Little over a week had passed since Harambe participated in his first training exercise with the Marines on Water 7. Seemingly, the first day was the most eventful. After, possibly excessively, beating his combat opponent in a supposed sparring match, and dealing with a little bit of a hazing from the higher-ups, Harambe had found himself finally settling into a little bit of a routine with the Marines. On a day to day basis, it was quite simple. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Head to the training area. Physical training. Long distance run. Lunch. Assist with any errands that the higher ups needed doing, or otherwise help out the locals on Water 7.

While Harambe was happy with his job as a Marine, and hopeful that he would eventually begin to climb through the ranks, the matter of falling into a routine didn't sit well with him. Every day seemed to blend into the next, and his body felt as if it was beginning to go into autopilot. The Killa Gorilla had joined the Marines because, first and foremost, he wanted to help people, and this was the only way he knew how. However, another part of his rationale for enlisting was the hopes of an action packed lifestyle. Sure, he was helping people. Most of the time this was getting cats out of trees, or escorting school children, but every little bit helped. The action side of things hadn't quite come to fruition just yet.

Finding himself lost in his own inward thinking once again, Harambe shook his head from side to side rapidly, before giving himself a few firm smacks to the forehead just to be sure. Focus, boy. The aroma of burning toast and bacon grasped Harambe, before he took notice of the thick black smoke that was swiftly filling his nostrils, as well as the kitchen. Me save enough to buy something what not eggs, and then me burn it. Great. The anticipation of eating something other than eggs for breakfast proved all too painful for Harambe. The bacon and toast was burned beyond edibility. Eggs again.

After a filling, but not even close to satisfying breakfast, Harambe once again set out towards the Marine training area. His walk to work was relatively short, he made sure of this when picking an apartment. The gorilla, as large and scary looking as he was, always made sure to smile and nod at any passersby. After a short walk that he tried to stretch out for as long as he could, Harambe arrived at the Marine training area. He greeted the two guards at the gate before heading to the designated zone for his group. The presence of the commanders from the first day of training appeared to have been a one time thing. Perhaps it was standard for them to scope out all the recruits on day one and then get back to their more important duties. Regardless of speculation, Harambe hadn't spotted any of them since that day. Instead, the people in charge of conducting training exercises were a variety of different drill sergeant type fellows, each one in charge of different exercises. It was apparent from the approach of the first drill sergeant, that the first exercise of the morning would be weight training. Harambe didn't mind this as much. His sheer size meant that he was by far the most gifted lifter of his group.

After another not so eventful day of training, Harambe grabbed his bag and prepared to make his way out to perform any tasks assigned to him. He made his way over to the locker containing all of his things. When he reached his locker, Harambe was greeted by an unfamiliar face. The man was wearing a Marine uniform, and by the looks of it was a quite a few ranks higher than Harambe. The man was definitely waiting for the gorilla specifically, made apparent by the laser focus eye contact he was making with Harambe. The gorilla was barely 10 feet away from his locker before the new face opened his mouth.

"Lieutenant Serghei has sent for you. Best make your way to his office as quickly as you can. He doesn't like to be kept waiting, as I'm sure you already know."

Harambe raised his eyebrow at the stranger, before squinting and nervously scratching his head.

"Lieutenant Serghei, sir? Me no no who dat."

The stranger briefly pursed his lips, before grabbing his chest and letting out a short giggle.

"Boy, he wasn't exaggerating when he told me about you! He's the short guy, Ensign. Well I suppose everyone is short to you, but I'm sure you know what I mean."

Where once there was a blank expression, Harambe's eyes were bugged out, and his mouth was ever so slightly agape. The small man? The gorilla wondered what he was in for this time. Another chewing out? Perhaps some more demeaning hazing? Harambe couldn't think of why he had been summoned so abruptly, but it the chances were that it wasn't to have him over for tea and to gossip about goings on. At least it's something different. The gorilla nodded to the message bearer, before spinning on his heels and heading towards the office of the small man, who's name was evidently Lieutenant Serghei.

Harambe paused in front of the Lieutenant's office. Taking a quick moment to compose himself and to mentally ready himself for what he predicted would be in store for for him. He raised his knuckles slowly towards the door, before taking a deep breath and knocking with some degree of assertiveness. Before he had even finished knocking, a familiar booming voice thundered out from the office.

"GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

Harambe twisted the doorknob, and pushed the door open. He ducked his head before heading through the doorway.

Sat behind a desk which may have been a little bit too large, was the recognizable face of Lieutenant Serghei. Something seemed different this time around however. The malicious look in his eyes had been replaced with something that Harambe was having difficulty reading.

"Sit down, sonny."

While retaining the forthright tone Harambe was used to, the Lieutenant's voice wasn't quite as angry as initially expected.

"I hope you remember what I told you the last time that we saw each other. I meant it"

Harambe tried to think back to what Lieutenant Serghei had told him, but the only things that had stuck in his mind from that day was the the constant berating and the degrading hazing which he had suffered.

