Silence
Anonymous Me
Unfortunately part of training Kalizda meant that she would be taking on the same schedule as himself and his men. If she wasn't quite up to the hours that they kept she would have to get more stamina. There was enough time to recover from the drinking and have a little relaxation and Illya had heard from Yvonne that Kalizda was ready to start. Illya refused the tea because when they were training he didn't have time to sleep like that. Only half hour after he got up he started to make his rounds to get the men up. Ending at his little bedroom he nudged Kalizda's foot gently. "Time ta get up. Training."
"Mmm..." Calysta curled into the blanket at the gentle touch on her foot before hearing Illya tell her it was time for training. It was just like Skycorp with the early mornings it and there might be a reprimand if she wasnt up and moving by a certain time. Stretching back out, she tossed the covers off and sat up slowly, trying to get her thoughts together. "Rose taken care of? What gear do I need?" The words came out in a mumble of Qouti as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Rose es wit meh mum. I take her over dere already." Illya answered the question about Rose first and then shoved a backpack toward Kalizda. "Yah gear and now yah take care of et. I can't keep et every night eh?" Though he was serious a slight grin came to his face. He would be in the same tent as her most of the time and he could probably help her, but he couldn't give her too much favor because it would only create more danger for her in the long run.
Calysta shot him a bit of a look and picked up the backpack. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. She had her own gear for her former job and she wasn't sure why Illya thought she couldn't take care of at least the ones that were familiar to her, on her own. "I don't think you'll have to," she replied with a small but of playfulness in her voice. Calysta tugged on her leggings and grey tunic along with her work boots, then pulled her long black hair into a pony tail. As she pulled the pack on to her shoulders, she looked up to Illya with a small smile. It had taken her only 3 minutes to get ready and now she would be going into his world now, what he knew best. "I'm ready when you are, General.
The fact that she fell in so easily was both pleasing and a little disgruntling. Illya flashed her a crooked smile and grunted, "Alright den, get moving." He waited for her to step out and then went on with his pace. A few of the men were ahead of them and the others fell in behind. Most of them gave her a friendly smile. They all knew what her part would be and it was good to have a complete team again.
Calysta took two steps for every one of his, but she managed to keep a pace just behind his. The men were starting to gather up and most of them seemed happy to see her, giving her warm smiles. She returned them and even gave a few waves to some of the men who she knew better. Ehvan ended up walking beside her and she gave him a smile. "Good morning." She had no idea where they were headed but was determined to keep up with the rest of them no matter what it took. Her prior training had been tough, and she knew what it meant to have superior officers . This would be similar if not close to the same scenario. They gathered outside the moon shadow door as the sky light hydraulics groaned open and Calysta waited behind Illya for instruction.
At first the men paused only long enough for the moon shadow to open and then Illya set the usual jogging pace into the forest. There would be only stamina training for the day and that was going to be a long march with intermittent jogs. One of the men silently gave her a nod and they took formation around Kalizda. She was going to be learning to stay in the middle and keep pace. When she couldn't keep pace it would be up to them to take up either side and drag her along when they had to.
Apparently there was to be no instruction. When Calysta thought about who she was working beside, the surprise of no orders made sense. Illya would just assume she would follow suit. She was adaptable enough to follow the others and watch carefully for a change in expectation at least. You had to be if you were a scout for Skycorp. A silent nod was exchanged between Ehvan and a few others, and suddenly she found herself stuck in the middle of a pack as they moved forward, ushering into a jog. The move was a little unsettling at first because she was used to being out front, not tucked away in the middle. Maybe this wasn't exactly like Sky Corp training after all. She started to jog with the pack strapped over her shoulders. The first mile was easy, but she had to work her pace twice as hard to keep up with the long legged men, it was making her break into a sweat already. Then came the second towards another steep incline started.
