AN: I know most of these are when she's a fledgling, and they're mostly going to stay that way for a while, cause, you know, childhood is long and adventurous, but I wanted to dabble in a few of them when she's older. So, in this one, her and Sasha are young teenagers, and everyone's age is adjusted accordingly.

There was a major difference between the training field as a small fledgling and the training field when one has chosen the flock, they wish to live in. Though, perhaps this particular trainee was a bit different than the usual one was; having grown under the tutelage of the four archangels combined, having trained under the Powers since such a young age, having lived through a war that had consumed much of the early decades of their life.

No one missed the sparkle of pride in the archangel's eyes as he welcomed her to his ranks, officially, the daggers he'd gifted her when she turned old enough to participate in the choosing glistening from their place tucked into the straps of her boots. None missed the way the Powers cheered that particular young one as she stepped up to join the others who had chosen the life of a warrior. It was hard to miss the one messenger, at his masters side, hooting and hollering his congratulations.

After the excitement of the day had worn down, they were shown to their barracks by two of the Powers, the true colors of some of the other trainees began to show themselves. Sasha chose the bunk above hers, so that they may know their neighbor instead of having to start awkward conversation with someone new, and they exchanged quiet smiles as they climbed into their beds for a nights rest before training began early the next morning.

They were woken long before the rest of the other barracks were, hands tugging the young man out from his place in the top bunk, painfully crashing to the floor underneath him, cold water splashing on the young lady's face, startling her into immediate wakefulness.

"What have we here?"

A voice called out to them, as Sasha struggled to get back to his feet, his back aching from the impact on the hard-stone flooring, and Akeelah was wiping the water out of her eyes when it made them burn lightly from mere touch.

"A runt raised by the Commander himself, and another raised by the Captain, you may get special treatment from them on the training field, but in here, here we rule the roost."

Akeelah was the first to recover, glaring over her fingers at the other youngling that stood before them, arms crossed over his chest, standing as though he was superior then they were. She may be small, small for her age, but she was just as fierce as the rest of them, and she sprung up from her bunk with a swiftness only seen in a messenger and jabbed a finger into his chest in challenge.

"You're in charge of nobody. You just as much in charge as we all are. The only one who has any say over us is Nisroc."

"And what about when he's not here?" the other smacked her finger away "When he's not here, I'm in charge, runt."

A hand on her shoulder had her stopping mere moments before she plowed her curled fist into his nose, "Akeelah, no." she turned to meet her friends eyes over her shoulder, Sasha shook his head, "He's not worth it. You know he doesn't tolerate infighting among his flock of trainees." It was in their luck that they had been sorted under Nisroc's tutelage during training, though they both had a feeling that the Captain had taken a certain amount of pull to get them there, there was no doubting the argument that had been had between the band of brothers on who their youngest 'members' would fall under for official training. They had no doubt that Nisroc had pulled rank, something he did not do ordinarily, but did so when he felt that it called for it, and it would have ended the argument with him as victor.

He had looked rather smug when he'd called on them to join his legion of trainees.

Akeelah nodded, unclenching her fist, and began to turn back to her bunk to clear away the soaked blankets.

"Since we've all apparently decided to wake at this hour, perhaps, we should begin our morning."

The Captains voice had them all jumping, turning to spot him in the door way, donned in his tunic and trousers, pant legs tucked into his boots, the two of them remembered in that moment just how much of an early riser he was (which helped him gain the position he held) and knew immediately that he must have heard the commotion and come to investigate.

There was various noises of protest, there being a good three hours of sleep that could be had still, but he clapped his hands and they rushed to pull on their boots in his stead. He stepped aside as they raced out the door, stopping the last two with an arm stretched across the entrance, they had some concerns of them joining the ranks. It was common knowledge who had raised the two of them, and they had all worried that it might come to cause them trouble.

"What happened?"

Sasha and Akeelah exchanged quick looks though, shaking their heads in unison, as they turned to meet his gaze again "Nothing, Sir."

He heaved a sigh, but nodded, moving his arm to let them follow after their class. At a more leisured pace, he followed after them, only stopping at the door of the third years when a single soul stepped out "Keep a close eye. Something is happening."

"Yes, Nis."

The Power smiled, rubbing a hand over Paul's shaggy curls, and ushered him back within his own barrack with a pat to his cheek as he stepped forward to join his class on the training field.

…

There was nothing like washing and resting after a hard day of training, especially on sparing days, and there was nothing more than they wanted to do than just that. Being one of the last in the washing room, a perk of being one of the few females in the corps, Akeelah paid no mind as she closed her eyes to rinse the soap from her water tamed curls. Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she reached for her towel on the edge, and wrapped it around her body warmly.

