Training Day

Kai

"Listen up, rookies!"

It wasn't long before they split Finn and I up. We were supposed to be family, and they would have none of that. We were separated into two groups, first by age, then by sex. I sighed, looking around. I felt alone in such a large school. I knew no one there, and felt making friends wasn't the best of options, nor practical. Everyone there had their own agenda, and I was just in their way.

An instructor stood in the center of us, sizing each of us up. Her brown hair showed age, stress, and damage. Her eyes were sharp, but her bags told another story. "You are all here to be Talons, yes?" she shouted at us, pacing on her pedestal. She stopped before me, her hands knotted behind her. "If not, you're screwed anyway. Today, you shall be tested and graded! We will see who outshines the rest, and split up those that need more work!"

She paced back and forth, again and again, watching us with each pass. "Here at the Academy, you are no one! You do not have names, your faces are all the same! You are here to be molded, trained, and outfitted by Cyclonia. Your lives back home, your family, and your friends are nothing! Forget about your old life, forget about anything that meant something to you.

"Wherever those holes are left, Cyclonia shall fill them. As a Talon, you will be given a name, a face, a title, and power. Power is what you sought out when joining this academy, and Cyclonia shall deliver! But, for now, you are nothing… We must mold you into perfect little soldiers."

I grumbled to myself, wondering just what kind of kids would get sucked up into the media hype. The Academy was nothing as advertised. Talons, as the fliers said, would have riches, power, and never go hungry again. As a point of contempt with most children, knowing they would have a warm meal every night was what sold them. I was less than pleased upon comparison.

Suddenly, the old woman stopped before me, grabbing my chin. "I see you shall be first, then. What's your name?"

"Zaria…. Everett," I growled.

"Ooh," she sung, pacing once more. "I heard we had a defiant newcomer. I never expected the pleasure of having her in our group! Everet," she called. "Get on the Trainer; show us exactly why you're so prideful." The old woman waved up another student, one who showed more fear before her than I. "Oppose her. Now!"

The girl stepped toward me, facing the training bikes. She shook where she stood, her eyes averted to the ground. "I… I really don't like this. I thought this place would be fun…"

As my objective for being here was much different than hers, I knew I wouldn't be around for the full four-year treatment. I would be gone before anyone could remember my name. The shock and fear I felt was temporary, and I knew how to overcome it. "Well, you gotta try to look on the bright side. Even if you flunk out, you'll learn something new! How long have you been flying for?"

"It's not just flying," she reminded me. "This is about in-air combat."

I closed my eyes for a moment, a breath forced into my lungs. I can do this, I reassured myself. Aerrow said it was all about evasion, defense, and timing. I wondered just what the instructor expected us to do.

The girl tried to smile. "The trainers are only equipped with Stun crystals… So it won't be that painful." We soon went our separate ways. I climbed onto the smaller of the two training bikes and adjusted myself on the seat.

"First one forced off their trainer, loses. Go!" As she blew a whistle, I felt all blood rush to my feet.

I felt my first true test wasn't in-air combat, but ensuring none of the spectating students were flattened when I took off. I was still a shaky pilot, lacking confidence in areas I knew I had nailed down. With a shaky start, I managed to get the Trainer in the air. The bike felt different, yet it had its similarities. The Trainer held much more weight in the body than my Switchblade, but I couldn't tell if that was due to the safety features the Trainer held, or the lack of armor on my bike.

Getting the girl off of her bike was my next challenge, one I wasn't sure how to accomplish. I scratched at my back once I felt stable within the air, readjusting the tightly-strapped parachute supplied to each of us. I didn't understand how Talons could maneuver in such uncomfortable gear! It was like The Dark Ace, himself, was sitting on my chest!

Seeing as I was preoccupied with my parachute, the girl found an opening. She fired a blast of energy toward me. Suddenly, I felt my instincts kick in. The fight-or-flight instinct was just fight. I took the bike into a nosedive and spun the body into a roll, pulling up once I'd flown past her. My heart was racing, and my mouth was dry. I could barely recognize the sun from the ground.

My mind flew back to thoughts of Aerrow, and I soon wondered if this was the type of life I wanted to have. Constantly in and out of the skies, fighting off Talons. I would be pulling these sort of stunts every day. Was I really willing to put my life at risk like that?

The students cheered, clapping their hands and whooping to the skies. Though they seemed pleased, the instructor stood silent, her eyes glued to our bikes. It wasn't good enough. No, a few simple tricks weren't going to impress her. I felt I was running out of time. I needed to get her off of her bike, and fast.

"Talons always blink first… They always blink first…" Finn's words echoed in my head, their meaning failing to register. What had he meant by that? I flew straight for the girl, my eyes locked onto the nose of her bike. I felt I was about to find out the true meaning of his words. "Talons always blink first!" I shouted toward her, dead-locked on a collision course for her bike. If their lives are at risk, they'd rather jump!

