Images flashed through her sleeping mind. The faces of two people in particular kept reappearing in flickering waves, like pictures flapping in a great wind. The woman with short, dark hair and gentle grey eyes. The man with curly black hair and a smile to soften a heart. Cass' parents. Her loving parents. She frowned in her sleep as their smiling faces turned sad, worried, pained. It was her fault. What would they be thinking? That she had just disappeared? That she ran away- or worse, was kidnapped? Tears rolled down her cheeks though her dream kept her pinned to sleep.

Breaking free of her dream's entrapment, Cass' eyes opened sharply and she sat bolt upright in bed; the flashing images of her parents' faces imprinted behind her eyes. The pain on their faces caused more tears to fall. They were in pain and she was here, enjoying herself; living how she had always imagined she'd love to live. And she did love it. But the pain in their faces had brought her back to reality. What could she do though? She didn't even know how she had arrived here, let alone how to get back.

A bigger question plagued her mind; one that made her hate herself; because as much as her parents' pain hurt her, did she really want to go home?

Her parents' lives would eventually go on, they loved her, but their lives would go on. But would hers if she ever went back to the future? She had felt something when she was in this time. It was happiness. Cass, for once in her life, felt like she belonged. She didn't want to lose that. She had always felt as if she was out of place in her own time; here she was... If she went back...

Cass shook her head from her thoughts. She didn't want to think about anything related to her dream. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and swung her legs from the bed. Sighing, Cass stood up on wobbly legs and dressed in one of the dresses that she had grown comfortable in. A knock at her door startled her; it contrasted the silence she had heard all morning, the silence from her dream.

"Who is it?" Cass asked, looking towards the door from where she stood beside her bed.

"It's Dagonet."

Cass smiled, and answered, "Come in."

The tall Knight opened the door slowly and stood in its place. He's almost the same height as my door, Cass mused to herself.

"Morning," he said with a nod.

"Morning," she replied, flashing a smile in his direction.

He paused for a moment, and then said, "I just wondered if you'd like to go and train. I've got some time now."

Cass raised her eyebrows and a smile turned the corners of her lips. She nodded enthusiastically towards Dagonet and went to leave the room. A thought stopped her.

"You know, I wish you'd come a couple of minutes earlier," she smiled.

He looked at her in confusion.

She explained, "I just got dressed. Will you give me a moment to change?"

He nodded, immediately leaving the room and pulling the door back to its closed position. The girl changed into her training clothes quickly; eager to follow Dagonet to the Knights' training hill, eager to discover what Dagonet would teach her. When she was ready, Cass grabbed her charcoal and her paper, ready to uphold her part of the bargain.

When they walked outside, Cass was surprised to see the sun as a shining beacon in the pale blue sky, few clouds interrupting its shine. A hot day was really not what she'd been expecting. Good old British weather eh? Cass thought. Always catching me off guard.

As they walked through the Fort, Dagonet noticed that Cass was wary of every Roman soldier they passed, her eyes darting, searching for their faces and relaxing when they found them. Cass couldn't stop looking for the Roman who'd tried to kiss her; it's not like she wanted to find him, but he was constantly plaguing her mind. She wasn't sure if he had done it only because he was drunk, but she was watching out for him because she didn't want to meet him again and find out.

Dagonet and Cass climbed the hill outside the Fort and, when they stood atop it, Dagonet stopped. For the first time Cass noticed the weapons Dagonet had strung across his back; two very large, very heavy-looking swords. One was his, and, Cass assumed, one must have been for her. Dagonet turned to her as her un-shouldered the swords.

"Erm, Dagonet? Are we...? Should we...?"

Giving up on trying to come up with a polite way to ask, she sighed, "Drawing or training first?"

After a moment, he answered simply, "We'll train."

Cass nodded, and went to put her things at the base of Tristan's Tree. She turned back to see Dagonet holding the second sword out to her, hilt first. Cass circled her fingers around the handle; expecting the sword to be of some serious weight, she did the same with her other hand. Seeing that her hands were tightly wrapped around the sword, Dagonet released his grip. The sword hit the ground as soon as he had. A surprised Cass looked up to see Dagonet chuckling at her.

