Fall Lane [Sci]

"Mmm, true, its not really your department. But after losing Ogre and Light two months ago, we have been strained as far as our numbers go."

His tone was low enough that Holly wouldn't pick up on that, the Impmon tapping his finger to the side of the bench as he carefully looked over Holly's progress. She was rapidly getting used to that more natural form of movement - in all likelihood, it would carry over to her MeiCrackmon forms as well. Raguelmon, not as much, but it wasn't as if such a form could be an 'assassin' in the first place.

More interesting, of course, was Holly's origin. "You mean the white fox?" Likely receiving some sort of confirmation, the Impmon's eyes widened slightly. "The daughter of an unusually powerful Mikemon and a Renamon blessed with multiple knights... and to top it all off, she's driven and dedicated to a fault."

He gave a grin back, when given - but it was lost with a blink, as Iris spoke to her praise. "... I dunno, Iris. Motivation for motivation's sake can be a very flippant thing. Without a 'reason' to remind her... well, she might fit in, or she might think of us as her 'job of the week'." Dark gave a slight chuckle at that thought. "Sorry, being cynical's my job as a route planner. Don't read too much into my ramblings."

"Luckily, Luminas dropped the idea of that fox as a target a while back. Otherwise we might have our hands tied..." The Impmon gave a small 'tsk' through his teeth, idly watching the Meicoomon improve. Indeed, hopefully that fragile stability didn't shift the other way any time in the near future.

As for the rest? It boiled down to the fact that Iris had faith in Holly, to see this through. "Well, then I hope you're ready to stick in her shadow for quite a bit longer. Eh... after the first or second job, we'll see just how committed she'll be to this. At the very least, she's willing to learn - hm?" By what means did Holly manage to make her father scared? She has a keen sense of intuition, if nothing else...

... Ah, but was Holly starting to reach her limit? "Iris, about how long has she been going at this?" Dark had lost track of time - but he'd still call out to the Meicoomon. "Five more times across the wire. You're getting better, but we have to learn to push through it when we're worn down mid-job. At least figure out how it feels to push through your fatigue so you'll know how to handle it later!"

"Right." No reason to get tied up in Luminas' mess. So long as they could avoid it, they wouldn't bite at that pill.

Still, she'd been at this for thirty minutes? That was an impressive amount of time to test one's balance like this: surely she was starting to feel the strain in her legs? The Impmon kept watch over those next few times. Three out of five at that fatigue level, then? Not the best, but certainly not the worse. "Well, like the rest of us, she's going to have to learn to run religiously like a race horse... hm?"

Feeling Iris' shadow slip into his own, his ear briefly flicked at the Shademon's words. He was asking her about the cat's latent killing intent? One she was able to show against her own father?

Meicoomon are naturally hunters, so its not a surprise. Its just a normal sensation that we gave a name to - that assassins feel at a higher level than most. All it tells me is that she's quite dedicated to the craft...

Case in point, what was this, number seven? The Impmon held a hand up: "Alright, time for a break, Holly. You need to give your legs time to rest so they can shore up and improve." With that, the Impmon would stand, stretching out his arms. "Over the next few days, you're going to be learning mapping, pathing, our hand signals, and quite a few other things. Suffice to say, it'll be a few weeks before we'll have you on a job." Ideally, at least.

"Hm... Shade, I think 'Locker 3' is open?" The Impmon was, of course, referring to the boxes under the hammocks. "That whole lot there can be her's."

"Judging by what we've learned from Iris, even if you aren't directly involved in a job, your skills will still be of use to us. And don't worry - you won't be on your own for one of these for a while, yet."

The Impmon understood that surprise, and gave just that slight bit of clarification. 'Locker 3' was open, and Holly found herself a bit surprised to receive one so soon! "Well, 'locker', 'box', same deal. Its where you'll keep stuff you don't want someone on the outside to find." Leading into that room, the Impmon would move to a lockbox on the side, and produce a simple key, tossing it over to the Meicoomon.

Was there anything else she should know?

"Iris will handle letting you know how to get out of the base, as well as the coding to talk to us outside of it. And, to be clear," the Impmon tapped the black armband that wrapped around his shoulder: "When you get one of these, its to be worn in the base or 'on the job' only - and in the latter case, only when its beneficial for us to stand out." The reasons for this, considering their line of work, were quite obvious.

"For now, you need to keep a 'normal' schedule, so as to not rouse suspicion. Iris, have you worked with her for a story to cover her new habits?"

No cover story yet? "Tch... well, I'm sure you two will come up with something." Honestly, if Holly couldn't cover this small hurdle, it would just prove a hindrance to the group - and at this early juncture, it could just be considered a type of test. But it seemed that they had at least an idea of what to do going forward.

For now, though? "Alright, catch some rest, at least. We'll be going into more drills going forward - you'll be working with either myself or 'Peck'. Iris will keep you on schedule." Past that, he'd give a nod, and leave Holly to her own devices. After all, with only a 'few weeks', she had a lot to catch herself up on...

---

Heck, even to that weekend, Holly would have gone through quite a few drills. Whether it was memorization, climbing walls, climbing rope, or just running, there was little downtime she'd have other than her time relaxing in the hammock. If nothing else, it kept her occupied, driven, and swiftly improving in the areas that were necessary for the job.

However, this Saturday would be a little different. She'd enter the guild, same as ever, to hear a few people conversing in the main room. Among them would be a figure that Holly hadn't seen before, a Ravemon (X). But it would be immediately clear who this was:

'Boss'. Right now, he was working with Wolf, poking a few points on the map, as Dark observed at the edge of the table. At the sudden impact against the cushion, however, the bird's attention would be drawn.

"Hm? Ah, Iris." Boss gave a nod, settling his gaze on the new recruit. "And Holly, yes." His tone sounded focused, as if still thinking about the task at hand. Still, he could extend at least a basic introduction: "Well, welcome aboard. Iris, how would you say she's coming along?"

Oof. A bit direct, wasn't he?

"Heh, no need to sound nervous - though I guess the tone in the room now's one you could cut with a knife. We roll out tomorrow, after all."

Yes, Boss tended to be much more expressive and positive than he was being at the moment, but a job was a job, and it seemed that nerves and focus even took hold at the top. From the long and short of it, it sounded as if Holly was proceeding well enough. But, that was just following up with Iris.

Boss would simply return a nod towards the Shademon, before kneeling down to Holly's height, meeting her eye to eye. "Well, you certainly seem to fit in quite well already... tell me." The Ravemon gave a nod: "How do you think you'll fit in here? Will your role be for intruding, information, or planning the routes?" He didn't expect her to completely know the answer - nor was anything said exclusive to itself, or something she had to stick to.

What he was more looking for, was how Holly had been 'thinking' up to this point. Was she just following orders, or did she have her own ideas?