Author's Note: Thank you everyone for reading these dabbles and reviewing! I take all the comment into consideration and use them to file my own creativity for the new chapters - but be patient! I'm just throwing these out there as I finish. ;)


Day Twelve of Forever:


The sun was just rising some else that was not as overcast as Forks, Washington when Beau crossed into the open field he had once watched the Cullens play baseball in on a day that forever changed his life. The clearing was exactly how Beau remembered it from his fuzzy human memories - wide and green, so far across that his old human eyes could only see a horizon from one side. The ground was damp from freshly fallen rain, droplets clinging to the blades highlighted in flashes of light from the sky as the storm overhead grew.

Thunder crashed loudly, shaking nearby trees against the earth. Jessamine had insisted that the storm would be the best cover for Beau's first combat lesson, just in case things got out of hand with their throws and grappling. That frightened him a little; did she really anticipate such a potential for deadly sounds that they had to wait for the largest storm to have hit the state in ten years?

Beau tried to calm himself, repeating to himself again his mantra: he would hold back as much as possible and his siblings were not as breakable as they looked regardless. It did little to ease his mind however. Frowning visibly, he observed their band as they gathered in the center of the field.

Royal and Carine were noticeably absent; the good doctor was called in to work suddenly and Royal was picking up parts for Beau's new vehicle in Seattle today. The Cullen siblings were all taking a small break from school under the premise of recovering from the sudden "death"of Beau, allowing the remainder to join the training session under Earnest's watchful eye; apparently these exercises were prone to go left if things carried on too long.

Jessamine, the instructor for the Cullens combat exercises, was taking in the lay of the land, turning to her husband with questions about how long the weather would hold up. Edythe and Earnest were in quiet discussion, off to a side, seemingly oblivious to the grey clouds overhead. And Eleanor was casually lapping around the field, her arms flexing in her cut off tank, unbothered by the rain as well, even as it clung to her clothes and messy ponytail.

Eleanor caught Beau's eye as she crossed the terrain, giving him a mocking wave. He resisted the urge to groan.

Jessamine thought it was important to teach Beau several different types of fighting styles so he could study the techniques, saying he might find it helpful if he ever found himself facing another vampire like Joss. And of course Eleanor had all but volunteered to be the training dummy, much to Beau's chagrin; partially because her strength was extremely intimidating, partially because he didn't relish having to throw a female around, though the former worry was confusingly in direct in opposition to the later. He was still working through what that said about him.

When Beau had tried talking to Jessamine about his sparring partner earlier in the day, she had given him a strange look, perhaps sensing his anxiety.

"If that's how you feel facing El it's going to be interesting seeing what you'll do against Edythe."

Beau knew he had paled at that. "Her too?" he asked weakly.

Jessamine just shrugged, her shoulder length blonde hair bouncing from the gesture. "Eleanor for figuring out to take on a pure power opponent, Edythe for a speedster. Just makes the most sense." Which of course did nothing to make him feel better. She then looked at him, equally unhappily. "Gender has virtually nothing to do with fighting in our world, you know. They aren't going to be easy opponents, even with your strength."

"I'm not worried it'll be easy. It's just... Logically I know I won't hurt them but that doesn't change it emotionally." His shoulders then slumped. "I really don't want to do this. I'm not only going to make an ass of myself, I'm going to make a misogynistic ass of myself."

She shrugged again but didn't disagree with him. "I can throw Archie in there for you as well to save your macho pride, if you'd like, but he'll walk all over you, you know. Eleanor should be a cake walk compared to him - if you can bring yourself to hit a girl," she smirked. "You might actually stand a chance against Edythe since she can't read your mind - she can't cheat with you."

"I won't have to fight you too, will I?" He mumbled, looking her up and down. Her various battle scars did nothing to distract from her willowy figure.

Jessamine had exposed her fangs at that, a snarl ripping through her chest. The sound was much more jarring than the peals of thunder that filled the field now. Beau had to resist the instinct to cower, though Jessamine's smile had told him she felt his fear. He then ducked his head, making her smile grow.

