Right! Couple of small things, the beginning of this chapter will read very similar in places to the ending of chapter 2a. H&H should be fairly self explanatory, but just in case it's Hand to Hand, I've assumed that there would be levels we'll say 1-10 and adapted it for my purposes to the Beginner, Low, Mid and High scale. So Mid 1 H&H would be a newbie while a Mid 3 H&H would be a somewhat more advanced cadet, moving up the scale to 10 which is obviously expert…I hope that makes sense! Okay, I think that's everything, reviews are my inspiration so let me know what your think. Enjoy!
Chapter 2b: Memories Revisited and First Impressions
The blinking lights of the shuttle console, told Darrel 'Pidge' Stoker they were on course so he let his mind wander, technically there was nothing to do but sit back and wait. As he partially listened to the story Hunk was telling about his latest escapade against the kitchen staff, Pidge found himself watching Cadet Kemuri out of the corner of his eye.
He'd seen her attention waver from the data pad they'd given her on the lions, and also seen her look towards him and Hunk before she'd turned slightly and seemingly stared off into nothing. Recognizing the look of someone lost in a memory, Pidge took the opportunity to study her more carefully.
The feature that had caught his attention first had been her eyes. When they'd first met in the bright sunlight he'd been forced to compare them to molten silver. Now in the darker interior of the shuttle he noted they were dove grey and partially closed in her memories.
Her long red hair several shades darker then Larmina's was pulled back into a no nonsense braid. Form and functionality over aesthetics he supposed, but it left him wondering if 'no nonsense' was a definition of her character. A fleeting thought a female Keith might be joining the team had Pidge snorting mentally before he continued his study.
Her posture screamed military cadet, yet Pidge recalled a note that stated she was failing Martial Arts and his eyes narrowed as he studied her a little closer. Dressed in the standard black and grey cadet uniform she could pass for one out of hundreds of cadets. A proportionally muscular body, no doubt from her years of gymnastics training that was slim yet undeniably female.
Pidge shook his head to chase away his errant thoughts, knowing that while the 'package' might look pretty but unremarkable from a soldiers view, there was more to Cadet Kemuri then what you first saw.
Remembering the email she'd sent him, still safely stored in the encrypted file on his laptop, he smirked and wondered absently if she was aware that he knew who had sent it. The fact that someone had been brazen enough to hack his email account and leave him such a message had infuriated and impressed him in equal parts.
Some careful research into Cadet Kemuri's records and he was no less impressed but certainly less, surprised that she'd attempted it! Cadet Kemuri might appear quiet and unassuming, but there was a fire and spirit underneath that would certainly add a bit of 'zest' to the team.
Glancing at the chronometer and realizing there was only 5 minutes before they'd be landing, he turned in his seat, loathing too interrupt her memories, but knowing that she'd want to be aware for touchdown.
Clearing his throat he winced at the startled jump she gave, and as grey eyes met his own he found himself falling back on the very protocol he and Hunk had insisted they didn't need.
"Are you alright Cadet?"
"Fine Tec…." Waving his hand abruptly had her grinning at him slightly, and he found himself returning that small grin with one of his own.
"I believe we covered the fact that we don't stand for formalities,"
"True, but you did address me as Cadet!" Liz replied, "If I'm not to use Tech Sergeant, perhaps you should call me Liz, instead."
"She's got you there, little buddy!" Hunk jumped in, causing him to shake his head in exasperation.
"Fair enough, just letting you know, we're about 5 minutes out from Arus!" Was the only reply he could make before turning back to the controls, continuing to watch Cadet Kemuri out of the corner of his eye.
The faint flash of some unidentifiable emotion in her eyes as she gazed out the view screen had him confused and wondering what was going through her head. He stored it away for later thought, as he guided the shuttle down to the tarmac. Pidge frowned slightly seeing only Allura and Keith waiting on the far side,expecting to see the rest of the team and the cadets waiting for them.
