A few days after the encounter with Cassandra, I began following Jerry as she went along with her day to day routine, which to my surprise wasn't that eventful. She would wake up very early, I couldn't tell at what time because her clock was faced away from me. But as she got up I mimicked what she did, I would gather the clothes I would wear for the day, a plain black shirt and tan cargo pants, and follow her to the elevator. I remember asking her the first time I followed her if there was a private bath area where we would get ready, but she just laughed. Instead we left the building and walked into the woods that we'd come from when I first arrived. After walking for about a mile we reached an opening in the earth where water flowed. Jerry called it a "spring", I called it an accident waiting to happen. I remember the first time I initially refused to enter the rushing water, something in the back on my head kept my feet from moving forward. The way the water moved in all directions as if 1 false step would swallow you whole and you could never escape. But as I felt the grime I'd accumulated over the past days, I sluggishly entered the water. As I did, the flowing clear liquid pierced every part of my body, but the dirt flowed from my fingertips. "You look petrified. It' just water." I remember she told me. I shook off her comment and submerged myself under the rushing water. It was just water, but something in the back of my head prevented me from calming until we exited the spring. After we bathed, dressed and returned to Tent city Jerry would head to the Slush to grab us some food. We would head to the defense center after, where she would organize the weapons according to model and bullets. I helped her but after a while she would shake off my offerings and tell me to just clean the guns with rags. Something told me this wasn't what Jerry would normally do. She just seemed too smart and too involved with this place, but I decided to leave it alone. I could care less by this point. They most likely knew that I would just follow her because I had nothing of any importance to do and probably felt out of necessity that Jerry should do the most inconspicuous tasks when I was around.
But as I woke up ready to clean guns with rags today, Jerry was already dressed and leaving the tent.
"You're not following me around today. Sorry, you'll be taken by someone-I don't know who- to the spring to wash up and then come back here."
"Okay." I simply replied as I gathered the clothes I'd worn two days before. I only had 2 shirts and 2 pants to wear, so I didn't really have a grand selection of clothes to choose from. Jerry looked as I did so and strode over to her cot. Reaching into the pillow case she took out a small circular object. She clicked a tiny button and the object opened in two, revealing two circular mirrors on the inside. She tossed it over to me. It was a gold color, that almost matched my eyes, with an intricate design engraved into it. I traced the design with my finger.
"It's a compact mirror. So at least you'll know how you look like."
"I know what a mirror is used for." At this she laughed but sighed exasperatedly. I wasn't a fan as much as Celina was to use the sole mirror in our room back-there, but I remember punching one in a fit of rage when I was younger because an instructor had threatened to call Dr. X on me.
"I'll see you later. Try not to kill anyone." she gave me a small smile before exiting our tent.
"If no one tries to do the same." I mutter as I hear a small whistle outside of my tent. Grumbling, I get off of my cot and walk out, where Amer is rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet.
"Hi Rye! You haven't visited me you know, I don't like that!" she whimpered, dramatically facing away from me
"Hey Amer, sorry I couldn't-"
"Sh! I'm supposed to be taking you to the spring now. So as a responsible adult I will take you and you won't say anything." She proudly placed her one hand on her hip.
"Amer," I start, raising my eyebrow at the 6 year old
"Rye," she replied trying to match my expression.
Sighing, I shrug my shoulders, "lead the way."
I was surprised that they would allow Amer to take me to the spring, but I suspected they had someone watching us as she did so. My suspicion heightened as we weaved our ways through the trees I felt that I was being watched. When we reached the spring I quickly entered the water. Amer sat on a rock and distracted herself by admiring the fungi growing around. As I finished drying myself up with a towel and putting on my pants, I heard a rustle in the trees maybe 10 feet away to my left. Quickly I turned around, nothing. Amer was washing her face, either missing or not paying attention to the noise. As I put on my shirt I heard the rustling again. I couldn't exactly pinpoint where it was coming from this time. This time, Amer looked up, grabbed the nearest twig and ran towards the noise. I called out to her, "No Amer-" She ignored me, but when she came back Levii was with her.
"You can't just do that Amer, hitting people with a twig isn't very respectable" he joked as she kept poking him with a twig. It was a strange sight. He towered over the little girl yet she seemed to solely focus on prodding his side with her only arm, just so he could jerk ever so slightly.
"Well, you aren't very respectable so I'm not doing anything wrong." she answered, a confident smile plastered on her face.
He shook his head muttering "Whatever you say," as he noticed me standing there he stopped and leaned on the tree next to him. "So, are you ready to start your training?"
* * *
"Ugh!" I yelled as my body slammed against the mat. My side was throbbing as I rolled over facing towards the sun. The sun was shining brightly upon me and the clouds moved slowly across the blue sky. I still hadn't gotten completely used to the natural daylight, it still amazed me, but as sweat dripped down my face and my skin tingled absorbing the sun's rays, I felt like my skin was on the verge of burning.
"Get up. Again." Levii bent over me, blocking the sunlight. He insisted on training on the roof of this building because he claimed training with the other soldiers wouldn't do me any good now. That, and he called me sickly pale.
