Shortly after Anselm had jumped, Tegan followed. The wind slapping her face felt amazing, though her stomache was doing flips. She looked off into the distance trying to take in her surroundings but everything looked tiny and empty. Once she was low enough, she pulled the cord bracing herself for the giant tug. As she soared down towards the ground she attempted to steer herself away from a dangerous looking patch of bushes, thankfully being successful. Tegan kept her legs bent, but stiff, and made contact with the ground, stumbling a bit but not falling flat on her face. After wrapping up her parachute and stuffing it back in her bag she decided she'd better find the others before a lion ate her. Once she secured both handguns on her sides and slung the rifle on her back she called out to the others.

"Hello? Anyone alive?"

Anselm was relieved to first see Thalia and Sam a little distance away. They were coming towards him, so he must have landed slightly closer to their destination than they did. At least they looked like they knew where they were meant to be going.

Then, from somewhere behing, there was a rusteling followed by an impact, and he turned around to see Tegan landing not far away. He waited as she packed up her parachute...are we supposed to try to keep those? He thought. Never one to take more effort than was absolutely necessary, he simply cast his parachute pack off and left it on the grass. The weight falling from his back made him lose his balance again, and he fell onto his ass. He allowed himself another minute, first waving to get Thalia and Sam's attention, then calling out to Tegan: "Hey babe, not that I doubt that we're the only people around for miles, but by any chance did you notice the sergeant not giving us any ammunition before we jumped? Either he gave it to them (he indicated Sam and Thalia) or we'd better hope this training camp ain't too fucking far away."

Sam walked along, hands slightly shaking as the last of the adrenaline flushed itself out of his system. "Don't worry, I got your back" he replied, trying his best to sound like that was a good thing. The words sounded strange to his own ears, he'd never expected himself to have to say things like that but he guessed there would be a hell of a lot more soldier phrases leaving his lips in the coming days. He too had left his parachute behind, not thinking it would be necessary to make another jump now they were on the ground and he thought about whether the attendant on the plane had told them to pack it back up as he watched Tegan packing up a little distance away.

He saw one of the other guys from the plane land ahead of them and was slightly comforted that he hadn't been the only one to bail his landing. He returned a quick wave and shouted over to him. "Not as comfortable as it looks, is it?" He started to grin but the smile was quickly wiped from his face as the realisation that they were in enemy territory closed in on him. And there they were shouting like idiots to one another. Mistake one, he wouldn't let himself make it again. As much for comfort as anything else he slung his gun out from behind him and, fumbling slightly, grabbed it in both hands, trying his best to look like what he imagined a soldier would look like. Hopefully, if they were being watched, the sight of four armed 'soldiers' would be enough to put off an attack. Then the further thought occured that half of these 'soldiers' had fallen on their ass after an air drop and were shouting the place down. Yeah, reeeaaal commandos... he thought.

He caught sight out of the corner of his eye of Thalia grapping her stomach and he raised an eyebrow. "You OK?" he asked quietly, more than a little concerned. He didn't need the only person who'd agreed to look out for him falling down dead before any bullets actually got fired.

Thalia grinned at Sam, almost reassuringly. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. This happens whenever I get childhood memories. It never lasts more then a few minutes, at the most, five. And it should take us about ten more until we reach that camp." She dropped one hand from her stomach just so Sam could feel comfortable. And it did start to go away when she pushed the song out of playing in her head. She felt pretty well about her physical state; she was a strong girl that could withstand most brutality, but war training was a different story. She wasn't going to show that she couldn't do it because she was a girl; she could do it and she knew it. Besides, out there, she would not be the first one to die and certainly not the least skilled. She knew how to aim real well, and she knew how to work guns.

She looked to Sam for a second, then looked back forward. She looked at Anselm. It didn't her and Sam much longer to reach the destination they were going to. It took them about 12 more minutes, around the time Thalia has approximated for them to take. When they entered, a tall, buff, mean looking man was standing there, waiting for them. He was a general. Thalia stopped in front of him. She figured they'd have to wait for the others before this training really kicked off. She studied the man; you surely didn't want to be on his bad side. Ever. Thalia was going to do the best she possibly could in doing everything she was told and when to do it. She wondered what the actual battlefield would be like. She was getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about it, so she stopped. She looked up at the man again.

