Angel's Recovery: Walk Before You Run

9: Walk before you run


The training continued for weeks and little by little Angel got stronger, faster and in better shape than she had ever been. She had a schedule and she stuck it to like glue. It was an intense, but it was paying off. Sadly it consumed a lot of her time, therefore she wasn’t seeing the other crew members as much as usual. But this was something she wanted more than anything, it was the driving force that  kept her going.

The regiment consisted of toning her muscles, strengthening them, practicing stealth, training the use of her weapons and kept her busy from morning until night. “No pain, no gain”, was Angel’s new motto.

Zipping on her boots, Angel stood and looked in the mirror. She was dressed in a pair of black leggings, a half shirt showing off her toned stomach and a pair of black arm guards. A small dagger was hidden within each arm guard.  Wrapped against her thighs were Justice and Vengeance, and two more daggers each in secret compartments of her boots. She braided her hair into a french braid, that fell just above her backside.
“So long.” Angel muttered when she finally finished the braid. “Time to go.” She said and headed up to the main deck. Alpha and Omega followed her excitedly, they actually enjoyed the workout. In their minds it was a game of sorts.
Aisuru turned his head from the water when he heard her approach. ”We will be having a break for some time.”
“Oh really?’ Angel wondered. The assassin hadn’t mentioned a break before.
”Aye. It will give ye a chance to practice meditation. Away from the ship, in a peaceful setting, I can see yer improving.”
Angel admitted to herself that she was horrible at meditating and she really liked the idea of getting away from the ship with the wolves for a while.
“Okay, I will try.” Angel nodded.
”Ye will still have your other training as well to do daily. The new islands will give ye much more space to practice and the wolves will love it.”
“When will we be there?”
”Soon". Aisuru replied, ”Fer now we will concentrate on this. How are yer wings?”
Angel smiled.
“They are doing so much better. I do that special workout right before bed. They are so much stronger now. I would actually like to change it up some.” Angel said in an inquiring tone.
Aisuru knew where this was heading.
”No, not yet, me Angel.” His voiced broached no argument.
Angel sighed,
“Figured.” She mumbled and began her routine.
Aisuru pushed her harder this evening, concentrating on Angel’s defensive moves with their weapons. It actually turned into a game of tag. They used the whole top of the deck as an obstacle course.
”Ye must get faster.” He replied and nicked her shirt purposely with his knife.
Angel jumped back and landed on the railing. Panting, her fingers instantly felt where his knife ripped. Inside she sighed in relief that she wasn’t cut.
”What’s wrong? Did I cut you?”
Angel shook her head as she tried to ease down the panic and slight fear she felt.
Aisuru sighed, ”Then tell me why ye look like that?”
He didn’t normally push her like this to tell him something, but he was her friend and her trainer. The look he saw in Angel’s eyes when she jumped on the railing was something he couldn’t ignore.
He placed his knife away and walked over to the railing. Leaning against it, he looked out at the water. Angel watched him carefully before gripping the rail and swinging her legs over the side so she could sit.
“There is something about me no one knows.” She sighed softly and continued. “It is something that could not just hurt me but kill me.”
Angel looked around carefully to make sure no one was around or watching, and then leaned over and whispered it in his ear.
Aisuru frowned beneath his mask.
”Don’t ye think I should have known before starting your training?”
“I was taught to never tell anyone; ever. I haven’t until now.” Angel says softly.
Aisuru let out a long breath.
“Me Angel, ye could have...if my aims were not so accurate, but one slip like…</i>”
“Don’t tell anyone, me Assassin. Swear.” Angel looked at him intently, waiting for him to answer.
He thought about her request for a moment, weighing the pro’s and con’s of it.
“Please...it is already hard enough but if they knew…” Angel pleaded with him.
Aisuru understood what she was referring to.
”On one condition, if the situation ever occurs I will not be bound to the promise any longer.” His voice was low and serious. Angel nodded her head agreeing with him.
”Then I be keeping this to me self.” Aisuru assured her.
Angel gave him a big smile, “Thank you. Now back to training.” She jumped off the railing and looked back at him, “Oh and no holding back.” She smirked.
Aisuru laughs behind his mask, ”I never planned to.”
“Good.” She tagged him with the tip of her finger. “Oh and now you’re it.” She laughed while running away.

A pair of eyes watched them from the other side of the ship. Each and every move Angel made was memorized, being watched with care. This person didn’t like the time she spent with the assassin, it bothered them greatly. “Hmph.”, the watcher grumbled, clenching their hands.

The training continued for the rest of the evening. As he had promised, Aisuru didn’t hold back at all and pushed Angel more so than before. It was already past midnight when he stopped the session. Aisuru was impressed at how fast Angel progressed and how her teachers from before trained her. He saw a new confidence in her step when they practiced together. Angel was leaping from railings, jumping down from high places with ease and no fear. Her stealth and agility had improved immensely.

”Before ye go, don’t forget.” Aisuru nodded towards the rope hanging down.
Angel rolled her eyes and walked over to it. Reaching up, she did one loop around her hand which was now protected with leather fingerless gloves and pulled herself up. She focused completely on the task as she pulled her body up more.
Aisuru watched her silently and noticed the look of determination in Angel’s eyes.
Hand over hand, Angel continued up the rope until she was just inches away from the beam. Panting, she pulled up two more times and sat on her ledge.
“I did it!” Angel yelled out triumphantly.
”Aye, ye did. Aisuru answered proudly. ”Now ye need to get back down.”
Angel heard him but didn’t move right away. Her eyes looked out across the sky starry sky, absorbing it all. A gentle breeze blew a few strands of hair out of her face as she tilted it upwards.
“Beautiful.” She whispered.
Looking down she called out: “Can’t I just fly down?”
The reply was one simple word: ”No and no jumping, that be to easy. Use the rope”
Standing on the ledge, Angel reached out for the hanging rope and began descending. Her ar, and stomach muscles burned and a few times she slid down some.
“This is harder.” She called down to Aisuru before sliding the rest of the way down the rope and landing on her behind.
“Oww…” She moans softly. “That is so going to bruise.”
Aisuru walked over to her and reached out his hand, ”That is one way of getting down.” he commented jokingly while pulling her up.
Angel frowned,
”Yea…I’m not going to do that again.” She mumbles.
”Get some sleep, me Angel.”
“Good night, me Assassin.” Angel said and headed to her cabin, where she took a hot shower. Once she was finished, she grabbed a book and she curled up in the bed. Alpha and Omega both took their spots on the bed next to her. Getting comfortable she looked around the dark room. “This is going to be another long night.”, she sighed.
Despite the exhaustion from the training, Angel finally fell asleep only a few hours before dawn and was up again in the early morning. Climbing out the bed she started her morning routine. Once that was done she showered and changed, choosing her usual black outfit. Walking over to the dresser, she paused mid step and smiled. Another rose was lying on top of it. Lifting the rose up, Angel smelled at its petals and sighed. The pretty pale pink rose had a very mild scent that was pleasing.
“Who?” She whispered as her fingers traced the delicate petals.
Getting a vase and water she placed it inside and put it back on her dresser.
“Time for breakfast.” She told the wolves and watched as the jumped to their feets and rushed over to the door.
“Someone is hungry.” Angel smiled at them and proceeded to the galley.

“I knew she would like the pink one, though it isn’t as pretty as her red wings.”  the mysterious watcher whispered to themself and then slid away, planning the next rose to be given to her.