Y/N reaches the wooden stumps, stops and stares at them trying to remember what to do on this obstacle. In her mentor's demo, she moved so fast between so many obstacles that she can't remember what to do in all of them.
Well, it doesn't hurt to ask.
Y/N: Millie! What do I have to do in this?
The coach Imp distracts her attention from the cell phone timer to answer the kid.
Millie: Oh! Uh... The floor is lava!
Recognizing the game, the little hellhound yells "in fear" before laughing and climbs onto a stump, using her imagination to carry out the exercise.
Y/N: Oh no! The lava's melting the rocks! I have to get to the other side or I will dieeeee!
This time, the apprentice rushes faster as she jumps from one stump to another, almost slipping on one but she manages to keep her balance as if her life depended on it, at least in her imagination it does.
After a little while she reaches the last stump, and seeing there's nowhere else to step, she puts an end to the game.
Y/N: Meh.
The little hellhound jumps to the ground and sees the net hanging horizontally from some branches, almost touching the ground. She again tries to remember what she's supposed to do in this game.
Millie sees her apprentice is hesitating again.
Millie: The net are laser beams, try gettin' to the other side without touchin' them!
Y/N smiles and wags her tail at the new game, so she crouches down and begins to crawl under the "laser beams" to get to the other side.
However, her tail keeps wagging, brushing the whole net as she crawls, but she doesn't notice it and keeps going.
Millie bites one of her nails as she questions how she'll fix that in the future.
The hellhound reaches the end and stands up to see her red dress full of dirt, she tries to shake the dust off with her hands but doesn't quite succeed, so she shrugs and moves on.
After seeing more minutes have passed than expected, Millie sits next to the flag and keeps watching, resting her chin with her hand.
Y/N goes up the wooden ramp without problems and to go down she sits and slides on it as if it were a.. well a slide, and then runs to the monkey bars.
She grabs hold of the first bar and stands still for a few seconds.
Y/N: My fingers hurt!
Millie: You go girl!
Her mentor's cheers are enough for the little hellhound to keep trying. So she uses her legs to swing and passes her hands to the next bar she has in front of her.
She advances well, but halfway through, her fingers no longer hold and she slips, falling to the ground, luckily for the kid, she puts her hands on the ground preventing her face from hitting the dust.
Millie: You can do it. Try again!
Y/N gets up, and tries again just to fall once more.
Millie: Again!
The apprentice keeps trying, and keeps falling. Over and over and over and over again.
Millie: AGAIN!
Even though she keeps trying and failing. Y/N doesn't give up, even though her hands hurt, she keeps going from bar to bar, trying to hold on tight to each one, no matter how many times she falls.
It isn't until one of her many failed attempts that Millie stops repeating to her to try again, because her apprentice already does it without her asking. Yet she keeps falling and falling and falling...
Seeing there's not much progress, Millie yawns, she's been observing for several minutes and Y/N doesn't leave that area. If she goes on like this for a couple more minutes then she'll go help her, although it's not her favorite way for teaching. For now, she just rests her eyes for a little bit...
...
Y/N: MILLIE HELP ME!!
Millie wakes up with a start and looks around. The light of hellish day is already darkening. How long has she been there?! She checks her cell phone but it doesn't turn on, it was on for so long because of the timer that the battery ran out.
Millie: Oh, fuck..
Y/N: Millie?!
Millie then looks up past her to the last obstacle, the climbing net wall. Y/N's upside down with one of her legs tangled in the net.
The young hellhound's hands are full of scratches and her red skirt is hanging down leaving her black torn leggings visible.
The apprentice writhes trying to untangle her leg from the net. But it's in vain.
Y/N: Can you help me?
The mentor gets up and stands just below her, it's time to give her a hand.
She tries to look at the knot, but Y/N is too high up, which makes it difficult for her to see it. But she can see that only one foot is entangled, the other one is free.
Millie: If you can't reach the knot with your hands, use your foot to untangle yourself!
Y/N looks at the knot as much as she can, but her view is blocked by the skirt of her dress. So she uses her free foot and feels for the knot to start slowly kicking it off, that's when she looks for Millie to see if she's doing it right, but when she sees her... she's VERY far away.
That's when she sees that she's at a very high altitude, so she stops, screaming in terror.
Y/N: I'M GOING TO FALL DOWN!!
Millie: That's the point darlin'.
The apprentice squirms once more, trying to cling to the net with her hands in fear of falling, but failing. So she shuts her eyes.
Y/N: I don't want to! It's going to hurt!
Millie impatiently wags her tail, when she was a child, she was much more daring. But hey, she was brought up differently. The mentor raises her arms to her apprentice.
Millie: Y'ain't gettin' hurt hun. 'Cause I'm gonna catch you.
The young hellhound opens one eye with difficulty to see her mentor. Seeing her with her arms raised, ready to catch her, she gets convinced to open both her eyes and think about it.
Y/N: .... You promise?
Millie: Cross my heart.
Y/N: How do you cross a heart?!
Millie: It's an expression darlin', it means that what I say is the pure truth.
Y/N hesitates a bit more, biting her bottom lip nervously.
Millie: Everything will be fine.
Still afraid, Y/N trusts her teacher, so she inhales deeply, closes her eyes tightly, and quickly uses her foot to push the knot quickly, falling to the ground with speed. She couldn't help but scream as she fell.
The Imp's reflexes are fast, so seeing Y/N fall, she quickly points her arms at her and grips, hard enough not to let the weight of a hellhound half her size hit the ground.
Y/N's screams end as soon as she feels her fall stopped, she opens her eyes and turns to see Millie, who's looking at her.
The little hellhound smiles and hugs Millie, her tail wags once more, glad to be alive.
Millie's surprised by the sudden hug, but it doesn't bother her. It's then that she thinks about how her family'd judge her for going soft and helping a hellhound pup when they taught her to take all the blows to be better.
The Imp looks away, uncomfortable at the thought and sees the flag next to her.
Millie: Well.. go take the flag, honey.
Y/N: What flag?
Millie narrows her eyes when she sees her apprentice forgot the objective of the exercise. But in a few seconds Y/N opens her eyes wide when she remembers.
Y/N: Oh! Right!
Then the apprentice comes down from Millie's arms to finally take the flag and strike a heroic pose, which she immediately breaks by asking her mentor..
Y/N: Did I do it before the three minutes?
Millie: No.
The kid lowers her ears in disappointment.
Y/N: So no ice cream?
The Imp kneels down to face her apprentice.
Millie: I'm afraid not, if I gave ya the prize, then it won't be as valuable when you win it fairly.
Y/N pouts, but doesn't bring up a fight about it.
Y/N: I guess.. Can I at least have a glass of water?
Millie: Sure thing, hon.. C'mon.
She offers the hellhound hand and Y/N takes it.
Y/N: Ow!
That's when the mentor notices her hands, full of scratches, probably from having spent hours on the monkey bars and the climbing net.
Millie: Hey, nothing that a little soap and water can't fix, feel proud, those little scratches are a sign of a good effort, you're doing well!
Y/N: But they hurt!
Millie: Pain is a sign of progress, let's go. Blitzø and Moxx must be waitin'.
Millie then walks towards the exit, with a slightly hurried step, while Y/N follows her and stares at her.
She's kind, but at the same time tough. She just hopes the games won't be so hard in the future.