Adapting to the Ground (a The 100 fanfiction)

Learning

Earth: 14 Days After Descension, 2148

"Hold this here..." Laina took Natalie's hand and adjusted it just so on the bow she held. "Pull the string back like this..." she demonstrated with an imaginary bow, her slender fingers bending how they would if they were actually holding the string of a bow. Natalie did as she was told, but was only able to pull the string a little bit before it twanged back into place.

"Ow!" Natalie stuck her finger in her mouth to soothe the sting, letting loose a string of expletives.

"You almost have it, trana nodataim." the Grounder repeated the phrase like she had for the past two days, 'try again', with the patience of a proper teacher. Which, if Natalie thought about it, she was a proper teacher, teaching the newcomer how to hunt and how to speak the language of the land.

So far, she could say 'try again', 'fire girl', and a few curse words that Drane accidentally lets loose whenever he's frustrated. She's also learned 'please', 'thank you', 'yes', and 'horse'. A few phrases have also stuck, but she's a long way off from speaking the language.

Natalie sighed and shook her hand out, gripping the bow again and pulling on the string. Her muscles quiver, but she pulled it a bit farther this time. She managed to hold it for a moment, then released it without catching her fingers.

"Radon!" Laina's lips pulled into a grin, prompting Natalie to do the same.

"Eat something, Leina, Fayagada." Kay motioned towards the meat she had just finished cooking. "We will teach you more Trigedasleng while we rest. And after lunch, Drein and Deks want to train you."

Natalie nodded and helped herself to the food, sitting down to eat. That's another thing she had been doing. In the afternoons, she would train with Drane and Dex, learning how to fight with a sword. When she finished with her meal, she joined Drane and Dex near the treeline.

Drane circled around Natalie, kicking at one foot and then the other to get them in the positions he wanted them. He moved her hands to hold the stick differently, and adjusted her posture. "Always pay attention to your opponent and to your surroundings." He backed away and looked between the redhead and his brother, then nodded. "Start."

Natalie licked her lips and waited for a moment, then lunged towards Dex. She swung the stick towards his head and followed through, even as he dodged and spun around. Dex continued his spin and brought the training stick down across the redhead's back, sending her staggering forward. Natalie hissed and spun around, brandishing the stick again. She circled the tall man slowly, adjusting her grip on her weapon. She launched herself at the hunter again, and landed on her ass as she was knocked back. This dance of theirs repeated a few more times until Natalie found herself flat on her back and out of breath.

"Jok..." She coughed out the swear and stared up at the darkening sky for a moment, her arms outstretched on either side of her and her legs lying straight. She heard laughter and turned her head to find Laina grinning at her from the fire. "I'll pick it up eventually." Natalie grinned back, sitting up to lean back on her hands.

"Eventually, sure." Laina chuckled and tossed over a water skin, shaking her head. "You fight like an inexperienced goufa."

"That's because I've never had to fight before. On the Ark, we either learned to get along, or ignored those we didn't like." Natalie shrugged one shoulder while she opened the water skin, taking a long pull of the cool liquid. She stayed quiet for the rest of the evening, going to sleep a bit earlier than she had been.