Akko arrived at the Dublin ranch, after a long journey, she was already getting to work, having to put her hand in the dough, in the most helping the gerudo Amanda O'Neill, besides Holly too, what they were having lunch giving a good break to rest, but soon they returned to work and it was still a lot to leave the ranch straightened, such as preparing for a trip to sell the resources and be fetched and sold, in the evening the tired Kagari was called by Chelsea for something more differentiated, already with the work completed.
There was Chelsea, armed with a wooden sword made for training, she soon hands it over to Akko, where the part that matters most on this whole trip to the ranch will begin, the girl from Luna Nova, is soon getting anxious, walking towards the older one to land some blow, but was easily defended by McLaren with a single hand and still with the other behind her back.
"Very predictable, you could do better, you have to keep calm yet, don't attack like that at once thinking you will scare the enemy you have to keep calm or else it happens" Said Mrs McLaren who quickly disarms the youngest with just a single movement.
"How can you do it? I have to be fast or else there's time for me to be attacked, there's no way I can just stand there waiting, the monsters won't wait for me until I attack" Kagari said.
"Oh, so you think my attacks are that slow? If you know how to keep calm and go quickly in that same calm, then you've come far, let me demonstrate" Chelsea said departing to the brown-haired one.
Atsuko was trying to defend, but simply the movements were fast and precise what she was taking a good blows in several parts without realising, which in this case were not blows, just a few blows that were hitting her head, chest and leg in a very sudden way, leaving her stunned and all this while the ruin was with one hand on her back moving quietly as if it were something looking very slow to the eyes of those who watched, but in reality she moved very agile and light.
"You see, come on now, don't attack me in madness, think carefully about each movement when you hit me and so you can better guarantee yourself in combat, come on" Said Mrs McLararen.
"I'll try, since you said I have to think well, then I have to go slower and know where to attack, know where a gap is yours apparently" Said Akko
And this time she was a little slower, but attentive, she was trying to make blows less in madness and more trying to find a point to hit, but it was still defended, Chelsea's sword always appeared to defend the attacks and thus block any chance of an attack, which Kagari has noticed, she realises that she can attack better by going a little faster focusing on several points, even making the older woman take a few steps back, but before she could win on top of the ruin she takes a counter attack that makes her come back, being hit right in the chest which she stares at the wooden sword very impressed.
"I told you, just keep calm girl, you were much better and faster that way, a real warrior knows the best time to attack and goes lightly" Said Mrs McLaren.
"I think I understand, I was able to win a little more, it's much better this way, it seems that you tried to protect yourself more and didn't even disarm me like the other times" Said the happy girl with crimson eyes.
"There was a loophole for that, but I wanted to show how it is a cleaner and easier to use combat style, it is more efficient than just moving the sword from side to side wanting to hit a cut, or a lunge, it serves for monsters also lunges or cuts made suddenly will only irritate the creature more and will not kill at the time, a good lunge at the weak point is the best blow you have, now come again, I will try to disarm you now" Said Chelsea.
Atsuko concentrated a little more, gave a little focus looking well at the position that the older woman was and went up, keeping calm she was noticing that her attempts were always in defence, but that she did not end up at least being disarmed, she was managing to keep up against the defence of Mrs McLaren, who was even walking with a few steps back, but soon she will give some counter attacks and in this Akko really can not deal against, taking more steps back.
Until she put her foot in a bucket where she was falling back and this time giving her ass on the floor what she still used her foot to knock Chelsea who was taken by surprise falling and so Kagari was wanting to counter attack, but was surprised with a blow to the belly
"Not that far clumsy girl, I know that was partially unintentional, but the part of knocking me down with your fall was smart, the genius is already with you, now take a rest and take the bucket off your foot, I'm going to train my daughter now" Said older redhead.
"You are also smart, you knew how to attack right away, but I will still learn a lot, I will come out of here a great warrior" Said the brown-haired woman who went to sit on a hay cake she made with Amanda and so they are giving their legs a good rest.
"Not bad girl, you look like a wimp, but you do well with the sword, just work out more on that skinny body there that you can become the warrior" Said Amanda teasing her.
Meanwhile, mother and daughter were practicing combat together and it was evident that Holly was much less prepared than Akko, even having difficulty wielding the sword in some ways, as well as moving to attack, but with very patient instructions from Chelsea who, like a caring mother, was helping her daughter.
[...]
The next day dawned, just before dawn in fact, a cucco was placed on Atsuko's face that is woken up in surprise by the older McLaren already to get her hands dirty and go to work, which she sleepily gets out of bed, it was still four o'clock in the morning and she was already being raised.
With this unexpected and uncomfortable way of waking up, Kagari was doing personal hygiene, changing into her work clothes and also having breakfast where she then gets her hands dirty going outside with Amanda and Holly.
"Very well in the morning you already know what you are going to do, get shovels, get bags that we will start the day in a disgusting way, to start the work you will remove the animals' faeces and leave everything clean, then you will change the water of each one of them and the food, in addition to not leaving our food aside so already irrigate the plants and after all this is done you will be able to take a break, because I will think here about what needs to be done on the ranch" Chelsea said to the three girls who nodded at her.
