Skyla was nervous; she had just graduated from the BSAA Academy and gotten her orders. It was early spring; she was standing next to another rookie named Finn or something. The rookies were standing in the training room waiting for the Captain to come in and introduce himself. She didn't understand why she was so nervous, she had graduated top of her class, and now she was in Alpha team under the command of Chris Redfield. She should be excited and honored; he had hand selected her. Of course, there were stories of him all throughout the Academy; he was a legend.
"How are you so calm?" The rookie next her asked her.
"What makes you think that I am?" She replied back.
As he was about to reply two men came through the double doors, an older man with chocolate brown hair and eyes that were soft but were evident of seeing hell. They younger one was quite a bit younger, he was about her age his hair was about the same color as the older males, slightly spiked at the front; Skyla wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through his hair, but if she was being truthful with herself his eyes are what really stood out to Skyla, they were a beautiful hazel color. Skyla felt her cheeks heating up; she dropped her gaze before she blushed. The two men that entered the room approached the group of rookies.
"Listen up; Captain Redfield has something to say." The younger male announced. Skyla brought her attention to Chris; he was handsome; there was no denying that. His muscles were well defined through his BSAA uniform. He stood with confidence.
'Stop it Skyla.' She thought to herself.
"Welcome to Alpha team; you are here because you were the best of your class in some type of training. I have personally selected each and every one of you, so I expect the best and nothing less. I am Captain Chris Redfield, but you I want you to call me Chris. This is my second in command Lieutenant Piers Nivans, during the training we will take the time to get to know each and every one of you; I want you to consider us your second family. That is all; get settled in your bunks. Training starts at 0500," Chris dismissed them.
"Wow, is he always this awesome?" The kid that she thought his name was name Finn asked.
Skyla turned and gave him a look of disbelief. She grabbed her duffle and walked towards the door.
Someone cleared their throat behind her, Skyla turned to find the Lieutenant behind her.
"Sir?" Skyla asked nervously.
"Chris wanted to extend an apology; we are not equipped here at the BSAA compound like at the academies. Unfortunately, we don't have a bunch of females, and only the Captain has privileges to private rooms, I'm afraid you will have to deal with bunking with us males." Piers told her.
"Don't worry about it sir; I was at a smaller school as well so it was the same there," Skyla replied.
"You don't have to be so formal; you can call me Piers." replied to her.
Skyla nodded to him with a small smile and walked out of the training room. She walked in the direction she saw the other rookies from her team. There were two people per bunk. She walked into the room and saw an open bunk across from the rookie from earlier and sighed. She walked up to it and started unloading her bag.
"I'm Finn, Finn Macauley." The rookie stuck his hand out to her.
"Skyla Matthews." She replied taking his hand.
"What specialty did you graduate in?" Finn asked.
"Combat, you?" Skyla asked.
"Explosives," Finn replied.
Skyla nodded, she walked back to her bunk and finished unpacking. She didn't notice that there were things already under her bunk that belonged to someone else. She grabbed a book from her bag and walked outside. She found a large branch and climbed into it. She opened her book and laid her back against the trunk of the tree.
"It's nice to see that you rookies do more than drink and play with your weapons on your down time." A voice called from below her.
Skyla looked down to find Piers staring up at her. She gave him a small smile and shrugged going back to reading her book. A minute later she heard rustling below her. She looked to find Piers climbing to a branch across from her, she watched him curiously.
"What are you reading?" Piers asked once he was situated on the branch.
"Promise not to laugh?" Skyla asked.
"If I promise to try not to laugh is that good enough?" Piers asked with a small smirk.
Skyla was silent for a minute; she put her bookmark in the book and slid it over to Piers.
"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?" Piers said aloud.
He turned and gave Skyla the book back. Skyla blushed and turned placed her back onto the trunk.
"Why would I have laughed?" Piers asked her.
"I don't know, girl reading Pride and Prejudice is kind of cliché, and then you add Zombies with a girl in the BSAA, kind of silly don't you think?" She replied.