"I wouldn't do that you, brother," she finally answered playfully. For the first time, Beau picked up a hint of a drawl in her words. "Hardly be a fair fight."

Beau sighed, back in the present and hating every second of it. The sky was opening up as Jessamine walked over to him, Eleanor marching along beside her, looking not unlike a child given free reign in a theme park. Her glee was matched only by Beau's dread. He grunted in greeting, glaring down at his shoes.

Eleanor found his sullen mood hilarious. "Buck up, will you? I promise not to hurt you too bad."

"Yeah I've heard that before." Beau had been an easy target for bullies before he sprung up several inches seemingly overnight his second year of high school. He cocked his head as he took in her grin. "You're going to enjoy this, aren't you?"

"Oh so much," she promised.

"This isn't a game," Jessamine scolded, her tawny eyes narrowed. "Be serious, would you? Going into this as a joke isn't going to teach Beau anything." She turned her keen gaze on him now. "Obviously no one is going to be aiming to kill or maim, but I have asked them to not hold back. If you feel like they are giving it their all, it might activate an instinctual response, which we should be aiming for. To an extent, you shouldn't need to think but just react. Its hardwired in your brain. Really," she emphasized because he scoffed. "A lot of this you'll just pick up, promise. And the rest of it we can teach you along the way."

She had them face off in the middle of the field, directing the others to sit a ways off and not interfere. Worse than knowing he was going to have to prove what very little fighting instincts he had was Beau knowing he would also have an audience to his failure. Edythe had assured him earlier that this was only a learning experience and no one was here to grade him, but Beau couldn't shake the feeling that he would never live it down if he ended up being the least coordinated vampire in history like he suspected he might be.

Everything so far had come to him fairly easy, like hunting and not crushing doorknobs, but hand to hand combat? It was absurd to pray that this was something he could simply pick up when he had spent his entire human life trying just to keep himself upright.

"Okay, this is how it's going to go." Jessamine was standing off to the side, her hands tucked behind her back, raindrops dripping down her cheeks. "Beau, in a second I am going to tell Eleanor to come at you with whatever she's got. We'll focus on dodging tactics for now until you're a bit more comfortable moving around. Then we can go from there to strategy and takedowns."

Eleanor made a show of cracking her knuckles and rolling her head from side to side, the muscles in her neck throbbing impressively. Beau looked down at his own arms that hid a fair amount muscle still from his own blood running through the tissue. He hadn't really had a chance to test out the limits of his strength, amazed enough at even the simple things he could now do. He wondered vaguely if this would be an opportunity to finally see the extent of his newborn prowess.

Jess stared him down. "Just worry about dodging, okay? Try to read her, see if she has any tells." She turned to her sister and nodded quickly.

Before he could think to defend himself in any plausible way, Eleanor lunged at him like a charging bull. Beau didnt think, he just moved. He ducked out of her reach at the last second, grabbing her stretched out arm and flipping her over his body in the same movement. She was airborne only for only a fraction of a second, surprise on her face, and then she hit the ground. The earth trembled with her impact. A cloud of dust cradled around the slight crater she created.

Beau was immediately horrified, clear across the field in an instant, as far away from the wreckage as possible. "I'm so sorry, Eleanor!"

Jessamine rolled her eyes, perhaps expecting an outcome like this. "Don't apologize to your enemy!"

"She's not my enemy, she's my sister," he grumbled angrily to himself, though of course everyone heard him.

"She knows you didn't mean to," Earnest called out diplomatically.

"Yeah. Good toss, kid." Eleanor got up good-naturedly, dusting herself off with comically large movements, but her eyes were tight as she locked on Beau. It was only then that Beau remembered Edythe's warning about Eleanor's competitive streak.

She didn't wait for a sign from Jessamine this time, she just launched herself, faster than before, indicating she was taking this more seriously now.

Beau saw a hard glint in her eyes and knew he was being hunted so he did the only logical thing - he ran.

