Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 99: A Bit of Understanding

Laz didn't know exactly when he started having fun, but that was what happened. It was kind of strange and liberating in a way, being somewhat naked in the cold air and running through the woods. He felt like nothing else mattered but running. And chasing Kat who seemed to be having the time of her life.

The difficult part about it was the trails were a bit run down, but they were far from clear. So besides just trying to follow Kat as fast as he was able, Laz also had to do his best to clear obstacles like fallen trees and large rocks. In fact, Laz almost felt like they were there on purpose.

Kat seemed almost like a phantom as she ran. At some points Laz would lose sight of her completely, sometimes only hearing a gentle laughter that seemed to mock him. At other times, Laz might catch a quick glimpse of her, but that was about it. While his foot steps seemed to echo throughout the trees, Kat was as silent as a ghost.

Around an hour later, Laz started having trouble keeping up. The beads of sweat rolled off him in waves, turning almost frozen by the time they hit the ground. His chest was burning as he found it harder and harder to breath. Just as he was about to slow down, he caught sight of Kat, sitting on a rock as though she was waiting for him.

Although Laz felt almost spent, he noticed that besides being sweaty herself, Kat's breathing didn't look labored nor did she seem exhausted. Laz couldn't help but give her credit for that.

"Don't stop moving, even if your just walking around in a circle," Kat instructed. Laz briefly wondered why she was sitting, but he still did as she said. Walking around in the small clearing around the rock, Laz spent some time just trying to be immersed in the moment. Looking over at Kat, he saw her fumbling around the rock before moving a piece of it aside and taking out a bottle of water. Kat was able to see Laz surprised look.

"Since I don't like carrying anything on me, I do a once a week trip where I stash some water in some hidden spots along this trail," she explained.

Nodding his head in understanding, Laz continued moving, not letting his body fully stop.

"Your doing pretty well overall. But I can tell you were ready for a break. How do you feel?" Kat asked as she took a drink.

"Like my body is on fire. All of my muscles seem to be screaming at me. I didn't realize how hard this was," Laz answered, after thinking about it for a while.

"That's because your body isn't used to it, like I thought. You have awesome muscle tone and definition which I can't even guess as to why that is. But if you focus solely on that, your body becomes too stiff and lacking in other ways."

Thinking about it, Laz had to agree. His body had been changing due to the source essence he had been taking in, but he had never worked on it. Sure, he was strong, but what good would that do if he was too tired to even lift his arms or legs. Although he had gone through some training with Bill, that was mostly focused on survival training and not on body training. Laz realized just how much he was lacking.

Seeing Laz think about her words and silently agree with her, Kat felt ecstatic. It wasn't like she hadn't tried working out with others before, but none of them could keep up with her and most felt that it was because she was too exceptional. Even her dad couldn't keep up with her runs anymore due to his aging body so more often than not, she would have to run alone. Knowing that she would have company for a while was definitely a high point for her. Watching the young man keep going back and forth, Kat couldn't help but get a bit emotional. Seems like she wouldn't feel lonely for a while.

Reaching over, she handed Laz the water bottle during one of his passes. Taking a long drink, Laz felt that the normal spring water tasted especially nice today.

"More? Or did you want to go back?" Kat asked.

"More. But I won't be able to run with you. I need to pace myself if I want to keep going and you are just way too fast," Laz answered, honestly. He wanted to keep going, but he wouldn't be able to keep going at her pace.

"Hehe, that's fine. I will run with you and match your pace," Kat beamed with happiness knowing he wasn't going to give up.

"I don't want to slow you down though. How far are we going and how far have we gone?" Laz asked. Due to the gray sky and tree cover, it was hard to tell the time.

"This rock marks the 8th mile of the trail. The total trail length is about 50 miles," Kat explained, taking the water bottle from Laz and drinking the rest before returning it to it's hidden space.

"50 miles? Wow... are we going to run the whole thing?" Laz couldn't help but ask.

"That depends on you. It wasn't my plan to run the whole thing today with you, but you seem to be doing better than I thought. I didn't even think you would last this long," Kat commented..

"Heh... I kind of thought I would be doing better," Laz responded. And it was true. Knowing how his body had been basically enhanced, he thought he would be doing way better than Kat who seemed like a normal person. But the truth was different than he expected.

"You're doing fine. I've been running this trail for years with my dad and now by myself. You're the only person who has managed to keep up this well for this long," Kat couldn't help but be encouraging.

"You're... being a bit different than how you were back in the dojo..." Laz noticed the change ever since they got here. If she was like a stick of lit dynamite before, now she seemed as calm as a gentle river. It was truly an amazing difference.

"Oh? Did you want to fight me or something? Or maybe you were hoping I was going to try to rip your shorts off and have you for lunch? hmm?" Kat stood up and started walking towards Laz. When she got close enough that they could smell each other's sweaty bodies, Kat suddenly reached up and pulled down the spandex straps of her sports bra off of her shoulders before looping them around her wrists. If Laz didn't know any better, he would think that she was tied up by her wrists.

"Or maybe you wanted me for lunch? mmm?" Kat said a bit suggestively.

"I... uh...gulp." Laz couldn't help but take a step back at this entirely strange creature that had taken the place of Kat.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA" Kat suddenly fell backwards on the ground in laughter, leaving Laz slack jawed. She even rolled around on the grass a bit while her hands were stilled bound by her bra. Apparently, she felt her joke was rather hysterical.

