Nothing special to see here; just a practice fight between two felines.

Arena Fight: Helen Woods vs. Sovange Wesley

Helen Woods is hard at work on the punching bag, undergoing another round of training in her daily workout and her boxing practice. The female cat was a professional boxer with her own career to manage, keeping up her physical activity to remain in peak condition. She had to present her best to remain on top of her game and career.

Boxing was Helen’s life. She was attracted to it at a young age and practically raised into it, growing up. And she did a reasonable job to herself, making good use of her skills into a career of her own, racking up numerous wins and a few losses in her entire career.

While Helen is a formidable rival in the arena, she's different outside the ring. When engaged in her fights, Helen is fearless and fast, but outside of that, she's usually chill. She isn't scheduled to fight in a public match at the moment, so all she is doing is practicing for now.

Helen isn't the only one inside of the local gym - off to her right is a female lioness inside of a large arena, practicing her kicks and other moves. For a brief moment, the two lock eyes with each other in casual silence, both felines’ tunnel vision in full drive while they're hard at their routines. But while Helen steps away to take a break, the lioness is still in practice mode.

Panting in recovery, Helen hunches over, exhausted from her workout. Yet on fixing her gaze on the lioness inside the arena, she suddenly straightens up her posture on seeing the fluidity flowing from the lioness’ movements.

Some time later, the lioness is taking a breather on the sidelines to recuperate, drinking some Gatorade while at it. She is sitting on a bench during her break, which also happens to be the same one Helen is sitting on. The two lock eyes once again, leading Helen to comment on her outfit.

“I have never seen an outfit like yours before. Are you some kind of royalty? It's beautiful!” The cat stated, her interest fixed on the lioness’ outfit. In contrast to Helen's sports outfit, which consisted of an all-green attire - green sports bra, green sports shorts, green foot wraps and hand wraps, the lioness beside her wore an all-white tribal attire with necklaces as well. Just from appearance alone, one could easily guess that the lioness is some kind of princess, but this is not the case.

The lioness uses this opportunity to introduce and explain herself, “I’m Sovange Wesley and I am not a princess or royalty of any kind. I appreciate your complimenting my attire, but I do not have any royal status or any sort. I am an African lioness hailing from the Maasai tribe. I enjoy this dress because it makes me comfortable in my own fur as well as pride in who and what I am as a warrior.”

“I see…” Helen trails her eyes through Sovange’s outfit, already mystified with the lioness’ tribal garb. Beautiful in appearance, it definitely made the lioness stand out while also complimenting her own natural beauty. It's enough to put even the finest fighter to shame.

“It looks really nice on you.” Helen had no idea what to say or how to compliment Sovange on her tribal outfit. She was completely at a loss for words on how to express her feelings on Sovange's tribal attire. But seeing the lioness in the arena earlier causes a light bulb to brighten in her head.

“Hey Sovange?” Helen whirls her head to Sovange, pitching her request to the lioness, “Would you like to spar with me?”

Sovange’s ears fly up on being addressed when Helen requested a sparring match to determine her skill level. Originally, Sovange was just practicing her own moves to better them as part of her workout routine. Sparring was the farthest thing from her mind. But on being presented with the opportunity, she didn't mind at all.

“I would love to. What conditions do you have?” On accepting the invitation to practice with Helen, Sovange wanted to know what conditions were allowed.

“Best two out of three and no hitting below the belt. And no cheating tactics, either.” Helen lays down a couple rules and conditions for the practice fight while she and Sovange prep themselves and make their way to the arena.

(🎵 Quiet Curves - Ridge Racer Type 4 OST)

Once inside the arena, the two felines fist bump each other and later retreat a few paces back, starting their session off.

ROUND 1

FIGHT!

Helen raises her dukes up and instantly goes on the attack, peppering Sovange with a flurry of rapid fists aimed for her face and body. The sudden surprise attack catches Sovange completely off-guard with no time to react, resulting in the lioness receiving a high amount of damage from Helen’s furious flurry.

Sovange backs off in an attempt to recover and get her bearings straight. But Helen remains on the offensive, concentrating on rearranging her opponent's face. This forces Sovange on the defensive where she ends up having to block Helen's attacks, only for the cat to focus on the lioness' stomach region instead.

Having her face and stomach pounded in was not part of her plan. But until Sovange could see an opening, she remains on the defensive while being pummeled by her rival.

Helen remains on the offensive in pummeling the lioness’ body when the female cat delivers a harsh right haymaker to Sovange's side, catching her liver. The lioness ends up roaring in pain and staggering to the side, doubled over and clutching her liver. But Helen finishes her off with a swift uppercut to the chin, knocking the lioness down to the arena floor.