He looked down at her, then continued looking back forward. He'd given her a glare. It made Thalia slightly uncomfortable, though she figured she'd have to put up with it for the next day, and she was ready and willing to. She was patient enough for everybody else to come and arrive here; but honestly, she wanted them here now to kick it off.

Tegan caught up with the others, noticing they all had discarded their parachutes. She wasn't one to waste, and knew that the abundance of fabric may come in handy in the future. She walked behind Sam and Thalia, so she could study them casually. Once they had reached their destination, she turned her attention to the general. "What a gorilla." She thought to herself. Tegan looked at the reaction of the others who were clearly thinking the same thing.

Waiting seemed to be a common occurance here, and Tegan was extremely impatient. If she was going to be here she didn't want to stand around and have staring contests with a bunch of camo-wearing, stone-faced, gorilla-men. She shifted her weight and tried to keep still but ADD was kicking in.

As they started walking towards the camp, Anselm paused and looked around. What was that noise? Suddenly there was an almighty crash in a nearby tree accompanied by a spirited "Wahoo!" Spinning around, Anselm saw Keith hanging in the tree by his parachute.

"Greetings cousin!" the cannibal called out, unsheathing his machete and cutting his parachute pack away, sending himself toppling onto the grass. "Have to say that was an inspired speech up there. Nothin like the thought of food to overcome a little case of cold feet!"

Anselm shook his head in wonder, doubting that Keith had even had his pack properly checked over before jumping. Still, a part of him was definitely glad to have an extra man on the team. There was still so sign of Aja, had she had a problem with her 'chute? He hoped she was alright, they needed every pair of hands that could keep.

"Well took you long enough." Anselm said to Keither with a grin. "Come on then, time's a-wasting."

A few minutes later, they caught up with Thalia and Sam at the came, and saw a guy who looked even meaner than the sergeant from the plane...

Sam stayed silent the rest of the journey, letting Thalia reflect on her own thoughts, she was clearly getting a little homesick. He, however, was not and he didn't know why. This was the furthest from home he'd ever been and it was the worst situation he'd ever found himself in yet he didn't ache for the streets or his apartment or any of the many luxuries he now realised he had owned. He was soon jerked from his thoughts by the sound of the cannibal hurtling into a nearby tree with a similar jump-cry to his own and he couldn't help a small smile creeping onto his face. Now he thought about it, he'd probably smiled and grinned more in the last hour than he ever did back home. He shook his head a little, bewildered by the thought, and carried on walking as he tried to empty his mind of home.

When the 5 of them had arrived at the camp they were greeted by a ... Well, Sam couldn't quite put the words together to describe what it was that stood there. A fucking minotaur without the horns he thought at last as he waited for instructions, taking care to stash his weapon behid his back so he didn't give off the wrong impression. He tried to look strong but unaggressive in his stance and decided upon straight spine, shoulders back and hands clasped behind him. It was uncomfortable; he wasn't used to standing as such but if nothing else he was diplomatic and he knew how important posture was in giving a first impression. And the last thing he wanted was to have this monster of a man take a dislike to him.

Aja waited for about half a minute after everyone else jumped. She wasn't scared of heights, but the idea of dropping into the unknown kinda scared her.

"Jump now or you'll lose your friends," the flight attendent ordered. Aja rolled her eyes. "Those people are NOT my friends." Aja went over to the open door and sighed. It's now or never. Before she jumped, she made sure she had her daggers, her orignal clothes in case she gets the chance to get out of this stupid uniform, and she saw that she still had that lady's wallet. Aja smiled and tossed on the floor by the flight attendent's feet. "Oops, I almost fogot to return that. My bad!" And before the flight attendent could speak, she jumped out of the plane.

After a few seconds in the air, Aja realized that she had no idea on when to open the parachute. She looked down and saw the ground rapidly coming up, so she opened it then.