"Come on, good luck girl from Luna Nova, cleaning the horse droppings won't be easy at all" Amanda said.
"It's good that you can get more intimate with them and one day one of them will be yours" said Holly.
"Oh, so she's going to get a horse too? I can see it's going to be a lot of work from now on for this one hahahaha" Amanda said.
"Talk less and work more, I'll take care of the house cleaning, don't think I'm just relaxing all the time, everyone here works and helps each other" Said Mrs McLaren who left there going to the house.
The three girls went on to work and Akko with her hair all tied up was just in the stable of the horses, where she was feeling a strong smell already coming from each of their places, which was already releasing them to walk through the huge fence that was left and so the size was getting free for her to start cleaning.
"Ew, these horses look like a bottomless bag, they never seem to stop releasing poo around here, to think that this is already the first thing I do that day" Kagari said, covering her nose in disgust.
With the shovel she was soon filling the bag with various horse faeces, taking everything she had in each stable, which was no small feat since the horses were huge, even the foals were too, which she was getting very frustrated, having to remove only one was already a job like that, which would be made worse by having 9 horses on the whole ranch, in nine stables that need to be kept in order, which is not only to remove the faeces, but also to change the hay that was all dirty and would be necessary to accumulate in the various bags of fertiliser.
"I wonder how you can stand that smell... I shouldn't have done it, but now it's too late, I swear after this I'll rethink the idea of having a horse" Said Akko filling a bag with faeces and leftover hay.
They were some 20 kg bags that after being filled were taken to a pile where they had more of these bags and they were all accumulated with manure, made to make fertiliser, Akko was already getting tired of going back and forth, but soon the stable was clean and that way she could breathe a little, but she would still have more work ahead and that counted the part of renewing the animals' food.
"Phew... I'm dead tired, I've already done a lot here" said the panting Akko.
After doing the first job, she went to drink water and then started renewing the provisions for the animals, starting right there with the horses and looking at each one of them already a little relieved and with a smile on her face.
(One day one of them will be mine, that's a certainty).
Atsuko began to change the water, which is a service that involves going back and forth to the nearby water source carrying a bucket full of water and thus filling the tanks that had water for the horses to drink, then changing the hay for the horses to eat, for a newer one, while the old one was left to make more fertiliser, always returning things to nature to renew itself.
[...]
The three finished the services in the morning, the day had dawned for a while and with that they were resting together, sitting in front of the barn in a pile of hay, but soon Amanda was leaving there to do some stretches, warm-ups in the body which was very strange to Kagari who had no idea what her friend was doing.
"What is this Amanda? You're dancing at this hour, we still have to have energy for what's to come" said the crimson-eyed one.
"You're a warrior, don't tell me you've never exercised like this?" said O'Neill. "It's not for nothing that you're that thin" O'Neill said.
"And what's that for?" Asks the brown-haired one and is soon answered with a few good laughs from the gerudo.
"Oh naive Hyllian, this is done to exercise the body, get it used to constant work, you should also do it, or else you will get back pain before you are 30 and you will look old when you are at that age, apart from that the warrior there has to train even it is not just the skill that counts, you have to be strong to take a beating and know how to deal stronger blows, or do you think you will magically take strength? A strong warrior can win with the least amount of blows possible and to achieve this is just to be strong, come with me girl" Said Amanda.
Then Akko shrugged and decided to join her friend, starting to warm up and being stretched already feeling some pain when being pushed, but feeling the flexibility already being pulled to the limit, she was still holding on and who observed everything from the window was precisely Chelsea with a look of pride for the three, even Holly joined the wave.
"We can play with Holly later when we've finished this, they're doing well so far" said Amanda.
"You're so strong Amanda why haven't you become a warrior yourself?" The younger McLaren asks.
"I prefer not to, I don't like wars or wielding a sword, I like the tranquillity of the countryside and living like this, looser, I couldn't stand the battlefield, that's why I was even considered a weak gerudo for not wanting to fight, our king himself banished me, but I was lucky to find your mother who helped me by taking me here and since then I stayed, I was only 10 years old at the time" Said O'Neill.
"Wow and you seem to like it here a lot, it looks like a very comfortable place, don't you feel like travelling the world and seeing other places?" Akko asks.
"I don't feel like it, I like how I am, besides that gerudos have a huge bad reputation, a lot because of Ganonforf many centuries ago, until today it is praised by us gerudos, but he was a great bad guy in real, I found out when I saw what he did in Hyrule several times, I wonder if he comes back the disaster that would be, anyway, let's continue there, focus on training" Said the gerudo.
The three were giving a brief light workout, with the right to some abs after stretching and also some weightlifting that they used with some weights that Amanda brought the girls and that were really heavy for the two to carry, but not for the strong gerudo that was lifting quietly.
Atsuko was having a hard time trying to lift the weights, but she went with some lighter ones, without getting heavy, even more than O'Neill warns not to end up causing too much damage to the body.
"Take it easy, if you take it heavy like that at first with your body without getting used to it, you may end up never moving those muscles again, these are things I learnt from a young age in the gerudo village" Said the gerudo.
