The following day, Wren prepared to meet with Lord Valen after they completed their necessary tasks. Wren had on a simple, dark grey, semi-fitted, long sleeve shirt, fitted black pants that tapered at the ankle, lightweight black shoes, and had her red/brown hair tied up in a bun, instead of her usual braid. She made sure to tape her wrists before hand, as well as her ankles. She was still slightly stiff from the poison so she went early to the training arena with a small duffle bag on her shoulder. Thaddeus stood at the foot of the stairs; awaiting her arrival. "Afternoon Madame, would it be too much trouble to ask for a light warm-up with you?" He bowed slightly as he opened the doors for her, "It's no trouble Thaddeus. I'd be delighted too; I need a good warm up," she said with a warm smile; he smiled brightly and followed behind her. *CLANG CLANG!* she looked over to the side and saw three people sparring against each other using a simple short sword, a staff, and a hatchet.
"Which Unit are they from Thaddeus? They are familiar but I can't quite-" before Wren could finish her question, she got the answer she was looking for. The smallest girl of the group stepped into the shadows with a swift move and seemingly disappeared. The other 2 were stunned for a moment, then quickly came back on the defensive. The boy of the group pulled his staff close to his body and readied himself in a very low to the ground, position of attack. "Must be Lunar recruits," she said with a chuckle as the first young girl reappeared and they began sparring amongst themselves once more. *CRASH, CLANG* "They fight very effectively for being young, however, their abilities still need more time to develop," Thaddeus said as he led the way to a sparring square towards the back of the arena. Once there, he went over to the small locker and grabbed a pair of fingerless gloves. As Wren reached the circle, she set her duffle bag on a small bench, unzipped it, and pulled out a pair of gloves; hers however, were fingerless on only the thumb and first 2 fingers in each hand. "If you do not mind me asking, why did you bring your bag Madame? I was under the impression you were simply fulfilling your normal training regiment?" Thaddeus had made his way to the weapons rack and chose a simple *Broad-axe and grabbed the pair of *Hook swords for Wren.
"Why thank you Thaddeus, good choice on the axe and to answer your question Mast-, ahem, Lord Valen and I will have a sparring session once he has completed his duties for the day. I finished early in order to come here sooner and stretch my muscles before our sparring." Thaddeus froze mid-step, his eyes growing wide, "L-Lord Valen and...Pardon my manners Madame, but are you sure about this?" If it were anyone else, Wren would not have the patience, but because Thaddeus had never seen them fight before, he was unaware of her true strength. "Enough chit chat Thaddeus, if you are ready to start," Wren casually stretched her arms over her head, with a hook sword in either hand, "Then so am I," Thaddeus snorted lightly, "Yes Madame, as you wish, you may-" *CLANG!* Before finishing, Wren had already quickly ran over to his location and went towards his head, which he blocked with his axe just in time, causing a small spark. Thaddeus was taken aback, but quickly focused and prepared for the next attack. Wren jumped backwards quickly after clashing weapons and as she stepped back to run forward once more, Thaddeus took the opportunity and quickly lunged at her, *SCREECH* their weapons made a screeching sound as the metal clashed together. With the force behind his attack, it caused Wren to become slightly unbalanced and she staggered to the side.
"I-I'm so-" "Don't. I need to remember? Don't even think about going easy on me," as she regained her footing, she locked onto the bench and quickly ran over to the top, used it as a step stool, and jumped off the top to give her more height and more momentum for her attack, seeing as she was at an immediate disadvantage because of his height and muscle mass. He was once again astonished by her speed and barely brought the handle of the axe up quick enough to block the main force of the blades. As she came down from the attack, she moved her swords, twisted her body midair, swiped her legs down at his in order to knock him off balance, and maneuvered herself to land in a slightly crouched position. Thaddeus didn't have much time to react and ended up rolling to the side as he fell down, nearly rolling into the bench; he ended up grabbing another small hatchet in the process. 'Even when she's not at her full strength, she's incredible,' he thought to himself as he quickly looked up to where she was just standing; but saw no one. "Madame?" he stood up bewildered, then suddenly felt the presence of someone near him. Without looking, he swung the lightweight hatchet backwards at the presence, but the spot was empty. By this time, the three others who were practicing made their way over to the area where Wren and Thaddeus were. He tried to focus more to find the presence, which was Wren, so he could make a proper attack.
"Whoa, who is that lady? She's Lunar? How come I've never seen'er? I thought we met 'em all. That guy is so much taller and bigger than her," "Maya, do you ever get your head out of the clouds? That 'guy's is Sir Thaddeus and the 'lady' is Madame Priestess!" The boy said in response. Maya gasped, "What?! No way?! I thought she was still being tended to by-" *THUD!* As the three were talking and watching their sparring, Wren used Thaddeus' weight against him and she managed to throw him to the floor, where he lay huffing and puffing for air, while Wren stood calmly with her blades near his arms. For anyone watching the match, it seemed Thaddeus had an unfair advantage because of his size, but after a few moments, their opinions changed to the opposite. "You are wonderful Madame!" the smallest of the 3 yelled out as she waved towards her. Wren smiled and put both blades in one hand, and offering her other hand to help Thaddeus off the ground. "Seems like you have an admirer Madame," Thaddeus said as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead and returned the weapons to the rack. "Heh, seems that way, will you take mine as well please? Hey you three, come closer and introduce yourselves!" Wren said cheerfully; the three of them didn't waste anytime doing what she asked. "H-hello Madame, I'm sorry I di'nt recognize ya, I thought ya were just-, my name is Maya, I just turned 19'n I'm a Lunar Unit Trainee," Maya who had pale brown hair and bright green eyes put her hatchet behind her back, with her other hand on her chest and bowed deeply in front of Wren before standing up straight once more.
