The Long Road Up

As it turned out, Abraxus wasn't even at the base yet. He called in eariler to say he was going to be late, and gave Hiroshi and his team instructions to start running the obstacle course and try to beat the best time for their run, which was almost five minuets. And said that Hiroshi was incharge until he got there.

Hiroshi had a feeling that might of been the case though hopefully it wouldn't be too long. He headed back inside where the others were. "Ok, I just checked. Bad news is Abraxus not in yet but the good news they left instructions behind. We're to use the obstacle course and try to beat the time of five minutes and I'm charge until he comes back."

Delia grunts "Lia-chan no like take order from Beta male... but if Raxus say do so... Lia-chan do so..." she grumbles.

Ume closes her boom and stands, she was in her sweats "W-well... I guess we had best get to it, right?"

Hiroshi understood it was probably just Deathclaw phycology or something and shouldn't take it personal. It didn't mean he couldn't feel slightly irritated at Delia if it felt like he was being insulted. He didn't care about whole Alpha, beta alphabet thing but only when it was used to put people down. "How is someone a beta to you just because they don't do what you want them to do and when you want them to do it? Wouldn't be the opposite? And I have a name."

Obstacle course would at least be something to do, only issue would be after that but they figured something out if they had the free time to do so.

Delia shakes her head "No. Alpha help pack... Hi-Ro-Shi no help pack... Hi-Ro-Shi not alpha... is beta... only think of self... want be alpha, but no help pack, so is beta."she explains.

Delia's broken english made understanding her a bit hard. But Ume believes she understands where the young Deathclaw is coming from "I don't think Hiroshi is trying to be an alpha or a beta. I thunk he's just trying to be himself." she says "So, why don't we head on out and get to some exercising done?"

Hiroshi was of two minds on that. On one hand, he didn't feel like he had anything to prove to Delia as those knew him knew what kind of person he was. He didn't need their validation. On the other hand for the sake of team cohesion, he might have to bend how he acted just a little bit.

"Ume is more or less right. But yeah, we wasted enough time.." He knew where it was so he'd lead them there and then they could get started. Having said that, he never bothered with it so he wasn't sure how good of time he'd be able to make but here's to trying.

*More or less? I believe I'm completely right...* the young woman thinks as she starts out towards the training yard.

But Delia sits planted on her bed "Beta Hi-Ro-Shi no tell Lia-chan what do..." she grumbles "Hi-Ro-Shi want be alpha? Hi-Ro-Shi need help pack when pack need help..." she points out "Then Hi-Ro-Shi be second alpha and Lia-chan be happy."

"If that what it takes." She really missed the point of what he was trying to get at with the shirt thing is where the issue started.

"Do you know why I did what I did? It's not because I can't or don't want to, its just if you sincerely mean what you say about helping the pack, it can't just be centered around the alpha's. What are you going to do if it was just you two and it was something more serious? A pack is only as strong they work together and Ume is apart of that pack to,. which means accepting her help."

Delia shakes her head "Lia-chan not go to Ume for help... Lia-chan go to Hi-Ro-Shi... who want be alpha, but no help when ask help... Hi-Ro-Shi lose Lia-chan trust to help pack when need..." she says, her own logic at work "Beside... how hard it to help Lia-chan out of wrapping..?" she says as she continues to sit on her bed.

Ume looks over to Hiroshi "Come on. We can start our workout without her." she says as she moves closer to Hiroshi, her face going red as she gets close "t-the pack mentality will draw her out..." she whispers to the Farian.

"Suit yourself." It was kind of like talking to a wall and he felt a slight headache but at least he was trying. He seriously doubted he could talk to Delia of dropping the whole social hierarchy thing so he'd just have to deal with it.

Ume suggested maybe going without her would make her come along, or not but didn't hurt. "Not a bad idea. We can get going now then to get a head start." Besides he was kind of curious of what it looked even if he knew where it was.

When the two of them get out to the Obstacle Course, Ume was a little taken aback "What kind of obstacle course is this suppose to be?" she asks.

Upon looking it over a bit more, she Supposed it made sense. After all, it covered a wide variety of terrains, which is something they would, eventually, come across. Though, Ume was regretting not wearing better shoes for this.

"Different, seems to be things we might run into. Don't know what kind of stuff you might run into on the job. Guess we better get to it." Hiroshi decided not to waste anymore time and get started, first with the wall to climb over then he'd have to worry about the stepping stones but one thing at a time. He kinda wanted to get a general feel since it was literally his first time doing it.

While Ume was pretty strong, she wasn't all that fast and al though she was light on her feet in a fight, during an obstacle course, she wasn't that graceful and had fallen into the watery mud a few times!

"Uhhh... why is it mud? Why couldn't it be sand or something?" she asks, failing her third time running the course.

"Because mud stay longer... remind of when fail..." Delia says. Ume was right. Delia's pack mentality had brought her out of the barracks "Lia-chan have no trouble with this... it just like back in mountain..." she says, flipping her hair back.

Hiroshi heard Delia but didn't pay her much mind, since he was trying to conctrate on the obstacle course. Maybe it be easier for her then it would be for them two. As for himself? He did..ok. It wasn't as good as he wanted to be, but for a first time it wasn't as bad either. He didn't escape unscathed far as falling though, but it just made him more determined.

Don't get frustrated and try to think what you did wrong. That seemed to be what was working for him, he couldn't expect to get everything on the first try. It did seem all those fights and running around did come in handy for something else.

