On most days Warren Woodwick could be found in the courtyard as the sun was coming up. When it was empty and quiet was when he preferred to do his own workouts. It also helped him to avoid distracting others who might have come out to the courtyard to genuinely train themselves. But occasionally his mornings were full and his couldn't do his own workouts until later. A new group of twelve year old freshly introduced into their mandatory military service had required his attention, but now that they had been settled with their trainers and their schedules, he had some time to himself. It was midday, and though Autumna was in it's beginning days the weather was still warm at the height of the day. The recent rain did make it a little humid, but otherwise it was nice out.

He moved into the courtyard with the same outfit any other might use to train - a pair of loose trousers and boots. His tunic sleeves were rolled up tightly past his elbows. He took note of the others in the courtyard, whom either ignored him as best they could or greeted him properly and then went about their business. Though he did see Sliva, he didn't bother her at first. He was there for himself and wanted to focus on his own training.

So he started with his own laps as well, which she seemed to have just finished. But even as he tried to focus on his work, he thought back to her actions the day in the ballroom and found himself annoyed. There were groups of others in the courtyard now, men and women, some training and some conversing. She could have joined any of them, but she didn't. So as he finished his standard twenty-five laps, he wiped the sweat from his brow and approached the young woman. "Ms. Sliva. Another day off spent in the courtyard by yourself, I see?"

Zahra noticed Warren walk into the courtyard she sighs softly as she focused herself on her training. Why did he have to come into the training yard when she was in here? As he could of picked any other time to come down and annoyed the fuck amongst soldiers yet here he was bothering her. He must be taking such joy in the annoyance he giving everyone.

She was stretching when Warren approached her she finished her last stretch and stood to attention. "I am not in the courtyard by myself sir, there are other people here." She knew what he meant she wasn't dumb. She couldn't really go voicing her opinions outloud that this group of people sucks at training.

Warren lifted a brow when the young woman spoke to him, though the surprise wouldn't show anywhere else on his face or in his body language. When he spoke again, his voice remained calm, but there was more of an edge to it than there had originally been. He had approached her in a fairly casual, asking a very simple question, and she had responded with hostility. He didn't much appreciate that and patience was not one of his virtues. "Ms. Sliva, regardless of whether or not we are off duty, you will always address me first and foremost as Lieutenant Woodwick. If I ask you a question, you preface your answer with 'Lieutenant Woodwick.'"

He licked his lips, glancing around at the others in the courtyard but speaking again before she had a chance to reply to what he said. "Secondly," he began, returning his gaze to her. "Instead of answering a very simple question with a very simple answer, what you gave me was sarcasm. Excuse me if I seem a bit slow, Ms. Sliva, but remind me again which one of us is the soldier and which one of us is the Lieutenant? And furthermore, I would appreciate an explanation about your current attitude, because I find myself terribly baffled concerning the way you're speaking to me."

Zahra stood as a soldier should to their Lieutenant she was smiling on the inside getting a reaction out of him. "Despite, what you might think lieutenant Woodwick. This is just me. No attitude." She kept the same tone as before. She still not going to give him an answer on why she was training alone he doesn't deserve it. Her eyes stayed fixed on him, calm and relaxed in all this.

"What I'm beginning to think, Ms. Sliva," he said, taking a step closer to her, though he was still maybe six inches away. "Is that you're not very bright. Whatever it is that you're trying to prove here, I'd suggest you let it go. If you don't start showing me a little bit of respect, I will send you home. Permanently. A soldier who can't work with her fellow soldiers, can't follow simple orders, and thinks herself above her superiors is a soldier who will get others, and herself, killed. In other words, a useless soldier." Warren had seen her type before. People who always thought they knew better than those around them. But he'd never given in to those kind of people before and he wasn't going to now. Warren knew that Sliva was a commoner and for many commoners, soldiering was the best job to have. It supplied meals, money, and sometimes rank. For many it was the only way to move up in the world, and he knew that she didn't intend to throw that away, but he also wouldn't allow her to speak down to him.

