Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: Not all shields look as we expected... Not all shields are physical...

Chapter Five

As promised, on the last day of Stormfall I showed up in the training ground bright and...well, it wasn't bright but I did show up early, actually I was the first one to arrive in the armory. Yes, I admit it, I was actually excited to start training again...my only defense was to say I was really bored during my two weeks of forced absence from training. It had rained last night instead of snowing, but the torrential downfall had lightened to a steady drizzle, so I didn't think it would be too miserable during training, for me anyway. When it wasn't a full-out raging storm, I actually liked being in the rain. Although, I'll admit I was most excited about being able to work with my knives.

Peter and Edmund slid into the armory about thirty minutes after I arrived. They blinked at me before Peter laughed, "All that competition for nothing, Ed. Our Katerina beat us here and by a good bit too it seems."

Edmund smirked at his brother, "Well, I still beat you here, Pete." He gave his older brother a friendly shove as he passed him to get his armor, then he looked at me and grinned. "So, are you ready to go train in the rain, Kat? After all, you managed to miss all the rain from the last fortnight."

I smiled at him, "A little rain never hurt anybody. And, don't worry, I won't melt."

"That is reassuring to know, Katerina Alambiel." I glanced over my shoulder to see Oreius had entered the armory and was looking at me with clear amusement. He moved to the side, which allowed Ardon to enter. Oreius assumed the look he used when training as he continued speaking. "You will be training solely with your knives this morn. And, since Captain Cletus is on patrol, you will be training with Ardon. Wolfsbane, How, you will spar against each other."

I looked up at Ardon, who gave me a reassuring grin before we walked out into the rain. I would say that I've fought bigger, but Ardon's huge so that would have been a lie. Ardon led the way to the far side of the training yard and I paused before following, just long enough to assess the terrain. The rain from last night had left the courtyard covered in puddles of rainwater and the continuing drizzle meant what wasn't under water was still slick. So, the terrain was slippery and somewhat treacherous, but if I could keep my footing, I would have the advantage.

We started out at a slower pace than I would have preferred, but I used the opportunity to learn as much as I could about Ardon's style of fighting in addition to carefully stretching my left arm so I wouldn't hurt myself when I began using more complicated moves. Ardon was using his claymore and he used it well. For a while, we went back and forth with simple attacks that we both easily blocked and parried. My left arm was as limber as it was going to be that morning, and so long as I didn't land on it or try to block too strong a hit, it wouldn't interfere with my strategy. Ardon realized I was ready to start the real sparring when I caught his claymore with both blades then slipped the right blade loose and slashed at his unprotected middle. Why should I tell, when I could just show?

Ardon increased his attacks and I easily dodged under and around the blows, all the while, I was working my way closer to him. I caught the edge of his claymore against my left blade and I allowed it to slide across, keeping my hand and arm from taking the bulk of the blow, then I dashed forward. I dropped my left arm, allowing his claymore to fall through the space my arm had just been in, and leapt up with a fast slash from both blades towards his vulnerable neck. He backed up and I dropped into a crouch as his claymore cleared the air where I had just been a breath ago. My left foot slid a little on the wet stone, but his own hooves slipping meant that Ardon didn't have time to take advantage before I was already moving again. I spun and hit the claymore with both blades, following through by crossing my knives and trapping the claymore between them briefly before I shoved up hard. His claymore went up and I dashed forward well within his guard. My right knife was aimed at his ribs when Ardon grabbed my wrist, halting the blade while he brought his claymore up to rest against the back of my neck. I blinked the rain out of my eyes and grinned up at the Centaur, "Gotcha. Kill."

Ardon looked at me and then he pulled his claymore back and raised his arm to see that while he had been focused on my right hand, I had managed to bring my left knife up to rest against his side just under the edge of his armor and his ribcage. If this had been a real fight, he would have been dead before he had the chance to bring the claymore up against me. Ardon let go of my wrist and I stepped back with the feeling that the man who had taught me how to fight in close combat, Charlie, would have been proud of the move I just pulled off. It seemed that Ardon was fairly pleased with my achievement as well since he gave me a light smack on the back of the head before we started another round of sparring.

After nearly two hours of sparring, Oreius finally called a halt. I was sore, my arm was aching, and my clothing was damp from rain and sweat, but I had thoroughly enjoyed myself for those two hours. I had managed to "kill" Ardon again, but the Centaur had happily returned the favor with gusto. So between us, Ardon had "died" twice and I had "died" about fourteen times...I was getting better. Oreius hadn't dismissed us yet when he called Ardon over and both sword masters disappeared into the armory, leaving the three of us in the training yard.

