Chapter 22: mishap in the arena

A Chapter by Cocoacandy

The next morning, Zena woke to silence. She found this strange, as she had grown accustomed to the bustling sounds of breakfast in progress: sizzling grouse, coffee brewing, and the soft hum of Wolf as he moved about the small kitchen. Zena donned a puzzled expression and quickly rolled out of bed, pulled on her jeans, a t-shirt, and her stiletto boots, and grabbed the six inch blade out of the cupboard just in case.

She walked swiftly around the house, checking every room for disturbances, but found nothing. On a hunch, she left the house through the front door, and headed in the direction of the training arena, with Maurly right at her heels. From the direction of the training arena came the sound of a body hitting the ground with a large thud. A slow smirk spread across Zena’s face. She picked up speed in case she was wrong though, and effortlessly jumped up to land on the top of the fence silently. Her smile grew even wider as her suspicions were confirmed. There, in the dusty training arena, was Wolf, with a thinner board, one inch in width, trying to balance perfectly on top. Zena smirked and crossed her arms, amused by his determination. She stood and watched him fall off another five or six times without a word. While he was walking back to the beginning of the board after the sixth time, he glanced up and caught a glimpse of Zena watching him. He looked up at her sheepishly and crossed his arms as well.

“Just exactly how long have you been watching me?” Wolf asked.

“About fifteen minutes or so,” Zena replied with a smirk.

She jumped down off the fence and walked over to him.

“You have to keep your hips low and straight. If you move your hips, your shoulders will follow, and you fall. It’s as simple as that.” Zena smiled as she stated her advice matter-of-factly.

Wolf shook his head and climbed up onto the board again and tried to keep his hips and shoulders straight.

Zena nodded and walked off to start setting up another balance beam which was propped up on an uneven angle, with two bricks at one end, and three at the other. She had him try walking across that one as well, using the same hip concept as before, and he was astonished to find that it worked well. Zena had him go back and forth between the two setups as she prepared yet another beam, which went across the ends of the two sets of beams, requiring him to go along the first, turn and follow the new one, and then walk down the slant of the third. Wolf attempted it, but missed the second beam, slipped, and fell between the two beams. He banged his elbow on the way down, and landed on a stone with his knee.

Zena sighed. “Perhaps we took that too fast. Are you okay, or do you want to be done for the day?” She asked him.

Her deep green eyes burned with a sort of intensity that they didn’t often possess, the intensity, compassion? Apology? Self-anger? Disappointment? Love? Wolf tried to register the look in her eyes, but in a mere second, it was gone.

“I-I think I’m okay,” He said, but winced as he pulled himself up.

“Okay, no, I think we should call it a day.” Zena replied solemnly. “ I can’t have you injured. If…”

She cut herself off and shook her head, then lifted his arm around her shoulder to help him back to her house.

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