( 5 ) first day: assessment day────
Zero Below / ao3 / fourth wing&oc. . .
I think having assessment day on day one is one Hel of a way to truly welcome the new cadets to classes. It was sort of brutal Star, maybe because it was the first time marked-ones were in admittance but the way blood was shed and teeth went flying─without blades and signets? I hope you're practicing, I don't want to see you hurt on day one. ( Or ever!! )
────RECOVERED ( DELAYED ) CORRESPONDENCE FROM CADET EIRAGAIL CATOHA, RIDER'S QUADRANT, TO CIVILIAN ASTARIEL CATOHA.
The sparring ring is where riders are made or broken. After all, no respectable dragon would choose who cannot defend themselves, and no respectable cadet would allow such a threat to the wing continue training.
────MAJOR AFENDRA'S GUIDE TO THE RIDER'S QUADRANT ( UNAUTHORISED VERSION )
Watching Ridoc and Aurelie ( try to ) beat the shit out of each other was kind of surreal.
They were evenly matched, more or less. Aurelie had more muscle and sparring experience, due to her legacy family, and while Ridoc was only a few centimetres taller he was faster and clearly holding back on his strength. That wouldn't help either of them in the long run, I thought idly.
My eyes wandered around the training hall, the massive gym that consumed the first floor of the academic wing. One wall made entirely of windows and doors, all left open to let in the breeze, trying their hardest to combat the stiflingly heat, not that it did much. A bead of sweat slipped past the inner seam of my shoulder blades. Most of the men had taken their shirts off, half of them claiming it was so they weren't getting grabbed during sparring, the other half unabashedly showing off their chests and abs like it was impressive. A couple women had changed out of their fighting leathers and into thin strapped cotton shirts, a few others had adjusted the cut of their tops to account for shoulder or waist movement. Violet was wearing a corseted vest, almost armoured in appearance, it glimmered slightly under the lights when she shifted her balance.
I was still in a long-sleeved thumb-holed shirt.
Each Wing sent three squads to the after-lunch slot of Challenges. First Wing had sent their third squads, which included Jack Barlow, Second Wing had decided to send all three squads of their Claw Section, Third Wing following suit to send all three of their Tail Section. Fourth Wing had sent their second squads, which was lucky for me─Liam's bare shoulder's brushed mine from his position on my right, the rest of his squad's─Tail Section, Second Squad─first years falling in line next to him.
Well, a girl called Annika─average height, broad shoulders but not much muscle mass, hearty frame and soft looking rich brown skin, dark eyes almost hidden underneath thick black furrowed eyebrows, black coarse hair pulled back into two tight braids, ending just past her shoulders, long straight nose with a hoop through the left nostril─stood next to him, the rest of them had congregated into an amorphous blob in an attempt to put as much space between them and Liam. . . or rather his rebellion relic.
They, the cadets who had moved away when Liam came to stand next to me, hadn't felt the need to move when it was just me. A simmering anger lit in my stomach at the thought. Though, the small tidbit of information─gossip, really─I had gleaned from them before their departure was insightful to most of them. A bunch of sheep really, following the overly boastful and agreeing mindlessly to the opinions of the overly confident. It'd be easy to get under most of their skins. . . easy to shift their thought sin the heat of battle too.
Our instructor was the same as our Gym tutor, Professor Alistair Emmetrio,─compact yet intimidating frame, bushy black eyebrows atop a harsh stare, a shaved head, short black beard, beefy hands curled into fists and tucked under his arms, showing off his cool toned tan complexion and absolute mass of muscle─who had been teaching us a lesson in calisthenics earlier that morning. Dr. Juliet Sarabi─taller than Emmetrio by a couple inches but considerably more lithe in frame, a warm toned light brown complexion mostly hidden under her mostly skin-tight full coverage leathered uniform, light hazel eyes scrutinised the sparring cadets in front of her, a pair of small reading glasses perched on her hooked nose─stood on his right, taking notes during each of the sparring challenges, most likely so she could tailor her lecture sessions properly.
Across the hall I could make out other pairs of gym professors, observing, instructing and noting their respective cadets. I was grateful our teachers seemed some of the more engaged ones, tearing my eyes away from a particularly bored adult who had her eyes closed, not even looking at her cadets.
"Guess that means you're not worried about academics," Rhiannon said, her eyebrows rising as she looked at Violet. Her leather vest cut in above the collarbone and secured at her neck, leaving her shoulders bare for movement.
