2 - My Nocturnal Visitor

"Have you ever fought before, Miss Sparrow?" my instructor, Rowan, asked me with a cold gleam in her eyes. I shook my head. "Well then," Rowan said with a sadistic smile, "we're going to have some fun."

Training had begun four weeks ago. The first four weeks involved Kaia and I building up our strength and stamina so we were physically able to go through training. Those gym sessions and 10km runs each morning were the only time during the day that we saw each other.

Now we were starting to fight, and we were separated. Again. Kaia had gone of with a man called Vans, while I was stuck with Little Miss Sadist.

I sighed, mentally preparing myself. "So, what's first?" I asked.

Rowan seemed pleased with my attitude. "First," she said dramatically, "I'm going to teach you how to throw a punch. While you may think it simply involves swinging your arm around, it is more complicated than that. Different angles require different preparation. Then I am going to teach you how to predict your enemy's movement and dodge, before offering an attack of your own. Following that I will teach you to block and counter your opponent's hits."

"And how long will this take?"

"As long as necessary."

I let out a long breath. "Why do I get the feeling that's just the opening credits, as it were?" I mumbled.

Rowan chuckled. "You have good intuition, Sparrow," she said approvingly. "And you are right - those are just a fundamental basics. After that we will work on improving your speed and flexibility. I have a feeling you won't be relying too heavily on strength alone - you seem to be the tactical type. Am I right?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I've never fought before. But I like to think things through, yeah. So maybe you're right."

Rowan smiled. "Well then, let's get started."

"Ow." For something like the thirtieth time that word escaped my lips. Training had been brutal. Rowan hadn't gone easy on me at all, and I was aching and bruised all over. Even so, I felt accomplished. I'd nailed the dodging and countering moves pretty damn quick (if I do say so myself), although my defence and general offensive strategies were more than a little lacking, and thoroughly made up for the two things I was actually good at. As Rowan had predicted, I instinctively went for the tactic of moving about a lot, rather than just throwing my weight around. I sought openings and took advantage of them when they appeared; I didn't just jump in and prey I'd out-smash my opponent.

I had a feeling Kaia had gone for strength over speed.

I was the brain. She was the brawn.

Sleep that night came slowly, and, as had become a habit since moving to this hellhole, I slept lightly. So I noticed immediately when my door swung open. Not because of the noise - my door was freakishly silent - but because of the tiniest draught of air. I slowly opened my eyes, although I don't know what I expected to gain from doing so, since I couldn't see anything.

The smallest creak of leather alerted me to the fact there was someone by my bed, and I reacted instantly. My fist shot out, connecting with tough leather (ow!) and causing a slight huff from whoever it was who had crept into my cell. I jumped out of bed and darted to the other side of the room.

It was quiet for a few seconds, the only sounds being the breathing of two people and my heartbeat in my ears. Then, a low chuckle, followed by a deep voice which rang a dim bell in my mind. "Congratulations," the faceless voice said. "Unlike your friend, you detected me beside you. It seems there is a fighter in you, after all."

"Would you care to explain why you decided to sneak up on me in the middle of the night?" I snapped, still tense.

"It is part of your training," he answered. "You should always anticipate being ambushed. Being able to react in time will no doubt be the difference between living and dying."

"So Pierce ordered it," I grumbled.

He chuckled again. "Yes, child."

"My name is Daphne," I muttered, returning to my bed, not even needing to be able to see to know exactly where it was. "I don't appreciate being called a child."

"But you are one."

"Nevertheless, I'd prefer it if you addressed me by my real name."

The man shifted - I could tell because his clothes creaked again. "Your name no longer matters," he said lowly. "From now on you are a soldier of Hydra, and thus you will respond to the name they have given you."

"And that is?"

"Silverthorn," he answered.

I pursed my lips. "Why that?"

"I don't know yet," he answered. "One day it will no doubt become obvious." He started to walk out, before pausing for one reason or another. It was a moment before he spoke again. "Put more force into your punch from your shoulders and back," he said. "At the moment you are simply using your arm, however in order for the hit to be more powerful, you need to involve the muscles in the rest of your torso as well."

I couldn't help but smile to myself. "Thanks for the advice," I muttered, and then a moment later the strange man was gone. Only then did I realise I hadn't asked for you name - or title, if he had one instead of a name. I shrugged. Maybe if he came back tomorrow I could ask him then.

