June 14th
Westlake
The male members of the 'A-Squad' made their way onto the field.
Aether complained, "Honestly, Aiden, you couldn't find a better name for the group?"
Austin nodded in agreement. "He's right, your naming sense sucks."
Aiden ran his hand through his hair and replied with a sigh of exasperation, "Do either of you have a better idea, or you're just going to offer helpless critique?"
Neither of his friends could respond.
"That's right. Didn't think so."
Coach Armstrong waited for the team impatiently, and at the sight of the trio's lackadaisical steps, went beside himself with rage.
The whistle blew furiously, and Aether, who was about to suggest that they hurried immediately, was assaulted by the sound, forcing him to the ground.
"Aether!" The duo exclaimed simultaneously, trying to get him up.
"Make it stop..." Aether muttered, hands covering his ears, though it did nothing to stop the severe ringing in his head.
His friends managed to get him to stand, and he slowly lowered his hands, more than slightly disoriented.
"You okay?" Austin asked, concerned.
Aether nodded, "Yeah, I think so."
"What happened to you, man?" Aiden questioned.
Aether shook his head slightly and replied, "I don't know. Let's go, before Armstrong goes haywire."
Armstrong noticed the boy's reaction in confusion, but said nothing on the matter apart from a concerned, "You okay, kid?"
Aether nodded.
"Okay! Wolves, huddle up!" the coach called.
The team gathered in front of him.
"Right, now listen closely. On the 29th of this month we'll be going up against the Highland Vikings, and I certainly don't want a repeat of last season's arse of a performance! You arses got mine chewed out by Donny the last time, and I intend to make sure I save it. Everyone, Death Crawl!"
A murmur of complaints erupted from the players, and a certain individual raised his hand.
"Graystone, you have a question?"
"Yes, I have an ask. What's the Death Crawl?"
Armstrong smiled. "You're about to find out, young man. I'll be keeping tabs on you so I find a position to put you on."
Aether picked out a whisper from one of the players, "Does Coach intend to put him on the main team? At this rate the new guy's going to be made captain."
The 48 team would go in batches of 24 for ease of supervision.
These 24 would further be divided into a sort of horse and rider predicament, one half carrying the other for 20 yards, then the roles reversed on the way back.
Aether was in the second batch, placed there to allow him the opportunity for observation.
His friends were in the first batch and had chosen each other as partners, as expected.
Austin went on his knees and arms, and Aiden lay with his back against Austin's, then grabbed on to his friend's shoulder pads for support. Lastly, he raised his legs in an almost foetal position, ensuring that Austin bore his entire weight.
And damn, was he heavy.
Austin bellowed from under him, "We haven't even started yet, you bastard! Put your sticks back on the ground!"
Like Aiden would listen.
The whistle blew, and the training commenced.
The carriers had to crawl to the end point while keeping their knees above the ground.
Aiden intentionally made it harder for his partner by squirming on his back, causing Austin to very nearly fall.
The aggrieved simply gritted his teeth and immersed himself in thoughts of the not so distant future when the abuser assumed the role of the abused.
'Hehehe...'
Austin soldiered on, a wicked grin forming on his face.
He reached the mark and collapsed, having expected his oppressor to at least roll off him like everyone else was doing.
Instead, Aiden stayed, hastening the fall and almost forcing Austin's lunch back out from whence it cameth.
The other players shook their heads at his antics, and hid their smiles with conversation, having noticed Austin's crooked smile and knowing what was to follow.
The batch rested for a few minutes before the coach blew the whistle and motioned for them to return.
Aiden walked around, asking the new carriers, "Hey man, want to exchange with me?"
And he received a unanimous no, much to his discomfort and Austin's greatest pleasure.
Aether, who watched them from beside Armstrong, prayed in his mind, 'Austin, please don't deal permanent damage..'
Just then, Aiden let out a rather comedic shriek of pain as Austin's powerfully built body made itself comfortable on his back.
"Coach! Let me switch with someone else!" he pleaded.
Armstrong pretended not to hear him, and instead blew his whistle.
A while later...
Everyone cheered Aiden on as he neared the rest of the team, Austin doing his worst.
At last, he dropped to the ground, and Austin replicated what had been done to him by the little twerp under him.
Aiden was surprisingly resilient, managing to keep his food in his system despite the assault.
Aether went over and helped him up.
"That should teach you to pick your victims wisely," he admonished Aiden, who simply nodded and sat down with the others.
It was Aether's turn.
Armstrong selected him to join the riders first, then assigned pairs.
Aether was paired with a guy possessing a physique almost like Austin's, but slightly leaner.
Aether himself was far from skinny, with a lean, muscular physique, a bit bigger than Aiden.
The player's name was Ethan Hawk, and he was the team captain.
Aether greeted him, "Hi," and got a nod in response.
"The idiot would doubtless have shown a great deal more respect had the people known I'm Lord Graystone's son," he muttered under his breath as he placed his back against Ethan's.
Armstrong set them on their way.
"Try not to fall off, Graystone," Ethan warned before taking off.
He was fast, as Aether soon realized.
Not only that, but he possessed incredible stamina.