He stepped closer once more, now barely two inches from her, and looked down at her without hesitation. "Now, why don't we try this one more time, Ms. Sliva. Instead of asking you why you aren't training with your fellow soldiers, since we both know I already know, I'll ask you another question. How much experience do you have in this military? How many years of active service? How many people have you killed with your own hands? Have you ever had a fellow soldier die in your arms while they choked on their own blood?" He looked back at her, waiting for answers. "You will give me an answer to each of those questions, Ms. Sliva. And you will preface your answer with 'Lieutenant Woodwick', and if you do not, I will send you home right now. And you will not come back." He nodded his head to one side. "However, if you can manage that, then I'll assign you a training partner for the day that I know can not only keep up with you, but outdo you."

No, no, no. She needs this job, her siblings need her to be in this job, slight fear hit Zahra's eyes though she still tries to keep standing to attention. Her lips trembled slightly fighting back a tear, fighting back to beg. She looked at him not as the way she had be nut one of vulnerability, and respect. It had a kind of soft look about them, a kindness behind the bitciness, somebody who want to fight not for herself but for somebody else who no longer her. Only a few people have done that so she would take her hat off to him. If she had a hat.

"not much experience with the military Lieutenant Woodwick, I have five months under my belt on the job Lieutenant Woodwick. I haven't killed anybodyLieutenant Woodwick." However, there was a pause when it came to the last question. Nobody outside of her family knows this. A flicker of sadness in her eyes. "I've seen one chock on their own blood Lieutenant Woodwick." She looked forward not in his eyes. Trying to keep herself focused. She can fill her fist tightening behind her back as she thought about her breathing.

He stared down at her, not shying away from her eyes. Not moving, hardly even breathing. He gave no reaction to her responses, and when she was done he said nothing. He stared at her. For maybe a minute and a half. Then, finally, he turned his head to the side to see a group of soldiers staring at them. As soon as he looked their way, they turned their heads, pretending to do something else. He noted who each one was so he could punish them later for it.

Eyes back on Zarha, he nodded his head once. "I have been part of this military for twenty-two years, not including the mandatory six. I have taken more lives than I care to count with my own two hands and I've seen twice as many as that die at my feet. Your enemy will not care about why you're alone because being by yourself makes you an easy target. You can train in this courtyard by yourself every day, lift every heavy stone, learn every sword trick, and mutter as many curses as you'd like. But in the end, you'll always lose in a three against one fight and understand this when I say it, Ms. Sliva, the enemy will never fight fair. Your fellow soldiers are your lifeline."

He inhaled a deep breath, then stepped back from her. "I'll be your partner today, if you're so anxious to have one you can test yourself against. Going forward, though, I suggest you attempt to join your groups and lead them to bettering themselves, rather than leaving them to better yourself. That does no good for anyone."

Zahra stood there her breath was non-existent nearly as Warren looked at her their eyes locked with hers. She didn't move, she stood as still as a statue waiting for the verdict. She feels sick at that moment scared that she will lose everything she has built for her and her brother. So when he spoke she internally relaxed a bit.

She looked at her group she was nervous and scared to trust them. More scared to get close to any of them she knows they need to better themself but she doesn't know how to lead them so not made for a leadership role she was just a girl in the background and rather be the girl in the background. "Thank you Lieutenant Woodwick for this opportunity."

His dark eyes scanned hers and he saw the relief in them when he accepted her answers. It was more than just a job to her, Warren knew that. He knew that threatening her with her job would straighten her up, but despite knowing that, he wouldn't have wanted to follow through. Nevermere's military was spread thin enough as it was, and he wanted to keep soldiers around. Especially soldiers that were determined enough to be out there every day, training. The girl before him was simply going about it the wrong way, and he was fairly sure he could sway her to understand his point of view. Even if it needed to be in a somewhat forceful manor.