"No. 'Pride and Prejudice is a classic. I don't know why you want to read about Zombies in the field we're in, but it probably puts an interesting spin on it." Piers replied.
"If you want, I'll let you borrow it when I'm done," Skyla replied.
"I'll think about it. It's almost sundown, dinner will be soon. Don't stay out too much longer it's gets cold out here at night during the spring." Piers told her.
She watched Piers jump down from his perch and walk towards the main building. She smiled to herself; she decided to finish her chapter before following Piers inside. She stopped by the bunks and dropped her book off before heading to the dining hall. She went through the line and grabbed some food. She found a table away from the rowdy males and sat down. She began eating her salad when someone sat across from her. She looked up to see it was Finn.
"Hi, Finn," Skyla said to before going back to her meal.
"Why don't you come down and eat with the rest of us guys?" He asked.
"Hm, quiet or fart jokes? Such a tough decision. I'm fine here, thanks, Finn." Skyla replied.
Finn frowned but nodded heading back and sitting with the other males in her team. Skyla felt eyes on her; she looked up to see Chris and Piers watching her closely. Skyla sighed; she finished her food and got up heading back to the bunks. She grabbed a pair of yoga pants and green shirt with a BSAA logo. She also grabbed her toiletry bag and headed to the showers. She headed to the far end cabin. She grabbed a clean towel and opened the cabin. She undressed and turned the water on, sighing as the water hit her. She quickly washed up and dried off. Although she was currently the only one in the showers and she was used to seeing naked guys because of the previous academy didn't mean she wanted to. She also didn't want to hear the cat calls she typically heard from the males because she was the only female. She dressed and wrapped her towel around her hair tightly to help it dry quickly.
She grabbed her toiletry bag and made her way to the front of the bathrooms to the sinks so she could brush her teeth. Just as she started brushing her teeth some of her team started making their way into the showers. Skyla finished her brushing and flossing. She then pulled the towel from her hair and fished drying her hair. She started brushing her hair and looked at herself in the mirror.
Her gray eyes stared at her. She was slightly taller than most girls standing at 5'7, but she was very skinny but muscular. She was bigger in the chest region, she sighed, grabbing the towel and toiletry bag along with her bag with dirty clothes; Skyla dropped the towel in a towel hamper and walked towards the bunks. She walked to her bunk and put her stuff away. Since training started at 0500 the next morning she decided to call in early, 0400 was going to come quicker than she would like. She got under her blankets and lay on her stomach, moving her pillow. Slowly the other member started making their way into the bunks, Skyla didn't notice as she was already asleep. Piers walked into the bunks and turned the lights off indicating it was time for the team to go asleep. He was also assigned in this bunk as he was to make sure they didn't screw around. Piers raised an eyebrow seeing who happened to choose the bunk above him. He climbed into his bunk and went to sleep.
Skyla groaned when bright lights hit her face. She buried her face in her pillow trying to go back to sleep.
"Come on rookie get up, the captain will not tolerate you being late." Piers stood next to her.
Skyla groaned again and nuzzled her pillow. Without notice her blankets were gone, Skyla's eye popped open; those Hazel eyes were glaring at her now. Skyla glowered at Piers. Skyla pushed herself up; she snatched her blankets from Piers' hands. She jumped down from the bunk landing in front on him. She eyed Piers long and hard for a moment daring him to say anything else to her. She then turned and made her bunk; Piers huffed at her and walked off. Skyla looked around and noticed that she was the only left in the room and decided to change quickly. She finished getting ready and quickly made her way to the dining hall and ate. She had just gotten into the training room when Piers and Chris entered.
"Close one Skyla," Finn leaned over and whispered.
Skyla nodded to Finn, Chris stood in front of the team. Piers glared at each of them, his eyes softened slightly when it got to Skyla for half a second before hardening again remebering their slight confortation earlier.
"We are working on hand to hand combat today, I will pair you in teams of two, I want to see your best guys," Chris announced to the group.
Chris walked around the group with a clipboard assigning partners. He stopped in front of Skyla and smirked.
"Matthews you're paired with Piers," Chris said looking at her.
