abnabooks Chapter 186: Getting Attention
Chapter 186: Getting Attention
Reta breathed in through her nose, enjoying the ambience of background birds chirping and animals whistling around their settlement. Her blue hair waved to the side from a gentle breeze while she brought her hands down and exhaled, keeping her eyes closed in the process. Ever so delicately, she brought her hands down to her sides while keeping an upright position with her legs positioned wide apart. Her fingers curled up into fists before jabbing forward with her left fist first, then her right, back and forth. When she felt ready, she raised her leg high balancing her weight on her healthy leg before kicking repeatedly in the air. Once she switched footing and kicked with her injured leg, she felt that nagging sting radiating through her thigh.
She persevered through the pain, folding over and landing on her hands before raising her feet up high. Panting, she collected herself and kept her eyes shut, slowly leaning her weight on her left hand before raising her right palm away from the wooden flooring. A rustling sound gradually grew louder as someone came strolling down the bridge, accompanied by gentle tremors felt on the ground when they stepped onto her platform before coming to an abrupt halt.
"You don't waste any time, do you?"
Reta opened her eyes to see an upside-down Alma accompanied by a younger-looking cat girl carrying a sack over her shoulder. With a subtle grunt, she angled herself down before landing on her feet, flipping her short cut blue hair as she spun around to face them. She focused her sights on the weighted baggage the gray haired Nekomata was carrying before taking it off her paws.
"Ori'Chi says you wanted these cut down to an explicit size." Alma commented, watching Reta pull the bag open. "I was curious to know why."
"Resting." Reta answered calmly, not bothering to look up as she pulled out several cylindrical blocks crafted from the same bright wood as the large trees that the huts were built around. The blocks had little metal nozzles built to them, meant to stack on each other and rotate freely with a push. A few blocks had openings carved on the side which allowed her to snap a wooden peg that stuck out. It took her no time to build this wooden dummy resembling a blank totem pole with arms that would spin around freely with a light tap.
Alma eyed it with concern, keeping her hands settled on her hips while Ori'Chi sat with her legs crossed and watched with fascination.
"How does this work?" The mother elf asked.
Reta answered with a display, jabbing at one of the dummy arms as it spun around with its geared mechanism before rotating completely to retaliate with the same arm. She blocked it with her forearm as her guard, then proceeded kicking one of the lower arms and blocking it with the same leg when it wheeled back around. She held the dummy still, breathed in deep with her eyes closed, and went to work.
Jab! Jab!
Block!
Ankle kick!
Block!
She went in for a grapple, catching both wooden arms and kicked at the dolls leg.
Block!
"Oooooo!" Cooed Ori'Chi, her black-spotted gray tails wagging behind her as her eyes remained glued onto the fighting display.
Reta went for another kick, but this time the leg spun around and struck her on the thigh. She froze before pulling back, her face scrunched up as she squeezed her thigh.
"Careful." Alma chuckled, calmly walking around her and inspecting her thigh. "Give it three days before you can move freely with that."
"I don't have three days." Hissed Reta.
"Then go ahead, subject yourself to this torture. I'm only the head mother of a tribe of two hundred, what do I know?" She teased in a mocking tone, crossing her arms. "I would advise bathing in our healing waters, but the natural reserves omit a limited supply that mustn't be taken for granted."
"Except for you?"
She frowned. "After our deal, I was deprived of my essence and heavily wounded as were you. We would be bedridden for a week if not for those waters."
Reta glanced at her shoulder, pausing at the thought when Alma caught on. "No, those waters won't do anything to help with your condition."
She nodded, knowing the idea would be futile. "How are the Nekomata we rescued?"
"The youngest adapted quickly, but some of the older ones suffered injuries. Nothing too grave so long as they eat and rest."
"What of the one we found being tortured?" She pried.
"Zimi?" Alma raised her brow, hesitant to respond. "She... she'll recover in time. I'll make sure of it."
"Is she in the healing waters below?"
The mother elf nodded with a pained look. "They'll help recover external injuries but... she's with us now. To that, we are in your debt."
"She meant a great deal to you."
She scoffed and sat on a wooden bench against the tree hut wall. "She's a close friend of ours, Emyri and I. Bright, innovative, and one of our best healers. We lost her weeks prior when she set out with a small clutter to assist with one of our camps not far from here. They never arrived. Seeing her now is nothing short of a miracle, though she suffered at great lengths in refusal of telling them our whereabouts."
"Why not force one of those collars on her, would they not have her share her mind willingly then?"