Her landing wasn't as graceful as she wanted it to be, but as she surveyed her surroundings, she saw no one. Not Thalia, not Sam, not even that Anslem guy. "Great..." Aja muttered. "No one of those juviniles are here and I'm stranded out here!" Aja looked up and saw that the sun was directly up and it was noon. And from her knowing where the sun has been earlier, she knew which way north was and decided to go that way.

(LifeAsWeKnowIt, is this good enough?)

(Perfect. Thanks:) )

Thalia started up at the man again. She looked to her right and left once more to check for Aja. She said nothing but in her mind was questioning where in the world she could be. It couldn't be too far; they all jumped in about the same spot, landed there too. Aja should have been in sight of the camp they were standing at. She looked up to Sam then back at the general. He was still standing in the same position, staring straight ahead. She wondered when he would start to yell, or scream, give commands. He was waiting for the last one.

Thalia's head screamed one thought. She wanted this training to begin. The longer the wait on Aja, the longer the delay of training, and the less training they would get before war. It was a matter of time before the general was going to wait before Aja came; and she figured that when she came, she'd get a stern beating if they had already started their training.

The general shifted his weight and studied each one of them. Thalia maintained a straight face, a dedicated face. She didn't want to seem like she didn't want to be here; or smile, as if trying to say that this was a joke. To her, this was no joke. It was as serious as serious could possibly get. And she didn't like the feeling of a bad first impression on somebody especially like him; get on his bad side and you're more then screwed.

She looked up to Sam who was standing next to her out of the corner of her eye, being careful not to move her body. Her mind was repeating over and over in her head. Come on Aja, we need this training. Come on.

This...is...fucking...weird. That's what Anselm was thinking as they stood their in a straight line. He, for his part, also stood to attention, though it was less out of a desire to look like a 'respectable soldier' than out of being at a complete loss what else to do. And the rhino of a man standing in front of them looked like someone who could either seriously grind their asses into the sand for the next 24 hours...or else be the one person to show them how to stay alive (possibly by grinding their asses into the sand for 24 hours...).

Keith stood in the middle; Anselm and Tegan on his right, Thalia and Sam on his left. He had his thumbs tucked into his belt, and a slight smirk on his face. Not a real smirk, it was just the way his face sat naturally. The new commander didn't scare him so much; he'd seen uglier in the swamps. But like Anselm, he knew that their chances of survival would be better if they at least listened to what he had to say. At the very least, he'd point them in the direction of the buffet...

Anselm looked across at Sam and Thalia; something had changed in their faces - they actually looked like a team, ready to do a job. Damn, he thought, if they're setting the bar then I guess the rest of us better damn well step up. He also noticed that Keith didn't seem to have a gun on him; probably hadn't had the chance to grab one before jumping. With any luck he'd be able to grab one later, but if he could weild that machete half as well as he could blabbermouth, it may not be such a problem.

The ugly guy glanced at them each in turn. Clearly he knew there was one more person to arrive.

Aja muttered a curse after 10 minutes of walking. She see civilization ahead of her, but it was the camp, not a village. Aja could see a vehicle heading straight for her. "Damn it! Now I won't be able to get the hell outta here!" she said to no one.

The truck stopped next to her. It was some mean looking guy in an army suit like she was wearing. "So I guess you must be that troublesome kid that got sent here. Are you trying to run away?"

Aja crossed her arms while at the same unsheathing her knife to where he couldn't see it. "No, I got lost, but thank you for coming to pick me up."

The mean looking guy scowled. "I don't like your attitude kid."

"And I don't like these outfits but I'm not complaining like you are," Aja snapped back.

The army guy goes to push her or something, but when he does, she grab his arm and hold it tight. He tries to pull away, but Aja has a firm grip. "Let me go!" he yells.

Aja smiled. "Then don't attempt to hit me and take me to your stupid training camp." She lets go and jumps onto the back of the truck. The guy just frowns and mumbles something about disrespectful teenagers. Aja leaned back and watched the training camp come closer and closer, and her chances of escaping slimming.

(Merry Christmas, to you all.)

