Wassap people?
Just so that you know, the answer to the trivia from a couple of chapters ago is The Hogfather. It is a really good book by Terry Pratchett, and i recommend it to anyone who reads this. :) okay! on with the tale!
Rose deftly climbed the trunk of a tree, soundlessly reaching the top within moments. She lay down on a branch and peered intently through the leaves. Suddenly, in one swift movement, she grabbed a sturdy branch, and silently swung herself up into the next tree. The only sign of her movement was a few tell-tale leaves drifting slowly towards the moss covered earth.
Stealthily, she made her way from tree to tree, weaving expertly between branches, and eventually coming to the edge of the forest. Flattening herself along a branch, she looked downwards, watching some men who were standing beneath the tree. They appeared to be completely unaware of her existence. She closed her eyes, listening to the conversation drifting up from below her.
"He should be here by now, there's a new recruit I want to test, and, lets face it, young though he may be, he's the most skilled of all of us," said a deep voice.
Rose recognised it; it belonged to a blond sergeant, no-one knew his real name, but he was generally known as Sarge, Blondie or Sir depending on whether you were face to face with him. He was a burly man, and generally relied on his strength to win his battles for him.
"What's his name? The new recruit, I mean." This voice was a little younger than the first, and belonged to a Captain named Nalin; he had brown hair, and brown eyes to match. He was very intelligent and very artful when sparring. When fighting, he would wield these better than any weapon, which was probably why he had risen as far in such a short time.
"I'm not sure, Sir. 'Derek', I think it was Sir, Or maybe 'Damien' I'm not sure Sir," answered Blondie, his uncertainty evident in his voice, "And where is Bri, anyways? He should be here by now!"
Rose smiled, and took this opportunity to jump from her hiding place within the tree, landing just behind Captain Nalin, who froze and lightly spun round.
"You do realize that if I was the enemy, sir, you would have already been dead," she commented.
Blondie rolled his eyes. He sounded exasperated when he next spoke, "Thank you, corporal, for yet another grand entrance. Now that you've quite finished, I would like you to test the new recruit."
She nodded before saying, "Yessir, but if I may ask, why me, Sir?"
"Because I'm twice as old as you and cannot spar half as well as you can, corporal" he growled, looking her up and down slowly.
She nodded, understanding, then sighed, had they known she was their princess, they would never have let her hold a sword, let alone use one. She liked being in the army, it meant she was doing something for other people instead of sitting around sewing and gossiping.
When she was eight; she had been walking through the forest, when she had happened across the training camp. They had mistaken her for a boy because of her short hair, and scruffy clothes. Some of the soldiers had started to teach her how to use some of the more common weapons. By the time she was 14, she had become extremely skilled with most weapons and they had asked her to enlist. When they had finally asked her name, she had given it as Bri, and there had been no questions asked.
Walking across the camp, she looked around for the new recruit. She peered between the tents expectantly and yet still could not find him. Seeing only familiar faces, and none one that looked out of place.
Finally she reached the barrier on the other side, there was still no sign of this recruit, she huffed in frustration. She swore that Blondie would sometime set her on these wild goose chases just to see what she would do.
She tapped some one on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but have you seen the new-" she broke off, taking in his face, "Never mind. I take it you are the new recruit?"
He nodded.
"I suppose."
She narrowed her eyes.
"That's 'I suppose, sir'. Although I am only a corporal, I am still your superior and would have you address me as such. Now I have been sent to see whether you need training or not. Have you ever used a sword before, private?"
He nodded again, this time making sure to say, "Yes, sir." He looked at her and continued, "My father taught me to use one when I was smaller, sir."
"Ah. That's good." And in truth, she was glad. It would mean that she wouldn't have to teach him herself. She had very little patience with people who wouldn't listen to and of her advice, and spent more time trying to look good with the sword than actually trying to be good with it.
"Do you have a sword?" she asked, already knowing the answer to be yes. you did not make it very far in the military if you were unobservant.
"Yes, sir." he said, trying to figure out what the small gleam of triumph he saw was all about.
"Good. Now, what's your name?"
"It's Darian, sir."
She turned sharply on her heals, and walked to the training section, walking behind the archers, and complimenting a few of them. She then walked briskly into a small area, completely worn of all grass and slightly secluded from the rest of the camp by trees.
She placed her bow up against a tree, and lay her quiver down beside it. Unsheathing her sword, she walked slowly towards Darian, scrutinizing his every movement. He seemed to be very familiar with the sword; his hold was perfect, and so was his stance. There had to be a weakness somewhere. And then she saw it. His grip was slightly off, so if you hit it from a certain direction, the sword would fall from his hand.
And there they stood, circling each other slowly, until Rose attacked. He blocked instinctively, and countered quickly, almost catching her off guard.
He was better that she had anticipated, but judging by the look on his face, so was she.
She grinned.
They continued fighting for a while. Had this been a real fight, Rose would have disarmed him a while ago, but this was a test, and she wanted to see which areas he was skilled in and which areas he would have to improve. They continued sparring, much to the amusement of many who had gathered to watch the two of them spar. Darian was sparring madly to get an advantage and Rose working just as hard to block his attacks.
Finally, Rose decided that she had learned all that she really need to know. She locked swords with him and gave her sword a slight twist, sending his sword flying, and flicked her sword up to his throat. It landed on the soft earth a few feet away. The crowd broke into applause, and began to disperse.
They both stood there, hearts thudding wildly from the exertion until Rose broke into a smile.
"You'll do."
At this comment, Darian smiled.
"Thank you, sir."
Rose waved away the comment, and said, "Don't thank me just yet. I want to show you something. There's a small flaw in your defence. It's not very big, but it's enough for someone to get behind your defences. You see your grip? Adjust it like so."
He nodded and did as she told him to.
"This may feel a little funny at first, because your not used to it, but make sure that you always hold your sword like that," she continued, "It makes it easier for you to defend yourself. Although everybody says that you're supposed to focus on killing the enemy, your no use to us dead."
He nodded again.
"Yes, sir."
She looked at him, and then sighed. "call me Bri. you're one of the few people here who could actually make me work that hard, just to beat you. Just call me 'sir' in front of every body else."
he grinned.
"very well," he said, smiling.
"Okay." She nodded and then said, "lets test out your archery skills, shall we?"
A couple of hours and a lot of arrows later, Rose noticed that it was beginning to get dark. She would have to go home soon, otherwise her parents would really start to worry.
She sighed and began to put everything away, placing her arrows back in their quiver and her sword in it's sheath. Then she paused. Did she really want to go home?
She sat down on the dull ground, her back against the trunk of a tree and mentally shook herself. Although it was a very tempting idea, she couldn't stay here. She just wasn't prepared to.
She slung her bow and arrows across her back, and set out across the camp, nearly colliding with an officer as he came out of a tent. After muttering an apology, she was on her way. She took the same way back as she had there, since it was the only way to get out without being tracked. She knew she was being unnecessarily paranoid, but she wasn't tanking any chances.
Slowly, she walked just out of site from the camp, climbed up a tree, and slowly began to make her way home.
Thank you to all who reviewed last time. I hope that you enjoyed the story!
Okay, people... you know what I'm gonna ask you. Review!