Lessons

As he threw Brianna across the room again, he sighed.

He barked at her, "Brianna. You have speed, you have strength, you have to stop holding back."

He moved to the wall, tossing a weighted chain in her direction and took off running toward her, leaning low to take her legs from under her.

Brianna's body slammed hard against the wall as she cried out, her body slumping to the floor for a few moments as she heard Quinn bark at her. Using the wall as her support she slowly pulled herself to her feet. She had not expected the training to be this hard in the beginning.

"....I can't!" she answered back.

Brianna looked up as she by a few inches avoided the weighted chain as it crashed against the wall as she felt his body slam into her from the waist down as her legs crumbled from beneath her as she crumbled to the floor again crying out.

He took her by the legs, tossing her away from him.

"Brianna, if you can't let yourself go then you cannot improve."

He scooped up the chain and threw it again, this time skidding on the floor. He pulled a net down from the wall and started swinging it over his head. He watched as she moved, gauging when she would be on her feet and released the net, the weights on it making it spin as it flew.

"Move"

Brianna rolled onto her front as she used her arms to push herself from the floor onto her feet as she tried to adjust herself.

"....I am trying!" she barked at him.

Brianna did not know that he was going to be this rough with her, not like this anyway. She heard him bark an order at her but it was too late as she crumpled to the floor again engulfed by a heavy weight net as it pinned her down.

"Stop! I can't....Please" she begged him

Arabella ran over, helping her untangle the net and getting her to her feet.

"He was just as rough with me at first. He is trying to see where your limits are so he can help you. Don't give up. You are faster than he is. Remember that. That body armor is over his chest for a reason. Get in there and show him what you are made of."

Arabella pushed her back into the mats and pointed at Quinn.

"Arabella, leave her be. This is a hard lesson, but she needs to learn her limits."

He watched Arabella walk from the room after speaking to Brianna in hushed tones. He set himself and ran along the wall, throwing a weighted ball in Brianna's direction before changing directions himself and breaking into a dead run directly at her with his shoulders down.

Trying to untangle herself as she heard Arabella's voice from behind her as together they pulled the weighted net from her. She hated this training, this is not what she expected. But hearing that he was like this with Arabella the first time did not make her feel so crappy. As she looked at Quinn properly she noticed the armour that he was wearing as Arabella pushed her back to the mat.

As she turned her attention back to Quinn as she needed to show him that she could do this. She just had to remember her training with Arabella. She had the speed. She kicked off using her speed as she focussed her attention on the ball - Arabella's training with the coloured eggs. She jumped through the air and with both hands she caught the weighed ball as she landed on the balls of her feet as she used all of her strength that she had threw the ball with all of her might at Quinn as he raced towards her as it hit him square in the chest where his armour protected him.

Quinn was caught up short when the ball slammed into his chest. He laughed as he tumbled backwards, letting the ball's momentum move him, and watching it crash into a pile of extra mats.

"Better!"

He rolled to his feet, circling her and scooping up the net again, he threw it toward her legs.

"Jump!"

Brianna recoiled when she saw Quinn tumble from the impact of the ball that crashed against his chest rattling the armour but relaxed a little when he returned to his feet.

"Jump!"

Seeing the same net that he had used before as she did exactly what he said as she pushed off from the ground with all of her might. Using her arms as she grabbed hold of the rope that was dangling from the ceiling to avoid the net as she dropped back down to the floor as the net thudded and crashed against the wall.

Quinn rushed to the springboard in the center of the room and used it to jump to the ropes that hung from the ceiling. He looked down at Brianna, grinning at her.

"Care for a bit of follow the leader? Only twist is you can't use the springboards."

"Follow the leader?" she grinned.

Looking up at him as he clung to another role suspended from the ceiling as she looked to Arabella who gave her an encouraging look as she turned her attention back to Quinn. Clenching her hands together tightly as she bent her knees as she pushed off from the ground as her hands reached out to grab the rope that she had before as she gazed at Quinn.

"What do you have in mind?" she grinned as she gripped the rope tighter.

Quinn grinned at her and worked his way to the side wall. He pulled a level down and grinned as the sound of gears turning filled the room. He watched her look down and laughed as she watched the floor roll back revealing the water beneath it.

"Like I said, follow the leader. Try not to fall in. That water's probably a bit cold."

He swung out, letting go of one rope and catching another until he was facing her. He kissed her nose and laughed, swinging away from her toward the other side of the room.

