(AmaiPOV)

"Amai, it seems that my students do not understand what it means to wield a blade," Faruk called as I left the library. "Perhaps you could show them what you know?"

I shrugged and followed him down to the training ring. I needed a good workout anyway; Altair had forced me to stay at the fortress to 'recover from my capture'.

"Isn't Altair the one you usually spar with?" I asked, the sun glowing warm above us as I vaulted over the fence.

He nodded at the gate. "He wanted to watch."

Great. If I lost, I'd never hear the end of it.

So don't lose, a voice in the back of my mind commanded. I drew the short blade from my scabbard and stood poised for an attack. Abbas entered on the opposite side and drew his sword.

He attacked first, as I knew he would. It was easy to block his repetitive attacks, but only because I knew better. "Come on, Abbas," I taunted, "Don't go easy on me."

He grinned and came at me again. I blocked his sword, but as I did so he brought his knee up into my leg. I let out a pained grunt and staggered back a few steps.

"What did Altair do to you?" He laughed.

I took a deep breath and proceeded to ignore the bruise that would definitely be much bigger in the morning. "You should know, shouldn't you?"

"Of course," he nodded, that annoyingly smug gin still on his face. "It's just like old times, isn't it? You pick a fight with me and lose."

"If I remember correctly, she won last time," Altair's voice sounded behind me, much closer than the gate. "But, on the other hand, she did ask you not to hold back."

"You can shut up now," I growled, my eyes trained on Abbas. The amusement in Altair's voice and the snickers of Faruk's onlooking students were working together to give me a bad headache. "Both of you."

But, of course, Abbas ignored me. "I assume you want to keep the humiliation short."

And Altair laughed. "Watch it, Abbas. She might surprise you."

Abbas ignored him. "This is why you would've been better off training with me."

I disregarded his ego. Altair was the only one who arrogance suited, and even he was getting better with that. So Abbas might as well drop it.

The minute he stepped to attack me I dropped to the ground. I spun around and scythed his legs out from under him. It was unorthodox, yes, but obviously quite effective. He hit the ground with a muffled thud and I quickly moved to kneel on his chest, pressing my short blade against his face hard enough to draw blood.

"Okay…" Abbas grunted, wincing a bit, "You won… get up…"

A grin spread across my face. "No. I don't want to keep the humiliation short."

Wood creaked behind me, but I was having too much fun to look up. "Amai, stop. You're going to hurt more than his pride," Altair told me. I begrudgingly sheathed the dagger and stood over Abbas, who now had a bright red line running across his cheek.

"This is why she's my apprentice and not yours," Altair grinned, holding out his hand to Abbas. He helped the novice up and leaned in to whisper venomously, "Spy on us again and I won't save you next time."

…

A/N: There's Altair, returning to his murderous attitude. Des this fix the OOC moment?

-D0N