Peter and Edmund had wandered over to where the drinks had been set up on a table just under the eaves of the armory. I wasn't close enough to hear what they were talking about, but whatever it was, they looked rather serious. I couldn't help scowling as I watched these boys stop enjoying themselves before Oreius had even dismissed them. Peter had explained that he and his brother had agreement with Oreius and the other sword masters that in the armory and training yard, they were simply knights and students, but everywhere else, they were Kings first unless there was some type of emergency when Oreius would address them as knights and give them an order. I thought it was a wise arrangement, but I did wish they had a chance to be kids more often than I had seen. I mean they were eleven and fourteen, both younger than I was, and they really needed someone who would let them be themselves. I decided then and there that was going to be me, I would be the friend who allowed them to act their ages especially since I was not one of their subjects and thus had greater freedom to carry out such a plan.

I glanced at the entry to the training yard, but Oreius and Ardon were nowhere to be seen. The distance between myself and my unsuspecting victims was covered in puddles of rainwater and I couldn't help the slightly evil grin spreading across my face as I formulated my plan of attack. This was going to be fun.

I casually navigated around the puddles as I wandered closer to where Peter and Edmund were standing, and then I paused a couple feet away. There was a large puddle in between Peter and myself, and I gleefully leaped forward. A satisfyingly large splash of water soaked the eldest royal from mid-back down and the look of shock in his eyes made me want to laugh, but I settled for grinning unrepentantly. Edmund looked at me in shock and then he started laughing so hard he nearly fell over. Peter divided his glare between his younger brother and myself. "Katerina, have you lost your mind?"

I shrugged, "It's entirely possible."

Edmund actually managed to laugh harder and Peter turned to him with a mischievous glint in his eye, "Oh, so you think this funny, do you, Ed? Here, let's see how you like it!" Peter leaped into the puddle and managed splash Edmund in the face, who immediately stopped laughing and chased after his brother with a yell. I dashed away from them with a barely suppressed laugh and a huge grin. We started leaping from puddle to puddle in an attempt to splash each other. Half the time, I managed to splash both brothers so I had to be quick in order to avoid most of the splashing directed at me.

By the time we realized we were being watched, Peter was completely soaked and Edmund nearly was while I only suffered some splashes to my boots and trousers. Peter and Edmund were on the opposite side of the courtyard from me as I had just run away from their latest attempt to splash me and they saw our watchers first and instantly stopped their play. I turned around to see Oreius and Ardon were looking on the scene with a mix of amusement and what I guessed was concern for our sanity, well the Kings' sanity anyway as they already figured I was mostly insane. Oreius looked at me and raised an eyebrow, I responded with an unrepentant grin. "Lighten up, Kentauri." Then, I did what was one of the craziest things I had done during my stay in Narnia: I jumped forward and splashed General Oreius.

I'm still not sure who was most shocked at that instant, me and Oreius or the three people who just witnessed my moment of extreme insanity. Nevertheless, the shock of what I did was nothing compared to the shock that accompanied Oreius' reaction. He gave me a look and I decided it would be good if I ran for it. I managed to get halfway across the courtyard before he caught up with me. He slid to a stop in front of me and I held up my hands, "Now, Oreius-" I forgot what I was going to say as Oreius suddenly leaped into the puddle between us and caused a huge wave of water to crash over me. I stood there a bit stunned that he had actually returned the favor and brushed away the hair that plastered itself to my face. "Wow, that's a tad chilly."

Oreius chuckled then he spun me around and pushed me toward the armory, "All three of you are dismissed. Now, go clean yourselves up, especially you Katerina Alambiel, before Ardon tells his wife what I did and I get fussed at by Alithia. She still hasn't forgiven me for the mishap with your shield."

I was soaked to the bone and more than a little cold as I left the training yard, but I still hold it was more than worth it. Starting that day, I worked to be a true friend to the royal family and to a few other Narnians, including Oreius whose tolerance level for my moments of insanity was quite high. That high tolerance proved to be a good thing, especially since as I relaxed my guard I developed a tendency to land in several interesting situations, though the pranks were not always my fault.

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, a nice short chapter, but hopefully y'all enjoyed it. I only have about four or five planned chapters left for Shields...unless something changes. The next chapters will address the "interesting situations" Kat managed to land in...among other things. Would anyone be interested in reading a chapter from Oreius' POV set in this time gap or a different time frame as suggested by y'all? Click the little review button below and let me know what y'all think.