Cascadia's Fault

Submission Hold

Noa closed the door she had just came in from and neatly placed herself between Caz and Johnny. Caz would have laughed if it hadn't been so obvious. And desperate. She had every faith that Jem would clue Johnny in, not that it mattered to her, she just didn't like girls who played games like that. She moved closer to CJ, who had taken a position toward the front, laying a hand on his shoulder so that he would know it was her.

The camp counselor pulled off a hoodie to reveal the camp's trademark yellow t-shirt, but he was also wearing the not unlike what she wore when practicing with their dad. The counselor slipped off his Crocs before stepping onto the mats. He turned a slow circle, surveying the group of about twenty before he spoke.

Grant continued to turn so that he could meet the eyes of everyone in the room. "The reason all of you are here is that on your entry forms, you and your parents indicated you had some previous experience either in martial arts, wrestling, gymnastics, boxing, or you've been here before and participated in the beginning and intermediate classes successfully."

Caz took a second to peek over her shoulder to glance and Johnny and Jem standing together, making her wonder what experience they had. They were both tall, and she knew from experience that Johnny was strong. It would be interesting to face off with either one of them.

...and beating on Noa would be nothing but a pleasure.

Grant was wrapping up, "...when you come in, go straight to the locker room, choose a gi, and change. Then come out here and begin stretching until I get here. If you have your own workout gear, you can wear it as long as it fits the dress code, which is posted on the wall in the hall. You'll just have to do your own laundry. For today, go change, and we'll see what you've got."

The mass exodus bottle necked the hall, but everyone got sorted into the appropriate locker rooms eventually. Jem started snagging tops and bottoms, her longer arms reaching past the melee of girls grasping the popular sizes. Caz knew she was going to need an extra small and had no idea what Jem was going to do. While the girl was runway-model tall, she was also runway-model thin.

Finding something that was going to fit everywhere would be nearly impossible. She finally settled on things being short rather than running the risk of being de-pantsed.

Caz was stuck with rolling up cuffs and sleeves.

Jem huffed a laugh, "Well, I guess it's a good thing I do have my own workout stuff here. I hope it fits the dress code, otherwise, just call me "Urkle"."

Caz couldn't stop the giggle...and she never giggled! "Thank you. Thank you very much for sticking that in head. I'm not sure they carry brain bleach in the commissary."

"Anything for a friend."

While Jem's pants were capris, Caz was stepping on the heels even with the cuffs rolled. There could never be a happy medium, she thought.

They took their places in the line. She automatically searched out the top of CJ's head, and there he was next to his new best friend. She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Johnny wasn't blowing CJ off the way most did, but there they were, two rows up, with

Noa on Johnny's other side. Caz wasn't sure the how other girl managed it but had to give her credit for her single-mindedness.

Grant took them through a series of warm-ups – jumping jacks, stretches, lunges, kicks, pushups – and then he took them all through it again. Caz was working up to what she liked to think of as the sheen – the point when the body got loose, the blood got moving, the muscles warmed up, and the mind focused. After the third rotation, Grant called a halt and told everyone to take a seat on the mat.

She and Jem found an empty space near one of the doors. CJ and Johnny were on the other side of the room. Caz rolled her eyes at

Jem when she saw Noa and Lulu right next to them. Jem just shook her head.

Grant took his position in the center of the mats. "We'll begin with some basic wrestling moves. We'll start with eight groups of two."

He worked his way around the room, "You, you, you," touching Johnny, CJ, Noa, Lulu, two guys and girls from the next side, Jem,

Caz, and two guys from their side, then another two guys and girls from the fourth.

Caz rose to her feet to take up position when Grant placed himself in front of her. He looked down at her hands. "Those have to come off."

She habitually clutched one of the leather cuffs. "I never take these off. It's personal."

Noa's tinkling laugh scraped at her nerves, "Oh, of course you do. You didn't have them on in the shower this morning."

Grant shoved his fists on his hips as he turned his attention to the other girl, "I don't believe I was talking to you, Noa." Caz's breath caught when he flipped his attention back to her, "And you are?"

"Caz Okami." Her stomach was already starting to knot. How did her parents talk her into this? "And, no, I didn't wear them in the shower, but that's the only time I take them off. I even sleep in them."

The instructor frowned, "Well, I'm sorry, Caz. Unless you have a religious or medical reason for them, they have to come off."

She looked down at the black cuffs. The leather work was intricate. One cuff had the symbol for the four elements, while the other had the Japanese godai. She wasn't sure if that really counted as religious, and she didn't want to ask. That seemed too much like making a scene. It wasn't the reason she wore them, anyway.

Not really.

Caz turned on her heel, untying the cuffs as she went, before setting them down on the table. She yanked down the sleeves that were already too long a little further. When she turned to face the mats again, everyone was paired off except the last boy. Boy was probably too silly a word for him when he was even taller than Johnny.

How the heck did that happen?

Her only comfort was that she felt confident that Jem would kick Noa's butt, and that Johnny hadn't let himself get cornered by her, instead pairing up with CJ.

Grant was working his way through the pairs, telling them exactly which move he wanted them to practice. Caz planted herself in front of the tree masquerading as a human. He smiled at her, offering his hand, "Hi, I'm Tal. Sorry about this."

Caz sigh and took his hand, "No worries. It doesn't sound like this is going to be complicated today, anyway."

Grant moved everyone into the holds he wanted them in, who would be the first aggressor, then they would switch. Caz had to laugh when Tal tried to bend his body in half to put her into a submissive hold. She let him since they weren't supposed to fight back. Then it was her turn. She tried to picture herself pitting her body weight against his to bend him backwards. Fortunately, Tal was a good sport as he bent himself backwards over her knee while she held his one arm and held her left fist to his neck as though gripping a knife. The sleeve of her gi scrunched up, revealing her arms to her elbow.

As she helped Tal back up, he gripped her hand, her sleeve still shoved high. He stopped, flipping her arm back over, "What's this?"

Caz snatched her hand away, yanking down the sleeve, "Nothing."

"What's what?"

She swung around to stare at the camp counselor. It was obvious that the workout had simply been a series of moves designed to see if they had the strength and flexibility to be in the class, but after Tal's question, Caz felt like she was breathing hard enough that it looked like she'd run ten miles. It also felt like she was making fish faces – her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.

From behind her, she heard Tal say, "I told her that was really good at the move, it was just a little different from what you showed us; probably because I'm a lot bigger than she is."

Grant looked unconvinced. Caz pulled out what she thought of as her I'm just a dumb punk girl smile. Finally, Grant stepped away. "I see. I guess we'll have to have her show us sometime. Next group! Everyone here off the mats and take a seat."

Caz scrambled off, heading straight to the table to scoop up her cuffs and lacing them back into place. She blindly headed back and sat down, staring at her lap, barely registering someone sitting down beside her.

"So, want to tell me how you managed to get a medicine wheel on your wrist? One that doesn't look like a tattoo," was whispered in her ear.

Her head whipped around until she was nose to nose with Tal, meeting his expectant stare.