Beau took off like a rabbit being pursued by a bear - which wasn't a terribly analogy based on their movements - making a wide circle around her. She was charging forward with such power that she practically had to do a full stop to change directions, kicking up an arch of grass as she did. When Beau had reached the other side of the field he changed direction again, once again throwing her off his trail momentarily. Each time he switched up on her, she seemed to grow angrier, though thankfully no faster. Soon he was so far out of her reach she was forced to lurk around the end of the field, trying to trick him into falling into her lap. She would feign chasing him one way, then suddenly break another. It would have been a good strategy if Beau hadn't seen through it instantly.

"Beaufort stop running away," Jessamine commanded, sounding frustrated. "This is combat training, not a marathon."

"Can't lose a fight if they can't catch me," Beau replied as he shook Eleanor off of his trail again. He was suddenly very proud of this strategy, figuring he could keep this up indefinitely if need be.

Jessamine sighed. "I supposed that might be true. But what if-"

A second later Beau was on his back, looking up at Edythe's impish face as she sat cross legged on his chest. He hadn't even seen her move from her spot between Archie and Earnest, let alone come close enough to him for the takedown.

"What if your opponent is faster than you?" Edythe finished, looking too pleased with herself.

Beau laid his head back into the wet grass, seeing her point. "Fine, fine. Fair enough." She laughed quietly, the sound like a wind chime in the rainy drizzle.

"You won't always be this fast," Jessamine reminded him. "Best figure this out now while there is time to learn. Relying on just your newborn strength is a crutch. That's why we need to teach you how to grapple, too, enough though you can pin Eleanor easily." Eleanor snorted. "For now anyway. You can let him up now, Edythe."

Edythe stepped off of Beau lightly, bending down to offer him her hand and help him up, reaching up after to brush the earth from his hair. Beau smiled at her wistfully, still dreading when she was up for their match. He turned his back to her, intending to meet Eleanor back in the center of the field, but soon found himself back on the ground. He blinked, confused until he found Edythe back on her perch on his chest.

"Don't turn your back to your enemy," Jessamine groaned. "That is the most basic combat skill, Beau."

"He might actually be hopeless," Eleanor guffawed.

Beau wanted to crawl into a hole.

"He'll learn," Archie promised. "We said the same thing about Earnest, remember?"

Earnest himself cleared his throat, chiding his children with the sound. "Edythe, dear, please get off of Beau. And it's rude to attack when the other party is not engaged."

"An enemy is hardly going to introduce themselves and shake his hand before pouncing," Jessamine retorted dryly.

Edythe was now standing again, offering Beau her hand with an innocent smile. He glared at her, pulling himself up moodily. This time he crossed the field backwards, keeping her firmly in sight.

Eleanor clasped her hands together with a wicked look on her face. "Round two, little bro. Don't be scared; I'm not thinking about getting revenge for that throw at allll." She drew out the word with a sinister note in her voice and he knew he was in trouble.

Jessamine stood beside Beau. "Let's try this again. Eleanor is going to come straight at you, Beau. I want you to anticipate where she is going to try to grab you and dodge. Only dodge," she reiterated. "We can't go leaving holes all over this field." Jessamine put her hand on Beau's shoulder and a dose of calm filled him, which was very much needed as Eleanor flexed at him threateningly. "Honestly, Beau, she's not as intense as she looks. This is the warm up remember?"

"Right. Warm up." He eyed her arms wearily.

Jessamine rolled her eyes, stepping out of the line of fire. "Just watch her footing, alright? It's easier than you think." She looked at Eleanor and nodded.

She lunged, just like last time. Beau tried to do as Jessamine instructed, watching her feet as she shifted her weight fractionally from the balls of her feet to her toes, leaning heavily on the right leg that was out front. Beau supposed she was going to hit him from the right side, but didn't think the answer could be that obvious. Still, he responded with that in mind, stepping back and leaning left.

Her arm sailed over his right shoulder.

Eleanor frowned, as if confused to have not made contact.

