I woke up the next morning due to the sun shining on my face. It wasn't unpleasant but it wasn't exactly welcomed either. I knew there was no point in trying to go back to sleep so I decided to get up and get ready for the day. I once again wore shorts but they were blue jeans this time and I put on a light blue t-shirt. I added my new running shoes so I could work on getting them broken in. Kane and Niko were still asleep, that I knew for sure but when I walked out there was someone there. They quickly stood up and turned around. I was on guard since I was told that no one was supposed to be in this house. Only runners. I calmed down a little though when I realized it was Astrid.
"Oh hey, I was waiting for Niko to wake up. I wanted to talk to her."
"You're not supposed to be here Astrid. It's really early. How did you even get in here?" I asked.
"I know the rules." she hissed. She then calmed herself down and began speaking again. "I know where the key is. Being Niko's friend she told me. I'll just wait here until she wakes up." she replied.
"I'll go get her. I don't want to be sitting in the house with someone who doesn't like me." I then walked into Niko's room and closed the door behind me. I walked over to Niko's bed where she was sleeping peacefully. I hated that I was about to ruin that because she never looks like this. Not even when she's training. It's always the same expression. I gently shook her awake and when she finally opened her eyes she huffed.
"Astrid's here isn't she?" She asked. I nodded my head in response and she grabbed the pillow and put it over her face. She didn't seem like she was too happy about it.
"Do you want me to tell her to come back later?" I asked her. All she did was shake her head no.
"I'll be out in a bit. Go wake up Kane would you?" she said as she removed the pillow from her face and threw the covers off her body. She got off her bed and I decided that was my cue to leave and give her privacy. I walked into Kanes room to see him still sleeping as well.
"Kane. Kane wake up." I said as I shook him awake. He quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the bed. He was still asleep as he laid his arm over my face. I squirmed to get free and when I finally did I yanked the pillow out from under his head and hit him with it. He shot awake at that and glared at me.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"You crushed my face with your fat arm, you bimbo." I said dramatically. He started to laugh and I just rolled my eyes.
"Rookie mistake." he said as he continued to laugh.
"Oh shut up already. Astrid is here. I told Niko and she told me to go ahead and wake you up too."
"I swear she's crazy. She was just sitting there in the living room wasn't she?"
"Yeah I had no idea who it was at first. All I saw was her shadow and then that's when I saw it was her. We need to hide the key somewhere else so she can't get in. It's really creepy, her just sitting there like that."
"I told Niko that. We just keep forgetting." he said as he let out a small chuckle. "Okay get out so I can get dressed." I nodded again and walked out. I saw Niko and Astrid whisper yelling at each other and just by the tension in the room I knew Niko wasn't going to take much more of it. Her hands were balled up at her sides and she was clenching her jaw.
"This is bad." Kane whispered behind me. Not a surprise that he was already dressed and ready for the day.
"She doesn't look happy." I whispered back to him. We slowly inched our way a bit closer just in case Niko lost her cool and might I say that I am glad we did. We still couldn't hear what they were saying but we were able to get there before Niko severely hurt Astrid when she pinned Astrid against the wall. Kane went behind Niko and pulled her back while I pried her hand off of Astrid's neck. Once they were finally separated Astrid broke down in tears. Her throat was already red from the pressure. I tried comforting her but when I did she pushed me away and made me stumble back. That seemed to make Niko even angrier than before and I could tell Kane was actually having a hard time holding her back.
"Astrid you should go." I said. She completely ignored me and ran out of the house with tears running down her face. As soon as she was out Kane let Niko go. Niko sighed loudly and shook her head.
"Kane go find a new hiding place for the key. She is no longer allowed in this house. If she is ever in here again without being invited in then get her out even if force is required." She hissed.
"Belle. Let's go. I need a sparring buddy." Niko then walked out the house. She could have told Kane to go with her but she chose me. I am for sure going to get my butt whooped. She's angry and needs to blow off steam and it looks like I'm going to be her punching bag. I looked towards Kane, and from his facial expression I could tell that he was about as shocked and scared as I was.
"Take your time getting there. I'll hurry up and hide the key and get there as soon as I can." I only nodded in response and made my way out of the house. Niko was no longer in view and I knew that she was already in the training building. I walked in and she glared at me.
"Took you long enough to get here. Start stretching. I don't need you pulling a muscle." I didn't say anything in return. I just followed her instructions and began to stretch. I took a small jog as did she and when we were all warmed up we wrapped our hands. She got her's wrapped faster than I ever could and was waiting impatiently for me to finish.
"If you don't hurry up we'll spar as you are now." She hissed. I looked up at her frightened. Angry Niko is not one to mess with when she's angry. Kane needed to hurry up and get here. How long did it take to hide a freaking key? I quickly finished wrapping up my hands and stood a couple of feet away from her. Without warning she began swinging. Even when she was angry her punches were spot on. I was barely able to dodge a punch to the face but not the one she landed in my gut. I fell forward as she knocked the air out of me. I had to fight back, otherwise I might as well just stand here and let her hit me. She was about to bring her knee up to my face but I quickly pushed her leg down and moved a safe distance away from her. I pulled my guard up instantly. I was not about to let her get the advantage on me like that again. She advanced towards me again and threw another punch. I dodged it and was able to land a hit on her. I would have felt great about myself but it seemed like my punch had no effect on her. It didn't even stop her from making her way towards me. I threw another punch that she dodged and managed to kick her in her side. That made her stumble to the side a bit and I was able to catch her off guard. I was able to quickly get a couple of hits in but then she was back in her perfect fighting stance. Her feet were spread apart to keep her balance and her hands were up to block and hit. I knew I only managed to anger her more from my pathetic attack on her. She swung her fist with force and hit me so hard that I fell to the ground. I tasted the blood that has now taken over my mouth. I slowly began to get up but as I did she punched me again making me fall back on the floor. I spit out a large amount of blood as I began to cough, choking on my own blood.