Part way into the run Illya signaled silently with on hand just barely showing over his shoulder and the men split off. One of them grabbed Kalizda and pulled her toward himself. Illya glanced back at Kalizda and gave her and the men a short nod. She would start catching onto the signals soon enough. Ducking into the underbrush Illya kept the pace running and he would turn sharply every now and then. They were running evasion and eventually he would either outrun them through the forest during the day or they would have a fire fight with their weapons loaded. It was just a simple pellet with a marker to show the accuracy if they met up.
Calysta gasped a little as she was suddenly jerked to the side by Ehvan and the men started to split off into two groups. She hadn't heard an order given by Illya, and being in the middle meant he was hard to see over the tall Chip soldiers, so if there had been a signal it was lost to her. Now, that the soldiers were splitting through, Calysta caught a glimpse of him giving her and Ehvan a nod. The Chip nodded back and started hauling her off in the opposite direction Illya was headed. It seemed like this was to be more than just PT and included a exercise. "We're breaking into teams? What's the goal?" she asked Ehvan as she was ushered into a run up the hill. They seemed to be pushing her into an even faster pace and she had to push just to keep up.
The Chip looked at her a bit incredulously at first. "He gave us signal to take high ground and den wait." There wasn't really supposed to be talking and he held a finger over his lips. In a hushed tone he continued. "Yah learn sign language and we only talk wit sign language when time for decision and orders." Pushing her up the hill with himself he kept on moving. They all knew what they were doing given the few short signals. It was just that way and they knew to always keep an eye out. Illya would change pace slightly if he was going to give an order and other than that the men always kept their eyes peeled. One drill would be enough for her to know what it looked like and then ask questions. Only a few seconds later a squealch came through the earbuds and they knew Illya was on his way back. When he came to the group he signaled for them to follow and they quickly ran behind him with Kalizda nearly flopping next to Ehvan this time.
Calysta sighed a little at having missed the first signal. It made sense to use hand signals when running a quiet operation, but it would have been nice if Illya had run over them with her the night before. Instead, Ehvan was looking at her like she was crazy and shushing her. They waited at the top of the hill for a minute, giving her time to catch her breath and adjust the back pack on her shoulders which was growing heavier by now. Illya scaled the hill after them, then gave them a motion she did recognize. They were to keep moving and she set out, nearly haphazardly next to Ehvan and trying to watch for whatever signal's Illya might give now that she could see him better.
Before moving on Illya took a cloth. Leaning close to Kalizda he gave her a direct signal to tighten up with a small motion of his hand. Tightening up was to stay closer and just to be sure she understood he pulled her a little closer to himself and nodded. With that they started to run down into the heavily forested part of the land again. For most of the day they ran evasion from the other multiple teams that had split up. He needed to get himself, Kalizda, and Ehvan back to the rest of his groups and then they would start the hunt to take the flags from the other team. It was almost dark outside and they were still running when Illya stopped short and with a flick of his wrist he dropped to the ground as did the rest of his team. Tapping the one next to himself he nodded and he tapped the next and they all moved the signal down the line with the men rolling one way or another. Ehvan still kept Kalizda close to himself and he nodded to her and tapped then pointed with his two fingers which way they were rolling. All fell silent in the forest for several minutes. It was to be an ambush and all the men on the left were staying on the ground Ehvan knew that sending Kalizda up a tree after the whole day was not a good option yet. She was already looking tired. It was good Illya kept them on the ground. The men on the right climbed up the trees and waited in the thick foliage for the other half of the team. It was black outside and all the men put on their night vision goggles to continue waiting. After a long while they were rewarded with the other team moving slowly into the area. The men in the trees took up position to fire first and drop a man before sliding down the trees. At the first round of shots the men from the ground pulled off a round from their guns and whoever remained was promptly shot down with the markers as those in the trees slid down and flanked the other group while the ground men knelt in place and fired clearing shots.
