Slave Girl Challenge, Part Nine by brooksie (brooksie@pacificcoast.net) Two young women fight for the right to serve. "Well, I guess you have to learn as much as you can about wrestling," Katherine said. "When?" asked Angel. "Anytime. Even today." "Well, I did make sure I had the day free, but I wasn't expecting to spend it taking wrestling lessons." "Come on now, this will be fun," Katherine said, trying to encourage her. "Yeah, right. I've never fought anyone before. Somehow, it's never been on my list of fun things to." "Haven't you ever been in a fight?" "Sure, in school, but that was years ago." "Who did you fight with?" "Some girls. You know how it is in school. Everyone winds up fighting at some point, unless they're a total wimp." "You're not a wimp?" "No way!" All right, Katherine thought, that's better. Some of her spirit's starting to show. She asked Angel about the type of lifts she was doing in the gym and how much weight she was using, in order to get a relative idea of her strength. All the weights were pretty light, and both agreed she could probably do more. "I've been planning to start going heavier but I thought I'd wait until I had my certification and really know what I'm doing." "That's very sensible," Katherine replied, "it's easy to injure yourself lifting weights." She led Angel down the hall to a third bedroom, which had been left empty except for a rowing machine, heavy bag, dumbells and a few other assorted pieces of exercise equipment. Two mats were leaning up against a wall. As she and Angel spread them out on the floor, Katherine asked if she'd won the fights she was in. "Yep, both of them." Katherine prodded Angel for the details and she gave as accurate a description as she could. "It's kind of hard to remember everything that happened. I could probably tell you more about fights I've watched than the ones I was in." "Uh-huh, I know what you mean," Katherine agreed. "So, that's it, just the two fights?" "Yeah, except I beat a guy once, when I was really little. I was 12 and he was a year older than me. I can remember that fight really well." This sounded interesting. "Tell me." "He wanted to ride my bike. But he was really fat and I was afraid he'd break it, so I said no. He grabbed hold of it and tried to pull it away from me. At first I held on, but then he got it. I ran over to him before he could get on and pushed him. He almost fell over but he kept trying to get on it, so I pushed him again, as hard as I could. He got mad and dropped the bike. He tried to get me in a bear hug, but I grabbed his wrists and we were fighting. I tripped him and he fell down. I got on his back and pulled his hair really hard. I saw his adam's apple thingy sticking out and that made me think to put my arm around his neck. I did it like this..." Angel showed Katherine how she'd put her right arm around him, so the crux of her elbow was against his throat and her right hand was holding her left shoulder. She'd made the hold even more solid by holding onto her right wrist with her left hand. "You're a natural!" Katherine exclaimed. "What?" "The way you put that choke hold on him. That was perfect. Excellent technique. If only you'd known the sleeper, you could have put him out." "What's that?" "It's a type of neck hold. I'll show you. Hey, what happened after you choked him?" "Oh, he got really red in the face and started making these weird sounds. Then some drool came out of his mouth and got on my arm. It was gross! I wiped it off on his shirt, then I got off him. He was screaming and sort of crying at the same time, telling me I was crazy and he was going to get his parents to call the police on me. What an idiot! HE was trying to steal MY bike." The indignant tone of her last sentence was music to Katherine's ears. Despite her present misgivings, she had no doubt the Angel's fighting spirit would surface once she was in the midst of battle. For the next two hours, Katherine schooled Angel in the basics of freestyle wrestling, as well as an array of jui jitsu style joint locks and various submission holds. At one point, she had Angel sit behind her and apply a body scissors as hard as she could, for as long as she could. Reluctant at first, Katherine had to convince Angel she was practically bullet-proof before she'd go all out. Pretending to lose patience with the young woman, Katherine snarled "Come on, let me feel it. Lock your ankles and SQUEEZE!" Angel put everything she had into the hold. Katherine felt it, but the effect