Alma shook her head. "Those collars empty your mind and render you into a lifeless husk. You don't eat, you don't think, and you don't feel. It's this hypnotic trance that takes over until the collar is removed, or that gem is shattered. Some of our own were affected by those things, and it cost us numbers to get them back."
"Do they affect elves as well?"
She sighed. "They affect anyone who wears that collar. I would imagine Perdilius prefers forcing them on Monster Girls to keep up appearance. His followers may hesitate or have second thoughts if he made us wear those things as well."
Reta raised her head. "You said Zimi went to one of your camps, why haven't we heard from them? Should we not be seeking their aid in these times?"
"We split up because we don't have enough housing for them here, and because it increases our chances of survival. Should our camp be overwhelmed by an invading species or discovered by Perdilius, then we can rendezvous with the others. Holding all of our members in one location may strengthen our numbers but at the risk of being wiped out in one blow."
"Hmm." Reta looked up as a pair of elves walked by while talking with a pair of cat girls. One of the Nekomata gasped and cupped her face upon recognizing Reta and rushed to her.
"Oh my gosh, it's the blue wolf!" She squealed, catching Reta by surprise with a sudden hug. "Thank you thank you thank you soooo much for helping save my little sister! I knew you were strong when I saw you fight Alma!"
"Hai!" Reta flinched, pulling back and gripping her leg.
The girl glanced down and backpedaled. "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry!"
"Hrnn," She grumbled, soothing her thigh. "You are... forgiven."
"What's this for, some sort of ritual?" One of the elves asked as she ran her fingers along the sparring dummy's surface.
Ori'Chi jumped in ecstatically. "It's for resting!"
"Sparring, Ori." Alma corrected. "It's used for sparring."
The female elf seemed taken aback, inspecting the doll from different angles before testing how it wobbled by grabbing one of its arms. "How do you spar with something that can't fight back? We use dummies for archery practice; I can't tell whatever this is."
"Why does it move so freely?" Her elven friend questioned, gently pushing one of its arms. It spun around and smacked her friend in the face. "Oops."
"Ow! Watch it!"
"Sorry, sorry." She stepped back as they both stared at the sparring dummy. "Whoa."
"Looks fun!" The other cat girl beamed, squeezing past them to approach it. "You need to do something like this, nyah!"
The young cat girl clumsily swapped at one arm and hastily ducked before it could strike back. "Eeeep! It's fast!"
"No-no." Ori'Chi mumbled, shyly walking around them. "See, like this."
She imitated Reta's arm movements, albeit clumsily but still able to catch the blow with her forearm. She mewled and stepped back, waving her arms back and forth. "Stings."
"Why not give them a demonstration?" Alma proposed with a smile.
Reta seemed uncertain when the cat girls began cheering her own, repeating her nickname and clapping their paws in unison.
"Wolfy! Wolfy! Wolfy!"
"Haaaaii!" She muttered, reluctantly stepping up to the doll much to their applause. When did they start calling her that, she wondered. Breathing in deep, she collected herself and meditated briefly before striking in coordinated attacks through quick succession.
Clok!
The wooden doll vibrated as its arms rotated in a speedy blur, only for Reta to block it and retaliate.
Clok! Clok!
BAM!
She caught both arms and utilized her footwork for kicks.
Clak!
Clak-clak!
CLONG!
She froze the doll in place, satisfied with the brief workout. As she looked around, she was shocked to find that she had attracted a wider audience as numerous cat girls stood around watching with deep interest. Nearly a dozen elves approached and were spectating as well, some of them adolescents cheering and hopping around for her.
"Is she fighting?" Asked one cat girl.
"Training." The first elf explained, "With a doll."
"A doll that fights back." Ori'Chi clarified.
One smaller cat girl approached Reta, looking up to her with large eyes filled with awe. "Um, 'scuse me. Can you teach me to do something like that?"
"Me too!"
"Meww, me three!"
"Hm." Reta glanced back at Alma for an answer, who leaned back and smiled warmly at what she was seeing. She waved her hand giving her the go-ahead.
Reta sighed and looked around, counting nearly two dozen spectators. "If you wish to learn my fighting stance, that is commendable. Understand that the process is slow and painful. You will need patience, flexibility, strength and stamina."
"Are claws okay?" Asked one of them.
"Hey, not all of us have those!" One of the elves reminded her.
Alma stood up, catching everyone's attention. "If you lot want to train with her, take it to the meeting hut below. If we attract any more here, the hut might collapse. So please."
Everyone understood, rushing over in crowded lines down the bridge. Reta flashed a look at her, to which the elf shrugged and offered a sheepish grin. "You wanted to torture yourself with this, no?"
She rolled her eyes and descended down the bridge, ignoring the elf's laughter behind her.