The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Learning Hurts

Sentinel

The Eyes of Fate Headquarters

Washington State, USA

October 2nd, 2019

Sentinel ducked a looping kick from Fang, then straightened back up just in time to be sent sprawling by his follow-up backhand. Rather than getting to his feet, Sentinel laid his head back against the floor, eyes shut and breathing hard. 

"Get up." Fang said, using his foot to flip Sentinel onto his stomach. "We're going again, now get up."

Sentinel moved slowly, getting his hands underneath him and trying to rise up before his arms gave out and he wound up with his face back against the wood floor. He was spent.

"Nothing left, huh?" Fang's voice made it more of a statement than a question. The older man bent over and grabbed Sentinel under the shoulders, dragging him over to a wall and leaving him in a sitting position under a window. 

"Thank... you..." Sentinel managed to get out between gasps for air. The breeze from the window was cool against his sweat-slicked skin. Fang grabbed a couple bottles of water and a towel and sat next to him. 

"No problem." Fang side-eyed him before grinning. He started wiping the sweat off his face with the towel. "Let me guess, you're freaking out over not being able to get up, since I told you that you had to make it a full hour?" 

Sentinel merely nodded, still too busy trying to catch his breath to speak. Fang had, of course, read his mind again. 

After breakfast, which was exclusively fruit at Vyper's insistence (Nothing super heavy for a day of training like you're going to have.), much to Fang's chagrin (I'm a warrior, Vyper. I need meat!), Fang had led him to the training room they had met in the day before. There, Fang had told that they were going to fight for an hour, and if Sentinel couldn't handle it, then he wouldn't be going on missions any time soon.

"Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I lied." Fang said. Sentinel managed to open his eyes long enough to shoot a glare at Fang. "Don't give me that look, it was important to. I need to get a real idea of how far your limit was. Not how far you thought it was, but the point where you physically couldn't get up anymore."

"Why?"

"Because this job will push you beyond your limits." Fang's voice was serious all of a sudden. "You need to know that just because your mind says you need to stop, it doesn't mean it's true. At some point someone else, maybe even me, will be depending on you to do something. And you will be tired. So you need to know you can do it."

Sentinel opened his mouth, but Fang stopped him by holding up a hand. 

"You also need to know that it's okay to be at the end of your rope. What it feels like to truly be out of gas, and know that we will take care of you when you are." 

"How...Long...?" Sentinel fumbled with the water bottle, trying to unscrew it.

"About fifteen minutes." Fang chuckled, taking the water and opening it. "Pretty poor by most standards, but by the standard you're at it's not bad."

Sentinel tilted the water bottle, taking a couple large swallows before Fang snatched the bottle from him.

"You drink it that fast and you'll make yourself puke. Sip it." Fang gave the water back before continuing. "You ran that mile with me earlier, which I'm sure you hadn't done in ages, so you were already worn down. Then, I gave you no instructions, so you were fighting rather inefficiently. To top it off, you had to fight me."