Burning Promise I a fourth wing ff

Setting sun

The next practice sessions of the Gauntlet have everyone slowly improving, fixing the big or small mistakes that they're making. Tynan has finally decided to shut up, but I think that's only because he's scared, he hasn't been able to make it up fully without reaching for the ropes at least once. I've been landing on my knees less and less but they still hurt like hell. I also ended up falling off the metal rods more than once but have been fortunate enough to find a rope each time sliding down them has my hands bleeding and blistered after every time. A few of us have been meeting up and doing some extra training in the evenings to strengthen our muscles. For me it's my arms. I have slowly but surely been improving these last few weeks, my hand still get clammy at the sight of the metal rods and I'm terrified that'll be the death of me.

...

We're currently standing at the bottom of the last obstacle, trying to come up with a way to get Violet up so we don't fail the group portion of the Gauntlet.

"Maybe you can climb up onto my shoulders and then..." Rhiannon shakes her head and studies the incline.

"Then I'm still stuck halfway up," Violet sighs.

"Doesn't matter. You can't touch another cadet on the route." Sawyer folds his arms beside me, scrunching his sun burnt nose. We've been out here for hours everyday during high sun and all of us are looking a bit red at this point.

"Are you here to squash hopes and dreams, or do you have a suggestion?" Rhiannon retorts. "Because Presentation is tomorrow, so if you've got any bright ideas, now is the time."

"Look we still have a few hours to come up with something before we actually get tested, I'm sure Violet will find a way to get up without breaking the rules." I say and squeeze her shoulder in reassurance .

"Let's hope I do because it's not only my time at stake." She responds.

...

The orange rays of the setting sun lick along the halls of Basgiath leaving no shadowy spaces in the hallways as I make my way down the stairs. I'm only a sleep away from conscription day and I can feel my stomach churning and my vision getting fuzzy in quiet moments like these as I zone out. My hand still get sweaty on the metal rods and I slipped almost every time I tried crossing them today. I know I'll still pass even if I use the ropes during the assessment but I'd rather not, it still feels like failure. Finding a different strategy to cross them is the thing that's been on my mind since I've been slipping off them every practice round.

I suck a deep breath of air in as I walk out of the dorms into the cooling air of the evening. Ever since Aurelie died I've been coming out to walk during the evening to help calm my nerves and organize the thoughts in my head. The only thing is that I've also been seeing Liam out here almost every night. Sometimes he's just walking around like me, but other times he acts suspicious as fuck sneaking around and acting all mysterious, like he's on a secret mission or something and he look so ridiculous. He's waved to me a couple of times and started to come over to me but I turn around every time he tries to approach me, making it obvious that I don't want to talk to him. I'm still bitter about that fight and I still haven't had a chance to challenge him again because of the Gauntlet. He still tries every single time though, he's one persistent motherfucker. I pray that I'll have a quiet evening without seeing his face for once.

These end of the day walks have become my sanctuary, one of the only things keeping me sane. It's oddly comforting to walk around in the quieter hours after the commotion of the day. I can hear the crackling of the fires lit along the paths to light them in the darker hours. Most of the cadets are off fucking with each other in one way or another, good for them I guess. I'm completely zoned out as I walk along the path and watch the sun setting when I hear a pair of thumping footstep behind me.