For the most part, Delilah remained quiet as she slowly delivered her punches. Her body wasn't sore per se, but it was definitely stiff. Although people always warmed up pre-workout, Delilah usually skipped that step. She had once heard that warming up made some more susceptible to injury as their muscles were loosened up and thus easier to damage if an incident were to occur. And besides, she never noticed the difference whether she warmed up or not as she either had a good work-out or a bad one, never somewhere in between. Delilah maintained her breathing throughout her routine. That's the one thing that always stuck with her from one of her previous lessons: "[i]Be conscious of your breathing[/I]", her instructor had said. And he was right. If all else failed, always resort to the basics. 

Some time passed before beads of sweat started to form on her face and chest area, and Delilah breathed a sigh of relief when a voice called out for them to fall in. She could have stopped at any moment, but somehow she felt the need to prove herself, even though they hadn't even started training just yet. "Come on," she said, motioning for her partner to follow her. Delilah was eager to get through the first day and settle in. She'd been waiting some time to arrive to the academy and she was finally there.

*****

After the announcement at the end of the tour, Delilah and the rest of the members of her group headed inside their cabin. She picked up her bag and settled it on one of two beds in the first room she saw. Oddly enough, part of her missed home already, a side effect of her inability to adjust to change. But she reminded herself that everything would be alright; this opportunity was rare to come by and so she had to consider herself lucky to be there.