Chapter 4

The sun had just dawned itself, yet Miranda had already found herself bathing in the cold waters of a nearby river. Back with the Roses, she always enjoyed a nice, warm bath prepared by Mrs. Rose every day, but now, those days were no longer available.

The water was unbearably cold, just a dip using her foot was enough to send shivers down Miranda's spine, she would love to soak into the waters so her body be cleansed thoroughly, but alas she had to settle down with rinsing her body, using her little hands to cup the cold water and splash it onto her body. It was still terribly cold, but at least bearable.

Thankfully, Alberto was kind enough to pick up a spare set of clothing for her to change on. It was hardly for a girl, with the awfully dull brown color and some parts of the clothes were tattered, small holes littered everywhere. They consisted of a shirt and a pair of shorts, the size slightly too large for the miniature Miranda to fit in.

"They won't be big for long," was all he had to offer when Miranda questioned about the clothes. She could somehow understand what he meant, as Mrs. Rose always said "little girls grow up quickly". The clothes weren't new, so Miranda guessed that Alberto might have it in his possession for quite some time. His son's perhaps?

After done washing herself and munching down more bread as breakfast, Alberto brought Miranda back into the woods just outside his shack. They stopped in front of another tree, which has a very small circle chalked out on its trunk.

Alberto stepped rather far away, around seventy meters, and suddenly flung a dagger, which hit the center of the small 1 centimeter radius circle. The moment he did it, it was too fast for Miranda to witness. To her, all of the sudden there was a dagger stuck in the middle of the circle.

"Hit it, if you want dinner."

Huh? It was a scary sense of déjà vu to Miranda. What she had done yesterday night, she thought it was already the worst. She had hoped that this new day would be a better one, the day before being an absolute nightmare. But it seemed the nightmare had not ended.

Alberto did the same as yesterday, chalked out a line for Miranda to stand on, turned his heels and minded his own business, leaving the hapless girl with the dagger he previously left on the trunk. Miranda instinctively tried to follow him, but was immediately put to a hold as the man returned her a glare so terrifying that her knees started shaking. He was serious about this.

Which part of this is training? Miranda kept wondering to herself, all Alberto did was to show off his skills and then expect the little girl to follow suite. Was he mistaken? He mistook me for someone else? Such a wild thought flashed into her mind for a moment, but she quickly came to her senses. I don't think so, those eyes… they are scary… That gaze was sufficient to convince Miranda that she had no other choice but to repeat what she did all night yesterday, even tougher today.

Bracing herself, she began her "training". Having enjoyed a good night's sleep, as well as sufficient breakfast, not to mention that miraculous success she had last night, Miranda was feeling confident, maybe I can do this.

At least the forest was bright, she could easily spot her misdirected dagger and try again, her efficiency was better. But then, the sharp rise of difficulty really got into her, she could not find a way to cover the added distance, so trying to hit the tree trunk was completely out of the picture as well. She mustered all her strength, but it would just barely get past the fifty-meter mark.

Even the hottest period of the day had passed, Miranda's stomach began to growl, but there weren't any hopes of food coming her way. The only promise she had was dinner, in which she had to earn it.

I need to find a way to throw further… Miranda thought to herself, trying to recall that brief moment where Alberto "demonstrated" how to do it. She closed her eyes, trying hard to reminisce every single movement Alberto made. He put his left foot one step forward, and pulled his right shoulder backwards as the knife in his right hand rose above that aforementioned shoulder, over his head. In an instant, he flung it forward and downwards, he also twisted his waist a little for added power, his right foot stepping forward this time. His right hand ended just below the height of his shoulder.

Wait… why can I remember so much? The precise and detailed memory Miranda could remember surprised even herself, she could recall bits and bits of minor details, despite the entire moment being so brief and quick.

Trying to mimic what she just recalled, she did exactly what she pictured Alberto did. Whooosh! The dagger flew and hit the tree trunk, but not the circular target.

Miranda was stunned for a while, eyes wide opened and jaw dropped, and the shocking revelation caused Miranda to forget her footing as she landed face down onto the ground. But any mere pain was masked by the sheer excitement and joy of conquering the distance. I did it! I didn't even use all my strength! Quickly getting up and neglecting to brush her soiled knees and face, she rushed to pull the dagger out from the trunk. It stuck in deeper than last night as well, meaning this method was far more effective than whatever she attempted all this while.

But not as deep than what Alberto tried before, where Miranda had to use both her legs to push against the trunk just to pull it out, toppling all over as she succeeded in pulling the dagger thrown by her mentor earlier out.

Nevertheless, this was still an achievement, and any sense of exhaustion and hunger, Miranda had forgotten all about it.

Her next few attempts were far more hopeful, many of them managed to cover the distance, and some hit the trunk, but still the target was too small and had yet to be hit. But Miranda was optimistic, she believed that, it was only a matter of time before she hit it.

She did not have to wait long. The dagger managed to hit just the chalked border of the circle, which left Miranda in tears and she yelled again, celebrating her victory.

Alberto did not appear instantly as he did last night, this place being slightly farther from the shack and all. But it did not take him too long either, perhaps he heard Miranda's cry of glory and came to check it out.

His expression was mute when he saw the dagger, but he did not appear to doubt the method Miranda used to plant the dagger into the target. He reached for his pocket and threw another one of those plain breads to Miranda. "Here, eat this. It's too early for dinner."

It was around three hours past noon, so this could be considered a snack to last until dinner. Miranda was delighted to be approved and fed something, so she wasn't complaining. "Thanks!" She said, wholeheartedly. Alberto turned and faced his back to Miranda, before mentioning "Come" and told Miranda to follow him. Miranda could spot a mild grin from his, judging from the left edge of his mouth widened a little. Miranda finally felt more at ease.