Chapter 16: Training

RENA

I got Alicia up at four in the morning for a long day to try to get her into fighting shape. I pounced on to of her which freaked her out. "Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!" she screamed. The weight on her panties pressed something down below loose, and I felt something happy (probably from me sleeping nearby) rub against my leg. She blushed, and fumbled under her blanket until she was smooth down there again. "Ummm, Rena? It's 4am. Why did you wake me up?" she asked.

I kept the sternness of a drill officer, but inwardly I was smirking (for I enjoyed messing with her), "It's time to get training! I expect fifty sit-ups, forty push-ups, thirty-five squats, and then you need to put me on this leash and walk me. But first..." I looked at her face, now feminized so it would never grow hair again, "We need to take a shower, and then you need to put on makeup and look presentable."

ALICIA

She got in the shower with me again. I was going to have to tell her one day that regular humans tended to have boundaries about personal space, but Rena probably didn't understand the concept. As far as she as concerned, I was basically hers, whether her friend or her only hope against Belial or whatever else she considered me. As she scrubbed from my legs, up my hips, touching my member with her soft hands and long nails, all the way up my chest and back, I struggled not to be aroused but in all other ways, I felt surprisingly comfortable. I suppose that I should have felt violated, but strangely it felt like two girls washing each other. While she started rubbing my scalp with shampoo, I decided to try something that was outside my comfort zone. I started washing her as well. Not wanting to hit her in the head by bending over while she was scrubbing me, I waited until she was done, then squatted down and started washing her feet. She gasped, making a cute little sound, but after a moment she recovered and her body language suggested that she was allowing me to continue. I scrubbed her hips then worked around her buttocks and her tails, moving upward. "Wait," she said, "Scrub this part." She pointed, and I scrubbed that part, being careful not to get soap or water inside for risk of infection. I moved upward, pausing at her ripe breasts, "Can I wash here?" She nodded, and I continued scrubbing her down, all the way up to her hair, ending with her ears. She made another cute sound when I scrubbed her ears. She exited the shower and got dressed. This time, she gave me some space with regards to putting on my underwear. Since we were going on an exercise, I put on a sports bra and some panties that wouldn't chafe when I did exercise,and some athletic leggings and a light tee shirt. "No, no, that won't do at all!" she said as she appeared behind me, shaking her head. Her hair had been perfectly combed, and she was wearing an outfit that looked perfect to go clubbing but not even remotely appropriate for what she promised was heavy exercise. Meanwhile, she seemed to be judging what I wore as not acceptable. "I expect you to be wearing your best for our workout." As I got out of the bathroom, I signaled to Arboria, my former sister. "She's uhhhh apparently expecting me to go out for an exercise in an evening gown," I explained. Arboria was the most level-headed of my friends. Autumntwig was, much like most gnomes, athletic and inclined to the forest, but some of what she said and did was an illusion as I found out over time. Of the girls, she was most unlike her persona as my "brother" Ash. Aellisa could be brutally honest while at the same time very aloof. Her persona (when not being random people) was as Ash's wife, and unfortunately for them she was spot on, being a permissive but slightly distant mother. Arboria was honest like Aellisa but understood tact and tended to be the kindest of her friends, though she had a hidden geeky side both as her persona and as herself that was refreshing. Her persona was married to Marina's persona, who was a sweet and approachable man. And indeed Marina in her real form was those things, but she was also somewhat obsessive compulsive and neurotic. All of these families, for obvious reasons, had adopted children. I had only seen these children when I was there, but they were actually only their part-time children through various methods. But in any case, the last two were easiest to talk to.

"Yeah," Arboria grimaced, "she can be a little crazy. I usually just go with it unless it puts one of us in danger." I sighed, "But why would she insist that I wear this during an exercise?" I pointed to the purple satin open-back prom dress. Marina shrugged, "Feel free to ask her." I slipped it on anyway, and put on some stockings and heels. Then I went to find out what this was about.

