan,” Aysha said casually when she walked up to them. Jordan was one of her best friends and always managed to put a smile on her face with her playful spirit and positive attitude.

“You look like someone tried to wax you while in wolf form,” Jordan said while raising an eyebrow. When it came to hiding her feelings, Aysha always failed miserably when it came to Jordan. But then again, that girl had like a sixth sense when it came to reading people.

“Just a rough morning, nothing a good training can’t fix,” Aysha said and shrugged.

“Any idea what we’ll be doing today?” Shawn asked.

“Sparring I believe,” Kate answered.

Before they could continue their conversation, a man standing on the platform in the center made himself known by coughing two times. The sound made everyone stop talking and face him almost immediately. The man on the platform was in his fifties and had dark skin and was wearing black jeans that seemed too tight to even move in and a black simple T-shirt. The only thing that made him stand out compared to the other black-clad individuals surrounding the platform was a gold piece of cloth wrapped around his bicep, signaling his status as a trainer. He looked over the people with his brown eyes and his dark brown hair was pulled bank into a messy bun and he had soft stubbles on his face. His name was Matthew and he had been Aysha’s trainer since I was six.

“Good morning,” Matthew said while eyeing the crowd, no doubt taking a headcount and seeing if everyone was present.

“Good morning coach.” Everyone answered back.

“Today we thought about changing things up a bit,” Matthew said and gestured to the people walking up to us.

They were dressed in red outfits, the color of their training team, and Aysha could hear people from her group grunt in disproval. Every year there was a contest between teams to see which one was the strongest and the black and the red teams have always battled for the top spot. Which the black team won last time and the red team had not taken their loss well with a few members picking on Aysha’s weakest teammates. And the biggest jerk on that team was the one walking towards her with a smirk on his face.

“This is a fun surprise.” The jerk, otherwise called Hector, was at least a head taller than her and way bulkier. He had short blond hair in a side fringe that reached his right eye.

“Could have lived without it,” Aysha answered and did her best to sound uninterested in this turn of events and turned away from him.

“Aww, are you intimidated by me?” Hector chuckled in her ear, and it took all her restraint not to swing one in his face right now. But she knew that was what he was going for.

“Why should I waste my time on that?” Aysha said with a sigh and turned to face him again. “After all, didn’t I beat you in last year’s competition and if I do remember correctly, didn’t you leave the ring crying?” She smirked as she noticed Hector’s fist whiten as he held himself back.

“Don’t get used to being on top.” Hector sneered as he turned and walked towards his group.

“Why? It’s not like you were any good at it!” Aysha called and smiled when she saw the furious look on Hector’s face as some of his team members laughed.

“Still a sweetheart I see,” Jordan said and crossed her arms over her chest. “Remind me again how you managed to date that guy for over six months?” She asked and turned to Aysha.

“Don’t remind me.” Aysha rolled her eyes at the memories.

Hector and Aysha had dated while they were 18 years old and for a while it was nice. But then he started getting jealous over everything she did, and angry she did not have time to spend every waking moment with him. So, when she caught him cheating with some random girl, he tried to blame it on Aysha and how he had to find someone else to keep him company. Funny thing was, he did it to make her jealous and he honestly believed that it would make her come crying back to him and asking forgiveness for ignoring him. So, his face of utter shock when Aysha broke up with him on the spot was a memory she cherished today, and she made sure to bring it up every time Hector was acting like an ass.

“Now then,” Matthew said which brought Aysha back from her memories. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why the red team is here. Their trainer, Tanya, had to leave this morning for a mission and will not be back for two weeks. So, the red team will be training with us until then.”

Some people from the black team started to argue, but the red team just stood there with a smirk on their faces. Aysha could feel her frustration building for having to deal with Hector for a whole two weeks.

“Quiet!” Matthew yelled over the group making everyone shut up. “I know there’s bad blood between the two groups, but I’m hoping you’ll be mature about this and follow orders,” Matthew said while looking over the black team. “That being said.” Matthew crossed his arms and turned his attention to the red team. “I know that some of you have not acted in the spirit of sportsmanship on account of you losing to my team, and I’m warning you to knock that s**t off immediately, now are there any questions.”

People were not exactly happy, but no one said another word since everyone knew it was pointless at this point.

“Alright, good. As you are all aware you are all ranked within your group. What I want you to do is find the person from the other team with the same rank as you and you will spar with them, one pair at a time, starting from the lowest rank and working up. This will give you a sense of where each of you stands, to help us in training for the next two weeks.