It was near dark and they had been out all day, running what she had surmised was some sort of team evasion exercise. They had changed direction several times as if tracking and evading something, probably one of the other groups, and Calysta had to keep pace with them in the tight formation Illya had ordered. She stumbled a few times trying to keep up and every time, Ehvan would grab her by the backpack and haul her up to her feet. When they came to another brief halt and she saw Illya flick his wrist, but hesitated, unsure what he meant for her to do until she saw everyone dropping. Calysta fell to her stomach and waited for another signal. They must have been close to another group or their intended target. Ehvan tapped her on the shoulder and pointed before he started rolling away to the left, so she did the same. Her back pack caught on one of the thorn bushes, but she just kept rolling, letting it tear away and came to rest again beside Ehvan. It was hard to see everything in the dark and the Chip beside her put on goggles for night vision. She grabbed at her own and shoved them on to her head. Once they were on, she could see the greenish shapes of the other group coming into view. They were only there for a few seconds before her group made their move. First round struck from the trees and apparently they were meant to take the second round. Ehvan jumped up beside her, and fired in one smooth motion, but she was slower on the draw. Her body was tired and she hadn't been sure what was expected. Even though she was lbehind, she did draw her pistol looking for an unclaimed target, though it looked like most had been taken care of already.
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Ehud had noticed that Ayrn liked to play up the injury. It really didn't seem so severe. All the same he made sure the Terran saw the Ehaui and he was treated. If he really was the spy it was quite ingenious to pick him. Who would have thought that such a measly one eyed fella would make any sort of spy? Not to mention he had a constant attraction for women. The only other theory that Ehud had in regards to Ayrn was that maybe the attraction for the women was a sort of cover, but it seemed so genuine at the same time. He had spent over a hundred years of his life around people and by now he usually could tell if there was a womanizer around. Ayrn was just a little more difficult to read and perhaps it was because he knew he was a spy and spy's if they were good convincing almost anyone of their role. "I'll show you where to find Illya and you'll probably wait for a while to find him." Pointing in a general direction he got Ayrn started. "We're going South-East from here."
The two of them got outside and Ayrn started to ask about a woman. A smirk began to grow on his face while the man did his best to attempt to describe the woman he was looking for. While Ehud knew exactly who it was the woman would approach him if she was interested. Otherwise it would be up to Ayrn to find her and so far he was fairly helpless if he couldn't figure that out for himself.
While it was tempting to let the man wander about looking for the woman Ehud knew she could take care of herself if Ayrn misbehaved or proved to be the womanizer that Ehud thought he might be. "That's not South-East." Mumbling a little he nudged Ayrn the other direction. "Now..." Chuckling a little he glanced at Ayrn. "The woman you happened to be looking for is quite the catch. That pretty one with the blonde hair and the blue eyes." It was almost impossible to contain his laughter at that description. Walking along in the usual path Ehud slowed a bit when he noticed that Ayrn was a bit slower. "Her name is Tabit, the woman you helped." Ehud's smirk got bigger. "Just beware that she is a very strong woman." When Ehud spoke of strong he wasn't sure that Ayrn knew how strong. It wasn't just a mind thing. Tabit was one of the young Chippequoti that had joined the forces with enthusiasm and she was unusually strong for a Chippequoti woman. One that he wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to move into the elite forces. It would take some time, but he was wondering if she would make it there. Certainly had the stamina and strength to do it. She was also quite strong in her opinions and wouldn't likely tolerate Ayrn's behavior.
They barely arrived at the next moon shadow and Ehud noticed that it was unusually quiet. "I leave you here. It looks like they are training." Resting a hand on Ayrn's shoulder he nodded to him. "Could be a very long time and I want to go back to Haza." Lifting his hand from Ayrn's shoulder he started out the door. If he had the man figured out right it was going to annoy him greatly to have learned the woman's name and be stuck here for hours and possibly all night and most of tomorrow. Still it was funny in its own way. Everyone had disappointments in life and this was a minor one, that Ehud was all too happy to see because it was funny.
