|| 3rd Spring, 509AV || The training yards, Taloba. || 7th bell. ||
The worse thing about training new recruits was having to get up early.
I feel like I’m the newbie… Ayatah thought grumpily as she rolled out of her bed and dressed clumsily. Her other fellows - the three other women she had shared her dorm with since her first day of service - were already up and readying themselves. I am not a morning person.
The four women dressed in silence, left their dorm and headed out to the training grounds. Ayatah would not call them friends as such - she knew for certain that one of them had spread a rumour that Ayatah had seduced their trainers to let her win the spars - but after three years together, it was strange to think that, by the start of the next season, Ayatah would not see them again. Or at least, not nearly as often.
By the time they arrived at the training grounds, they were the last recruits to arrive. Ayatah received a few sneering and withering looks (I’m not the only one whose late!)
Still, Ayatah received plenty of sneers and dirty looks as she stood with her comrades listening to what the plan for the day was. Of course, being half-Eypharian was the reason for the most of the glares, but she had long grown use to that. The Myrian people were harshly xenophobic, and being a half-breed of any other race made living amongst them painfully difficult.
But over the years, after her own service, Ayatah seemed to be have won some respect of the military personnel. She hunted as well as any Myrian, and although she could not blend into the jungle as well as her dark-skinned comrades (gilded skin did not make for good hiding), Ayatah had proved herself a worthy warrior in the face of an adversary.
She only half-listened to the orders that her superiors were drilling out. The general idea was always the same; torture the new kids for fun, whoever gets one sent to the medics gets extra food at lunch. It was great all great fun… apart for Ayatah, who spent the entirety of her childhood tormented and teased. She did not delight in making others suffer. Unless that ‘other’ was a Dhani, of course.
Here they come… The slow footsteps of the newcomers made the seasoned recruits turn around, some smiling with sick anticipation. Ayatah yawned.
They were a variety of ages: some young adolescents, others young adults, and the odd one or two slightly older. When called to the military, you came -- regardless of age. They all looked pretty worried, anyway. When it came to the harsh training of the military, child and grown men and women reacted in much of the same way.
Their leader paired the recruits with a trainer, and Ayatah found herself face to face with one of the younger newcomers. She groaned. In her experience, the younger the recruit, the more… self-assured they were. She nodded to the young woman in front of her, then pointed a hand towards the large cart that held the wooden weapons hey would train with, ”go get your weapon and then come back. Quickly.”
Perhaps she would have fun this morning, after all.
I feel like I’m the newbie… Ayatah thought grumpily as she rolled out of her bed and dressed clumsily. Her other fellows - the three other women she had shared her dorm with since her first day of service - were already up and readying themselves. I am not a morning person.
The four women dressed in silence, left their dorm and headed out to the training grounds. Ayatah would not call them friends as such - she knew for certain that one of them had spread a rumour that Ayatah had seduced their trainers to let her win the spars - but after three years together, it was strange to think that, by the start of the next season, Ayatah would not see them again. Or at least, not nearly as often.
By the time they arrived at the training grounds, they were the last recruits to arrive. Ayatah received a few sneering and withering looks (I’m not the only one whose late!)
Still, Ayatah received plenty of sneers and dirty looks as she stood with her comrades listening to what the plan for the day was. Of course, being half-Eypharian was the reason for the most of the glares, but she had long grown use to that. The Myrian people were harshly xenophobic, and being a half-breed of any other race made living amongst them painfully difficult.
But over the years, after her own service, Ayatah seemed to be have won some respect of the military personnel. She hunted as well as any Myrian, and although she could not blend into the jungle as well as her dark-skinned comrades (gilded skin did not make for good hiding), Ayatah had proved herself a worthy warrior in the face of an adversary.
She only half-listened to the orders that her superiors were drilling out. The general idea was always the same; torture the new kids for fun, whoever gets one sent to the medics gets extra food at lunch. It was great all great fun… apart for Ayatah, who spent the entirety of her childhood tormented and teased. She did not delight in making others suffer. Unless that ‘other’ was a Dhani, of course.
Here they come… The slow footsteps of the newcomers made the seasoned recruits turn around, some smiling with sick anticipation. Ayatah yawned.
They were a variety of ages: some young adolescents, others young adults, and the odd one or two slightly older. When called to the military, you came -- regardless of age. They all looked pretty worried, anyway. When it came to the harsh training of the military, child and grown men and women reacted in much of the same way.
Their leader paired the recruits with a trainer, and Ayatah found herself face to face with one of the younger newcomers. She groaned. In her experience, the younger the recruit, the more… self-assured they were. She nodded to the young woman in front of her, then pointed a hand towards the large cart that held the wooden weapons hey would train with, ”go get your weapon and then come back. Quickly.”
Perhaps she would have fun this morning, after all.
|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||
