Chapter 4

The next day, Pyra waited in the castle garden for Princess Anna to arrive. She was going to tell Anna about her knighthood training, and how to keep it a secret from Elsa, and also decided to give Anna a slight head-start in her training, so she knew what to expect when she turned six and started training for real.

Pyra had sent the Head Maid, Gerda, to collect the young princess a while ago, so the young noble should arrive fairly soon. And lo and behold, as soon as that thought crossed her mind, Gerda walked dutifully out of the castle doors, with a curious Anna following her in her wake. As Pyra instructed Gerda, the princess was dressed in clothing more suitable for combat training, being garbed in cream underclothes, a light leather vest of a light brown colour, a brown leather belt with a bronze buckle around her waist, and brown leather knee high boots over her pant legs.

Pyra smiled at Gerda and dismissed her as soon as Anna was near, and the Head Maid whisked herself away to do chores in the castle without another word. Pyra then turned to Anna and said seriously in a gentle tone "Anna, from now on, your life is clouded in uncertainty. Should people take up arms against you or your sister due to both of your powers, you need to be ready to protect her and yourself as best as you can. So, I know how much you admire Joan d'Arc, and I also persuaded your parents to allow this to happen, I am going to train you to become a knight of the realm."

Anna gasped in excitement and asked hopefully "Really?!"

Pyra smiled slightly with a tinge of undetectable sadness in her eyes and replied "Uh-huh. However, your sister isn't to know of this at all, until your knighting ceremony in many years time. It'll be a big surprise, okay?"

Anna saluted and exclaimed "Yes, ma'am!"

Pyra chuckled and patted the top of Anna's head, and said to her "If Elsa asks about your training, just say it's self defence classes, okay?"

Anna nodded firmly and exclaimed again "Yes, ma'am!"

Pyra then told her with a happier smile "Also, you should be able to play with Elsa soon, in between your classes with me, your tutors and your meal times." Anna looked extremely happy at this, but Pyra finished "However, right now, I am going to properly introduce you to the realm of knighthood. So listen up, Anna, and I'll teach you everything."

Pyra stood back a few paces from Anna and drew her sword, the blade looking special and unique. The blade's hilt and pommel, the hilt shaped as fiery phoenix wings and the pommel in a diamond shape, was a scorching red colour, with the handle made out of bronze, and the blade was made of strong steel, which was coloured orange with red on the razor sharp edges. The part of the blade near the hilt resembled flames, before straightening out into a normal blade the rest of the way down it's length, glowing in the sunlight.

Anna gazed at the blade in awe, and then realised that Pyra was wearing a deep, red leather long sleeved shirt and pants, with silver chainmail over the top, and a blood red tunic over the top of that. Dark brown boots clad her feet, and dark grey steel armour clad Pyra head to toe, covering her torso, shoulders, hips, arms and legs, and topped it off with a red tabard with a orange flying phoenix on it, tied at the waist with a dark brown leather belt. A deep red hooded cloak was pinned on her collarbone with a golden brooch, and a red kite shield with the orange phoenix coat-of-arms on it was on her right arm.

Pyra's hair was tied back for safety reasons as well, and she gazed down at the young princess and asked her "Am I fully prepared for battle, Anna?"

Anna frowned and looked at her curiously, seeing that everything was in place. However, as she faced Pyra's face to tell her so, she realised that Pyra had no helmet on.

"You don't have a helmet on," she replied, and Pyra nodded firmly at the girl.

"Yes, I don't," she said, "and now, for your first exercise, you must find my helmet within this garden … while I'm chasing and slashing at you."

Anna's eyes widened and she gulped, stuttering out "Wh-What?!"

Pyra smiled and replied "You must find my helmet before I catch you, and I'll give you a ten second head start before I give chase. My words of advice to you are: don't slow down, don't get hit, and look at your reflection."

Anna looked confused and asked "O-Okay, but what happens after I get your helmet?"

Pyra then answered afterwards "Call out 'Found It!' and I'll stop chasing and I'll retrieve my helmet from you. Now," she pointed her sword at Anna and stated "time to begin."

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Meanwhile, Elsa was visited by her parents in her room, and she looked saddened after the previous night's events. The Queen asked Elsa after greeting her warmly "How are you today, sweetie?"

Elsa sighed and whimpered sadly "Not good. Anna's got powers as well, and she'll … she'll be scared by them like I'm scared of mine! At least she has someone else who has the same powers as hers and can teach her like that, but my powers keep getting stronger no matter what we try!"

The King and Queen looked solemn for a moment, before remembering that they now have a way to control Elsa's powers. The King then revealed "Elsa, we've actually found out what will control your powers last night, thanks to Lady Pyra."

Elsa looked up lightning fast, surprisingly not getting a crick in the neck, and exclaimed "What?! What is it?! Please tell me now!"