"Stop circling each other like you're dance partners and attack!" Professor Emmetrio ordered from across the mat, Dain and Cianna─fair complexion littered with fair freckles, shoulder length blonde curls, almost frizzing under the thick humidity of the hall, light blue, almost grey eyes, a hawkish nose that balanced out her long face, long frame, looking thinner as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Dain indicating her height─our squad executive leader, stood sentry on his left.
"I'm worried about this," Violet said, tilting her chin toward the mat.
"Really?" Rhiannon inquires skeptically, turning her head to look at me as if to ask, do you believe her? Her braids were twisted into a small bun at the nape of her neck, so they don't go flying when she spun back to look at Violet. "I figured as a Sorrengail, you'd be a hand-to-hand threat."
"Not exactly." Violet muttered awkwardly. I caught myself before I verbally agreed with her. She lacked visible muscle, which most likely meant she had little-to-no training at hand-to-hand. The memory of her ragged wheezed breathing during our gym session this morning sprang to mind. she wasn't used to intense training, but she wasn't a complete fish out of water. I could believe 'not exactly'.
Ridoc launched toward Aurelie, but she ducked, sweeping out her leg and tripping him. He staggered but stayed up. He pivoted quickly, palming a dagger in his hand.
"No blades today!" Professor Emmetrio bellowed from beside the mat. "We're just assessing!"
Ridoc grumbled, sheathing his knife just in time to deflect a right hook from Aurelie.
"She packs a punch," Rhiannon noted with an appreciative smile
"What about you?" Violet asked, her eyes looking between Rhiannon, Liam and I.
I opened my mouth with a grin, ready to reply, just as Ridoc landed a jab to Aurelie's ribs, my words turned to a short whistle at the sight.
"Shit!" He shook his head and backed up a step. "I don't want to hurt you."
Aurelie held her ribs, lifting her chin with an almost offended expression on her face. "Who said you hurt me?"
"Pulling your punches does her a disservice," Dain called, folding his arms. "The Cygnis on the northeast border aren't going to give her any quarter because she's a woman if she falls from her dragon behind enemy lines, Ridoc. They'll kill her just the same."
The automatic response to roll my eyes on him was paused. He made a good point. Called it.
"Let's go!" Aurelie shouted, beckoning Ridoc by curling her fingers. I whistled in appreciation as she slipped a jab from Ridoc and twisted to land a quick tap to his kidneys. Aurelie definitely trained to enter the quadrant.
"She's a legacy, like me." My words slipped out. Five heads turn to me, two on one side and three on the other, curious. "She was probably trained by her father," like my father trained me, before he died, went unsaid "maybe even by her brother too. She's got the build and the skill for it."
"I mean...damn," Rhiannon muttered, giving Aurelie another look before turning back to Violet. "I'm pretty good on the mat. My village is on the Cygnisen border, so we all learned to defend ourselves fairly young. Physics and math aren't problems, either. But history?" She shook her head. "That class might be the death of me."
"They don't kill you for failing history," Violet winced as Ridoc charged at Aurelie, taking her to the mat with a loud thud. "I'm probably going to die on these mats."
Aurelie hooked her legs around his and somehow leverages him over until she was the one on top, landing punch after punch to the side of his face. Blood spattered across the mat.
"I could probably offer some tips to survive combat training," Sawyer said from Violet's other side, now engaging with our little group, running his hand over a day's growth of brown stubble. "History isn't my strongest subject, though."
"Star and I could help with that too, we've both had training." Liam grinned, welcoming him into the conversation. I gave them an affirming nod, looking over to Violet and catching her gaze already on me.
"We focused on different areas, so there'd be a range of information."
A tooth went flying before anyone else said a word.
"Enough!" Professor Emmetrio shouted.
Aurelie rolled off Ridoc and stood, touching her fingers to her split lip and examining the blood. Grinning, she offered her hand to help him up.
Ridoc took it, sharing her grin.
"Cianna, take Aurelie to the healers. No reason to lose a tooth during assessment," Emmetrio orders.
"Let's make a deal," Rhiannon started, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief. "Let's help each other out. We'll help you with hand-to-hand if you help us with history. Sound like a deal, Sawyer? Liam? Asta?" She looked past Liam, "Annika?"
"Absolutely." Sawyer agreed immediately.
"Sure," I threw out, looking to Liam as he gave a small shrug and a nod.
"Deal." Violet swallowed as one of the third-years, Kirk I recalled, wiped down the mat with a towel. "But I think I'm getting the better end of that."
"You haven't seen me try to memorise dates," Rhiannon joked.
"Well, I've got a trick for memorisation so we'll get you there one way or another." Annika chimes in, a smile on her face.
