It was just after five in the morning on a Monday. Instead of getting enough sleep before their first day as seniors, the Gilbert twins found themselves trotting through the woods behind the Salvatore boarding house for their first vampire training session with Alaric, the resident vampire hunter.

Emily was honestly regretting her decision of not going straight to bed after Alaric agreed to train her and Elena. The Radkova witch had originally been exhausted from the whole ordeal with Klaus but Emily had pushed her tiredness away to drink bourbon with Damon for another hour before her head finally hit the pillow.

If Emily was being honest, if innocent people and her loved ones' lives weren't on the line from the fact that Klaus and sister were sticking around in Mystic Falls for her blood, Emily would definitely still be sound asleep in her bed right about now.

However, this wasn't just some random hobby that Emily decided to pick up for the hell of it. The whole town of Mystic Falls were in danger with two originals and an emotionless Stefan hanging around. Emily knew there was no time for slacking. The Radkova witch knew she had to be in the best shape possible if she was ever going to keep everyone safe and that all started with Alaric's vampire hunter class for dummies.

Emily could only hope and pray as she tiredly followed after the Saltzman hunter that she didn't end up puking all of the bourbon that she drank last night during their training session.

The Gilbert twins continued to follow Alaric through the woods for another five minutes before the vampire hunter pulled the girls to a stop in the middle of a clearing.

"Alright," Alaric began as he pulled off his navy blue backpack before he sat it down in front of him. "First things first," the Saltzman man murmured as he pulled out two weapons from his bag.

"This is something good to always carry with you when you're around vampires," Alaric told the Gilbert twins as he handed each girl one of the sleeves that had four mini stakes on top. "You can easily conceal it under your jacket or any type of long sleeves," Alaric informed the human and witch duo.

Elena furrowed her brows in confusion as she looked at the weapon from every angle to figure out how she was supposed to use it. "How does it work?" The Gilbert girl inquired in puzzlement as she looked over to the vampire hunter.

Alaric took a few steps to the right until he was standing in front of the younger of the Gilbert twins. The Saltzman hunter grabbed Elena's dominate arm, her right one, before he slid it through the sleeve until it reached an inch above her wrist.

"It's all in the punches," Alaric explained to the Gilbert twins, "the pressure of your punch is what causes the stakes to eject and hit their target."

"Hmm... That seems pretty easy," the Radkova witch mumbled as she quickly moved her green eyes between her own weapon and the one around Elena's arm to make sure she was putting the sleeve in the correct position.

"Let's give it a try, then," Alaric stated before he waved his hand over to the two white mannequins that he had previously nailed to the trees for the Gilbert twins' training session. Alaric took a couple of steps backwards before he murmured, "show me what you got."

Emily gave the Saltzman hunter a nod to let him know that she was following along before she moved her gaze over to Elena on the left side of her. "You ready?" The Radkova witch inquired as she placed a comforting hand onto Elena's shoulder.

The last thing Emily wanted to do was to pressure her twin sister into anything. Emily knew Elena willingly agreed to go through Alaric's training with her but Emily still wanted to make sure that her twin sister was comfortable with all of this.

Elena looked over to her twin sister with a small smile. "Yeah," the human girl assured the Radkova witch before Elena muttered, "let's do it."

The Gilbert twins shared one last glance before they silently closed the distance between themselves and the mannequins. Emily and Elena moved directly in front of each of the mannequins for their first session of target practice.

The former vampire and the witch moved in unison like the twins that they were as they threw a punch to the mannequins' chests at the very same time. However, the sisters had two very different results from their strikes.

While two of the four mini stakes released from Emily's sleeve and drilled into the mannequin's chest, none of Elena's stakes even shifted from their place in the sleeve.

Elena immediately frowned when she moved her brown eyes down to the sleeve on her wrist and saw that nothing happened like Alaric had told her would. Elena pulled the sleeve off of her arm before she turned to the Saltzman hunter. "I think mine's broken," Elena mumbled.

The Saltzman hunter silently took the sleeve from Elena before he slid it onto his own wrist. Alaric faced the mannequin before he easily lodged the four mini stakes into the mannequin's chest. The Saltzman hunter turned back to Elena with his right eyebrow raised as to tell her to argue now that he proved her wrong.

"You're just not strong enough," Alaric bluntly stated.

