:| Just Another One |: {Artemis}

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

Ever since she decided to leave the detention center, Ana had found herself stationed in her home district more times than she would have liked. Memories of her childhood were painful—and yet, she had grown from them and had learned how to function while carrying that burden. But this trip was not for fun. She had received a message earlier that week saying for her next assignment, she was to remain in District 4 but she would be training a young cadet. Her face maintained a scowl for the following few days, having few pleasant experiences when it came to training regardless of which position she was in.

The message had said that the cadet’s name was Samuel MacLaren. When she arrived at the designated meeting spot, she could not spot anyone that looked remotely like a cadet, so she sat down and waited. Patience was a strong feature of hers—in an interrogation, it was always important that she didn’t break first—but when it came to training sessions, her patience was always worn thin.

It first started with her toes, but as the minutes ticked on, she could feel the heel of her boot rise and fall at a quick tempo until finally somebody else came through the doors. She looked him over from a distance, but she could already see that he was going to be a pain in her ass. There was nothing malicious about him—on the contrary, he seemed like a pleasant human being—and that annoyed Ana the most. She could deal with the hard-hitters, the rebellious teens, but the easy-going ones were like a mystery to her.

She stood up and straightened her uniform, a scowl forming on her lips. I’ve done this before, absolutely nothing new. And yet, she could not help but feel uneasy as she stepped towards the young man. She had a higher rank; she was the authority. I just have to keep telling myself that. Finally, she was standing in front of him. “You will call me Ana. None of that rank shit applies here.” There was no point in being friendly with her greetings. “Do not be tardy for your shift. We will be working together. Have any problems with me, take it up to the bigger guys.” She stared him down before continuing. “Do you have any questions?”

[Artemis]

Barely a whole year in the Peacekeepers under his belt, and already Sam had had the privilege of seeing 3 of the 12 districts, not counting his own; the first few days of an assignment in a new district were always the most agonizing. While there was work to be done, Sam and the other Peacekeepers who'd not yet visited the district in question were anxious with restlessness to go and explore, which made the work day drag on for what seemed like an impossible number of hours. Sam had stayed to the last minute of curfew just looking at the ocean, walking on the shore and picking up seashells to bring back to District 10 whenever he'd be able to visit again.

Abel and Mama would probably like them...

In the meantime, though, the rookies had been divvied up among some of the more senior Peacekeepers to mentor and tutor them; Sam had only just been pulled away from unloading equipment from the Peacekeeper train to be given the name of his own mentor and where to find her. A scrap of paper with directions was thrust into his hand, and he was sent on his merry way... back to the main lobby of the precinct.

The piece of paper only gave a name (Sergeant Laroche), and was otherwise unhelpful in determining which of the white uniforms walking in and out of the building was supposed to be his mentor... until a blonde woman, seated not far from the receptionist desk, stood up and made a beeline.

Sam opened his mouth to greet her, and ask if she was the Sergeant he was looking for, when she was drilling him with instructions.

“You will call me Ana. None of that rank shit applies here. Do not be tardy for your shift. We will be working together. Have any problems with me, take it up to the bigger guys.” She said brusquely, narrowing her eyes at him, “Do you have any questions?”

"Ma'am," Sam replied like a reflex, in spite that she had clearly just told him to call her by first name. He was too new out of boot camp, and too well brought up to do so.

"I ain't sure what exactly you're s'posed to be teachin' me, ma'am." He went on tentatively, "What is it you do for the Peacekeepers?"

She didn't strike him as being the patrol type, being an entire foot shorter than himself, but then Sam knew full well that he had the capacity to be surprised; there had been no shortage, thus far, of female Peacekeepers that could put him in his place... Crossing them wasn't something Sam did on purpose, but being from District 10 he was on a steep learning curve the difference between the culture and etiquette of his home, that of the districts he was sent to, and the Peacekeepers' to boot.

22AA44 - Ana Laroche
e9a800 - NPCs
9f4400 - Samuel MacLaren

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

He was tall. That fact did not leave her mind as she continued to stare at him, wondering what she was supposed to do with him. Patrolling was a boring role, but these fresh recruits always found a way to mess things up which was why they were assigned to senior Peacekeepers in the first place. If Ana had a choice, she would have told the head Peacekeepers that she would take no part in training, but it was part of the job description and she was not one to skip out on a job.

Still, the boy in front of her was daunting—though nothing compared to her big boned family—and she would have to think of ways to make him somewhat useful. But first, she was going to have to correct him. Already. “Do not call me ma’am. I am no ma’am. I’m just Ana to you.” He continued to talk and that was when Ana realized she was going to have a problem. The accent was not something she was familiar with, but she did recognize it as a District 10 product. She had heard Mace Emberstatt talking enough to recognize that way of speaking and know that she would have to spend the next few weeks interpreting his words.

“Mostly patrol work now,” she grunted out, unhappy with her current post. She had her share of exciting moments and dealing with crazy people, but it didn’t give her the same satisfaction of wrestling information out of people in the interrogation room. If she was lucky, her superiors allowed her to deal with some of the nutcases they brought into the building. “But I specialize in interrogation and tracking.”

