Light shone through a small window. A grey-blue eye opened slowly, blinked a few times, then a sheet was pulled over a head, ruffling up dirty blonde hair. "Get up!" a voice exclaimed, obviously annoyed. "We're going to miss training!" Eyes squinted as covers were yanked away. A uniform was thrown covering the occupant of the bed. "I can't believe you, Ari! You do this every day." She was not interested in training, and slowly pulled her uniform over top of her singlet and shorts she had slept in. Green eyes met with blue-grey. "You're never going to get into SODIER at this rate!" Green eyes folded her arms. "Pfft. Kat. You are so uptight." Katherine Berry was getting increasingly frustrated, Ariika Nimbus didn't care. She wasn't here because she wanted to be, and she certainly was NOT going to make things easy for her trainers. Kat, however, was a model student and infantry guard. She had high hopes for the future. Ari had none. But it had always been like that. She blanked out for a while as she thought about her mother.
"What careers are you thinking about, Ariika?" Her mother asked over dinner. "Artemis is thinking about joining ShinRa as a scientist!" Her eyes were proud as she looked adoringly at her son. He was 17 at the time, and having blitzed through physics, chemistry and biology, he was a perfect candidate. He was due to become an apprentice, and work with mako research. Ari looked at her brother, then back at her mother. She pushed her food around on her plate, then answered "...maybe chocobo farming." Her mother shook her head, and turned to her father. "Really. How did we get one so ambitious, and one that just doesn't care?" Her father opened his mouth to speak, but her mother cut him off. "Honestly, Ariika. You need a better career plan! Something better to fall back on! I know you don't like school, you don't like science or maths, but just try. You could be successful too like your brother!" Ariika stood up. "I'm going to my room." She walked off and slammed the door. There was no point arguing with her mother. She didn't understand at all. Artemis was the brains of the family. Science, maths, he could do it all. Ari liked music, drama and English. She liked animals, and liked doing things with her hands. Her ultimate goal wasn't to make lots of money, or become famous, she just wanted to be happy. Something she struggled with, since she was always compared to her bright brother by her overbearing mother. Her father didn't get much input. He kept quiet a lot of the time. Ari had tried to change her mother's mind, but she wouldn't listen to her. This resulted in screaming arguments, and someone (usually Ari) having to go for a walk. It didn't help that the most popular girl in school was brilliant at everything. Melanie Grey was teachers pet, and also happened to volunteer at a homeless shelter where Ari's mother also worked. "You could be more like Melanie. Why don't you do things like Melanie does? Melanie should come around for dinner. I don't see why you're saying those things about Melanie!" This was another never ending battle, one which Ari was getting tired of. Her relationship with her mother was driving her to despair. Trying to stay out of the house, she met some older boys, who liked to fawn over her. They made her feel pretty, wanted, and mature. They liked to give her alcohol, and watch what happened. They laughed at the things she did when she was drunk. Ari got a lot of satisfaction from this, she was the centre of attention, finally.
Her thoughts were interrupted. "Ari! Put on your shoes, we have to go!" Kat threw Ari's boots at her. She sluggishly put them on. Her life seemed to get more complicated after she was kicked out of home to join ShinRa's army. She was being put through her paces day in, and day out and she didn't like it. Hour long runs were not her specialty, neither were squats, star jumps, or press ups. All the infantry officers were put through this training, being overseen by members of SOLDIER. They needed to be tough, and some of them would even be picked to take the SOLDIER exam and be promoted to 3rd Class. A high rank among ShinRa. In fact, the highest, next to the Turks, well, that's what the Turks thought. "All brawn and no brains!" one described SOLDIER. She kind of agreed. Ari laced up her boots slowly. "Oh, for the Goddess sake, lets go." Kat grabbed Ari by the arm and they ran down to report for training. Kat had potential. She was raised in a modest well-to-do family. They were of working class, and let Kat choose her own path. She'd met the Berry's before. They were nice, brought her and Kat new toothbrushes once. Ari liked Kat, and was glad that they were room mates, but wasn't really an advocate for Kat becoming SOLDIER. They made it to the grounds, and began their hour-long run. Ari's mind wandered as she ran.