"Chris; this is not a good idea." Piers pleaded with Chris.
"She graduated top of her class, I want her to have a challenge," Chris said to Piers.
Piers sighed and nodded, Piers removed his jacket and his shirt leaving him in just a tank top showing his defined shoulder and arms muscles. Skyla's heart started racing, she tilted her head side to side stretching her neck. Skyla's took in a deep breath to ready herself. Piers got into a fighting position; he took a step towards Skyla. Skyla took her own fighting stance and stepped back, watching Piers watching for a weakness in his stance. Piers started to circle Skyla, not letting him get behind her she turns and walks in a circle with him. Piers lunges at Skyla attempting to grab her shoulders, Skyla dodges him by stepping back. Piers smirk at her quickness and nods at her. Skyla and Piers start their dance again, this time Skyla throws her left arm out which Piers easily blocks, however, he wasn't anticipating her grabbing his arm with her other hand and twisting it behind his back. Piers throws her over his shoulder and slams her on the ground hard.
"Skyla! I'm sorry," Piers leans over her.
Piers reaches his hand out to help her up, Skyla sweeps her foot knocking his legs out from under him. Piers' eyes are wide, Skyla jumps up, she looks over at Piers and smirks at him. Skyla offers her hand to Piers, he kicks his knee into her stomach and tosses her behind him, Skyla lands on her knees, however, Skyla looks at Piers stunned. Piers gets ups and stands with his back to Skyla, she dashes at him and tackles him landing knocking him back. Skyla stood there with her arms crossed, Piers flips himself over and stares at her in disbelief.
"Okay that's enough," Chris calls out to them.
Skyla looks over at Chris, she had forgotten that there were others in the room; everyone was standing behind him watching them. Skyla blushed slightly, Piers was still on the ground. Skyla walked over to him and held out her hand. Piers took her hand and stands but looks away from her, Skyla frowns at herself.
"Piers and Skyla, good job go get cleaned up you have the rest of the day off," Chris announces.
Skyla nods at Chris and walks towards the training room doors, she heads towards the bunks. Her heart was racing; she grabs her civy clothes and toiletry bag and heads towards the showers. She couldn't believe she had gotten so competitive with a superior. She quickly showered and dressed and dropped her bag off by the bunks. She decided she was going to explore the BSAA base a little more in depth; she walked the halls for a while before going outside. It was a warm day with a breeze, Skyla was glad she had left her hair down because it felt kind of nice to feel the wind move through her hair. Without realizing it she had ended up in front of the tree again.
"Does it draw you here too?" The voice sounded from behind her.
"I guess so," Skyla responded turning to find Piers behind her.
Piers walked up so he was beside her, Skyla looked over at Piers and he gave her a genuine smile. Skyla felt like her heart skipped 10 beats, she turned her head blushing a dark shade of red.
"Listen Piers, I'm sorry about earlier. I get really competitive at times." Skyla told him.
"It's okay; you just surprised me is all." Piers replied.
"Piers you're the Captain's second in command, we all have specialties, what is yours?" Skyla asked.
"Driving and Sniping, I am the best the BSAA's got." Piers boasted.
"Sniping? Could you show me sometime?" Skyla asked him.
"Show you my skills?" Piers asked.
"That, but also can you show me how to snipe? It was the one thing I couldn't get down during my training," Skyla responded.
"Want to work on it now that we have some free time?" Piers asked.
"I would like that," Skyla replied.
Piers showed Skyla where the armory was, he held the door open for her.
"Do you want your usual Nivans?" The guy handling the guns asked.
Piers looked over to Skyla and shook his head.
"Not today Christian, give me the Mk12," Piers replied.
Christian gave Piers the Mk12, box of rounds, targets and two pairs of ear muffs. Piers nodded to Skyla to follow him, they walked out a little ways. Piers set the sniper up, having Skyla run out and set up the target. Piers set the stand on the ground and put the Mk12 on it. Skyla walked back towards Piers; when she reached him he handed her a pair of muffs. He got down on the ground onto his stomach, Skyla followed his suit. Piers pulled one of his muffs back and Skyla did the same.
