The Gym

[adrienne]

"Neither am I." Adrienne said unexpectedly.
"And the more the merrier, though this will give me time and practice too." She smiled at both women.
She continued stretching, bending forward to touch her forehead to her knee then moving on to do the same to the other leg.
"Cindy, try stretching like I am, sit down on the floor, put one leg out, touch the opposite foot to your inner thigh then grasp your foot and bend downwards at the waist. It'll give you more balance." She demonstrated for Cindy, bending halfway and giving Damaris a warm smile.
"Most of the training I've learned has been broken I'm afraid, on and off since basic and since I started hunting. So Austin is probably better at teaching than I am."
She winced as a muscle flared in pain in her side then forced herself to relax.
"The key in stretching is not to put yourself in pain, if you're getting pain stop then allow yourself to relax and move back to original sitting position." She said to Cindy, figuring Damaris would probably very well know that. Abruptly she tensed and came to alert as her mobile alerted her to a new text, standing she walked over to the table as it chimed a second time. Reading who the message was from and what it said she shrugged slightly then turned off the phone knowing Austin could reach her either on the HQ phones or with the usual psychic call.
"Excuse me, my phone has unfortunate timing." She apologised to Damaris and Cindy then closed her eyes and re-centered herself, sitting back down after doing so.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris smiled at Cindy. "That's good to know." she told her. While she was a crack shot with her bow, she'd never really mastered any other projectile weapons, and thrown weapons escaped her entirely. However, she got the impression that she was somehow a little more capable than Cindy, who seemed to be having trouble keeping the dagger on her hip. She smiled. She ought to try lifting my sword sometime she thought to herself.

"I think you're doing fine." She told Adrienne, sitting down to join her in the stretches. "I can't remember the last time I did a proper training session anyway, so don't worry about it being disjointed." She smiled.

She looked faintly puzzled as Adrienne's phone rang. She had never owned a mobile - they weren't particularly common when she'd left Ireland, and since then she'd seen no use in having one.

"Don't worry about it." she said reassuringly as Adrienne sat back down. She was definately feeling more confident now, she knew where she was with exercise. It something safe and familiar, and it kept her inner wolf quiet, which on its own was something of a miracle.

The first few days had been something of trial, what with being around so many people at close quarters and the sudden influx of technology in her life (she was pretty up to date on technology, but she'd never really used any of it, so she felt somewhat at a loss). And then there was Jaden. Even thinking about him almost set her off. She couldn't remember the last time somebody had looked at her like he did. Or the last time she'd wanted anybody to.

She shook her head slightly and drew her mind back to the exercise.

[Kunoichi]

Leaning against the door post, Kunoichi watched wordlessly, her arms crossed over her chest
Ara is training Cindy, this should be interesting...
she thought to herself, wondering exactly how much training it would take Cindy to move up from 'liability' to merely 'incompetent'. She had no doubt over Adrienne's teaching ability nor her patience but something told Kunoichi that Cindy would take to combat training like a fish to rollerblading.

Somewhat lost in her own thoughts now, Kunoichi watched without seeing as they stretched, remembering her own combat lessons that had passed for her childhood - the instructor yelling out commands from the front of the class as the lines of students had practised their line drills whilst older students were taught specialist moves in the corners of the room. She remembered being one of the older students, practising weapon defences with real knives, learning how to disarm and disable with minimum risk, learning how to kill. She wondered for a fleeting moment what childhood had been like for the others, what a real childhood would have been like.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy sat down with all the grace of somebody who had never sat on the floor before, and didn't really know how to pull it off with the style she expected. That meant she swept down half way and then practically fell down.

She decided not to draw attention to this, and attempted to go about the stretches, struggling and once again discovering she was nowhere near as flexible as Adrienne. Or Damaris, it seemed.

She didn't know what to think of Damaris. She seemed the outdoors type, something that naturally disagreed with Cindy's disposition, but she felt a slight bond between them in that they were both new. If Damaris felt anything like Cindy, it was out of her depth. Although she doubted Damaris had studied the Circle like she had, before she'd joined it (and its name had changed, of course).

"It seems to hurt as soon as I move." Cindy whined. "Maybe I should just stay in the sitting position..."

[adrienne]

Adrienne nodded at Damaris, then smiled.
"You'll learn quickly Damaris, in fact I will not be surprised in time if you are quite proficient in many forms of battling more than you are now anyways."
She looked up at Kunoichi in the doorway then smiled in invitation at her teammate and friend.
Adrienne's ears caught the whiny tone in Cindy's voice and the reaction it produced in her shocked her slightly.
"It's going to for the first two weeks." She said quietly. " Nothing is easy the first lesson. However you cannot give up just because it hurts the first time, try again." The steel in her voice matched the steel in her eyes.
"I have trained for six years both before and after I joined the Watch, and the only thing that kept me alive is that training. If you do not fight well you are liable to get killed or if you are at least very lucky severely injured." She said the words clearly, knowing they would carry and hoping Cindy would listen because she would only say that once.
"I have had some of the best warriors in the Night Watch as my teachers." Her gaze met Kunoichi's and she nodded slightly to indicate respect to her as one of her teachers in knife throwing and a few ongoing other things. She was completely calm except for the stern edge to her voice.
"Now we will continue with these lessons and you will practice the stretches every night before you go to bed Cindy."
Adrienne met Cindy's eyes with her own and kept them there.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy wasn't used to being told off. Nobody had ever told her off like that before. She didn't know what to say or do, but she knew she couldn't keep her eyes on Adrienne's. And she knew she didn't like it either. She felt awful. She'd especially paled at the whole lecture about dying. She looked away sheepishly.