"That's IT! I cannot believe you! Ariika Louise Nimbus!" her mother bellowed, her father looking at her, disappointed look on their faces. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore!" her mother dissolved into tears. Ari shuffled her feet. "You've done it this time!" her mother was furious. Ari had started to rebel more and more since she had turned 15, and this was the last straw for her mother. Ari had decided to celebrate her 16th birthday with her 'friends' which was an all night crazy party with lots of alcohol. She had invited EVERYONE from school. They all came, even though she didn't actually have many friends at school. They thought she was cool, because she told them all she could get alcohol. Even Melanie decided to come. The party went off without a hitch, and everybody had sworn to not tell their parents. Nobody did. However Melanie was unfortunately not breaking her promise when she told Ari's mother what had happened. "There were these boys, and they brought us all alcohol! I thought you should know, Mrs. Nimbus. No of course I didn't drink any!"
So now here she was, jogging round a field over and over for an hour. Her mother decided that Ari needed to "learn some discipline!" and sent her boot camp at ShinRa. Her mother thought maybe she might make it to SOLDIER, after learning some manners. Ari didn't care. She didn't want to be an infantry officer, and she certainly didn't want to be SOLDIER. Ari stopped for a second to catch her breath. Kat rolled her eyes and stopped to wait for her. Kat was a good friend. Possibly the first true friend she'd ever had. Ari also fit in well with the raucous, testosterone driven boys who were working as infantry officers and trying to get into SOLDIER. She adapted well to fit in with people, and generally got approval from those kind of guys. So she was alright. She knew that if you were different, they would pick on you. If you were bad at anything, or exhibited any weakness, they'd smell it like a pack of hyenas, and use whatever physical or mental strategies to make you break. A lot of people had dropped out and gone home because of this. A lot of boys got their heads shoved in toilets, after being beaten up and humiliated. They were a lot more subtle with the girls. One girl had all of her hair cut off when she was asleep. They also spread rumours about another girl. "I heard you had a crush on Cloud!" they yelled and jeered at her. "I do NOT. Stop spreading shit." Even Ari laughed at these things. Kat was less than impressed. Those two girls eventually packed up and went back home, along with a handful of boys. Ari avoided this by being a smooth talker. Kat was just badass, she could kick any of the boy's butts if she wanted to.
They carried on running.
"If you're not gonna try to get into SOLDIER, what are you gonna do?" Kat asked as they ran side by side. Ari let out a sigh. "I told you! Once I can get out of here, I'm taking a chocobo and travelling the world." Kat snorted indignantly. "The world. By chocobo. You have some strange ideas in your head!" Ari grinned and kept running. Half an hour was up, and she wasn't tired yet. It wasn't so much that she found this morning routine tiring anymore, just boring. She didn't like strict routine. She also didn't like authority. But she tolerated a few of her tutors. They were nice to her. A 2nd class, Meia LeSait, helped Kat to study for the SOLDIER test. Ari tagged along sometimes, and Meia showed Ari her swords, and her old uniform. She was a Turk before she joined SOLDIER, which was a rare transition. They also studied combat with a couple of 3rd's and phys ed was run by a butch looking lady who Ari thought was a nurse. In any case, she was fine with these people. But Ari liked a social challenge. Her main beef was with the 1st class soldiers, although she hadn't really had much to do with them. It was early days. She knew she was going to be here for a while. Ari couldn't go back home, but she also couldn't leave. Her brother kept a close eye on her, and reported back to their mother. At this time, Artemis had finished his apprenticeship, and was working underneath Professor Hojo. He seemed to like it. He had lots of money, which he sent back to their parents. Ari got paid too, but was paid directly to her parents, and she received a small allowance. Anything to keep her in line, they said.
Fifteen minutes left of the run. Some boys up ahead had made some kind of muddy mess, and had proceeded to pin another boy down and rub it into his perfect blonde hair. Ari cried with laughter. Kat rolled her eyes and went over to diffuse the situation. Ari pointed and laughed, then carried on her way. Kat shook her head. "Hope you're okay. I see they pick on you a lot. Just ignore them." He stood up slowly and nodded his head. He quickly continued with the run. Kat ran behind him, and glared at the other boys, who were still laughing at the blonde boy. Finally the fitness routine was over. "Hit the showers!" The teacher bellowed, and all the boys ran off in the direction of the shower block. They blonde boy walked slowly after them.