PERFECT! (K.O)

Sovange slowly picks herself up off the floor after getting pummeled and dropped by Helen - though her face and body are searing in pain, the lioness still had plenty of fight left in her. Panting slightly from her beating, the lioness gives Helen a stoic, determined expression and steps forward to meet her, cracking her knuckles and getting into a fighting position. Helen calmly observes the lioness and, in her amusement, she taunts Sovange, “Ready for a second beatdown, kitty cat?”

A feral grumble escapes the lioness' throat where she points defiantly at Helen and quips, “You’ll be the one going down, Helen! I’ll make sure of that!” Sovange and Helen get in their fighting stances, ready to square off…

ROUND 2

FIGHT!

Helen charges forward to meet Sovange with a heavy right fist aimed for the lioness’ jaw. This time, Sovange readies herself and cancels Helen's attempt with a punch of her own. Helen is forced to retreat but immediately goes on the attack, only to be blocked again. Helen refuses to give up and continues to take shots at Sovange’s face and body, only for the lioness to block or cancel each time.

‘Damn! I can't lay a single hit on her this time!’ Helen inwardly complained, her frustration slowly setting in. Then she suddenly realizes, ‘She must have picked up on my offense! But how did she catch on so quickly!?’

‘I am not a warrior for nothing! I don't care if this is practice; I will fight until my very last breath! That is the true honor of a Maasai warrior!!’ Sovange taps into her warrior mode and switches to the offensive. This time she evades another swing from Helen before canceling another. And after deflecting a third hook aimed for her jaw, Sovange grabs Helen's wrist, mid-flight, and yanks the cat forward. Using her hips, the lioness performs a hip throw on Helen, sending the cat crashing down into the arena floor. Fortunately, Helen landed on her back. If it had been a forward fall, Helen would have been knocked unconscious.

After having the wind knocked out of her, Helen gets back up after a few seconds and she gets back into the fight, fading Sovange once more. She was going to defeat this lioness. But how she goes about doing it will determine whether or not she succeeds or fails.

Helen delays for a brief moment before rushing forward with a right hook aimed solely for Sovange’s jaw. What she didn't anticipate was the lioness meeting and deflecting her attack away. While almost stumbling due to the force of Sovange’s canceling, the lioness whirls around, smoothly transitioning to a right roundhouse punch to Helen's liver and following this up with a side kick to the jaw. Due to the heavy damage inflicted, Helen goes down for the count.

PERFECT! (K.O)

After dealing a heavy blow to Helen and watching her drop, Sovange backs off to give her feline rival some space. They were now equally tied with 1 point apiece. Whoever scores the next knockdown will be the winner of their little practice fight.

Cautiously, Sovange tips forward to inspect the cat, wondering if she's still conscious while at the same time on guard. She could be playing dead or she could be in actual recovery. But the deep rising and falling of Helen's chest only confirms Sovange's suspicion. A moan from Helen adds further proof. Unsure of how to proceed, Sovange extends a hand out to Helen while informing her, “We’re both pretty exhausted and beaten right now. But we only have one more round to go. We can make this quick. Can you last for one more round?”

Wordlessly, Helen begins to push herself up in a slow, shaky manner. On seeing Sovange offering her hand out to her, Helen takes hold of the lioness’ hand, allowing the lioness to help her to her feet. But upon standing straight up from Sovange's help, Helen grimaces and clutches her side due to the screaming pain from her liver. On seeing Helen in her condition, Sovange begins to run to her when she holds a hand up to stop the lioness. Catching her breath, Helen assures Sovange, “I'm fine. I’ve dealt with worse.” Fighting the pain, Helen straightens up, sucking in air through grit teeth and further informs her, “I can go another round. After that, I’m gonna call it a day.”

Helen was in no better condition than Sovange. Both felines had bruises throughout their torso, yet Helen had less damage to her face - only a red bruise to her left jaw, whereas Sovange had a blackened left eye, a bloody nose, and a red bruise to her left jaw. All they had left was one more round or two more depending on the outcome. And after that they will proceed from there.

Despite the burning sensation running throughout her arms, Helen extends her right fist for a tap whilst muttering to herself, “Let's get this over with. We’ll see who's the top cat here.” Sovange answers back wordlessly with a first bump, meeting Helen's fist with her own before dropping back and assuming her stance with Helen doing the same.

ROUND 3

FIGHT!