The man did come back. And once again I greeted him with a punch. This time, though, I didn't run to the other side of my cell. I simply sat up on my bed and rubbed my tired eyes. I ached everywhere. Each movement brought pain to my body, and I had more bruises than I had ever had on my body before.

"Decided to try to sneak up on me again, did you?" I asked, yawning.

There was that familiar chuckle again. "Once again; I was just following orders."

I nodded, then realised he probably couldn't see me, so said, "Fair enough." I paused. "You never told me your name."

"No, I didn't."

I waited, but he said nothing more. I groaned. "Am I seriously going to have to elaborate?" I queried in exasperation. "Ugh, fine! What is your name? Or title, or whatever..."

I could almost feel his amusement. "Why are you so interesting in finding out?"

"I don't like talking to people whose names I don't know," I explained simply. Understanding I probably wasn't going to get an answer to my question, I changed the topic. "How's Kaia?"

"Dremora," he corrected, making me smile to myself. No doubt Kaia chose that name for herself - she was such an Elder Scrolls nerd. There was a moment of quiet, before the man answered my original question. "She's doing well enough. She is a stronger fighter than you, however her reactions and impulses are considerably less impressive than yours."

I chuckled. "Yeah, we've always been able to kind of... fill each other's gaps, I guess. Where I'm weak, she's strong, where she's weak, I'm strong. It's actually rather useful."

"Well," the man said, "by the time your training is complete, you'll both be strong across the board."

"Glad to hear it," I said, yawning again.

He chuckled for what felt like the thousandth time. "I'll let you sleep, Silver. Until next time."

"I'll try not to punch you next time," I muttered, falling back against my lumpy pillow.

"You did better today," he said suddenly. "Still not perfect, but better."

"I'll take it," I muttered, before sleep swallowed me up again.

The problem was, I didn't stay asleep for long. After what couldn't have been longer than an hour, my doors opened again, and this time more than one person entered my cell. They stayed by the door, staring at me. I groaned and sat up, glaring at them in return.

"You are wanted in the training room."

"What the hell do they want of me at this time of night?" I snapped, getting up anyway. I didn't want to be punished for taking too much time.

"Our instructions were only to take you there."

I sighed. "Fine, lead the way."

I was led through the now-familiar hallways towards the training room, only to pause outside the door when I saw a child of no more than six or seven lingering by Pierce, looking around with curious but slightly scared eyes. When he met my gaze, I simply stared at him for a long time, before being nudged into the training room by one of my escorts.

The usual room had been changed slightly. Instead of a five by five metres square of hard mats, there was a full-sized boxing ring. And stood awkwardly in the ring was Kaia.

"Kaia?" I asked quietly to myself, before catching myself and saying, this time louder, "Dremora, what are you doing in here?"

She looked at me and shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I was called here, no doubt just like you."

I nodded slowly, before being ushered into the ring. "I think they're going to make us fight," I murmured to her, watching as a crowd of at least twenty men, several who were incredibly bulky, and a few others in smart suits, ambled into the room. The little boy I saw from earlier also walked in, clutching Pierce's leg tightly.

"That's Alexander, Pierce's son," Kaia whispered to me.

"As in the Alexander Pierce?" I hissed, eyes narrowing as I caught his eye once again. Fear filled his eyes for a moment, before he hid behind his father's legs again.

Kaia nodded absently. "The very same."

"Is it wrong how badly I want him dead already?" I asked her, and Kaia shot me a surprised look.

"Um... Yeah, just a little bit. He's just a kid, for God's sake!"

"He won't be for long," I murmured. "And I think you're overlooking everything he's going to do in the future."

Kaia shook her head. "We can't punish a boy for crimes he hasn't committed."

"Yet," I added through clenched teeth.

Kaia shook her head. "We kill him and someone else will just take his place," she reminded me. "And for all we know it could be someone ten times worse." Her look turned concerned. "Don't tell me they're getting to you."

"If they were, I wouldn't want their future leader dead," I reminded her coldly.

"If they weren't, you wouldn't be thinking such thoughts at all," stated Kaia harshly. "Snap yourself out of it, Daphne. This isn't you."

I sighed. "Honestly, I don't know anymore. I hate Hydra with all my being, but I've found something strange in what they're teaching me. I like it."

