Her muscles burned from the workout, but Amanda was exhilarated. It had been both mentally and physically exhausting, trying to keep herself from pulling punches just because Zephyr was a friend, but once she got past that, she began to realize how much fun it was to just spar with someone. If no one's life was on the line, the outcome of the fight didn't matter, and she was free to enjoy it. However, she knew she had a lot more to learn than just fighting, and she wasn't particularly looking forward to it.

After getting some food into her stomach, she headed for her room, picking up a few files off of Zephyr's desk on the way. Pushing her way into the small, private room she occupied, she flopped onto the bed and opened the first one.

The room was carefully arranged to have the maximum amount of free space possible, with all of the furniture off to the side. A dresser stood in one corner by the closet, and next to it was a short little bookshelf, completely filled with books Amanda knew she wouldn't have time to read. The closet was tiny, but only held her uniform and a couple of different changes of clothes for going out, and didn't really need to be any bigger. The bed was perfectly made, with no wrinkles on it except where she sat, and it had been pushed over to the corner on the far right of the room. If you slept in the right direction, you could easily see all of the entrances to the room.

After a while, she put down the files and stood, growing restless. There wasn't much to do, since she didn't actually know anyone other than Zephyr and she couldn't lead. What she really wanted to do was go outside and climb a tree, or sit on a roof and watch the birds or the clouds, but that wasn't going to happen. There was a gym though, and she thought she'd seen a good place to climb up to the beams that went across the ceiling when she was sparring with Zephyr that morning. Deciding she wanted to try it, she left the files on her bed and went to find the gym.

***

"Wren get down from there," Shadow called up, crossing his arms. "Honestly, you've never acted so childish before. I don't know what's gotten into you, but you're going to get hurt. No one is even supposed to be able to get up there!"

"I like it up here," Amanda argued. "And besides, I haven't figured out the getting down part yet."

Shadow glared at her, then lifted his hands in surrender. "Fine! I'm getting Zephyr. You... Don't move."

Amanda shrugged and sat down on the cross-beam, swinging her legs over the edge and grinning. It had been a lot more fun to get up than she'd thought, and challenging too. There were a lot of places where the hand-holds were more difficult to grip, and she'd had to find a way to keep from falling. But now that she was up above the gym, she knew it was worth, even if it did annoy Shadow. She closed her eyes and imagined herself high in a tree somewhere, the wind blowing her hair out of it's braid.

There were birds somewhere, singing their happy songs as they prepared for the night, and the sun cast its last rays upon her, making her look as though she was glowing. Pinks, oranges, and subtle violet colors lit up the sky, mingling with the darker tones of night. Somewhere behind her, the moon peeked out and let it's light shine on the trees, taking over the night as the sun went down.

Zephyr's voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she looked down. "Wren come on. I know you like challenges, but if you fall you'll get seriously hurt."

Amanda sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine. Just give me a minute."

She stood and walked along the rafters to the area she'd climbed up. Lowering herself onto a thin ledge, she proceeded to use the different equipment on the walls to maneuver her way back down again.

When she finally landed on solid ground again, Zephyr and Shadow both let out small sighs of relief. "Don't do that again," Shadow said. "None of us want to see you fall to your death."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or anything... I was just bored," Amanda said, feeling guilty.

Zephyr rolled her eyes. "Figures. Being part of a rebellion can't even keep you interested."

~~~

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for posting this a day late again. I was really busy yesterday and forgot to put it up. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :D