Ezio didn't blatantly flirt any more for the moment, but the possibility was still there now that he'd gotten used to the others enough.

A few days later, training had started with the new recruits. Meaning they'd broken off into smaller groups to start introductory training.

Harper was kind of really looking forward to this now.

Desmond had gotten paired up with Shea, which he didn't mind at all. He figured for now the two of them with their group of six would be fine, that way they'd be able to keep an eye on all six and make sure no one killed themselves.

Ezio was looking forward to being able to train a larger group all at once, and he was interested to see how the other three would fare with recruits to train.

Shea looked over the new group carefully.

"This might actually work out," she commented to Desmond. "The don't look half bad."

Desmond nodded. "So, practice climbing for today?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He was of the opinion that newbies could always use more climbing practice, especially here.

"Sounds good to me," Shea said, grinning. "This should be a good baseline test for them."

Desmond nodded and looked at the recruits. "Alright, up onto the rooftops," he ordered them, watching as they obeyed.

Shea watched them as well, waiting until they were about half-way to the top before climbing up herself. She still beat most of them to the top.

"You will practice this every day," she said as they started arriving. "You will need to be quick and steady in your climbing, because one missed hold can and will likely result in you being splattered on the ground."

They all nodded. So far none of them were upset, because they were all beginners.

"Right, now back down." Desmond stayed at the bottom in case he needed to break someone's fall.

Shea watched them all climb down, following behind the slowest ones. They were all significantly slower going back down, but that was to be expected.

"Again," she said once everyone was down.

Desmond kept them at it for a while, until they managed to beg a five minute rest. Five minutes wouldn't be bad, as long as they didn't just sit down, which he discouraged with swift pokes and prods.

Shea glanced around and sighed.

"We need a place for them to be able to run laps," she said.

"On the walls," Desmond said, pointing. "The walls go all the way around the city, they're not actively patrolled most of the time."

"Let's go, then," Shea said. She turned to the recruits. "Time for a little trip. Come with us."

They all followed quietly, letting their teachers lead for now. They were curious about what they were going to do now, though.

Shea scoped out a long, empty stretch of the wall, and grinned.

"Think this is a good spot?" she asked, looking at Desmond. She smirked when she saw a few faces fall as a couple recruits realized what was going to happen.

"Looks good to me," Desmond agreed with a grin. "Have at it." He smirked at the recruits, who obediently started running. None of them seemed too pleased.

Shea grinned and made her way down to the end, so she could send the recruits back for the second half of their 'lap.'

"The running gets easier," she told them as they passed. "Eventually."

It took a little while to get the running done, and then Desmond let the apprentices have a break.

"So far, so good," he murmured to her.

"Better than a lot of others I've seen," Shea agreed. "Still a ways to go, though."

"Yeah, but nothing out of the ordinary." Desmond grinned a bit. "At least none of them are scared of heights."

"Thank god," Shea muttered. "That's one headache we can definitely do without."

"No kidding." Desmond shook his head a bit, keeping an eye on the trainees.

Training went on for a while longer, until it was time to stop for the day.

"Alright, that's it," Shea called to the trainees. "You're done for today. Be back here half an hour after dawn tomorrow morning, we'll continue then."

The trainees all nodded and headed off for the evening.

Desmond stretched out a bit and grinned. "I'd say that went well. I wonder how the other two fared?"

"Let's go find out," Shea said, grinning.

Elsewhere, Ezio was overseeing his own group of trainees as they worked. They were more promising than some others he'd trained, and were doing well.