"S-sorry, Adrienne." She managed awkwardly, more than a little scared about the life Adrienne promised her. She didn't want to spend the next six years of her life doing this. She wasn't used to exercise or fighting and she certainly didn't want it to become a regular thing.

"I...didn't know I would have to fight so regularly." She added, still in a scolded tone. She really hoped she wouldn't. She thought (most of the time) she'd be able to just stay in the base and study books, instead of going out into the field. She really wasn't much of a field operative.

[adrienne]

"Hopefully you will not have to fight all the time, but there will be times when running is not an option." Adrienne inclined her head at Cindy's apology, accepting it. Then her face softened and she smiled faintly.
"Please return to the exercise Cindy." She said patiently,

[Cindy Harker]

"O-okay. I-I mean, of course." Adrienne's little nod to her apology had been more intimidating than just not saying anything. She'd gone all cold and professional and that made Cindy feel awful.

She resumed the stretching, making pathetic grunting noises as she tried to reach her feet. She didn't get very far, and in general looked very pathetic and useless. It didn't help that she was trying to keep her rigid aristocratic posture while doing it (to protect her hair as much as anything).

[Kunoichi]

"The thing you need to remember Cindy..."
Kunoichi began, speaking for the first time as she strode closer to the group
"...is that while you may not be a front line operative like myself, Adrienne or Damaris - something no one expects you to be - the front line moves. What would you do if you were here when the HQ was attacked? Do you think that an enemy would be willing to treat you as a civilian just because you're not a fighter? If Austin is going to entrust you to looking after the HQ while he's out, he'll need to be assured that you're up to the task"
her smile was warm and disarming, letting Cindy know that it wasn't a personal attack - merely a statement of fact. She nodded her respect to Adrienne
"My apologies for the interruption Ara"

[adrienne]

Adrienne gave Kunoichi a grateful smile.
"It's not a problem Kunoichi." She nodded.
"This isn't to scare you, merely put it in your mind and keep it in the back. Austin needs the new members of the Night Watch able to fight if another fight like the one with Drake occurs and also to stay alive in the long run." She said quietly to Cindy.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy gulped as Kunoichi lectured her. It was friendly, but she still felt like everybody was ganging up on her. It wasn't fair! So she didn't know how to fight. At least she was trying... It wasn't like she had to be here. She had a mansion. She was rich. She didn't have to put up with this. She was here because she thought she could help. She knew Adrienne said she wasn't trying to scare but, she was doing a good job of being terrifying.

"...I-I don't think Commander Darkora should leave me to guard the base alone." Cindy said nervously, reaching for her leg again, still whimpering against the pull of the muscles. "M-maybe it would be better if I just operated from my home. O-or, we could train there. In the gym..." Right now she just wanted to be where it was comfortable, and where nobody else would come in to make her feel bad...

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris quietly got on with her stretches as she watched the interaction between the three women. She hadn't seen Kunoichi much, but she got the impression that she was very dedicated to her job.

"If it makes you feel any better, Cindy, I don't think you'd be left alone to guard this place unless Austin, and you, thought you could do it." She told her quietly, trying to make her feel better. She was obviously terrified at the thought of being left alone with so much responsibilty, and Damaris got the feeling that Kunoichi's sudden appearence hadn't helped with her nerves.

[adrienne]

Adrienne gave a faint smile again, kneeling with her arms crossed on her knee.
"Austin wouldn't but there'd be me if I'm not out hunting and many other people who were here too." She said gently.
She tilted her head to one side then smiled.
If I wanted to be a cruel teacher I could say she needed to keep stretching but the woman is scared, so am I really.
"Cindy you are excused from the rest of stretching."

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy sagged with relief on the floor, obviously aching from stretching in ways she had never tried to before.
"Thank you." She said with heartfelt sincerety to Adrienne.

She stood up a little awkwardly and smiled to Damaris.
"Thanks, too." She made it clear it was for the kind words. Damaris had made her feel a little less scared at least. Cindy was beginning to wonder what she'd got herself into...

"Can I get changed now please?" She asked, desperate to get out of the strange gym clothes.

[adrienne]

"Not quite yet Cindy, soon though. There's still at least half a lesson left."
Adrienne said calmly. She stood and pulled out four bottles of water from a small refrigerator then offered them around.