A few days later, the group was back to training. This time, everyone had been randomly paired up for practice, which probably wasn't the best idea. "Of all the names I could've drawn, I can't believe I got my sister." Jeremy said.

"At least you know who you're dealing with." Tyler said. "I got Ali."

"Careful, Ty. She really knows how to kick butt." Caroline said.

"Thanks."

"Just trying to help."

"Okay, this random pairs business is clearly a bad idea." Bonnie said.

"Oh, come on guys." Maria said. "We don't know who we'll be fighting, what strategies they'll use to try and catch us off guard. This is good practice for keeping it up."

"I still think it's a really bad idea."

"Wait, Bonnie, who'd you get paired up with?" Elena asked. Bonnie reluctantly handed over the name she drew. "Oh."

"She got Damon." Caroline said. Maria looked at Bonnie, who seemed to be blushing from embarrassment. She gave Caroline a look that told her to shut it.

"Great."

"Hey, on the bright side, at least you didn't get Nate." Caroline said.

"No, but I did." Matt admitted.

"Wait, then who's helping Care train?" Allison asked.

"I am." The group turned and looked at Lauren. "Bonnie said my defense needs more work and I know Caroline could barely hurt a fly."

"On second thought, bring it on." Caroline said.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Maria said.

"Wait, who are you supposed to train with?" Alaric asked her.

"My partner's running a little late." Maria told him. "But I think you could help the Gilbert kids work on their technique."

A few minutes later, the groups had separated into pairs. Maria was walking to the edge of the clearing. She was wondering where he was, when she was attacked from behind. She grabbed her attacker and flipped him. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" She asked.

"Yeah, just thought I'd give it a shot." Stefan told her. "Sorry about running late. I was…"

"I know." Maria said, cutting him off. "Anyway, we better get to practice. Though next time, we're not picking names out of a hat."

"Who's idea was that, anyway?" He asked.

"I think it was Ali's."

Meanwhile, the others were having a little trouble with practicing. "Okay, stop." Nate said. "This isn't working."

"Oh, you think?" Matt asked. "How are we supposed to focus on training against each other when we keep running into each other's way?"

"This is why Maria usually has us spread out, give ourselves space to practice." Bonnie pointed out.

"Okay, here's a set of training areas. It must've fallen out of Maria's pocket when she took off." Elena said, handing them a sheet of paper.

"Would've been nice of her to tell us before she left."

"We can figure this out." Caroline said. "Okay, I think Tyler and Ali should practice in the north corner over here. Lauren and I will go to the west corner."

"We can practice in the southeast woods." Tyler told Allison.

"Sounds cool."

"Guess we'll be in the eastern part of the forest." Bonnie said.

Five minutes later, the group had gone to their assigned areas. Matt and Nate got stuck practicing in the southwest region of the woods. "You still need a little improvement."

"Give it a rest." Matt said. "You're not the one who was trained by your school's history teacher."

"Yeah, how are you doing with all this, anyway?" Nate asked.

"I'm getting used to it, but it's still weird."

"What do you expect? Once you know about the supernatural, nothing is the same." Nate told him.

"I don't see how you guys do this, act like everything's normal all the time."

"It's just life, Matt." Nate said. "We're just trying to live as normally as we can."

"Yeah, maybe I was being harsh before about everything."

"Hey, it's no big deal." Nate said. "I was tired of not being able to trust people that were trying to help me."

"Care wasn't kidding." Tyler said, avoiding Allison's punches. "You really are good."

"Thanks for noticing."

"Okay, hold on. I have a quick questions. Are all vampires this good at fighting, cause when Caroline told me about herself, she kicked my ass." Tyler said.

"Only because you were threatening her." Allison pointed out. "I'd say most vampires are pretty good at fighting and strategies. Though it improves with how long they've been one and, well…" She started blushing. "Whether or not they're on human blood."

"I see why Care drinks from blood bags."

"Most of us do." Allison said. "Some of them just hunt humans for the heck off it. I'm not like that."

"I know that." Tyler said. "So, how old are you again?" She surprised him by kicking him into the closest tree.

"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a female her age?" Allison asked. Tyler got up and fought back.

"Just cause you're a girl, that doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you."

"Bring it on." She said. They started sparing again.

Caroline was holding still as Lauren tried practicing a spell. "Okay, I want you to come at me."

"I don't know."

"Come on, Caroline. Unless you're scared…"

"Fine." Caroline sped over to her, then hit what felt like an invisible wall. She put a hand to her forehead. "Ow."

"That protection spell actually worked." Lauren said. "Sorry about hurting you. I know you're one of the good guys."

"It's okay. I'll heal." Caroline told her.

"Wow. Maria was right when she said you're one of the strongest new vampires she ever trained."

"Really? She said that?"

"Yeah." Lauren said.

"Could you possibly do a protection spell around us just in case?"

"I can try." Lauren said. She stood next to Caroline and began casting a spell. A bunch of vines put up some kind of barrier around them.

"That's amazing."

"I must've been channeling nature when I focused on the spell." Lauren said. "Though this way, you can see the barrier. It's usually invisible."

"You're good with magic." Caroline said.

"I'm still kinda new at it." Lauren said. "But Bonnie's been helping me a lot."

""Well, I think you're ready for anything."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, Bonnie wasn't having as much luck with her training. "Okay, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

"Normally, you're able to kick my butt with no problem, now you seem to be holding back."

"I don't know what's going on with me." Bonnie told him. "Maybe I'm blocked again."

"You've worked through it before." Damon pointed out.