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Even though Illya wanted to take Kalizda's pack for her he knew that he couldn't. She had to carry the pack all this week and then next week he would be adding the body armor for her. She needed some armor and he and the men were wearing theirs today. Part of the delay on Kalizda's was getting something small enough. She was so tiny that they had to get something custom made for her from the Ehaui. Tomorrow he would take her to get measured and then go over the questions she had and teach her a little more in depth and take a slower day with her while the men ran drills.
Once they reached the moon shadow Illya held onto the back strap of her pack and lifted it slightly to take the weight off her shoulders. Now that they were officially done he could try and take care of her as best he could. It was late enough that Illya was going to leave Rose with Yvonne and the girl would stay with her grandmother for a few days more than likely.
Ayrn looked like he had been waiting and had fallen asleep just inside the tent and Illya was going to leave him there. Walking with Kalizda around the tent he got her into the bedroom and then got changed and ready for bed. Kalizda offered his tea and he shook his head. "Nah, we train again." He didn't have time for that much sleep if he was going to get everything done that he needed. After she was ready for bed he got in with her and gently rubbed her back and wherever else he could reach to soothe her muscles. Sometimes it seemed that she was tightening up and he would try to get her to relax and then other times he would take his hand away just because it was hurting more than helping.
Once more he woke up only 4 hours later and this time got some food ready for Kalizda before waking her up. "Yah eat and I get meh men up eh?" Jogging out into the moon shadow he woke them up and had a small gathering to explain the drill and then said he would be staying behind with Kalizda for at least part of the day and then he would bring her in on a fast pace run to join the drill. When he returned to the room he nodded to her. "Get ready. I train yah mehself today."
She was ready fairly fast again though he could see she was sore. Taking her out to the small clearing just outside the moon shadow Illya started to explain all the signals and then started to give them in succession for her to follow. When she started to get most of them right he would speed up. While she was wearing her pack he had her drop to the ground and then jump and run to the right or left. Sometimes he pointed for her to engage target from behind. Illya knew that she wouldn't be able to keep track of them all in the first day, but she had the basics down and it was time for them to make a fast run for the group. He would be on evasion with part of it and then catch up for the other side. From there they were going to engage in another round of fights only this one was planned and they were meeting at the makeshift town. Houses would hide the other team and he would have to go in with Kalizda and his team to clear it. Trick was to get in and out with Kalizda and keeping her from getting hit.
"Mmm..." Calysta curled into the blanket at the gentle touch on her foot before hearing Illya tell her it was time for training. It was just like Skycorp with the early mornings it and there might be a reprimand if she wasnt up and moving by a certain time. Stretching back out, she tossed the covers off and sat up slowly, trying to get her thoughts together. "Rose taken care of? What gear do I need?" The words came out in a mumble of Qouti as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Rose es wit meh mum. I take her over dere already." Illya answered the question about Rose first and then shoved a backpack toward Kalizda. "Yah gear and now yah take care of et. I can't keep et every night eh?" Though he was serious a slight grin came to his face. He would be in the same tent as her most of the time and he could probably help her, but he couldn't give her too much favor because it would only create more danger for her in the long run.
Calysta shot him a bit of a look and picked up the backpack. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. She had her own gear for her former job and she wasn't sure why Illya thought she couldn't take care of at least the ones that were familiar to her, on her own. "I don't think you'll have to," she replied with a small but of playfulness in her voice. Calysta tugged on her leggings and grey tunic along with her work boots, then pulled her long black hair into a pony tail. As she pulled the pack on to her shoulders, she looked up to Illya with a small smile. It had taken her only 3 minutes to get ready and now she would be going into his world now, what he knew best. "I'm ready when you are, General.
The fact that she fell in so easily was both pleasing and a little disgruntling. Illya flashed her a crooked smile and grunted, "Alright den, get moving." He waited for her to step out and then went on with his pace. A few of the men were ahead of them and the others fell in behind. Most of them gave her a friendly smile. They all knew what her part would be and it was good to have a complete team again.
