Trying to squirm from Jamie's strong grasp proved fruitless. The rest of the Long Patrol hares simply watched in confusion as their Lieutenant carried off an obviously angered haremaid. None of them seemed to notice Daikon pick himself up, turning away as he rubbed an injured jaw.

Eula soon found herself planted back on her footpaws and being stared -or rather glared at. She looked around and found herself inside and she turned, glaring stubbornly back at Jamie. It would have been an amusing scene to passersby, as Eula was about half Jamie's size.

It was Jamie who broke the seemingly relentless staring contest. He sighed and shook his head at the younger haremaid. "Eula."

"Jamie." She replied in a low, furious voice, crossing her arms.

"Look, m'gel. I can't have you bally well beatin' the livin' daylights out of my group."

"Yeah, well Dirtbag-"

"-Daikon."

"Deserved what he had coming," she continued, ignoring Jamie's interruption.

"Eula, my hares have training above you. You'll get hurt." He frowned slightly, knocking off most of Eula's defense of anger. She knew he really cared about her and found herself rather annoyed that he could use that as an argument. She attempted to pluck up some of her former fury.

"I do believe I delivered the winning hit, wot."

"He would've gotten you if I let you keep on fighting."

"Let me?" She drew out sardonically.

"I heard what the little cad said. I gave you sufficient time to land one good hit without lookin' suspicious on my part. I'd deck the bounder if he wasn't one of my own recruits."

It took Eula a few moments for what Jamie said to sink in. "You let me hit him?"

"Depends on who you ask, wot. If me, then yes. Anyone else, absoballylutely not."

"Ah..." she drew out, slightly confused. Before she could puzzle it out, Jamie chucked her beneath the chin gently, smiling at her with a wink.

"Talk to you later, m'gel. Hafta get back out, y'know." He turned and jogged back out, leaving Eula alone.

Sighing in resignation, she turned and went off to bed. Only as she curled up under her blanket did she realize Jamie had won the argument with compassion when she was angry enough to spit fire. She'd have to keep an eye out for that tactic later.

Compassion. Ha. Weirdo.

********

Eula was tired and weary during training the following morning. The fact that she was trying to keep herself in line and not anger the sergeant was not improving her bad temper.

One of the few times that she had stopped and fidgeted with her light ash stave, Sandscut approached her. "Enjoying yourself, Contarelle?"

Her eyes shot up at the sound of the officer's voice. "No sah, sorry sah." She stood up straight and saluted, but this time out of respect. "I was just takin' a break. I'll-"

"Wait, come on this way," he beckoned her with a nod of his head. She groaned inwardly. Having a talk with your commanding officer in private was never a good thing. But she took up her stave, and holding it loosely at her side, followed Sandscut off to a corner.

When they stopped, Eula looked straight up at Sandscut, hiding the worry she felt. "So are y'bored during training, Eula?"

First name. Not good. Not good at all.

"I. Um. Well," she stumbled over her words in reply, dropping the cool and composure she was so well known for. Finally she paused and took a moment. Squaring her shoulders, she replied bluntly. "Yes."

"Ah," he replied lightly and leaned casually against the wall. Eula wasn't paying attention to his tone or his expression. She was watching the dagger he was idly twiddling with in his paws.

Eula's long, black-tipped ears perked as the sergeant spoke again. "I heard you landed a hit on one of Lieutenant Sersea's patrol."

She decided to keep her mouth shut rather than confirm or deny. She turned her head slightly, looking off in another direction. This was not going to end well. She had admitted finding the training sessions boring, and her commanding officer knew she hit another hare. A hare that was older and therefore more important than her.

"You took on a higher ranking soldier and bruised his jaw," he told her, as if she wasn't aware what had happened. She glanced up in time to see him quirk an eyebrow. "Where are your injuries?"

He was watching her intently -why? She couldn't quite cover the confusion she was experiencing now. Taking a few moments as if pondering her answer, she eventually came up truthfully. "Jamie... I mean... Lieutenant Sersea pulled us apart before the fight got any further along."

"That shouldn't have been possible. You're half Private Daikon's size with not a fourth of his training."

Eula stood there, not knowing if she was supposed to apologize or smile. She was still terribly confused, however. She decided to just get it over with. "Sah.. Sarge. Am I in trouble?"

He looked at her for a long while, which was making her very uncomfortable. Finally, he held a paw forth. "Give me your stave, Contarelle."

And there it was. Hardly able to contain her disappointment, she surrendered the weapon. "Very well, sah."

He turned the stave over in his paws, then looked back at her. He was smiling.

"You'll need a proper weapon if you're to join Sersea's patrol."

~~~~~~~

A/N- Please review. It takes motivation to write chapters for other people to see. Thank you. =)