Elena frowned at the Saltzman hunter's words. "Then how did Emily do it?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she pointed towards Emily's target that had three stakes sticking out. "We're literally the same person!" Elena whined.

Emily chuckled in amusement as she looking over to her pouting sister. "Just admit it, Lena," the Radkova witch teasingly uttered as she patted Elena's shoulder, "I'm stronger than you."

Alaric joined on the Radkova witch's chuckles before he shook his head to argue against her statement. "I wouldn't say that," the Saltzman hunter told Emily. "I think it has something to do with your powers," Alaric explained, "it most likely enhanced your strength from the magic in your body."

The Saltzman hunter moved over to Emily's mannequin before he began to pull out the wooden stakes. "You did well," Alaric commended before he stated, "but you're not near as strong as you need to be to go up against a vampire without your powers."

It was now Emily's turn to frown at the vampire hunter and his words. "Well, thanks for dampening my confidence," the Radkova witch mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Emily knew she was practically a novice when it came to being a vampire hunter (besides her brief run-ins with the vampires that would come to Mystic Falls) but she thought she did pretty well on her first try with the weapon! It didn't exactly help Emily's confidence that a vampire hunter thought she wouldn't be able to go up against a vampire.

Alaric let out a heavy breath before he turned to face the Gilbert twins. "Look, I'm not trying to belittle you, either of you," the Saltzman hunter promised as he glanced between Emily and Elena. "I'm trying to prepare you for war," Alaric stated. "I'm not here to be your friend," Alaric proclaimed as he shook his head before he continued, "I'm here to make sure you have a chance at surviving."

The Radkova witch released the tension in her shoulders and relaxed her arms from their defensive stance as she slowly took in Alaric's words. "You're right," Emily admitted after she let out a puff of air from her lips.

Emily didn't have much expectations when she asked Alaric to train her in fighting against vampires but she didn't expect for Alaric to be so brutally honest with her and Elena. However, Emily was glad that the vampire hunter was because she knew it was just what they needed.

The Saltzman hunter wasn't always going to be by their side to hold their hand through a vampire attack and nor was their enhanced friends. Emily knew she and Elena needed to know how to protect themselves without the comfort of someone stronger and tougher to keep them alive.

"Sorry for getting so defensive," Emily sheepishly apologized to the vampire hunter as she awkwardly scratched the side of her neck. "I'll be more open minded," the Radkova witch promised. "We'll take whatever advise you can give us," Emily swore before she glanced over to her twin sister and asked, "right?"

Elena quickly nodded her head in agreement. "I didn't realize how much I used to depend on my vampire strength," the Gilbert girl admitted as an embarrassed blush rose onto her tanned cheeks.

"I'm not trying to hurt your feelings," Alaric assured the Gilbert twins as he shot each of the girls a comforting gaze. "I just want you guys to be ready for anything," the Saltzman hunter stated.

Emily grasped her twin sister's hand before she focused her gaze onto to the vampire hunter. "We understand," the Radkova witch promised.

"Good," Alaric murmured as a lazy smile pulled onto his lips. "If you guys are really serious about this, I can give you some pointers in the right direction," the Saltzman hunter stated.

"We're all ears," Emily vowed as she waved her free hand to give the Saltzman hunter the ok to give them any type of advice se that he would have for them. Even if they didn't like the advice, it would still do the Gilbert twins good to at least hear Alaric's suggestions.

"Well, first things first, you guys both need to start lifting weights and hitting the heavy bag a few times a week," Alaric advised. "That way, your punches will have more power behind them to use weapons like this," Alaric explained as he pointed to the sleeve on his wrist. "Not only that but it will help with your cardio as well," Alaric informed the Gilbert sisters.

Emily silently nodded her head to let Alaric know that she was listening and watched the vampire hunter walk away before she turned to look at Elena. "It looks like we need to become gym girls," the Radkova witch couldn't help but joke as she shot Elena a small smirk.

Elena rolled her brown eyes at her twin sister but that didn't stop her from letting out a giggle. The Gilbert girl knew this was a serious situation but she couldn't help but joke back as she told Emily, "breakfast protein shakes for us, then."

The short moment of joking between the Gilbert twins swiftly came to a pause when Alaric appeared back in front of them with another set of weapons.

