Believe - Chapter 15: Fighting

The next evening Imya woke up earler than the night before because of the loud noises of the storm outside. She bushes in front of the big den entrance kept most of the wind outside but a bit of the wind also reached inside of the den. Imya looked into the storm that did not only howled loud but also played with thick snowflakes that danced in front of the cave. There were so many and they moved so fast that she could not see behind the first meter of snow.

"We gotta stay here tonight, sure we do, yo!" Red remarked and Imya just noticed that he was up already. She slowly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched her legs. They felt a bit stiff from the hunting training in the last night and they still hurt a bit but not as much as the last night. Imya was not happy that they had to wait out another night. Sure, they got probably much further than Imya would have got alone, partly because Red was running so fast and long, and also she was happy to get a rest but every night she walked would have been a night closer to her home.

"Tonight we gonna have another lesson kiddo, sure we do, yo!" said Red and he laughed over the unpleasant face Imya did. She had been happy to learn hunting at first but it had been very hard at the end and she still felt her muscles protest. "We are not going to hunt in this storm, are we?" she asked and Red laughed again. "No kiddo, ya don't worry about that." And he smiled while he looked over to the pup. "Today Imma gonna teach you how to fight, sure I will, yo!" Imya was not happy about this promise. Yes, it was surely nice to learn how to fight, even more because she eventually would have to learn it when she got back home, but she was sure this meant more running and jumping and her muscles already hurt so much that she did not want to move. "Ya don't look happy about that." He remarked and Imya forced herself to smile to cover her true feelings. "Sure, I want to learn it but my legs still hurt and I am not sure if I will be able to fight at all."

That is da wrong mindset kiddo, sure it is, yo!" Red lectured her. "Ya shadda not think that you are bad at fighting. Ya hatta try it, sure ya do, yo!" Imya sighed. She had been very headstrong with her father, or rather she always feared him and got distracted when he did his longwinded speeches and when he got angry she hid from him, but with Red it was somehow different. On the one hand, she was afraid that if she would behave bad Red would ditch her and she would be alone and on the other hand he concentrated so much on her and let her work out so much, that Imya had no chance to get distracted or think about anything else than the training at hand. Even though her legs still hurt she soon forgot the pain and the stiffness of her legs went away by moving around. He let her run a bit around in the cave to warm up the body and bring blood into the legs. Luckily the cave was big enough, because it was the home of a bear. She had enough room to run and jump and do all the warming up lessons that Red told her. She was not sure how this would help her fight but after she already was quite exhausted Red called her to him. He had just sat in the middle of the cave and watched her getting more and more tired.

"Hear kiddo!" he called out to her. "What do ya think is da most important think in da fight?" Imya thought about it for a while and then answered. "To be strong?" she asked but Red smiled and shook his head. "Quickness!" he explained her. "And endurance. If ya cannot win, ya run away. And if ya be quicker then ya opponent ya never be hit by him." His lectures made sense and Imya tried to remember them. He let her run again but this time she had to jump right and left very fast and turn around in a flash. He told her to never run into the same direction longer than five steps. It was hard for Imya to turn with just one paw while all her legs started to burn even stronger than the day before. Tears made her eyes wet but she bit her teeth together and continued this hellish training.

"Okay, ya rest for a moment." Red released her from the drill and she directly dropped down to the floor panting heavily and closed her eyes. She was totally exhausted. She did not know how long she had slept but Red woke her up far too early in her eyes. The storm still cried outside but it was totally dark now and the snow could not be seen. Only with her trained night-eyes she was able see something in the cave. "What do ya think is the best place for an attack kiddo?" Red asked. Imya was very tired and needed a bit longer to come up with an answer. "The neck?" she asked, remembering that she should bite the neck of a prey. "No kiddo, not da neck. Da best place first is da ears. They are easy to get and to hold and ya opponent will not like it!" he chuckled and crouched into the same position he used for jumping on the prey. "Ya start with that position, sure ya do, yo!" he commanded and Imya imitated him. She knew this from the previous evening and nearly directly did the perfect crouch, ready to jump at any time.

Red trained with her for hours. He had her evade his bites with a jump to the side and then directly change direction and jump for his ears. She always missed them because Red was not as exhausted and much faster. Only in the end, Imya did not know if it was by luck or if Red let her succeed on purpose, she managed to get his ears in her muzzle and held it with her fangs. She was surprised when she pulled at it and made Red bend his head to the side without much counterforce.

"Ya got it!" he called out after she let got by his request. "That be ya first lesson. Da next target be da throat!" He nudged the throat of Imya. "Da throat is very dangerous. Do not let an opponent bite ya in da throat. If ya have an opponent at da throat, ya be in control!" Thy trained for another hour and even if Imya got more and more tired and exhausted she still tried to evade Red and jump at his throat but her strength faded more and more and she finally was not strong enough to jump anymore.

"Imma think ya shadda eat now and then sleep. Ya learned good tonight. Imma proud of ya, sure Imma am, yo!" Red praised her and this praise, the second time after the training at the day before, made Imya happier than everything else. She yipped and despite the pain in her legs she ran the few steps to Red and ran her head against his shoulder in affection. "Thank you Red!" she said with a soft and warm voice and then she moved over to the rest of her bunny to eat and left Red, who looked a bit dumbfounded, in the middle of the cave. She lay down next to the bunny and ate, slowly because she was very exhausted, while Red looked at the white wolf pup with the blue eyes with a soft expression in his red eyes. It was clear that he would not have expected such an affectionate thank. And he discovered that at a very warm place of his heart he adored the pup as if she were his own.