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The sight of the sergeant calling her wolf to have a conversation with one another had Jamie watching carefully in interest and alertness. When orders were given, she made sure to comprehend them. Climbing the cliffs with weight added to the weight from the rifle--the thought of its greater intensity and difficulty did cross her mind in comparison to the obstacle course, but Jamie was always one to pull up her sleeves and leave her effort to be the deciding factor of the outcome.

Just as how she tackled all her assigned and self-assigned challenges, she felt eager for the improvement she set her mind on attaining. But from the experiences, she learned and attained the mindset of taking the situation with seriousness. Lack of it in the past quickly taught her to be mindful of hazards, the importance of not letting up, and to keep focused. Focus being her favorite word, it became so from her implementing the aim for good focus in her endeavors and finding that doing so allowed her the opportunity to experience the feeling of gaining strength from having worked hard.

Jamie gauged the feeling of wearing the extra weight as she headed for the cliff. Running was one thing, but climbing was another and climbing the height of a cliff was not familiar to the recruit. She will have to utilize the skills she did have under her belt, relying on aspects such as the strength she has, her thinking skill, and other factors.

Faced with the cliff wall, Jamie made sure her muscles weren't too lax or too tense, mentally telling herself not to get let her muscles weaken but also that being calm was also essential. As she climbed the load of sand pulled her backward and she shifted her position climbing the wall to change the weight distribution to a more even divide vertically.

The snow mixed with the rocky texture had it's pluses and minuses. Having to grip the snow-covered rock sent a chill through her that she fought back, willing herself to overcome the discomfort from her strong hold on the cold snow for she was also in danger of slipping. So, the snow was a cushion but uncomfortable in temperature and with hazards.

As she moved and secured her bare hands and socked feet, the recruit paid attention to details on the cliff side, intent on getting her mind off the growing distance from the ground and the consequences of falling. She counted and tried to remember how many protruding branches she dodged with adjustments to the side and continued up. She occupied herself with trying to remember where her hands and feet had been, trying to keep out the fear that tempted her for permission to take her. She pushed the nagging emotion away. 'I won't drop any of my load,' she exclaimed inwardly to herself as fear attempted to stab at her when the cloth at her feet felt slippery on its ledge on the wall. Brows furrowed in focus and exertion she kept alert on keeping her feet and hands firm and steady when she advanced each clutch and step.

A fifth of the way to go and it happened. Her hands slid and she lost her right grasp on the cliff. The rifle-clad hand's knuckles and arm and her cottoned feet pressed in reflex against the cliff as she quickly returned her right arm and hand against the cliff to slow her fall. A hold, she knew she needed to try and stop her fall by getting back hold on the cliff surface and then she remembered the branches. Jamie shifted with the aim of reaching a branch she had past. She managed to catch hold on the branch as she ground down the vertical surface, her grip with her rifle positioned on the branch, holding herself up with mustered strength, and though her other limbs were still unsteady on the wall refrained from shifting her wait on the hold so as to avoid breaking it, she quickly got her feet and other hand to feel for the steady protrusions it had once past.

Back to halfway, but her spirit was in no means diminished and the recruit budgeted her remaining strength and eventually reached the top. It was a huge difference from the obstacle course, by no means as fast. Jamie started her attempt to replenish her great loss of breath as soon as she finished the climb. Blood from the cuts on her feet stained cotton and she had also scratched her hands and left arm some with her luck. It felt like she had fallen in a field with thorns but of a greater number. But no tears appeared as she stood trying hard to catch her breath struggling to keep her hands positioned on her rifle and not bend over to grasp her knees, trying hard not to fall to her knees.

Yaz followed the orders she had been given, running through the obstical course with little pain. Smiling at her swiftness to keep her shoes on instead of throwing them at wolves, she couldn't have been more prepared to climb and run. Having finished the course Yazmako was more than happy to hear she would be climbing a mountian. Spinning on her heals she practically bounced over to the pile of bags and slung one onto her back, still looking rather amuzed. She had only half heard what the young female said about centepieds but that didn't bother her, no way they would be stupid enough to let them past the first to walls of defence. Laughing openly to herself she started her trek up the mountian side, she may have laked in stamana and speed but she sure made up for it in her streangth. Passing Jaimie who slipped a good part of the way down the mountian Yaz could only smile, at least she was doing better than most recruits.

Reaching the top of the mountian Yazmako nodded at Aspen who had made it there only little before she did. This climb was rough, and she sure lacked the endurance she wish she had. At least she didn't have to run around the academy, though would have made her pass out at the sandbags. Sitting against a rock a little to the right of the cliffside Yaz sat there wondering if there would be a medic in the class who could possibly add a little support to her scrapped knees.

