The Soldier Who Taught Her to Love

Chapter Eight - Leap of Faith

Chapter Eight, - Leap of faith

As Kyla awoke, the dawn light shone through the cracks of the old wooden barn door, making small patterns upon the hard concrete of the room. Rather than wait in bed, she decided to rise earlier than the others, so that she may shower with some degree of privacy still uncomfortable at the thought anyone may see her body.  Taking her towel and wash kit out, she tiptoed as silently as she could and made her way round to the shower block.

Approaching, Kyla heard the patter of water, along with a male baritone voice singing whilst showering, making her supress a giggle.  The voice was not in tune, and the song was all wrong for this place and the words changed slightly.

I just can’t get her out of my head

Girl you’re all that I f*****g think about

Na na na,

 Na na.

 na na na, f*****g Na na na, na na na na

As she walked past the shower of the singing man, she saw the face of Kermit looking at her over the top of the door, his steely gaze fixed on her. Kyla felt embarrassed that she had interrupted his private time, and quickly began to apologise.

“I am sorry staff; I did not realise anyone would be showering this early, should I leave?” Kyla asked lowering her head in submission.

“No, it is okay number 11, but if you tell anyone about my singing, I know hundred different ways to kill you” Kermit spoke, but his voice was soft, and a small smile resided on his lips.

Kyla nodded, then entered into the next cubical, undressed, and began to shower in the tepid stream of water. The pair of them were silent, the only sound that of the water as it pulsed down upon their bodies.

Jim was taken aback that this shy less than confident girl had caught him singing that stupid song in his shower. Did she realise it was her he had once again been singing about? Whey would she, yet deep down some part of him wanted her to know. As he soaped his body down to remove the sweat from his nightmares, he tried to keep from his mind that she was beside him, showering in all her naked glory, with a small partition between them, if he were to look over, he would see her, Jim felt like a pervert as he considered just one small look, and fought to keep his eyes front and centre. But the thoughts and his imagination would not leave his mind, and he found himself hard, desperate for some release when suddenly out of nowhere the sweetest voice he ever heard spoke.

“Kylie eh, did not take you as the type to like Kylie staff”

Jim chuckled out loud, it was so unexpected, this girl who would not hold eye contact, had spoken to him willingly, and was even confident enough to banter, and he wanted her to speak some more, to make her laugh for him to laugh at her little display of cheekiness.

“Laugh it up number 11, but, remember your mine today” he chuckled.

As Kyla heard Kermit state, she was his, she froze slightly, although she knew he meant the fact that he could, and probably would, make her life a misery having her doing many laps up a mountain that would physically and emotionally push her to the limits and beyond, she could not help but imagine those words holding a more carnal meaning.  A shiver ran through her, as her mind went wild with thoughts of every way, she wanted him to make her his, and her n*****s hardened, not just from the coldness of the water or the air that surrounded her.

“Oh, so I am going to be in a world of pain today, well, I am sure remembering you little song in my head will keep me from handing in my armband”

Kyla teased slightly, not knowing why, or even how she was able to do this with the man who she had a crush on, but also the one that could scare a room with one look, yet strangely she did not fear him.

Jim burst out laughing, damn she had some balls, and he liked it more than he should. 

“Number 11, is that a challenge? Well gorgeous, challenge accepted, and when you leave, I will sing another song” Jim uttered, then kicked himself internally, he had called her gorgeous, not that she wasn’t, but he had voiced it, the word out of his mouth before he had time to think.

“Another one bites the dust I recon Staff” Kyla giggled, whist trying to get her emotions in check, he had called her gorgeous, no body ever hand called her even pretty, and here he was calling her gorgeous. She knew deep down he was playing with her, that he did not mean the word, but still hearing it made her heart skip a beat. Kyla had never flirted before, nor had she been flirted with, but did she dare to hope that this man was doing so with her right now.

“Exactly” Jim smiled to himself, the sound of her giggle reverberating through his brain, it was delicate, yet strong just like she was and most of all it excited him.

Tank sat in the staff quarters, today they would find out who could overcome fear and trust even though what lay before them seemed like an impossible task. He liked this exercise; it had been the one that he had feared the most when he had undergone his own selection, the one that took every last ounce of his courage to completed. This would be the first time they did this task on the show, each series they tried to mix up some of the exercises you face during selection.

Tank had been brought up on the streets his parents had long ago disowned him as he was a challenging child. With no one to believe in him, he had got involved in a small way in the gangs that thrived in the deprived areas of London, trusting people was a big negative when he was growing up, and to complete this task you have to trust what you are being told, and not what your eyes see.