"You could have warned me!" Cass said, a frown arching her brow.

Dagonet's smile remained as Cass took a breath and attempted to lift the heavy sword again. When she'd finally managed to lift the sword and hold it off the ground for more than three seconds, she smiled, though her legs were a little shaky.

"Lift with your legs, not your back."

"It's not so much my back I'm worried about; it's more the fact that I seem to have the upper body strength of a five year old child."

Dagonet laughed again, shaking his head as he picked up his own sword. He swung it from side to side with tremendous ease and Cass scowled at him. He handled the sword as if it was no heavier than a piece of paper.

"Yeah, rub it in, why don't you," she muttered under her breath.

"Try swinging it," Dagonet suggested.

Cass gathered her strength and heaved the sword to one side. It almost trailed a line in the grass as a child playing with a stick would. She sighed. Cass tried again, this time trying to use her body weight to help with the swing. Her second try was better; but still not good.

"I know you can use a sword, it's just the same, but a little heavier."

She nodded, trying again and again; and Dagonet could see that she was progressively getting more and more frustrated with herself. There's nothing motivating her, Dagonet thought as he watched the girl grapple with the weapon.

"Come on, I know you can do this. What happened to the strength you used when you punched that Roman?"

Cass looked up at him, blinking and letting the tip of the sword hit the ground.

"How did you know about that?" she asked.

"Vanora told Bors, Bors told everyone..." Dagonet answered, nonchallantly.

She sighed.

"I don't know what happened when I hit him. It was like I got so angry and I just hit out," she answered quietly, frowning as she remembered the incident.

"Well, visualise it; your anger. Use it."

Cass turned her gaze back to the sword, and, taking a deep breath, she hefted it upwards. Remembering how the Roman's hand had grasped her neck to pull her towards him, she exhaled, letting the anger pour through her body, coursing through her veins as if it were her very blood. She swung the sword, this time, near perfectly. She swung it again, and again, far, far better than she could have done before. Anger was what she had needed. Anger to ignore the weight.

Dagonet smiled, and said, "You see, that's much better."

Cass' breathing was heavy, not because she'd over-exerted herself, but because of the energy it took to visualise her anger, to embody it.

"Would you like to try sparring; or...?"

Through breaths, Cass nodded, taking up her sword again. Dagonet readjusted his own sword; he was so comfortable with it, Cass thought it was like an extra, removable appendage to him. She braced herself for his strike; remembering her anger and trying to bring it back into her body, trying to use it to help her arms cope with the strain.

Their sparring session did not last long. Her strength, even aided by her anger, was no competition for the tall, strong Knight she was matched against. Soon her sword was embedded upright in a patch of grass, a metre away from Cass. She exhaled.

"Want to try again?"

Cass shook her head, and said, "I think I need a break, if that's okay with you Dagonet."

The Knight nodded, noticing the strain that their fight had put on her. She went and sat down with her back against Tristan's Tree, closing her eyes and trying to control her breathing. The most important thing she was trying to do now; was to block the memory of the Roman from her mind. She thought, Perhaps it wasn't the weight of the sword that had put such a strain on me. Perhaps it was remembering that night and that creepy Roman soldier. She opened her eyes again and saw Dagonet sitting in front of her, the swords resting in the grass beside him.

Leaning forward, Cass said quietly, "Thank you."

After a pause, she added, "Would you mind if I drew you now?"

The Knight gestured for her to go ahead and Cass picked up her art supplies, beginning at once. Her arms had felt tired before she began, but drawing was always therapeutic for Cass- it actually helped relieve the strain she had originally felt.

"You know, I'll admit, I wasn't quite expecting to be so bad at all these things I'm being taught," Cass said, making conversation as she darkened the initial marks she'd made on the page.

Dagonet smiled.

"You're not bad," he replied

"You're just new to these things."

She tilted her head and said, "Oh, please don't tell me I just need to practice."

"Well..." he replied.