A couple of mats over, someone shrieked, and we all turned to look. Jack Barlow had another first-year in a headlock.
Jack yanked his arms, his hands still secure around the other man's head.
"That guy is such an ass──" Rhiannon started.
The sickening crack of bones breaking sounded across the gym, cutting Rhiannon off, and the first-year fell limp in Jack's hold.
"Sweet Malek," Violet whispered as Jack dropped the man to the ground.
"Fucking Hel." Ridoc muttered, wiping his brow with his shirt, coming up on the other side of Sawyer.
"What did I say?" their instructor shouted as he charged onto the mat. "You broke his damned neck!"
"How was I supposed to know his neck was that weak?" Jack argued.
What a sick son-of-a-bitch.
"Eyes forward," Emmetrio ordered, his tone is kinder than it had been as we all turn away from the dead first-year. "You don't have to get used to it," he told us. "But you do have to function through it. You and you." He pointed to Rhiannon and Tynan─tall and stocky, blue-black hair, small dark blue eyes, angular features cutting across his milk-white complexion─motioning them to the now-clean mat.
Rhiannon made quick work of him, stunning me every time she dodges a punch and lands one of her own. She was fast, and her hits were powerful, and I was impressed by her once again.
"Do you yield?" she asked him twisting him to his back, her hand stopped mid-hit just above his throat.
"No!" he shouted, hooking his legs around Rhiannon's and slamming her to her back. But she rolled and quickly stood to her feet before putting him in the same position again, this time with her boot to his neck.
"I don't know, Tynan, you might want to yield," Dain grinned. It was regrettable that a matching grin shaped my face. "She's handing you your ass."
"Fuck off, Aetos!" Tynan snapped, but Rhiannon pressed her boot into his throat, garbling the last word. He turned a mottled shade of red, more ego than common sense.
"He yields," Emmetrio called out, and Rhiannon stepped back, offering her hand.
Tynan took it. Maybe not too much ego then.
"You-" Emmetrio pointed to Imogen. "And you." His finger swung to Violet. Liam sucked in a breath next to me and I felt my face twist into a wince.
Imogen had the biggest chip on her shoulder about Sorrengail's. There was no way she wouldn't use this as an opportunity to hurt Violet. . . maybe even kill her.
I forced myself to calm my features.
"You've got this," Rhiannon tells her, tapping her shoulder as she passed to take her spot next to me. I said nothing.
"Sorrengail." The pink-haired girl looks me over like I'm something she's scraped off the side of her boot, "You really should dye your hair if you don't want everyone to know who your mother is. You're the only silver-haired freak in the quadrant."
A cute silver-haired freak, my mind supplied, the grimace on my face was more to shoo away my own thoughts than the upcoming match.
"Never said I cared if everyone knows who my mother is." Violet quips back, circling the second-year on the mat. "I am proud of her service to protect our kingdom─from enemies both without and within."
One of my brows raised at the comment. I wasn't sure if Violet was just getting under her skin or if she meant it. I wondered if she even knew the connotations that came with her words, if she even heard it. ( I wondered if Imogen heard that Violet was proud her mother ordered the mass execution, proud of the woman who ended more than just the lives of the rebellion leaders, like I did. Just for a second. )
Imogen's jaw tightened at the dig, and I knew that Violet was using her words to goad her. Emotions in hand-to-hand was often more a detriment than a merit.
"You bitch," she seethed. "Your mother murdered my family."
A deep sigh deflated my lungs.
Liam turned to me with a raised brow. I shook my head at him, mouthing that I'd tell him later. Airing out my problems with the nuance around marked-ones was not a good idea to do in the middle of a crowd.
Imogen lunged forward and swung wildly, Violet quickly sidestepped, spinning away with her hands up. They repeat that for a few more rounds, and Violet even managed to land a few jabs.
It goes to show how much Imogen's anger was blinding her.
She growled low in her throat as she missed Violet once more, her foot flew up, toward Violet's head with a sloppy kick which was easily ducked. She then dropped to the ground and kicked out with her other foot, which landed square in Violet's chest, sending her careening backward. Violet hit the mat with a thud, and in a split second Imogen was hovering above her.
"You can't use your powers in here, Imogen!" Dain shouted.
My eyebrows raised again, though more in contemplation than shock. I didn't know lesser magic could do something like speed a person up. ( Eira had already told me Imogen's signet ability, along with most of the other's in their special group. Like Xaden's shadows, Garrick's air and Bodhi's counter ability. Her own ice signet. )
A sharp glint caught my eye as Imogen smiled down at Violet. She had pulled a dagger and shoved it to Violet's torso, despite the warnings already given.