"I know, but it feels different this time."

"Well, what has you so scared that you can't use your magic?"

"Maybe it's you!" She shouted suddenly. They both seemed surprised. "Wow. Never thought I'd say that aloud."

"Wait, you're afraid of me?"

"Yes." Bonnie said. "Ever since you tried to kill me that time."

"For the last time, it was an accident."

"Yeah, you weren't the one afraid you'd die."

"Why would you still be scared, though?"

"I don't know, I never thought I'd have to fight you for real, I guess." Bonnie said.

"I've known a lot of witches in my time, Bonnie, but none as powerful or scary as you." Damon said.

"Whoa, what? You're afraid of me?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, you're always using those spells on me, throwing me halfway across the room, not to mention those migraines are extremely painful."

"In my defense, I only use them when necessary." Bonnie said. "And sometimes, you get way out of line."

"Yeah, I guess. But we need to work together if we're going to face Katherine again."

"I know. And for Maria's sake, I think we should bury the hatchet." Bonnie said. "Like you said, we need to work together and personally, I'm tired of fighting with you all the time."

"Same here. I've ticked off enough witches to last a lifetime, I don't want to end up on your bad side, though."

"Okay, just don't try to kill me again." Bonnie said.

"You've tried to kill me, too."

"I'm not happy about it." Bonnie admitted. "If it hadn't been for Maria, I wouldn't have saved you last Founder's Day."

"And if I hadn't promised Emily I'd protect her bloodline, you'd be dead by now."

"Okay, now that we've got that out, are we good?"

"I think so. Now let's get back to practicing. Cause I know you are way stronger than this." Bonnie smiled.

"Oh, please. I'm so not holding back this time." She told him.

"Okay, seriously. You fight like a girl."

"I am a girl, what's your excuse, Jer?" Elena countered as the siblings went at it.

"Really not cool, sis." He said, fighting back.

"Okay, I'm going to stop you two right here." Alaric said. "You guys are not fighting hard enough."

"When am I ever going to have to fight her?" Jeremy asked.

"You guys are holding back, in the real world, that's enough hesitation to get either of you killed."

"He's right." Elena said. "Maybe we just need to learn to let go. We're doing this again."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, I'm not taking any chances. Katherine would kill you in an instant, and I'm not going to let that happen." Elena told him.

"You think I want that to happen to you?" Jeremy asked her. "Of course not! But she could kill you, too, you know, or any of us for that matter. She's already killed Caroline."

"Good thing that didn't work out too well." Elena said. "We need to really take care of this."

"Yeah, you're right." Jeremy said.

"Okay, let's run it again." Alaric said.

Hours later, the group met up. "Okay, so, practice could've been a little better." Maria said. "Next time, I'll just write a list."

"Well, I suppose it's better than drawing names from a hat." Jeremy said. Allison looked at him. "No offense, but that was a really lame idea." Everyone pretty much agreed with him.

"Yeah, I'm with them, too." Tyler said.

"Sure you're not just jealous that I kicked your butt?" Allison asked.

"Please, you're not the first girl I've lost to." Tyler said.

"I thought that was between us." Caroline said.

"You both realize you just made it public, right?" Lauren pointed out.

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down." Maria said. "We've got little time left and…" Suddenly, she felt something and looked around.

"Maria?"

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"The barrier was breached." Maria told them.

"What's that mean?" Allison asked.

"What do you think it means, Ali? It means they're coming!" Matt practically yelled.

"Whoa, there's no need to shout." Nate said.

"I'm not…" Everyone looked at him. "Sorry."

"So, any ideas?"

"We wait for them to strike first." Maria told them. "I know it's risky, but since we're facing a group of newly-turned vampires…"

"Maybe one of them will leave a clue behind." Stefan finished, seeing where this was going.

"Maria, you're brilliant, as usual." Allison said.

"It's nothing."

"So, what do we do now?" Lauren asked.

"We head home." Maria said. "Look, we need to be ready for them and we've made a lot of progress for now."

"Yeah, guess all we can do now is be on guard while we wait for them to make their move." Bonnie agreed.

"Let's go, then."

"You two make sure nothing gets into your place." Maria said.

"Relax, they'd have to get through me first." Alaric pointed out.

"Not to mention, at least two out of three of us have these rings." Jeremy added.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better." Maria said.

"Maybe we should split into groups." Lauren said. The group looked at her.

"You know, you're a lot smarter than you think sometimes." Allison told her.

"She's right, you know." Bonnie said. They glanced at her. "Sorry, I'll be over here."

"Can we decide how to split up this time?" Caroline spoke up. "Cause I'm thinking of going to Bonnie's."

"Guess we both had the same idea." Lauren said. They glanced at each other.

"Guys, there's enough room for both of you." Bonnie pointed out. "Besides, I should probably go over the grimore again before I go to sleep."

"It's cool with us." Nate said. "There are things I wanted to talk with Ali about anyway."

"Okay…" Allison said, wondering what he'd have to say to her.

"You wouldn't mind coming over, right?" Matt asked.

"Hey, I'm there anytime unless it's a full moon." Tyler told him.

"Well, I guess I know how the rest of us are separating." Maria said, looking at the guys.

"Just make sure the girls stay safe." Alaric told them.

"Hey, you know we don't mess around when things are this important." Damon pointed out.

"Oh, right, you didn't even know I was ab..." Maria began.

"That explains so much about you." Caroline said, cutting her off.

"Look the point is, we'll make sure the girls stay safe." Stefan pointed out. "Nothing will happen as long as they have us around."