The King and Queen were slightly startled at her outburst, but The King nonetheless told her "The key to your powers, is actually love."

Elsa looked surprised at this and The Queen cut in "Elsa dear, create a pile of snow for a moment, and then we'll tell you what to do from there."

Elsa looked slightly worried at the notion of using her powers, but nonetheless pulled off her gloves and made a pile of snow just near her feet, and waited for her parents' instructions.

"Now," The King said gently, "think of happy thoughts of love, and while at it, command the snow to go. So, think of Anna and how much she loves you, and us and how much we love you. Think of all the good moments in your life with us and Anna, together, as a family."

Elsa nodded and closed her eyes, thinking of all the times she and Anna stole chocolate from the kitchens, and her father catching them out and joined in the fun before her mother came and sent them away, before grabbing some chocolate for herself to enjoy.

Elsa smiled as these thoughts came to mind and raise her arms and willed the snow to vanish, her love spreading through her veins. She then heard her father exclaim "You did it! You did it, Elsa darling!" and opened her eyes, seeing the snow gone and beamed, before turning to her parents and hugging them tightly.

"We did it! I can control my powers!" she cried happily, "Now Anna and I can play together again!"

After her parents agreed to letting Elsa see Anna again, they all walked out of Elsa's room and went to find Anna, just as they heard a little girl yelling outside.

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"AAAAAAH!" Anna yelled as she ran for her life away from the charging knight, weaving in between bushes and trees as fast as she could, thankful that she has a lot of energy in her tiny little body. She kept looking left, right and up for the helmet and couldn't find it anywhere.

"PYRA!" she cried out desperately, "I CAN'T SEE THE HELMET ANYWHERE!"

Pyra just called back calmly while not losing breath, as she was charging at a jog rather than a full-pelt run "Just remember my advice. You do remember it, right?"

Anna answered back in a cry "Uh, don't slow down, don't get him, and look at your reflection! But HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP?!"

Pyra shrugged as she chased and called out "If you think about it, it might help. But for now, YOU'RE GONNA BE TOAST!"

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Anna yelled as Pyra gained more speed, running around in squares around the garden. Just at this moment, the rest of the royal family exited the castle to the sight of their youngest family member being chased by their more prodigious knight.

"Lady Pyra!" The King gasped "What on earth are you doing?!"

Without looking, she replied with her gaze solely on the running princess "Teaching her soldiery!"

Elsa spun to her parents and asked incredulously "What is this about?!"

The King replied gently "To prepare herself against Vikings if they find out about her powers. We may let you train to, but right now, I'm questioning her methods of 'teaching'."

Anna now listen off as she ran "What have I checked?! What have I checked?! Um, I've checked the trees, the bushes, the flower beds, the pond …" she gasped and exclaimed as she ran "The pond! I haven't checked the pond! … And I can see my reflection in the pond!"

Anna put on another burst of speed and ran to the central pond in the middle of the garden with Pyra hot on her heels. Anna skidded to a stop and gazed straight into the middle of the pond, seeing a medium sized brown chest. Without thinking, she jumped in and grabbed the chest, pulling it out of the other side of the pond. She flung it open, seeing a beautifully made phoenix head shaped helmet and grabbed it, screaming "FOUND IT!" just as Pyra nearly brought her sword down on Anna.

Anna panted heavily as Pyra lowered her sword and grasped it in her right hand, before taking the helmet with a sweet "Oh, thank you, Anna!" thrown her way and placed it on her head, leaving the eye and beak visor up.

As Anna caught her breath, Pyra grasped her sword in her left hand and asked Anna "Now, what was the purpose of that lesson?"

Anna stared at her incredulously and screeched "I dunno, scaring me to death?!"

Pyra chuckled heartily and replied "Nope. The whole purpose of that exercise, was for you to think quickly on your feet and take in your surroundings just as quickly."

Anna looked confused at her and Pyra elaborated "To be a great soldier, you need to think quickly and remember your setting quickly, because if you don't think, or check to see what enemy soldiers are heading your way, you will be killed in an instant. You don't have time in battle to check everything and take your time remembering it, as you only have a few brief seconds before charging into battle. So you did well by remembering my advice and thinking about where you've checked, but in battle, that would've taken too long, and would've been killed."

She then pointed at Anna's forehead and finished "First, learn to use," she poked Anna's forehead, "this." She then stared deeply into Anna's eyes and said "Then, I'll teach you how to use," she raised her sword, "this."

Anna, now understanding what she meant, nodded and sat on the ground, causing Pyra to sheathe her sword on her right hip and smiled at her, patting her head gently, before pulling down her visor and striding off. Anna then leaned back with a sigh of relief and murmured up to her family who crowded around her "Sword fighting is gonna take a looong time to learn."

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The figure cracked his or her neck and sighed, rubbing his or her eyes in the process. The figure then chuckled and said to his or herself "Why that took forever to write, it was sure fun to write!"