Jessamine nodded in approval. "Good. You noticed she leads the way she is headed. Though not everyone is as predictable as Eleanor, save for newborns who rely on strength more than technique."

"Hey!" She whined.

"I'll stand by what I said until you can no longer be outsmarted by a newborn with no combat experience on the first two tries," the blonde replied shortly. "You could stand to learn to not just rely on your strength as well. Though at least you'll always have it." She turned her attention back to Beau. "Even if Eleanor doesn't lead with her feet, however, her shift in weight will also alert you. You should be able to feel when she moves to figure out when she'll strike, along with her target area. Try again. And mix it up this time, El."

Eleanor grinned, looking more determined this time. Instead of leading with either leg, she leapt at Beau in a pounce, clearly aiming for his throat.

But Jessamine was right - when Eleanor was about to pounce she shifted her weight back on her heels to give her an extra push for the leap. The earth shifted minutely. He felt her coming and ducked with more than enough time.

She rolled over head, catching herself into a handstand before righting herself. She wasn't confused about missing him this time - she was annoyed. Eleanor didn't wait for the breakdown, charging into a new attack once her feet were back in the ground. She swung her arm in a wide arc, perhaps aiming for his face, but finding only air as he had stepped behind her mid swing. Eleanor then threw her fist back towards his torso, but his sidestep took him out of harms way.

They continued like this for a bit, her making obvious shots that he could easily avoid, occasionally trying to be sneaky with a low aimed kick for which he had only to jump out of the way.

Jessamine finally intervened, clearly bored. "Alright, give up Eleanor. You're obviously not going to hit him like that."

She circled around Beau who had taken on a relaxed posture after the last assault. Beau thought she was going to critic his dodging or give instructions for the next round but he was wrong.

Without warning she launched him with a firm shove to the chest.

He might have seen such a hit coming if it had been from Eleanor who didn't seem to have a subtle bone in her body - she charged in with such raw power you could practically smell the aggression coming off her. Jessamine was nearly her opposite: calm, calculated, patient. She waited until his guard was dropped and did not alert him of her intent by striking any sort of offensive pose. Instead, she had barely moved her arm, just a flick of motion really, while she was still circling him.

It hadn't been a terribly strong hit, maybe a tenth of her actual strength, so Beau was easily able to right himself in midair and land only a dozen feet away. He was on solid ground again in less time than it took to blink, surprising no one more than himself.

"At least your sense of equilibrium isn't bad," his instructor all but sighed with no inflection in her voice.

Beau shot her a glare but said nothing of the cheap shot.

Archie sprung to his feet in a salute just as Jessamine turned her head towards the others. She shook her head but waved her husband forward. He gave her a quick peck on the forehead and slapped Eleanor a high five, clearly tagging her out.

Beau tried sizing him up the way he had Eleanor, but Archie was much harder to pin down. He was lean though obviously solid despite this. His posture was even more relaxed than Beau's, almost lazy - but he could be afforded that, being always three steps ahead of his opponent.

Archie and Beau exchanged a grin, only slightly uneasy on Beau's part.

"Don't worry," Archie laughed seeing his expression. "You'll land a hit."

That made him feel marginally better.

Jessamine folded her arms behind her back again as she watched their interaction, far enough away that Beau doubted she would try another sneak attack. "Archie is a different kind of combatant but at least you don't have to feel as guilty if you do manage to get that hit," she said with an eyeroll. "He excels not with strength but a combination of quick reflexes and timing with his hits."

"Imagine that, the psychic can perfectly react to his opponents' moves," Beau said sarcastically.

She shrugged. "It's not a skill you'll ever have, obviously, but you'll still pick up some tips for reading others moves and finding their openings. Other than that, watch him for leaps and acrobatic tactics - could save your life with a heavy footed enemy."

Beau raised his eyebrows. "Acrobatic?"