Violet wasn't bleeding though, her uniform in tact, her face showing no signs of being stabbed.
Confusion marred Imogen's face for just a second, pausing long enough for Violet to send a fist into her cheek and rolled out from under her.
She shook out her hand as she rose to her feet. I frowned slightly, not having noticed if her form was proper or not.
"What kind of armour is that?" Imogen asked, staring at Violet's ribs as they circled each other.
"Mine." Violet bit back, dodging again.
"Imogen!" Emmetrio shouted. "Do it again, and I'll-"
Violet swerved the wrong, Imogen almost tackled her to the floor. She smacked face first into the mat, Imogen's knee digging into her back as she pulled her right arm behind her.
"No!" Violet shouted back. I shared a confused look with Rhiannon, noticing that even Ridoc wore a frown beyond her. Why the hell wouldn't she yield? Imogen would just keep going at that rate.
Imogen pulled Violet's arm farther, and she cried out as the ligaments stretched, shredded, then popped, the sound somehow loud in the bustling training hall.
"Yield, Violet!" Dain yelled.
"Yield!" Imogen demanded.
Violet turned her face to the side a low, pained, moan breaking into a sharp gasp as Imogen pushed with more force.
"She yields," Emmetrio said. "That's enough."
The macabre sound of bone snapping sounded out through the hall again, this time accompanied by a scream from Violet's lips as her arm shattered under Imogen's hold.
Imogen was pushed off of Violet in an instant.
Not by anyone, rather by a burst of lesser magic. Looking around, it could've been either professor, Emmetrio having pushed towards the pair, shoulders squared and expression stormy, while Sarabi stood rooted to her place, the hand holding her clipboard steady against her torso while her other hand had fallen to her side fingers pursed as if to use magic.
Though the way Dain Aetos rushed to Violet had me wondering if it was his magic.
"So much for not wanting to draw attention. . ." Rhiannon mumbles from my side and I had to hold back my sigh of agreement.
"It's not like he did it well anyway." I replied in the same tone, looking over at her to share an amused snort.
"Clean this up." Emmetrio snapped at a couple of first years on the other side of the mat, pointing down to the spots of sweat and blood lingering on the mat. "Aetos! Take Sorrengail to the infirmary and deal with your second year."
Dain basically cradled Violet in his arms, having lifted her up, her head rolling on his shoulder, eyes closed in incoherent pain, and nodded once, eyes shooting daggers to the pink-haired second-year. Imogen simply clenched her jaw and made her way back to her friend, Quinn, her face twisted in an odd mix of smugness and befuddlement.
As the two slipped out of the heavy doors, which swished back with a deep thud, the hall around us simmered in the sound of multiple conversations all at once.
The sigh I did let out, cutting through the noise, had heads turning to me once again.
"You don't approve?" Rhiannon asked quietly after sparing a glance at Liam ( or rather, Liam's rebellion relic on clear display ), cocking an eyebrow as she spoke.
I made a disappointed sound from the back of my throat. "If you're gonna hold a grudge, don't let it blindside you in a fight, you know?"
Liam nodded slowly from my other side, nudging my arm with his elbow, prompting me to continue.
"Imogen has a year of Basgiath training over Violet, who in turn has, what, six months of basics? Violet logically shouldn't've been able to lay a hand on her and she drew blood. The second Imogen let her anger boil over the fight was skewed."
"Damn, we got ourselves a tactician over here." Ridoc grinned, playfully swatting at me with his damp shirt.
I batted him away, a small smile raised on my lips. "I'm just saying." My smile dimmed as I sighed again, "It's not gonna get her very far if she can't regulate her anger. It's quite useful in a fight, but only if you know how to use it to your advantage. I know I'm shit at it, I'm a much better fighter emotionless, if I'm being honest."
"Giving out your secrets for free there." Annika smiled teasingly over at me.
I gave her a wide grin, "I said I'm a better fighter, not that I can't fight."
"Noted." Sawyer chuckled.
"Right then." Emmetrio called out over the noise, hands resting on his hips like my mother used to when Eira and I were in trouble. He turned to us, scanning his selection of cadets with a steady gaze. He lifted a hand to point at me when our eyes met for the second time. "You and you, next match." He said, motioning to a man further down the line to my right. One of Liam's squad then.
As he stepped forward to the mat, Liam subtly caught my bicep to whisper in my ear, speaking low and fast to make it seem like he wasn't about to give me information about his own squad mate, "Tristan favours his left side."
"Kick his ass, Star!" Ridoc hollered as I stepped up to the mat. With a warm heart at the use of my nickname, I sent a grin over my shoulder before dropping all expression as I faced my opponent.
