Normally he'd be up around the same time as the sun, then he'd go with Andi for a short walk before coming back home and wrestling with the cull that was just lazing about in an attempt to keep her in shape. The young adolescent was neither too thin or too fat, but he'd overheard Andi's father talking about how he was a bit scrawny for a fighter. That comment was what triggered the eagerness in the young mokai's desire to train get stronger. He didn't want to be a scrawny, wimpy mokai fighter that wouldn't be able to stand up for himself in the pits.
Today though, Andi roused him a bit earlier than usual. He had time only to stretch and take a quick drink of water before being led outside by his younger master. Jak watched her curiously, not entirely sure what was happening. Soon enough she knelt down and gave him a careful pat on the head, no doubt avoiding his still-growing horns. There was an almost wary smile spread out on her face, and that made his nerves act up. What exactly was going on?
"Don't worry Jak," she said in that same soothing tone that she used when her dad had yelled at him for doing something wrong. That didn't do anything to help calm his already bundling nerves. "This is just a training session, so don't take any of it personally."
Ah. So that's what this was. Upon that realization the young mokai felt his nerves suddenly calm down and be replaced by that same eagerness to prove himself that he felt when he first heard her father's comment about his size. Eyes narrowed in determination, and he poised himself in what he believed to be one that was indicative of being ready. He earned himself a chuckle of approval from his young master, another pat on the head, and a few encouraging words. He was ready; he knew it, and soon enough she and her father would too. Now all that was left was to see who he'd be put up against for this training session.
Young Jak waited eagerly, easing into a sitting position and watching carefully to see who would appear. Within five minutes he saw her father emerge with not another mokai, but instead some ropes and a few bags full of.. something. The mokai stared at him in confusion, and when he glanced up at Andi he saw that she was just as surprised as he was.
"What's with that stuff, dad?" she asked, slowly moving towards the bigger man. From where he sat he couldn't make out exactly what the response was, but he sat obediently and just watched the two humans converse for a while. Really, he trusted Andi. He even trusted her father, who he started off with on the wrong foot. Whatever the reason for the rope, Jak knew it was probably for good reason. A few minutes later the two humans made their way over, and the knelt down so they were closer to his level.
"You do it Andi," he heard her father say, so he turned to her.
'Do what?' the young mokai thought to himself, his nerves slowly coming back. Andi only nodded and took the rope and bags of something from her father, so the question crossed his mind again, and he wriggled in his seat. 'Do what!?'
"Keep him still," her father ordered. Andi did as she was told and spoke in a more commanding tone than Jak was used to. It felt a bit cold and unfamiliar, but he simply obeyed as best he could. "Alright, go ahead," came the same deep and resonating voice of the older male once he was sitting still again. At that Andi told him to stand up, so he did, and she set one of the bags on his back. It caught him by surprise, but he was able to carry it all the same. It was heavy though, and he glanced at Andi with a questioning look. The young brunette then grabbed one of the roped and tied the bag down. The rope was a bit itchy, and he wrinkled his nose in discomfort. No one seemed to mind him though.
Andi also attached a small bag to each of his legs in the same way, and within minutes he felt as though he'd gained an extra fifty pounds. Which, technically, he did. He was allowed to sit down again, much to his relief, and while the two conversed overhead Jak was completely concentrated on the extra weight he was carrying around.
"Weight training," Jak heard Andi's father say. "It's important and will help with his speed, as well as build a bit of muscle along the way with the right training. You're to put this on him before every training session. Take off the one on his back afterwards, but leave the ones on his legs until he goes to sleep. Understand?"
Jak looked up at his master and saw her nod and glance briefly down at him. He blinked up at her curiously, a little worried about walking around with this stuff on him the whole day, before she turned away seemingly not noticing. He was left to his own thoughts again, and he took a deep breath. If this is what it took to be a good fighter, he thought, then he was completely up for the challenge. It was gonna be a little hard, he was sure of that, but then what training was ever easy?
The two humans conversed overhead for a bit longer, giving the young mokai some time to strengthen his resolve, before her father left her with instructions to use the training dummy that he'd set up for her in the barn where he trained his own mokai. She nodded and he left, leaving her with a word of good luck before going to take care of his own mokai. When he was gone Andi turned to Jak and instructed him to follow her, and the two made their way to the aforementioned barn.