Laz just took a deep breath and watched her silently, not saying a word.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. We are both kind of aduts here. Well, some of us more than others," Kat finally sat up after collecting herself and started trying to get her hands free which was proving to be a bit difficult. Although it had seemed like a good idea at the time, the straps from the restraining harness were wrapped up in the bra and her arms were actually stuck like this.

"Damn it," Kat struggled to get loose without ripping anything. Laz, seeing her struggling so much, couldn't help but to finally break down laughing himself.

Kat, desperately trying to struggle free, noticed Laz laughing his ass off. Taking a look at herself, sitting on the ground while being 'tied up' in her own clothing, she couldn't help but laugh along with him. For several minutes, they both just laughed like maniacs without a care in the world.

When they finally settled down, Laz noticed Kat looking at him while giving him big puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah yeah, alright." Laz walked over and started working to get her loose.

"You asked me why I seem different right?" Kat asked while looking away.

"Yes..." Laz replied while trying to carefully unwrap the strap in his hand while not touching her surging breasts. The way things were going, he almost wanted to just have her take the top off entirely, but he wasn't about to ask that.

"It's because, out here, I feel free. I can just let the stress of the world disappear while letting myself go as fast and as far as I want."

Kat sighed to herself.

"I know I'm weird. And lately, things are just getting worse." Kat let her whole body relax and practically fall limp. Suddenly Laz, who was still busy undoing a stubbornly caught piece of material, felt the change sweep over her. Without hesitation, he let go of what he was doing and jumped back, landing in a crouched position. Looking around, he finally noticed that the feeling of danger he got was from her.

"Take off your bracelet," Kat said, while not moving.

Laz, noticing it was still around his wrist despite not wearing anything else, slid the bracelet off and set it aside. Once it was no longer in contact with his skin, he could feel the resonance with Kat. She was like him.

"Strange, isn't it? I was already kind of a bit of a freak before. And now it seems like I am going to turn into an actual freak. How fun is that?" Kat couldn't help but mockingly laugh at herself.

Laz started to understand, if only just a bit. Kat had what most guys and girls wouldn't call strange tastes. She liked to work out, be fit, and had a fiery and outgoing personality. Normally, that would be considered a good thing, as long as it was in moderation. But Kat was probably never moderate with things. Although Laz had just met Jon for a short amount of time, he got the impression that her old man was more of a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. Being raised by someone like him would make her personality very similar. Although people found that type of attitude refreshing on occasion, it wasn't something that they could deal with over a long period of time. Laz suddenly got the feeling that Kat was a very lonely person.

"So, at least when I run, I can go as fast and as hard as I want. Just feeling my muscles burn in general is the best feeling in the world to me, even if I don't know why. That's why I love working out. Most guys are cool with that, at first. But then at some point, they start to find it annoying. Ha! The greatest expression they make is when they find out that you can bench more than they can... I've never seen guys run away faster than when that happens." Kat didn't know why she was telling Laz this. For her, she never let these emotions out normally. She would just hit something a few times and feel better. But with this kid who was like her, she suddenly let her defenses drop.

Nodding his head, although he had loads of questions, he felt that now wasn't the right time. Laz approached Kat again and started working on her bra.

"Yep. You are weird. Honestly, I don't know how a guy would be attracted to a muscle head like you. Even I wanted to run the first time I met you." Which was true, but only because he felt like she was dangerous.

Kat just stared at Laz blankly, as though she was expecting something else from him.

"I mean, minus these sacks of fat right here, what else do you have going for you?" Laz suddenly backed away from her and slapped down, causing her breasts to start wobbling with an audible smack. Kat, being stunned, didn't even know her hands had been freed.

"But I personally think that you are rather hardcore. And that's exactly what I need in a trainer right now. This world is going to shit real quick and I know I need to be stronger. Therefore, if I have to chase someone's ass through the woods while being half naked, I'm kind of glad that at least it's an attractive ass." With that, Laz finished his slightly encouraging speech.

For a moment, nothing but silence could be heard. Then, before Laz could blink, the world started to spin before he came to an abrupt stop against the ground, laying on his back. Blinking his eyes a few times, he noticed Kat was standing over him while breathing a bit heavily.

"Looks like my little toy seems to have gotten a bit cheeky. I was planning on going a bit easier on you, but fuck that. By the time I'm done with you, you're going to be dragging your ass back to the dojo while crawling." Kat had smiled the entire time she was saying this and suddenly, Laz got the feeling that maybe he had gone a bit too far. Before he knew it, he saw her jump into the air. If he didn't move, her foot was going to forcefully hit him and it looked like it was aiming for his family jewels.

Rolling out of the way, Laz got back to his feet quickly as he watched Kat stand up from where she had landed. Seeing her smiling at him without blinking, one thought went through his head at this point: RUN!

'Oh shit." Laz took off, making for the trail opening that was closest to him. It just so happened to also lead away from the dojo and go further on down the path, but he couldn't care about that right now. Seeing him bolt out of the area, Kat's crazy smile suddenly bloomed and became a very warm one. Was she mad? Not in the slightest. But she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easy.

"Rrreeaaaddddyyyy oooorrrrrr nnnnooooottttt, here I come." With that, Kat took off after him.