*WHAM!*

Ignoring her own searing pain, Helen unleashes a swift uppercut to Sovange's abs, making the lioness roar in pain from the impact and double over, clutching her stomach. When the lioness falls on her knees, Helen sends her to the floor with a haymaker to her right jaw. Watching Sovange collapse to the ground on her left side, Helen remains standing, waiting for her to get up. At the same time, the cat believes this is it, that she's won. She exhales deeply when she suddenly hears a groan from the lioness, who slowly rolls back onto her feet to stand back up.

‘Tch, not this again! This should be over!’ Annoyed, Helen scowls at the lioness while keeping her guard up, watching her correct herself after staggering a little bit. Intent on putting the lioness down, Helen goes on the offensive once more. This time, she attempts a fake out only for Sovange to quickly punch her in the nose.

“Ah!” Helen’s head snaps back on receiving the full brunt of the nose punch. While blood begins to trickle from her nostrils, Helen aims a right uppercut for Sovange's chin, only for the lioness to weave aside to avoid it. Frustrated, Helen tries again, this time from a crouching position. However, Sovange knocks this aside with a swat of her left fist.

Helen is unwilling to give up and face defeat. Her frustration increasing, she begins growling at Sovange, proceeding to circle her. This time, Helen aims a right jab at the lioness, only to be deflected away with a side kick from the lioness. And then Sovange punishes Helen with a side kick to the jaw.

*WHAP!*

“Ungh!” Saliva flies from Helen's mouth from the kick to the jaw. The cat tries to regain her footing but she's wobbly in the knees. However, Helen rights herself and sends a left hook directly to Sovange’s jaw in return. The lioness retaliates again with a swift uppercut to Helen's stomach, almost making her fold. Using this to her advantage, Sovange grabs Helen and performs another hip throw on her, sending her crashing to the mat across from her.

Coughing a bit, Helen picks herself up from the floor only to suddenly be put into a chokehold from behind. But as soon as the lioness releases her grip, she grabs Helen again, only for the cat to start elbowing her in the stomach repeatedly to get her off.

After being elbowed a few times, Sovange finally backs off. Then once the lioness is clear, Helen launches a sucker punch at her, which the lioness ducks under. Helen refuses to give up; she attempts another swing on the lioness, only for her to cancel it out completely with a butterfly kick to the face, knocking Helen back. To follow this up, Sovange leaps forward with a front spin kick to Helen's jaw, this time knocking her down and finishing her off for good.

K.O

Helen groans in pain while lying on the arena floor, the fight knocked completely out of her. She had lost this match. This won't count as a tick on her career record since her match with Sovange was just a practice match; doesn't excuse the same feeling of defeat for losing a public bout, though the somber feeling is 10 times less for practice matches.

Helen remains on the floor breathing heavily while recovering and getting herself ready to stand back up. She just needs some time - her face and body wracked with screaming pain. However, Sovange was more than willing to help her.

After accepting Sovange’s help and exiting the ring together, the two women retreated to a first aid part of the gym. There, they took turns patching up whatever open wounds they had before returning to the main area. Initially, Helen was a bit bummed that she lost when she suddenly started laughing to herself. Seeing the cat laughing, Sovange questions her, “What are you laughing about?”

Still giggling to herself, it takes a moment for Helen to gather herself. She finally muses, “I had a lot of fun with this! Yeah, I know I lost the fight but it was fun. Public matches would have made me more disappointed but since this is a practice bout, I don't mind taking a loss if it helps me sharpen my skills.”

“I see,” Sovange nodded, grinning in understanding. “You win some, you lose some - it happens to all of us. But what also matters is how you take your loss. You're a good sport, Helen.”

Helen chortles at the lioness wrapping an arm around her and she returns the gesture, moving to a bench to plop down on. There was only a little bit of silence between them and the adrenaline wearing off. Helen later adds, “You're a powerful fighter, Sovange. We only traded a few hits between each other and you took me down in like what, 5 or 6 moves?”

Sovange shakes her head in denial and admits, “Nah, I may be strong but I am not that strong, Helen. Jiujitsu requires close range. You laying me out on the first round is proof you're as powerful as I am.”

“I could use some work, though.” Helen shrugged, unbothered by the lioness’ comment. “I could use some extra training anyway.”

Helen purrs and rubs her head against Sovange, relaxing both of them further. And with her arm still around Helen, Sovange curls her tail around herself and Helen, rubbing her own head against Helen in return. The two trade rubs between each other for a bit before finally settling down.

Following their practice session, the women call it a day and leave the gym. But later on, Sovange and Helen met and shared drinks together at a local bar, where they cemented not only a deep respect for each other but also the seeds of friendship. Chances are they will meet again out and in the ring, possibly in a public match. But that has yet to be determined.

~~~~~

Helen Woods belongs to  Roger_Redcliffe; Sovange Wesley belongs to me!