Waging War | The Amber Duology #1

18 | Alleged Mermaid

It was bad enough that Kai had made them spar and do physical exercise in the middle of a hot afternoon, he also made the trainee's carry out different team building exercise which he insisted would,

"Help develop your teamwork. These are the soldiers you'll be fighting with in the battlefield, you need to learn to trust one another." He had reasoned but Nya wasn't having any of it.

Why couldn't she just ask her brother for help? She did have that opportunity now that they were talking again but why couldn't she? Maybe because he wouldn't help you in the first place. Her brother was many things. But she doubted he would go as far as training her separately just for the sake of gaining an advantage.

It would be...unfair.

Not to Nya of course, she couldn't care less. It was Kai who would say otherwise.

However, if she wanted to get out of the rank's red zone, she knew she had to do something about it. The day she saw her last name beside the number 56 was the day she wanted to tackle her brother to the ground. How dare he judge her unfairly?! Did he not know how hard she had been trying?

Maybe he knows but he just doesn't care. Was the thought that ran through her mind that day. Her perspective changed after they had their talk and Nya couldn't help but feel relieved that the pain of seeing her brother was starting to grow less and less everyday.

She still hated him, but for completely different reasons.

"Get on your feet, Nya. Your teammates aren't going to climb themselves." He called out, blowing his whistle and sending a loud tune into her ear.

Nya blew the loose strand of hair away from her face and got up from where she tripped on the floor. She thought the Trim Trail was hard to accomplish alone, she was wrong. Accomplishing the Trim Trail with a whole team was definitely harder.

They had reached the climbing wall, after taking their time across all the new obstacles that Kai and Lloyd had magically changed overnight, and before Nya could climb up using her teammate's hands, someone held her back. Akita.

"What?" She spat, as the girl pulled her away.

"You get us up, you don't have the strength to pull a single body over that wall."

"What makes you think I can get you up there?!"

They didn't have the time to argue because as far as Nya was concerned, the team they were competing against was winning. Why would her brother stick her with such a perfectionist? Akita crossed her arms, holding her own ground.

"Fine." Nya grumbled and took her place beside the other two girls who had their backs against the wall.

Akita made a run for it and soon enough Nya found herself lifting the girl by her shoe with all her might. Unfortunately, Akita was right about one thing: she didn't have any strength at all.

Even after all of Kai's excruciating drills and his calisthenics routine, Nya could feel her muscles start to ache and her arms start to falter before Akita could even reach the top of the wall. She began to give in, that was, until Pixal's hand appeared in front of her and lifted Akita higher.

"Go!" The girl called from above and they began to send more of their teammates up.

With the help of Pixal, Nya was able to lift more bodies than she thought she ever could. And slowly—even if she didn't want to admit it, she began to understand what Kai had been trying to teach them. The value of having friends.

Suddenly, she felt a boost of adrenaline shoot through her veins. They were the last ones on the ground and Pixal was already holding her hands up to lift her. But Nya shook her head.