Hitting the panel to open the hatch Pidge looked back over his shoulder and chuckled softly as he watched Hunk and Liz struggling playfully over Liz's duffle. Then the smile on his face faded as he recalled that the duffle was the only piece of luggage Liz had with her, and he found himself wondering again what kind of life she'd been living. Pidge was no expert on 17 year old girls, hell he wasn't an expert on girls, period! However, in what little he knew about them, most of them were prone to having at least a couple of suitcases, not just a worn Garrison issue duffle.
Walking quickly across the tarmac, to join Keith and Allura, Pidge couldn't stop his mind from whirling on the enigma that was Cadet Kemuri.
"Pidge, welcome home" Allura smiled and hugged her small friend, and then looked past him towards the shuttle, where Liz and Hunk were walking towards them. Turning to watch, Pidge grinned slightly as he realized Liz had won the struggle to carry her own bag, and at the disgruntled look his big friend was wearing.
"Your Highness, Commander Kogane may I present Cadet Eliza Kemuri," Pidge stated, and then stepped to the side.
Holding up a hand as Liz started to attempt a curtsey Allura stated, "Pidge has forgotten that I don't stand for the formalities, Allura is fine." Glancing at Liz's duffle and back toward the shuttle, Allura frowned, "Shall I send…" Catching Allura's eye and shaking his head Pidge mouthed 'later' and breathed an inward sigh of relief as Allura turned to Keith and quickly finished, "someone ahead to tell Lance or shall we surprise him?"
"If Lance isn't here to meet us, I think he deserves the surprise," Pidge said catching Keith's eye, and thanking every deity he could remember that his commander was so good at reading between the lines when Keith simply nodded, though Pidge didn't miss the 'we're going to talk later' message in his commanders dark eyes.
The walk through the castle was uneventful, with the only sound being Allura's giving Liz a small history lesson as they walked along, and Pidge took the opportunity to observe Liz a little more. He saw how she listened intently to everything Allura was saying, but also appeared to be taking in all the entrances and exits at the same time. Pidge noted that Keith seemed quite pleased with the attention she was giving to her surroundings.
Reaching the door to training room 4, Pidge wasn't surprised to hear Lance's voice berating Daniel. He shook his head, knowing this was not the most flattering introduction to the cadets, but he supposed a truthful one. As Pidge followed the others into the training room, he couldn't wait to see what Liz's reaction would be.
Searching Liz's face as she watched Daniel working against the sim, Pidge's eyebrows drew together in confusion. She appeared to be both immensely impressed, and thoroughly pissed off at the same time; Pidge couldn't help but wonder what had her so pissed.
As the sim landed a blow against Daniel's jaw, knocking his head halfway around as a small streak of blood appeared, Pidge noticed that Liz jumped slightly hearing the sharply barked "Sim Freeze!" That caused the heads of the four on and near the mats to look in the direction of the door, where Keith was standing.
Stepping forward slightly and letting out a low impressed whistle, Liz applauded lightly as Daniel got to his feet wiping the back of his fist across his cheek and mouth removing the blood. The 'are you messing with me' look on his face had Pidge chuckling inwardly and he could tell that it had amused Liz as well.
A low snort, from Lance drew Liz's attention to him with a glare and narrowed eyes that most likely would've clued a more observant man into the fact that someone was not impressed with him.
"Not something to get excited about. " Lance stated with a snarky smirk and gave another snort, "In fact that was his worst round yet!"
"Really? His worst?" Liz turned to look once again in Daniel's direction, "Then I'm certainly impressed by Cadet….?"
"Chandler," Was the somewhat grudging reply from Daniel and the furrow of his eyebrows told Pidge he was waiting for the punch line, even though Pidge could tell there wasn't going to be one.
Pausing slightly with a frown Liz continued, "and what is a High 2 H&H?" she asked.
Taking in the sneer growing on Lance's face from Cadet Kemuri's blatantly ignoring his statements, Pidge found himself grinning inwardly at the fact that his friend wasn't getting the fawning he so often expected.
"Beginner 3" Daniel answered the look of confusion on his face deepening.