This time Aysha cursed out loud, but not loud enough that Matthew would hear. In each group, there were thirty people, and she was ranked number one, which she was super proud of since it took a lot of training and effort. The problem was that the person from the red team ranked number one was Hector, who was grinning like a crazy person over this news.

“Don’t worry, you’ll clean the floor with him like last time.” Jordan nudged Aysha’s arm with her elbow and gave her a reassuring smile.

“You know the rules,” Matthew said. “Either knock people out of the ring, knock them out or make them tap out. No moves that could cause death or dangerous injuries and keep your claws to yourselves. And just to keep things interesting we will be counting victories.”

People nodded in agreement and the sparring started. The people ranked number thirty started the match. Even though they were ranked at the bottom did not mean they were bad fighters, just that the other team members were a little better. The first match ended with a win for the red team, and they cheered for their victory. The matches continued and the next one went to the black team. Shawn was ranked number twenty-five and lost to the red team by falling out of the ring. While Kate, who was ranked twelfth managed to knock out the red member within one minute of the match.

“Way to go Kate!” Jordan called over to her and hugged her when she came back.

“Where do you hide that power in such a small body?” Shawn asked a little sour from having lost his match.

“That’s a secret.” Kate winked and we continued watching.

After almost an hour the score was 15-13 for the black team and only two matches were left. Some people got their arm or leg broken, which was nothing new and with our werewolf healing most would be back on their feet within a few days. But it showed a certain team dynamic when the only broken bones were with members on the black team since the red team was known for fighting dirtier, but they knew how to keep the damage in check, so nothing was said.

“Alright, rank number two. Jordan for the black team and Felix for the red team.” Matthew announced and stepped out of the ring.

“You got this Jordy”. Aysha said as Jordan got up on the platform.

Matthew rang a bell and the match started. Felix was known for being strong and getting caught in his grip would no doubt result in a broken bone. He was a little taller than Jordan, and much larger compared to Jordan’s lean and toned frame. But Jordans was known for her speed and agility which made her a tough opponent, but she knew to be careful since one misstep would cause her to lose the match. She stayed on her toes as they circled each other, and I knew her well enough that she was wearing him out since Felix was not known for patience. It was working and Felix gave up waiting for her to make the first move and changed at her. Jordan had been waiting for it and ducked under his swinging arm and followed up with a kick to his shin. Felix fell and pushed the ground in frustration and got back up. But as he stood up Jordan was there and swung her leg to his face. Felix was caught off guard again and reached out to grab her, but she was already at a safe distance.

Felix got up and spit out blood as he eyed Jordan with a look that could kill. He charged at her again and Jordan jumped to the side, but he had anticipated that and threw out his leg which managed to graze her side which took her off balance. He was quick to follow up with a punch that she barely managed to dodge but now she was in trouble since he was dangerously close. He started throwing punches that Jordan had either dodged or blocked with her hands and Aysha notices a grin on Felix’s face as Jordan was forced back and closer to the side of the ring. She tried to find an opening to Felix’s assaults, and finally managed to grab his right arm as he went in for a punch and pulled him towards her. The momentum helped her switch place with him, and she quickly turned and kicked him in the stomach. But Felix was quicker and managed to grab her leg just as it hit his stomach and he then pulled and threw her backward and out of the ring.

Aysha could hear the red team cheer as she ran to Jordan where she lay on her back, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you alright?” Aysha asked as he bent down and helped her stand up.

“I’ve been better,” Jordan grunted as she stood up. Aysha noticed her purple and bruised forearms from the beating she took from Felix. “Can’t believe he got me like that, I was sure that I’d manage to kick him out of the ring.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get him next time.” Aysha said reassuringly and they walked back towards their team members.

“Your hands…” Kate said when we came.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” Jordan shrugged. “It’ll be healed tomorrow.”

“Alright listen, everyone,” Matthew called over the crowd. “That brings the score to 15-14 for the black team. The next match will decide if we will end in a tie or if the black team will take the win. Aysha, Hector please come to the platform.

“It’s up to you now,” Jordan said as she sat down on the ground to catch her breath. “Kick his furry behind.”

Aysha walked to the platform and climbed up. Hector was already there and had a smug look on his face.

“How’s your friend?” He asked.

“Better than you will be in a second.”

They stood facing one another and got into fighting stances.

Then the bell rang.