Eight was way too fast. Why was he so fast and good in running? No one could keep up with him, even Cater who always could run as fast as Eight had problems today. But with the amount of training they had earlier, it was no wonder, really.

Cinque could only look at Eight's back when he jumped across the finishing line at first, lifting his fist in the air. Then Cater crashed over the line as the second, falling over to the ground out of breath and seemed to mumble something against the dirt on the ground as she pointed with an weak arm to Eight.

But Cinque was still way too far away from being finished with her running training and honestly she didn't know if she even managed this training program today. They did a lot – from evasion to magic, their program today covered a lot, and this running practice was the last part of this intense list they worked through – and Cinque's knees slowly got weaker and weaker with every step she took. Her feet were hurting and the sweat of her forehead ran already – it had probably more energy than she had left.

Though as she looked left and right she could see she wasn't the only one who struggled – there was Sice who was slacking behind, but knowing her she would never admit that she was exhausted. Close in front of her was Seven who got slower with every second. Jack and Ace seemed to drag each other along, close behind them where Nine, and King – and Cinque could hear Nine even had breath left for complaining. The rest she couldn't see, meaning they must be behind her.

That wasn't that bad at all.

The finishing line was in her sight now and she let out a deep exhale as she could see it coming closer and closer, Seven and Sice already leaped over it and it wouldn't be long until Jack and Ace would do it, too.

Just only … a bit more … you can do it!

She closed her eyes as she summoned her last energy she had left in her tiny body, focusing on her legs as she tried to think away the pain inside them – but that was exactly the moment it happened. All this focusing didn't go well, in fact it did the exact opposite she was aiming for.

Her left foot didn't move like she expected it to be and got dragged behind her moving leg, and with that her right foot stumbled over it. She yelped with a loud shriek as she sailed through the air – ending up with her face pressed against the ground.

The time around her stopped. Feet padded around her and the noises vanished then - only enormous pain shot through her body from her knee and slowly the realization of what happened hit her.

She tripped and definitely hurt her knee with that.

With a trembling lip she pushed herself up, seeing everyone had passed the finishing line already and looked to her with a worried expression – and yet here she sat with an injured knee, close to her tears because it didn't stop hurting. Carefully she brushed over her wound, she got several bruises in her life already, this was actually nothing new. But seeing the little blood spreading on her knee made her worry now – such a little wound that only scrapped her skin a bit shouldn't hurt so much!

Her tears came closer and closer as she inspected the wound more, not really knowing what to do now.

Thank the Crystals help immediately was in sight.

"Come here, darling."

The voice of Mother was a blessing in her ears, instantly soothing away any pain that came from her knee. Cinque looked up at her as she noticed Mother standing in front of her, rubbing over her tear-stained cheeks as Arecia held out a hand for her to take it and Cinque gladly took it. Though Arecia tucked at her a bit harder than she expected, lifting her completely up in her arms.

With a sigh Arecia made sure Cinque was comfortable in her arms, but the little girl still had this trembling lip on her face that made Arecia sad to see. And so she carefully brushed over her hurting knee, this time really soothing away every pain she had – with some kind of healing magic, Cinque assumed. They still were about to learn that, so she was fascinated how fast this all went - promptly her sad expression turned into a smile, the sunny smile Cinque was knowing for. And seeing how Cinque turned her trembling lip in a sunny smile surely made Arecia smile, too.

"There. Better?" Arecia asked her and Cinque nodded enthusiastic, responding with a very cheerful "Thanks, Mother!" before Arecia let her her go again.

Cinque rushed with an immense speed to the others now that her knee didn't hurt anymore, crossing the finishing line with a little jump, and getting immediately greeted by the others who waited for her.

And Arecia only looked to her twelve children standing there, seeing them cheering for each other, because they all managed to absolve the hard training program. She smiled at the sight – they were still so young and little.

But right now she was relieved that everyone was happy and healthy, just like little children should be.