The Challenge

They tested one another's reactions as they slowly continued.

Kai grabbed Zayd's leg and pulled hard. Zayd reacted by driving his leg backwards to counteract the pulling force.

Moving again, Zayd was the one who grabbed Kai's clothing, and with a vice-like grip, held the fabric.

Pushing and pulling Kai to generate momentum in Kai's body, Zayd eventually found a perfect moment to sweep Kai's front leg and slam him on the ground.

Kai hopped with the momentum, and as he was on the ground, his body pushed down under Zayd's weight- he wrapped his legs around Zayd's back. As he attempted to guard against any attacks, Kai prepared to use his hips to try to drive Zayd off of him.

Zayd was going for big punches, so his momentum went forward many times.

As he punched Kai's guarding arms, he felt Kai's legs unwrap from around his back, and within that second, Kai rocked his hips up, which sent Zayd tumbling forward.

Getting back up, Kai was breathing heavily. Zayd, on the other hand, was seemingly unaffected.

Standing before one another again, Zayd knew he would not be able to get Kai down as he had earlier.

Instead, he wanted to go for a reversal.

This time, Zayd welcomed Kai's offence with a weirdly weak defence. Kai's movement was exceptionally deceiving. Kai's sneakiness was a problem because if Zayd wanted to react to him, he had to anticipate Kai's target.

Zayd thought mentally of different reactions to different areas. Amid his thoughts, Kai did something Zayd could not expect as he rolled.

Kai rolled ahead, and he seized Zayd's left leg.

Hands moving quickly, Kai grasped Zayd's heel and twisted it as he held it tightly against his chest.

Turning Zayd's heel in such a direction caused him to feel his knee turn also.

As the pain grew in intensity, Zayd knew he had to do something.

His heart palpitated. It felt like it skipped a beat at one point as he twisted with Kai while his other leg tried to kick him off.

The problem was, as they rotated, Kai was still winding Zayd's heel. To counter him, Zayd did the same thing he felt Kai doing.

Somehow, they reached a standstill. Zayd had Kai's heel and caused pain that was so immense Kai felt his grasp weaken.

Taking any opportunity, Zayd scrambled to the side as much as possible before kicking into Kai. The kick pushed his heel out of Kai's weakened grasp.

Writhing on the floor, Zayd quickly got to Kai's side, and at this moment, he felt the situation got out of hand for him.

He approached Kai warily and attempted to gain control of Kai from the side.

What seemed to be easy pickings, instead, was a trap that Zayd could not notice. Kai had been in tournaments for grappling. His skill landed him a Purple Belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu. Meanwhile, he had won a plethora of wrestling contests. His multiple levels of technique overlapped at this moment.

Suddenly bursting with speed, Kai grasped Zayd's right arm on the side of his neck. With unseen flexibility, he wrapped his legs around Zayd's neck and arm.

A Triangle-choke.

Locking the hold of his legs, he cinched them together, and the tightness made Zayd feel his breath was not going to his lungs.

Rather than struggling intensely, Zayd relaxed his body to conserve his energy.

Wiggling his body allowed him to gain some space to breathe, which was monumental.

Recovering within Kai's firm hold, Zayd felt Kai's muscles lose their strength.

So much contraction for so long was tough for Kai to keep on. Every second felt like hours until Kai felt his legs part and Zayd slip out of his grip.

As the two breathed intensively, Zayd felt a rush once more.

Clarity returned to his mind. Blood pumping through his veins purged the exhaustion forcefully.

Kai's recovery was quicker than standard people.

Soon enough, the two were facing one another as they stood up.

Zayd took action first as he placed his hands out in an attempt to block Kai's vision.

With his left hand reducing Kai's field of vision, Zayd pushed Kai's head down.

Shuffling to the side, Zayd grabbed Kai's waist from behind and lifted Kai before slamming him back down onto the ground.

Kai gasped for air as he felt the air leaving his lungs.

Luckily for Kai, the floor was soft due to morning showers. If they were on another surface that was not grass, the results would be different.

Taking whatever opportunity he could, Kai moved as rapidly as he could.

Kai wrapped his left arm under Zayd's chin and grabbed his hand on the other side of Zayd's neck. Arching his back, Kai intended to put as much pressure as possible onto Zayd's carotid artery.

A guillotine.

(Sorry for these terrible descriptions. I do not possess that much experience in this area.)

In response, Zayd wriggled his fingers into Kai's grasp as he once more attempted to create some distance. Once he had some breathing room, Zayd could take the rest from there.

So, as Zayd wriggled, Kai adjusted.

The two entered a scramble as they changed positions multiple times. Zayd was defending while Kai was attacking.

As they went on, Zayd and Kai expended their energy at increased rates than before.

Their 'gas tanks' were nearly empty. Their muscles ached from the nigh constant exertion. Strained by being on the defence the entire time, Zayd finally got the advantage.

Holding one of Kai's forearms flat on the ground, Zayd wrenched Kai's arm in his direction, eliciting a series of grunts from pain.

Bending his arm, Zayd stopped when he felt it was nearly about to break.

When Kai noticed this moment of hesitation, he hastily positioned himself with Zayd's arm in his grasp. Holding Zayd's arm by the wrist, Kai held Zayd's flatly against his body but turned it such that the elbow began to overextend.

An Armbar.

The only problem was that Zayd was exhausted, and Kai did not seem like he would stop.