i know so
Natasha quickly went above and beyond the expectations of the Red Room at a young age, having many considering placing her with the older girls, which had rarely happened in the many years since the academy began.
Natasha was calculating and ruthless, brutal and efficient. Resilient and intelligent, graceful and talented.
She was the very best the Red Room had to offer.
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Natasha traveled silently down the hallway towards the weapons room. She passed her first exam for physical combat a month ago and would now begin to learn how to use tools to aid her.
She passed Petrina’s classroom and watched her sister grab her opponent in a near perfect chokehold. Natasha sometimes overheard the instructors talking of her sister’s promise, always feeling a bit of pride for Petrina when it happened. She felt her lips tilt slightly upwards before quickly moving on. She had places to be.
She entered the weapons room to see the remaining six girls who remained from her old unit. The tweens nodded as they waited for Madame B. to arrive.
Natasha stood beside a brunette girl named Ivana and leaned against a stone pillar behind her.
An instructor Natasha hadn’t seen before entered the room. They were short and had a jagged scar running down the side of their face.
“Grab a knife from the cabinet to the far left and follow me.” They said shortly i’m a gruff voice.
All the girls quickly complied, hastily grabbing one of the weapons.
The instructor stood impatiently in front of a practice dummy, with different weak points.
“You’ll be learning how to properly use a knife and the different techniques and strategies. Pay attention I won’t allow slack in this class. By the end of the month we’ll start action fights to put your skills to work.”
“Watch and learn. Though I doubt any of you have to ability to truly harness a blade.” They muttered that last bit before swiftly slashing every important spot on the dummy so well you could almost see through the other side in certain parts.
Natasha watched through narrowed eyes. She couldn’t deny that the display wasn’t impressive, and quickly noted down certain things she noticed mentally to put to use.
‘You doubt me? We’ll have to change that.’ Natasha though to herself.
Gripping her knife tightly the eleven year old stepped forward. Recalling the sudden demonstrations she aimed at a test dummy beside the one the instructor used. With a nimble movement she cleanly sliced open the stiff fabric and stuffing the dummy was composed of. Her results were nearly an exact replica. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a miniature lopsided smirk.
“Not bad.” The instructor grunted reluctantly.
“Next.”
They repeated the routine for hours, experimenting with a variety of different blades, throughout which the teacher no longer challenged Natasha’s abilities, much to the satisfaction of the girl.
Once they were dismissed for the day Natasha hurried to their chambers. She had snuck an extra biscuit from breakfast this morning unnoticed and had saved some to share with Petrina.
She reached the attic and pushed the large mahogany doors open. She spotted Petrina sitting on her bed watching the sunset in the small window between her bed and another girls.
Most students still hadn’t been dismissed so Natasha was lucky enough to be able to slip unnoticed to her sisters bed.
“Hey Petya.” She whispered from behind, watching her sisters large brown eyes light up in joy. While. both siblings shared a signature red hair, though Petrina’s was more of an auburn with hints of dark chocolate brown color and had a light splattering of freckles on her cheeks. Her sister turned to face her.
“Hi Tasha.” She replied.
Natasha checked to see if anyone was watching them before slipping Petrina the stolen biscuit. She watched her sister's eyes widen ever so slightly in surprise before quickly gobbling down the treat before anyone could notice.
“Good job today Petya. I glimpsed you while I headed to my training.
“Do you really think so?” Petrina asked.
“I know so.” She looked down fondly at sister.
The last of the students had filed through the doors, so after giving her little sister a smile she started over to her own bed before Madame came in to lock their cuffs for the night.
She turned to look at her sister one last time for the night , and returned a small wave.
Madame B. came in then and Natasha lay down, her hand already extended in routine to be cuffed so she wouldn’t run away.
Natasha didn't understand why she would even think about leaving the academy, they had given her and Petrina a home after all, and the were the best in their respective classes.
She decided not to question it further. After all, the Red Room knew what was the best for her and Petrina.