Chapter Nineteen: Bella and Training
"Now, Bella'll be able to use her shield to protect us," Jasper paced back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. He'd insisted that we all start training first thing in the morning, and with the sun poking above the horizon, we found ourselves in the backyard. "However, her gift can fail at times."
"What?" Alec asked, his voice drenched with mock-surprise. "Cullen isn't an infallible angel?"
Jasper's jaw clenched. "She can only repel mental attacks. It's a bit convoluted. I imagine that Kiersten's gift works in the mind, but if Tamsin physically warps the cellular makeup of her body, then it would be considered physical."
He glanced in our direction.
"I don't know," I murmured, ringing my hands together. "It could be an illusion… if that's the case, would Cullen be able to prevent her from changing?"
"Possibly."
"Who cares?" Alec demanded. He pushed himself to his feet, hands thrust into the pockets of his pants. "Audrey'll just reflect her power back at her and take the advantage. I would advise her to not use the shield at all."
The two of them met eyes for a brief second. Electric energy flowed in the space that lingered between their gaze. Finally, lips tight, Jasper nodded.
"I'll pass the note along." He agreed. The words were only for Alec, but we heard them,nevertheless. Even Esme and Alice, who had remained inside to continue making phone calls, would have picked up on their conversation. "However, it wasn't my plan to use Bella and her powers as an example of battle strategy. We all need to be able to stand without her help. Whether it be a one on one face off or one against sixteen, I want us to be able to hold our own. Saoirse, Alec, Jane- you're small. Quick. Agile. You'll be able to get out of holds and dodge oncoming attacks."
"Thanks, Cullen, but I don't think I've very done a hold, a dodge, or a quick in my life." Jane snapped. She leaned up against the edge of the villa, playing with a piece of wood that had broken off. "I was already ambushed. I got this out of it." She gestured vaguely to her torn face. "You better hope to God your strategies play out."
He watched her from the corner of his eyes. "You can count on it. Saoirse,"
I jerked at my name. Assuming that I wouldn't be needed, I'd zoned out somewhat.
"What is it?"
"Have you ever been trained to fight?" He asked, stepping closer. Instantly, I pushed myself to my feet.
"Some." I murmured. I tucked a lock of hair behind my ears and met his eyes. Comparable to the nearly-risen sun, I felt a kind of soothing sensation flow through my bones. "Not extensively, though...and not for years."
"Would you care to join me." He gestured to the open area. I swallowed, but followed him without a word. Side by side, I only came up to his shoulder.
Jasper could kill me. He could rip me to shreds, but the contented feeling remained. I knew he wouldn't act on those abilities- so long as I didn't become a threat.
"You and Alice are close to the same height," He observed. I felt his gaze on the top of my head, taking some variation of mental measurements. "I'll teach you some of the same techniques that I've taught her."
He pulled away, moving to stand at the edge of the yard. From the distance, he motioned for me to do the same, but in the opposite direction.
Fifty or so feet separated us. I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet.
"Now, come at me as fast as you can." He called, "Try and get me down to the ground."
My feet started to move before my brain had fully registered what I was meant to do.
Get him down on the ground. Easy.
My body slammed against his, causing a loud crash that prompted me to wince.
He remained tall, steady, as though he'd been nudged in the stomach by an affectionate kitten.
Hissing, I reeled back, and drove myself at him from the side, pushing my elbow deep into his stomach.
He gave a low grunt. Not pain, just an acknowledgement that there had been a sensation there.
"Okay, okay, you're not gonna get me like that." He chuckled, and grabbed me by the shoulders. "I want you to get lower."
"I can show her, Jas."
A melodic voice skipped into his instructions. Alice lilted to his side, her arms swinging back and forth as she skipped.
"Edward and Bella will be here in six hours," She announced, resting her head on his shoulder. He was right...she had maybe an inch on me, if that. "Rose and Emmett have the earliest flight tomorrow morning. After that… they should start coming. Everyone."
"Just hope the Volturi doesn't get wind of it." Alec said, his tone low and emotionless. I wondered, in the back of my mind, if he really cared if Aro found out about our little rebellion. He seemed rather indifferent. "He'll crush us before we've even begun."