Adrian watched the recruits with a touch of annoyance gracing his features, replacing the prior look of boredom. Arms crossed as he shifted his weight from left to right, his body was resisting the lack of exercise and itched to move. But at the same time, the first tingles of pain were starting to crawl up his leg and moving would only spread the discomfort. He seriously considered picking up a rifle and shooting at the recruits just for some target practice that required little to no leg movement, but decided that would require too much effort. And if by some stroke of misfortune he 'accidentally' missed and actually hit a recruit, well, the Captains definitely wouldn't be happy to hear about that.

"Maybe we should blindfold them next time," he commented in response to Alice's suggestion of a hatchet, although it was more in thought to himself than anything. Adrian considered that blindfolding would definitely force them to heighten their other senses, which was necessary to survive in battle. You couldn't always see where your enemy was and you learned to rely on hearing as much as pure instinct.

Glancing over at what appeared to be a compliment, Adrian simply smirked but did not answer. One look at Damien and Rayan, and anyone could understand why he wasn't allowed to pair up with Apprentices anymore. Although he personally believed that the two of them were the best of any Wolfriders he'd seen yet... if you ignored Rayan's stupidity when it came to women.

Can I eat them now? Nightwing asked impatiently as he watched the younger Beta walk off to his human. Honestly, he couldn't understand why wolves these days allowed themselves to be beckoned like dogs. A human was bonded to a wolf for the sole purpose of serving the wolfmaster, not the other way around.

A thought occured to the dark wolf - he was a hypocrite. Here he was, criticizing the other wolf when he was standing around waiting for his human's confirmation. Nightwing decided not to wait for his human's response and leapt into action, trotting leisurely towards the recruits.

Watching as his wolf ran towards the recruits, Adrian glanced at Alice and then Haze. He raised an eyebrow. "What kind of centipede are you? Those pests don't sit around and wait for wolfriders to fall into their jaws, you know."

A frown of displeasure touched his face as voiced complaints reached his ears, some no more than a murmur. Adrian watched the recruits as a few started to climb the cliff, no doubt the others were probably trying to catch their breaths. Really, some of these recruits had been here for over a year already, they should be able to keep up with all the physical strain. If they couldn't, then they weren't anywhere near fit enough to be a wolfrider. "You should run with them," he suggested to Alice with a smirk, "for encouragement, and whatever other reasons there are."

Meanwhile, Nightwing had caught up to the first few recruits. He paused at the base of cliff, deciding which ones he wanted to go after first. Some of the recruits stopped to rest and he decided that they would be easy pickings - survival of the fittest. Leaping onto the rocky slope, he easily maneuvered his way to his first victim: Yazmako. With a soft growl as warning, he swiped out with a paw and slashed her pack open, watching with satisfaction as the sand spilled out.

Try to avoid physically harming them.

A small huff as he considered the command, but in the end, Nightwing realized that Feral probably wouldn't be happy to receive a new batch of apprentices that were all missing an appendage. Complying with his rider's wishes, he left his first victim alone and aimed for the next: Chehero. He made his way towards her, white fangs bared and a low grumbling erupted from his throat.

Hachiko caught her breath, realizing the wolves had wanted to play as well. She didn't think they would aim for the mountain bound recruits at all. Wondering if they would actually bite them.. her thoughts shifted toward the sand bag which had been ripped open. After a moment of rest she forced herself to climb the rest of the way, not wanting to fall victim to the wolf and losing her sand bag as well. She still aimed to carry out her task and not be told to start over.

Her right foot was wedged between a rock and as she grasped for a hold higher up with her left hand, she lost footing with her left foot. She quickly grasped a vine with her other hand to keep from tumbling down to the bottom. Her heart started pounding fast as she found her footing once again. Her rifle was wedged between her side and her elbow. It was amazing that she could pull that maneuver off. After gaining back her confidence she continued on, wary of becoming "centipede" food.

Hachi practically ran the rest of the way up the mountain. What with her little slip she didn't want to waste any more time. She triumphantly gazed down at the other recruits who followed behind. Then it hit her - she had yet to descend the mountain. At least downhill should be easier, as long as she didn't rush it she would be fine.

Before heading down she tore off a piece of her shirt and tied it around her sore hands. At this point her uniform was of less importance to her health. If she had to buy or make a new one she would, not that she cared. The cloth had been itchy and almost unbearable. She heard herself saying "stupid clothes" and immediately looked around to see if anyone noticed. If anyone had heard her insults toward The Academy she feared being reprimanded for her course words.. although, she wondered if anyone else cared as much about trivial things.