Calysta took two steps for every one of his, but she managed to keep a pace just behind his. The men were starting to gather up and most of them seemed happy to see her, giving her warm smiles. She returned them and even gave a few waves to some of the men who she knew better. Ehvan ended up walking beside her and she gave him a smile. "Good morning." She had no idea where they were headed but was determined to keep up with the rest of them no matter what it took. Her prior training had been tough, and she knew what it meant to have superior officers . This would be similar if not close to the same scenario. They gathered outside the moon shadow door as the sky light hydraulics groaned open and Calysta waited behind Illya for instruction.
At first the men paused only long enough for the moon shadow to open and then Illya set the usual jogging pace into the forest. There would be only stamina training for the day and that was going to be a long march with intermittent jogs. One of the men silently gave her a nod and they took formation around Kalizda. She was going to be learning to stay in the middle and keep pace. When she couldn't keep pace it would be up to them to take up either side and drag her along when they had to.
Apparently there was to be no instruction. When Calysta thought about who she was working beside, the surprise of no orders made sense. Illya would just assume she would follow suit. She was adaptable enough to follow the others and watch carefully for a change in expectation at least. You had to be if you were a scout for Skycorp. A silent nod was exchanged between Ehvan and a few others, and suddenly she found herself stuck in the middle of a pack as they moved forward, ushering into a jog. The move was a little unsettling at first because she was used to being out front, not tucked away in the middle. Maybe this wasn't exactly like Sky Corp training after all. She started to jog with the pack strapped over her shoulders. The first mile was easy, but she had to work her pace twice as hard to keep up with the long legged men, it was making her break into a sweat already. Then came the second towards another steep incline started.
Part way into the run Illya signaled silently with on hand just barely showing over his shoulder and the men split off. One of them grabbed Kalizda and pulled her toward himself. Illya glanced back at Kalizda and gave her and the men a short nod. She would start catching onto the signals soon enough. Ducking into the underbrush Illya kept the pace running and he would turn sharply every now and then. They were running evasion and eventually he would either outrun them through the forest during the day or they would have a fire fight with their weapons loaded. It was just a simple pellet with a marker to show the accuracy if they met up.
Calysta gasped a little as she was suddenly jerked to the side by Ehvan and the men started to split off into two groups. She hadn't heard an order given by Illya, and being in the middle meant he was hard to see over the tall Chip soldiers, so if there had been a signal it was lost to her. Now, that the soldiers were splitting through, Calysta caught a glimpse of him giving her and Ehvan a nod. The Chip nodded back and started hauling her off in the opposite direction Illya was headed. It seemed like this was to be more than just PT and included a exercise. "We're breaking into teams? What's the goal?" she asked Ehvan as she was ushered into a run up the hill. They seemed to be pushing her into an even faster pace and she had to push just to keep up.
The Chip looked at her a bit incredulously at first. "He gave us signal to take high ground and den wait." There wasn't really supposed to be talking and he held a finger over his lips. In a hushed tone he continued. "Yah learn sign language and we only talk wit sign language when time for decision and orders." Pushing her up the hill with himself he kept on moving. They all knew what they were doing given the few short signals. It was just that way and they knew to always keep an eye out. Illya would change pace slightly if he was going to give an order and other than that the men always kept their eyes peeled. One drill would be enough for her to know what it looked like and then ask questions. Only a few seconds later a squealch came through the earbuds and they knew Illya was on his way back. When he came to the group he signaled for them to follow and they quickly ran behind him with Kalizda nearly flopping next to Ehvan this time.
Calysta sighed a little at having missed the first signal. It made sense to use hand signals when running a quiet operation, but it would have been nice if Illya had run over them with her the night before. Instead, Ehvan was looking at her like she was crazy and shushing her. They waited at the top of the hill for a minute, giving her time to catch her breath and adjust the back pack on her shoulders which was growing heavier by now. Illya scaled the hill after them, then gave them a motion she did recognize. They were to keep moving and she set out, nearly haphazardly next to Ehvan and trying to watch for whatever signal's Illya might give now that she could see him better.
