Chapter Text
"Again." The sergeant commanded in Russian, snapping the ruler tightly over her flesh.
Her eyes didn't water and she didn't flinch.
However, a spatter of blood flew from the weeping wound on the centre of her back and sprayed the mirror, adding another coat to the dried blood that already marred the surface.
It stung, but the fact that she would have to clean up her own blood later hurt her pride worse.
Nobody liked staying in the training room for any longer than they had too. With good reason.
Although she couldn't see the sky, she knew that the streets would be darkening now. the light misty day leaching away into an inky black that slunk it's way around the city, almost hiding the small village from the bleak main roads.
The large room was windowless, the only light coming from bright, artificial lights that gave her headaches. They cast a cold light onto the training room, the large mirrors that spanned the four rooms reflecting the harsh light.
The floors were made of a hard wood that was designed to hurt to land on, no matter how easily you fell.
Natalia knew that first hand.
Then again, most of the girls of the Red Room did.
"Again Natalia." The sergeant spat, in Spanish this time, cracking the ruler harshly over her back again with a cruel frown. "Correctly, this time." He demanded, gesturing at the other girl in front of her. She was taller than Natalia by a few inches with a pretty mouth marred by an ugly scowl.
"I'm waiting." The sergeant drawled, the Serbian words dropping cruelly from his tongue as he cracked the ruler again. Another spray of blood hit the mirror and she restrained the flinch before sinking into the traditional fighting stance; feet apart, leaning lightly on the balls of her feet with her hands held up by her jaw. The other girl sank into a similar position before advancing forward slowly, meeting her in the centre.
The other girl moved first, lashing out sharply with her right fist. It was an easy hit, meant to assess her abilities. Natalia simply ducked beneath it, before quickly stepping forward and sending a sharp jab to the other girl's ribs. She evaded easily, returning with a swift kick to her thigh. Natalia side-stepped out of the way and sent a right hook flying the other girls way. She ducked beneath it and the two girls continued on, moving in perfect tandem in a dance that neither of them knew the steps too.
The sergeant glared at them all the while, occasionally correcting the brunette's form and shouting at them to land a hit. It became clear that he had grown bored of watching the girls move around the room when he suddenly spoke, his voice quiet and all too threatening. "If one of you doesn't land a hit soon, you will both spend the night in the pit." His English was perfect and accentless. The girl froze for a second, eyes widening at the threat.
The pit was, essentially, a hole in the ground. It burrowed about nine feet underground with rusting pipes running up the height of it that dripped constantly, leaving the muddy bottom of it soaked, which made it impossible to sleep in. All of the girls at the Red Room had spent at least a night in there and had spent the rest of their time avoiding another stay in it. Natalia still had nightmares about the pit, the crushing darkness and paralysing sense of loneliness that plagued her sleep.
The icy cold water mixed with the below freezing temperature had given some of the weaker girls hypothermia, most of which didn't last the night.
That didn't happen to Natalia though, Natalia was strong.
She took advantage of the girl's frozen state and leapt forward, sending a sharp kick to the other girl's head. It was easily blocked, but the redhead didn't give her time to recover, she pressed on, sending a volley of vicious kicks and punches. The other girl fought hard, but barely managed to keep Natalia at bay, her growing exhaustion clear in the heavy way she carried her limbs.
The redhead was relentless though, and finally broke through her defence, punching the girl square in the nose with a mechanical precision. She followed it with a chop to her neck that made her bend over, grabbing her neck and coughing as she choked. She then grabbed her head and brought down to meet her knee before pulling her back up and digging her fingers into the sensitive pressure point at the juncture of her shoulder and neck. The girl whimpered, scrabbling at her tormentor to release her. When Natalia finally dropped her, she hit the ground hard before herself dragging across the floor in a pointless gesture of escape. Natalia stopped before turning to face the sergeant.
He nodded at her, the highest way he showed his praise. "Finish her."
Natalia nodded, moving forward as the girl began begging.
"Please, no." She gasped, tears running down her face as she hunched over, grasping her neck. "I'll be better. I swear, please stop."
Natalia paid no heed to her plea, still advancing. Seeing that her begging was having no affect, the other girl struggled to stand, weakly raising her fists as the redhead approached. Natalia batted her away her first punch and caught the second one before it landed, arching her wrist and neatly breaking the girl's arm. She shrieked, yanking her hand back and backing away, clutching her wounded hand to her chest as the other hand raised in defence.
The redhead broke into a run and jumped, both legs wrapping around the girl's neck as Natalia threw her body backwards and towards the hard, wooden floor, bringing the girl's body flying towards the ground. Her head hit the ground with a sharp crack and a horrendous crunching sound filled the air as her neck broke.
