Prison - Chapter 32

Prison
By: Jessica & Mikki

Chapter 32
Alyssen



Patron Uhrick... It was still hard to believe. He had become Patron. He accepted such a high in responsibility position. One that -- even if he wanted to -- he really couldn't just go back to being the man who was ignored by all except his sister. Though, I hoped for his sister's sake that he really didn't want that. After all, he accepted the position because of his sister, in the first place. Which basically -- though directed more towards everyone rather than just one person -- was my plan.

There were a few things that were of course going to stay the same. Some of them couldn't be changed that much, if at all. Otherwise I was going to have a riot on my hands. And that was the last thing I needed.

The first thing that needed to change were the hunts for food. Women should be risking their lives just as much as the men should just to get the food. Sure, have about two men there to help them since they weren't used to gathering food. Have a few experts to show them how it's done, and give them a few extra hands if they ran into trouble. But other than that, there was no reason why men were forced to go outside to collect food while the women sat around. That was being both spoiled and lazy. Two qualities no one needed in a place like this.

The second thing that needed to change were training. I rarely saw any women in the gym to keep up their skills. If I had counted the number of women that were in there to practice with my fingers, I'd have leftovers. There was still a decent number of women here. Regardless if they were rare to come to Austrasia. Over the years, they had gotten quite a number gathered. And most of them should have already known how to fight. After all, a lot of the women were actually from the Militia before they came here. Only a handful were actually scientists. So why were so few coming to train to keep their skills at par? This also needed to change.

Something that couldn't change too much were the multiple relationships. That was something that should be both the man's and the woman's choice. So I couldn't do much to change that. The only change I could do was that as long as the child was still growing in the woman's womb -- and even growing up to a certain age -- the said man and woman should stay with each other at least long enough for the kid to know who their father was. Another part of this that I could change was parenting. They actually needed to treat the child like the parents that they were. Teach them right and wrong. Teach them to accept the word "no". Teach them at a reasonable age how and when to fight.

Another thing that I needed to change was how often the men and women got together to have kids. I didn't know much about this situation. Considering my mind really wasn't there for me to even want to have kids at the moment. I didn't want to subject my child to a harsh environment like this one. If it happened, it happened, but that didn't exactly mean that I was going to be happy over the situation and conditions that were around me. Still, from what Rebecca had informed me, the "Month of Mating" had technically already passed. Sure, it was drawing close one again, but it was still months away. So why were they still sleeping with the men in such a way? Sex wasn't the most important thing in life. In a place like this, just surviving was a chore.

So, there were a few things I was going to have to change, while others stayed the same but were altered. I was going to have to tackle these situations one at a time. If I tried to focus on all of them at once, I'd be in a heap of trouble that I didn't want to deal with. Slowly edge them into the changes that needed to happen.


- - -


"When am I going to learn how to fight?" Clio asked as she looked up at me with confusion glittering in her eyes.

I smiled as I looked at her. "That's not going to be for a while, Clio," I answered.

"Awww," she whined as she puffed her cheeks. Clearly not liking this idea. "Why?"

"Because, you need to learn everything one at a time," I replied. "You had to learn how to crawl before you could walk. You had to learn to walk before you could run. You're taking your first steps, Clio. After a few more years, Ian and I will teach you how to defend yourself. Right now, focus on your flexibility so that way you can fight to the best of your ability when you do learn."

Clio stared up at me for a few minutes before she let out a heavy sigh and looked down at the floor with sadness. "Okay..." she trailed off. Not content with such an answer, but satisfied with it.

"Okay," I repeated with a smile. "Now go off to see your mom. I'm sure you're getting hungry, right?"

Clio nodded before she turned away from me and rushed out of the gym. Going to look for Aeryn so that way she could get something to eat. I let out a sigh before I turned to look back at the rest of the room. A few more of the women had decided to come to train, today. I was seeing a little progress with the first change I had decided to make. I figured that the women getting back into their training routines was the best choice to start with. It was why Clio had asked the question, in the first place. All she was working on was her gymnastics. she wasn't focusing on actually fighting, yet. She was still too young. Once she turned eleven, like I had, I'd help Ian teach her how to fight.

It was easy to see that Ian had no real form. Obviously whoever taught him how to fight did so in the wrong manner. It was probably the reason why he had gotten the scars on his body. I figured I was going to have to help him. At least a little bit. The damage technically had already been done. There really wasn't much I could do to "fix" it. About the best I could do was teach him a proper fighting stance or two and that would really be it.

