#askthelifeguards

Zeke stood in water up to his neck, throwing punches and kicks under the water.  The resistance of the water made every movement more tiring and strenuous than they otherwise would be, Zeke embracing the opportunity to get some practice in under such conditions.  After all, he had a fight coming up soon.  When the Vaporeon approached him, he spun around and lunged, throwing one more punch that landed mere inches from them.

A moment after holding that pose, Zeke smiled and drew his arm back, holding it to his side before raising his arms in an underwater shrug.  “Shrike’s used to it, we even used to spar some back when we had normal lives.  Seems kinda awkward now to fight with the representation of a God, so…  Not so much now.” Zeke glanced over at where Celine lay on the beach, drying off her fur after she had been pushed into the water.

“Don’t think Celine cares for it all that much, but she tolerates it since it doesn’t bother Shrike.  Of the new guys, I don’t know them all too well but did spend a while with Simon a few months back.  Guy’s cool, and while he wasn’t into raw fighting back then he had plenty of strength.  Seems he’s putting it to good use now.”  Zeke gave a nod to another part of the beach, where the Quilava was doing his own training.  Fire wreathed Simon’s limbs as he attacked piles of sand, kicking up clouds around him.

“Anyway, guess what I’m saying is, among my companions no one really minds.  Maybe Anton, but he’s not part of my group anyway.”  Zeke walked up to a more shallow part of the water, flexing his arms as they emerged into the air and doing stretches as he continued to talk.  “Besides, I’m traveling with one of the most important people in our world.  I can’t just be a load; with every fight I prove that I’m more than capable of protecting the Avatar, even without Celine’s fancy magic.”