Avatar: The Will Of Eywa - Prequel

I

Running.

And running.

And more running.

It was all part of the training; a small segment of it, the young female was certainly drained, not only physically but also mentally.

Her legs felt like they were on fire, cramps making their way to her muscles sending electric spasms all over her lower region, yet her mind demanded her to keep going, to finish the course. Tomorrow her body would regret it, still she was not going to walk out without finishing, there's a reputation to maintain.

It was all grey, not much color around, it made it look even more bland than the food they usually were served, although the thought of not falling behind was the thing that kept on pushing her.

"Keep going!" the first sergeant yelled through the megaphone, all the soldiers kept running, trying not to be last.

They all knew what would happen to whoever finished last.

"I'm looking at you Sully!" her friend flinched when their superior screamed his name, it wasn't the first time he had been reprimanded for being in the last positions.

The female observed the others, she was within the first positions, it was a relief, only a bit more and it will all be over.

"Go!" she yelled at her friend Tom, who had just been yelled at by their superior, hoping he wasn't last this time around.

She gazed at him, who unexpectedly switched from being one of the lasts to being close to the top runners, it was the last 500 meters of running, this will decide who gets the extra training, which could be considered more than a punishment.

"Alright, Smith, Jones, Lopez, Davis, Miller, Hale, Hernandez, Clarke, Adams and Sully, go shower. The rest, head to the center of the arena."

Having Talia's last name getting called was like a breath of fresh air, and also her friend's last name, who was actually not really the athletic one.

"You know, the one doing this should definitely be my brother."

"Is he as bad as you?" she joked, as she opened a water bottle and took a couple sips, letting the cold water refresh her.

"The opposite, he's a marine." Tom's face was covered in sweat as well as his clothes, he was absolutely drained. "But he is no scientist, or medic," his gaze got lost in the distance, which concerned the brunette, seeing that his demeaner changed so quickly, "he is now paralyzed from his waist down, probably that's another reason why I am here and he's not."

"Sorry to hear that, I had no idea."

"Not many people know this, it's better to keep things private to avoid conflict." Tom was used to people pitying him and that was the last reaction he wanted when he mentioned the tragic state of his brother, "You couldn't know, don't worry." She threw him a cold bottle of water; one he drank rapidly, "Also, we have been opposites our whole lives, makes sense."

"Don't choke on it." She laughed not paying much attention the matter, not wanting to dig more on the sensitive topic.

"Hale!" her last name echoed through the coliseum; the lieutenant colonel had arrived.

"Looks like I'm in trouble." The female let out a sigh as Tom crossed by her side, thinking she might be in a tough situation in which God was the only one who can pull her out of.

"Sir." The female saluted him when she was close enough, her rigid posture hurting her back even so slightly, her legs were almost shaking and sweat covered most if not all her body.