Kaia blinked a few times, before looking sadly up at me. "Just be careful," she muttered, before stepping away, back to her side of the ring. I copied, rolling up my sleeves slightly.

"I see you've already worked out why you're here," Pierce said, a strange silence falling over the room. "I am aware it has only been two days since your training started, however we put a lot of emphasis on constant trial and improvement. Sparring against unknown partners gives you experience in learning to anticipate and react. Not to mention you've gone in opposite directions when it comes to your fighting technique."

"When does the fight end?" I asked, slipping into my relaxed fighting stance. It was one that allowed me to dart from side to side easily and quickly.

"When one of you no longer has the ability to fight back," he answered simply. "Whether through exhaustion, injury, or being knocked unconscious, it doesn't matter."

I sighed quietly, looking up at my friend. "I apologise in advance," I whispered, and she smirked a smirk that I quite easily read to mean 'likewise'.

"Begin."

As expected, Kaia didn't wait around. She charged straight for me. I stood still until the last moment, before ducking underneath her arching hand and sending my elbow into her side, causing her to stumble into the elastic boundaries. She immediately swung again, this time catching my shoulder as I tried to dodge. A third punch came my way, and this time I caught her hand before using her pushing force to throw her past me, once again into the boundary. I spun around a kicked downwards, planting my foot firmly in the crook of her knee and causing her leg to buckle. Almost immediately her other leg swung around, knocking me onto the ground. I rolled away and got up, noticing Kaia had done the same.

My heart was pumping hard in my chest as adrenaline flooded my veins, and while my hands began to shake from the adrenaline, my focus and eyesight sharpened a surprisingly large amount. I watched as she sprung at me again, her arm arching down from above her head, and I instinctively lifted both hands to stop her attacking, before harshly kicking her in the stomach. Kaia crumpled in front of me, coughing as she tried to recover from me winding her, but before she could get up again I leapt onto her back and pinned her arms behind her back, using my weight to hold her down. She struggled for a few seconds, before letting out a shallow breath and relaxing.

There was a slow clapping from behind me, and I lifted my head in time to see Pierce approaching with a cold smile on his face. "Congratulations, Silver," he said, and I used that as my cue to tell me the fight was over, so I released my grip on Kaia and got off her, offering her a hand up. She accepted, much to my surprise. I was kind of expecting her to be pissed off that I'd gotten her pinned, and she was known to hold a grudge. "Your mind is clearly quite tuned to fighting," he commented.

No, I thought to myself, I've just played a lot of actions games and watched a hell of a lot of fight scenes in movies.

Of course, I didn't tell Pierce this.

"And you say you just found these girls at your doorstep, Pierce?" a man in a suit asked, looking both impressed and simultaneously dubious.

"Indeed," Pierce murmured. "Under quite curious circumstances, too," he added, looking me dead in the eye. He had used all manner of manipulative and persuasive techniques to get me to spill what I knew about the future, but I had yet to cave. The only thing we both knew for certain was that 1953 was definitely not my time period. I didn't know whether he automatically assumed Kaia came from the same place as me, but judging by the fact his eyes only lingered on me, I found it safe to assume he had yet to discuss such a thing with her. "I hear Silverthorn here also has a defensive mind during her sleep - she has yet to be caught off-guard by her night-time visitor."

"That is more to do with the fact my bed was placed directly in the line of any draught that comes through my door," I said, figuring butting into the conversation couldn't end too badly for me. "I have to say the guy you picked is as silent as a ghost."

Pierce chuckled. "As was the idea," he said with a twisted smile. He turned to two of the Hydra men who were standing by the door. "I think it's time for their individual testing," he said, and instantly the two men stepped forward. Kaia and I wordlessly moved into line with them, being directed down two opposite corridors once we left the training room.

The man leading me stopped in front of an unfamiliar door, gesturing for me to open it and go on inside without a word. Curious, I pushed down the handle and stepped inside, waiting patiently for the ancient (in my mind, at least - in this decade I assumed it was state-of-the-art) technology to detect my movement and turn on the lights. They came on slowly, one by one, until the room was revealed in its entirety.

Before me, hanging on hooks or sitting on the large table in the middle of the room, were many different medieval-styled weapons. Flails, maces, hammers, daggers, several different types of sword (including, I noticed, a few falchions and scimitars), throwing knives and, at the far corner, a few different models of bow and arrow.

"I think I'm in heaven," I muttered to myself.