"Do either of you know what this is?" The Saltzman hunter inquired as he held out two round items in the air for the Gilbert twins to inspect.

Elena immediately nodded her head when she realized what Alaric was showing them. "That's a grenade," the Gilbert girl responded to the Saltzman hunter's question.

"We used those things when we were in Tennessee," Emily recalled as she recognized the item in Alaric's hand before she stated, "but we put wolfsbane in them."

"Correct," Alaric murmured as he began to lead the Gilbert twins further into the woods behind the Salvatore boarding house. "I buy them empty but you can put any type of poison inside," Alaric explained, "I mostly only use vervain and wolfsbane; depending on who I'm chasing."

"When it comes to vampires, the element of surprise is your only real advantage," Alaric informed the Gilbert twins before he glanced over to the Radkova witch. "I'm only talking about without your magic, of course," the Saltzman hunter added.

Alaric grew silent as he took a couple of large steps away from the Gilbert twins. The Saltzman hunter brought the grenades against his chest before he stealthily removed a pin from one of the grenades without Emily nor Elena realizing for the second part of their training.

"Surprise!" Alaric announced as he swiftly turned around before he threw each of the grenades at the Gilbert twins.

"Oh!" Emily gasped when she heard the click of the active grenade before she saw the weapon being thrown at her face. The Radkova witch hurriedly threw her hands up to catch the vervain grenade. Emily glanced down to the grenade before she noticed that the pin was still intact.

After Emily realized that her grenade wasn't going to explode in her face, the Radkova witch carelessly tossed it onto the grass before she moved her green eyes over to Elena, who was still holding the other grenade.

Emily realistically knew the vampire weapon wouldn't do anything major to Elena now that she was human again; just a little glass and vervain to the face. However, that didn't stop Emily from shooting out her hands and encasing the grenade in a thick layer of ice to stop it from exploding.

"Emily..." the Saltzman hunter muttered in a disproving tone as he shook his head at the brunette girl. "The whole point of training is to only rely on your human abilities without your magic," Alaric reminded the Radkova witch as he took the frozen grenade from Elena's hand.

"Sorry, Ric," Emily sheepishly apologized as she took the grenade from the vampire hunter's outstretched palm.

The Radkova witch held the frozen weapon between her two palms before she thought about the heat moving through her body with her magic - something Alaric didn't want her to be using. Emily let the heat move up her hands before she melted the block of ice that surrounded the vervain grenade, which caused the weapon to activate again.

Emily quickly tossed the vervain grenade up in the air before it immediately exploded with tiny shards of glass and a spray of vervain falling over them.

"I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was too late," Emily explained to the vampire hunter as she turned to face the older man. "It's like a reflex to want to keep Elena safe first," the Radkova witch stated before she glanced over to her twin sister with a small smile.

It was just how it always went for Emily - even before she got her magical abilities from Maria Radkova. It was just in Emily's nature as the older twin and the oldest out of all of her siblings to want to keep them safe over herself. That feeling only got stronger within Emily after she became the protector of the innocence.

"I get that, I do," Alaric uttered as he took a few steps forward until he was standing in front of the Gilbert sisters. "You have to understand, though, that your magic isn't always going to be there for you," the Saltzman hunter reminded Emily before he glanced to Elena and told her, "and you won't always have Emily by your side to protect you."

Elena looked over to her twin sister with a small frown on her face. "He has a point," the human girl told Emily as she understood where Alaric was coming from. "You know he does, Em. There has been a few times where we got separated when someone was trying to hurt us," Elena reminded her twin sister.

Emily connected her green eyes with Elena's brown ones before she released a heavy sigh. Emily knew the Saltzman hunter's reasoning was the only acceptable answer for her to not train with her witchy powers.

Emily, of course, knew she would never purposely leave Elena's side during a dangerous situation but the Radkova witch also knew there were times when they had gotten separated. The most recent one was when Rebekah got the chance to attack Elena before Emily could do anything.

That was one of the reasons why Emily wanted to be able to fight against a vampire. The Radkova witch hated how she had to watch Elena get hurt because she didn't want to reveal her magic to Klaus, which ended up being useless, anyway, since Emily's blood turned Tyler into a hybrid with her Radkova blood and Klaus realized why.

Emily looked back over to the Saltzman hunter before she nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess you're right," the Radkova witch murmured in agreement.

