Disclaimer: Characters off BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, not me.
Authors note: Well I've started writing this just after I posted chapter 16, but I don't know when I'll get it finished.
I got it finished the next day! Isnt that good? I'm happy. It's my birthday. I got a story updated FAST, what more could I want? ~sighs contentedly~
CHAPTER 17 "Kendra, please pay attention" Sam Zabuto said softly, and a little crossly. He couldn't understand it. His young student was normally so attentive, concentrating on every small aspect of her attacks. Today however, her mind seemed to be wandering.
It was one of the worst times she could have chosen for an off day. Today there was a Watcher observing the child's progress. That he had even had to request she pay attention did not bode so well for her results on the evaluation.
He motioned for her to retrieve the practice sword he had just flipped out of her grip. She did so, a slight flush of embarrassment showing on her face.
Kendra walked over and retrieved her weapon. What was wrong with her today? She was trying to concentrate on the lesson but her mind wanted to think about other stuff.
And she could not shake the feeling that there was somebody watching her. But she had glanced around a few times and had not been able to see anyone, although that could have also been because the ring was engulfed in shadow, as Master Zabuto had decided she needed to work more on practicing in situations without much light.
"I am sorry Master Zabuto" Kendra apologised quietly. "I did not mean to lose concentration"
Sam flashed a little smile down at his student. He was glad he had the opportunity to train the child. She had such dedication for such a young child. He just hoped that her inattentiveness was not a sign of her interest waning. The child had too great a potential for him to let it go to waste.
"It's alright, but please concentrate Kendra, you must learn these things," he said, only a little scoldingly.
Kendra nodded solemnly and took up the start position. Master Zabuto and she circled each other, each waiting for an opening. Kendra saw a slight chance and snaked her sword out as fast as she could, hoping to catch him unawares. But it was unsuccessful. She had put too much into the lunge and Master Zabuto took advantage of that, striking her blade with his own and once again sending it clattering across the floor.
"Better" Sam said, nodding his approval. The child was obviously trying to pay attention now. That was a start at least.
Johan Kier watched silently from the edge of the room. This child was also skilled, like the earlier one. Faith was it? But unlike her, this child did not seem to be concentrating fully. In fact her Master had already had to recapture her attention once. This was more what he had expected from a child associated to Rupert Giles.
But the girl did seem to know how to use her weapon well. That was a start. The concentration was an issue though. He watched disapprovingly as the child retrieved her weapon again.
This time Kendra was determined not to let him beat her. She forced her mind to focus only on the fight, blocking out any wayward thoughts trying to squeeze their way in.
Sam almost smiled at the look of pure stubbornness of his student's face. She obviously was not enjoying being defeated and so was now concentrating as hard as she could, and focusing as she was supposed to during a match. Good, perhaps she would do all right after all.
Kendra circled, this time waiting for Master Zabuto to initiate the attack. She almost missed his swipe when it came, so fast it was. She hurriedly threw up her own blade to block his, deflecting a blow that, if done with a sharpened sword, could have taken her head off.
Sam spun around, following his first swipe with a second, lower one. To do this he had to bend slightly, which he knew left his back undefended for a second or so. He expected Kendra to see the opening, and act as he had taught her.
Which she did. And he blocked it easily, as he had been anticipating it. "Remember Kendra" he said, "It is unlikely you will catch your teacher out with a move he has taught you. To beat me you must use initiative of your own."
Kendra swallowed a sigh. She didn't like it when Master Zabuto used the middle of a fight as a lesson. Initiative? What could he mean by that? She was using the moves he had taught her, presuming that was what he had wished. But it was not? Then how was she supposed to react?
She sighted another opening and feinted for it. Surprisingly her Master reacted, covering where she had feinted. Instantly she swung her weapon around out of the feint and upwards, resting it against his jugular vein, in the kill position.
"Yield" she said
Sam smiled. Good. The child had defeated him. He had not expected the feint, although he would never tell her that. Let her believe he had given her a purposeful way of winning, if she chose to take it. Sam tried not to teach his students to depend on feints, mainly concentrated on teaching them to find miniscule openings in their opponents defence. As a result, most of his students did not feint very often.
"I yield" Sam said. He graced his student with a smile and she grinned back at him in return.
Johan gave a slight nod of appreciation. The child had done well after all. That last little bout had showed skill and precision on the child's part. She obviously could use her skills well when she so wished. She had earned a decent marking in his opinion. Perhaps what he had thought to be inattention had in fact been planning. Maybe the child had been concocting a method to defeat her Master with. She deserved the benefit of the doubt anyway. He would write her a good report.
Johan quietly left while the child was stretching out in the next room, pausing for a short discussion with Master Zabuto, who readily accepted his advice.
Kendra was cheerful at supper, happy that she had managed to catch her master out. All the others had stories of their days as well of course, making it a noisy event, as it usually was.
Giles smiled over the table at the group he now though of as his small family. He liked to hear their little tales of what had happened to them, and was immensely proud of them for getting through their evaluations. Even though only Willow knew of said evaluation of course, since the rules were different for magick students.
Suddenly there was a loud rapping at the door. Giles frowned. Why would anyone be visiting them this evening? He had not been informed of any visit. He stood up to answer the door.
Standing on the other side of it was a serious looking Watcher whose name Giles didn't know.
"Rupert Giles?" the watcher asked. At Giles nod he continued. "You are requested to appear at the Council Headquarters in London"
Authors note: Heh, sort of a cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind the shorter chapters too much. They mean I can update more. But not this fast normally. Hopefully faster than the nearly a month it took for chapter 16 though. Please review, and like I generally say, criticism is welcome and I will try to listen to it.