"Niko stop. She's had enough. Give the poor girl a break." Kane said as he ran in the room.
"We barely got started. She has to toughen up anyways if she's going to be a runner."
"She just got here. She's still adjusting to things here. She doesn't need you beating her senseless." I was still coughing up my blood as it continued to pour out. Kane had kneeled down by my side and put himself between me and her. It was just supposed to be sparring. Not a complete beatdown.
"Go wash your mouth out Belle. I'll continue sparring with Niko." Kane said to me as he helped me to my feet. I gave him a small nod and began walking away. Niko was still furious but she didn't make any move to stop me. I walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink. My face was red from where she was constantly hitting me and I knew it was going to bruise. I opened my mouth to see that blood had covered my teeth. It was disgusting to say the least. I never thought I would be looking at myself all beaten up and bloody. I shook those thoughts out of my head and began to wash my mouth out. It stung a bit and I quickly let the water fall out of my mouth. I knew it was going to sting so I decided I needed to toughen through the pain. Each time it stung but I kept washing it out till the metallic taste was almost gone.
I walked out of the bathroom and saw that they were still sparring. Kane seemed to be handling himself great against Niko. I instantly became envious of him. He knew how to properly fight and he knew Niko most of all. They both still seemed to have themselves closed off me. Yes Kane was nicer but he still didn't share anything personal about himself with me. Niko was cold towards me and she didn't share anything personal with me. I seriously doubt they would either. I finally made my way towards them so I could watch. Up close they were amazing. It's like they had rehearsed everything. They were dodging and punching and it didn't seem to phase them one bit. I knew that they both could take hits easily. Kane was no skinny guy if I haven't said so before. He was about 6'0" but I would say he was a little taller than that. Niko was probably about 5'7". I wasn't sure but they weren't exactly short. Now I was short. I stood at about 5'3". I know I'm short. Niko though, wasn't built with tons of muscle. She was actually pretty thin but I knew she knew how to use all of her body to her advantage. I wanted to learn how to do that but I knew I couldn't just mimic what she was doing. She figured out what worked best for her. Kane did the same for himself and I needed to do the same for me.
"Stop." I said aloud. They both stopped what they were doing and looked at me. "Thanks Kane, but I need to get better. I can continue now." I told him. He looked reluctant and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Niko.
"No. You've had enough today Belle. I should've had Kane come spar with me. You weren't ready for a full on fight with me. That wasn't fair to you. Please go home and rest." She actually sounded sincere for once. I wanted to listen to her since she asked me to go so nicely but I stood my ground. I needed to get better. I had to.
"No. I want to train. Just because you made me bleed a little doesn't mean I'm done for the day. How do either of you expect me to have your backs out there if you stop my training at the mere sight of blood. I'm sure when the two of you started out there was blood spilled. You can't go easy on me. So now I'm ready to train. Are you?" I said as I looked between the two of them. Kane had a small smile on his face as he looked at Niko.
"Fine." she said. She didn't want to spar with me though so instead she made Kane spar and she would give me pointers about my stance and my swings. I was sure to pay attention and listen to every word that she said because I knew it was making me a better fighter. I wasn't exactly able to hit Kane in the face all that well since he's a giant but I was still able to do some damage to him. Training went on a bit longer when we were interrupted by the door opening. We all stopped and looked to see who it was. To no surprise it was Astrid. I rolled my eyes which Kane chuckled at and it earned a smirk from Niko. Astrid approached us and she stopped a few feet away from us. She took a glance at me and I could see the pure disgust in her eyes but her gaze was quickly focused back on Niko.
"Can we talk in private Niko? I want to fix things without fighting." she said as she kept her gaze on Niko. I saw Niko's entire body stiffen up as she said that.
"I have nothing to say to you Astrid. Now get out. You don't belong here." Niko began to turn around and walk away but Astrid went to step forward. I have no idea what came over me but I quickly put myself between her and Niko.
"Get out of my way." she growled out.
"No. She said leave so leave. I'm trying to train and you're being a distraction." I said to her with no emotion. She went to push past me but I wasn't having it. I spun her around and had her going back towards the door. She quickly turned around and the glare that she had before became more intense. Kane and Niko were now watching in amusement leaving me hanging.
"Leave Astrid. Your presence is annoying." I had a bored tone in my voice, hoping that she would get the hint. She was about to say something when Niko spoke.
"Kane, would you please remove the civilian out of the armory?"
"My pleasure." He responded. He walked past me and made his way to Astrid. He then proceeded to pick her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She was yelling and trying to hit him so he would let her go but it was useless. I guess it was a good idea to have a giant on your team.
"Go ahead and head home Belle. You did good for today." Niko said to me. I could tell that she respected me more than she did before and that was an amazing achievement for me. I waved at her and walked out as Kane was walking back in. I saw Astrid walking away in the distance and shook my head. She needs to give Niko space. I don't think that she would ever understand that. I proceeded to go to the house so I could once again shower in hot water. I don't think that I would ever get used to this again. Showering was a privilege. One that I was glad to have.