Tank found himself reminiscing his past, and how he got to be here. After a gang fight that had nearly seen him arrested, a conversation happened with his beloved grandmother, who believed he was better than the person he was becoming and seeing the one woman who loved him unconditionally tell him to change his ways before it was too late, Tank decided to join the military, and so his journey began. He applied twice for the Special force’s selection course, the first time of trying he broke his leg during the process, and so had to medically withdraw. He would have given in completely, but the feed back to his commanding officer as so positive, it encouraged him to try again.  15 years ago, Tank went from being a royal marine, to a member of the Special Boat Service, and one of the elite special forces’ operatives, where he met Kermit and Woof, along with many others, some of which still serve, others long retired, and too many who never returned from their missions.

The door to the staff quarters opened, retuning Tank to the present, and Kermit sat down, he noticed a strange smile upon his lips, and wondered why.

“Hey bro, if Number 13 is Woofs, then Number 11 is mine” Kermit announced, with a small chuckle.

Tank studied the face of his brother in arms and nodded, he instantly recognised that somehow this was personal for Kermit, and curiosity got the better of him.

“Dare I ask why?”

“She caught me singing in the shower, and took the piss a little, payback is a b***h” Kermit laughed.

Tank smirked, so she had some gumption about her, the shy girl who all thought as under confident had displayed so balls, good on her, and he had the deep suspicion that Kermit liked her.

“Today we are doing leap of faith” Tank announced with a smirk of his own, hoping his friend would find some happiness in his life at long last.

After over two hours of climbing the mountainside, Kyla was beyond grateful when they reached the top.  The scenery was breath taking in its beauty, the place felt like it had been carved by the hand of GOD. Beyond the expanse of green, was a cliff face, large rocks and boulders carved into the side of the mountain, the browns, yellows and dark reds of the rocks glistened in the sunlight.

The contestants, all sat on the ground, tiredness and exhaustion flooding each of them. As they took a moment to recover, Tank arrived stood either side of him were Woof and Kermit.

“Right guys listen in” he shouted.

“This is Leap of faith” he announced. Then pacing back and forth continued

“When we call your number, you will clamber down these rocks here, until you reach a small precipice. There is a 100 foot drop between this and a precipice at the other side, you will jump from one side to the other without a harness, Number 2 your up first” Tank shouted.

Kyla watched as number 2 Steve walked down, he did not return, before Number 3 was called. Kyla waited, not so patiently, anxiousness rising in her stomach, dreading her number being called. Kyla was not good with heights, and the longer she waited the more her mind became full of fear.

As number 10 was called, Kyla was beginning to shake, knowing her turn was next, she attempted to concentrate herself on breathing, and looking at the beauty of this place, but found that no matter what she tried, she could not control her mind from believing she was facing impending doom.

“Number 11” Tank shouted.

Kyla rose to her feet, her legs like jelly though utter fear of what was to come. As she clambered down the rock face, she saw Woof stood at the bottom.  The place which they wanted her to jump was an impossibility, it was too far across to jump, and the depth of the crevice below would mean certain death.

“Number 11, listen to me, I know your eyes tell you it is too far to jump across to the other side, but I am telling you it is not, who do you trust, your eyes or me” Woof said into her ear.

Kyla looked, her body shaking with fear, she could not do this, she would fail, and tears stung her violet eyes. She looked up to see Kermit at the other side, his arm stretched out as if he would catch her, then his eyes met hers and a small smile came upon his lips as he began to hum the base line of “Another one bites the dust” the sound echoing around the rocks.

Kyla took a deep breath, something inside her longed for Kermit to hold her in his arms, and here they were stretched out towards her, before she could think any more she ran to the edge and Leaped, her eyes closed as she prayed that she would not fall.

Suddenly she felt an arm hold on to her, and sparks radiated from his touch that reached into her very core, Kyla opened her eyes to see a pair of grey ones looking at her.

“Well done number 11, guess I really do have a challenge” Kermit grinned,

“Climb up the side of those rocks, and join your team” he instructed her.

The still Shaking Kyla but more from the feeling of being held in someway by Kermit, than the fear that had previously engulfed her, Kyla went to the rest of her team, as a rush of adrenaline and pride filled her senses. She, Kyla White, the weird eyed fat girl the failure, unwanted and unloved, had jumped without a harness across a ravine, and trusted a man who sang ‘kylie’ in the shower, and she began to laugh, tears of joy and relief streaming down her face, as she laughed and laughed.