Having that thought in my mind, I turned my gaze to Ian. Finding him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His expression blank like it normally was. His green gaze on the door to the gym that Clio had gone through in order to find her mother. It was nice to see that he at least cared about his sister. I was always going to find that to be what I liked most about him. His sister meant everything to him. And there wasn't a person alive who was going to change that.

"Hey, Ian," I called. The action making him tear his gaze away from the door to the gym and look at me. I gestured for him to come over to me, and after a few seconds, he decided to comply. Pushing away from the wall as he unfolded his arms and walking over to me.

"What?" he asked as he looked down at me. Again, his expression blank, but his eyes glittering with puzzlement.

"I want to teach you a few stances so that way you'll have an easier time executing your attacks when you fight," I told him. "It's not much, and they'll probably feel silly at first, but it should help."

Ian cocked an eyebrow as he looked at me like I was crazy. "Why?" he inquired as he looked at me. "I can fight well enough."

I nodded. "I didn't say that you didn't fight well," I assured him. "I'm not trying to teach you how to fight. I'm simply teaching you form so that way you can execute your attacks better. I know you weren't taught properly. It's easy to see when you do fight. But it gets the job done when you need it to, so I'm not going to change it. I'm simply going to show you a few stances so that way when you're going up against a human at least, you can better execute your attacks so that way the fight ends in your favor more quickly. It'll also make it easier to block and even dodge your opponents attacks all together. It's not like I can teach you gymnastics like I can your sister. You're at an age where that really isn't an option for you, anymore."

Ian continued to stare at me for a long moment. Contemplating whether or not to actually go through with it. It was nice to see that calculative glint in his eye. It at least let me know he was considering it. Which was nice.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, Ian closed his eyes as he placed his gloved hand on his hip. Facing away from me. "Fine," he said. "I don't see the harm in it. When do you want to start?"

"Anytime is fine with me," I informed him. "We can start now if you would like."

Ian nodded. "That would probably be best," he told me. "I am going to be busy for most of the day. The only reason why I was really here was to watch over Clio."

I nodded. "I know," I assured him. "Now, which side is your most dominant? Right or left?"

He again looked at me like I had three heads. This was obviously going to be a little harder than I thought. "When you go to punch someone, which hand to you instinctively throw first? Your right hand or your left hand?"

Ian held up his left hand. I nodded. "Okay, so then for you you're going to have to stand facing me. I'm right handed, so mirroring me would be a little easier with you being left-handed."

Ian nodded as he looked at me. Not interrupting as I explained it to him.

"Okay, stand so your feet are shoulder-width apart." I showed him what I meant, having my feet parallel with my shoulders. I watched as Ian did the same. "Next, bring your dominant foot back and bend your knee a little bit." Again, I showed him what I meant by moving my right foot so it was farther apart from my left foot and bent my knee, slightly. Again, Ian mirrored what I had done with his left leg. "Now, your dominant hand comes up by your chest close to your shoulder while your least-dominant hand goes down by your waist."

Again, Ian mirrored what I had done. After a few seconds of standing in the position, he gave me a droll stare. "This feels really stupid..."

I laughed softly as I looked at him. "I know, and for a while it will," I informed him. "But as you continue to stand in the stance, it will start feeling less stupid and more natural. This is one of the best stances to use because it will make people believe that your less-dominant leg is actually where you're applying most of your balance. So when someone tries to off-set your balance, you can easily counter. It's also one of the best because you have a better blocking range." I moved my left arm up and down. I moved my right arm side-to-side across my face with my fist pointing towards the ceiling. I moved my left leg up and down. Just a few of the basics.

Ian watched me for a few minutes before he went back to his stance. I watched him for a few seconds before I relaxed from my stance and walked over to him. Walking around him so that way I was standing behind him. "Here," I said simply. Doing a few corrections with his form. Moving his left fist a little bit so that way it was closer to his shoulder. Moving his right fist to be parallel with his hip. Fixing the spacing between his feet so that way he was more stable. "There," I said with a smile. "Much better."

I turned my gaze back to Ian's face only to find that it was extremely close to mine. I had pressed myself against him to help him with his stance. Why that didn't register until I was staring at his face I didn't know. I guess I should have known better.

I felt my cheeks get warmer as I stepped away from him. A little taken aback about what I had just done. "S-sorry," I stammered, a little embarrassed. Averting my gaze to the floor. "Anyway, that should help you a lot better whenever you're fighting against someone. You'll have to play with the stance a little bit so that way you know what all you can do with it, and just how to move while in the stance to be able to evade and counter your opponents moves, but all in all, you should do fine with that one."