"Like so!" Archie was reaching towards him in a move so obvious it almost disappointed Beau. He went to dodge him as he had Eleanor, but instead of charging at him, Archie was leaping over him in an elegant twist in the air, using Beau's shoulder as a springboard. He arched his body fluidly as if he was a feather cutting across the air.

The move wasn't just pretty looking though; the twist gave him the advantage of being behind Beau now and also let him use the momentum to kick him between his shoulder blades before landing, sending him forward with a jolt. As Beau stumbled into a few steps, Archie touched down silently. He did a little bow towards where Edythe, Earnest, and Eleanor now sat, earning a polite round of applause.

"That's a neat little trick." Beau couldn't help but be impressed; the move had reminded him of a more powerful and graceful gymnast.

"It's all in the legs." Archie shot him a winning smile.

"Launching is easy," Jessamine interrupted. "What Archie does involves angling his body in the most aerodynamic way so as to cut through the air quicker than he could move on the land. If an enemy was moving forward to hit him, Archie would than be able to use his momentum and their own against them. It can make for a powerful combination if the other party is a power hitter like Eleanor, or even you for now." She paused, observing Beau. "You might not be built for a passive offense strategy like Archie, but these techniques could still be useful in defense as well. Such as when I hit you," she concluded with a smirk. "I gave you enough of a shove that you could have used it with your momentum if you chose to strike back in that instance."

"Yeah I'll remember that next time," Beau scoffed, sincerely hoping there wouldn't be a next time.

Archie spent the next few minutes explaining techniques that were meant to catch someone off guard during a fight and change the tide of battle. Most of these revolved around being able to follow the opponent's flow and see the patterns in their movements. Beau recognized this as something he had unknowingly been doing with Eleanor, memorizing when it was time to jump away from a kick and duck the punch that always followed.

He then walked him through some of the basic moves, including flipping over someone by gripping their shoulders and then pushing off as you shove them away, and also gripping someone as they came in for a punch and redirecting the hit with minimal effort if it was impossible to dodge it in time.

With the foreground laid out in front of him, it was easier for Beau to follow Archie's quick aerial flips when they faced off. But despite being able to see the movements, he had no luck catching Archie off guard. Beau was careful not to dive in against Archie, figuring it would be as useless on him as it had been when Eleanor tried it on Beau himself. But he couldn't react fast enough to Archie's feints and the swift hits all over his body accumulated.

Beau knew that despite his brother's power level being severely less than his own he would have never stood a chance against him in actual combat. Mostly Archie seemed to be playing with him, creating openings for Beau to attempt a hit only to dance out of the way and deliver his own in retaliation a second later. The newborn vampire could only assume the only chance he might have to land a hit would involve dumb luck, a swing with absolutely no forethought behind it.

Eventually Jessamine called it, telling Archie he could sit down.

"So much for that hit you predicted, Arch!" Eleanor called out from the sidelines.

Archie stuck his tongue out at her. "Well I didn't say he would hit me today."

Edythe chuckled behind her hand before her brother pulled her to her feet. She brushed off the rain from her leggings before sauntering to the center of the field. Dread pooled in the pit of Beau's stomach as she bound to his side. Edythe swept her beautiful hair into a clip, pinning it away from her face carelessly, allowing a few strands to stick out at odd angles.

She gave Beau a reassuring smile but he could only think of all the times she had pinned him easily and hope this would be over soon.

Jessamine drew his attention back to her. "Edythe is obviously here to give you experience with a speedy opponent. She won't be able to ready your mind, so her other key advantage is gone, but you shouldn't underestimate her; it'll be pretty much impossible to react to her with any success so you should try to anticipate instead." She clapped Beau on the back, offering him another burst of calm before stepping back from the fray.

Beau was steadfastly determined not to even think about trying to attack her, accepting that this would be a quick and decided victory for her. She seemed to have guessed his plan, however. Edythe crossed her arms over her chest, clearly waiting for him to move first, the pair of silver rings on her left hand catching the light as she drummed her fingers.