As my bike drew closer to her, I was feeling more confident in my abilities. The training bike was much more stable than the SwitchBlade I'd rode in on. Little bumps and turns had no effect on the stability it held in the air. With a smile, I steadied the handlebars and slowly rose to stand on the seat. I had a plan, and boy, did it feel good. Only inches away, I squatted down, and swiftly kicked the Trainer down as I propelled myself into the air, narrowly missing her as she flew past. She seemed shocked as she pulled away, fearing the crash. As I came down, I landed on her wing, wobbling with the impact.

"I win…," I called to her, stepping toward her seat. "Now, get off my bike…"

I knew the risks—they screamed their presence at me. One roll and I would be on the ground in seconds. Had she flipped over, I was a goner. Either too stupid or too disturbed to fight back, the girl jumped-ship, pulling her 'chute as she floated to the ground. I jumped into the seat and regained control of the bike.

Now the crowd was truly impressed, cries of joy and excitement emanating from the ground below. I landed the bike beside the starting line, my eyes wide. My heart pounded, and I couldn't catch my breath. I felt I was at the brink of death, and I could fall into the clouds at any moment. Everyone loved it! Except for the instructor, who had her eyes on a very fiery mess behind me. As I'd abandoned my bike, it crashed into the training arena, catching fire on impact. I sighed.

"Impressive…," the chief muttered, rubbing her chin.

"Not fair!" a girl shouted, surrounded by her friends. "She jumped from her own Trainer. You said whoever gets off their Trainer, loses!"

I glared at the girl, wondering if her words would decide my victory.

"Hmm…" The instructor circled the crash site before stopping beside me.

I decided not to stand down, this time. Fighting fire with fire, it seemed, was the only way to get ahead among Talons. "No, she said whoever is forced off their trainer. I jumped at my own will. I forced her off her trainer and took it over."

Defeated, the girl stood down. A group of students returned with my defeated opponent, supporting her on their shoulders.

The instructor soon laughed, writing something onto her clipboard. "Of course, the loss of the other trainer will cost you all of your points."

Oh, well… I sighed and nodded, accepting my punishment. I believed, in a true combat scenario, the loss of my bike wouldn't outweigh the defeat of my opponent. School and I would never see eye-to-eye…I returned to my place in the crowd beside the girl I'd defeated, and watched as, two-by-two, the other students completed their assignment. Not one of their battles brought out the volume from the crowd that mine had; and for that, I felt happy.

"The next trial," the instructor announced, gathering the students in the eastern portion of the arena, "will be much more fun. For me, of course. This is a traditional Cyclonian sparring ring. In hand-to-hand combat, you're required to take out your opponents with whatever resources necessary. However, this is a controlled setting. You'll each be given a sparring stick, and forced to use any prior training you may have… to defeat me. Though I doubt any of you have skills… "

Each of the students stopped to stare at her. She expected us to fight her? I examined the sparring ring, noting the beam in the center. It seemed we were forced to stand on the beam as we fought her, and landing on the ground below would immediately disqualify you. The sparring sticks were leaning against a stand holding four or five in total. Two were badly damaged, their padded ends fraying at the seams.

I felt I had the upper-hand, should I have faced another student. I was agile, and short… At least, I was. I remembered the height the Chroma crystal had given me, and wondered if I could still move around the same way. I grabbed a sparring stick and volunteered to be first. However, she had other plans. "Let's see what the others have, all right? We know you're a bit of a show off."

I sighed, swinging the stick onto my shoulder. With a yelp and a complaint, I realized I hit the quite argumentative girl from the arena in the head. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh shut up!" she growled, rubbing the sore spot on her scalp.

I removed the stick from my shoulder, twirling it around. "Eh? What are you gonna do?" I tapped the stick against the side of her face, egging her on.

The girl stepped forward, grabbing another stick. She swung it around, hitting me in the side. Her hit seemed weak, like a young girl swiping me with a pillow.

"Oh-ho-ho… You're gonna die," I growled, swinging the stick in her direction. She ducked, narrowly missing my attack. I angled downward, waiting for her to stand straight. Quickly, I jammed the rear-end of the stick against her foot. As she leaned over, I slammed the top-end against her chin before jamming it into her stomach. She soon doubled over, groaning in pain. She dropped the stick, curling toward the ground. I slowly stepped around her, the stick resting on my shoulder. I held a grin on my face, yet I felt the job wasn't quite finished yet. I lifted the stick from my shoulder, pressed the end to her rear and shoved her to the ground. With a face full of dirt, I felt satisfied. "I win. Can I go again, or does this count?" I asked the instructor.

Shoved to the ground, another bucket of mystery water was slammed down beside me, water sloshing onto my uniform. I sighed, knowing just what punishment they had in store.

"Round two. Ding ding! Once you're done with that, you can come join us out here," the large man laughed, walking out of the room.

I glanced around the room. "The bathrooms?!" I fell back to the ground, my cheek pressed against the cool, dirty tiles. "At least I won," I muttered into the grimy floor.