Day 21: Impact
(This also fits Day 6: Mask, but Iâll do something fancy for that~ Have some rare Protectorate Nyota!)
Nyota learned fast to hide what she was truly capable of. To pretend she was just another trainee, Apex strong but nothing more than that. She made sure to never excel at the training, just aimed for the upper half, measured what she was allowed to do by how hard her classmates could hit.Â
But every now and then she would sneak out of the dorm after hours, set the dummy up, and hit it as hard as she could, as long as it could handle. There was no greater feeling than the impact of her fist, the crash of its frame against the far wall. Made it all worth it, the stares and questions, the mask and lies. Just remembering she was Nyota Saimiri. She was strong. Even if she had to deal with giggling during class.Â
She was a Protector. In training still, yes. But she saw Isobu pull some sneaky trick during a spar, helped Marcy learn to throw a punch without hurting her hand. They reminded her, grounded her. A Protector. Her strength was for them now. She could hide it for them.Â
 Then a floran approached her one day, after class.Â
âFloran sees Apex hit ssoft. Why hit ssoft?â they asked. It was hard to tell if they were mocking or not.Â
âIâm hitting as hard as anyone,â Nyota replied. Floran always made her a little nervous. So hard to read them. None of her training had given guidance on that.Â
They snorted and flicked her hand, making her flinch. âYes, yes. Apex hits ssoft. Floran sees muscles. Show Floran. Here.âÂ
They pulled her over to the training dummy again. Nyota shot a pleading look at Isobu and Marcy; Marcy just shrugged, Isobu gave her a thumbs-up. She glared at him, but she was on her own with this.Â
The floran planted their hands on their hips and looked Nyota in the eye. âHit this.âÂ
Nyota gave them a look, then hit the dummy. The floran hissed and set it back up again.Â
âSssoft! No, hit it hard.âÂ
Something in their voice got under her skin. Reminded her of something from a long time ago. Of the burn in her arms after a hard day, the satisfaction- She took a half step back, then slammed a kick into the dummy as hard as she could.Â
The room was dead silent as it shot across the floor, silence shattered by the floranâs shriek of joy when the dummy smashed into the far wall.Â
âYes, yes! Glorious! That is hit! That is hit! Ha!âÂ
Nyota hooted in surprise as they all but tackled her in a hug and pushed them off as fast as she could. âHey, get off, warn me!âÂ
The floran stepped back, clearly not eager to share the dummyâs fate. âSsorry, sorry! Floran was too happy. Apex is happy too now, yes?âÂ
Nyota calmed down just a bit. She⊠was happy. Strange.Â
They offered a handshake instead of another hug. âFloran is Muthoni. Just Muth iss good. Now, Apex teach Floran to kick like this! Ready?âÂ
She wasnât sure she had much choice, but then again, did she mind? No one muttered anymore. No one laughed. And no one reported her. Isobu brought them some fresh water bottles, and Nyota spent the afternoon correcting Muthâs form, giving them tips where they asked. It felt⊠strange. Strange, but good, teaching someone like this.Â
Isobu ruffled her fur that night as they tidied their shared room before bed. âThey read ya good, huh?âÂ
âYes⊠Why?â She gave him a curious look. âDid you put them up to it?âÂ
âNah, well.â He shrugged. âThey asked me first, said ya looked stifled. I told them what Iâd seen ya do. Thatâs all. Say, if ya got time, they like wanderinâ the roofs with me at night. Could join us.âÂ
âYouâre crazy,â Nyota told him. But she was there with him when he stuck out at midnight, all the same.