Cass scowled at the man before her, who chuckled at her.

"Why is it that every time I'm serious, all of you Knights laugh at me?" she said disbelievingly.

Dagonet shrugged, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the smile from his face. Cass stopped talking after that, focussing on her drawing, and getting it perfect. She was enjoying talking to Dagonet, but every time he spoke, he moved, and it would make it harder for Cass to get his picture right. Finally, when she was satisfied the picture was finished, Cass stood up.

"Done?" Dagonet asked.

"Done," she confirmed.

Standing up, Dagonet joined Cass, grabbing the swords as he pushed himself to his feet. As they walked back to the Fort, Dagonet asked Cass if he could see the picture. She shook her head.

Cass replied, "I told Gawain the same the other day, but I won't be showing any of you until they're all finished."

Dagonet, surprising Cass, simply nodded. They decided to meet with the other Knights later at the tavern, as Dagonet and the Knights currently had some business to see to. Cass rushed to her room, storing Dagonet's picture beside Gawain's. Cass smiled at the pictures. When the set was complete, she knew they would be perfect. Not because of her artistic skills- though they helped- but because the Knights deserved them. Gawain's idea had been brilliant.

Cass had changed back into the blue dress she was wearing before Dagonet knocked that morning and headed to the tavern to begin work. She thought that she should get something to eat also, as she hadn't had any food all morning.

When the Knights arrived in the tavern that night, Cass was happy to see that Lancelot had rejoined them. The Doctor must have said he could come out of his room, Cass thought. Either that or he's just completely ignored the man and gone out anyway. Most likely the latter. Arthur had joined the Knights too. He must be happy that his friend is well again, Cass thought as she smiled.

The night became as the previous night was; filled with drinking and laughter from the corner table. If ever there was a table to look at in the tavern, it was the Knights' table. For the most part, the Knights were loud and drunk, all except Tristan, who remained mostly quiet throughout the evening, though probably drinking as much as they did.

Cass ducked under the bar, her fingers clasping around one of Tristan's apples. She pulled it free from the basket and stood once more, walking over to the Knights' table. She made her way to the corner of the table and handed the apple to him, his fingers brushing hers as he took it from her. Cass could feel a blush creeping onto her cheeks and turned from Tristan and the Knights, not wanting them to see, and pretended to be checking her shoelace. Why am I blushing anyway? All he did was touch my hand, she thought as she fiddled with her shoe, mentally chastising herself. She turned back once sure the blush was gone, once she heard her name called by one of the Knights. It was Bors.

"Cass!" he called; the drunkenness in his voice, quite easy to hear.

"Yes, Bors?" Cass answered, trying not to smile.

"You've spent all evening getting us drinks, getting everyone drinks- how about you have a drink?" Bors' voice roared.

Cass' eyebrows raised, and she replied, "Oh, no. Erm, I'm working, I shouldn't-"

She didn't get to finish before Galahad interrupted her.

"Oh, come on! It's just one drink!"

She opened her mouth to reply.

"Ah, but what if she's too chicken?" Gawain chipped in.

"Well that's hardly fair," Cass frowned.

It was only when a chorus of chicken noises came from the drunken Bors and Gawain, that Cass said, "All right, all right! If it means you'll let me get back to work I'll do it."

Dagonet held out his full glass to Cass. She took hold of it, looking first at its contents, and then at the expectant Knights' faces around her. Cass downed the drink easily; none of the Knights had known that she was actually very good at holding her own when it came to drinking. She was the youngest of her few friends and had attended their eighteenth birthday parties; she'd discovered there that she could outlast them all in drinking games. The Knights didn't know that.

She smiled as she placed the empty glass on the table. All of the Knights looked up at her, surprise written clearly across many of their faces. She didn't quite know what they had expected from her drinking- but it wasn't what they got; she had clearly confounded them. All except Tristan, whose face remained almost passive, though one corner of his lips turned upward and the glint Cass had seen before in his eyes was present once more.

"Right. Can I get back to work now?" Cass said, smiling at the Knights.