Stories by: Mirri |
Chapter Tree
In school Tika starts noticing how Kesonam
begins chasing off his followers, he does not appear to want that big a crowd around him
anymore and since he started hanging out with Tika the new-comer of the class, more and
more supporters have fallen out of the group.
Tika sits and thinks it over for himself, not
even noticing as Kesonam comes up to him and slaps him on the shoulder, Hiya
Tika. The lion sits down beside him with an energetic sigh and smiles,
Whatre you doing?
Tika shrugs, Just.. thinking.
Bout what?
Yknow.. stuff.
I take it you dont feel like
telling me?
Tika sighs and looks out at the other furs
playing wildball, Well.. Ive noticed how youve started shutting out your
friends. I thought you wanted to be popular?
Kesonams expression becomes a bit more
grave, Heh... theyre not my friends. Theyre vultures, circling around me
hoping that a scrap of popularity falls off that they can feast on. Sure its kinda
cool being popular, but.. Id rather have just one real friend than all those jackals
whod leave me in a heartbeat for a bigger slice of meat. He turns to Tika, a
bit unsure about the next question although he has taken it for granted for the last
month, Youre my friend, right?
Tika smiles and pats him on the back,
Well, you seem to be giving up your popularity for my sake, so.. yeah, Im a
friend. The lion smiles toothily and gives his friend a warm hug, squeezing him a
bit in his embrace, but Tika just holds his breath and waits to get free again,
However, I know some nice jackals, so dont tell anyone I said that,
alright?
Tika grins and suddenly snatches
Kesonams wildball away, running onto the court. The lion blinks and runs after him,
Hey! Give that back!
Tika suddenly stops on the court and turns
around, Alriiiight... He moves his arm back, taking aim at the lion who
screeches to a halt and stands ready to dodge. Kesonam makes a decision and throws himself
to the right as he sees Tika flinch his arm as he lets it rip: The very moment the
pyramid-shaped ball stops touching Tika it soars through the air like a bullet, spreading
the characteristic yellow vapor after it in a straight line. It passes closer than an inch
over Kesonams leg as he is falling to the ground, bounces back with rapidly
increasing speed from the floor, hits the south wall of the hall and is further
accelerated towards the ceiling where it hits near a lamp, instantly looses all momentum
and falls limp to the ground between Kesonam and Tika. It hits all three boundaries faster
than the blink of an eye and the only way you can tell it was not teleported to the
ceiling and then fell down is the path the yellow tracing mechanism left, which is slowly
starting to dissolve now.
Tika grins, Ill getcha next
time. He walks over to his friend and helps him up just as the teacher blows the
whistle to mark the end of the school day for the two. Kesonam picks up the wildball and
whispers something to his companion. They both walk over to the teacher, Mister
Btaaro. Could we be allowed to stay for an hour or so and practice, please
sir? Kesonam smiles his cutest smile, only getting a more suspicious look from the
Cougar, Are you that eager to exercise, boys?
They both nodnods quickly, Yes,
sir.
Again that skeptical look, Alright, one
hour and youre gone. If I hear from anyone at all on the school that you were any
trouble, Ill personally slap you across the face, got it?
*Nodnod*
Btaaro turns and walks out of the hall.
The inane chatter of the furs in the locker rooms can be heard.
Alright Kes, what do you wanna do?
Acrobatics? Rings? Ropes? Hur--
Naw, I was thinking of throwing
wildballs at each other?
Tika smirks,
Kes.. you know you cant
hit me.
Pleeease let me try?
Tika sighs, Alright. But I want to
decide what to do the other half hour. Kesonam noddles eagerly. The black and white
leopard walks over to a wall where no benches are set up and positions himself with his
back against it, Okay, set it to zero rebound. Kesonam nods once and touches a
specific spot on the wildball, when three yellow bars light up on the surface he drags his
paw downwards till they are all gone, Got it. You ready?
Tika shakes his head to clear his mind, takes
a deep breath and keeps his gaze fixed on the ball, Ready.. Kesonam nods,
pulls his arm back and waits for Tika to get off his guard. Tika on the other paw stares
straight at the lion, his ears turn forward, concentrating on sensing the heartbeat of his
opponent. The heartbeat increases more and more rapidly and suddenly Tika sees
Kesonams arm move as he throws. The leopard waits and waits, seeing how the wildball
leaves his paw and starts the yellow trace. He waits with nerves of reinforced titanium
till he can see enough of the yellow stuff to determined where the ball is going and then
leans his head and torso to the left, just enough to hear the ball hit the wall right
where he was and fall to the ground.
Kesonam has finished aiming and stands,
waiting for Tika to blink. The blink comes and he throws the ball with all his might at
his friend. He sees how Tika is already moving to the side before he lets go, then hears
the bump of the ball against the wall and sees the yellow line beginning to dissolve away.
They both stand panting and Kesonam shakes
his head in disbelief as Tika raises his body back to upright position, How on
Zarawi do you *always* know where Im gonna throw before I do, huh?
