A/N) This is one of my favourite types of story to write, Pietor trying to train young Raven, simply because Raven's adorable and defiant as a kid, and Pietor is just fed up of it. Hope you like it!
Based on a prompt from the amazing Tumblr blog Putthepromptsonpaper! "Yeah, that's obviously a good idea, just jump into the freezing water and ignore me. Yeah. Alright. Good luck."
A girl with tangled black hair falling around her shoulders sprinted around the corner, running at full speed into the large cavern and barely slowing down as she made her way swiftly around the perimeter. A large livid-looking bruise flashed black and purple across her jawline, which she was resolutely ignoring as she fled. She had more important things to deal with right now.
Such as her exasperated trainer chasing her close behind.
Yup. She definitely had bigger things to worry about right now.
"Natalya!" yelled Pietor Furan a few seconds later, striding into the tiled pool area, dimly lit with a couple of floodlights set up in the walls either side of the large room. In the centre was a large black pool, seeming to spread darkness from inside its depths. It took courage to get in those inky waters, and courage was exactly what the Glasshouse tried to exploit. Also, its temperature was just above freezing. Swimming lessons were very interesting in the Glasshouse.
From a few metres away, he saw a flash of blue as Natalya glanced back at him, her expression calm. Defiance flashed in her eyes as she turned and continued to run, escaping the certain beating she was going to get if he caught her. He knew it, and she knew it too.
"Come back here, Natalya!" yelled Pietor furiously. He really wasn't in the mood for this. It had already been a long day and now he had to go chasing an eleven year old around a pool? Maybe he was getting old.
She ignored his instructions and continued to run, slipping slightly on the wet, tiled floor around the pool. Pietor took advantage of her slight error, and made a grab for his disobedient student. Natalya realised his proximity, and ducked his grasping hand, continuing to sprint. Pietor made a second grasp for her, which she easily twisted away from, sending a flying kick back that he had to recoil from in order to dodge it. It gave her more space between them, and a little more time.
But she'd never beaten him yet.
He didn't intend for this to be the first time either.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, without even breaking pace, Natalya turned and leapt into the pool fully-clothed, her small body immediately swallowed by the cloying blackness of the calm waters. She barely made a splash as she disappeared underwater, and only the slight rippling of the inky liquid revealed her existence as she evidently held her breath beneath the surface.
Pietor sighed, catching up to the place where she had jumped in. Great. This just got a lot harder.
"You can't hide underwater forever," Pietor yelled, inserting a small measure of fury into his voice so she'd know he meant business. "Get up here."
The water didn't reply.
"I know you can hear me down there, my little Raven," Pietor told the cavern, his voice echoing around the desolate space. "Get out. Now."
Still silence.
"I don't want to go in after you, but I will if I have to," he threatened. "And then I'll be really angry. And wet. And angry."
No answer.
How long could this girl hold her breath for?!
"If you get out now, maybe I won't report this disobedience to Anastasia," offered Pietor, hating that he had to stoop to the level of actually bargaining with the brat.
Silence.
She was still under there, wasn't she? She hadn't drowned or anything? Pietor didn't like the thought of having to explain that to his sister.
"Natalya?" Pietor tried uncertainly again after about half a minute.
Nothing.
Suddenly, when he was just beginning to actually worry about the brat's safety - it was pretty cold down there, maybe she passed out or something - there was a splash and Natalya surfaced, taking in a deep ragged breath as she coughed. Pietor breathed again, annoyed that she had made him care, even for a moment. She was going to get it when he caught her.
"Now you've got that out of your system, get out. Now," ordered Pietor furiously.
Her hair was plastered to her scalp and neck, and her training uniform was completely soaked, but defiance still shone in her cold blue eyes as she stared daringly up at him. "No."
"I'll come in after you." A lie.
"No you won't." A smile played over Natalya's lips, knowing she was right.
"You will listen to me," Pietor informed her coldly, his tone nearly as icy as the black waters.
Natalya set her lips, sticking out her tongue childishly before turning away in the water, evidently intending to prove him wrong.
"Yeah, that's obviously a good idea, just jump into the freezing water and ignore me. Yeah. Alright. Good luck," Pietor muttered, inwardly sighing. He just wanted to go to bed. Training children wasn't in any way a calm job, especially when the solution couldn't be to just beat the defiant streak out of them. That worked on most of his trainees, but not Natalya. She would take more.
"You'd better watch the crocodiles then," Pietor tried a moment later, switching to English. You never knew, it might work. Natalya was no fool, but children could be naive.
"There are no crocodiles," Natalya informed him calmly, also switching to flawless English, with only the slightest trace of her subtle Russian accent.
Damn.
"No, you're probably right. I think Farah disabled the last one last month," Pietor remembered aloud. "I must remember to order some more."
Natalya evidently decided she had had enough of talking, and dived back underwater like a slippery grey-clothed eel, probably to hold her breath again.
Great.
Just great.
However, to Pietor's slight relief, it wasn't long before Natalya finally surfaced once more. Her normally pallid features were even whiter than normal, if that was possible, and she was shivering. The adrenaline had obviously finally worn off. "It's cold," she said slightly accusingly, as if it was Pietor's fault.
"Get out of the water then," Pietor sighed.
Natalya contemplated this, confidently treading water while her teeth chattered loudly.
He rolled his eyes. "Or I can leave you to freeze. Either's good for me."
Natalya finally gave up, and offered a thin arm up out of the water slightly plaintively, purple bruises covering her skin as was custom of most young Glasshouse trainees. Roughly, Pietor grabbed her hand and pulled her out, ignoring her pained yelp as he yanked her out of the pool and onto the tiled side, shivering violently. The icy water had taken its toll. Her skin was freezing.
"Get up."
Obediently, Natalya struggled to her feet, glaring at him with those defiant blue eyes. She was drenched and rather a weak-looking figure as she tried to stop herself shivering, but Pietor had to admire her determination not to let him see her weakness.
"Have you ever swum before?" Pietor wondered aloud as he got his phone out of his pocket.
Natalya shrugged, staring at the floor. "No."
"Oh. Okay," Pietor said, slightly surprised but not wanting the trainee to see it. She'd just think she was special, and then where would that get them?
"I'm cold," the eleven year old repeated a moment later, her wet black hair falling around her shoulders.
"I'm sure you are," was the harsh reply as Pietor typed something out to his sister on his phone. He had no time for comforting recruits.
Natalya suddenly looked slightly faint and she began to wobble on her feet, her eyes rolling back in her head. Without hesitation, Pietor slapped her across the face, bringing her back to consciousness. "Don't you even think about passing out," he ordered. "Or I will just leave you here."
"M'fine," muttered the girl. She was lying, of course. But at least she looked vaguely awake still. And she wasn't running away any more. Pietor counted that as a success.
"Come on," Pietor ordered gruffly. "We need to get you warm again. Or you'll be no use for fighting anyone, let alone me." He began to stride back around the pool to the entrance, and after a brief pause, Natalya followed.
He had won this round. For now.