Before moving on Illya took a cloth. Leaning close to Kalizda he gave her a direct signal to tighten up with a small motion of his hand. Tightening up was to stay closer and just to be sure she understood he pulled her a little closer to himself and nodded. With that they started to run down into the heavily forested part of the land again. For most of the day they ran evasion from the other multiple teams that had split up. He needed to get himself, Kalizda, and Ehvan back to the rest of his groups and then they would start the hunt to take the flags from the other team. It was almost dark outside and they were still running when Illya stopped short and with a flick of his wrist he dropped to the ground as did the rest of his team. Tapping the one next to himself he nodded and he tapped the next and they all moved the signal down the line with the men rolling one way or another. Ehvan still kept Kalizda close to himself and he nodded to her and tapped then pointed with his two fingers which way they were rolling. All fell silent in the forest for several minutes. It was to be an ambush and all the men on the left were staying on the ground Ehvan knew that sending Kalizda up a tree after the whole day was not a good option yet. She was already looking tired. It was good Illya kept them on the ground. The men on the right climbed up the trees and waited in the thick foliage for the other half of the team. It was black outside and all the men put on their night vision goggles to continue waiting. After a long while they were rewarded with the other team moving slowly into the area. The men in the trees took up position to fire first and drop a man before sliding down the trees. At the first round of shots the men from the ground pulled off a round from their guns and whoever remained was promptly shot down with the markers as those in the trees slid down and flanked the other group while the ground men knelt in place and fired clearing shots.
It was near dark and they had been out all day, running what she had surmised was some sort of team evasion exercise. They had changed direction several times as if tracking and evading something, probably one of the other groups, and Calysta had to keep pace with them in the tight formation Illya had ordered. She stumbled a few times trying to keep up and every time, Ehvan would grab her by the backpack and haul her up to her feet. When they came to another brief halt and she saw Illya flick his wrist, but hesitated, unsure what he meant for her to do until she saw everyone dropping. Calysta fell to her stomach and waited for another signal. They must have been close to another group or their intended target. Ehvan tapped her on the shoulder and pointed before he started rolling away to the left, so she did the same. Her back pack caught on one of the thorn bushes, but she just kept rolling, letting it tear away and came to rest again beside Ehvan. It was hard to see everything in the dark and the Chip beside her put on goggles for night vision. She grabbed at her own and shoved them on to her head. Once they were on, she could see the greenish shapes of the other group coming into view. They were only there for a few seconds before her group made their move. First round struck from the trees and apparently they were meant to take the second round. Ehvan jumped up beside her, and fired in one smooth motion, but she was slower on the draw. Her body was tired and she hadn't been sure what was expected. Even though she was lbehind, she did draw her pistol looking for an unclaimed target, though it looked like most had been taken care of already.
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Ehud had noticed that Ayrn liked to play up the injury. It really didn't seem so severe. All the same he made sure the Terran saw the Ehaui and he was treated. If he really was the spy it was quite ingenious to pick him. Who would have thought that such a measly one eyed fella would make any sort of spy? Not to mention he had a constant attraction for women. The only other theory that Ehud had in regards to Ayrn was that maybe the attraction for the women was a sort of cover, but it seemed so genuine at the same time. He had spent over a hundred years of his life around people and by now he usually could tell if there was a womanizer around. Ayrn was just a little more difficult to read and perhaps it was because he knew he was a spy and spy's if they were good convincing almost anyone of their role. "I'll show you where to find Illya and you'll probably wait for a while to find him." Pointing in a general direction he got Ayrn started. "We're going South-East from here."
The two of them got outside and Ayrn started to ask about a woman. A smirk began to grow on his face while the man did his best to attempt to describe the woman he was looking for. While Ehud knew exactly who it was the woman would approach him if she was interested. Otherwise it would be up to Ayrn to find her and so far he was fairly helpless if he couldn't figure that out for himself.