Before I could ask, she said, "Good, let's see you do make up." Like before, it wasn't the modest amount of makeup that I would likely apply for a workout, but mascara and eyeshadow, lipstick and some light blush. "So ummm, seriously, what is the purpose of all of this?" I asked. She smiled, "Don't you want to look good while exercising?"

Fifty sit-ups later, Rena declared I would need to change because my clothing stunk and fix my makeup. And again after doing the push-ups. And yet again after doing the squats. I was through three entire outfits and we'd wasted several hours between clothing and makeup. It was now 10am. "What the fuck?!? Rena, you keep making me get dressed up and then I mess up my clothing," I complained.

"Do you remember your time working in Gargarean? How they told you to hustle but kept you from running? I want you to move but not sweat. You need to be able to move effortlessly, like you are gliding across the room," she explained, "This is why you are wearing the heels and the formal dress. I need you able to move, regardless of the conditions. If you can do this in a formal outfit, you can do it wearing anything." I got a leash and watched Rena morph out of her own formal outfit and become a gumiho. The change was not like the Hulk, for no clothing was ripped even though she became much larger. Rather it was almost like a second skin formed around the first, somewhat like Attack on Titan or some kind of mecha thing. If she transformed back, her clothing would be intact.

Rena panted at me expectantly, "Go ahead and put that leash on me, Alicia!" It wasn't normal for pets to be telling their owners to leash them up, but she wasn't my pet, and I was hers rather than the other way around. And so I fastened it around her neck then snapped the harness together around her shoulders and connected to her chest. And then she took off.

While dogs mostly walk in a straight line except for the occasional random distraction, mostly obeying where their masters pulled, foxes gave zero fucks about the person holding the "Remember," she said while pulling at me enough that I was threatening to either run or be pulled to the ground, "I want you to learn how to move even at this pace without sweating. Effortless motion." This was hard, but instead of trying to push my body, somehow I just moved along with my own body's momentum. I finally understood how to move with my own flow.

The others had by now gone to their respective families with the help of Arboria's powers. They typically slept in their own beds (those of them that slept), but they kept a mostly normal daylight schedule, skipping out occasionally to help out Rena. Now that I wasn't being spied on full-time, more of their day was freed up for family, but they had a full twenty-fours of schedule, thanks to night activities and putting their kids to bed early.

And so, as I walked Rena, there was a sense for us of complete timelessness. I had no schedule to keep, no parents growing old (since the people I had lived with before loved me but were responsible for adopting me), no job, and no mortgage. It was just me and my fox. As nobody knew that this place was anything other than an abandoned farmhouse and surrounding forest, there was not even any rent to worry about. And so for hours, we walked about while Rena sniffed about, marked her territory, and played with me. I was now definitely getting the feel of having my body carry me with the flow rather than pushing my body. My makeup had not run, true to her seemingly insane expectation. Now were my legs sore despite this walking, nor any of my clothing. And this was after I had not only a dress, but also stockings and heels. The stockings should have developed a run by now, or the heels should have broken or torn from all of this moment, as Rena continued to move at pretty decent pace.

RENA

Alicia was keeping pace despite the fact that I was trying my best to make her quit so I could get another look at her naked body as I forced her to change yet again. But she took to my lesson despite all of my attempts to exhaust her, and after hours of running about, I finally stopped.

As any book on red foxes would tell you, red foxes aren’t pack animals and tend to be solitary hunters, until they mate and from that point on, live in small family groups. They can wander from area to area establishing a home wherever they want to, or can settle and live in a specific area, which they mark with urine in order to establish their territorial boundaries. I had not decided Alicia was to my mate, largely because things were complicated with her gender identity, but I was in heat, and Alicia made me... well, hot.

"Hey Alicia," I said to her, turning my body despite the leash, "Why not unhook the leash, I want you to feel what it's like to ride on my back." Actually, the idea of her groin on my back, and hands holding tightly to my body made me aroused. But I didn't say anything.

