Training Day

Finn

It was strange entering the academy. I had no idea what to expect. Who was training there? Aerrow mentioned Snipe… Maybe he would be there? Ravess? Cyclonis wouldn't be here… She couldn't be bothered with lowly Talons.

And, of course, Kai would act out. If there was anything Aerrow should've told her it would be to keep her mouth shut… Sure, I don't mind, but it could've gone a hell of a lot worse. Luckily, I managed to escape before I was caught up in the mess.

I slinked away, grabbing our supplies and her weapons before disappearing. Was it safe to have these around? I was surprised the guy didn't take them and break them… I threw the pack over my shoulder and made my way to the designated bunker, finding Kai to be scrubbing the floors with a less-than-ideal tool—a worn-out rag.

I couldn't help but laugh a bit, knowing I had been forced to do the same chore on the Condor many times.

Kai slammed the rag down, looking up. "What? You think it's funny? You do it."

I set our stuff down on an empty bunk and knelt down, helping out. "I'll lend a hand… Sound good?" I did feel bad for not having stopped her or the instructor. It was partially my fault she was in trouble.

She smiled. "Thanks."

It was nearly an hour and a half later before we managed to make it look decent.

Kai laid back on the cement and sighed. "Finally... Thanks for your help, Finn."

I laughed. "Don't expect much of it."

She smiled.

Kai

"Listen up, rookies!"

Finn and I were instantly separated into two groups, then two groups again. The lower, and the upper because of our age—then between males and females. I sighed and looked around.

An elder woman held my chin and forced me to look straight ahead. "You all are here to be talons, yes? If not, you're screwed anyway. Today! You shall be tested and graded. We will be seeing who needs more work!"

I looked away again and she grabbed my chin. "I see you'll be the first, then! What's your name?"

"Zaria Everett," I growled.

"Ooh, defiant… I heard we had a rebel from a friend of mine. I just didn't expect her in my group! This should be interesting. Everett, get on the trainer and show us just what exactly it is you can provide… You!" she pointed toward another scrawny female. "Oppose her. Now!"

The girl walked toward the two training Switchblades ahead of us. "I really don't like this already…"

I looked over toward her. "Well… try to have fun! I haven't been flying for long so this will be something new."

"It's in-air combat," she reminded me.

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking in a sharp breath. I can do this, I can do this, I reassured myself. I had never fought in the sky. What did they expect me to do?

"The trainers are only equipped with Stun crystals… So it won't be that bad."

We took our separate ways and I climbed onto the opposite trainer.

"First one forced off their trainer, loses. Go!"

With enough room between us and the crowd, the first test was to not flatten anyone out before take-of. I passed that simple test in an instant. However… getting the girl off her bike was going to be difficult—not to mention that we're in the air.

I scratched at my back once I was stable in the air, readjusting the tightly-strapped parachute they supplied both me and the girl. I didn't understand how Talons could work in such a non-maneuverable uniform!

Noting that I seemed preoccupied with my parachute, the girl took action and fired a stun blast toward me. My instincts instantly took over from then-on-out. I took the Switchblade into a nosedive and spun the body into a roll, pulling up once I was safe.

A few students cheered, but silence from the pink-haired chief told me it wasn't good enough. No, simple tricks weren't going to cut it. I had to get her off her bike, and fast. I tipped the bike as far upward as it would go to match the other girl's altitude. She knew I was able to evade her attacks faster than she could throw them at me, and that was going to be an issue.

"Talons always blink first. Always." What did that mean? Heading straight for the girl, I was about to find out exactly what that meant. "Talons always blink first!" If their lives were threatened when trying to kill someone, they'd rather not kill them!

Head-on collision. Perfect…

Continuing straight for her, it was a game of chicken. And I ultimately won. The girl swung her bike out of the way and I continued on forward. In another attempt of chicken, I had a different plan. Feeling more confident this round, the girl chipped in and decided to play again.

Heading straight for her, only inches away, I climbed up and stood on my seat. Upon jumping off, my trainer was kicked downward and safely evaded her own. My trajectory was perfect—I landed on the other side of her trainer directly behind her.

Desperately searching for me, she turned around when my weight was added to the bike.

"I win. Now get off my bike…"

Too stupid, or disturbed, to know all it would take to make me lose was a barrel roll, she bailed out and I climbed into the pilot's seat, landing the machine. The wayward trainer I had jumped from made its way into the clouds, never to be seen again.

Now the crowd was truly impressed—that is, except for the one who'd lost, the chief, and a group of three girls.

"Impressive…," the chief muttered.

"Not fair!" one of the three girls shouted. "She jumped from her own trainer. You said whoever gets off their trainer, loses!"

I glared at the girl.

"Hmm…"

"No, you said whoever is forced off their trainer. I jumped at my own will. I forced her off her trainer and took it over."

Defeated, the girl stood down. A few of the other trainees went to retrieve the other student.

"Of course, the loss of the other trainer will cost you all of your points."

I can never win… I sighed, nodding. I returned to my spot in the crowd and watched as each of the other students paired off and fought in the sky.

"The next trial," she announced once everyone was safely on the ground, "will be much more difficult. This is a traditional sparring bar. In hand-to-hand combat, you're required to take out your opponent with whatever resources necessary. However, this is a controlled environment and you will be forced to use your balance, any prior training, and whatever strength you can muster up to beat… me."

We all looked at her, stunned. She expected us to fight her? Examining the area, I noted two large sparring sticks. That's probably what we were going to be using.

If there was one thing I knew I could accomplish, it was fighting. Being alone, I had a lot of free time. That large field allowed me to set up obstacle courses. I built up agility and reaction time. At one point I had something similar to what we'd be using, but it was built for one. Though when training by myself wasn't enough, I snuck into the Sky Knight Academy and used their equipment. That was enough to kick start my fighting skills.

I didn't know it at the time, but they would come in quite handy that day.

I grabbed a sparring stick and volunteered to be first. However, she had other plans. "Let's see what the others have, all right? We know you're a bit of a show off."

I sighed, swinging the stick around to sit on my shoulder. I ended up hitting the argumentative girl in the head. I laughed.

"Oh shut up!" she growled.

Removing it from my shoulder, I tapped her head again. "Eh? What'er you going to do?"

She reached over and grabbed the other stick, hitting my side with it.

"Oh, you're going to die." I swung the stick toward her but she ducked. What she didn't anticipate was the fact that the stick had two ends. Angled downward, I waited for her to come back up and I jammed it up and hit her chin. I slammed it back down on her foot causing her to double over. By now she dropped the stick.

I hop-skipped around her and pressed the end to her rear and knocked her over. "I win." I shelved the stick on my shoulder and glanced behind me, asking the teacher, "Can I go again or does this count?"

Shoved to the ground, another bucket slammed down beside me, water sloshing over my uniform. I sighed.

"Round two. Ding ding! Once you're done with that, you can come join us out here," the chief laughed, walking out of the room.

I glanced around the room. "The bathrooms?!" I released the muscles in my arms and fell back to the ground, whining. "At least I kicked her ass," I muttered into the grimy floor.