While it was tempting to let the man wander about looking for the woman Ehud knew she could take care of herself if Ayrn misbehaved or proved to be the womanizer that Ehud thought he might be. "That's not South-East." Mumbling a little he nudged Ayrn the other direction. "Now..." Chuckling a little he glanced at Ayrn. "The woman you happened to be looking for is quite the catch. That pretty one with the blonde hair and the blue eyes." It was almost impossible to contain his laughter at that description. Walking along in the usual path Ehud slowed a bit when he noticed that Ayrn was a bit slower. "Her name is Tabit, the woman you helped." Ehud's smirk got bigger. "Just beware that she is a very strong woman." When Ehud spoke of strong he wasn't sure that Ayrn knew how strong. It wasn't just a mind thing. Tabit was one of the young Chippequoti that had joined the forces with enthusiasm and she was unusually strong for a Chippequoti woman. One that he wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to move into the elite forces. It would take some time, but he was wondering if she would make it there. Certainly had the stamina and strength to do it. She was also quite strong in her opinions and wouldn't likely tolerate Ayrn's behavior.
They barely arrived at the next moon shadow and Ehud noticed that it was unusually quiet. "I leave you here. It looks like they are training." Resting a hand on Ayrn's shoulder he nodded to him. "Could be a very long time and I want to go back to Haza." Lifting his hand from Ayrn's shoulder he started out the door. If he had the man figured out right it was going to annoy him greatly to have learned the woman's name and be stuck here for hours and possibly all night and most of tomorrow. Still it was funny in its own way. Everyone had disappointments in life and this was a minor one, that Ehud was all too happy to see because it was funny.
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Even though Illya wanted to take Kalizda's pack for her he knew that he couldn't. She had to carry the pack all this week and then next week he would be adding the body armor for her. She needed some armor and he and the men were wearing theirs today. Part of the delay on Kalizda's was getting something small enough. She was so tiny that they had to get something custom made for her from the Ehaui. Tomorrow he would take her to get measured and then go over the questions she had and teach her a little more in depth and take a slower day with her while the men ran drills.
Once they reached the moon shadow Illya held onto the back strap of her pack and lifted it slightly to take the weight off her shoulders. Now that they were officially done he could try and take care of her as best he could. It was late enough that Illya was going to leave Rose with Yvonne and the girl would stay with her grandmother for a few days more than likely.
Ayrn looked like he had been waiting and had fallen asleep just inside the tent and Illya was going to leave him there. Walking with Kalizda around the tent he got her into the bedroom and then got changed and ready for bed. Kalizda offered his tea and he shook his head. "Nah, we train again." He didn't have time for that much sleep if he was going to get everything done that he needed. After she was ready for bed he got in with her and gently rubbed her back and wherever else he could reach to soothe her muscles. Sometimes it seemed that she was tightening up and he would try to get her to relax and then other times he would take his hand away just because it was hurting more than helping.
Once more he woke up only 4 hours later and this time got some food ready for Kalizda before waking her up. "Yah eat and I get meh men up eh?" Jogging out into the moon shadow he woke them up and had a small gathering to explain the drill and then said he would be staying behind with Kalizda for at least part of the day and then he would bring her in on a fast pace run to join the drill. When he returned to the room he nodded to her. "Get ready. I train yah mehself today."
She was ready fairly fast again though he could see she was sore. Taking her out to the small clearing just outside the moon shadow Illya started to explain all the signals and then started to give them in succession for her to follow. When she started to get most of them right he would speed up. While she was wearing her pack he had her drop to the ground and then jump and run to the right or left. Sometimes he pointed for her to engage target from behind. Illya knew that she wouldn't be able to keep track of them all in the first day, but she had the basics down and it was time for them to make a fast run for the group. He would be on evasion with part of it and then catch up for the other side. From there they were going to engage in another round of fights only this one was planned and they were meeting at the makeshift town. Houses would hide the other team and he would have to go in with Kalizda and his team to clear it. Trick was to get in and out with Kalizda and keeping her from getting hit.