Haven's Army

Chapter 2

The next morning, I was woken up by Naomi.

"Wake up!" she said loudly. "I know you're tired, but there's training to be done!"

There were groans and mutterings, but soon everyone was dressed and ready to go. Kathryn let me borrow some of her clothes since we were about the same height.

We walked in a disorganized group until we were on the opposite side of the island, the side I'd never been to before. We went through a forest. I could barely see through it because it was so dense with trees and underbrush. Then, we were in an enormous clearing, almost as big as the practice arena on The Victory. All over there were practice dummies stuffed with hay and covered in roughly made armor, a huge tree with a climbing wall carved into and built onto it, and even more dummies, these ones made of stone.

I didn't know what to do, but Kathryn pointed me in the direction of the big tree where all the others from The Victory were.

I timidly joined the group, but Rachel, the only one I knew I had seen, pulled me aside first.

"Are you uncomfortable with me using your name?" she asked, true empathy express on her features. "Because I can use your cadet number for now, if you like."

I took a deep breath, then shook my head. "My name is fine." I wanted a fresh start and, even more so, to be brave, like Elias.

She smiled. "I want you to be comfortable. I know what it was like."

I was hit with a sudden feeling of relief. I wasn't alone here. Others knew how I felt. Some people here were kind, like Rachel and Kathryn and Dennis.

"Ok, Charlotte. You'll need to know your group members. This is Kevin," she pointed to the only boy in the group, "this is Laura," a girl with hair just past her shoulders, "and Emma," a girl with hair even shorter than mine. Emma and Laura looked around thirteen but Kevin looked a year my senior. "You will always train with this group. Understood?" I nodded. "Okay let's get training. Today is the tree." Everyone looked slightly annoyed but, like me, had been trained not to speak out, so no one showed any sign of protest.

I snuck a peek at Kathryn. People from The Hearth were shooting the rock dummies at them. In return, the three of them from The Gear blasted fire at the dummies.

I looked around and realized Nathan wasn't with the rest of the people from The Shadow. I wondered why. Then I wondered why I cared. I turned back to listen.

"So, Charlotte," Rachel was finishing, "just watch the others do the tree and then you can try as well." I nodded. She began to yell. "On your mark, get set...go!"

They raced up the tree, dodging branches and finding handholds in the rough trunk. Every once in a while, when they would lose their balance, they'd blast gusts of wind to keep themselves up. Finally, they got to the top branch and, almost in unison, jumped off and dove to the ground. They came down so fast I was afraid they'd run into the ground, but at the last second, they pulled up and landed softly on the ground.

I stared in awe the whole time.

"Seventeen seconds," Rachel informed Kevin, who had finished a split second before everyone else. "New record." He looked proud. "Charlotte. Do you want to see if you can beat Kevin?"

I was scared, but if I knew anything, it was that I was competitive. I would go until I was sick if it meant beating someone at something. So I lined up with the others. Kevin smirked at me.

"On your mark...get set......go!"

I raced up the tree, finding footholds and trying to stay ahead of the others. Kevin pulled in front and almost stayed there, but I managed to stay neck-in-neck with him (as far as I could possibly tell while running vertically up the side of a tree). Finally, I made it to the stopping point and Kevin and I dove at the same time. I willed the winds to push me faster and faster, so fast my eyes watered and I shut them. I sensed ground beneath me and the air cushioned my fall. I landed and wiped the tears from my eyes, glad to be out of that nightmare. Now I knew why the others groaned at the mention of the tree.