Thalia could hear a truck roaring up closer and closer; must be somebody with Aja. Thank god... She thought to herself. Finally they could maybe get some quality training in. Thalia gripped her hands together tighter, standing at attention, motionless the entire time but looking exactly as the general would have -- probably -- liked her to be. She could not wait any longer. Nothing about her changed about her on the outside, thought on the inside the itch to train and become better was raging. The general straightened up and opened his loud, serious, no joke mouth.

"You 5 will begin the training with me, if I see anything CLOSE to slacking off, You will be put through bullshit unbearable to human beings! You are delinquents and nothing more!" He screamed at them. Thalia was motionless during the course of the yelling. She kept a straight face and didn't move a muscle to make sure the general didn't get a bad first impression amongst training.

He instructed the five of them to follow him in a straight line. The five new come soldiers did exactly as they were told. They were first brought to large obstacle course; tall rockwalls, jumping in and out of tires, crawling under fencing through mud. Everything a soldier in training for agility needed; and Thalia was as ready as ever. He yelled more at them and lined them up in order of who started first. First was hopping through tires. Thalia would follow third; this drill would go fast as the general had instructed.

Here we go.

Sam had started to drift off into his own thoughts as the wait for Aja became more of a drawn out activity and his thoughts led him down roads he'd never before dreamed of. He gave serious thought, for the first time in his life, to death. He thought about what it might be like to die and to spend one's last moments looking back on one's own life, which he attempted to do now. He didn't see much; a lot of dealing, some running from the cops, a few shattered relationships and some truly epic nights out. It struck him there and then that life could have been so much more but it may well come to and end as it was and the only thing he could do to stop that was to pay atten- The general shouted, breaking Sam's thoughts, and he jolted, completely caught off guard by the torrent of words. His thoughts evaporated and he listened intently to what was now expected of them... And what would happen if they didn't live up to those expectations.

As he saw what they all approached he wished that Aja had hurried the hell up so he could get here while the buzz from the jump was still lingering on. There was NO way that he could do this in one go, maybe not even at all. Climbing and jumping had never really part of his everyday activities, but he felt sure that he could outrun anyone here, perhaps even the hardened veteren that was yelling orders at them. If nothing else Sam was one quick little bastard and it had been said on more than one occassion.

They were ordered to line up in the order they would attempt the course and instinctively Sam slowed down to head to the back so he could postpone it as long as he could but something clicked in his mind and two thoughts struck him at once. The first was that being the last to step up was not something a soldier would do; hesitation was never an allie in the field of battle. The second was that if he went first then that set the bar, there was nothing to compete against. With that in mind he stepped forward to the front of the line with a very slight smile on his face, proud of himself for stepping up but already regretting the decision. Nothing for it now, let's go he thought as he crouched down into a similar position he had adopted on the plane before his jump.

Keith almost grinned as he looked across the assault course. The driveway to his grand-pappy's house was more fraught with danger that this! At least this course didn't have any 'gators. He obligingly stepped up to go first, but was surprised when the pasty looking salesman kid got in front of him.

"Good on you, cousin." he drawled in a whisper. "Best if you don't slow me down none, I'd hate to have to eat my way to a better lap time."

-----------------

Anselm groaned under his breath, and stepped up behind Thalia. Behind him was Tegan, and then last in line was Aja, who was now out of the jeep and had just come up to join them. He scanned the obstacle range, and shook his head. Bit late for a fitness test, wasn't it? What, if they failed were they going to be sent home? Fat fucking chance. Even so, if those overfed, stroppy kids on Boot Camp TV shows could do it, he sure as hell could. Even if he'd never traversed an obstacle in his life. The only obstacle he'd ever had to overcome was a girl's better instinct...but this didn't look like it would be so easy.

He heard the general yell "GO!", and braced himself.

Aja saw the others up ahead once she was dropped off. She ran/jogged over to them waving. "Hey guys!" But before she could get in line, a mean looking general stopped her. "Where were you at," he growled.
Aja crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Guys like these don't scare her. She has seen them all the time in New York. "I got held up. Saw a poor hawk with a broken wing and I helped it. Got a problem with that?"
"Yes!" he yelled. "Hawks don't live here! You are a liar and I will not be lied to!"