"Hence why we've elected to stay in Bosnia," Alice pressed her lips into a tight smile. "We've gone through this a time or two before. Aro wouldn't have gotten wind of Renesmee last time if it hadn't been for Irina's misinterpretation of what she'd seen. As long as no one betrays us… we'll be fine."
"Aro has spies, Cullen." He snapped, stepping closer. My body went rigid. Stepping backwards, I watched as he closed the space between the two of them. Less than three feet kept them apart. "He knows better than to wait for random nomads to come with him for information. He'll find out sooner or later."
Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice, who's lips had pulled into a small growl of warning.
"Guys," I began, my voice small. I knew I shouldn't break in, but… "We don't need to fight. We're on the same side. C'mon, Jasper. Why don't you train us at the same time."
"I have seen your fighting style," Alice said, nodding towards him. "You could use some improvement."
"How the hell did you-" He broke off, his jaw set. "Right. The visions."
She gave an apologetic smile, "It's awful. Launch and grab. It's not all that effective."
"We'll work on the twins in a bit," Jasper said. Alec's eyes lit up with irritation. "Saoirse, would you like Alice to demonstrate the tactic I mentioned?"
I shrugged, wrapping my arms around my body. It wasn't cold least not any colder than we all were naturally, but I wanted nothing more than to run inside and cozy up inside of a heated blanket.
"Yeah, that might be useful."
I retreated back to the steps to watch, internally weighing the chances that Jasper would decide to use Alice for the rest of the demonstrations, and I would be allowed to sit and observe.
Alice moved away from him, skipping merrily as she did so. It wasn't until she turned and they faced one another that her entire form changed.
Her sweet expression melted. Underneath it, she was fierce and poised for attack. If I hadn't seen them snuggled up on the couch, I would have never guessed that the man she snarled at now was her mate.
She bolted across the span of the yard. Halfway to Jasper, she tucked her head slightly so that she was even smaller compared to him. Like I had before, she turned towards the side at the last few yards and drove her elbow into the space right above his groin.
He buckled slightly, but still remained on his feet.
Alice's snarl melted, and the sweet, skipping Alice was back in an instant.
"No fair." She huffed, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "We were supposed to show them how to bring a larger opponent down."
"Of course," He purred back. He caught her hands in his own, and pressed a small kiss to the center of her palm. "Care to go again, darlin'?"
She rolled her eyes, but returned to her previous spot with the same, bubbly gait and expression as before.
"Now, you want to get your opponent into a position that makes their head vulnerable." He announced as Alice darted towards him.
When she collided with him, she used the momentum gained from her speed to put him on his knees.
"It's easier to tear off someone's head when they're lower than you." Alice added. Taking a step back, she allowed her mate to rise to his feet. "Get the head off and the rest isn't so hard. We're going to be setting a lot of fires."
Jasper straightened, "Saoirse. Do you want to try again?"
I froze. "I mean… no?"
He laughed. "You need it. Come on. Come and join me."
I groaned, but followed his orders without further complaint. Given that we were on the verge of war… I supposed I should be grateful for the help.
"Remember what Alice did? Just get me down to the ground."
I closed my eyes for a split second, shutting off the world so that I could recall exactly what she'd done.
My feet moved without thought, pounding across the grass with blind determination. I lowered myself closer to the ground, gaining momentum.
He didn't quite crumple to the ground, but I felt his weight shift; I'd knocked him off balance, but he recovered.
"Not bad." He praised, lips curled into the smirk that I now felt familiar with. "We'll work on techniques later, yeah? So long as Aro doesn't find out in the next couple of days, we should have more time to devote to training."
I cocked my head, "Did you not...before?"
"The last two times we were on the verge of battle, our enemies came to us. We had a few weeks of warning- thanks to my visions- but that was only a short time to train and get enough allies together." Alice was the one to answer my question. I turned towards her. "This time we're going to them. We aren't waiting around for Aro to figure out what's going on."
"But, he will," Alec pointed out, as though they hadn't taken his last four warning seriously.
"Will what?"
A new voice entered the conversation.
Three people stood on the steps. My eyes scanned over their features.
The man was lean, somewhat tall, with messy red-brown hair. The woman- somewhat smaller, with dark brown hair that reached nearly to her waist.
In between them, a girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Her hair fell in ringlets down past her shoulder blades, the same shade as her fathers.
Her eyes stood out. Not gold like theirs. Not red like hours. Brown.