"The most important thing is to know where your target is. After that line it up, hold your breath and just as your about to squeeze the trigger exhale." Piers told her.
Skyla nodded, she had to admit she having a hard time concentrating on what he was saying; his lips looked so soft.
'Damn it Skyla stop, you asked him to show you how to properly shoot a sniper,' She thought.
Piers then demonstrated what he showed her by hitting the target perfectly, Piers waved her over.
"Your turn; remember know where your target is, line it up, hold your breath, pull the trigger then breath." Piers summarized for her.
Skyla did what he told her but her target was a little off center. Skyla frowned at her failure.
"You did great, here let me help you." Piers told her with a smile.
Piers got down on his stomach again, he place the butt of the rifle against her shoulder.
"Come on try again you were really close." Piers told her.
Skyla tried to concentrate on everything Piers told her, it was really hard with his hands on hers though.
Skyla made a perfect shot; she looked over and gave Piers a triumph smile.
"Try it by yourself." Piers said letting her go of her hands and scooting away slightly.
Skyla sighed inwardly and held the butt of the gun against her shoulder. She hoped that Piers hadn't heard the sigh or if he did he took it as her clearing her mind and getting herself ready for the task at hand. She aimed, held her breath and as she pulled the trigger she released it, Perfect Shot.
"You're a natural. Are you sure you had trouble?" Piers asked her.
"Maybe you're just a good teacher." Skyla replied.
Piers blushed, quickly looking away.
'Did he just blush? No my eyes were just playing tricks.' Skyla thought to herself.
Skyla stood up and walked out to the target and changed it, while she was doing that Piers went and got a Dragunov SVD.
"We will keep practicing for about an hour, by then training should be over and about lunch time." Piers replied.
Skyla nodded and got back on her stomach and practiced for a while. She looked over at Piers at one point and noticed he was in deep concentration on his target. He took his shot and went through the targets head; it would have been a perfect shot on a B.O.W.
A memory of a body hitting the floor with a single hole in its head quickly flashed through her head.
"Skyla. Hey, is everything okay?" Piers asked.
"Yeah," Skyla said grabbing her equipment and walking to the entrance of the shooting range.
Piers followed suit and quickly caught up with her.
"Practice with that rifle for a while, maybe soon we can get you trained on one of these bad boys." Piers smiled at her.
"You will keep training me?" Skyla asked with a smile.
"Of course, although the Captain brings each of you in for expertise, he likes us to be well rounded. Also it would be nice to not have to be the only Sniper." Piers replied.
"Thanks Piers." Skyla replied.
They walked out of the shooting range, and started walking towards the dining hall.
"Why did you join the BSAA?" Piers asked Skyla.
"The same reason why anyone else did, I wanted to fight B.O.W.s, so I can make a difference," Skyla responded.
Piers nodded, they walked in silence for a while, they heard laughing coming up behind them, moving to the side they then heard running.
"Catch!" A body knocked into Piers causing him to knock into Skyla knocking her into a wall.
Her back hit the wall, Piers threw his forearm out onto the wall next to her so he didn't fall on top of her.
"Hey!" Piers shouted after the two throwing a football and running.
Piers redirected his attention to Skyla, their faces a few inches away from each other.
"Are you okay?" Piers asked quietly looking into her eyes; Skyla could only nod, she was looking back into his eyes. She felt like she was being pulled in.
A throat cleared behind them, Piers looked in the direction annoyed until he realized it was Chris. Piers jumped back and rubbed the nape of his neck.
"This isn't what it looks like Chris, two asshats from Bravo just knocked me into her." Piers told him.
"I saw Piers; I will be talking with Jill about her recruits. Are you two okay?" Chris had an amused look on his face.
Skyla nodded her reply to Chris and walked off to the dining hall.
"Is something going on Piers?" Chris teased.
"We were at the shooting range, she asked me to give her some sniping pointers." Piers tried to deflect.
"So you have taken her under your wing already?" Chris replied.
Piers shook his head at Chris and headed into the direction Skyla walked off in.