Just below she saw the other recruit trying to "shoot" the wolf and giggle to herself. "Would this actually work?" she thought. She turned around with her rifle in hand and started to climb down.

Slinging the gun onto his shoulder Dave moved through the first set of the course without any problem. He had been at the academy long enough to know the course like the back of his hand. Pleased upon hearing once finished the course he would have to climb the mountian Dave eagerly grabbed up a bag and strapped it on. This was going to be the easier part of the class, much easier. Keeping his eyes out for the small female from earlier he was dissapointed not to see her, rolling his shoulders he was surprised and one after the other a recruit was picked out to be mauled by the dark purple wolf. He definatly didn't want a wolf if it didn't obey or even slightly listen to the human it was bonded with.

Half laughing at Chehero's unfortunate state as he reached the the female he was surprised by her holding a gun to the wolf. Gripping his gun tighter he also raced forward to the female intent on joining in on the 'game' his eye's caught onto another female climbing down towards them. This was going to be interesting and fun.

Alice watched the Recruits with a mix of amusement and irritation. She had never seen so many whiners in her life! How could some of these Recruits expect to bond with a wolf if they weren't ready to face the challenges ahead of them? If they thought this course was hard, they were going to receive a rude awakening from what Adrian had planned for their future training. It would take months before some of the Recruits would be ready to bond, however when it came time for an adolescent wolf to bond and they chose one of the unmotivated Recruits... well, that was entirely up to them.

The girl tipped her head to the side thoughtfully at the older Sergeant's comment. Watching Recruits run into each other would be amusing, but it would also create a terrible mess, considering they were carrying guns. (This was coming from a girl who thought entertainment came from watching two fully grown wolves lay their jaws into unsuspecting Recruits, no less)

The idea of putting the unlocked rifle in her hand to good use and shooting at the trainees had also crossed her mind. However, now that the wolves were involved, Alice didn't want to take any chances. She was an excellent shot and wouldn't intentionally aim to physically harm one of the Recruits, but if one of the wolves should accidentally jump in the way...
Besides, one of the little buggers would eventually try to snitch about just how horribly abused they were during their training session.

Haze sat quietly, ignoring Adrian's remark towards him as he watched more of the Recruits run over to their next task. Only after did Nightwing pass by is when the tall wolf rose to his paws and began trotting at a leisurely pace towards the cliff side. Within seconds, he was sprinting at full speed and advancing on the slower Recruits at a deadly pace.

Leaping onto the rock face with ease, Haze noticed a few of the Recruits gaining up on the older wolf. Not the wisest of decisions, considering that "centipede" happened to be a 17 year-old wolf still well into his prime with a full set of razor-blade teeth and a nasty attitude towards Recruits. Perhaps something interesting would come out of this day afterall...

As Nghtwing dealt with Chehero, Haze quickly reached out and gave Dave's pack a hard tug backwards, causing the male to loose his balance. Despite Hachiko already making her descent, Haze shoved the ledge out from underneath the girl before turning to look for his next target.

Alice looked up abruptly as she was address by the Drill Sergeant. In response, she merely shrugged and smirked slightly before turning back to watch the Recruits struggle with the wolves. "And give them the benefit of the doubt? Where's the fun in that?"

((Eep, so left behind--I think I'll take a bit of liberty to fill in what Kaela was doing...))

Kaela flinched just slightly, not quite frightened but very bothered by the twins' mindless brawling. Perhaps she was right, she thought with a touch of sadness. Perhaps all males were that way--violent, short-tempered, and far too impulsive. Edging away from the pair, she noticed for the first time her bruised, blistered, and very cold feet. Despite her delicate, slender body, she'd been rather too preoccupied to notice. The ever so subtle lull in activity gave her a chance to notice her pain before some sort of transfer occurred between the two sergeants and the girl turned to them with new orders.

She eyed the rifles apprehensively--locked or not, they were dangerous. Yet when she lifted one herself, she was forced to hold it a bit more than gingerly. It was heavy! Weakness washed through her knees--she was too small, too young...how could she be hoping to keep up with the others? Hesitant, she watched several other recruits start off on the obstacle course before following. Within a minute she was tired, two minutes exhausted. And still so much further... Doggedly clutching the rifle, she pressed on.

-------

When she at last finished the course the rifle was still in her hand, but she could feel every limb shaking, fatigued beyond endurance. Most of the others were partway up the mountain--another order she'd dimly heard during her run. The blood rushed from her face, but a sudden glimpse of Nightwing's dark fur as he snapped at stragglers suddenly brought an image of Aston, sneering at her failure. White-knuckled, she lifted a sandbag and rope as she set off in pursuit of the group.