Natalia carefully unwrapped her legs and rose to her feet, facing her instructor with her head bowed.
"That was nearly acceptable." The sergeant growled, the Russian accent giving his words a cruel edge. "One night in the pit for holding back."
Natalia said nothing, simply bowed her head and marched out, fingers clenching at the prospect of another night in the pit.
******
Natalia stood with her arms behind her back, head bowed and feet shoulder width apart. She had been stood in here for three minutes and forty seconds.
Not that she was counting.
The room was one that she had never seen before and she easily repressed the urge to look around and become intimate with every detail. That was done in the first ten seconds of being there. It was clearly somebody's office, with a large black desk in front of her, clearly a standard issue one. Filing cabinets lined the wall to the right of her and to the left was an old coat-stand with ornate carving on the curving hooks. The walls were an unpleasant bottle green and bare. She had already assessed any potential weapons and was satisfied with waiting for somebody to appear.
The curiosity, however, prickled at the base of her neck like an itch longing to be scratched. Who was she waiting for? The sergeant had said nothing, simply came to the girl's room and gestured for her to get dressed and follow him. She had done, quickly and silently, modesty no longer an issue after one girl had been beaten senseless after asking for a separate room to change in. Natalia hurried past the empty beds (They used to be full, didn't they?) and quickly followed the sergeant down the quiet halls of The Red Room. He stopped outside one of the many nondescript doors and gestured her in before striding away. She watched him walk away for a second before opening the door and slipping in.
The sergeant's step was completely mute, surprisingly so for a man of his height and weight. He was tall, Natalia had never dared ask how tall, with lean, muscles that rippled across his chest. His eyes were a pale, cruel blue and he rarely spoke. His hair hung in limp black strands around his face and his arm glimmered with silver. The girls had often gossiped about how he had lost his arm, some saying that it had been over an important assassination gone wrong, others saying he was injected with poison and had to cut it off before it infected the rest of his body. Natalia's favourite story was the one where he went on a mission in the mountains that had gone wrong, and had had to scale down a steep ravine in order to survive.
Nobody knew the truth though.
Nobody dared ask.
Natalia tensed before quickly relaxing as a gentle gust of wind hit her back from the door opening. The person opening it, however, made no noise and strode in, their footsteps undetectable. The redhead tensed, feeling the subtle changes in the air currents as the person prowled through the room. A sharp gust of wind hit the back of her head and she hit the ground, lightning fast. The hand flew above her head with curled fingers, sharp nails arched towards the palm of a tanned hand.
She rolled over, sliding gracefully to her feet and facing her attacker and - hopefully - the person she was waiting for.
He was tall.
That was the only descriptive word that could be used to describe him. He was nondescript in every way and extraordinarily average. His hair was sandy brown that could have been blond as well as brunet, depending on the lighting. It was a good head of hair, but not too thick. His nose fit his face, with a slight bump in the ridge and his eyes were blue, with flecks of green. His mouth was parted slightly as he panted and his skin was free of freckles and the colour of tea with lots and lots of milk in it.
All in all, he would have been completely forgettable if Natalia had met in different circumstances.
As it was, the redhead never forgot anybody that she considered a threat to her, and right now he was top of the list.
He advanced, shooting out a sharp punch to her neck that she stepped backwards to avoid, followed by a roundhouse kick that would have knocked her out cold. She simply ducked beneath it, leaping forward and vaulting over the desk. He landed swiftly, moving quicker than anybody she had ever seen and met her on the other side of the desk. His face showed no emotion and she was sure that her face mirrored his. It wasn't often that the Sergeant surprised her with a new competitor, but it did happen. But Natalia still had no orders to fight him, so she wouldn't. She would block his hits and avoid him if possible, but she wouldn't hurt him without orders. One girl had fought without permission but Natalia struggled to remember what she looked like.
The man said nothing, just advanced again. This time he struck out with his fist, swinging in a textbook perfect right hook. She ducked beneath and backed away.
He followed, his hand a blur of movement as he flattened his palm and fingers and aimed for her neck. With her back against the wall, she had no option but to hit back by batting the jab away, just as quickly. She twisted away from the wall and whirled back to face him, face remaining neutral. Their fight continued for what felt like hours, him sending brutal attack after brutal attack that Natalia effortlessly avoided, blocked and twisted away from. Soon he stopped attacking, crinkles formed around his eyes as his lips tilted in the barest hint of smile.
"Good job." He said, his voice had the power of warm milk. He spoke in Russian, but that rarely meant anything when it came to nationality in The Red Room. Natalia might have been Russian, but she could have been from anywhere in the world. His smile turned sadistic. "Now for the real test, you may fight." With that, he pulled out a short, serrated knife and attacked.
********