Aja shrugged and tried to get in line, but the general guy wasn't done with her yet. "Tardyness and lying is not tolerated. You will go without rations tonight! Now get in line!" He walked back in the front of the line while she got in the back. Aja didn't care what he said. A girl like her was gong to get a meal no matter what.

Though Thalia surely didn't look the build, her stamina and speed were astounding. She was a party girl; that's no lie. But she did hit the gym at least 5 times a week; had to maintain that perfect body, right? Thalia new she could complete this course in about the time the general had wanted her to; but there was no lying, she would be tired and it would take a lot of effort. She would have to push herself and not let any kind of slaking be tolerated; due to the fact she didn't want to go with a punishment or without food. Even if she felt like she was going to break down, she couldn't. Not now. Thalia braced herself to run after Keith; first girl up. "Run faster," she mumbled under her breath so that nobody could hear her. She wanted to take a go on this course.

When the general blew the whistle for Thalia to run, she took off like a bullet. She was out and done with the tires in no time. She wondered how long it would take Anselm. Sam seemed alright. After all, they were a team now and she wanted him to be successful in this training, due to the fact she wanted to stay alive. Rockwall came second. Climbing wasn't her favorite suit; but she could do it. Positioning her feet and hands in exactly the right places, she managed to get over the rock wall in good time, but not as quickly as she had completed the tires.

This wasn't fun, but it wasn't horrible either.

Tegan waited behind Anselm, not too worried about the course. It reminded her a little of when she lived in the streets. Climbing buildings to find a place to sleep, running from the cops when they caught you, and being careful not to step on other homeless people passed out. Even after she moved into the shop, she was constantly running from someone and loved to take the craziest route in order to lose them.

She stretched quickly but carefully while she had the chance in line. Everyone was doing pretty well so far. She was surprised. Who would have thought a bunch of fucked up kids would be able to do this? However, this was only the beginning. It could only get harder.

Keith was already up to the crawling nets, and dived straight into the mud with a "Yee-haw!" It's not as though the course wasn't hard for him; it just wasn't any harder than what he was used to at home. He slapped forward through the slime, certain he would catch up with Sam any second now. He wanted to get out from under the nets in time to see what those girlies would think of having to crawl through six inches of very wet mud.

Reaching the end, he jumped to his feet and took time to stretch and look back. He'd put a decent distance between himself and Thalia, but dayam she was doing better than he expected! No time to slack up now...

----------------------

Anselm struggled through the tyres. He felt ridiculous hopping from one foot to the other like a retard who'd just set his own shoes on fire. So his time wasn't great. The climbing was less of a problem; his height and leanness worked in his favour. But by the time he was over the top, his stamina was all but spent. He collapsed to the ground and grunted angrilly. The other three were well ahead of him, and more than ever he became accutely aware that this was a survival situation. If the others detected that he wasn't the strongest of the pack...well, then he'd quickly become the most expendable. That couldn't happen. So, driven by that though, he forced himself up and pressed on.

Thalia was hell no of a giver-upper. She manuvered the nets like they were candles on a birthday cake. Mud wasn't disgusting. It was just dry dirt mixed with a little water, and it washed off. She certainly wasn't a Gucci girl. She didn't want to come off as one either. Definately not in the hell they called war. She could do this though; she was certain. In fact, she knew damn well she could do it.

Into the mud she let out a pleased, "YEAH BABY." And used her tiny body but big strength to pull through easily. She ran to the end line, wiping a bit of mud off her face. She certainly wasn't un-tired, she was very tired at that. But she maintained a hell good attitude and walked it off.

"Now you boys didn't think I couldn't do it, didja?" She said with a grin. The course was impressive for her; and she pulled it off rather ... well!

Sam had taken off through the tires like a demon, feet pumping quicker than even he could believe. Once through it took him next to no time to reach the wall, stamina intact. Running was second nature to him and he was glad of it now but the climbing was... Well, it wasn't his thing. Still, he went for it as wellas he could, taking a jump at it, springing his leg muscles to their limit and he grabbed hold some distance up, smashing his jaw off a protrusion on impact. He uttered a groan of pain and shook his head quickly beore attempting to haul himself up. His skinny arms strained at the effort and by the time he rolled himself over the top his forearms were burning and he could barely close his fingers.