Authors note: Well I've started writing this just after I posted chapter 16, but I don't know when I'll get it finished.
I got it finished the next day! Isnt that good? I'm happy. It's my birthday. I got a story updated FAST, what more could I want? ~sighs contentedly~
CHAPTER 17 "Kendra, please pay attention" Sam Zabuto said softly, and a little crossly. He couldn't understand it. His young student was normally so attentive, concentrating on every small aspect of her attacks. Today however, her mind seemed to be wandering.
It was one of the worst times she could have chosen for an off day. Today there was a Watcher observing the child's progress. That he had even had to request she pay attention did not bode so well for her results on the evaluation.
He motioned for her to retrieve the practice sword he had just flipped out of her grip. She did so, a slight flush of embarrassment showing on her face.
Kendra walked over and retrieved her weapon. What was wrong with her today? She was trying to concentrate on the lesson but her mind wanted to think about other stuff.
And she could not shake the feeling that there was somebody watching her. But she had glanced around a few times and had not been able to see anyone, although that could have also been because the ring was engulfed in shadow, as Master Zabuto had decided she needed to work more on practicing in situations without much light.
"I am sorry Master Zabuto" Kendra apologised quietly. "I did not mean to lose concentration"
Sam flashed a little smile down at his student. He was glad he had the opportunity to train the child. She had such dedication for such a young child. He just hoped that her inattentiveness was not a sign of her interest waning. The child had too great a potential for him to let it go to waste.
"It's alright, but please concentrate Kendra, you must learn these things," he said, only a little scoldingly.
Kendra nodded solemnly and took up the start position. Master Zabuto and she circled each other, each waiting for an opening. Kendra saw a slight chance and snaked her sword out as fast as she could, hoping to catch him unawares. But it was unsuccessful. She had put too much into the lunge and Master Zabuto took advantage of that, striking her blade with his own and once again sending it clattering across the floor.
"Better" Sam said, nodding his approval. The child was obviously trying to pay attention now. That was a start at least.
Johan Kier watched silently from the edge of the room. This child was also skilled, like the earlier one. Faith was it? But unlike her, this child did not seem to be concentrating fully. In fact her Master had already had to recapture her attention once. This was more what he had expected from a child associated to Rupert Giles.
But the girl did seem to know how to use her weapon well. That was a start. The concentration was an issue though. He watched disapprovingly as the child retrieved her weapon again.
This time Kendra was determined not to let him beat her. She forced her mind to focus only on the fight, blocking out any wayward thoughts trying to squeeze their way in.
Sam almost smiled at the look of pure stubbornness of his student's face. She obviously was not enjoying being defeated and so was now concentrating as hard as she could, and focusing as she was supposed to during a match. Good, perhaps she would do all right after all.
Kendra circled, this time waiting for Master Zabuto to initiate the attack. She almost missed his swipe when it came, so fast it was. She hurriedly threw up her own blade to block his, deflecting a blow that, if done with a sharpened sword, could have taken her head off.
Sam spun around, following his first swipe with a second, lower one. To do this he had to bend slightly, which he knew left his back undefended for a second or so. He expected Kendra to see the opening, and act as he had taught her.
Which she did. And he blocked it easily, as he had been anticipating it. "Remember Kendra" he said, "It is unlikely you will catch your teacher out with a move he has taught you. To beat me you must use initiative of your own."
Kendra swallowed a sigh. She didn't like it when Master Zabuto used the middle of a fight as a lesson. Initiative? What could he mean by that? She was using the moves he had taught her, presuming that was what he had wished. But it was not? Then how was she supposed to react?
She sighted another opening and feinted for it. Surprisingly her Master reacted, covering where she had feinted. Instantly she swung her weapon around out of the feint and upwards, resting it against his jugular vein, in the kill position.
"Yield" she said
Sam smiled. Good. The child had defeated him. He had not expected the feint, although he would never tell her that. Let her believe he had given her a purposeful way of winning, if she chose to take it. Sam tried not to teach his students to depend on feints, mainly concentrated on teaching them to find miniscule openings in their opponents defence. As a result, most of his students did not feint very often.
"I yield" Sam said. He graced his student with a smile and she grinned back at him in return.
Johan gave a slight nod of appreciation. The child had done well after all. That last little bout had showed skill and precision on the child's part. She obviously could use her skills well when she so wished. She had earned a decent marking in his opinion. Perhaps what he had thought to be inattention had in fact been planning. Maybe the child had been concocting a method to defeat her Master with. She deserved the benefit of the doubt anyway. He would write her a good report.
Johan quietly left while the child was stretching out in the next room, pausing for a short discussion with Master Zabuto, who readily accepted his advice.
Kendra was cheerful at supper, happy that she had managed to catch her master out. All the others had stories of their days as well of course, making it a noisy event, as it usually was.
Giles smiled over the table at the group he now though of as his small family. He liked to hear their little tales of what had happened to them, and was immensely proud of them for getting through their evaluations. Even though only Willow knew of said evaluation of course, since the rules were different for magick students.
Suddenly there was a loud rapping at the door. Giles frowned. Why would anyone be visiting them this evening? He had not been informed of any visit. He stood up to answer the door.
Standing on the other side of it was a serious looking Watcher whose name Giles didn't know.
"Rupert Giles?" the watcher asked. At Giles nod he continued. "You are requested to appear at the Council Headquarters in London"
Authors note: Heh, sort of a cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind the shorter chapters too much. They mean I can update more. But not this fast normally. Hopefully faster than the nearly a month it took for chapter 16 though. Please review, and like I generally say, criticism is welcome and I will try to listen to it.