Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part One (section)

===A Good Workout===

Venus’s glowing eyes snapped open.  She flicked her finger at the bedside table once, and a tiny digital clock blinked on.  0510.
She rolled out of bed, moving silently.  The distant background rumble of the ship was all she could hear as she grabbed the clothes she had laid out beforehand and slid into the bathroom, emerging fully dressed.  She stuffed a towel and her exercise clothes into a bag and padded over to the hatch, sliding it open and checking that the coast was clear.

It was.  She rapped on Remilia’s hatch once, listening.

“Come,” Remilia called out.  Venus keyed the hatch and walked in.  Remilia was dressed too, and Freya was already shouldering her bag.  “Hey, Venus.  Ready to go?”

“Sure am.  Freya, ready to get your ass kicked?” Venus asked.

“Oh, is that what’s about to happen?” Freya asked, stretching her arms over her head.  “Because I thought you were about to check into the phlebotomists’.”

“Maybe, or perhaps I’ll surprise you,” Venus said, low and ominous.

“Hardly, you need to be ambulatory for Isaac,” Freya pointed out.

Venus tsked.  “Yeah…oh well.  I’ll demolish you later.”

All three girls lifted their bags and walked down the corridor to the lift.  Freya punched in the right deck, and they were off.

The guard outside the gym straightened up as he saw the three Royal daughters arrive.  “My Ladies Primarch.”

“Provost.  Is the gym open?” Remilia asked.

“For you, it is, Madam,” the Provost said, opening the hatch for them.  “The women’s’ lockers are on the far right.”

The trio entered the indicated room, quickly changing into their exercise suits, and dispersed throughout the room, starting their own routines.  As Remilia set up on a machine in the center of the room, however, Freya paused her own setup.  She looked over at her cousin, and mimed running her hands over her forearms.

Remilia was wearing a tank top.  The scars on her arms were plainly visible.  She caught Freya’s gaze and ruefully shook her head.  “People are going to notice.  May as well not hide it,” she said under her breath.  Freya looked pained, but didn’t reply.  It was her choice.  She was hardly dressed conservatively herself, anyway, skintight spandex over sports underwear, cut at the mid-thigh and tricep.  Any longer, she had found, and running was uncomfortable.

Venus, meanwhile, was loading up a leg lift machine, and noted a few more people drifting into the room.  Most looked to be crewers ending their night shifts.  A few paused to stare at their guests, but most simply moved to start their own routines, casting only the occasional glance their way.  That suited Venus fine.

She worked the machine, thinking.  What would she be called upon to do on Nocturne, exactly?  She knew that a few ceremonies were going to happen, inevitably, and she was looking forward to one or two.  Keeping in mind her father’s desire for her to take a more visible role in the operations of the Royal Estate, she was certain she’d be called upon to make an address, something that she would feel guilty refusing.

Venus leaned back for a moment, pausing to increase the weight on the bar a bit as she did so.  “Hmm…what would Mom ask?” she asked aloud.

“Sorry?” a voice replied.  She glanced down to see that a Naval crewman was working the machine opposite her.

“Just thinking aloud, Petty Officer,” she said, noting the tattoo on his shoulder.  Senior Torpedoman’s Mate.

“All right.”  He returned to his own reps, casting a shameful glance at the massive pile of metal on Venus’ stack.  She smiled to herself.

With a glance to see what the others were doing – Freya was starting in on her hauler’s circuit, Remilia on free weights – she resumed her musings.  There was one part of the trip home that was essentially cut and dried.  She would have to appear before the Circle of Masters, for ceremony if nothing else.  Fortunately – for him – Jake wouldn’t be able to attend.  That was for the Fire-Born.  “Or Fire-Seared,” she said, chuckling.

She disentangled from her machine, cricking her back and casting an eye around for a treadmill.  Spotting one, she made for it, and smiled broadly as she noted its settings.  “Excellent.  Treadmills with no sprint settings are shit,” she said, climbing on and thumbing it up.

Freya finished her own run, loping off the treadmill and glancing over the single weights.  Finding them dissatisfying, she made instead for a squat rack, and set about assembling a barbell.

A midshipman wandered up, hands in pockets.  “You need a spotter, honey?” he asked, clearly not knowing who she was.

Freya clipped several fifty-kilo plates to it, not even bothering to turn and look him in the eye until she slid under the bar.  “Not unless you’ve got servos in those noodles attached to your shoulders,” she said, making sure the sailor got a good look at the wolf’s head tattoos on her triceps as she lifted.

His jaw dropped.  “Uh…all right then,” he said, backing up a few paces.

Several decks up, the alarm went off in Alex and Freya’s room, and Alex swatted at it.  He blearily glanced at the time.  “Oh fuck…I hit the hours button wrong,” he groaned as he realized his folly.  It was a full hour before he had wanted to get up.  “Oh to hell with it,” he grumbled, clambering out of bed and pulling some clothes on.