Brianna gripped the rope tighter as the floor beneath them folded away almost and revealed a floor of water in its place. As Quinn kissed her nose she could not help but giggle.

"That is not fair" she called out after him.

The way that he was moving, swinging from rope to rope with such ease made her feel jealous that he could do that. But she had to show him that she could do it as well. Brianna began moving her body back and forth to create a swinging motion as she released her hands from her rope and reached out to grab the rope next to her. With seven ropes between her and Quinn.

She could do this. 

Repeating the same motion as before she swung her body as she released the second rope and grabbed hold of the third, her hands slipping a little as she fought to keep hold off the rope.

He grinned as he watched her progress, changing directions on her and stopping himself, holding two ropes for balance. He looped his feet into the ropes and watched her move. He could see her confidence increasing.

"Just don't look down and you'll be fine."

He smirked as he watched her.

'Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down'

The same phrase kept repeating in her mind as she tried to follow his instructions but she knew that she was failing. As she gripped hold of the fifth rope as she could not control herself as she looked down to the pool of water below her. She always hated heights. As she swung her body again and released her hands to grip sixth rope her hands slipped as she scrambled to grab the rope as she fell and her body was engulfed in cold water.

Spluttering and coughing as she spat out the cold water that was just above her waist as she pulled back her dripping wet hair from her face.

Quinn shifted onto one rope and lowered himself down near Brianna and smiled.

"You did very good, Brianna. Arabella fell on her third rope."

He chuckled and hooked his leg securely in the rope leaned down, offering his hand to her.

"Want to try again or call it a day?"

Two could play this game as she grinned at him from below, thankful that she had chosen the attire that she had.

"Again" she grinned innocently.

Reaching for his hand as he pulled her from the water as she grabbed the rope as all the water that her clothing had collected now pulled her down in weight a little as she began climbing the rope glad that she was good in gym class at school.

Quinn climbed back up the ropes, swinging across to the lever, pushing the first back in and pulling a second. He watched as a wide net pulled into place beneath them and grinned. He hit a switch and half the ropes retracted into the ceiling. The panels in the floor slowly clicked into place once again and he swung away from the controls.

"Now you have to remember to compensate for the added weight of the water in your clothing. These ropes are not made for grip. You will have to make sure you hold on well. Keep moving and you will be fine. Stay and your arms will get tired."

He swung from rope to rope, showing her what he meant.

Brianna already knew what he meant, her body was already beginning to feel heavy from the water in her clothing. She watched him swing from rope to rope as she was thankful for the net below. Trying to mimic his exact movements.

But now there was less ropes.

Gripping the rope as she swing her body as she released her hands and grabbed onto the next rope beside her. Repeating the process with the next rope, all the while her body feeling heavy with the extra weight from the water.

He watched her move, smiling at her progress. He worked his way toward the center of the room and the pole that formed the centerpoint of the room's design. He swung back and forth, holding onto two ropes until he had a good bit of momentum then threw himself toward the pole. He gripped the pole lightly, throwing his weight around it and letting go, catching the ropes off to one side. He stopped and looked over at Brianna with a smirk.

"Care to give that one a try?"

Brianna watched in awe as Quinn did some sort of stunt from a movie or something like that. As she gripped the rope tighter as her body fought to drop as the water made it almost impossible to hold on, fearing what he asked if she wanted to give that a try.

"I think I will pass on that one....I can't move very well. Can we call it a day?" she pleaded with him.

Her increased weight finally giving in as she let go off the rope and fell into the net.

He watched her drop to the net and smiled.

"Sure we can."

He flipped off the rope and stretched out to land in the net. As his momentum settled, he rolled over next to her, smiling as he looked in her eyes.

"You've done very well today. I'm proud of you."

He grinned and rolled off the net, dropping down to the floor and held his arms out for her.

Brianna could not help but smile when he complimented her on her progress, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he was back to the nice Quinn afterwards. As she accepted his hand and slid down from the net to her feet as her hand remained locked in his.

"Really? I did good?" she questioned him.

"Oh yes, especially for so soon in your training. As I mentioned, the first time, Arabella fell before the third rope, and she has been around for decades. She was trained for ground combat though, not in the air."

He chuckled, reaching for the edge of her shirt.

"Let's get you out of these wet things. We can't go walking through the house dripping water everywhere. Vincent would have both our tails in a wringer for that one."

Brianna blinked rapidly as she relayed what he had just said.

"You want me to.....walk to my room in nothing?" she asked him.

Out of her low self esteem, she folded her arms across her chest.

"What if someone sees me?"