Delia watches the two of them "You two think like Human... you not Human... no think like Human..." she says as she steps up "Have power... use power... Raxus not say we no use power..." she points out as she launches over many of the obstacles, using her superior agility and strength to navigate what she could and using her claws to anchor herself in place so she didn't fall, then she would crawl on the wall, using her claws and talons to keep her on the wall, as she crawls over some of the obstacles.

She looked to be making great time! When suddenly, target dummies pop up, holding paintball guns, and just Light her up! They pepper her with dozens of paint balls in seconds, causing her to lose her grip and fall into the mud like the rest of them! It seems the Hunters thought of someone being able to crawl along the walls as well.

Ume could Not help herself and starts laughing. She knows she shouldn't, because the young Deathclaw was only trying to help remind them that they aren't Human,and shouldn't be expected to tackle this course as Humans would.

She moves over to Delia and offers a hand "I'm sorry, Lia-chan. You were trying to help and I laugh at your misfortune." she apologizes.

Delia accepts her hand and joins the three. The young Deathclaw looks at herself, then Ume and Hiroshi "See? We same now. We all try... we all fail... together as pack should... we fail as pack now... we finish as pack now..." she points out.

Ume nods "Maybe she's right? Maybe this obstacle course isn't build for just One person..." she says "Maybe it's meant for a whole team to go through... I meam, that's what Hunters are all about, right? Teamwork?"

That definitely had some truth to it, but even with that there was still 'floaters' and such as they were called that still didn't have a group they belonged to. It was probably just the nature of the system though. Sometimes depending on when they were recruited, it just be them so it may of been a bit harder to fit them in another group. Hiroshi wasn't sure if his group would stay the exact the same or expand; time would tell.

"True, true. I guess we better give it a shot together as a team then to see how it goes." Though why he had tried to tackle it like a normal person is probably over thinking. You know, the classic 'You need to be prepared for situations without your powers' or..something like that.

Ume places a muddy hand on Hiroshi's arm "Hold on. We need to pool our knowledge of this course together and understand what we're up against." she says.

Delia was trying to wipe the paint off of her shirt with No luck whatsoever and was actually smearing it worse on her shirt, plus her claws were starting to rip her shirt. They were Very sharp and that's why she was asking for help last night.

Ume points to the corridor section "Okay, we know there's hidden guns in that area and traps in the rest. We've never Really made it to the end, not without falling into the mud, so we don't know what traps will trigger through the rest of the obstacle course." she points out.

Delia looks at the end "Lia-chan go find out." she says as she starts back towards the obstacle course.

Ume had a good point, so Hiroshi stopped what he was doing but he was definitely going to need to get cleaned up after. They all were judging by how things were going. "If I had to make a bet, gonna say the next traps likely are at the bridge and windows. First one is easy to knock someone off, second the more 'realistic' scenario of where we might have to deal with." It was just a educated guess though, they'd find out soon enough.

Delia was now taking the obstacle course more seriously this time and was using stealth and slow, deliberate movements.

The first part of the course was designed to throw you off into the mud with shifting platforms. The second and third just used standard balance. The fourth was tye one with the paintball guns and the fifth had paint mines. The rope climb was just a rope climb. The ditch was also just a ditch, but the corridor also had hidden guns, but tye rest of them, aside from the last one (which had a drop off) were pretty standard.

Delia managed to make it through the course completely, but she certainly wouldn't be setting any new records "Well, now we know what we're up against." Ume says "So how are we going to tackle this?" she asks.

Hiroshi was thinking for how to best to handle it as a team, there was no perfect options but he had a idea. "The first one should be fine as long as we stick relatively close and catch or help the other person before they fall.  Same with the second.  Third one we might be able to make a bit more time if we give the other a boost and help the other up. Fourth is if the guns are motion based or trip base we throw them off to run past."

He wasn't entirely sure about the fifth one though. "For the minefield since Lia-chan already went pass them, she knows where they are if we listen to them we can make more time. The rest is standard, but the corridor we also need Lia-chan's help where the guns are. If we have that we should be able get through much quicker."

Delia nods as she cautiously does her thing. She masks herself to better blend in, which she could do even better if she wasn't wearing her shirt. Her skin and hair looked like just a ripple against the background as she moves to disable the paint mines and paint guns, all the while moving along the wall, her claws digging into it, keeping her aloft.

Ume followed close to Hiroshi, ready to help him out if he should need it. Although, she had a feeling that it might be Her who needs help, should things go sideways.

Delia's stealth ability would come in handy in different ways, probably in spying as well. She'd just need go to certain places and then report on what she was able to find depending on the situation at hand.

In the mean time, he tried to keep a fast but steady pace. Not so much he left Ume behind or anything just so they could help each other if need be.

With their combined efforts, they managed to make it past the obstacle course without getting knocked off, hit with a paint mine, or shot with a paintball gun and it only took them less then fifteen minuets.

Abraxus was standing there, watching their efforts "Not bad. If nothing else, at least you three learned to work as a team." he says as he walks over to the three of them. They were all muddy and covered in paint.

Hiroshi felt they could make better time with practice, but it wasn't too bad for a first attempt at working together anyway. Abraxus being there wasn't too much of a surprise since he was suppose to be on his way. "I think we'll be able to do better with more runs, that was our first one. How long have you been there?"

Abraxus nods " I've been here for a little bit." he says as he passes it off "Get cleaned up. It's almost lunch." he says as he nods to them.