181 :

Na-Yung woke up feeling dizzy and with a huge headache. Her head was so painful in fact that she had trouble opening her eyes. This was when she remembered how she ended up here, seemingly tied up around what feels like a large tree.

"Oh good, you are awake. Take your time and open your eyes slowly and your headache is going to pass. I didn't hit you that hard anyway." A voice said offhandedly echoing painfully inside her head.

Considering the pain that she was experiencing right now, Na-Yung was about to object when she remembered that she was already in hot water as it is. Doing what she was told, she started to open her eyes slowly. Luckily, the light was not that bright thanks to the tree who was shielding her from the sun. Once, she could see again, she found him quite easily. He was sitting, his back on a tree looking at diverse files on the ground in front of him. Na-Yung could see some pictures that look like they came from a satellite in orbit.

That was one of the things that she liked the most about him. He never had any down time. It seems that every minute of every day he was planning to do something, increasing his already huge knowledge about every topic, training his body or teaching them what he knew.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Na-Yung? And I'm warning you, if you try to play coy with me or if I smell any bullshit, I'm going to hit you again and you are going to wake up in your bed in New York." Nathaniel threatened, lifting his eyes from the files that he was looking at long enough to convey that he was dead serious about this.

"I don't really know myself…" She starts to say when a knife lodges itself in the tree where she was tied too, inches away from her face. Na-Yung could see some of her hair falling to the ground, cleanly cut. She couldn't hold a shudder as she was sure that he did not even look up before throwing his knife. He could have killed her if he had missed.

"Last chance." He warned.

"Okay! I wanted to see if I could take you down! I wanted to prove to you and to the others that I was here because I'm as talented as them and even more, not because we are friends!" She shouted.

"Now, we are getting somewhere. Did anyone make a comment about the fact that you have no business being here?" He asked.

"No. Not out loud anyway but I noticed some looks while we were practicing."

"I see. And you thought that going rogue on them and screwing them in an exercise was a sure thing to get them to accept you?" He lifted an eyebrow at her.

"I… euh, I mean when you say it like that, it seem stupid." She grumbled, doing what she could to stop an embarrassed blush to come to her cheek.

"It is stupid but I supposed I have some blame to take. I'm working you to the ground every day without even giving you more than five hours of sleep at night. I was expecting someone doing something stupid at some point but I did not think it will be coming from you first." He shook his head.

Seeing that she was about to defend herself, Nathaniel raised his hand to stop her in her tracks before continuing.

"You know how press for time we are already and you made us lose two hours of that precious time. They would not have succeeded in that exercise even without you going rogue on them but you made them fail harder. Truthfully, the only reason that we are talking is because you almost succeed in your endeavor. Even Scott was impressed by you."

"So… This mean I can stay?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Yes. You can stay with us." He nodded at her before picking up the files around him and starting to walk away.

"Nath! Where are you going? You need to untie me!" She shouted at him.

"And why would I need to do that? You already have everything you need to get out of these ropes." Nathaniel said, nodding to the knife he had thrown near her head earlier. "You want to show me that you are more talented than they are? It's time to prove it. I advise you to find a way out of these ropes before nightfall in about three hours as it would become quite cold, not mentioning wild animals wandering in theses woods. Scott said he spotted a bear two days ago. I will not come back for you, you are on your own. If I don't see you next morning, I will assume that you are dead or on your way back home. Good luck Na-Yung." He said, leaving a dumbstruck Na-Yung still processing his word behind.

******

The next morning, Nathaniel walks inside the bungalow that Jon uses as an infirmary. Nathaniel had taken the precaution to refurbish it quite well before they started their training as the nearest hospital was quite far away from where they were. It was common sense as the training was harsh and the risk of injury was not only possible but likely. The principal evidence being the black haired girl still sleeping on the medical bed.

"So, Doc, how is your patient?" Nathaniel asked, his eyes not leaving the girl on the bed.

"When you brought her back last night, she had hypothermia and she had lost a lot of blood. She had numerous cuts on her left forearm and left hand but nothing that could warrant stitches. She's going to be okay, like you can see, she's resting now. In three or four days she should be better and resume training." He answers professionally.

"That is good news. Unfortunately, she doesn't have three days. Wake her up now, training is going to start in thirty minutes." Nathaniel ordered calmly.

"What!? No! She needs rest!" Jon shouted in protest. "What the hell happened to her to end up like that in the process?" He asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Nathaniel had never left after issuing the challenge to Na-Yung. He had simply hidden a little away and watched what she was going to do. He could be considered cold to have her put through that but he did it for her, to make her stronger. They will all need to become stronger for what was going to come their way. That's why he stayed the night with her and picked her up when she fell unconscious because of the cold and the loss of blood a mile shy of the camp. In Nathaniel's book, she had succeeded.

"Training exercise, believe me or not but she did that to herself on her own. You know what, since it is the patient's call, just wake her up and ask her about it. If she wants to take the days of rest, I will let her but if she wants to come trained with the rest of us, you will let her. Deal?"

"What kind of a deal is this? Only god knows how fierce and competitive that girl is, especially with you! There is no way she's going to sit even one day out." He shouted frustratingly.

"Still, wake her up Doc, this is an order. I will keep an eye on her and if anything comes up, I will order her to go back to bed. This is the best I can do."

Jon just grumbles unintelligently but still moves to wake her up.