Now that we were face to face, I was actually the taller of the two of us. Though, not by much. Tristan─shifting brown hair, darker in the shadows almost golden under the sunlight, piercingly big royal blue eyes, shallow slopped nose, cool toned ivory complexion─smirked over at his squad buddies. I simply raised a brow and straightened out my posture, tilting my head back slightly so I was looking down at him, eyes flickering over his body for a mere second.
Nothing particularly interesting.
Tristan glared at my dismissal of him. I almost smirked at how easy it was to start riling him up but I wiped all emotion from my face and slipping in to a calm and focused mindset.
He shifted to his right foot for a second before I lunged forward and sent a left-handed punch to the right side of his face─where he had unintentionally leaned closer to me─and before he had the chance to retaliate I had already back peddled to keep the space between us.
Cheers from my squad erupted trough the hall, Ridoc even whistled. A little distracting, I tried my best not to lose focus as Tristan and I started circling each other. I could feel my lips curling at the edges, though.
Tristan was good with his footwork with light steps and never pausing too much but Liam was right, he did favour his left side and in a close quarters fight lingering for even a second would give me an advantage.
Xaden would yell at me for taking so long.
Tristan stepped forward, swiftly throwing punches toward my face. My fists were quick to block the first one as I weaved through the following two. Once I was in close enough I countered with a straight to his nose before lifting my right knee and kicking straight into his hip, pushing him back and sending him stumbling.
He remained on his feet, unfortunately recovering within seconds, a snarl taking over his features, blood dripping from his nose. My eyes flickered over his entire frame, taking note of the way he was practically vibrating. He lunged forward on his left foot, hand splayed as he attempted to grapple me.
I dodged to the right, planting the ball of left foot and twisting to kick him on his right side before back peddling again to get out of his range of retaliation. Facing his back, I attempted to kick him on the lower back but Tristan was recovering quicker and quicker and dodged to the left as he spun to face me again.
He lunged for me, again, using his whole body this time and clipping my hip as I tried to dodge, again, sending us both to the floor.
I immediately tried kicking out with my legs, since I was on my back and he fell on top of me, trying to get him away from me. However, he was stronger with gravity on his side, pressing in rougher and making my legs slip either side of his torso.
I used the new position to squeeze my legs around him, locking my feet, digging my knees into his ribs and keeping my legs tensed so his movement was restricted, using my elbows to hit at his face and jaw, threading his hair through my fingers to yank his head back.
Tristan went on the defensive, his hands jumping between trying to pull at my arms and attempting to grab my waist and thighs to alleviate the strain to his lungs. He lost his thoughts already, scrambling to stick to one decision and achieving neither.
His hands couldn't make purchase for very long, I had to bite back a smug smile as the smooth, silky material of my shirt meant his bare hands kept slipping.
I wedged my arms around his left shoulder, making him lean on his right arm, which buckled as I thrust my shoulders into the ground to lift my hips and flipped us over, unlocking my feet to land to my shins.
If we weren't in the middle of a spar I might've paused to admire the view, instead I squeezed into his lungs with my knees again and clapped cupped hands over his ears to disorient him before throwing punch after punch at his jaw and cheeks.
"I yield!" Tristan groaned, his eyes closed and his ams falling back to the mat.
I stood slowly, looking over him, the blood from his nose and the split of him lip, the bruises already blooming over his jaw and the way his breath stuttered when he inhaled.
I gave out a hand but he swatted at it lazily, missing me completely. I shrugged before turning on my heel to make my way back to my friends.
Liam handed me a towel with an amused smile.
"Look at you! That was one of the fastest spars today!" Rhiannon reached out and patted my shoulder.
"Tristan got his ass beat." Annika laughed, giving me a high five, "he's such an ass."
"How did you know he favours his left?" I asked Liam as I got my breath back. He shrugged, crossing his arms. "He wanted to start a spar club in our dorm hall last night." He shared a grin with Ridoc, who started laughing at the memory, "more like a punch-line than a spar club."
"He punches like my seven-year-old sister." I deadpanned, sending Ridoc into another bout of giggles.
"It looked like you were enjoying it, at the end there." Rhiannon said with a raised brow.
"It was almost foreplay." I shrugged, grinning at Ridoc as he almost tipped forward from laughing so hard.
"I don't think he enjoyed it." Sawyer chuckled.
I finished wiping my face, pulling the small towel around the back of my neck and winking, "not many people can handle me, thats for sure."
We devolved into laughter as Professor Emmetrio shouted for the next sparring match.
