This story is already finished, so I will have regular updates. Possibly daily depending on how many reviews I get. Enjoy!
I don't own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within. Richelle Mead owns everything else.
Chapter 2 - Training
The rest of the afternoon went by uneventfully. The last period of the day when all Dhampir's were together training, Moroi were off learning to practise their magic. Moroi were able to control one of the elements. Earth, Water, Air and Fire. At about 14 years old each Moroi specialised in one element, they would than go off with a Moroi teacher to practise. I was 17 now and hadn't specialised. It was extremely rare for a Moroi to not specialise, not a good thing. But hey might as well set me apart from the world even more, a seventeen year old orphaned vampire princess hadn't done the trick.
I had a deal with Kirova that when last period came I would go off and do my own thing as long as I kept out of trouble and didn't annoy anyone. Lissa waved goodbye as she headed for her class she specialised in Air. I didn't consider her too lucky, there's not much you can do with that. Dimitri followed me back to my dorm room. I quickly changed into a pair of grey tights and black crop top as well as a black jumper and black Nike shoes. When I walked back out Dimitri gave me an odd look. My exercise gear was a dead giveaway about what I planned on doing, but there were hardly any Moroi than exercised. We all had perfectly slim bodies, it was actually extremely hard to put on any weight as a Moroi.
Dimitri walked beside me as I walked across campus towards the track. I pulled my hair up into a high pony tail and started stretching. Dimitri differed between surveying the area and giving me strange glances. When I was finished stretching I started my daily run. "Are you coming?" I called out over my shoulder to him. I didn't wait for a response before I took off, enjoying the stretch of my muscles. A few minutes later I head Dimitri come up behind me and matched my pace. I gave him a quick glance and had to stop myself from stumbling. He had changed clothes, and was now wearing a pair of black track shorts, runners similar to mine and a plain white t-shirt that hugged his muscles arms and chest perfectly. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice my faltered step. After we ran for about 40 minutes I came to a stop and grabbed a drink. I struggled to keep my eyes off Dimitri's sweaty chest that just added to his gorgeousness.
"Do you do this every day?" He asked breaking the silence.
I shrugged "Usually I run in the mornings and head the gym last period. But with the meeting this morning I didn't have time." One of his brows arched. Damn, I always wanted to do that. I could never get the angle right and instead made myself look like an idiot.
"You go to the gym as well?"
I nodded. "Come on, we've still got half hour before this period finishes the gym will be busy again." He followed my silently.
The practise gym was usually used for Dhampir's after school hours training. It was usually only busy on the weekends when they didn't have other classes where they had to work out. By going at last period everyday it guaranteed that I had the place to myself. It wasn't a widely known thing that I came in here, only Lissa, Eddie and Mason knew. Lissa my best friend by default and the guys because they joined me every now and then when it wasn't busy. I'm sure it would just be another thing to set me apart from the rest of the Moroi. I lifted some weights for the next twenty minutes. Dimitri helped and he became my spotter so I could lift heavier weights than normal. He corrected my technique and also complimented me on my progress. It felt nice to have his approval.
With 10 minutes left I walked over to the sparring mat the Dhampir's used to practise. Dimitri arched his brow again. "Come on Comrade. Let's see what you've got."
His eyes narrowed at the nickname than widened when he realised what I meant. "You want me to fight you?"
"That's the idea."
"No Rose. I wouldn't feel comfortable." He said when he reached me on the mat.
"Come on Dimitri, I'm not as fragile as other Moroi."
"I'm sorry Rose, but I won't fight you." I frowned, faking defeat before I lunged at him with a kick towards his stomach. He was quick and caught my foot before it hit the mark. While he held my foot I twisted my body and brought my other foot up towards his chest this time. Making him release one foot to dodge the other. "Rose" he warned me.
I smirked and sent a punch to his gut he fell for it probably assuming my skills were lacking as a Moroi, but it was a diversion. My legs snaked out kicked his legs out from under him. He landed with a loud thud on the floor. He eyes were wide with surprise as I jumped on him. My legs curled around his, restraining them as best as I could while I swung punch after punch trying to get an opening to his heart. Dimitri dodged most of my hits even with his body below me. When he realised I wasn't about to back down he rolled us over using his weight to hold me down underneath him. I managed to elbow him in the chest, he let out a small growl before grabbing both my arms and pinned them to the floor beside my head. I could tell he had me pinned I relaxed, panting. Dimitri was panting too. His eyes were on mine searching.
"How did you do that?" His Russian accent sending shivers down my spine.
"Do... What?" I asked trying to get my breathing under control.
