[centre][h1][color=7ea7d8]Lauren Jones[/color][/h1][/centre]

[color=silver]By all that was good, it was hot. Standing at attention in the thick, uncomfortable material of her uniform with the sun blazing mercilessly down on her for so long was proving a challenge. There was something unreasonably difficult about holding a single, solitary post for as long as they had all been on that field. Statuesque. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck, she was thankful for her foresight in tying her hair up into a ponytail like she did at Pa's clinic, and then ran down to join the drops on her back. The wool of the uniform did nothing to soak it up, simply adding to the oppressive heat.

The approach of their brutal instructor, with his seemingly endless well of spiteful insults, was not helping her to keep cool either. One of the other cadets had been physical hit and she had had to resist her urge to go out and see to them. It would not have been a hard hit, no injures to tend to, she told herself. Maybe she would search them out afterwards and double check? That sounded like the right sort of plan - it would only make matters worse if she dashed out to see to them now.

[color=D39104][b]"Holy shit, I'm bewildered at just how innately boring you all are. Look at yourself, Cadet, and tell me I'm looking at a soldier! I want to hear you tell me you're worth more than the shits I leave in the morning, or if you're worth anything at all!"[/b][/color]

So focused had she been on restraining her natural instincts that Lauren had failed to notice that it was her turn to face the music. The unending torrent of abuse being piled on her peers had been relentless and shocking but also consistent. So much so that she had ended up tuning it out and what a mistake that had been. She now found herself staring up into the instructor's face, her mind blank of any sort of response, let alone a reasonable retort. Rising panic threatened to overtake her as her mind raced and it took all her nerve to bury it, freezing at attention and awaiting what was surely a more personalised assault on her character.

[color=D39104][b]"You're already pathetic. Perhaps actions will speak louder than words. When I fall the entire formation out you will do three laps of the parade grounds to [i]prove[/i] that you're a soldier. And you will do it without question? Do I make myself clear?"[/b][/color]

Maurer moved on, his oppressive presence allowing what felt like a cool wind in to caress her brow but she resisted the urge to relax. Three laps as a punishment for her inaction was not much to someone of her fitness but she dared not make it worse. Unlike some of the other cadets she came from a relatively well off, if still poor, background and so was well fed and strong. She looked out of the corner of her eye, following Maurer's progress down the line. This time she would not let herself zone out, lest she miss something important.

He had paused in front of two blonde cadets, a boy and a girl who bore a striking resemblance to one another although the lad was significantly taller than his female counterpart. Maurer stood before them, leering down from his greater height and casting them into shadow which would have been blessed in this heat under almost any other circumstance, and cast his demeaning gaze from one to the other. As it had been with each of the other cadets, it seemed he did not like what he saw and the corners of his lips curled in distaste.

[color=D39104][b]"What happened here? Two halves of one useless whole? What in the hells was your mother doing - spitting out two half-baked brats because it was easier than making one decent one? I assume you are twins, that fucking simpleton face being so similar! At least you'll be a better snack for the Titans than one decent soldier."[/b][/color][/color]