"Thank you," Alaric murmured as he praised the teenagers before he brought his hands together for a booming clap. "I'm making a rule," the Saltzman hunter announced before he pointed his finger at the oldest of the Gilbert twins. "Your magic is banned when we're training," Alaric ordered.

Emily lifted up her hands in innocence as a playful grin pulled onto her lips. "No arguments here," the Radkova witch swore before she stated, "whatever you think is right, Ric."

Emily honestly did understand the Saltzman hunter's reasoning. Emily knew she was strong with her magic from all of her time studying her grimoire but she also knew that would mean nothing if something were to happen to her magic. The whole point of this training session was to be able to fight a vampire without her powers, so that meant Emily needed to train without them.

"Good," Alaric murmured before he bent down and grabbed the discarded vervain grenade beside Emily's foot. "Come on," the Saltzman hunter told the Gilbert twins as he stuffed the grenade into his jacket pocket before he uttered, "I need to grab some more stuff from my bag."

Emily gave the vampire hunter a small nod to let Alaric know that she was listening to him. The Radkova witch watched Alaric turn around and begin to head back to the clearing before Emily linked her arm through her twin sister's.

Emily gave Elena's arm a short squeeze through their tangle of limbs before she glanced over to the human girl. "You alright?" The Radkova witch softly inquired.

Elena looked over to her twin sister with a small smile. "Yeah," Elena murmured as they began to slowly follow after the vampire hunter. "I just didn't think it was going to be this harsh," the Gilbert girl admitted. A frown appeared onto Elena's lips as she added, "I thought I would have some sort of strength after being a vampire, you know."

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders. "It's understandable if you think about it," the Radkova witch stated. Emily could see the stress of her twin sister's face, so Emily thought her best bet was to comfort Elena instead of joking about it.

"You died as a vampire, right?" Emily reminded her sister until Elena nodded her head in agreement. "So, when I brought you back, your body returned back to its original form a.k.a. the human one," the Radkova witch explained before she stated, "it's only natural for your body to only have the human strength."

Elena released a heavy sigh as she listened to her sister's explanation. "Yeah, I guess you're right," the Gilbert girl murmured.

Elena was, of course, happy to be human again but she really did miss the power that being a vampire gave her. It sucked that she was practically back at the starting line when she barely had any strength to begin with.

"Hey," Emily cooed as she bumped her hip into her twin sister's. "I'm practically in the same boat," the Radkova witch stated to comfort Elena and her disheartenment over her strength. "My magic doesn't give me super strength or muscles," Emily jokingly uttered.

"Yeah, but you always seem to know how to fight!" Elena whined before she threw her head back with a groan.

Emily shook her head as she released a light chuckle. "That's what happens when Tyler Lockwood is your best friend," the Radkova witch quipped. "Besides, I'm just slippery," Emily added as she carelessly shrugged her shoulders.

Elena let out a giggle as she playfully rolled her brown eyes at the Radkova witch and her jokes. While Elena did feel down about her strength, she was thankful to have Emily there to comfort her and help her through it.

It sucked that she was completely back at square one with being able to keep herself alive against vampires and the other creatures that would come to Mystic Falls. Elena could only hope that Alaric's training would be able to help her as well, so she didn't always have to count on Emily's magic or Damon's vampirism to get her out of bad situations.

The Gilbert twins had barely reached Alaric and his backpack before the vampire hunter turned towards Emily and Elena with a bright tennis ball in his hand. "Catch!" Alaric proclaimed before he launched the ball at the Radkova witch.

Emily let out a squeal of surprise when she felt the tennis ball bounce right off of her forehead. "Ouch," the Radkova witch mumbled as she rubbed her forehead with a deep frown embedded across her face.

Elena couldn't help but giggle before she quickly hid it when Emily looked over at her with a glare. The Gilbert girl awkwardly cleared her throat to get rid of her amusement before Elena looked down to the tennis ball by Emily's feet.

"Is this really necessary?" Elena questioned in confusion. "How is a tennis ball supposed to help us fight against Stef-" The Gilbert girl had began to ask before she quickly corrected herself as she nervously shot a glance towards her twin sister, "uh, I mean, you know, vampires?"