ALICIA

I got on Rena, shoving her leash inside a small bag that I had sashed around my waist. I spread my legs on either side of her back, leggings rubbing against her soft fur, arms and chest near her upper back as I held on tightly. It was exhilarating, though I was too busy looking down as I held tight. Her fur tickled my face, and I gave a cute sneeze. After a short while of running, she slowed down. Could she finally have tired out?

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Rena bid me get off for a second. She said, "It's good that you've managed to stay on, but you're not really getting the true experience if you're hanging on for dear life. Let's have you ride side-saddle, as it's more ladylike. And while we're at it, consider this training. You will need to focus on balance and poise, as you try to stay on my back." Was it just me, or did she seem flustered?

She guided me through the proper posture, and I faced forward with my legs leaning to the side. My back was more straight, and this time I was able to look ahead at the trees around me as she lunged ahead. Unlike a horse, gradually working up to a gallop, Rena really had no chill. I was nearly thrown off the very first second, but as my legs were near the left side of her chest, I grabbed her on the right side behind me with my right hand just behind her shoulder and managed to keep myself from sliding off. She suddenly changed direction, as she saw a small animal in her path. I did my best to stay on while Rena did her best to hunt small prey with me on her. After enough time passed, I got off her as she slowed down, and she morphed back to her foxgirl form. "Okay!" she said, "Change out of that nice outfit and that makeup, as I'm gonna try to make you sweat!"

RENA

I got Alicia to wear a tight fitting pair of yoga shorts that was designed for compression. These combined with her panties gave her the appearance of camel toe. When she asked why she had to wear this along with a short sports top, I told her that it was to increase her flexibility and make the training easier, though I assured her that sometimes she might be wearing clothing like the gown and nevertheless be expected to perform these same moves (and it totally had nothing to with impure lusts that I could tell were developing in me, though none of this was said aloud). When she asked why this sports outfit was also leopard print, I gave her a convincing answer about the importance of camouflage. Even though this should have have raised skepticism, but Alicia was a bit gullible when it came to my directions.

ALICIA

Actually, I wasn't sure I bought her explanation. I just didn't care. Obviously, she must like me, or she wouldn't have dressed me up in all these outfits or showered or slept me.

But then she slapped me across the face. Her face looked stern, as she explained that I needed to learn to predict her attacks, and after that she kept up the offensive, using grapples and strikes while I smoothly dodged out of the way. Maybe it was all about the mission, and getting me trained. Maybe all that closeness was just an act. After all, if she was able to act like friends of mine, or to pretend to be multiple different people, some of them male.

And so, I tried not to focus on the ridiculous notion that she might have fallen for me, while I focused not only on the ability to effortlessly dodge but to predict what came next. She was going to grab with her right hand, so I sidestepped to the left, then she was going to slash at me with her long and probably sharp nails, and after that she was going to throw a a series of open-palm punches (eight in all: one to my head, another to my left breast, one to my stomach, another to my right shoulder, one to my solar plexus, one near my right breast, another near my neck, and a final one near the hips). I managed to move out of the way of all these attacks. The ability to predict seemed to work hand in hand with my effortless motion and fast reflexes, so I reacted as easily as if I had been trained to do so for months instead of just learning these moves today (in fact, we would continue to train here for the next seven months anyway, for reasons that Rena only voiced much later). But right now, the next prediction of what she was going to do so shocked me that I was wide open to it.

RENA

When I slapped Alicia it hurt me way more than it hurt her. Emotionally, I mean. I'm told that beings like me have roughly the effect of a brick wall hitting back unless they held back. And in fact, my blows were very gentle (though it probably didn't seem that way to her), but I had to keep up the pretense of attacking her. But what she saw as strikes (beyond the first slap) was me wanting to grab her close, to hold her tight, and to kiss her. Impulse took over, and I was shocked to find out that I had kissed her. She looked shocked too, but I was able not let it shake my composure. "This is why you need to expect the unexpected," I explained in a deadpan voice, and with a completely calm face.

