Vampire Academy: Dimitri's Point of View

First Training

I looked up at the clock again. She was ten minutes late. I really hoped that this wasn't going to become a habit of hers.
After another five minutes, I knew I should probably go and find her if we wanted to get any work done this afternoon. I relaxed out of the floor stretch I had been doing, rocked onto my shoulders and upper back with my hands beside my head, then used my arms to spring my body forward and upright onto my feet.
I walked out of the gym, leaving my bag on the bench near the door. Luckily, Rose wasn't far. She was stopped just outside the building, in the central quad, and was apparently in deep conversation with Princess Vasilisa. It only took a few steps to reach them, and I heard the tail end of their discussion.
"...no arguments." Rose's voice was determined, but I could still hear some hesitant fear underneath that assurance. Vasilisa didn't bother to hide her uncertainty as she nodded in reply.
"Rose?" I couldn't tell if I was questioning her late absence, or what she had just been talking about. Their sudden change in posture indicated that I wouldn't be able to wrangle the conversation topic from them, so I decided to focus on her tardiness instead. "You're late for practice." Both young women visibly relaxed as I addressed the Princess with a nod, both recognizing her and dismissing her. Vasilisa gave me a quick smile before taking off across the lawn and towards the school chapel. Perhaps some might think it was an odd choice for the girl to find refuge, but I wasn't exactly one to judge.
I turned back towards the gym, hearing Rose's footsteps fall behind mine. She wasn't stomping, but her movements were far from quiet and much louder than my own. I noted that we should probably work on a few stealth exercises in the future. My lesson list was growing faster than I could keep up and once again I wondered if there would be any way to help her reach graduation in a few months. Despite my concerns, I new I needed to try. For Rose, for Vasilisa, and honestly...for myself. The monotony of Academy life was tearing at me. I was never one for taking the easy way out, preferring to take on challenges. But here, there was rarely something to challenge me. While mentoring Rose wasn't my preferred test of skill, there was not doubt in my mind that she would push me to my limit as much as I would push her own limits.
Suddenly, I noticed the silence. Either she had become much lighter on her feet, or Rose has stopped following me. For half a second, I wonder if he had chosen to run off again. I cursed myself for getting lost in thought before I turned to see which direction she went.
Instead, she was only a few feet behind me, standing statue-like with a look of shock and worry on her face. Physically she was present, but her eyes were focused on the void between us. It was as if she were watching a scene play out before her, but there was nothing to see. She didn't even blink.
I tried to get her attention, "Rose?" I took a few steps toward her, calling her name again. She gave no indication of even hearing me or seeing me. My curiosity quickly turned to concern as I wondered if she was suffering from some strange stroke, or a concussion, or some other ailment. I knew that her peers had landed a few good hits today, more than one was to the head.
I now stood directly in front of her, leaning down so our faces were only a short distance away. She still didn't seem to see me. She was looking right through me. I shook her shoulders calling her name over and over, hearing my voice get more desperate each time.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, she blinked. Her eyes refocused and she jumped a little when she recognized how close I was standing.
"Are you alright?" I took a step back, trying to sound calm and even. I was still a bit thrown by what I had just witnessed. My heart was returning to it's normal pace, but my thoughts were still racing.
She was looking around, recognizing her surroundings but looked almost as confused as I was about the situation. "I...yeah. I was...I was with Lissa..." She brought her hand to her forehead, gently rubbing her temple before meeting my eyes again. "I was in her head."
What the...? "Her...head?" I wanted some sort of clarification, but I couldn't think of any explanation that would help me make sense of the situation.
"Yeah." She took a deep breath as if she was finally shaking off the experience. "It's part of the bond."
I guess that was the best explanation I was going to get right now. I didn't understand it, but I knew that I would need to learn some of the finer details of what their bond entailed. Already, I was seeing some of the issues of being...in Vasilisa's head...during a combat situation. The bond was something so outside of my realm of understanding, I didn't know where to begin when it came to helping Rose learn to control and utilize her extra ability. I wondered what triggered the event? Did Rose enter on her own or did Vasilisa call her? Was it intentional or something that happened spontaneously during times of stress? Was Vasilisa in danger?
The thought of my charge in duress snapped me back to reality. "Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's..." Rose hesitated and looked for the right word. Her brows furrowed in concentration and she bit at the corner of her lip. There was some confusion in her expression, but over all it was a look of concern. "She's not in danger." While she didn't seem fully convinced by her own words, she did seem to settle a bit at the statement.
While it wasn't the most comforting argument, I trusted her judgment on the matter knowing that she would never willingly allow something to happen to Vasilisa. I shifted my concern back to her. "Can you keep going?" I knew today had been rough on her, physically and emotionally. Still, I was a bit taken aback by my own anxiety when it came to Rose. I wasn't typically one to worry about others. I wasn't exactly harsh or uncaring, but I knew my "professional distance" in the well-being of others was a type of coping mechanism for me. I was required to worry about the physical safety of my charge, but I had no interest in being a psychologist, therapist, or even friend to them...or anyone else for that matter.
With Rose however, I has some unconscious desire to protect her, to understand her. I tried to brush it off as simply being her mentor. I cared about her as my student. While something deep inside me suggested that this wasn't the full truth of the matter, I couldn't fathom any other reason for my motives.
Rose was still staring at me and I could see...something...flash in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Her features seemed to soften a bit as she looked at me. It seemed like she was actually looking through me...no...within me. I felt my pulse shift under her gaze. But I didn't want to focus on (or even acknowledge) what that could mean. Instead, I turned away and finished the walk to the gym, listening to her footsteps behind me.