"Being quick on your feet Is something very important to have when engaged in combat with a sword" said Katarina.
"You must always, and I mean always have the upper hand against your opponent" said Katarina as she watched Maddie and Matt spar with one another as Maddie kept on aggressively pushing forward as Matt had no other reason than to push back until he tripped on a rock and he almost fell, if not for the fact that he stopped himself from falling with his one hand.
"Aww no fair Matt, you are using your strength" said Maddie as she frowned and Matt smiled apologetically.
"Things won't always be fair in a real fight Maddie, which Is why you must always have the leverage over your opponent" said Katarina.
"That's easier said than done, you say it as if I should know what's going on in my opponents head" said Maddie as she scoffed.
"You must, or at least you must believe that you do" said Katarina.
"That makes no sense" said Maddie as she sighed and she shook her head, none of this made sense, it was like Katarina was saying nonsense, it was clear that she preferred Matt over her.
"Oh It does, you'll see" said Katarina.
"Anyway, when are we actually going to spar with swords? I don't think that these sticks will last any longer" said Maddie as they had done nothing but practice combat with these wooden sticks that were not even in the shape of a sword, she was sure that they were ready to practice with the real deal now.
"When I say that you are ready, but for now, you are flimsily holding your sword" said Katarina as she pointed out Maddie's bad form.
"Oh come on! It's not even a real sword!" said Maddie in annoyance.
"The only way I will trust you with a real sword is if you treat it like a real sword, if you are oblivious now, you will be oblivious when you are handling the real deal" said Katarina as Maddie sighed, she just could not win now could she?
"Anyway, the two of you keep on practicing, I will go and check on how Ollie, Annie and Curtis are doing" said Katarina as she walked away.
"Blah, Blah, do that, do this, do everything except for something actually worthwhile" said Maddie as she scoffed.
"Calm down Maddie, I think that you are overreacting" said Matt as he smiled.
"Yeah, yeah whatever, let's just continue" said Maddie in annoyance as Matt just laughed.
Katarina could hear the sound of wood clacking against each other as she walked to see Curtis and Annie sparring against each other rather calmly as Ollie watched with a happy smile on his face.
"I can see that the both of you have good form" said Katarina as she walked to stand by Ollie as Annie and Curtis stopped sparring to look at her.
"Well Prin… I mean we have a very good teacher" said Annie as she smiled and she corrected herself.
"I know right, I am a very good teacher if I say so myself, I should do this more often, it's fun" said Ollie as he smiled happily.
"Yes, I can see that, only that you and Curtis do not go all out on each other" said Katarina as Curtis and Annie's sparring was too harmonious for her liking, they were not supposed to be dancing, they were supposed to be sparring.
"How do you mean?" asked Annie.
"You don't go hard on each other, you are supposed to spar with no mercy" said Katarina.
"But I don't want to hurt Curtis, we are not enemies" said Annie.
"That may be so, but if you don't learn to be aggressive now, you will never learn how to be in a real life situation" said Katarina as Annie sighed, she knew that she had to make them change partners, for their own good.
"Anyway apart from that, you both are doing very well" said Katarina, she noticed that Annie was patient, unlike Maddie, she took her time to make sure to learn well, so she would know what she was doing, meanwhile, Maddie did not take that kind of approach, she liked to learn as she went, and that was a very risky way of learning.
"You can go now if you wish to" said Katarina.
"Okay, Curtis are you coming with me?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis.
"No Annie, I want to speak to Katarina about some things, but you can go ahead" said Curtis as he looked at Annie.
"Oh well okay then, I'll see you later" said Annie as she smiled and she walked to put her stick back and she walked back to the path that lead to the house.
Annie sneezed as she walked alone back to the house through the trees as she removed her hair from the ponytail that she put it in as she stopped when she heard some rustling in the bushes, and she looked around.
"Umm Hello…" said Annie as she could promise you that there was somebody out there.
"Maddie, Matt… is that you?? Are you guys playing a trick on me or what?" asked Annie.
"If you are, stop it, it's not funny at all" said Annie as she shook her head, but she did not hear any reply at all, and it suddenly became dead quiet, as if she was just talking to herself.
Annie just shook her head as she wondered if she was just imagining things, so she just sighed as she continued on walking, it had been a long day, of course it would make sense that she was tired and hence why she started to imagine rustling sounds.
Annie walked on her way, minding her own business when suddenly she heard a mighty thud from one of the trees as she jumped back in shock.
"No way, I could not have imagined that" said Annie as she looked frightened, just what in the world fell down from the tree?
Annie knew that the most sensible thing for her to do with be to run back to the house, or back to the training grounds, but something told her to go and check what fell down.
Annie did not know where she got the crazy courage that she had from, but she slowly walked away from the path, into the trees where she heard a thud as she looked around in suspicion.
"Hello… is someone here…?" asked Annie as she looked around and she gasped when she saw someone that looked like an old woman on the ground, it looked like she had fallen.
"Are you alright?" asked Annie as she gasped and she stayed a distance away from the old woman.
"Oh…" said the old woman a she groaned.
"Miss, are you alright?, I should go and get help" said Annie as she was about to turn around.
"No dear, that is not necessary, you can help me up, I will be fine" said the old woman.
"Are you sure?" asked Annie in caution.
"Yes just help me up" said the old woman as Annie nodded and she walked to help the old woman up.
"Do you feel alright?" asked Annie as she helped the woman up.
"I feel fine dear, thank you" said the old woman as she smiled.
"Did you fall down from a tree?" asked Annie.
"No dear, I had a little mishap, nothing serious" said the old woman as she walked to a woven basket that had fallen on the ground.
"Are you sure?" asked Annie in worry.
"Yes dear I am fine" said the old woman as she smiled, Annie noticed that the woman was wearing a back cloak, she had long curly white hair, and little dimples on her wrinkly face.
"Miss, why are you out here?" asked Annie in confusion, she did not think that anyone came here.
"Ahh I came here to see Katarina" said the old woman.
"You know Katarina?" asked Annie in surprise.
"Yes we very good friends, I was on my way to see her, when I happened to trip, and my basket fell down from the tree" said the old woman.
"Ahh well Katarina is at the training ground, I can take you to her if she want" said Annie.
"No dear, thank you, I should get going now" said the old woman.
"Are you sure that you are alright? You are limping" said Annie as she noticed that the woman was limping.
"I am fine dear; I just have this limp" said the woman as she smiled.
"I will go home" said the old woman.
"You live around here?" asked Annie.
"Just nearby, past these trees" said the old woman as she turned to look at Annie and she smiled.
"Oh, I can help you get back home if you want" said Annie.
"You will?" asked the old woman.
"Yes I don't like the way that you are moving, you said you live nearby, so it shouldn't take long" said Annie.
"Oh thank you dear, it will not take long at all" said the old woman as she smiled and Annie smiled at her.
"Can I carry that for you?" asked Annie as she pointed to the basket.
"Ahh yes, what a wonderful girl you are, thank you dear" said the woman as she gave Annie the woven basket and Annie smiled as she led the way.