Alrighty, third chapter! You're probably wondering why I'm updating this so fast. That's because a lot of this story is already written, I'm just posting it here now. Better than waiting weeks or months or even years, isn't it?! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 3

That morning, I awoke to a voice downstairs yelling, "BREAKFAST!"

Realizing I must have slept in, I quickly threw on the robes Opal had given me and rocketed down the stairs to find that almost everyone was already awake, all sitting at a long table eating something that smelled amazing. Great, my first day in an Assassin's Den, and I'm already falling behind. Hoping no one would notice me-I was plenty embarrassed already-I sat down in an empty chair across from Opal. She looked up at me and grinned.

"So, how'd ya sleep?"

"Pretty well," I replied.

"Well, I can see that," she said cheerfully.

"How long did I sleep in?"

"Oh, about five minutes."

I looked at her, surprised. "Just five minutes?"

"Yup," she said around a spoonful of stew.

"But everyone's here already. You'd think everyone in the upper floors would be running a little late."

Opal almost choked on her food as she laughed. "Oh, we rarely use the stairs, hon."

"Hm."

Soon a cat walked up to me and set a bowl of soup on the table.

"Eat it while it's hot, kid," he said to me, and I tried not to cringe.

I was still a little jumpy from yesterday's encounter, and seeing another cat made me a little nervous. Unaware of my thoughts, the feline turned and walked away, whistling a shanty that was unfamiliar to me. Reluctantly, I spooned the soup into my mouth, expecting it to taste more like cat hair than anything else. Don't ask how I know what cat hair tastes like. It's not a good story.

To my surprise, the soup was delicious. There was a mix of spice and sweetness to it that I've never tasted before. I wanted to toss aside the spoon and slurp it greedily, but I had been taught to be ladylike. I didn't want any bad first impressions, especially in front of these particular people. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the dog from yesterday limp over to a chair and sit down. He looked very tired, with bloodied gauze wrapped around his bare torso. I tried my best not to stare at the brown, furry Hulk. Ladylike, remember?

"Hey, Rosco, are you feeling any better?" Vaughn asked as he walked up to him.

The dog I now knew as Rosco shrugged.

"Well, I'm still alive, so I guess you could say I'm doing alright."

Vaughn sighed. "Why did I even ask?"

I wonder if I should thank him, I thought to myself.

"Hey kiddo, you might want to hurry," Opal interrupted my mental babble, "Your training will start soon."

My eyes widened. "Oh, crap!"

She laughed as I wolfed down my meal.

"Come on, it's down here," she waved her hand, urging me to follow. The golden retriever led me to a two or three-story room with tall pillars and structures everywhere. I couldn't help but notice the awful smell, which was that of sweat, hay, and dog.

"This is the parkour area," Opal explained. "It's where we train beginners to climb and jump and stuff. It's a lot cooler than it sounds."

"I'll take your word on that," I said.

"Good. You'll need to trust your trainer, especially when you're going to do a lot of falling."

I stared at her, horrified. "F-falling?"

"Yup!"

I gulped.

"Just watch and learn." With that, she sped past me and made her way to the top of one of the pillars. "Come on!"

Without much experience in climbing, I found it rather difficult as I tried to scale the pillar. As if my luck couldn't get any worse, the pillar's sides didn't have many footholds. It amazed me how quickly Opal had clambered up to the top. I eventually made it about halfway up, and looked down to check my progress.

Bad idea. It wasn't all that high, although from where I was, the distance between me and the ground made me feel dizzy. With a yelp of fright, I tightened my grip, the pads on my paws aching from the rough granite.

"Is everything alright?" Opal called down.

"Yeah," I panted nervously, "just a...fear of heights...is all…."

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. No pun intended." She chuckled.

I quickly looked upwards, ignoring the terror that made my heart race, and resumed my slow ascent. By the time I made it to the top, I could barely catch my breath.

"Good job!" she exclaimed, slapping me on the back and quickly catching me before I fell over. "Sorry about that."

"I-it's fine," I replied, hardly able to speak.

"Well, are you ready?"

I gave her a weird look. "For what? You mean there's more we have to do?"

"Did you think that was all the training we were going to do today?" She laughed. "I wish!"

Opal turned and began leaping from pillar to pillar.

Oh, God, no, I thought to myself. She has got to be kidding.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you thought of the story!