Jake was awakened by a loud rapping on the hatch.  “Whu…who is it?” he asked, noting Venus’ absence.  “Who’s there?”

“It’s Alex.”

“The fuck do you want, man, it’s…it’s fucking 0600,” Jake groaned, staring at the clock.

“Uh…sorry, I thought we were gonna get up and…” Alex improvised as he realized his mistake.

“Yeah, at fucking 0700,” Jake said angrily.  “I’ll be around, let me sleep.”

“Uh…I’mma hit the gym if you want to come,” Alex said.

Jake glared into the darkness.  “No.”

“The girls will be there still,” Alex pointed out.

Several seconds of silence passed.  “Damn you,” Jake half-heartedly cursed, flicking the lights up and grabbing some clothes.

Dressed and moderately awake, Jake followed Alex wearily down the corridor.  He didn’t really work out much, so he was feeling a bit self-conscious, but he was just tired enough not to care.

The guard outside the gym let them both in, and they changed in the locker room.  When Alex walked into the main gym, however, he stopped dead.  Jake nearly collided with him.

“What’s up?” Jake asked, peering over the other boy into the room.  He caught sight of what was happening in the ring – “Oh.  Huh.”

Remilia and Freya were squared off in the boxing ring, and the battle was well under way.  The taller, blond Remilia was clearly on the defensive from the redheaded Freya, and several drops of blood were already decorating both girls’ shirts.  Several dozen crewers and officers had paused their own routine to watch the blistering exchange.

Freya jerked her head back to dodge a jab from Remilia, then ducked low and lurched forward, slamming three quick punches into Remilia’s ribs.  Remilia grimaced and swept her arms aside, brushing a trickle of blood off of her lips.  She lunged forward, catching her cousin by surprise, and rammed her knee upwards, trying to catch Freya under the ribcage.

The spectacle was all the more impressive for its total silence.  Freya was clearly holding back a bit, but Remilia wasn’t even trying to, and that was probably the only reason she was even still standing.  Freya absorbed a few probing blows from Remilia before turning to her profile and leaning back, as Remilia swung her leg in a vicious lateral kick.  Freya caught her cousin and wrenched, sending Remilia to the ground in a heap.  She stood back, arms crossed.  “Need help?”

“Cram it,” Remilia snarled, rising to her feet and settling into a stance.

Confident that they had drawn every eye in the gym, Jake tapped Alex on the shoulder and jerked his head over to the free weights.  Alex nodded, grinning at the rapt attention most of the room was paying to the girls in the ring.  Both boys wandered over to the weights, as Jake hesitantly selected one, hefting it.

Venus noticed what the two young men were doing and smiled, watching as Alex instructed Jake in the proper stance for lifting, which he had promised the previous night.  Apparently the two had decided that with nothing else to do on a warship for three stretches of ten days each, Jake might as well catch up to the others in terms of fitness.

Meanwhile, Remilia returned to dodging a blizzard of blows from her shorter cousin, putting her longer legs to good use.  She pivoted on her heel, driving her elbow towards Freya’s face, expecting her to duck it and open her guard.  Instead, Freya just leaned forward a bit, taking the elbow strike on the forehead, and leaned into the next shot, which slammed into Remilia’s flank with bruising force.

Remilia yelped in sudden pain, wobbling back a step.  Freya shrugged, all confidence, even as a ribbon of blood worked its way down her forehead.  Remilia coughed, checked to make sure that she didn’t have any internal wounds, and put her fists back up.

Freya bared her fangs, feral and bloodthirsty.  “Attagirl,” she snarled, and dropped into a crouching stance.  Remilia spat a drop of blood onto the mat and advanced, swinging low.  Her redheaded cousin dodged sideways, tilting her chest so that the punches rolled off, never taking her eyes off her cousin.  Remilia snorted in contempt, sweeping her legs low, trying to knock Freya off her feet.  She didn’t even bat an eye, bouncing off her feet, keeping her center of gravity level.  Remilia abandoned the tactic, ramming her hand into the ground to act as a fulcrum, and swept her other leg at waist height, catching Freya on the hip and launching her into the ropes.  Freya rebounded, bracing her left arm to catch the expected reprisal shot from Remilia, but Remilia wasn’t there.  Instead, she had risen to her feet again, and swung another side kick at Freya.

Freya clamped her arm down over Remilia’s leg.  “Gotcha,” she barked triumphantly.

Remilia kicked off the ground, slamming her free leg into Freya’s other side.  Freya’s eyes glazed over in pain.  She gasped, releasing Remilia and sinking to her knees.

“What have you got, now?” Remilia taunted, scrambling back up.

Freya cannoned into her, pinning her to the ropes and slamming both hands into her midsection.  Remilia tried to right herself, but Freya ducked low, grabbed her cousin by the thigh and shoulder, and twisted.  Remilia flew across the ring and slammed into the mat face-down, stunned.  Freya ran after her, fangs bared, a red blur in the air trailing her head like a comet.  She skidded to a halt on one knee next to her cousin, eyes bloodshot, and one hand pulled back into an animal claw.

