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Week One
The first few days of training were rough on the Widows. I wasn't sure who their first teacher was, but they had the skills to succeed. The mental capacity? Not so much.
"Get up. Go again." I said to a girl in particular who had gotten knocked down and stayed down. When she didn't make a move to rise, I crouched down and grabbed the back of her shirt to forcefully lift her. Her nose was bleeding and she looked exhausted but if she couldn't hang on, she needed to leave. "Are you done.." I glanced over her and she continued to breathe heavily before shaking her head. "Good. Go again." Sitting her back to the ground, I pushed her forward into her opponent who looked to me for confirmation. I nodded.
They started to fight again with me walking around them in slow strides, my hands behind my back. She had a lot of heart and was trying her best to keep up, I could recognize that. But, she was slow and sloppy. She wouldn't make it.
I glanced at Bun who held the same look. We both nodded as another thud echoed across the room and I glanced down to see she had fallen again but this time, I knew it wouldn't take encouragement to lift her back up.
I grabbed her shirt again and pulled her to the side of the room, then walked back to the middle. The other Widows looked at me but I kept a stoic expression, my head lowering. "Who's next?"
A taller girl, one of the oldest, and Red walked over. I knew her name. Her name stuck more than the others, for some reason, but I was forcing myself to unstick it. So, her name would be Red like her hair.
They stood opposite each other, both holding one another's eyes attentively. "Begin." I started and they immediately attacked. Red was good, she was damn good. Though she was smaller, she used that to her advantage and squeezed between the other Widow's grasp with ease. It was fascinating to watch but I didn't want to give her that satisfaction, not yet. Her other teachers praised her like hell but that's not how you grow. "Stop."
They both pulled apart and I shook my head when Red looked up at me. "Sloppy. Stop squirming and attack her." Her eyes bulged wide in disbelief but I simply waved my hand. "Start again. And try to actually fight her. Begin."
That simple discouragement made her start figuring with a purpose now, wanting to prove herself to me. I smiled internally and kept corking them as her hand struck the girl in the nose twice, then three times. She fell.
Red quickly jumped on top of her and went to swing her arm down but I squinted my eyes, stopping her from doing so.
"What the hell?" She whispered, her head looking over at her arm that was wrapped with red. "What... Madame B?"
"That's enough," I said and relaxed my eyes which brought all of them to me. "Time for lunch." Red stared at me but I was already turning around and walking out of the room, but stopping short when I glanced at the girl who was still lying motionless on the floor in the corner of the room. "Someone dispose of her in the med bay."