"Me sorry sir, me no remember"

The Lieutenant stroked his brown in frustration. He shook his head and glowered at Harambe.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter that much. Your value is in you brute strength and martial ability, not your brain power..."

Harambe was in something like a state of shock. The short man was insulting him somewhat, this much was the same from their last encounter. However there was a totally different vibe to it. The malice was gone, and what was left was something close to....to endearment? It didn't make sense, but Harambe wasn't about to complain about the change.

"I'll keep it brief. Some of the other officers and myself have noticed that your natural aptitude for combat, and thus your ceiling is probably higher than most of the people in your training group. When we notice these things, it's pretty standard that we take people in for a little bit of man to man personal training. We are going to nurture you, Harambe. And with me taking personal charge of your training, we are going to turn you into a pirate killing machine. It won't be easy on you, but steel is forged in fire, Ensign. If you're not up to it, feel free to go and play touch butt with the other ensigns out there. I won't stop you. If you are man enough for it, well, get ready for hell. It's going to suck for a while, but at the end of it there won't be a single man who can stand in front of you."

Harambe's expression was blank. He was completely taken aback by not only the sudden change of attitude from the lieutenant, but the offer he had just been presented as well. He took a moment to properly compose himself, before giving a response that he hoped seemed assured.

"Me do it."

There wasn't a chance that Harambe would refuse and go back to the same mundane, day to day training which he had been participating in before.

---

Harambe made sure that he arrived extra early for his first day of personal training. He had made a bad impression when he showed up late general training for the first time. Since that day, he made sure that he was always at least fifteen minutes early. Especially today, the beginning of what Lieutenant Serghei had referred to as being forged in fire. Harambe started to warm up before his one on one instructor arrived. He wanted to show that they had made the right choice in selecting him for the specialized training program.

After about twenty minutes of stretches, light jogging and a few push ups, Harambe spotted the instructor making his way onto the much smaller, but private, training area. A man short in stature, with a scrunched up face and daggers for eyes.

"Lieutenant Serghei, sir?"

The officer smirked, somewhat menacingly, somewhat warmly.

"You didn't think that we would let any old cretin come here and conduct your training did you? You're going to learn from the best."

Harambe caught himself returning the smile which the lieutenant had given him, before wiping it from his face and replacing it with a look of determination. Now wasn't the time for pleasantries.

"Now the best way that I know to teach people such as yourself, is before I can show you what to do right, I'm going to show you what you are doing wrong. Ready your weapon, Ensign."

Harambe wasted no time in unsheathing the giant banana which we wore on his back. He held it in a position, ready to strike or defend at a moment's notice. Lieutenant Sergei stood a little over 50 feet away from Harambe, which boded well for the gorilla. His sheer size meant that Harambe had a lot of brute strength, but the length of his arms, as well as his weapon made for quite a bit of difficulty if the enemy could get within close range.

"Well, I'm glad to see you got the hesitation out of your system. I won't hold back. Fight your hardest."

The instant he finished his sentence, the Lieutenant burst into a rapid sprint, bee-lining directly at Harambe. It was clear that the short man was a hand to hand combat sort of fighter, made obvious by his lack of a weapon. Harambe waited until he was within his 29 foot effective range, before trying his trademark move of sweeping the leg with a hefty swing of his banana. He lashed with as much speed and force as he could muster at the legs of the short man, not expecting to make any contact, but hoping to get a general feel for his opponents movement.

To Harambe's surprise, and alarm, the Lieutenant had not attempted to jump over, or dodge in any form. Instead, he had elected to jump onto the weapon itself. He was faster than Harambe expected, in fact he was faster than anyone he had ever seen. And he was sprinting all the way down the weapon at a speed that Harambe's eyes were unable to keep up with. Before he could even react, the gorilla found himself flat on his back, with Lieutenant Serghei stood above him, holding his fist underneath the gorillas chin to signify his victory. He was stronger than expected too, it seemed.

"I am strong, you are weak."

The officer playfully smirked at Harambe before offering a hand and pulling him up.

"You're far too predictable, but worse than that, you're far too textbook. It's all good and well having good fundamentals. The problem is, that's all you have. They aren't everything. Use them as the foundations for something much greater. You need to take that behemoth banana of yours and truly make it your own. Fashion your own fighting style that nobody on the planet will be able to replicate. Lucky for you, I'm just the guy that can help you with that. Go home and dust yourself off. Make sure you're here the same time tomorrow."

After nodding his head, and holstering his banana on his back, Harambe turned around and readied himself to head back home. This was just the first day, and he had already been put flat on his ass. He reflected on what Lieutenant Serghei had told him, and found himself agreeing with it strongly. He was too textbook, he relied on the basics far too much. It was time to take the step to the next level. Harambe called out to his trainer.

"Tomorrow me no lose so easy, Lieutenant."

Instead of a smirk, this time the short officer worse a grin from ear to ear.

"I certainly hope so, Ensign, because that was pathetic."

Harambe chuckled to himself, before beginning his walk home, and for the first time in a while felt excited to get back out to the training ground the next day.