Growling softly Liz snapped out, "Then I'm doubly impressed, that you're not on your way to the med bay, or lying dead on the mat, after facing what is the equivalent of 3 on 1!" Four sets of eyes snapped forward regarding Liz with disbelieving stares! Allura's face was a mask of confusion and Pidge wasn't at all shocked to hear Keith's voice ring out in a cold clipped tone.
"Explain!"
Watching as Liz pulled herself automatically into an 'at attention' stance Pidge wondered where this was going.
"This sim is based off the Academy ones, yes?" Liz questioned Keith respectfully, and at his nod she continued, "Then you know that each time someone fights the sim, its holo memory stores its opponent's moves, and it recycles them into its own programming to work with as a way of improving the fighter's technique!" A snort from Lance and his hand moving in a 'get to the point' gesture brought a faint trace of a sneer to Liz's face before she schooled her features back normal.
"Your point?" Lance drawled, and Pidge couldn't help but wince at the sarcasm that had laced his tone.
Liz's voice, now icy cold continued, "I'm only a Mid 1 H&H and can't fight my way out of a wet paper bag, but even I can see the 3 distinctly different fighting styles the sim was using, one being Mr. Hot Shot over there…."
Lance's growl and his snapped, "That's Lieutenant Hot Shot to you Cadet," had Liz shooting daggers out of her eyes as she pinned Lance with a glare that could strip paint off the Lions.
"Funny thing that, respect, like a rank is earned, not demanded, Lieutenant" the word Lieutenant being gritted out, laced with barely disguised venom, and Pidge had the feeling that if looks could kill Lance wouldn't be with them for very long.
Liz turned her attention back to Keith and continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "the second style was similar though not exactly so to Sensi Hidoshi from the Academy."
Pidge winced recognizing almost immediately the verbal description of his commanding officers fighting style, and was slightly surprised to see Keith wince as well knowing his commanding officers usual attention to details, such as making sure the sim was reset at the end of a session.
Taking on the look of someone who was lost in trying to recall a lesson or piece of information Liz paused before continuing," and the third I didn't recognize, but if I had to put a name to it I'd say the closest would be Ninja."
Pidge frowned knowing he hadn't been anywhere near the sim in over a week, and he shrugged his shoulders as Keith sent him a questioning glance. Noting the sudden draining of color in Lance and Larmina's faces at the mention of the other two fighting styles, Pidge groaned softly.
"My point is that the sim was not reset at the beginning of the lesson." Liz finished and Pidge nodded making a mental note to add a safety protocol to the sim to reset with each new fight.
Lance moving forward before Keith had a chance to say anything had Pidge on edge, waiting for a comment or fight between Lance and Liz. To his surprise Lance ignored Liz completely focusing all of his attention on Daniel.
"Consider this your upgrade to Mid 3 Cadet" was the strangled comment, before Lance, still pale as chalk disappeared out the door.
The heavy silence that hung over the training room after Lance's departure had Pidge wishing he knew what to say and then immediately thankful when Allura softly cleared her throat.
Watching Liz closely Pidge was confused to see the confidence she'd shown evaporate, and be replaced with a hint of trepidation, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he filed away yet another piece of information for later study.
"Larmina why don't you and the boys, show Cadet Kemuri to her room." Allura suggested in her diplomatic tone, one that Pidge recognized as a cover to the questions she was bound to have once their core group was alone.
A sharp nod from Larmina followed by her making a quick motion to the boys with her hand was punctuated by Keith's low toned.
"Dinner is at 0700!"
As the cadets filed out of the room, Pidge started to move towards the sim controls on the wall, when a restraining hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. Turning a questioning eye to his commander, Pidge caught the concerned glint in Keith's eyes and knew instinctively that Keith was going to suggest the team make finding Lance, and checking that he was alright their first priority.
Need to throw out a MAJOR Thanks to SallyOn who's joined the beta team and been flooded with my constant bad writing and pathetic whining. And also Thanks to White-Tiger-of-The-West for rough draft beta reads and putting up with my constant chatter. Both have been huge life savers, Love ya guys!