was mitigated by the placement of Angel's legs - they were a bit too low. Just as Katherine was about to tell her to lift them higher, Angel did so, instinctively. This time when Angel clamped down, Katherine barely caught herself in time to keep from crying out. That was close, she thought. She was afraid Angel would go into hysterics if she showed even the slightest sign she was in any pain. Katherine suffered silently until she felt herself groan involuntarily. She covered by turning it into a laugh and saying "Ok, that's good, that's enough for now." Katherine was glad she hadn't chosen a head scissors hold in order to test Angel's leg strength. "You've got some squeezing power there girl," Katherine said. Angel grinned. "I guess all those years of squeezing horse's necks paid off," she answered happily. "Well, you certainly made an impression on me." Angel groaned at Katherine's bad pun. "So," she asked, "do you think I'll win against...what's her name? the girl I'm going to wrestle?" "Uh...Lee Anne," Katherine answered absently. Something in Angel's question had distracted her. It was her word choice. All afternoon, Angel had discussed this wrestling match as if she were being forced into it at gunpoint. It had been so blatant, Katherine was convinced she was doing it deliberately, to try and make her feel guilty about staging this contest. So accustomed had Katherine become to Angel's fatalistic view of the matter, that when she used the words "going to wrestle" instead of "have to wrestle", or something similar, it sounded odd. She realized it was the first time Angel had mentioned the upcoming match without appearing to dread the prospect. With pleasure, Katherine reflected on Angel's changing attitude, neglecting the original question. "So, do you think I'll win?" Angel asked again. "Huh? Oh...well, that's hard to predict. It will probably come down to which one of you can think on your feet the best. Wrestling is as much mental as physical. Unless one person is much more skilled of way stronger, the one who is thinking ahead usually wins. Strategy is very important." Angel said nothing. Now it was her turn to appear lost in thought. "Ok, that's pretty much the end of the lesson," said Katherine. "I could show you more, but you can't absorb too much all at once. My best advice is stick to the basics, keep focused and follow your instincts." Angel rolled her eyes. "What was that for?" "What instincts? I've never done this before. I don't have any instincts." "Don't worry honey, you've got 'em. And they'll be there when you need them." She handed Angel a couple of tapes. "Here's come videos you can borrow. If you can find someone to practice with, that could help, too." "I take it I'm leaving now," her disappointment obvious. "I'm afraid so. I can't say I'm not tempted, but it's important I stay neutral." "So you haven't slept with Lee Anne yet either?" "Nope." "Too bad." "Why?" "Then I could say it wasn't fair and you had to let me sleep with you too. Then I could make you pick me." "You could make me?" Angel flashed a wicked grin. "Yep, you'd be helpless. I'd defeat you with my tongue lock." Katherine chuckled. One thing was for sure...win or lose, she was going to have to find out if Angel's confidence was well deserved or not. "Oh you would, would you?" she replied. " Well, too bad, because I'm not sleeping with either one of you before the match." "But don't you want to know who's better in bed?" "What makes you think I won't sleep with both of you anyway? Goddesses aren't exactly monogamous, you know." "I know, but..." "I think if you were in my position, you'd understand. I consider this a big responsibility, Angel. This choice of lifestyle is a serious commitment, for both people. That's why I've waited as long as I have before taking this step. Anyway, how's this weekend for you?" "For what?" Angel asked innocently. "Uh, hello...for wrestling?" "This weekend? But, it's already Wednesday." "I see no reason to wait any longer." "Ok...I guess. I work Saturday, but I have Sunday off." Katherine walked her to her car. Angel started it and put it in gear. Before taking her foot off the brake she looked up at Katherine, eyes filled with doubt. "Don't worry. Try not to think about the outcome. Stay in the moment, keep your wits about you and have some faith in yourself." Katherine ended her short pep talk by leaning in the window and giving Angel a kiss on the cheek. "For luck," she said with a wink, then turned and went back inside.