"Did you get anything from History this morning?" Rhiannon asked as we strolled out of the eating hall.
"More or less. Rennison's a bit of a stone, though, isn't she? I think I'm gonna have a harder time with Environmental Science."
"Professor Van Pelt just lets everything slide doesn't he?"
"Yeah, and!" I emphasised, "Ridoc took full advantage of his lax attitude and made it his mission to try to make me and Liam laugh all lesson."
Rhiannon let out a small giggle, "Aurelie and Sawyer weren't much better to be honest. It was like they already knew everything the way they were talking circles around me."
"I mean, Sawyer kinda does know everything, doesn't he? For our Sciences lessons anyway."
"True, but something tells me he's appreciating the refresher." She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
I chuckled brightly, "He looked like he was going to cry when Hillard called on him this morning."
"That was definitely a mix of it being the first lesson of the day and the fact he was the one Hillard kept calling on to answer questions."
I sighed dramatically, lifting a hand to my heart. "The trials and tribulations he had to go through."
"Who decided on Logic and Logistics first thing in the morning anyway, that, like, has to be a new form of torture." Rhiannon bemoaned.
"I think that's why Hillard looks so happy that early. . . He gets to feast on our misery."
We paused to let a girl pass us, watching us with a judgemental look on her face as she lipped out of the dorm hall doors and made her way down the corridor. Rhiannon and I looked at each other and split into wide grins. We made our way through the doors and too our bunks, trying our best to keep the giggles at bay.
"Do you want to compare notes? I've got more for EnVo than I thought I would and you definitely have more notes for History." Rhiannon asked, shifting her pack off her shoulder and rooting through it, pulling out her environmental science textbook and notes.
"Sure," I agreed, moving over to the trunk Violet and I shared at the foot of our bunk. It was much more of a box than a trunk, small enough to hold our class books, notes books and only had enough space for a couple personal books, two of which were Violets─Fables of the Barren and a tome of some sort, the spine weathered too much to read─and my letters from Solara.
"I'm glad to finally ditch these clothes!" Rhiannon groaned as she shrugged off her shirt, stretching her back. "I guess we have to get used to the weight and the sweat eventually though, huh?" She grinned over her shoulder, stepping out of her trousers and into a pair of sleeping shorts.
I snorted at her expression, following suit and unbuttoning the small buttons I had sewn into my trousers when I customised them, slipping into a pair of sleeping shorts, the cut of them higher on my thighs than they were on Rhiannon.
"Why do you keep your arms covered?" She asked slowly, looking over at me as I sat down on her bed, palming my history book.
"It's more about liking the material rather than covering my skin."
"Weren't you hot today?" Her voice was soft, curious rather than accusing.
I nodded a few times, nonchalantly shrugging. "I can handle heat."
She huffed an amused sigh at me, nodding slowly. The glint in her eye told a different story─one that suggested she was a lot more observant than I had given her credit for. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had already figured out I was a marked one.
Not that I was actively keeping it a secret─openly interacting with Eira for hours in the quad yesterday, latching on to Liam the second I saw him again. It wasn't my fault some people needed the visual queue for their prejudice.
We settled into a calm and soft vibe as we recapped our notes for each other, referring back to our textbooks, turning them into small discussions, sharing smiles and small jokes. All I hoped for was that she wouldn't drop me as her friend when everything was confirmed.
When Violet returned─the mage lights had all been lit, hanging high above us in the ceiling─stumbling into the dorm hall, her right arm cradled in a light-blue sling.
"You're here!" Rhiannon jumped off the bed, relief evident in her tone, giving Violet a small and genuine smile.
"I'm here," Violet assured her with a tired smile in return. "I'm already down one shirt, but I'm here."
"You can get another at central issue tomorrow." I chimed in with a small smile of my own. I remained sat on Rhiannon's bed, my frame slouched and relaxed, my legs crossed in front of me. Violet's eyes switched over to me, flicking down to my bare legs before returning to my face, mirroring my smile back at me.
Rhiannon shifted on her feet, glancing between Violet's frame and her sling, obviously deciding if it would hurt her to hug her, before backing up a step to sit back on the edge of her bunk. "How bad is it?" She asked as Violet slowly sat on her own bunk, wincing lightly as she settled.
"It's going to hurt for the next few days, but I'll be fine as long as I keep it immobilised. I'll be all healed up before we start on-mat challenges."
"We'll help you get ready," Rhiannon promised for the both of us. Violet's gaze flicked back to me at her words, tensing ever so slightly before relaxing again when I made no move to rebuke the words. "You're the first friend I made in here, so I'd rather you didn't die when it gets real." A corner of her mouth lifted in a wry smile.