Beau balked. She couldn't actually expect him to fight her, could she? He thought he had made his feelings about this very clear when Jessamine had first brought up the idea of a training session. Edythe had been sympathetic but ultimately sided with her sister - she just did not think it was an option for Beau to never learn these skills, important as they could be for survival. He supposed, given his tendency to find himself in dangerous situations she had a point, which was why he was here in the first place, but there had to be a line in the sand somewhere. And in this case, it was attacking his fiancée.

But she wasn't having that. Edythe beckoned him forward with a flick of her head. Beau wordlessly refused. Her eyebrows pulled together and he could practically feel her disapproval.

Neither of them were conceding an inch, it appeared. This resulted in a stare down, much to Eleanor's annoyance.

"Come on, Beau," she cried out. "Do something! Do you know how long I've waited to see someone be able to knock her off her high horse?"

"That's enough from the peanut gallery, thank you very much," Edythe responded smoothly.

"Eleanor, please," Earnest gently admonished.

"Booooo. Boring! Jessamine, make them do something."

"Shut it, El. But in all seriousness, you're not getting out of this, Beau." Jessamine seemed to be pondering something.

Edythe growled, looking at Jess from the corner of her eye. "Don't."

Her sister shrugged. "If neither of you are going to make a move then I'll have no choice."

"What is she talking about?" Beau asked.

The bronze-haired vampire sighed. "She is threatening to take over this round if you're unwilling to practice with me. And her methods are..." She struggled to find the right word. "Unsavory."

"How so?"

"She has trained newborns before," Edythe explained. "Ones who didn't follow her instruction. In those instances she found that pain was the best motivated. Let's leave it at that, shall we?" Beau nodded; he didn't need to know what Jessamine was planing to assume it would be unpleasant to say the least.

Whatever Jessamine was thinking about was enough to shake Edythe out of her stubbornness. She unfolded her arms, rolling back her shoulders, twisting her arms above her head. "Maybe we should just get his over with."

He gestured at her, perhaps a little preoccupied with was way she was twisting her body. "Ladies first?"

Her answering grin was mocking. "Such a gentleman." And then she knocked him to the ground.

Beau was pretty much used to the view by now. He folded his arms behind his head, smiling up at her. She reached down to kiss him lightly on the lips before straightening up and glaring at Jessamine.

"We are taking his seriously," Edythe said, answering an unspoken criticism. "I'm doing my part by taking him down, you do you part and instruct him."

Her blonde sister just shook her head. "He needs to actually be looking to stop you."

Edythe frowned, though her expression was aimed at Beau now. "Really? You told Jessamine you were afraid to hurt me?"

"Not hurt you, per say, just attack you in general," he said feeling sheepish. "I just don't feel good about it."

"Beau, you're a hundred years too early to attack me in any capacity that actually matters. This is a lesson and you can't learn if you're not engaging." She pulled him off the ground effortlessly, straightening out his clothes as she did.

He reached out and grabbed her hand as she went to brush his cheek, bringing it to his lips instead. "You're too fast. I never see you coming."

"Then pay more attention. Don't try to see me coming, just try to figure out what you'll do when I'm there," she hinted, taking her hand back. In a flash she was on the other side of the field. "Try it now."

Edythe dove toward him again. He could see her moving this time, a bullet headed towards him, but knew dodging was out of the question as he couldn't even tell which way to dodge. Redirecting, as he learned from Archie seemed the best course of action.

When she reached him and went to flip him as she did before, he tried to use the force against her. It happens while they were already midair - there was no way he could have stopped her from launching him - that he shifted his frame, tumbling over her a split second before they hit the ground. With her under him this time.

Beau was a mixture of pride at his quick thinking and mild horror of having laid the woman he loved to the ground. It hadn't been with the same amount of power as it had been with Eleanor so the earth didn't crumble on impact, but her solid body still made an audible thump. He scrambled to his feet, an apology already on his lips.

Edythe was smiling however, ignoring Eleanor's whooping in the background. "Clever." She jumped up. "What made you think to flip me?"