That did not bring up a fond memory either—she had so few of them already—but she did appreciate the new skill she had learned while training under “Andy”. It made her a little more lethal and useful when it came to her patrol work. “However, you will be learning the ropes of District 4. Soon, you’ll know the place like the back of your hand, but more importantly, where you can find most of the lawbreakers.” She turned around and started leading him toward the front door. “You lag behind, I leave you behind.”

The first place she took him was to the beach but it wasn’t for the sake of relaxation. “Alright, here’s the beach. The rules on display are over there—,“ she pointed to a worn out sign that needed fixing. “—but that’s not what I care about. What I want to know is what you know about this beach already.” She turned her body so she was directly facing him. “Start talking, boy.”

[Artemis]

Sam had been driving his superiors crazy since day 1 of basic training, calling everyone 'sir' and 'ma'am'; he'd come to learn in time that he was only supposed to address officers in such a manner, but 19 years of calling everyone senior to him by such honorifics was proving a so far impossible habit to break. Even Sam's drill instructors at the Academy had eventually giving up on getting him to address his enlisted superiors by their rank, and written him off as being too stupid to differentiate between the two.

He wasn't, Sam knew damn well that Laroche was a Sergeant and not an officer, but it didn't stop him from compulsively replying "Yes ma'am" when she told him not to (with no small intonation of annoyance).

Doing as the Romans did had never been his strong point.

"Mostly patrol work now," Laroche huffed, clearly not too happy that that had to be her answer, "But I specialize in interrogation and tracking."

"Tracking?"

Like an animal? It seemed odd that the Peacekeepers would need to track anyone. Not that Laroche seemed eager to dwell on the topic as she went on.

“However, you will be learning the ropes of District 4. Soon, you’ll know the place like the back of your hand, but more importantly, where you can find most of the lawbreakers.” She turned on her heel, heading for the door. "You lag behind, I leave you behind."

Sam easily caught up (his stride was much longer than hers), following his stern new mentor out of the precinct, walking in relative silence until they reached the beach; it was somewhat more populated now, being the middle of the day rather than evening when Sam had been here last, but as much as he wanted to take in the sights he knew that he wasn't going to be so lucky. Not while he was still on duty.

“Alright, here’s the beach. The rules on display are over there, but that’s not what I care about. What I want to know is what you know about this beach already.”

Laroche turned to face him.

"Start talking, boy."

Sam looked up and down the beach, feeling more than a little lost as to what kind of answer the Sergeant was looking for; there were a few fishing boats in the water casting their nets, children playing in the surf while older siblings went digging for crabs and shellfish, old men and women on the shoreline repairing nets and weaving rope...

"I don't rightly know what I'm s'posed to be lookin' for, ma'am." Sam admitted sheepishly.

22AA44 - Ana Laroche
e9a800 - NPCs
9f4400 - Samuel MacLaren

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

She hadn’t expected much—the new recruits were always quick to disappoint—but she had at least expected some effort. This kid…doesn’t even make an attempt. Not to mention that he continued to call her ma’am when she had instructed him very clearly to not do that. It took all her mental willpower to not grind her teeth as she swallowed her words and reminded herself that patience was a good virtue. It didn’t help that he wasn’t even rude about it; there was no sense of fortitude in this boy, no spine holding up his back. She would have to teach him how to form a backbone, to actually stand up for himself. Maybe then Ana would be able to tolerate the boy.

Narrowing her eyes, she circled around him, taking careful steps. He had the potential to be a formidable Peacekeeper if only he would lose that schoolboy look of his. She slapped his back hard, realizing she had to reach a little higher than she was accustomed to. “Boy, you’re not going to get anywhere with this career if you don’t grow some bones back there.” Ana completed her circle until she was standing in front of him. She pointed to her side, toward the cave that she had climbed through many times as a child.

“That cave. Describe that cave to me.” If he asked her one more time to clarify, she was probably going to have to grab a stepladder and give him a smack directly to his head. “Then I want you to describe that pier across the pathway over there.” The description exercises were not without their purpose: if he was going to know District 4, then he was going to do it her way. She had spent her childhood in the District and had learned every nook and cranny of the place. It was time for him to do the same.

“Listen, kid. I want you to succeed here and in your job. You’re gonna have to move up ranks, but you won’t be doing that if you don’t learn how to think for yourself. You’re gonna make tough decisions on the job, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first glance. Now describe that cave, then describe that pier. I need to figure out how perceptive you are.”

[Artemis]

Sam only let out a little grunt as Laroche thumped him soundly on his back, figuring she didn't like his answer. It was a pretty open-ended question, in his own defense, and this wasn't exactly an evolution they taught at the Academy; Sam's aptitude tests hadn't exactly given his instructors hope that he'd be the next Sergeant Major or come up with any game-changing innovations to the military, but if nothing else he was good at following directions.

Which Laroche, finally, started to clarify.

“That cave. Describe that cave to me.”

Well, sort of.

