Gymnasium Blues: Chapter I
#1 of Gymnasium Blues
"Gymnasium Blues: Chapter I"
Haru Tatsuyo
Smells. Smells of everyone and everything that had been in that dark Gymnasium sliced into his olfactory nerves like sharp daggers of intensity, the scents of sweat and pure exertion requiring one to block out the sheer power of it to remain focused upon anything other than that. The air was pleasantly warm, joined with a sort of stuffiness that dissipated when the smell of the place was pushed aside. A simple box fan plugged into one of the small outlets that were hidden on the floor, the brass outlet cover pointing up rigidly from the yellowish wooden floor where the fan was plugged in.
The soft hum of the fans blades driving air into the large, open space was accompanied only by the soft buzz of the large, industrial light fixtures glaring intensely down on the brilliantly shining floor, which created small, dazzling bursts of light, burning like great white-hot stars on the polished floor. Though these sounds were constant, a light, intermittent sound of air being drawn in and out fairly quickly was able to be discerned above this quiet background noise, followed with the constant thud of rapid sharp contacts of flesh hitting flesh. Footfalls were also lightly heard as the eye is drawn to the corner of the gymnasium.
Here, a fairly large, lithe figure is seen, two protrusions from its head showing that it was not entirely a "normal" homo sapien. His legs are bowed, and it seems to sparkle as it moves, its upper body quickly throwing its weight as it threw blow after blow onto a leather bag that was suspended above it by a block of wood that was bolted onto the wall, the creatures fists smacking again and again into the small bag of leather that dangled below the wooden beam, much like a broken limb of some strange beast that had been obliterated in some ancient time.
The creature delivered a blow from the left, the right, another right, then a devastating slam of its left fist sending the bag bouncing up to slam into each side of the beam repeatedly before slowing and coming to rest. The creature looked up, a long, narrow muzzle extending from his face as he extended his muscular arms outward, revealing the fact that he had dark blue boxing gloves tied to both hands, as he gave a sigh of relief, then walking over to a bench that was against the wall next to the punching bag. As he moved, the eye sees that the creature is definitely not human, as a thick furred tail wagged out lazily behind him, as well as the fact that he is carried on two canine hind legs, propelling him with ease as he looks down at the bench, his dark brown fur sticking to his powerful, yet light frame, before taking a slow seat, leaning forward over his lower body and used his sharp teeth to carefully undo the ties that secured the gloves to his hands.
After he completed this delicate task, taking care not to break the strings with his powerful jaws, much like a mother caring for a small child, he leaned back against the wall, grabbing a dark blue towel that was draped over the bench, and began to pat his brilliant coat dry. As he cared for his coat, the two protrusions on his head flicked and swiveled atop his head, perked an alert, taking in the sounds around him as he looked up at the ceiling, and examined the dusty, unkempt windows that allowed a fraction of the cloudy early morning sky above to filter its light into the gymnasium.
This creature is wearing a pair of dark blue, lightweight fiber shorts, allowing air to run freely over his glistening coat, which spread across his entire frame, from head to foot. To be honest, by personal preference, he was excercizing without a shirt, allowing his chest fur to act as his clothes. The only reason he wore shorts was because he was slightly modest about his body, and liked to keep his "equipment" covered during exercise. He looked up towards the entrance across the basketball court's shiny floor, and saw a dark figure concealed behind the glass door, peering intently in at him as he rested.
After a moment's hesitation, the person behind the door pushed it cautiously ajar, the morning light illuminating yet another strange, furred form. This one was curvy, its sensual steps holding grace and poise as it walked slowly across the gym floor. This one was slightly different from the one on the far end of the court, though the characteristics, such as its graceful walk and raised chest, suggested that this one was a female. The starkest difference the fur coloration, her's being a bright orange over her body and tail, while a splash of white covered her chest, the sides of her muzzle, the tips of her ears and tail, plus small rings around her wrists and ankles, and black fur on each of her hands and feet, as well as a ring behind her tail's white tip.
As she walked closer, the brown wolf offered the woman a warm smile, his fangs glistening as he did so and he spoke, his voice filled with enthusiasm as he rose to his hind legs, waving his hand in greeting. "Hey, Veruca! You finally got here, what kept you?" He asked, his voice warm and inviting as he raised a hand and held up a finger in a scolding gesture.
The woman named Veruca smiled broadly in return, revealing a smaller pair of canines beneath her lips as she walked up and raised a hand to slap down onto the male's, giving a warm, soft laugh as she replied, "I'm doing great, Joseph. Even though I almost fell asleep driving here, that added a little bit of adventure to my commute. How are you?" She asked, tilting her head in interest as she pulled off her heavy coat, throwing it off to reveal a white tank top and bright blue shorts, a small hole in the back of them to accommodate her large, bushy tail.
She set down a bag that she had had draped over her shoulder, and pulled out a pair of dark red boxing gloves, smiling broadly up at him as she giggled, "I'm so excited, I can't wait to start learning... I always wanted to learn a sport!" she said, clapping her hands together as she looked eagerly up at him.