Tika grins and winks, I just
concentrate and wait till I can see where its going. Kesonam could have sworn
he saw him dodge before he let go of the ball, but keeps his muzzle shut, Can you
teach me that magic youre doing?
Its not magic and I dont
think so.
It has to be magic, nofur has reflexes
like that. Dont you say you have to concentrate for it to work?
Tika shrugs, Yeah, but I just
concentrate. No magic.
Kesonam does not believe him, Alright,
lets try the sneak attack thing again.
Tikas gaze moves to the clock up on the
wall, Okay, but this is the last one, then its my turn to decide what to
do. He turns around to face the wall instead, closes his eyes and moves his ears as
far back as he can to listen behind him, Remember to put the ball on noise
mode. A deep breath and he gives Kesonam a signal with his tail. The lion sets his
paw on the ball again, waiting patiently till the round yellow sign with the symbol of a
crossed speaker lights up, he keeps pressing until the line across it disappears. Kesonam
waits until he has stopped moving again to allow him to concentrate and moves his arm
back. He waits, and waits and waits, and just till the point he feels he himself would
have turned around and asked if the guy was going to throw anytime this week. Tika stands
absolutely still, breathing as quietly as he can so it will not drown out the sound; he
hears the screeching soar as the wildball leaves the lions hand. His ears flick back
as they interpret the sound and his brain starts calculating the trajectory of the ball.
Time passes, microseconds, but Tika can feel how his reaction time is running out and he
cannot hear the ball properly yet. His body does not even have time to start sweating, but
nervousness overcomes him and he concentrates harder and harder. Finally he is sure of at
least the side the ball is going to hit and taking no chances he throws himself to the
ground the opposite way. Kesonam merely sees how Tika moves just as his nerves tell him
the ball has left his paw, a bit slower than usually, and then registering the yellow line
that hits the wall as Tika falls on his side on the floor.
Oof!
Kesonam moves over to help his buddy up and
just gives off a conceding sigh, Thats incredible.
Tika shakes himself and brushes his loin
cloth off, Almost didnt make it this time. That was a tough one.
The rest of the hour, the two train their
staff fighting abilities on Tikas request. Eventually of course, time is up and the
two go to the locker room to wash off. Kesonam takes a while longer to get his training
shorts, boxers and shirt off, contrary to Tikas primitive cloth. They turn on the
showers and start washing the sweat out of their furs.
That was pretty cool, Kes.
Yeah, Im still annoyed you
dont wanna teach me that.
Tika splashes water at him and grins,
Hey, I told ya its not something I can teach furs.
A few moments of silence as they clean and
wash themselves. Hey Kes..
Yo?
Did you ever wonder.. naw, its
silly, forget it.
Kesonam sighs and lays a paw on his
friends shoulder, Tika. If theres one thing I dont tolerate
its furs who say half a sentence and then stop. It drives me insane. Now say what
you were going to say or Ill be forced to resort to more primitive ways of
persuading you. His grip on the shoulder tightens a bit and Tika can clearly tell by
his clenched fist what the big lion is referring to.
Tika uhhs, Well, since you put it that
way.. Okay, I was wondering if furs are yknow born with a certain ability to learn
magic, or if everyfur can learn as much as they wanna?
Kesonam lets go and makes a shrugging
movement with his shoulders, Well, some learn faster than others. I think somewhere
deep down everyfur might be able to learn the same, but some have an easier time adapting
to magic. Finstance Im in the same class as this one wolf who after so many
years still cant even heal a bump on his head. He really tries, but it just sort
of.. eludes him. Of course, he would never be able to learn as much magic as say a Master
can do, even during his entire lifetime. So in a way I guess all furs cant learn the
same.
Tika nods and begins rinsing his fur, I
see. So its not all your choice? Youre only meant to learn a certain level of
it then?
The lion has to think that one over a bit,
I wouldnt really say that either. I think the wolf if just an extreme incident
just like some furs who know mind control at the age of 10 are extreme cases. I think if
you really set your mind to it, then you can achieve as much as you want. Maybe not as
fast as youd like it, but who can do that anyway?
A sigh of relief escapes the leopards
lips, Oh good. Ive been wanting to learn this kind of sneaking magic that my
dad knows, but it really is hard. I was afraid I might not be able to do it at all.
Kesonam grins and smiles reassuringly,
Naw, dont worry. Im sure itll come to you all of a sudden. Usually
does.
They both return to their lockers and are
soon out the gym and walking out of the school premises. It is in the afternoon and the
day is young, they split up to go home, waving as they part and feeling quite a bit closer
than they were before.
Tika grins silly at his sister as he comes
home. She just quirks a brow and stares at him with that angry look, I told mom what
you did last night. She wants to have a real long talk with you after dinner.
Tika shrugs and goes up to his room. He locks
himself in the room for the rest of the day and lies down on his back in bed, thinking
about how cool it would be to be best friends with the biggest and strongest lion in the
school. That thought follows him to dreamland as he falls asleep before dinner and does
not wake up until the next morning...