I rolled my eyes and ignored him, trying to stare at the moving clouds. I was clearly out of practice, but I'd also realized how reliant my body had become on the performance-enhancing pills Dr. X had provided me back at the Institute. Now without them, I felt every cramp in my body, the burning in my throat as I tried to take deep breaths and the stinging sensation as I took every step.
"You may not have realized it by now, but you clearly had some assistance to get to the state that you were in physically." Levii whispered matter-of-factly as he threw a punch
"Thanks for pointing that out I would've never noticed." I sneered back blocking his punch with my forearm. As I did, he caught and twisted my arm behind my back and proceeded to kick my shin. He released me and just as I was going to fall face-first, my arms break my fall. I look up at the clearly deranged individual and bite my tongue.
"No problem, but I'm here to make sure that you don't rely on these pills anymore. They poison your body in such a way that you need them in order to function properly. But you don't," he takes my hand and pulls me up, "You may think that you're probably useless without them but you aren't. Remember that."
I don't reply because I realize he's still holding my hand and has such an intense look in his eye. but just as quick as it comes, his eyes harden again. "Now, tighten your core as you move, and try to cover your face with your arms held like this. You like to attack and not really defend and although the spunk is admirable, it's equally foolish. You need to cover your face. You're here to learn to fight like a human, not a robot."
"I'm not a robot."
"I know, robots are much more emotionally sensitive."he releases my hands and adjusts my stance.
I rolled my eyes, "So you're training a robot to be human? I thought that-"
"Forget what you thought. Actually it's like dancing, with all that rhythm crap."
"...but I hate dancing." I whispered under my breath.
"It's still a helpful skill. No matter how much you hate something you should always try to find something to embrace about it. Doesn't matter how small and anyway, you never know if it could be the difference between life and death.".
"Yes, not knowing anything but the basics of twirling around and putting my arms around my partner's neck will be the death of me." I dramatically reply as I stretch out my arm as if to place him in a chokehold.
"You were in Aberithis not too long ago, a gala in fact. Don't you think your aristocratic facade would've been completely destroyed if you didn't know the traditional dances of each region? You were lucky the President didn't ask you to join him in the official dance of his great country."
I didn't bother trying to mask my surprise and yet I replied staring him down, "I wasn't very active there in the first place. But you were there..."
"Correction, we as in including Xander. But that doesn't concern you now. Forget I mentioned it."
I bit back a snarl, as he lightly kicked his legs between mine to adjust my footing.
As much as I wanted to know more, the look he gave me was enough for me to realize that topic was over. Trying to fill the silence I gumble "Anyways, what do you find in this? I may have grown up around it but I'm sure not a lot of people like fighting and training for hours on end."
Still adjusting my feet he replies, "Pain. I like to embrace the pain that comes along."
I furrow my eyebrows, "Well isn't that a little sadistic. "
"No, not in a pleasurable way. You wouldn't understand."
"But embrace...pain? I hope you realize that pain hurts."
"I find it as a distraction."
"Well I don't" and I use my shin to kick his thigh and he fell backwards with a loud THUMP. I stand over him, "Hey, at least I don't have to worry about hurting you if you like pain so muc-" but before I could finish I lost my footing as he grabbed my ankle and pulled me forward landing on top of him.
"I'm not taking back what I said." I huffed as I roll off and turn my head to look at him.
"Really?", he didn't sound the least bit surprised. "You're skillful, but you kinda sucked the entire session today and still have this arrogance. I'd have to consider you one of the most cockiest females I've met and trust me I've met a lot."
"That sounds like something Xander would say."
"You're right and he disgusts me most of the time, I take it back." he turns away from me and looks up at the sky. After he gives me 5 minutes to breathe as he looks up at the sky, Levii gets up.
"Well, training is over, see you tomorrow, I'll come by your tent." he waved his hand dismissing our session.
"Okay." I sit up and brush off my pants as I hear a guard come up the stairway and open the door, beckoning me off the roof and back to the elevator.
Although never pointed his gun towards me, the way the guard looked blankly stared ahead, I couldn't help but think about the Sentries. Had things truly changed? I couldn't tell. As we head back down underground to Tent City and I stepped off the elevator leaving the rebel to return to whatever post he came from, I wondered what could I do from this point. It was always good to have a backup plan and there was no way in hell that I was going to stay here forever...or go back to the Institute. Dr. X had given me the task to find out more about the supposed threat, I kept thinking to myself. Why should I not try to gather intel, not for his benefit, but mine. I recall how old peers of mine would never be heard from again because they'd stepped out of line every now and then during training. What had been going on back home?, I wondered. Conjuring the thought brought a foreign feeling over me as I walked through the market of bartering refugees. Never did I truly question the boundaries and rules enforced on me. And as I stopped in the middle of bustling refugees, turned my heel away from Jerry's tent and starting walking towards the defense center, I felt rocks come down on my shoulders. What did it mean to taste freedom?