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When Plato was told that he'd have a training partner for a short while, he wasn't thinking too much into it. Neither was he too surprised that Alonzo was that partner. It made sense, as they were both the same age and their strengths probably weren't too mismatched. (Except for the fact that Alonzo was more experienced.)
Apparently, they were to meet in the junkyard. It usually wasn't that populated around this time of year, minus when one of the stray cats needed a place to stay for the night. Plato wasn't exactly a stray- he was one of those cats that was kind of fed and taken care of by everyone from time to time, so he didn't think anyone would care too badly if he was out.
When he made it through the gates, he looked around to see if Alonzo was there before him. Plato sort of hoped not. He didn't want to keep the guy waiting-
"Hello, there." Plato quickly jumped before turning around and seeing Alonzo standing beside him. Speak of the devil. (Maybe not devil, he wasn't that bad.)
"Okay, now you're here. That's good. Let's get started, now," said the cat as he led Plato deeper into the yard.
The training turned out to be easier than he expected. It was almost like that of what Munkustrap typically taught. Soon, they stopped so Alonzo could explain the next thing.
"Okay, so this next exercise, we'll practice, you'll need to take down your opponent and pin them to the ground. Think you can do that?" Alonzo asked. Upon seeing Plato's reply of a nod, he began talking once more.
"Here, I'll give you an example."
He quickly lunged at Plato and brought the cat down to the ground, pinning him, just like he described. For some reason, it felt like Plato's brain short circuited, and why was everything suddenly hot? It was in the middle of winter, or somewhere near the end of it, he was sure.
"That's how you do it. You understand, Plato?"
He was sure he'd forgotten how to breathe.
"Plato?"
The tomcat snapped back into reality. "Oh! Uh, yeah, yeah, I get it."
"Good." replied Alonzo with a smile.
The rest of the session was the same, and it was still fairly simple, but for some reason, that specific moment kept replaying in Plato's head.
It was pitch black out, and stars were scattered throughout the sky when the two decided to call it a night. Alonzo gave a final nod of contentment. "I guess we'll pick things up tomorrow. You did a pretty good job, Plato."
There was that weird feeling again. "Oh- uh, thanks. And so did you."
He looked back towards the gate. For some reason, he was a bit hesitant to walk through them. "I...uh, I guess I should be going now." Plato said. "Are you going, too?"
Alonzo shook his head. "No. I'll probably stay here. They've got a pretty nice washing machine to sleep in." A few more moments of silence went by before Plato realized he was still standing there. As he headed towards the gates to leave, he turned towards the yard and to his fellow cat. "Goodbye, Alonzo."
"You too, Plato. Goodbye."
As the tomcat walked through the city to find a spot in the alleyways, he couldn't shake off that feeling. That strange, funny feeling.