His beath now coming in deep, ragged lungfuls, Sam took off once more to continue his way at a sprint. He dived to the ground at the crawling net and set off under it with arms still aching and breath still laboured. He made it through here aswell and stood, stumbling breifly. His lungs were burning, his muscles were aching and his jaw was stiff. He had never had to do anything like this before and it was starting to show. Nonetheless he forced himself to focus on what would happen if he did not get through this with anywhere near a respectable time. However, that was when he heard that damned cannibal running up behind him. And there I was thinking I was doing OK... he thought to himself as he pretty much collapsed into the mud and started pulling his way through. "This...This isn't... So bad..." he gasped between panting breaths. He felt ready to drop his face to the mud and give up. He was a businessman, not an athlete. This just wasn't him.

Keith was at the end of the course stretching his arms out to release the adrenaline and brushing the mud off his front.

"Way-el, if that's how we're gonna conquer Africa then just send me out, 'ama ready!"

He walked up to Sam who was panting and wheezing nearby.

"You did good cousin," he said, patting him on the back quite hard. "Just try and imagine doing it with people shootin' atchya, and then be thankful that they ain't, and all of a sudden it don't seem so bad does it?"

Then Thalia arrived triumphant, and a minute later Anselm hit the finish line, depserately trying to to seem too exhausted. It was amusing to see Thalia smiling so much, like all of a sudden everyone was starting to enjoy this, which would be all very well until they found themselves in the line of fire. Anselm couldn't quite see how this was preparing them all for battle, but at least it was delaying it so it couldn't be all that bad.

"Not bad sweetcheeks." he said to her. "But I told you the army make-up look wasn't quite what you're used to huh."

He pointed at a splash of mud on her face that she'd missed.

This is so easy! I'm not even breaking a sweat! Though I'm not too fond of the mud, oh well. The obstacle course felt like a breeze to Aja. Climbing walls, running, and manuvering through small spaces was all part of her daily life. The only thing that she didn't do often was hop through tires and that even then that was too easy. The only reason that she didn't pass the others was because she her thieving instiencts told her to be cautious and careful.

When Aja finally got to the finish line, she was dead last. That was okay with her though, after all, she started last.



(Sorry! I'm having a writer's block! Plus, I misspelled a word...)

Sam continued to exhude his breath in loud, deep pants, now resting his hands on his thighs. The pat on the back from the large cannibal did little to help; more to hinder, as he almost lost his balance and stumbled forward a little. It wasn't just the force of the hand between his shoulder blades that did it, there was also the feeling in the pit of Sam's stomach that he couldn't describe whenever he strayed to close to his new companion. The very idea of eating human flesh, whether his stories were true or not, was enough to make his skin crawl and his bowels clench.

He adjusted his stumble, not bothering to disguise it, and moved into a walk over to a post that had crossed over their final obstacle to make use of it as a seat. He took a deep breath and swallowed before replying to Keith. "I think I'd run faster... If there were bullets flying at me," he managed to say, breaking out into a slight grin. Even talking about the coming days of fighting was unnevering to him but he found the more they discussed it and the closer they got then the easier it became to bare and accept. He was going to go to war. And he would likely die there. And if he was totally honest with himself, he could have been dealing with it a whole lot worse than he was.

As the others slowly filed in Sam noticed he was probably the worst off after the course. Either that he was the one least bothered about showing how tough the course had been. It had been tough hadn't it? Sure as hell had been to him. Whether that was down to it being a military obstacle training exercise or his rather cushy lifestyle back home wasn't clear to him but he hazarded a guess that it was a combination of the two."So... When do we learn to shoot?" he asked the group, curious as to what good crawling through mud would be when you needed to pick off a target half a mile away.

Tegan menuevered the tires with agility. Everything was pretty simple until she came to the wall. She had climbed many buildings but this was a little tougher. Her legs got her most of the way up and finally back down. When she got to the mud she slid underneath, pulling her body along with her arms. Once finished, she wiped herself off a bit and rebraided her hair. Her breathing was a little bit heavy so she raised her arms above her head.

"If this is the beginning, I can only imagine what's next. That was a tease."