"I couldn't dodge you," he grumbled, his feelings still jumbled up inside. "Archie's way made more sense."

Jessamine nodded from her position a few yards away. "You'll never dodge Edythe, not unless you're Archie, but Archie wouldn't be able to surprise her by turning the takedown against her so that might be something only you are capable of." She raised an eyebrow at Beau. "Now that you've gotten the first time out of the way, it should be easier to engage again. Let's try some drills."

Jessamine had Edythe and Beau repeat the lunging scenario a few more times, but from different angles which made it harder for Beau to guess the exact moment of contact. He faired pretty well, gaining more confidence over time, eventually easing out of his discomfort.

Edythe was more than evenly matched with him, even with his newborn abilities, so he bested her only half the time. She was also patient and didn't seem phased when Beau was successful; instead, she offered him easy smiles and quick kisses for his victories, which were hard won as the rounds continued.

It was harder for him to come out on top when she began coming at him from an upwards angle, the trick Archie taught him useless against gravity, but he found she was slower in the air than on land and adjusted quickly. Those attacks he could dodge, and will some practice, even anticipate to a degree. Soon he could catch her mid leap and utilize the over the shoulder move he had accidentally used with Eleanor, though Edythe usually landed upright before impact.

Beau found he actually was picking things up like everyone told him he would, and more than that, he was somewhat enjoying it.

This continued on for the better part of the next few hours. Jessamine occasionally had his partners switch out, to up the difficulty of her lessons but also so Beau didn't get complacent against the same set of skills. Grappling with Edythe involved stopping her movements so she couldn't use her speed to her advantage; however when Eleanor was the opponent Beau learned he had to let her move first so he could unbalance her, a feat that was impossible with Archie, though, because of his perfect equilibrium; however Beau soon realized he faired better with Archie when he didn't bother with planning at all and just focused on improvising on the spot.

Jessamine seemed adequately impressed by Beau's improvement. As the day started fading to night she called it, directing everyone to go on a quick hunt before heading home. They paired off - Earnest with Eleanor who was gently reprimanding her for a few overzealous throws that had uprooted some trees, Archie heading off after Jessamine who was already in pursuit of a few stags she had been scouting since earlier - leaving Edythe and Beau to follow them.

The light rain was now a torrential downpour and they were soaked through their clothes almost instantly. The feeling of wet clothes sticking to his body reminded Beau uncomfortably of sweating, though Edythe didn't seem to mind it. She tilted her head back and exposed her neck as the sky poured over her, looking serene as her wild hair was tamed as the rain picked up. Maybe it was the leftover adrenaline from the training, but Beau was suddenly struck with an intense need to be as close to her as possible. Before he could act on his desire to touch her, however, she took off into the mountains, leaving Beau to play catch up as he cooled down.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Edythe's pace with inhuman but not so fast that he couldn't keep up. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself, even."

"It wasn't a complete disaster," Beau relented playfully as they swerved throughly the trees with ease, watching her form with extreme interest. "Though I would be okay with putting off these little sessions for the near future."

"We shall see. Now that you've got the basic idea down, a storm this powerful won't be necessary - we can trust you'll manage your strength a little better." She scoffed. "Though we can say the same for Eleanor, of course."

"It's good things I'm not as breakable," Beau laughed. He sped up his pace following towards the way their family had gone , shooting into the undergrowth as the warm scent of prey filled his senses. "Come on, I could use a little post work-out snack."

She laughed and sped up too, outstripping him easily with a wink as she passed, diving into the forest and out of sight with such speed that it was blindingly apparent that she had been taking it easy on him during training. His jaw dropped for a fraction of a second before a grin stole over his face. Of course she hadn't been at full speed; she must have wanted to give him a boost of confidence so he would forget to be insecure.

With that knowledge in mind, Beau squared his shoulders and poured every ounce of power he had into his legs, eager to show her what he was made of. He got the feeling the next session was about to get a lot more interesting, making a mental note to have Archie check the weather. It looked like they would need another massive storm after all.