A few nights after his arrival, Sam had made the acquaintance of a group of children that had led him into the cave, imagining some grand adventure that they were pirates with buried treasure and hiding out in the coves. Might as well start from the entrance, and not knowing what else Laroche might be looking for dove into describing the narrow, low-ceiling sandy entryway, the handful of footholds that led to natural skylights that spewed water when the waves crashed in at high tide, the cavern with the pool of clear water that offered a small glimpse of a submerged tunnel that he and the kids didn't dare try to explore having only their breath to carry them down there.

It felt just like being back at home with Abel... only playing pirates instead of cowboys.

“Then I want you to describe that pier across the pathway over there.”

Sam hadn't had much time to go out onto the pier yet, though it didn't look as if there was much to see.

"Couple 'a old men fishin' from the edge... tackle shop is still open, but the owner's all the way down by the shore. Most of the boats are out to sea with the nets, only one still in don't look like no fishin' boat..." He sighed, trying to think what else might be worth mentioning and unsure if he was doing a satisfactory job, "Couple 'a boats upside-down near the shore, 'm guessin' they're personal or not fit to be out on the water."

He looked at Laroche questioningly.

"Is there something particular I should be lookin' for?"

22AA44 - Ana Laroche
e9a800 - NPCs
9f4400 - Samuel MacLaren

[ᕙʕ•ᴥ•ʔᕗ]

Ana nodded her head slowly as she heard his description. It was nothing much, but it was better than when he turned to her and asked her to clarify. She hadn’t expected much to begin with, just a simple, superficial description of the place. It was a start, though, and she wouldn’t have to beat it into his head to say more. The description of the pier surpassed her expectations. He was more perceptive of the surroundings there, as if he was a young child from District 4.

Then he looked back at her with that questioning look on his face again. Ana supposed it would do no good to keep leaving him in the dark and decided to begin her first lesson. She gestured at the cave with a head nod, directing his attention toward the mouth of the cave. “You have a good description of the cave—if you were trying to paint a picture of it. But as a Peacekeeper, you have to look for the hidden features. For example, that pile of rocks there—" she pointed her finger to the pile of rocks three feet from the mouth of the cave, “—has the potential to be a hiding place for a small item or act as a signal. It is up to you to decide if there is anything against the law there, and if you should pursue it.” She then pointed toward the ceiling he had mentioned. “If you notice that ceiling, there are deep notches, also used to hide items. but more importantly, people. You would be surprised what some of these crazy people will do to protect items or people they love.”

Ana then started walking toward the pier and watched as the people in her path scattered, before stopping by one of the overturned boats. “You’ll find that no one wants to talk to you here, so you have to learn about the people a different way. You have to be able to stand in the distance and read these people to determine if their intentions are harmless or not.” Her eyes followed the owner the boy had pointed out. “That owner. Why does he go down by the shore? He should have employees who can do that for him, so why does he linger by the pier?”

“Understand that I am asking you to do more than just walk around when you patrol the district. You want to be a good Peacekeeper? Keep your head down and your eyes open.”

[Artemis]

Sergeant Laroche seemed pleased enough with his description, and didn't smack him again; hopefully it meant Sam was on the right track. She motioned with a nod towards the cave.

“You have a good description of the cave—if you were trying to paint a picture of it. But as a Peacekeeper, you have to look for the hidden features. For example, that pile of rocks there has the potential to be a hiding place for a small item or act as a signal. It is up to you to decide if there is anything against the law there, and if you should pursue it.”

Sam scanned the mouth of the cave, eventually finding the pile of rocks she was referring to; it would never have occurred to him to check their for a hidden item, let alone that it might serve to signal to other people, for who-knew what purpose. Laroche went on to point out that the notches in the ceiling could also serve as hiding places for potential contraband or people, which suddenly made the pirate game he'd played with the local kids seem just a little less innocuous.

He was close in tow as the Sergeant walked towards the pier, a little disappointed to see the people he'd talked freely with last night, clear a path in front of them; Sam's face was completely obscured by the dark, reflective visor of his helmet, preventing anyone from recognizing him.

Of course, that was provided his accent hadn't already given himself away with his District 10 drawl, and they'd opted not to care.

“You’ll find that no one wants to talk to you here, so you have to learn about the people a different way. You have to be able to stand in the distance and read these people to determine if their intentions are harmless or not.” Laroche said, pointing to the owner of the tackle shop Sam had pointed out, “That owner. Why does he go down by the shore? He should have employees who can do that for him, so why does he linger by the pier?”

The man in question was loitering on the shore just before the pier, leisurely smoking his pipe and digging his toes into the sand. Sam half expected the Sergeant to point out something about his behavior that would somehow be considered suspicious, but instead she turned back around to look at him.

“Understand that I am asking you to do more than just walk around when you patrol the district. You want to be a good Peacekeeper? Keep your head down and your eyes open.”

"Yes ma'am," Sam replied, simultaneously relieved to know what was expected of him and daunted by how on earth he was going to pick out the levels of detail the Sergeant seemed to notice with no more than a glance.

"But... I was talkin' to some of 'em yesterday in civvies. They didn't seem to mind talkin' to me then."

22AA44 - Ana Laroche
e9a800 - NPCs
9f4400 - Samuel MacLaren