[centre][h2][color=7ea7d8]Lauren Jones[/color][/h2]
Morning: [@wolverbells][@Ambra][@HecateProxy]  Training Fields: [@Solace][/centre]

As always, Lauren was up before the crack of dawn.  She had gotten used to not sleeping much, with her work as a healer requiring her to be gathering herbs and preparing medicines early before distributing them to her patients before they, too, had to go to work.  It helped that her alcohol-induced, dreamless oblivion of sleep was deep enough that she required relatively little of it to keep her going.  Before anyone else was awake she snuck to her medicine bag and began to take out a few things, namely a roll of bandages for Jade, and a variety of herbs and pestle and mortar.

Working quietly, so as not to wake the other girls, she prepared some of the ointment she had given Mora the previous night, having used much of it up and foreseeing the need for a fair amount of it in the near future.  Once the other girls were up she caught a still-sleepy Jade and wrapped the bandages tightly around the girl's chest and ribs, occasionally observing the bruise and prodding her ribs to see where the pain extended to, before chasing Mora down for a quick reapplication of the ointment for her neck.

There was little time before they were called to the first training exercise.  They all stood eyeing up the harnessed ODM gear, hanging in such a way that even a minor imbalance would cause the wearer to topple over onto the ground with absolutely no dignity still intact; it would require near perfect balance to stay stable.

After several trainees embarrassingly faceplanted the ground, either through being nervous or just having poor balance, some of the cadets began to get used to sitting in the Gear.  Although they weren't entirely stable they weren't immediately falling over and with practice it was clear they could get used to it.  Jade went just before Lauren and she watched with concern as the girl was clipped in and then raised off the ground.  She held her breath but her small friend didn't fall over, managing to stay upright if with difficulty.

Lauren stepped in next, the building sense of anxiety from watching the others near bursting point but she calmed herself down, reminding herself that Ma had done it and had expected her daughter to follow her in the military; there was simply no way she could fail here.  The clips were put into place and then she felt the belt tightening as the harness was pulled up until she was dangling off the ground.  Immediately she was having to concentrate hard on maintaining her balance, trying not to move too much while finding a comfortable stationary position.  Before she knew it she was being lowered back down so that someone else could go and she walked away, frustrated at not having mastered the gear just yet.

Then they were onto hand to hand combat.  Here, at least, Lauren felt that she had some experience in the area.  It was old experience, things Ma had taught her years back, but even if her mind was a little foggy on the specifics, her muscles remembered as she dropped into the stance Schulz taught them and went over some basic techniques.  While she hadn't been drilled in them for long, she probably had a better understanding of the techniques than the other cadets.

Her first partner was Reese, a boy she remembered a little from before the attack but had never really known well.  She was taller than him and they were of similar weight but it was clear he had a slight edge over her in muscle strength, even if it was only minor.  Smiling she waved to him as she approached, taking up the stance Schulz commanded they use.

[color=7ea7d8]"Hi Reese!  I'll go first then."[/color] She didn't give him much warning and darted forwards the moment he'd taken up the stance, dropping down a little and sliding her foot between his, nudging back his left foot to upset his balance a little.  She took a hold of his right wrist in her left hand and grabbed a fistful of his jacket above his right breast, using her own momentum as she twisted to move his off balance leg off the ground and then pulling on his wrist and jacket.  With his weight off centre she easily threw him over her shoulder and onto the ground flat on his back.

Straightening up she rolled her shoulders, regretting the lack of a proper warm up but then that was a realistic scenario.  She walked back to her starting position and resumed her stance.  The throw had felt natural to her but she was already chiding herself on how disjoined her movements had been, resolving to try and do all the actions at once so that the force of the throw was that much greater and that from start to finish complete more quickly.

[color=7ea7d8]"Sorry, I guess I should've given you more warning.  I get quite competitive with these sort of things.  You go first this time.  I won't just stand here though."[/color] She flashed a grin at the smaller boy.  Despite the inevitable injuries she'd be having to treat earlier, mostly from cadets not performing the techniques properly, she was going to enjoy this session although she suspected she'd be the one on the floor more often than not by the end.