"How did you learn to fight like that? Not many people can get hits on me and you managed to get a few good ones in. I'd dare say you'd rival some of the Guardian's here." It was the most he said all day. His Guardian mask had dropped leaving a facial expression on wonder. I grinned, not being able to supress the images of beating up Stan that my imagination was forming. Dimitri gave me a heated look when I didn't answer.
My head dropped back to the mat and my smile faded. "My father used to train with his Guardian's, he wanted to be able to protect my mother and I against Strigoi if they ever got close. They both died before he had to defend us, but he taught me a lot when I was younger and his Guardian's helped too. After he died I started practising on my own but it's hard without a moving target. Mason and Eddie sometimes spar with me, but they're usually busy with their own training to help me out."
Dimitri seemed to realise he was still laying on top of me at the same time I did. He pulled back and pulled me with him until we were both sitting across from one another. He looked thoughtful for a while. "Why do you want to fight Rose?" He asked finally.
I thought about the question before answering. "I guess I started because I wanted him to be proud of me. But now... I want to defend myself. I want to be able to fight off an attack. I don't want Guardian's dying for Moroi while they just cower in the corner. I want to be fighting by their sides. Dhampir's like yourself spend their whole lives training to defend Moroi for what? You get treated like you're a class below us all, most Moroi refuse to have any relationships with Dhamphir outside the bedroom and those of you that chose not to become Guardians are virtually disgraced because they choose to have normal lives and normal families like we do. How is that not wrong, Dimitri? Why should you lay down your life for me? What have I done to deserve your sacrifice?" I finished my rant with that.
Those words had been building up for a while. I never even spoke to Lissa about these issues, it was the main reason I agreed to cut my usual crap out for the Queen. There was something about Dimitri that made him easy to talk to. I felt like my opinion was safe with him, which I noticed was unusual as we only met today. Dimitri's eyes bore into mine like he was looking into my soul. I felt exposed but comfortable and protected all at once. "What?" I asked softly after a few minutes of staring.
He shook his head and looked out the window toward the forest surrounding the school. He looked back a minute later. "You're not what I was expecting." He said quietly almost like he was speaking to himself.
"Uhh, yes. I do have a bit of a reputation." He didn't agree or disagree. "People see what they want to, I guess. Sure I've got attitude and a bit of a temper. But I don't do anything half-heartedly and I'm passionate about the things I love and believe in. Some people like Tatiana and Kirova see it as arrogance. This whole princess thing, what they've got me doing. It isn't me. But I'll do it, because one day I'm going to do some good in this world and being a respected princess will be an important part in making sure that happens." I told him truthfully.
Dimitri held my gaze for a long moment before shaking his head back and forth with a small smile playing on his lips. "Definitely not what I was expecting." He muttered.
"What were you expecting? A spoiled rich kid, that doesn't care about much other than her status and how people view her?"
His lips twitched. "Something like that."
I smiled and got to my feet. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to judge a book by its cover?" He laughed and I almost fell back over at the sound. It immediately became the best sound I'd ever heard.
"I believe I have heard that before." He agreed getting to his feet also. We walked back to my dorm room, I was in higher spirits than I had been all day. I spent a long time in the shower letting the heat soak into my sore muscles after my workout.
When I remerged from the room Dimitri was standing their freshly showered and clothed already. His Guardian mask was firmly back in place. I met Lissa on the stairs and we walked to the Cafeteria for dinner. I could tell she noticed my happier appearance but she didn't comment on it, for which I was grateful. All through dinner I could see her shooting Christian heated glances.
Those two were pretty perfect for one another. She was light and he was dark. Christian Ozera was like a male version of me, which made our relationship unique. We fought tooth and nail on most things, and rarely had anything nice to say about one another. But in reality he was like my brother and I would happily give my life for him and I was pretty sure he'd do the same for me, though he would never admit it out loud. Christian had similar views as I did about Moroi fighting although he took another outlet instead of training his body, he and his aunt Natasha Ozera 'Tasha' practised magic to fight. Moroi weren't exactly aloud to use their magic for that purpose so Christian did it in secret. More than once had he set some things on fire in his room and I had to save his ass by grabbing the extinguisher in the hallway near his dorm. He was lucky to have me.
"Go Lissa" I told her after dinner finished. She gave me a questioning look and I nodded towards Christian. "Go, we can meet tomorrow night." She tried to argue but I could see the happiness in her eyes. I smiled knowingly. "Don't argue." I laughed before walking off. The only downside about their relationship was that I now had to share my time with her. It was worth it though to see her happy.
Let me know what you think!
-Skye (FeminineHeroes)