The barn door creaked open as the young brunette pushed it open with all her might. Jak couldn't do much to help in his state. The short trek to the decrepit looking building had already winded him with all the extra weight, and even in his seated position he struggled to keep the weight from completely pinning him to the ground. Andi could tell that he was tired so she worked to open the door on her own. She could handle at least that much. Once it was open the two stepped inside, their eyes taking in the sight.
There was only light enough to see the training dummy hanging from the rafters of the building, beaten and ragged from the years of use. The dummy was hanging at the center of a circle, about twenty feet in diameter, that was likely the main training area. There were bundles of hay off to the side, and a layer of the stuff on the ground to act as a sort of cushion. It felt weird between his toes, but Jak figured he'd just have to get used to it. The air was almost stale, and carried with it the sscent of blood and sweat; it made Jak wrinkly his nose.
Andi closed the door behind them after Jak had slowly made his way in. Training hadn't even started yet and he was already dead tired and dreading what was to come next. They made their way closer to what was obviously the training area. The closer they got the more they noticed. In one corner there was an area with a small tank of water, a bowl and a few cups as well. Beside that was a big bag of what looked like treats or actual food. In another corner he saw a pile of what seemed like other pieces of training equipment, though he couldn't tell what any of them were. It really seemed like the place was stocked enough for a mokai to train from dawn until dusk, Jak figured, and he silently hoped that he would never have to actually do that anytime soon. Maybe later, when he was a bit more conditioned, but not right now.
"Let's get started then?" he heard Andi say. Glancing sidewards, the gray-brown adolescent simply stared at her, unsure what "get started" really meant in this situation. She seemed to pick up on his uncertainty and nodded. "Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing actually," she said with a sheepish grin. "I saw my dad run drills once though, so why don't I show you some of the easier ones for now?"
His ears perked at that idea, mostly because it didn't sound overly difficult, and he nodded and followed after the brunette, who walked towards the outskirts of the circle.
"Okay, so the idea is to be able to run, attack, turn and land so you're facing your opponent so you're not left open for an attack," she started to explain. "So from here, you run and, when you're close enough, you jump and attack the dummy. After that, you need to try and turn your body in mid-air so you land facing your enemy. Got it?"
Jak pictured it as best he could in his mind and half-nodded, still a bit unsure but willing to give it a try. Andi positioned herself a few feet from the border of the training area while Jak got ready just a few within inside the same border. At her command the gray-brown mokai ran towards and leapt at the training dummy, claws and teeth bared for an attack. He felt his claws make contact and, as soon as he was past the dummy, he tried to turn his body like Andi told him to. Even with his best effort though, he couldn't land facing the dummy; by the time his paws were back on the ground he was still facing the other side of the barn.
He heard Andi call from where she stood. "Again!" she yelled, so he turned and tried again.
They went at this for hours; run, leap, attack, turn, land. Jak still couldn't manage to do it, much to his frustration, but after going at it until around mid-morning he felt his body starting to give way. His back and legs ached the most, and even his paws protested with all the weight being put on them. He could barely stay standing by the time Andi's father came in to check on them and told her that her mokai was too tired to continue. There was a brief pause as the two talked for a second, and Jak wanted to bark and tell her than he still wanted to keep going. His exhaustion won over though, and he ended up just keeping quiet and concentrating on making sure that he didn't fall over. Eventually she called and told him to go get some water, so he slowly made his way over. The water was soothing, to say the least, though his body was still aching all over.
She didn't call for him again until some minutes had passed and he'd gotten a bit of rest, and when he was finally standing at her feet she knelt down and took the weight off of his back. As soon as it was off Jak shook out his fur, the aches significantly being reduced now that he was free of some of the extra weight.
"You did good," he heard Andi say, to which he looked up and gave a wag of his tail despite his exhaustion. Even her father complimented him on his effort for the day, which helped to puff up the young mokai and he forgot that he was even exhausted for a moment. It meant a lot to get a compliment from Andi's father, mainly because he knew that the man had trained some of the strongest mokai Jak had ever seen. The three exited the barn and made their way back home, Jak trailing slightly behind the two humans and absorbed in his own thoughts. Really though, there was only one thing crossing his mind as they headed back.
'So this is what it feels like to be in training.'
Word Count: 2,040
