[center]Terry laid down out on the ground behind the cabin just before lights out. Trying to clear her head and come up with a battle plan for the next few days, she decided to recount what had happened the previous days. < The head instructor not the nicest; I have no clue how he expects to gain any type of loyalty from us. Hum he probably doesn’t need it though, it’s not like were following him into battle. I guess he just wants us to follow orders and not be a problem. It’d be a fair enough reasoning. I’ll just keep on my best behavior and hope everything works out well…. Still one of these days some hot headed trainee is going to start a fight with him. Oh well, at least the 3DMG instructors and the teachers are nice enough.> Distracted, she tried to name all the constellations she could, but eventually she reached her limit, sat up, and opened her journal. She flipped through the pages which were illegible to anyone else and paused every once in a while at a trainee she found interesting. She had moved her hand up to her forehead to feel the welt left from being hit by a bar of soap Returning back to reviewing her book, Terry turned it over and went to the back. This later section was filled with crude sketches. The older ones were mostly of plants and animals she had seen during her travels but the newer ones were of the equipment used in the training corps. < That first aptitude test, I suppose I can call it that, wasn’t really that hard. All you had to do was relax and balance. Maybe it was just like that because I was one of the last to go and had seen everyone else go already…> Starting to nod off the girl decided it was time to go to bed and went back inside the girls barracks. --- Terry watched the training field quietly as the trainees fought. She analyzed how and when they moved, their position and their build. Standing behind her with a bored looks was a slightly muscular male of average height. “Hey, uh, Terry. We should probably start practicing before the instructor notices us.” He said meekly. Terry twitched as if caught off guard and turned to him, an embarrassed smile plastered on her face. “Ah, yeah you’re right. You’re playing the attacker right? Give me a moment.” She said as she hurried to position herself. “Ready. Don’t hold back.” With that the boy lunged with the knife held out in front of him. She moved to get out of the way, planning to use the boy’s momentum against him but flinched when images of the night she was attacked came up in her mind. This brief pause gave enough time for a wooden knife to hit her in the chest and send her on her butt with an off. “Are you alright!?! I’m sorry I thought you would have moved by then.” They boy apologized quickly as he moved to see if she was alright. “I’m fine, really! Ouch. Don’t worry it’s not your fault.” Terry quickly reassured him, with small tears in her eyes. “But you’re crying. Are you sure you’re fine.” “Yes!! I’m sure! Let’s just retry this.” She felt bad for the somewhat mean reply but she didn’t want the conversation to continue. Once again the girl readied herself for attack. “Round two.” She signaled and with some hesitation, the boy charged. This time Terry did not pause as she moved out of the way. Quickly changing directions she launched herself at the boy staggering, tackling him to the ground. Once they’d hit the floor, Terry moved her knee on top of the arm holding the knife and yanked the knife out of stunned boy’s hand. Getting off of him, she lodged the knife in the ground between them. The boy got up slowly and Terry flinched seeing how the boy was in a bit of pain. “Sorry.” She said meekly. “Don’t worry about it. You did pretty well. Where did you learn how to do that? “ Terry smiled softly “A friend taught me.” --- [b]Learning to Fly[/b] The small girl looked around at her surroundings with a bit of fear in her eyes. She’d been doing fairly well for her first time, partially due to the fact that her goggles prevented the wind from blinding her like it did some of the other trainees. She didn’t know exactly how to use the 3DMG that the training session focused on, but she’d grasped the concepts well enough to get by. She’d only hit a few branches, of which she was sure each one would leave yet another bruise on her body. She attempted to speed up a little but was met with yet another branch. --- [b]Takeoff [/b] Zooming past the trees Terry kept her spot in the middle of the group. It wasn’t because she couldn’t go faster but because she kept experimenting with new things. Turning left she set her hooks into the two sides of a forked trees. Aligning herself to where she would go into the center, she released her hooks when she figured she had enough momentum. Once she got through it she launched her wires at the nearest tree and pushed off to join the main group. Speeding up she grinned at a group of friends before speeding up to reclaim her place. --- Surveying the rock above, Terry figured out her next few hand and footholds. She had been finding this exercise particularly exhausting do her height making it harder to reach certain spots. She looked down with a look of utter despair as her fears were confirmed. quickly recovering the girl removed the dangling rope from around her waist, fearing that it would get tangled in her legs. Looking back up she hopped up and grabbed her next handholds before readjusting her feet. --- Completely and utterly exhausted Terry trudged into the mess hall and followed a few of the other trainees through the line. Not even thinking she plopped herself down at the edge of a near-empty table and silently ate her meal. Once she finished, she pushed the tray forward and rested her head in her arms.[/center]