Burnt Wick

Fists to a Knife fight

"Come on now you totally was standing up for her!" Rhiannon nudges me as what is now our 'little groupy' as Ridoc calls it, stands on the side lines watching as smartass and a women called Aurelie circle each other on the mats. It's finally come round to the sparring gym where the professor, Professor Emetterio, says we are conducting first challenges to just to see our strengths, no weapons. "And I will tell you again I wasn't. She was trained to be a scribe and she seemed to put that Barlowe guy in his place just fine, without me commenting afterwards." I talk to her with my head tilted in her direction as we continue to stare down the two on the mats. Both Rhiannon and Violet had been talking about her vast knowledge during Battle Brief and history, deciding to pull me into the conversation. "I was trained for the Riders quadrant ever since I hit my double digits, I know what questions need to be asked and what can't." The professor yells for them to stop circling each other.

"And I know how to read people, the difficulty depends on the person, but that can be said with anything not just sparring. Violet is a different case." I turn to look down at her. Her height is always the first thing you notice if you don't see the hair. "You're going to be learning on the job. And you're going to need her help." My head tilts back over to point at Rhiannon where those two go into their own conversation so I can take a look around the room.

The afternoon sun is turning the gym into a greenhouse, even with an entire wall of windows and doors open the heat is almost stifling and I can feel the sweat trickle down and under my leathers. The massive space is filled with multiple squads from each wing, taking up all twenty something mats, how Emetterio keeps a watch on everyone with few instructors is beyond me. Across I see first wing and there squads, with a very pissed Barlowe- you could compare that guy to a jacked up chihuahua with how his whole body seems to shake with rage seemingly coming out of thin air. If he were to ever bond a dragon I feel sorry for it.

"Enough!" The professor yells louder than he had in the past and I look back onto the mat to see Aurelie with a split lip and being sent to the healers. Damn, both seemed pretty adept for sparring it seems. "We'll make you a deal." Huh? What am I being roped into? I look over to see Sawyer now in the mix. Gods I should not get lost in thought around these lot. "What's going on, why is this suddenly a 'we' situation?" Rhiannon just waves me off, continuing her deal. "We'll help you with hand to hand combat if you help us with history. Sound like a deal you two?" 

"Deal." "Absolutely."

I cross my arms, putting all my weight onto one leg. "How do I benefit from this exactly? If she's already got you two teaching her and I don't need help in subjects why am I part of this?" She shushes me. "Finer details River. All in the finer Details." I get a pat on my shoulder before we hear another yell. Across is Barlowe with another First year in a headlock. There's murder in his eyes as he stares down Violet who's still beside me. "That guy is such an ass-" Its like the whole gym goes silent as we hear the echo of a sickening crack, the boys neck being turned and broken as Barlowe holds the now limp First year.

A different instructor I didn't see appears before and charges onto his mat yelling at him for killing the kid. A slightly kinder and quieter word of advice comes from our professor. "Eyes foreword, You don't have to get used to it." I see a few of the other squads holding their hands to their mouths or turning their whole bodies around to avoid seeing the now dead body. "But you do have to function through it. You and you." To put his point across he pulls Rhiannon and one of our other squad mates onto the mat.

I stare Barlowe down from across the room, eyes never leaving him. He however doesn't seem to notice till his eyes finally wonder off of Violets and see me glaring right at him. He just stands up from his mat, a smug smirk on his face as he goes back to sit with his squad, letting two others drag the corpse away.