Training
Natalia Romanova
~~~
Natalia does as she's told. When they say dance she points her toes and dances. When they say fight she clutches her hands and hits as hard as she can. And when they say kill she snaps necks.
Natalia is efficient and obedient.
That's how she gains favor.
~~
Natalia remembers what it felt like to dance for pleasure. It felt free and made her feel as if she was flouncing on air.
Now she dances till her feet bleed and it makes her feel deadly and sordid.
"Backs straight!" Madam Grim snaps and Natalia jolts and stands straighter, if it were even possible. "Dance." The girls obey following each others steps with perfect precision.
Natalia has grown to hate dancing. It used to teach grace and humility now it's precision and stealth. Natalia knows ballet wasn't meant to be used like this.
Her thoughts are never voiced. She'd hate to be the next target for her fellow trainees to practice on. Natalia may hate every day of her life now but she has hope she'll see different times yet.
"Natalia you may stop. Your dancing is good," Madam Grim says and Natalia beams in pride. Madam nods and Natalia leaves quietly stepping lightly as she was taught. This softens Madam Grims hard face.
~~~
Natalia walks herself to her plain room in the manor. Usually the girls are given an escort because they are becoming dangerous which raises suspicions for Natalia.
She wants to sigh and scream because she is so sick of fighting for her life against some trained assailant. She takes a quiet breath and lightens her steps even more.
Natalia hears the shuffle of feet ad whips around kicking her attacked in the stomach. He grabs her foot and yanks it making her fall on her back. Unknowingly putting her at an advantage. She takes it and claws his face before squeezing the pressure point on his neck so hard he blacks out.
"Good Natalie you are getting very good," Madam Knox praises coming out from a nearby door. Her escort James by her side. This fight has been like many others to take place in these halls. They teach constant paranoia and preparedness.
"Thank you Madam Knox," Natalia says back standing straight and folding her hand respectfully.
"Now you are truly allowed to rest." Natalia sighs in relief and quickly scurries to her room this time followed by her escort James.
~~~
"Where did you get the metal arm?" she inquires to James. He stands by her door watching her every move. He needs to calculate whether or not she plans to attack and escape.
"I don't remember," he answers shortly.
"That's a funny thing to say. Wouldn't you remember losing your arm and getting it replaces with metal?" Natalie presses. She's sitting on her white bed and staring at him quizzically.
"Soon you'll understand," he says and Natalie's eyes widen.
"They stole your memories," she whispers. His eyes are haunted and it scares Natalie to look at them and think about what he's possibly been through.
"They take everything." Natalie flinches and looks at the ground. Tears are being held back now. This is her life. She's doomed to become a mindless tool for them to use.
Her and James don't utter a single word more.
~~~
Natalie's world has a strict schedule. Going to bed at eight pm, waking at six am, eating at seven am, twelve pm, and seven pm. Her body is used to it so she is ready to sleep as soon as her cuff is locked for the night and already awake when it's being unlocked.
Ballet is at one and goes till two.
Combat is eight am to ten am.
From ten to lunch at twelve it's education.
After lunch if you've done good enough you only have to do and hour of combat before getting room time.
Natalie always gets room time. That scares her deeply.
~~~
Natalie is tougher than the other girls and she knows that. So she sneaks them the food she doesn't need and goes easy on them in fights. She only hesitates a second when Madam Grim nods for her to end them.
After Natalie always feels sick but Madam Knox promises that feeling to ebb away.
Natalie almost doesn't want it. It's the last of her humanity.
They're making a perfect monster.
A perfect killer.
A perfect machine.
~~~
"James do you still have feelings?" Natalie questions one day after ballet.
"Maybe. Rarely" James replies. "Around you they seem to surface more often." This piques Natalie's interest and she gets up to face him.
"Why?"
"You're different. You still have something left even after all they've done to you. Some kindness and some good." James almost looks happy when he says this. She understands now just how bad she is going to get.
"When will it go?" she utters.
"They'll take it soon enough." It's not a prediction it's a promise.
~~~
When Natalie is alone she dreams of her life before the Red Room. She was a normal girl with dreams of becoming an amazing ballet dancer and making her country proud. She loved her dad and visited we mothers grave every Sunday. Natalie had wishes of meeting her soulmate and being swept of her feet like every other girls.
Now she hates ballet and hates her country for making such a horrorid military program for young girls. She doesn't have a father and she can't see either of their graves on Sunday. All dreams of soulmates were shattered by the Red Rooms promise to burn the marks off her skin as soon as they came in.
Natalie doesn't feel sorry for herself anymore. She just feels bad her dad died because of the Red Room and sad for her soulmate who will never know why they never met her.
Sometimes she will actually see a blonde girl in her dreams promising a better life for her but they fade as soon as she wakes and begins her assassin making schedule.
How she wishes the Red Room didn't exist.
~~~
So tell me guys is this worth continuing?