Show Me Your Moves
A Clover Guild Story
By Ribombee-anon
I wasn’t a stranger to having folks watch when I trained in the dojo, but I got a new spectator today. I was beating up a wooden dummy when I noticed a Skitty with a big blue neck ribbon had come in. Pretty sure her name was Shelby, part of that new team from out of town. She was by the door, staring at me with her ears and tail standing straight up. As soon as I saw her, she looked away and started licking her shoulder, pretending she was busy grooming her coat.
“Don’t be shy,” I said. “You wanna watch? I don’t mind.”
I didn’t even finish before she shouted, “If you insist!” and hopped on over. She looked me up and down, focusing on my claws and scars. “You’re Sneasel, right? My team and I are new here, but I’ve seen you around. You look really strong! How long have you been training?”
“All my life,” I said. “But I’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger since joining the guild.”
I let coldness flow out of me and make a perfect icy dart between my claws. A flick of my wrist sent it across the room and right into another dummy’s head. I made another shard and chucked it at the first, making them both blow up into mist.
“Wow,” Shelby said. “Great aim!”
I crossed my arms and flashed my fangs. “Yeah, I know. I’m awesome. But how about you, kid? You’re part of the guild now, so I hope you’ve been training.”
Shelby’s tail lowered, but she nodded. “Uh... y-yeah!” she said, raising a paw and extending some dinky claws. “Totally! I’ve got some sweet moves.”
I smirked. “Oh, really? Let’s see what you got, kid.”
“Huh?”
I pointed at a dummy. “Take a few swings. Doesn’t have to be anything special. I just wanna see how you fight.”
Could’ve sworn the kitty shivered, but she shouted, “S-sure thing, Sneasel! I’ll do my best!”
She pranced over to the dummy and sized it up. I expected her to just slash it, but I guess she wanted to try something flashy. She crouched and wiggled before pouncing upward. As she went, she tried doing a frontflip. It didn’t work. She only made it halfway, so she ended up smacking her butt into the dummy’s chest and falling down on her back with a grunt.
I barely stopped myself from laughing. “Easy does it,” I said.
Shelby got up, shook her head, and tried something new: spinning in circles with her tail straight out. She was probably building up speed to whip the dummy with her tail, but she was spinning way too much. She finally drifted over to the dummy and smacked its base, but her tail just bounced off. She yelped and started stumbling all over. She moaned, and I coulda sworn I saw her turn green under her face fur.
“You ain’t supposed to make yourself dizzy when you fight,” I chuckled. “But if you’re gonna barf, aim at the dude you’re fighting.”
Shelby growled, glaring at the dummy towering over her. She was still wobbly, but she planted her feet and arched her tail over her head. Her fur stuck up, and little bits of electricity jumped all around her. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot out from her. It totally missed the dummy, but she somehow managed to hit an unlit lantern and blow it up. She yelped again and accidentally fired off another thunderbolt my way. Luckily, it just missed me.
“Careful!” I snapped.
“Sorry!” Shelby yelled. She was still all wobbly, and she finally plopped down.
“Just hit it normally,” I said. “Ain’t no point being fancy when you’re fighting. Got that?”
She sniffled and wiped her squinty eyes. “Sorry... I’m really really sorry. I just... I wanted to look all cool and special for you.”
I paused, cocking my head to the side. “For me? Huh? Why do you care what I think? We barely know each other.”
“I know, but... you’re just so cool! Your claws are big and sharp, and your scars are awesome, and you look so strong and athletic and I... I wanna be like you. So I wanted to impress you. But I’m not good enough. I’m just a dumb newbie...”
I looked down at her, kinda surprised she thought that way about me. I wasn’t used to having people praise me so much (except Booker). I didn’t really know what to say back to her.
“Well, look...” I said, after thinking it over. “Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. I was a dumb newbie once too, and I still make mistakes. You think these scars look cool—and they totally do—but they remind me about the times I screwed up. Still, it’s fine if you ain’t perfect. You just gotta make sure you never stop training, learning, and getting better.”
I crouched and patted her head. “And you definitely got the spirit, kid. That’s the first step. You got a lot to learn, but I bet you’re gonna go far.”
Shelby looked up at me with her mouth open. If her eyes weren’t so squinty, I bet they would’ve been sparkling.
“You really think so?” she asked. I nodded, and she hopped up and started prancing around in circles, shouting, “Yay! Thanks, Sneasel! Just you watch—I’m gonna make you proud!”
Well, cheering her up was easier than I expected. Come to think of it, if she looked up to me, and she wanted to get stronger, maybe I oughta try teaching her some stuff? I bet she’d be down to try it, and I wouldn’t mind sharing tips with a newbie. So, I offered to give her some lessons.
Bad idea. All the excited yowling and yelling that exploded outta her made my ears ring. But hey, at least she was eager to train with me—and I was looking forward to it too! ...Just as long as she didn’t blow out my eardrums again.
My homepage: https://rentry.org/RibombeeHomepage Clover Guild homepage: https://cloverguild.com