Stepping out of the washing pool, she absently reached for where her top was supposed to be draped over the back of a stone bench while she rubbed a towel over her dripping curls, but her hand met nothing but air. She reached again, leaning a bit more to the side in case it had fallen onto the actual seat, she finally looked over when her hand didn't brush over the soft fabric of her top.

Her clothes were gone.

Someone had come in, while she was washing, and taken her clothes.

There was only one name that came to mind, but Sasha's voice, like an inner conscience, talked her down from confronting him and instead she wrapped the towel more securely around herself as she stepped out into the hall that led down to her barrack.

"Sasha?"

The young man looked up at the sound of his name, eyes going wide at her undressed form, and set his book aside.

"Akeelah!"

She ignored his exclamation "Have you seen my clothes?"

"No," he stood from where he sat on her bunk, "Do you have spare in your trunk?"

"I should."

Her friend nodded, kneeling to unsnap the stops on her trunk, and threw open the top. It was empty. All of her possessions had been taken; her clothes, her book of hymns that her old master had gifted her when she'd left his Choir, her daggers, boots, everything. Sasha flinched as he looked up to her silent, still, form. Like a volcano right before it erupts.

A fourth-year trainee poked his head into their barrack "The Commander wants everyone out on the field for addressing."

The young man turned to look at his friend "You can borrow some of my clothes." But she had already looked up at the snickering from across the room, and her brow set into the given challenge, leaving her to shake her head "No. I got this."

Sasha pinched the bridge of his nose, as close friends do at their other's antics, as she secured her towel around her middle and nodded. They wanted to embarrass her, knowing full well that the Commander wanted to address his flock this afternoon, then she would show them how fearless she was. The two friends marched out together, pointedly ignoring the mystified, surprised looks from the Powers and their Archangel, at the young lady's utter lack of covering.

The archangel snapped around to share a gaze with his Captain, from whom he merely pulled a shrug from, and turned back around with confusion and concern shining in his eyes.

Akeelah shivered lightly from the lack of clothing in the cool autumn breeze, but refused to back down from her tormentors challenge, and held her chin up in sign of triumph as the Commander slowly began to address them. She could feel the eyes on her, from the front, in the form of her friends, and from behind, in the form of her tormentors. She heard a whisper from behind, an agitated whisper to another, and she smiled to herself.

…

Sasha began to worry when he dug through his trunk and didn't brush over it, nor catch sight, of the leather-bound book that had been gifted to him by his guardian when the grant had been made official. He had eons of sketches in there, some personal visions, other persons he had wanted to remember, they were all his most prized possessions.

"Akeelah?"

His friend sat up from her bunk, lowering the book she had nicked from the Healer during their last visit, and her eyes met his in question.

"Have you seen my book?"

The young lady shook her head, sitting up completely, setting the book aside as she crawled down to the end of her bunk to peer down into his trunk at the foot of their bed. She leaned on her crossed arms, over the top of a step of the latter leading to the top bunk, "Is it under your pillow?"

"No." he shook his head in denial, pulling things from his trunk in case he had simply missed the prized book by the clutter, and soon had a pile forming at his side "I moved it before inspection yesterday."

As he pulled the last item from his trunk, leaving nothing but the bare insides, he leaned over the edge and crossed his own arms. Sadness took over at the loss, his mind whirling on the matter of if he had moved it again but shook those thoughts away. He had put it in his trunk, along with his pencils, and he remembered doing so because he had wrapped it in a tunic to ensure it would all stay together.

"Akeelah, I can't find it, I've looked everywhere."

She frowned, not liking that someone had purposefully went out of their way to make her friend suffer like this and glared up at the three who had decided it was in their best interest to make their lives as difficult as they could while in the barrack between trainings.

"Not everywhere."

He looked up as she crawled out of her bunk, stolen book completely forgotten, and crossed heatedly across the barrack to the bunk that their tormentors sat on. Others turned to watch, conversations slowly drifting into silence, watching as she held her hand out to the boy.

"Give it back, Samael."

Their tormentors smirk was the only confirmation needed in the matter of who had taken it, and Sashael felt dread build in his stomach at the thought of what could have happened to his beloved book, "I have no idea what you're talking about, runt."

She stood as stiff as a statue, hand still outstretched "You know exactly what I'm talking about." Her glare was as heated as the archangels was known to be when someone pushed passed his limits, "Give it back."

"Whatever are you talking about?" Samael looked smug, he knew what they were talking of, and he smiled a bit too innocently at the female trainee in front of him "Give what back?"