"Hello Maya, it's nice to meet you, and you are?" Wren nodded towards the boy who had deep green hair and eyes, "Hello Madame Priestess, my name is Aiden, I am 18, and I am also a Lightening Unit Trainee. It is very impressive to watch you spar Madame, especially with someone as skilled as Sir Thaddeus. " Wren laughed, "Why thank you, but you do realize I only recently turned 23; there is no need to be so formal with so small of an age gap. No need to bow at least." Wren shook her head lightly and smiled, "Now if I remember correctly, your name is June, yes?" Wren asked the smallest of the three, she looked forward surprised and quickly adjusted her stance and held her sword by her side. "Yes My Lady, my name is June and I celebrate my 17th year tomorrow. I am one of the newest Lunar trainees." As she adjusted her posture, her long blonde hair, which was in a simple braid swayed slightly, while her black eyes shone with pride. She had the smallest body of the three, but Wren could tell she had further along with her abilities than the other two. "Well I am please to meet with the Lunar Unit Trainees. I noticed you sparring earlier and I was impressed with each of your skill sets. May I offer my brief word of advice?" She asked, "Yes of course Madame," Aiden said. He stood a few inches taller than Wren with an athletic build, while Maya and June were both shorter and thinner than her.
"Make sure to focus and store plenty of spiritual energy before any mission, whether sparring or a real mission. This will help when you use your abilities to either blend into the shadows, give you the extra push to jump over and scale walls, and even help your eyes adjust to the night quicker. That is how I started and it helped me a lot," she said, then she reached out her hand to them one by one. "Let your Master know that I will personally attend some of your training sessions to see the progression." She said with a smile and shook their hands one by one, "You have practiced hard, put your weapons away and make sure to stop by the kitchen for your meal.. Thank you for allowing me to watch your match," Aiden, Maya, and June were all grinning ear to ear and eagerly did as they were told. Once they left she turned back, "And thank you for a good sparring Thaddeus. It has been quite a long time since we have had a chance. I've been s bored in that medical ward." Thaddeus, who had been off to the side watching their interaction, now noticed Wren had directed her attention back to him. "The pleasure was all mine Madame. Do you require anything before I return back to my duties?" "No thank you, enjoy the rest of your day," she said as she waved him off towards the door.
As the door opened and Thaddeus left, Wren heard more footsteps entering the arena, but paid them no mind. She grabbed a simple staff from the weapons rack, and went over to the practice dummy and began her usual training regiment. *THUD! SMACK!* Every time she made contact there was a loud thud and smack of the wood hitting against the wooden dummy. As she was focusing she heard the sound of blades hitting against each other, but it didn't sound like anyone was sparring. She stopped hitting the dummy and was going to reach over to her left for her water, but quickly gripped the staff securely in her left hand and swung it backwards just under the man's chin, causing him to gulp slightly and put his hands up to surrender due to the impressive speed and force that was directed. "Wow Wrenny, just as badass as ever I see? I thought I was being pretty quiet this time," After realizing who it was, she used the staff to lift and turn his head slightly, "Don't call me that, Finton. Not even your brother dares to call me that." With a quick flick of her wrist she moved the staff away from Finton's neck and turned around to face him.
"Why are you here Finton, I know you were aware I was in the middle of my training. If you need to speak with me, approach through the counsel like everyone else," She scoffed as she walked over to return the staff. "So cold Princess, aren't you supposed to be kind to your people? Thaddeus had the biggest grin on his face as he was leaving, I know you have the capability-" *FWISH* Without him knowing, Wren grabbed a throwing knife and threw it very closely to Finton's head, slicing off a small piece of his light brown hair before he could flinch to avoid the knife. "I am in no mood for your games Finton. If you have any proper business with me, say it now while you still have my attention. If you don't have any business, kindly leave or at least return to your sparring partner who is currently trying to stay awake." Finton looked behind him at his friend, "Damnit, so useless. Well Princess," he said in a mocking tone, "Since we are here, how about we have a little spar for old times sake? Indulge you precious Michael's older brother for a moment. If you remember correctly, you and me used to be quite close," he said with a sinister looking smile on his lips. Wren had a disgusted look on her face, "You tried to take advantage of me as a child and again as I matured, I would not call that close. However, since you're so eager to spar, pick up those puny daggers of yours and step into the square," Wren knew how to get under his skin, "Don't start Princess, we both know you wanted it, that idiot brother of mine was just to shy to take it, so he left it to me." He gripped the daggers in each hand tightly as he entered the circle. "Michael would never do such things, he's not a twisted person like you." Wren went over to the weapons rack and picked up a short metal bar/baton. "My brother isn't as high and mighty as you peg him to be. He's shared beds with quite a few dames-" "Enough Finton, come at me with all you've got, I guarantee you'll regret showing your face around me again," Wren put her guard up, and got in a stance ready for his attack. "Suite yourself Princess," Finton said as he quickly moved forward to attack.