ALICIA

Rena insisted that I had enough practice for now dodging attacks, and it was time for me to try to fight. She offered, "So I'm going to teach you tai chi chuan, because that move you used with the holy tornado thing looked similar to that. I am going to test your background, and train you in any way needed to fill in gaps. So show me what you got!" Only, the next moment, I was performing the 103-form Yang family tai chi chuan, moving slowly through a complex martial arts dance. She congratulated me, but I was quick to say, "It's not me! I never learned how to do this."

Her eyebrows raised, "So then, let's assume now that you are able to learn these forms in advance. A precognitive learning, if you will. This means that however long it takes, in the near future, I will have taught you everything I know about tai chi chuan. But more importantly, it may be that you now know the powers of the Oracle too. Show me what you got!" I moved through the Ward Off movement as she tested out a small ball of fire against me. The flames reversed in momentum knocking flames right back at her. She caught the flames and crushed them in her hand, showing a twing or irritation. "That's a good defense,"she said, "but now it's time to attack me!" She used a series of flames this time against me, and I used Carry Tiger Over Mountain, blocking the flames with water and using a mix of the elements against her.

Each of these abilities would later be passed on to an Oracle, who would each teach the Oracle of Tao various abilities, giving her master over Light, Protection, Elements, Time, Death, Darkness, Justice, and Barriers. This particular one would later be called Four Gods form, but that wasn't relevant because I didn't learn it from an Oracle. Rena was teaching me all these moves.

Rena next used her own time mastery to give herself the appearance of super-speed. But even though I was unable to even see her move as she rapidly moved forward, somehow I still sidestepped out of the way. Rena rushed past, and was about to change direction and attack again, but that slight pause gave me all the time I needed. I used Parting Wild Horse's Mane to freeze her in place.

A grey film surrounded her as time particles slowly broke down. I had just enough time to use Fan Through the Back, a death effect. But even though I was not sure I could trust Rena after all she had done to me, I found it more than a bit absurd to contemplate causing her death. The time freeze wore off before I could decide what to do next. "Tsk tsk," she said, "You have no killer instinct. How will you fare against Belial?" I instead used a variation of this death effect, Needle At Bottom Of Sea. She collapsed in a heap. But don't worry, this effect was only for subduing creatures by removing their energy to fight. While she was prone and cursing me for her sluggishness, I said, "Killer instinct? I'll show you killer instinct!" I used the tai chi chuan stance known as Cloud Hands to use the power of Justice against her. She was struggling, so I used all of this time to complete the move. My hands began to glow with a strange energy. I rushed in and gave her a beat down, but she just giggled. "Uhhhh, Alicia," she explained, "when you learned this ability in the future, I probably should have told you that it absorbs and transfers damage. The last time you were hit was when I gave you a slap earlier." These abilities were powerful, but most of them had failed thus far. I wasn't good at using them, I guess. There were only two more to use if I wanted to defeat her. I used Snake Creeps Through Grass, summoning darkness and Hellfire against her. Without effort, she used her Foxfire to cleanse this energy, and then her tails swirled about as she used Telekinesis to toss a rock at me. The last technique that I had was able to either solidify my body or make it incorporeal so I just solidified my body to the point where the rocks shattered, and then turned all ghostlike and grabbed her heart through her breasts, much like Vision's move in Marvel comics. She looked pretty woozy as her blood flow was cut down, but then she slapped me again, "Hey you perv, don't touch me there!" She knocked me out of her body, and across the forest a good ways. I guess she was going easy on me earlier?

I regained consciousness an hour later, watching Rena lean over me with a concerned look on her face. She seemed to be in the middle of healing me. "Congratulations!" she said, "You just won the battle against me." Funny, but shouldn't she be the one lying on the ground if that was that case? "I have nothing left to teach you, as you have mastered all your abilities," she assured me, "but you'll probably have to stay with me and learn them, because you learned them in the future, and that hasn't happened yet. Also, I have other training I want to do with you." I wondered what sort of training she meant.

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