Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy just this story.
Chapter 4
Dimitri Point Of View (DPOV)
I couldn't believe the sarcastic women standing before me could be so serious. It must of read planly on my face, because when Rose was done talking she looked up at me. She looked confused at first. Then she looked down at her peers. Something within her changed and everyone could see it.
"You four will be with me for the rest of the day preparing for our departure. The rest of you will continue with your classes as normal until our return then I will be adding more to the group if I see fit to do so. Any questions." I'm sure they had lots of questions, but they were all too shocked to come up with any. " If you have questions later please feel free to ask one of the other instructors. They have been briefed on the situation. Now Rose, Mason, Eddie, and Angeline follow me and we can begin preparing to leave." With that the five of use left the gym and started toward the guardian building.
I had left our itinerary, for lack of a better word in my chambers. I told them to stay on the main floor and I would return shortly. I got the information on where we will be heading and my bag I had packed. We weren't leaving till the morning, but I wanted to demintarate how much they were expected to pack. The world outside has changed. There are only a few safe places left. Mostly because the strigoi haven't found it yet or it is cloaked from there view.
Being in the most southern states is the safest. Strigoi try to avoid sunny destinations. We live in the mountains of Montana. There are strigoi her, but not as many in Pennsylvania or Alaska. The colder the place the better. We will begin our training in the southern states. Strigoi can't come out in sunlight, but that doesn't mean you are safe to walk the streets during the day. Human's looking to become strigoi spy during the day and report locations of human sightings. This make it very difficult to survive.
Lucky for us strigoi don't always travel in groups. It is my plan to hunt for lone strigoi so they can practice working as a team to take down their enemy. By the time we return they could be able to take down a strigoi by themselves and work as a cohesive unit. I just hope there training here as prepared them for what's out there.
In planning our trip I had several things to consider. Warmer climates decrease the strigoi population, but coastal areas have proven to be a hub for strigoi activity. They use the ports to transport humans. They keep some humans alive for a continual blood supply. They drain them slowly. Some let them die from blood loss, but some keep their human healthy so they can be used for blood for long periods of time. I don't know what's worse dying quickly or a prolonged life in agony. At least we won't have to worry about that, guardians are to be killed on site.
We will start of by heading to an outpost in Wyoming. We will meet up with the resistance, then set out based on intel from that station. There are outpost spread throughout the world. Many outpost have been destroyed by strigoi. From our latest intel the Wyoming outpost is still operational.
I headed back downstair. When I got there Rose had her back to me and she was talking with the other three. They were listening so intently, I felt bad for interrupting. Upon my approach Eddie looked up, Rose noticed and turned to see who was coming. "So what's the plan for tomorrow." asked Rose. I told them where we would be heading and what my plan was for our trip. "We will be gone for two weeks."
"That is during Christmas break." Rose said. "I know. Your break will be a week shorter than the rest, but it is very important that we begin our training. You will have a week of holiday vacation when we return." I truly felt terrible about keeping them from their families during christmas, but if all goes according to plan we will be back in time for christmas day. "We will leave tomorrow December 9th and return December 24th at the latest."
"Now that we have a timeline on our travels, I brought the backpack that I will be bringing on our travels. It is important we travel light." "We are only allowed to bring one bag. Surely not everything we want to bring will fit into one bag." Said Angeline. Rose interrupted me. "It will be enough for what we need. You might have to leave your hair products behind. I know it will be difficult, but you will manage." "Rose is right. Think of it as camping." " I hate camping." said Angeline. That's enough complaining. We won't be on vacation out their. We will be put into life or death situations everyday. We need to be as mobile as possible if we want to survive. I know this is still training, but one mistake and you will die if we can not work together as a team." That might have been a little tough, but they needed to hear it.
"Go to your rooms and pack your bag and get some rest. It's a long drive and seeing as how we can only travel during the day the trip to Wyoming will take several in the garage by six in the morning" They went on their way and I went back up to my room to gather up some last few items needed for the trip before I went to bed myself.
RPOV
I got back to my room and began to gather up my clothes. What do you wear on a daily basis when you are going to war. Dimitri was right we are going to be doing a lot of fighting. We can do this. This is what we have trained for. As long as we remember our training we should be fine. So I packed jeans. I considered bringing enough for the entire trip. I doubted we would have time to get our clothes washed if we are on the run from strigoi. Then I thought of the weight. Shorts were needed to pack clothes that would protect our skin as much as possible. So in the end I packed three pairs of jeans, four cargo pants, a sweater, two hoodies, a winter jacket and of course my leather coat. I couldn't go anywhere without it. Like Dimitri with his duster.
I showered and shaved my legs. It might be awhile before I can shave them again. I laid down in my bed waiting for sleep to take me. It's a good thing I didn't sleep last night or I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. As Guardians we have to be able to take sleep when we can get it. I haven't learned that trick yet. I fell asleep after a while, when my alarm went off at five in the morning, for once I jumped straight out of bed and got dressed. I made it outside by five fithteen. I wanted to go to the gym to blow off some of this energy before a long car ride.
I shouldn't of been surprised that Dimitri was already there at the punching bag. " Hey comrade, I guess we both had the same idea." He didn't turn around. Then I saw he had earbuds in. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do what he has always been teaching me, a sneak attack. I slowly approached him from behind making sure not to make any noise. I was about to strike when he grabbed me by my wrist and flipped me in the air and then flat on my back. "You should know better then to try and sneak up on me." He said with a small smile on his face. "I thought you wanted me to try sneak attacks more often. I remember you saying its good practice for the both of us." as said with the same small smile. "This is true roza. I did tell you that. I guess you do listen sometimes." Dimitri commented.
"Only sometimes." He extended his hand out to me to help me up. Instead I grabbed his hand, put both feet on his stomach and flipped him over me so that I was not straddling him. " I think your losing your touch comrade." I said smiling wide. He in turn spun us around so now he was on top of me. I tried to break free , but he has me pinned. "I don't think so Roza." I felt a chill run down my spine. I've felt this feeling before when Dimitri called me by my russian name. I was lost in my own head when I stared up at Dimitri Who was still on top of me. We looked into each other's eyes for when felt like forever when he finally got up and walked a short distance away. I got up. For some reason I felt awkward. I brushed it off. "As fun as it is to spar with you, I originally came here to burn off some steam before our long car ride. I'm just gonna throw some punches for awhile. Unless you want to spar?" I kinda hope he said no. there is a strange tension between us. I feel like its constricting my chest. "Go ahead and blow off some steam. I have to gather a few things before we leave and rose.. Don't be late."