Elena could only imagine how the Radkova witch was feeling with everything that has happened this summer with Stefan and Klaus. Elena knew she would be in a constant state of depression if she was in Emily's shoes. The Gilbert girl just didn't want to make it worse for Emily by bringing up the emotionless Salvatore vampire when they didn't need to; especially after finding out that Stefan was sticking around Mystic Falls for Klaus.

"Yes, it is," Alaric proclaimed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You need to work on your reflexes if you guys are ever going to go one on one with someone with enhanced speed," the Saltzman hunter told the Gilbert twins.

"Vampires will take whatever they want," Alaric reminded the sisters. "They will hurt whoever they want," the Saltzman hunter continued as he glanced between Emily and Elena before he settled his gaze onto the Radkova witch. "It doesn't matter if it's someone you love or not. That vampire instinct, the hunger is all that matters to them. It's in their nature," Alaric proclaimed.

Emily let out a sarcastic chuckle as she shook her head. "You mean Stefan, right?" The Radkova witch inquired as she lifted up her right eyebrow in amusement.

"You guys don't have to sugarcoat his name for me," Emily told her twin sister and the vampire hunter as she glanced at each of them. "I get it," Emily stated, "I understand that he's dangerous and he can't be trusted anymore."

Emily released a heavy sigh. "I knew that all along but I didn't let myself believe it until he killed Andie," the Radkova witch admitted as a frown pulled onto her face. "It sucks," Emily uttered as she shrugged her shoulders, "and it hurts but I know."

"Emily..." The human girl of the two sisters murmured with a sense of sadness in her voice. "I just thought it would help you if I didn't say his name," Elena confessed as she softly grabbed ahold of Emily's hand.

"And I love you for that," Emily assured her twin sister as she squeezed Elena's hand before she turned her gaze over to the vampire hunter. "But I can't ignore him when he could be our biggest obstacle with Klaus controlling him," the Radkova witch stated.

"I love Stefan I really do but right now he's not the person I fell for," Emily mumbled as she shook her head. "He's on the enemy's side," the Radkova witch reminded herself and the duo in front of her. "I'll do whatever I have to do to keep everyone safe from him," Emily confidently swore.

It pained Emily to even think about her and Stefan being on opposite sides but it was their reality. The Radkova witch just hoped that she had the ability to be strong enough to handle fighting against Stefan until Mikael, their secret weapon, took care of the original hybrid.

The Saltzman man silently nodded his head. "I believe you," Alaric assured the Radkova witch, "you want to stop Stefan."

"Do you really, though?" Emily skeptically inquired. The Radkova witch let out a humorless chuckle before she mumbled, "because if you, a vampire hunter, thinks I'm too crazy to attempt this then I'm not sure I can do it."

"Hey," Alaric cooed at the Radkova witch. "I don't think you're crazy at all," the Saltzman hunter promised as he shook his head. "I think you are so strong for being selfless to protect the people around you," Alaric proclaimed.

Alaric could still see the skepticism in the Radkova witch's green eyes, so he continued as he reminisced, "you know, I was so obsessed with finding Isobel's murderer when I thought a vampire killed her for so long. I was always trying to revenge her, like it would save her."

The Saltzman man shot Emily a soft smile. "You are way stronger than me," Alaric declared. "You love Stefan but you know when you have to take a step back," Alaric stated. "I could never do that," the vampire hunter uttered as he shook his head.

Alaric squatted down before he picked up the tennis ball beside the Radkova witch's white and blue sneakers. "I believe you," the Saltzman man murmured, "I know you are strong enough to fight forward and fight Stefan if you have to." Alaric held the tennis ball out to Emily before he asked, "are you ready?"

A grin immediately pulled onto Emily's lips after the vampire hunter's little speech. It meant a lot to Emily that Alaric believed in her. It felt even better to know that Alaric wasn't just humoring her because he's dating Jenna or because Alaric's her teacher.

Alaric could have taken her vampire training lightly but the Saltzman man was taking it serious just like the Radkova witch had hoped for, so they could deal with Stefan being back in Mystic Falls.

"Let's do it," Emily proclaimed as she accepted the tennis ball from Alaric as if she was signing some sort of contract with the vampire hunter. It kind of was if Emily thought about it. It was Alaric's way of showing Emily that he believed in her, which was something that the Radkova witch definitely needed if she was ever going to be able to stand up against someone she deeply cares for.