That was not to say that Aether enjoyed a smooth ride, however, as he nearly fell off thrice due to the somewhat jerky movements of his carrier.
And for some reason, he felt like it was intentional.
The Death Crawl seemed to have two functions: training strength and resilience for the carrier, and strengthening the grip of the rider.
Thus, falling off would signify a weakness of one's grip, just as letting the knees of a carrier touch the ground meant weakness of the body.
Ethan shook Aether off his back soon as he reached the mark before the rider could even react.
He got a few light grazes on his right arm, and they stung a little.
As Aether sat up, frowning at the sight of his arm, Ethan said to him, "Listen. You may be fast, but this isn't the Olympics where speed is all that matters. It means nothing if you can't defend yourself on the field. Remember that."
With that, he left Aether to sit with his friends.
Aether pondered on his words.
Ethan was right, but there was something about the way he delivered it that didn't feel right.
His mind went back to how Ethan had propelled himself, almost like he was trying to prove a point.
'Wait, is he jealous?'
Armstrong's shrill whistle scared him out of his train of thought, and his body jerked in response.
Ethan noticed his reaction and scoffed silently as he assumed the position of the rider.
Aether took a deep breath and thought, 'Whatever his reasons for throwing me off are, I've still got my pride.'
With that, he took off.
Aiden leaned over towards Austin and asked, " How do you think our pal will fare?"
"Definitely better than you, I reckon."
Aiden scowled. "You and I, we're not done yet."
Austin shrugged. "Whatever, man. Just shut up and let's watch."
Aether moved at a steady pace, his movement constant for the first ten yards.
Then, it picked up.
Ethan nearly fell off but righted himself quickly, only to repeat the process.
Aether would suddenly burst forward, then revert to the original speed just as abruptly, keeping Ethan on edge for the entire last stretch.
Aether made one last burst, and did not slow down till he reached the end, where he stopped and suddenly straightened his legs, sending Ethan tumbling over and onto the ground.
The players started murmuring, with a unanimous "Oh!" escaping everyone's lips first.
Aether got up and knelt beside Ethan, then said, "There. I'm as strong as I am fast, and I've got the endurance to back it up. Are you satisfied, Captain?"
He didn't wait for a response, smiling and getting up to join his friends, who grinned at him.
Armstrong helped Ethan up and said to him, "Don't antagonize the boy. He's fresh to the game, take it easy on him."
Ethan replied with a look of annoyance, "Yeah, whatever," and walked away.
"You've got some nerve, embarrassing Ethan like that," Aiden commented as Aether pushed the two aside so he could sit in between them.
He replied with a small smile, "He messed with me first, I just returned his favor."
Austin spoke, "What's up with you two? Beefing already?"
"I have reason to believe he's jealous I came out of nowhere and instantly became the fastest guy in school..."
"Second fastest guy in school," Aiden interjected.
"You didn't reach the finish line, and shut up, that's not the point!" Aether retorted, slightly annoyed.
He recounted what happened between him and the captain, including how Ethan had thrown him off, causing him to graze himself.
He showed them his arm as evidence.
"Uh, buddy, are you certain you got grazed?" Austin inquired, causing Aether to study his arm.
It had not a single scratch.
"What the...I could have sworn it got grazed, I felt it!" Aether exclaimed in surprise.
"Riiight," Aiden said, wearing the look of a devoted skeptic.
Armstrong rallied the players just then, cutting the conversation short.
Their training resumed.
...
"Hurry up, man, we've got cars waiting for our arses to sit in!" Aiden admonished Aether, who was taking long to dress up.
"Not to mention we've got to say bye to Aya before she leaves."
"Wait for me outside," he said.
He finished a minute after, and prepared to leave.
Just then, Ethan came back in.
"Graystone?"
Aether stopped to listen.
"I'm here to apologize for my behavior on the field."
Aether replied, "No hard feelings, man."
Ethan extended his hand for a shake, and Aether obliged.
The pressure on Aether's hand increased, and he winced.
Ethan looked around to make sure nobody else was around, and said, "Now that we're back in each other's good books, let me make something clear. In the team, there can only be one captain, and that's me. You will do nothing to jeopardize my position, do you get it?"
Aether's hand felt like it was on fire, the pain slowly getting unbearable.
"So I'm not supposed to display my superiority just because you're weaker than me and think I'll become captain? Get lost."
With that, he extricated his hand from Ethan's grip and shoved him into a locker.
Ethan in return grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him onto the wall, then slammed him into it again.
"I'll give you till the next training session to decide," he said, walking out.
Aether placed his hands on a sink and took several calming breaths, to no avail.
Rather, his breathing became rapid and deep with each intake of breath.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
A pair of glowing blue eyes stared back at him.
Aether jumped back in fright and fell to the floor, proceeding to hurry up and run out of the locker room.
...
"Hi, has either of you guys seen Mikael? I mean, Aether?" Davina asked Aiden and Austin, who were standing outside waving to Aya as she walked towards her transport.
Aether appeared instantly, running out the door and pulling her with him.
"Bye guys, talk later," he hurriedly said as he dashed past them.
Aya watched curiously as Aether rushedly forced his sister into the Bentley and got in himself, forgetting to get into her own ride for a minute.
'What's up with him?'