A/N: Sorry again for the long time between updates. A big thank you to all my reviewers, you guys are great!
Seeing Double
Chapter 4
"Wake up my young charges, it is time to greet the day!" Odysseus called cheerfully, poking his head into the twins' tent. "Hurry to finish your chores, then report back to me."
Alexandra sat up with a groan, and then fell back onto her pillow. Her body felt like one big bruise. Moving slowly this time, she dragged herself back into a sitting position and leaned over to shake her brother's shoulder.
"Alexander, I know you're awake! Get up!" She continued to shake him until he groggily pushed her hand away.
"I'm working on it, but I can't get my muscles to cooperate." He rolled onto his side so that he faced her. "It's good that we are not under attack, I couldn't lift a knife right now, let alone a sword."
"Well, you're going to have to lift buckets full of water and feed in a few minutes, so I recommend getting up." Alexandra was now on her feet, however unsteadily, and had already begun to loosen up. She gave her brother a kick to get him going, knowing that if she didn't, he would be in bed for another half hour or more.
"Ouch!" He exclaimed, sitting up in surprise. His exclamation quickly turned into a moan of pain. "You tricked me."
"It got you up, didn't it?" She gave him a sly grin. "I trick everyone, Alexander, why should you be any different?"
Too tired to start an argument, Alexander pulled a clean tunic on over his head and stepped outside the tent. His sister followed, grabbing a handful of fruit on her way out and handing some of it to him. They ate while walking to the tent that housed the horses, hoping the food would give them enough energy to complete their tasks.
An hour, one spilled bucket of water, and a few bruised toes later, they made their way to Odysseus' tent. He was standing outside, waiting for them.
"What took you? Don't tell me you are sore from the little skirmish yesterday." He laughed at the glares that remark evoked from both of them. "I'm afraid you will be feeling much worse when I'm through with you. It's time you two had a bit more instruction in the art of fighting. I saw your technique yesterday, and while it works well enough, you have a long way to go if you want to survive some of Troy's better warriors."
He handed each of them a sword and led them to an empty stretch of beach. The terrain was more rock than sand, and the twins knew right away that even simple sparring practice would be more difficult than usual.
"I've enlisted the help of a friend for today's practice." Odysseus explained. "We will begin as soon as he arrives."
A/N: This is really short, I know. I have serious writers block, so if anyone has suggestions for me, I would love to hear them. If nothing else, let me know whom you think the "friend" that Odysseus mentioned should be.