They were woken early, but Siobhan was used to getting up early. In a small village, no one slept past dawn. She had gotten up, dressed, and made her bed, when she heard a pounding at her door.
"Siobhan! If you're not up already, you need to be getting up. Whoever has pulled morning training duty will be here in five minutes." She smirked at the panic in Nascha's voice and figured that the older boy felt bad for not having gotten her up sooner or drilled her more thoroughly after the second night of feasting-this time in honor of all four of them.
She did not say anything, but checked her still borrowed uniform in the mirror and stepped out of her room. "Thanks, but I'm ready now."
Siobhan was learning how to read her colleagues, at least a little bit, and she was convinced that the slight upward curve on Karan's features meant that he was impressed. She smiled and took a seat, "So… um… what exactly is training like?"
Karan shook his head slightly, "It's about making us ready for our duty. Physically, mentally, emotionally. It's demanding, and they don't care about ideas such as 'fairness'."
Rolling his eyes, Nascha finished putting on his boots. "It's not that bad. I mean, technically, Karan's right, but it can be fun. We get a full education, though I'm guessing it might be a while before you start normal lessons."
Before Siobhan could ask what he meant, Tuon came into the room. While he was dressed sharply, he did not look like he was fully awake quite yet. "Why do we have to be ready so early? Morning exercises would do the exact same thing at a reasonable hour."
His boots on, Nascha stood laughing, "It's character building, or something."
The door opened and the three boys snapped to attention immediately. Siobhan followed only a moment behind.
"Good morning, ladies. Well, I see our little princess managed to get up in time and get dressed. If that's supposed to impress me, I'm sorry to disappoint." Siobhan frowned slightly, Nephrite had made it clear that he was completely opposed to her presence, so she was not completely surprised-except that even Ethan could throw better insults than that.
"Since we have the new girl, we're going to do five clicks, individually this morning. That way you won't have to wait on her to finish before you all can start your own breakfast."
Siobhan frowned, not entirely understanding what he meant. She supposed they would be racing for five clicks, and she remembered that Tuon had warned her against holding them back, but she had expected something much harder.
She realized that Nephrite was watching her, and he smiled as he moved to stand in front of her, "Something wrong, Siobhan?"
"No, sir." She shook her head slightly, looking up at his eyes. He did not look mean, just harsh, and she wondered why.
"Is there a question then? Did I not make myself clear?" Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she caught a slight hand motion from Nascha, and wondered what exactly he was trying to tell her.
"It's just a five click race?"
"Yes, and you always address me or my bothers as sir."
"Yes, sir." Siobhan nodded slightly.
"Well, let's get started." He smiled, looking triumphant as he lead the four of them outside. Once they were lined up outside he smiled, "Siobhan, just follow the others. If they get so far ahead of you that you cannot see them, the course is marked with red ribbons."
Frowning, she nodded.
Siobhan had raced plenty in Eire, and she'd learned that for long distant races, one did not go as fast as possible. Sprinting would simply not win the race or beat the bully, and she had decided that Nephrite was being as big a bully as Ethan had ever been.
The older boys were bigger and had longer legs. Their strides were such that she did not even try to catch up with them, but rather focused on her own running. She passed Tuon before the end of the first click, and while she could hear him close behind her, she managed to get a few meters ahead of him. When she crossed the end of the course behind Karan and Nascha, but a good thirty seconds ahead of Tuon, the look of shock on Nephrite's face was all the victory she needed.
Karan nodded to her, the small smile she'd seen that morning growing into something more easily recognizable. When Tuon crossed the line, scowling, Nascha had laughed, "Tuon, you were all worried about a girl holding us back. Looks like there was nothing for you to worry about after all. You're still the slowest."
The blond boy grumbled, shooting a hateful glance at Siobhan before turning his glare onto Nascha. "I'm still faster than Endymion!"
Karan shook his head, "Enough, you two. Tuon, your time has improved greatly." He turned to the still stunned Nephrite and bowed, "Lord Nephrite, if we may be excused to breakfast now?"
The man nodded and waved, "Go on. After breakfast, you and Nascha will meet with Kunzite for sword work. Tuon, Siobhan, you'll be meeting with your mentors. You might can run girl, but we'll see how you do after a day with the stone."
Tuon groaned, but Nascha clapped his hand on his shoulder as they headed towards the mess hall, "You'll be joining us soon enough, Tuon. You just have to stop resisting."
Siobhan followed behind, wondering what that was about as Karan walked beside her. "You did well. Survive today, and you might just have what it takes."
She looked up at him, "I don't understand."
"You will." He smiled to her, and Siobhan believed that maybe she had already won the apparent leader of their group over.