The male sighed as he slowly examined the gloves she had presented to him, running his fingers and claws gently over the material, raising an eyebrow as he looked them over. "These look pretty big..." he murmured, looking rather curiously up at the young woman, "Was the person who helped you look for these a fox, too?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity and a bit of passivity.
She gave a nod in accent as she looked down at herself, her muzzle still split in a wide grin,"Uh-huh, I dressed like you told me to, tight to the body, right?" she asked, turning from side to side as she began to show off her choice of exercise wear to him, the shorts hugging to her lightly toned thighs and not exactly in shape form, but it was maintained, not exactly ring-ready, but maintained.
Joe looked her over carefully, letting his eyes secretly have their fill of the young woman's luscious curves, and the delicate color lines of her fur. They had been aquainted through a friend of a friend, and they were fast friends, quickly accompanying each other on nights out, and talking small talk. During their hours of talking about themselves and their views, Joe discovered that Veruca was not really involved in sports, but she did enjoy the occasional workout to keep in shape, and the occasional trot across her parent's farm, enjoying the sights and smells of the country and the work of the farm. He had offered her the opportunity to come start working out with him, and maybe pick up boxing, which he was involved in competitively.
After snapping out of his stupor of looking at her, he quickly regained his composure, which had been overlooked by Veruca as she had gotten herself interested in looking around the gymnasium, and looking at the wolf in shining armor that was emblazoned on the basketball court's center circle. He smiled as he nodded softly, "Your looking great, keep that up, and you're gonna outdress me!" he said, a soft chuckle ringing in his deep, gentle voice, which belied his rather brutal occupation.
She looked up, slightly shocked as she giggled, "You're too much, Joe! Now... I wanna learn how to box!" she said, clapping her hands together much like an eager infant. She was just so innocent, Joe thought as he took in those bright, eager eyes, that twitching nose, and her tail jerking excitedly behind her.
Joe gave a warm smile as he nodded once more, proceeding to untie her bright red boxing gloves
like they were fragile vases. He looked up after completing the untying and loosening of the ends of the gloves, smiling as he said in an enthused voice, "alright, hold out your paws, were gonna get you suited up!"
At this, Veruca let out a squeal of delight, holding out her paws as Joe popped the gloves over her paws. To her, it felt very odd, like her hands had become incredibly inflamed, clumsy and heavy. She looked up at Joe, who was smiling widely as he tied her gloves tightly to her wrists. "There!" he said, "That should do it..." he growled as he reached up and patted her cheek encouragingly, "Feels kinda weird, huh?" he asked, cocking his head at a slight angle, his ears perked in enjoyment.
She gave a soft nod, holding them up to her muzzle experimentally, holding up a facial guarding
stance. which drew a hearty laugh from the wolf, looking down after a few seconds and remarking, "get your paws down, relax... this is boxing, not taibo!" He reached up and tweaked one of her ears, making her giggle.
"One step at a time, now... to see what you know, step up to the punching bag..." He said reassuringly, tying the last knot on her gloves and guiding her up to it, and standing back as she steadied herself, "Now... try and hit it, i just want to see what you've got." he said, tilting his head as he folding his arms across his chest, taking a relaxed stance as he watched her intently.
She gave a soft, nervous nod, looking up at the hanging leather bag, watching it move in a slow, tight circle, spinning lazily on its axis in front of her. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes for a moment, and lifted her now weighted right arm to her face, readying herself before taking a wild swing at the bag, just clipping it, but not without having spun herself halfway around on one foot, much like a ballet dancer doing a pirrouette. She blushed slightly in embarrasment as she caught Joseph's gaze.
As he watched this, his face went to a slighty amused expression, the back of his lips giving a gentle tug upwards, before mixing with a quizzical look as he tilted his head just a bit more, just staring at her in disbelief. "That..." he thought, "was classic..." He silently told himself, giving a small, stifled laugh.
He had seen some pretty pathetic people on the punching bag, but that was probably one of the worst displays of coordination he had ever seen in his life. That was probably only bested by his own first swing at the bag, which he missed completely and whapped himself in the muzzle, but he wanted to put that embarrasing moment behind him. This was going to take a lot of work.
The day was a tough one for both Joe and Veruca, as the training went on, Joe found out how truly pathetic somebody could be at boxing. He truly admired Veruca, because she kept her spirits high, even if her showing, inside, sort of disappointed him, he thought this small vixen was so vulnerable, so defenseless... he felt that she needed protection, and he was going to give his best effort to make sure that she would be able to do that all on her own.
Every night, weekend and early weekday spent helping her, he found himself smiling when he thought of the energetic vixen, his tail giving a few wags of pleasure as he thought of what the vixen was achieving, and what he would instruct her on the next day seemed to always be a source of renewed enthusiasm for the project of helping Veruca learn to box.
He knew she had not experienced the terror of the ring, the brush with one's feral instinct to survive, and the force of will it took to restrain that from its fullest fruition. This involved focusing solely on just disabling and incapacitating the foe, not killing him. He also knew that she would probably adapt to this fairly quickly, she was a fox after all, and strategy and misdirection was a characteristic of the species, so he thought this would be no problem.
Oh, if he only knew what tomorrow was going to bring...