"I'll try my best not to." Violet grinned back, her face taught as she forced herself not to wince again. "And I'll help you with history." She braced her weight with her unencumbered hand, sliding slightly as her hand slipped underneath her pillow.
She froze in place, the only inkling that something was up being the way her eyes widened minutely as she stopped.
"With Asta on our side we'll be unstoppable," Rhiannon declared, bumping my side gentle with hers, "Should've seen her fight Vi, she was incredible." I shot her a heatless glare but her gaze was elsewhere, tracking Tara─short dark hair, light grey eyes, sun tanned light complexion, average height, curvy frame─as she walked past our bunks.
I bumped Rhiannon back, sending her an amused smirk as she looked back at me. She rolled her eyes with a grin, waving me away with a waft of her hand, before her gaze shifted back to Violet, who had pulled out a small leather bound book with a small folded note on top.
She rested the book on her thighs, tumbling open the note one handed, her hand steady but on the verge of shaking.
I watched with thinly-veiled curiosity.
"What is it?" Rhiannon asked.
"It's my brother's." The words barely make it past her lips as she opened the cover, eyes both unfocused and focused at the same time. "The book of Brennan," She read along with the first page, fingers tracing over the hand written words, and then flipped the page. I looked away so she could keep her privacy.
"It's just his journal," Violet said, her voice thick with emotion, her eyes blinking fast in an effort not to cry. Her head was craned down, thumbing through the pages. "He died five years ago."
A lump formed in the back of my throat. Her brother probably died in the same fight as my father did.
"Oh, that's. . ." Rhiannon leant in, her eyes heavy with sympathy. "We don't always burn everything, either. Sometimes it's nice to have something, you know?"
Rhiannon sat back on her bed, opening her history book, tilting her head down to read it as it rested on her lap. I knew better than to believe it meant she wasn't listening.
I looked toward Violet as I stood, stepping over to our bunks and sliding my environmental studies textbook back into my pack. I leant against the bunk's frame, tilting my head so I wouldn't be tempted to try to read over her shoulder. She had just finished reading the first entry of her brother's journal, slowly closing the book like too much movement would turn it to ashes.
A slow smile spread across her face.
"You figure something out?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper.
Violet looked up at me, her smile tightening slightly but her eyes were no less warm. "I did." She fidgeted in her seat, limbs suddenly restless.
I rose an eyebrow, "not tonight though, right?"
"Because. . . Leadership watches the first year dorms like hawks for the orientation week?" I sounded out slowly. "You didn't. . . know that, did you?"
Violet shook her head stiffly. "How did you?"
"My sister's a third year." I replied just as stiffly.
I hummed in acknowledgement.
I straightened up, facing my bunk in contemplation for a few seconds before slowly turning to face her again, watching her grimace as she mentally re-ordered her to-do list. The words were out of my mouth before I had time to think about them.
"Want me to re-do your hair?"
Her head snapped up to meet my gaze.
"My sister asked me to braid her hair everyday from her birthday until I was conscripted," I start, stepping closer to Violet. I motioned to the space next to her on the mattress.
"I thought your sister was a third year?" She asked slowly, giving me a small nod, tracking me with her eyes as I curled a bare leg underneath me, sitting in the space I had motioned to.
"My foster sister." I corrected gently. I set my hands in my lap, content to let Violet get comfortable with me first. "She turned seven in January," I continued, a small, fond, smile tugging on my lips as I thought of Mignonette.
"Seven months of practice then."
I snorted softly, "yeah."
Violet adjusted her position, her back facing me. She shivered slightly as I ran my fingers through her hair, pulling the rest of her hair out of its failing braid.
"You're a marked one aren't you?" Violet whispered after a few moments of silence. From the corner of my eye, I saw Rhiannon pick her gaze up from her history book to look over at us.
"Why do you hide it?" Rhiannon asked echoing her earlier question, folding her book closed, her thumb acting as a bookmark.
"Apart from not wanting to be glared at for just existing? I'm not hiding it, per se. . ." I trailed off, starting to brush the tangles out of Violet's silky soft ombre'd hair. "It's easier to hear things when people don't think they have to be on edge around you."
I sighed deeply through my nose. "I feel like I'll be saying this a few times." I mumbled under my breath.
"You knew who I was when you helped me on the parapet."
"Why? I mean Xaden had just──"
"I have my own thoughts, I get to make up my own mind." I cut her off firmly. I raised my eyes from the tight braid I had woven into her hair, now coming off from the nape of her neck, to look at her rather than her hair. My eyes flickered over to Rhiannon, who had a look of contemplation written across her face. "The only actions we get to control are our own."
