Just a very short one before I go on holiday, since I won't be writing for two weeks after this. So I hope you enjoy, mainly because writing little kid Raven with an annoyed Pietor is adorable.
'Write a scene that uses the words: hostage, rudimentary and cascade.'
"What would be the evasive manoeuvre to carry out if you were taken hostage by an unknown, possibly hostile force?" Pietor Furan asked sharply.
You might expect him to be teaching a class in this situation, but only one face stared defiantly up at him, her icy blue eyes meeting his unwaveringly. "I wouldn't have let myself be captured in the first place," was her calm answer. "I'm not stupid."
Pietor sighed heavily. It was no secret amongst the various mentors throughout the Glasshouse that his pupil was notoriously difficult to teach, mainly due to her hatred of him - plus authority in general, really - and her singleminded view of the world around her.
But he had been assigned this particular student by his sister, mainly because he was the only one actually capable of disciplining her. And Natalya was not an easy pupil to discipline.
"Well, say you let your guard down for just a moment, and were captured as a result," Pietor said impatiently.
"That wouldn't happen," Natalya insisted. "I never let my guard down, especially not when dealing with a hostile force. And neither should you." And with that proud statement she drove a lightning-fast kick into Pietor's ribs, which he managed to deflect and throw back. It was her third unprovoked attack this session on him. Natalya landed a few feet from him, breathing heavily, her long black hair falling in a tangled dirty cascade around her thin shoulders.
"Come on, Natalya," Pietor ordered, frustration evident in his voice. "This stuff is rudimentary."
"You're rudimentary," muttered the twelve year old darkly, flashing him yet another death stare.
"You know this stuff. You're intelligent," he told her, hoping to appeal to her better side.
Natalya smiled coldly. "I know," was all she said. "What a pity you're not."
Pietor held back the powerful urge to punch her, and instead strode up to her, towering over the tiny girl with every ounce of his height. "Just answer the question," he growled. "Evasive manoeuvre. Captured and taken hostage."
"Boring," she shot back.
"You won't find it boring if you actually needed it in a situation," Pietor argued.
"Which I won't. Because I'm not stupid enough to actually get taken hostage. Unlike some people." It was clear who she was referring to with her pointed look at him.
"I am not stupid."
"Yes you are."
"I am not."
"Sure," Natalya said, sounding unconvinced. Then, faster than he could sense, she had punched him with all her strength in his stomach, then followed it up with a hard kick to his chin. It didn't really hurt him, but the punch took some of his breath away.
"C'mon, Pietor," Natalya mimicked mockingly from a few feet away, staring him straight in the eyes. "This stuff is rudimentary, even for you." Then she was gone, having darted away through the door before Pietor could even think to catch her.
Wearily Pietor made the call that he had got tired of making over these last few weeks as mentor to the troublesome student. "Anastastia? Yes - it's Natalya again. Yes, I know, I'm going."
He'd teach her rudimentary...