"Today you will be sparring."
In Eleven's world, that meant that she would be fighting for 8 hours straight. If she lost at all, which happened most days, she would be beaten. This was he least favorite day by far.
"Eleven. You have been doing so well lately. I would hate to see all this progress stagnate."
She looked at her Papa, curious what he was getting at.
"This is why we have decided to give you a challenge today. Your instructor will explain more to you."
This frightened her greatly. She has gotten much better at sparring. She almost never lost in the past few months. Once a week she was required to fight her instructor, and shes had a three week winning streak. It feared her that she could be doing too well that they will challenge her to much. Whatever the challenge was, Eleven was afraid.
After she ate she was escorted to the sparring area. After stretching quickly and warmig up, Eleven met with her instructor. He was holding something.
"Hello Eleven. I expect today will be most productive. Let us begin."
He took a breath
"In life, you will not always have the luxury of five senses."
He handed her a bindfold.
"Put it on and grab a staff."
Eleven did as she was told, and went into her defense position.
"Good thinking. When your enemy has a major advantage always stay defensive."
She tracked the faint sounds of footsteps made by her mentor. She adjusted her position to face the noise.
He attacked her. She was not ready and the wooden staff hit her in the abdomin. She quickly recovered and aurally location her attacker.
He took another swing, catching her in the back of the knee. The joint gave out, causing her to fall on her knees. He swung around and hit her again in the face.
She was able to recover quickly again and returned to her position again. This went on for ten minutes, giving Eleven plenty of bruises.
"Stop, take the blindfold off."
She did as instructed and looked at her instructor.
"Do you know what the definition of insanity is?"
"Lack of logical thinking."
"Yes. It also means doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
"Ok."
"Do you know what I'm getting at here?"
"You want me to try something different?"
"Exactly. Take a two minute break, then be ready to fight."
She took her break and got some water. She has had several instructors over the years, some were nicer than others. He was kind, but he hit and fought hard. He also pushed her to her breaking point while fighting.
After her rest she put her blindfold back on and grabbed a staff to fight with. Her instructor began.
"Know your position. Know your enemy's position. Know your enemy."
He attacked, and Eleven rolled out of the way. She counterattacked in his direction. She felt contact with his staff.
"Better. You must swing at a target, not a direction."
He attached. Eleven managed to block but it was followed by another to the rip.
"You don't believe that you will strike true, therefore you will not."
Eleven attacked hard, picturing exactly where he was in your mind. However, she swung too hard. Her instuctor took advantage of her mistake and moved out of the way, then swung at her back.
"Good. Now do it again and don't over extend."
She pushed, keeping her distance and givening light blows. Eleven used a combination of muscle memory, her skill in fights, and her natural and trained agility to fight. She managed to stand her ground for some time. However moments passed and her teacher caught her getting too agressive and taking chances. As soon as he saw she was on the floor, adding another bruise
"Again."
Eleven pictured him in her head, and took a precise attack, keeping her distance from the opponent but gave an agressive attack. She continued her assault, delivering precise blows to the instructor. He was blocking them, but in few hits, Eleven got him in the abdomen. She followed with another swing. He managed to block, but in just a few more blows he was clearly loosing. After hitting him hard in the face, he stepped back.
"Your progress is good," he said. "You can take your blindfold off."
After she did, she saw her instuctor with a bloody nose, and her standing off to the side. He approached her and spoke.
"Eleven, I am so proud of you. You are finally ready."