I turn my focus back to Violet's hair.
"It's not in my beliefs to punish someone for the actions of their family." I finished in a whisper.
My hands were steady as they started threading strands of hair over, under and over again. Violet's frame was still tensed in front of me, not as tense as before, but still not completely comfortable with a relative stranger ( a marked-one my mind hissed at me ) at her back. I sighed gently.
"On the parapet. I helped you because you helped a stranger." I shot a smile over to Rhiannon. "I figured that kindness didn't deserve to be at the bottom of a chasm."
Violet's shoulders slumped minutely.
"Tell us about your foster family," Rhiannon cut in softly. "What's your sisters name?"
"Mignonette." I smiled, sounding out her name slowly for them to hear it properly. ( "Min─yuh─net Asta, you have to say it properly!" ) "Mignonette Kavish─Lindell."
"Kavish─Lindell? Like Solara and Eric Kavish─Lindell?" Violet asked, her tone surprised.
"Yeah." I chuckled. "We were sent to live with upstanding families," I started to explain, like Violet wouldn't have already known. "To keep us on track. . ." I trailed off. To keep track of our loyalty, I wanted to say, I settled on saying "Solara is really nice."
Rhiannon smiled at me before turning back to her book.
"Mignonette got me these shirts." I attempted to turn the conversation in a lighter direction, "she's pretty fashion savvy for a seven-year-old." I chuckled.
"I was wondering about that." Violet let me steer the topic. "What material is that? I don't think I'm familiar."
"If I recall right," I dragged out, coming to the end of the braid, "it's a type of silk. . . shift. . . double-weave. Or something. Theres two layers, the outside is a sateen silk material, a spider silk─sea silk blend, I think, and the inside is a thicker stretch cotton that acts like compression under-armour."
"Oh, cool!" Violet enthused quietly, taking the end of her finished braid and swirling it around her fingers, now facing me.
"It is," I agreed with the same enthusiasm, "don't tell Minnie but her mother might've helped a little bit." I grinned, stretching the word 'might' out for emphasis.
"Your corset's cool too, able to withstand a dagger at close range."
Violet's smile turned a little uncomfortable.
"You don't have to tell me what it's made of though."
"My sister, Mira, had it made for me." She started, sharing the similarity between us easily. After a few seconds she decided to carry on, "It's made of her dragon's scales." Her words were almost silent.
"Now that's cool." I whispered back, not missing a beat. No one would hear about it from me, went unsaid but the thankful gleam in Violet's eyes meant she caught the message anyway.
The mage lights around the hall all dimmed simultaneously, signalling Lights Out was coming up within ten minutes. I sent Violet a soft smile, sliding out from her bed, stopping when she shot a hand out to catch me before I was too far away.
"Thank you." Violet said, holding my wrist. The relic under her palm felt like a smouldering fire, hidden by my shirt. "For my hair."
I had a feeling her thanks wasn't just for her hair.
the sillies are sillying <3
emetterio's name is spelt wrong the entirety of my pre-planned chapters so he's emmetrio now, similarly jack barlowe has been cut off to jack barlow. . . them's the rules, i don't make 'em i just keep 'em. ( i don't wanna comb through everything to change it )
the squad is gonna squad from here on out let me tell you! asta, aurelie, liam, rhiannon, ridoc, sawyer and violet ( +annika sometimes ) are Them now. . . this surely won't have catastrophic consequences later : )
let me know what you guys are feeling about asta's assessment spar? i was going to have her and liam spar it out but I felt like they wouldn't have taken it too seriously... and now asta has an antagonistic force! : ) lmao tristan isn't much of a threat for asta ( and definitely not for xaden if he gets pushy with her )
she opened with a superman punch btw :)))
i took inspiration from a plethora of fighting types for asta's fighting style including: chinese martial art styles, wing chun and shaolin kung fu ( though this is mostly bo staff work ) with a tai chi influence: hapkido: muay thai: brazillian jiu jitsu and kickboxing (we'll get to the weaponry styles next chapter) so that was fun to research!!
#vista had such a cute moment. vi's coming around to the idea of trusting asta more and more every time they have a conversation.
i can't wait until vi finally sees asta's rebellion relics and actively touches them because she can and not just subconsciously <333
next up we have a somewhat filler chapter of weapon training and friendship bonding but after that we have a reunion of sisters and childhood crushes!!! plus our trio are all in one place at the same time!!! unfortunately, vi is up a tree and #xasta's group is illegally meeting <3333333