"The book. We know you took it. No one else saw Sasha put it in his trunk, no one but you. So, give it back."

"Oh!" he nodded, a malicious light coming to his eyes "A book? Was it a leather-bound book? A rune molded on the front cover?"

"Yes. Give it."

"Oh, well why didn't you ask for that, I took it with me during washing for a bit of entertainment."

Sasha turned and bolted from her side, and her fists tightened, but he knew that even with favor that violence was not tolerated and laughed when she merely bit back her anger and turned to follow after her friend. Akeelah ran into the washroom a moment after the other hand, looking around for any sign of her friend, and ran forward when she spotted the back of his head over the top of a stone bench separating the showers from the dry space.

He knelt in a thin pool of warm water, trousers getting soaked, and she came up behind him in time to see his hands close around a soaked object.

"Sasha?"

Completely destroyed eyes turned to look up at her, lips turning as if to form words, but they were swallowed with a soft sob, as he turned to look back at his ruined possession. She knelt with him, sitting with her legs curled under her, grasping on the book with him.

"Sasha." What was there to say now, he was heartbroken, she could see it in his eyes. The book had been a gift from Nisroc when he had become his official guardian, he had kept it with him since the day he had been given it, it was his most treasured possession. "Let's tell. He'd be in his office. We can tell him what's going on."

But he shook his head, pulling the ruined book up to hug to his chest, his eyes had hardened when he looked up at her in the next moment. Something had snapped within, something that had been well managed, taught to keep under tamed fingers, but he let it go. This had been too far, it had pushed him too far, and it was personal.

"No. We do this on our end." He grabbed her hand tightly, "If they want to give us Hell, then we'll give them Hell in return."

…

"What in Heavens name was that?"

Abraxos was furious, as he turned between watching the healer patch the young boy up, and then to the ones who had meant to have his sides during the group sparring match. Blood was spilling from his nose as though it was a pipe of water that had burst, the strike from their opponent had clearly broken it, and broken it rather extensively.

It only served to anger him more when the smug light flitted across the young lady's eyes as she stared at their supposed partner.

"You were to have him covered!"

"I slipped."

"No." he waved a hand before him, cutting the young one-off midsentence "You deliberately stepped to the side, I watched you, you allowed your opponent to pass and get that strike in."

"I don't care what it looked like to you!" she raised her voice in return, her grip on her daggers tightened as she took a step forward, they didn't know it, of course, but Samael had gotten what was coming to him. "I'm telling you that I slipped."

The Power raised a finger to her, pointing it sternly in her face, well aware of the leniency that was being shown, had any other recruit spoken back to him like that they would have immediately been sent to their Mentor for such disrespect "Don't you ever use that tone with me, young lady." Abraxos gestured to her grip on her weapons, "And you had better loosen that grip, right now."

Akeelah's chin raised in defiance, something that had always gotten her into trouble the past, her fearlessness was her greatest strength and her greatest flaw "Then don't make assumptions that have no fact value."

"You are walking a fine line, missy."

"I step over your stupid line. You don't scare me!"

This time, it was the Power that took a step forward, coming to stand right before her, and he pointed to the benches on the far end of the field, and more noticeably, it was directly behind where her Mentor currently stood.

"You are benched from training! Go!"

Nisroc looked up at her walking passed him, his head turned as she completely ignored him, her grip on her weapons dangerously tight, and eyes blazing with the same fire their Commander did when he was beyond angered. He watched her for a moment, as she kicked over a bucket of drinking water, and dropped onto the bench with a glare in his brother's direction.

He was surprised when his grown charge soon followed her, having allowed the others to get passed him, plowing the hilt of their training swords into the noses of Samael's friends. He watched his charge take a seat next to their Baby Power (though she had clearly outgrown the nickname—she would never truly outgrow it), leaning in to whisper something to her, and an ill-meant smile slowly spread over her features.

The Captain would speak to his soldier on the matter later, after the sun had set and the trainees had returned to their barracks for the night, Abraxos would only shrug, "I don't know what's gotten into them. I wish I did though. That sort of behavior is not like them."

…

"I think that is more than enough."

The five of them separated at the sound of his voice, having not heard anyone come in after them, but they realized in all the wrong ways that they were not alone in the armory any longer, and their brawl ended just as quickly as it had started. Five sets of eyes widened in surprise and horror at the sight of their Captain standing there, his arms crossed over his chest, eyes as hard as stone. There was only two of them that remembered that particular look from their young age, nothing in his training methods had changed, he was still the most hands-on Mentor there was to be had.

"The five of you to my office, now."