The Kenobi Saga Book One:The Clone Wars

19. Fight or Flight

"Cody," Lore-Val gasped out, "I'm...going... to throw up."

Cody reached out and pressed a button on the treadmill, "You can slow down but you need to finish this kilometer."

"Okay," she breathed, continuing to run.

She'd spent the last two hours in the barrak's gym with Cody and Solitaire. They'd had her run two kilometers before taking a break to teach her to throw a proper punch. Now she was running another two kilometers at what she considered a sprint and she could feel her legs turning to jelly.

The treadmill beeped as she passed the second kilometer.

"Thank goodness," she gasped out as she dropped the speed down.

"You have to walk for at least fifteen minutes," Solitaire told her, setting an alarm on his chrono.

Cody passed her a water that she did her best to sip slowly when she really wanted to chugg in one gulp.

"I hate you two," Lore-Val said, starting to get her breath back, "This is haran (hell)."

Cody smiled at her. She was like the strangest shiny he'd ever met. She wasn't disrespectful, but command structure meant nothing to her when compared to young troopers. The biggest difference was her humility, she was excited to learn, while the shiny's thought their breeding was enough to keep them alive.

"Isn't the idea that I can fight bad guys?" Lore-Val asked.

"Have you heard of a fight or flight response?" Cody asked. Lore-Val nodded, taking another sip of water and he continued, "We want you to be able to choose flight everytime. To do that-"

"I need to be fast. Okay, but what if I have to fight?"

"You have me for that," Solitaire told her, "And we will teach you to fight, but right now the focus is for you to run."

"Besides, your body isn't ready to fight," Cody told her, "Are you drinking the protein shakes from Kix?"

"Yes."

Solitaire let out a dry laugh, "Trust me, she's not quiet about it but she's drinking them."

"They're gross. Cody, you should court martial Solitaire for his cruel and unusual punishment."

Solitaire rolled his eyes as Lore-Val told his CO about that morning's breakfast argument. She'd acted like he was killing her when he told her they couldn't leave the apartment until after she'd finished Kix's concoction of protein and electrolytes. His chrono pinged with the finish of the timer.

Lore-Val let out a loud sigh as she stopped the treadmill. She took a few steps away and splayed herself out on the floor.

"Leave me here."

Cody shook his head, "You're done for today. You can stay on the floor as long as you want."

She held up a thumbs up, "Great. Thank you."

Cody and Solitaire looked at eachother and shook their heads fondly.

"Sorry I said I hate you. I don't," Lore-Val called from the floor after a minute, "Thank you for helping me."

"Don't sweat it kid," Cody told her, coming to help pull her off the floor, "C'mon, it's time to hit the showers."

AN: I'm struggling to write the wrong Jedi arc and watching Seinfeld...anyway... have a good weekend my peeps