"Don't thank me," he said, lifting a brow. "I'm not giving you an opportunity. Every opportunity a soldier receives is earned, and make no mistake Ms. Sliva, you will earn it. Now, I've done my laps and you've done yours. Drop and do as many push-ups as you possibly can."

Despite the order, he had agreed not to train her, but to train with her. So he moved to his knees on the ground, rubbed his hands together, and began doing push-ups of his own. His standard was one-hundred, so regardless of where Sliva stopped, he would continue until he was done.

For Zahra this is the one thing that will keep the memory of her brother alive, if she was too loose this job, she would loose him for good. She wasn't ready to let go of her brother. She wouldn't even know what she would do if she lost this job. She wasn't book smart to go into an educational job, like she was a commoner, only nobles can afford to learn to read and write. She clearly not good with people even though her heart wants to be and she knows she can be as she has. She was always willing to make friends.

Will she earn an opportunity that warren said she will earn? She might be one of those soldiers that will train and train and train and no opportunities will arise for them. No promotion nothing. Zahra is fine with that she has no dreams or goals to move up in the ranks she happy where she is. A soldier.

"Yes lietantant Woodwick." She said confidently with a slight smile on her face as she can get back to her favourite part Training. Pushup came pretty easy for her as she was always one growing up doing it at home. It wasn't her favourite but it give her upper body stregth that is needed. 1,2,3,4 she keep on going on to 75 she normally can do 75 however she saw the woodwick keep going and she is determind so she does five more but she couldn't do another one she could feel that it was about to burn

The girl was ready and willing to train and learn, and that was something Warren could appreciate. A lot of soldiers joining with the idea that they'd go to their patrols and go home. They'd realize in time that was not the case, but getting them to train their bodies as hard as they trained their magic or their sword was sometimes like pulling teeth. As catty as Sliva could be, she wanted to be better, but she seemed a little lost about how to go about that.

Well, that's why Warren was there.

As they both dropped to the ground and began their push-ups, Warren was surprised at how many she could do. He expects fifty or less but she gave him seventy five before her arms got shaky, and an extra five after that. "Eighty is good enough," he said so that she wouldn't hurt herself, but continued to finish his.

When he was done, he rolled over onto his back. "Do the same for sit-ups, Ms. Sliva." If she wanted a short break, she could take one, but he wasn't going to. He moved his arms behind his head and began doing his sit-ups.

Zahra was dedicated to being better and training and she was determin to improve her physical and magical skills. She know she went about it the wrong way but it going to be a battle that going to be hard to break and she will make mistake. However, she knows at that end of the day Zahra can't go home without a job. This was more than a job, it was her life.

She stopped when Warren said that was enough there was a part of her that wanted to be cheeky and do an extra five when he suggested her to stop but she bite her tongue trying soo hard not to be sassy. She was impressed with the fact that he did one hundred. That is a target she wants to aim for.

When he asked for sit up she waisted no time to get on her back and started doing sit-ups and started pushing through them she knows she can't do as many sit ups she does her normal fifty five sit up before doing an extra sevan pushing through. She need to work her core more. It doesn't help that she was on a commoners diet so her body isn't as strong as a nobles but she got what she was given and fight to improve it.

Warren was too busy doing his own work to notice if the woman had been inclined to talk back. The fact that she moved from her push-ups to her sit-ups without question was good enough for him. Sit-ups were the more difficult of the two, especially for women. Unfortunately for them most of them carried a little extra weight on their chests, but she did an impressive enough amount before she had to give in. As with push-ups, he finished a hundred before he stopped, and pushed himself up to sit.

While he caught his breath, he glanced over at the group training on the other side of the courtyard. "Tell me something, Ms. Sliva," he said, still sitting on the ground, his knees pulled partially up to his chest. "Why is it that you refuse to train with the other soldiers in your group? An honest answer, please, I'm in no mood to hear you beating around the bush."