Remilia meekly tapped the mat three times, face still flat on the ground.

Freya’s rough, panting breath was more or less the only sound in the room, as she fought down her instincts.  After a few seconds, though, the red film receded from her vision.  She grabbed Remilia, jerking her up.

Remilia tottered on her feet, blood oozing from her mouth and from a small abrasion on her shoulder.  She focused her eyes on her cousin with effort, her chest heaving.  Freya stared her down for a moment before hugging her across the shoulders.  “Better luck next time,” the pretty berserker said, carefree.

“My ass,” Remilia said, shrugging her cousin’s arm off.  She took a step back and bowed, shaking her blond hair loose from its tie as she did, and Freya mirrored the gesture, to the muted applause of several of the crew in the room.

“If anyone recorded that,” Freya said cheerfully, vaulting the ropes and landing on the ground below with a grace that belied her vicious behavior moments ago, “he gets to walk back to Terra.”  The applauding crewers faltered, unsure if she was joking.

Remilia rolled her eyes, vaulting the ropes too.  When she landed, however, she had to stifle a whimper of pain.  Freya looked back and cocked her eyebrow.  “Yep…definitely a crack,” Remilia muttered darkly.

“Hmm?” Freya grabbed her towel, wiping off the blood and sweat.  “What’s up?”

“I definitely cracked an ulna,” Remilia said, cradling her left arm.

“Ah, shit, I’m sorry,” Freya said, gently taking the hand and staring at Remilia’s scarred arm intently.  Sure enough, she could already see a little swelling forming under the crosshatched scars on her cousin’s pale skin.  “I didn’t mean to.”

“Of course you didn’t, but I should get a cold wrap on that after I shower off.  Also,” Remilia said, grabbing her own towel and drying herself off right-handed, “I am starving to death, here.  What time is it?”

“Around 0700,” Venus said, walking up.  “And damn, Freya, you lost it in there,” she added under her breath.

“How often do I get to fight someone my own level that doesn’t outmass me by a hundred and twenty kilograms?” Freya asked.  She caught Venus’ reproachful stare and coughed self-consciously.  “Well, I’m sorry if I scared you, but believe me, I was in control.”

“Yeah…sure.  Anyway, I, too, am ravenous,” Venus said, glancing around for the boys.

Alex was standing next to Jake, adjusting his grip on the deadweight the taller boy was lifting.  “There.  Make sure the weight is pushing straight down your legs.  Don’t lean, just keep everything below the knee straight.”

“Right,” Jake grunted, lifting from the leg.

“There you go, better.  Now…try it twice, no pausing.”  Jake did so, sweat running down his neck.

“How many reps, you think, now that I have the stance,” he asked tightly.

“As many as you can without having to stop.  Do that many, then rest for a bit, slug some water, and do it again.”  Alex returned to his own weights, glancing over to make sure Jake’s form was proper.  “Eventually, you’ll be able to do more.”

“Right.”  Jake hefted the weight again, then glanced to the side as a flash of familiar red caught his eyes.  “Actually…looks like we’re leaving,” he said, noticing all three girls moving for the exit.

“Ah, all right.  Set it down, then, move from the legs, not the back,” Alex said, watching as his charge did so.  “Great.”

“You guys ready to get some food?” Freya asked, trotting up.

“You bet,” Jake said, setting the weight down and cricking his back.  “Hell of a fight up there.”

“Yeah, that was fun,” Freya said, slinging her towel.

“How can you even be breathing after that shot to the side?” Jake asked, rubbing his hands on his towel.

Freya snorted.  She pointed at one side of her stomach.  “Feel.”  Jake blinked, but dutifully pressed his finger against her bare flank.  Freya tensed her muscles, and pressed his finger back.

“Holy shit,” he said.

“I’m fine, trust me,” Freya said proudly.  “Remilia, however,” she said, glancing at her cousin, who was walking into the shower, “is gonna need a wrap on that arm.”

“Break something?” Alex asked, hefting his stuff.

“Cracked ulna.  She’ll be fine by night, trust me,” Freya said.

All three teens made for the restrooms, cleaning up and emerging scrubbed and dressed, awaiting Remilia.  Venus emerged a moment later, her damp hair still shimmering under the lights.

Remilia herself walked out a few minutes later, cold wrap in place, and the group walked up to the lifts, a few crewers passing them on the way down to the gym.  As they reached the lifts, however, Alex paused.

“You know…I’m curious,” he said.  “What do the enlisted mess and the officers’ mess look like?”

“Well, all we’ve seen so far is the Captain’s Hall,” Venus said.  “You want to try one of the other ones?”

Alex laughed.  “I would just love to see the looks on people’s faces when you three walk into the enlisted mess.”

Jake shook his head.  “If you want to do it, go for it.”