Mundane. Simple. But here...extraordinary.
Jane bolted to her feet. I felt the tension in her body radiate throughout the air, as though she needed to make the entire universe just as angry as she was.
"Bella, Edward," Jasper greeted. There was a note of familiarity in his tone, and of warmth, but also caution.
"Thank you," I cut in, desperate to defuse the animosity, to start things off on the right foot. "For coming."
The woman said nothing, but she did give a half-hearted nod, wrapping her arms tighter around the shoulders of the smaller girl.
"We trust our family," The man spoke up, his voice low. It was somewhat melodic, but there was a note to it that made my stomach clench.
I gave a small smile. "You seem very close. It must be nice to have so many people to rely on."
"It is." The woman finally spoke. "But we will know if this is a trap set by Aro. If a fight breaks out amongst us, we- my family and I, will win. You can guarantee that."
"Bella." The man put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not. I can read them all. This isn't a trap."
"I've tried to take down the Volturi for years," We were on the same side. I needed her to understand that.
Bella snorted. "Yeah. But what about them? They've been in Aro's palm for God-Knows-How-Long and-"
"No. They want out." Edward murmured, "They've had enough, Bell. You can relax."
The woman rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, but her expression changed within a few seconds. She didn't smile, but she no longer snarled, body lurched forward, poised to spring.
"Why don't we all go inside?" Alice suggested, motioning towards the door. A weight lifted from my shoulders. If anyone would help us to get along with each other, it would be here. It was as though we were diplomats from tentatively friendly countries.
We followed her instructions, but that was where the niceties ended. Once inside, we grouped off. Alice and Jasper and Esme and Carlisle stood, while the rest of us sat on opposite couches.
Bella still didn't seem as though she was ready to play nice. I held my breath. Any second, she could decide that it wasn't worth her trip, or her time. She could choose to leave.
We sat in silence, but for us, nothing could ever be truly silent. I listened as cars rushed past on a dirt road some fifteen or more kilometers away, or bugs scurred against the foundation meters below our feet.
The grandfather clock sounded the loudest noise. It counted the lulling seconds like a heartbeat.
Renesmee rose, and with a fluid, angelic motion she moved away from her parents. I thought, briefly, she had just gotten up to stretch. Being a hybrid, I could assume that her body had a few human needs.
She crossed the room, her fingers outstretched. I only just realized that she had been reaching for me when her hand landed on my cheek.
The thoughts that filled my mind were not my own. They were her story.
She showed me everything…
Her birth. Her unprecedented, miraculous growth.
The incident with a friend of the family. The Volturi…
With all of the trauma she'd been put through, I expected for her to be filled with bitterness, as her mother was.
But along with the images, she poured forgiveness into my mind. I felt her warmth from within, her sweetness.
When she pulled her hand back, I reeled.
"Sorry," She murmured, her lips curled into a small smile. "I hope I didn't scare you."
I shook my head. "You didn't. That was...interesting to say the least. I didn't know you could do something like that."
"Renesmee," Bella hissed.
She darted across the room, fingers wrapping tightly around her daughter's shoulders.
"She's quite remarkable," I admitted, tilting my head back to meet the other vampire's eyes.
"Yes. Thank you."
With a low sigh, I pushed myself up. I understood that she had been through a lot with the Volturi- Jane and Alec in particular. It wasn't easy to work with someone who had been an enemy for years.
"Do you have a second?" I inquired, keeping my tone even and indifferent. "I would like to talk-privately."
She instantly looked towards Edward. I wanted to roll my eyes, but seconds later I realized she hadn't asked for his approval, she wanted to know if my intentions had been genuine.
"Sure," She replied. "Why don't we take a walk?"
We headed back out into the backyard, and into the woods that surrounded the house.
Half a mile into the trees, she stopped short and turned.
"How do you know them?" That was the first question out of her mouth. "Jane and Alec. You seem...close. At least with Alec."
I swallowed. I would have preferred it if Edward told her. I knew that he knew, and it made it easier.
"We were imprisoned." I answered, "In the castle. Next to one another."
Her expression altered for a split second, but it settled.
"Imprisoned," She repeated, "Why was he imprisoned?"
I clenched my jaw. Why did she have to be so nosy about it?
"He did something that Aro didn't like."