Thalia's Tale (A Team Crafted Spinoff)

Eight: The Commander's Apprentice

     Sky beamed, his sword at rest in his hand, at Thalia as she entered the training hall groggily. The place was deserted; no one in their right mind would train at six in the morning. But then again, Thalia had often wondered if Sky truly were in his right mind.
     She walked up to the ring of one of the eight by seven foot swords practice rings. "Morning!" Sky greeted. Thalia just yawned and waved tiredly.
     He smiled knowingly and moved on. "Alright, so, I just want to warn you before you start; once you do this, there is no backing down. You go all the way or not at all. You do exactly what I tell you, when I tell you to do it unless I tell you different. Got it?"
     "Uh... yes." Thalia said slowly.
     "Training is gonna be hard. You're gonna have to stretch yourself mentally and physically. Once you enter this ring, I become your master and you my apprentice. You have to follow my every Command no matter how strange. Do you understand?"
     Thalia nodded.
     Sky gave out a half smile and gestured for her to move forward. "Then get in the ring."
     Thalia took a deep breath – her last as a rogue – and stepped over the rope and into the ring as an apprentice. Sky smiled and patted her shoulder. Then he sheathed his sword as he climbed out of the ring and started to walk away without a word.
     Thalia watched him go with a confused expression on her face. "Uh... Commander? Where are you going?"
     Sky turned to look at her as he walked backwards. "You didn't think we were going to start fighting right away, did you?" He asked.
     "Well if we're not fighting, what are we doing?" Thalia asked.
     "Running around the base." Sky replied. He broke into a fast run, almost a sprint, and ran out of the training hall. "Follow me!" He called behind him.
     Thalia rolled her eyes and ran after him.
     At first, it wasn't that hard. But then Thalia learned just how big the base was.
     It.
     Was.
     Massive.
     The two sprinted up three flights of stairs, what seemed like a half mile, down three flights in a different stairwell, ran a few corners over a period of several minutes and finally made it back to their stopping point. Sky jogged to a halt, nearly unphased by the long run, while Thalia collapsed on the ground, panting, ignoring the recruits that stared at her as they passed down the hall.
     Sky raised an eyebrow as he noticed her. "What are you doing?"
     "Taking... a break..." Thalia panted.
     "Did I say we were done?"
     "...Not those words exactly."
     "Then come on, get back up!" Thalia groaned and got back up.
     "I thought you were going to teach me how to fight." She said.
     "I am." Sky replied. "There's more to fighting that a sword. It takes skill, tactical cleverness, and above all: agility."
     "Isn't there more to agility than just running?" Thalia asked.
     "Yep. That's why we're gonna work on parkour tomorrow." He said. "Now come on, we've still got nine laps before we can stop for the day." Without waiting for a response, Sky took off running again. Thalia groaned and followed after him wearily.

Logan peered around the corner. After taking a quick look around, he turned back around the corner and glanced at his teammate. "Finale." He said.
     Kevin nodded. "We made it." He said.
     "We got ten seconds." Logan said. "How many are left?"
     Kevin tapped a button on his earpiece and several lights switched on through his see-through eyepiece. "Three besides us." He said as the lights disappeared again.
     Logan pulled his stone sword out of his sheath and adjusted his iron helmet. "You ready?" He asked
     Kevin nodded and changed his grip on his own iron axe. "Let's do this."
     In the same instant, the two were both teleported to the center of the map on the same platforms they'd been on when they'd first entered the games.
     Kevin immediately went for the man on the left while he'd been distracted by the sudden teleportation that he apparently hadn't been expecting. As he ran his axe through him, he exploded into millions of little blue square fragments that went everywhere – which was what happened when you died in the game. After that he simply respawned back in the lobby like nothing ever happened.
     The second one, this time a female with long, dark brown hair and dark green eyes, charged at Logan immediately. He stepped easily out of the way and stabbed her from behind as she ran past him. She too disappeared in an explosion of blue cubes, respawning back in the lobby.
     Logan sighed and looked at Kevin. "Ready?" He asked.
     Kevin gripped the hilt of his axe tightly and nodded. "Three... Two..." His voice trailed off as Logan fell to the ground with a dull thud face first a few meters away with an arrow in his back.
     Kevin looked around as he realized they'd forgotten the third player, but all he saw was a flash of bright yellow and green before he himself felt an arrow strike his chest and everything went black.
     He opened his eyes a moment later as he respawned. He took a deep breath as the awful feeling of respawning passed. If you want to imagine what it feels like, imagine a car crash.
     He and Logan exchanged glances and shrugged. Then Kevin saw at the bottom of his eyepiece who one.
     VenomousDuck has won the game
     As if on cue, Venom passed by him leisurely as she slung her trusty dark green bow onto her shoulder again. "GG, boys." She said without looking behind her as she headed towards the exit of the War Hero lobby.
     Venom walked onto the sidewalk and headed up the street heading from the village to the entrance of the base. Just as she was walking inside, a quite wet-looking Thalia stormed past her, heading in the direction of her quarters. Venom smiled. "Hey, Thalia! How was you first day of training?"
     Thalia didn't respond, but instead kept walking angrily. Venom raised one eyebrow.
     "Apparently not too great." Kevin said obviously as he and Logan walked up behind Venom.
     "Lemma try and talk to her..." Logan jogged off after Thalia before Venom or Kevin could stop him.
     The two exchanged knowing glances and crept back out of the base without a word. Neither wanted to be around when Logan pissed Thalia off even more.
     "Hey, where are you going?" Logan asked as he fell in step beside Thalia.
     "To my quarters." Thalia muttered in response.
     "Training was that bad, huh?"
     "I don't feel like talking right now, Keyes."
     "What ever happened to Ginger?"        
     "Leave me alone before you piss me off."
     "Looks to me that you're already pissed off."
     "Go bother Venom."  
     "She and Kevin ditched me."
     "I wonder why."
     "Was that sarcasm?"
     "Would you please just leave me alone?"
     "Why?"
     "Because I'm not in the mood to talk right now!"
     "But you are talking."
     Logan was taken by surprise as Thalia turned on him, stopping him in his tracks. "Keyes, I swear to Notch, if you don't leave me alone right now, I'm gonna-!" Thalia shouted in alarm as her right leg gave out on her.
     "Whoa!" Logan caught her before she could fall and helped her straighten up again. "Hey, are you alright?"
    "Fine..." Thalia tried looking up at him, but as soon her she did her face turned bright red and she looked away again. Without another word she ran off in the direction of her quarters.