this is my first story i've posted so i hope you all will like it! ANY reviews will be much appreciated (no matter how harsh! i actually like the harsh ones):)
There was no way to escape the sweltering heat of midday, and in the cloudless sky, the sun’s rays were relentless.
Rydia struggled to hold the bulky iron sword above her head. She imagined she would never get used to the weight. A small breeze blew a strand of sweaty hair from her face. The rigorous training that was being assigned to her and her classmates was really pushing them to their limits. She knew it would be hard at first, but thought that by now it would at least be getting easier. Her aching muscles have been unbearably sore ever since the program started a few months ago.
The instructor for this particular session was walking among the lines of students and checking posture and sword angles. Rydia could feel her arms trembling under the weight of her sword, knowing she would get pointed down for it, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was at the end of her strength.
Sure enough, as the drill instructor proceeded down the lines of students, he stopped to pause in front of her.
“What do you call this?” he asked in his raspy voice, disappointment dripping with every word.
“Um, it’s a...” Rydia started.
He didn’t wait for a reply, but grabbed a firm hold of her wrist and yanked her arm upward. She tried desperately to hold the position, but the he didn’t look satisfied.
“Do the exercise for me.”
“Now?” Rydia asked unsurely, but he only gave her a menacing glare in reply. She realized that meant yes.
She brought her arm down (finally!) and then brought it up to chest level for the starting position. She started the moves; block, thrust, parry, spin, and just as she was bringing the blade up for the killer uppercut, it unexpectedly slipped from her sweaty grip and she fumbled, the sword clattering to the ground. Rydia cringed. This was a major mistake, she knew, and the instant her sword fell it felt like her heart went down with it. She was sure that by now everyone’s eyes were watching her. Probably relieved it wasn’t them, she thought to herself.
She hesitantly lifted her gaze to the instructor, not sure what she should do, but his face was expressionless and he held her gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time. Finally, his voice was low and quiet.
“Pick up your weapon.”
Rydia had forgotten her soreness momentarily in her fear, but felt it again as her muscles ached painfully as she bent down to retrieve her sword. She came back up quickly, and held it at attention.
“Take your break!” he called over his shoulder to the class, and they broke their stares and then went off in groups towards the shade. Rydia caught the eye of Darren, Ark, and Brooke, looking over at her worriedly before they walked off, but she knew better than to follow them. She stayed put, holding her sword at attention in front of the instructor.
“I don’t know what to do with you.” he said to her.
Rydia’s eyes snapped back to his. She felt angry. No one ever seemed to know ‘what to do with her’.
“Our new program,” he began, “is difficult, we know. But everyone seems to be handling it so far, don’t you think?”
She didn’t know what kind of question this was. What does he want of her? Why can’t he be clear?
“I suppose so.” She decided to say.
“Some are excelling, in fact. Some are doing not so well, but that is to be expected.”
He paused to give her another look.
“You, however, seem to be having trouble.”
He stared at her again, and she decided this time he was looking for a response so said,
“Yes, I have.”
“Do you have any idea why that might be?”
“Well...” Rydia paused for a moment, trying to choose her words carefully. “It’s too demanding. It’s too demanding and I can’t keep up.”
He didn’t look too pleased with her answer but asked,
“What’s wrong, exactly?”
“Um, I get tired. I follow every command but nothing seems to click.” It felt odd talking to him. She hadn’t ever talked so personally to an authority figure before. “The swords are really heavy,” she added dumbly.
“They aren’t even full swords! They are merely practice swords.” He said incredulously, “Your arms will get tired, of course, but they’re not very heavy.”
Rydia shrugged. He put no effort into hiding a loud, exasperated sigh.
“Perhaps you haven’t been following the programs correctly.” He suggested.
Another flare of anger shot up inside the pit of Rydia’s stomach. Was he trying to convince her or himself?! All these people are hopeless. She wished he would’ve at least taken her out of the sun. She was feeling lightheaded….
“Well you certainly haven’t been succeeding," he continued, "I really don’t like to see students fall behind in my classes. I don’t have the patience for them.” He gave her another one of his disapproving glances. “I will see what I can do about you. I’m thinking you will have to be assigned to a different program.”
Rydia certainly wasn’t expecting his last statement. Her eyes snapped back to his again, wide with surprise.
“Am I failing that badly?”
Even more to her surprise, he burst out laughing. She waited for his answer, but soon realized that was his answer. She felt as if her blood was boiling beneath her skin. Vaguely, she wondered how far the man planned on infuriating her; she didn’t think there was much more she could take until she snapped. If this was anybody else, she would have no problem hurling a volley of unladylike words at them, but as the circumstances were, this person was not just one of her peers. Suddenly, all the hatred stopped as she was overcome by a splitting headache. She winced badly, but the instructor didn’t notice; he was too busy clutching his chest as he threw his head back in fits of husky laughter. Rydia waited patiently until he was finished and then met his eyes with a glare. He seemed embarrassed for a split second as he realized she wasn’t joking, but then returned to normal.
“Yes.” He finally answered.
“I’ve been trying my hardest,” she pleaded, “I really have!”
He ignored that.
“I’ll talk to the other commanders and see what they have to say. I’ll let you know if your schedule will change.” And before she could get another word in, he turned his head and shouted, “Break’s over! Everyone back to their spots!” and everyone hurriedly got up and jogged over, getting back into their places on the field. This time, Rydia gave him the incredulous stare, but he seemed to not notice. “You too,” he added gruffly, and then turned to take his place at the front of the class.
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the paragraph with the 'she's' have been anonymously terrible so i will get right on that. thanks for reading!
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