"Wow, but this is really heavy, if you say I can get strong like this, then I might end up with arms like yours" Akko said.
They stayed there for a few minutes training and soon Chelsea arrived to tell them to rest after so much work after all there was more to do ahead and also with her finger covering her nose, looking at the trio that was full of sweat.
"You three go to the creek to bathe, I will make you lunch, only come back when you are clean, there will be more work in the afternoon, but for now you are smelling a lot from training and also from the work in the morning with the faeces" said Mrs McLaren and both Amanda and Holly were jumping for joy.
"Yayyyy!" The two said and ran to the stream and Akko followed them.
The oldest went straight back to the house to prepare the food and even took a quick look at the ranch seeing that the work was all well done by the trio, who arrive at the stream and they already throw themselves into the water at once, with clothes and everything they go laughing a lot and getting wet.
"Woah, I've never done that, the stream near our house is very shallow and if they caught us swimming in the water it would be punishment for sure" said Akko.
"Really? Here my mum lets you use it to bathe, it's usually always on a day when we take out a lot of accumulated faeces, good that the water leaves the clothes clean afterwards, and you can bathe as if you were in a huge bathtub of water, it's just boring that the water is cold, but the good thing is having space to swim - Holly said having fun and jumping in the water.
"Akko can you swim?" Amanda asks.
"No, I was never taught, I never went into the stream, not even at night, not even hidden, we were punished on the spot, the stream was only used to wash clothes and get water, that's all" Kagari said.
"Come here, I'll teach you, it's not too difficult, the water is marvellously fine" said O'Neill.
"Are you sure it's safe? They said things about the water that the stream is dangerous and that people die from going in the deep part of the water that is only where fish can go" The crimson-eyed one tries not to go, but sees that Amanda simply catches a fish as if it were nothing.
"Like this one, come here and I'll teach you, you learn to dive and anything we'll hold you, look at Holly how well she swims" Said the gerudo showing the Mclaren simply swimming from one side to the other in the stream.
Akko was going deeper with a little fear and apprehensive, but was soon feeling safer, to go more with Amanda with open arms and confident, she was soon feeling the water rising, going to the chest, which she already found a lot and was stopping there, already the gerudo was still calling for her to arrive and Kagari only denied with her head.
"You're much taller than us, this is enough for me to sink in" said Kagari with her cheeks inflated.
"You're right Hyllian, the height you are is already good to learn the basics, but look at Holly, she can even swim very well, she even went deeper than myself, although she already knew how to swim from a very early age, it was with her and mum that I learned to swim, so you can come" Gerudo said with open arms.
"I just need to do what Holly does, it's simple, I know I can do it" said the confident crimson-eyed girl.
Atsuko jumps up to float in the water lying down and starts to imitate what Holly is doing trying to swim until she reaches Amanda, but she had no idea where she had gone, a lot because she couldn't see, when she opened her eyes from opening her arms so much she noticed that she was still practically in the same place, only leaving it a little when she noticed that putting her foot on the ground was getting deeper than where she was.
"You just flap your arms come Akko, you can come, flap your feet too just take it easy" O'Neill said.
Akko as always having to repeat the same advice and it was there that she was trying to do it more calmly, still without looking at what was coming ahead, she even managed to get out of the place a little more, but she went to put her foot on the ground and when she did she noticed an unpleasant surprise, there was nowhere else for her to put her head on top since the water was 1.60m deep much more than the 1.54 height of the 14 year old girl.
"Akko!" Said Amanda who went to help her friend by holding her to the surface.
She was trying to get more height, but the water was too deep for her little height, but soon with O'Neill's help she was able to get back to the surface, feeling the fresh air again and being relieved, even coughing a little and being a little scared being taken to a shallower place.
"Is everything all right Akko?" Asks the gerudo.
"This is a horrible feeling, it felt like the water was going to consume me, there was no ground for me, I was all submerged, how can you do it?" Kagari said coughing.
"Oh it's really bad, I thought I would help you like this, that's how I learnt to swim too, at first I couldn't float, but I had a little help to float from Mrs McLaren, well if you want to learn another time we can think about doing it like this" said Amanda.
"Alright, I'll help you wash your clothes now, I don't care about swimming for now" said the traumatised brown-haired girl.
"Oh... I'm sorry, I hope I can help in some way, I'll help with the washing up as well, Holly keeps joking, Hey Holly, get your clothes off there, we'll have to clean them up" said O'Neill.
And so it was the trauma that Akko got from the waters of the stream, for not being able to swim, she was left with a psychological prison of not going deeper, in this she stayed in shallower parts with Amanda helping to clean her own clothes and those of her friends too, where they gave a nice rest and then they let the clothes dry, going swimming some more, this time Akko did not go to the bottom, she was trying to learn in shallower waters, having help from the most attentive friends.
[...]
When the time passed for the bath and the clothes to dry, they leave the river, dry themselves with some towels that were nearby and get dressed again to go to lunch, it was a moment full of ups and downs in that water of the stream that Akko will not forget so easily.
They arrive at the kitchen and the food was already ready, it was a real feast prepared by Chelsea where they start to enjoy the most variety, while the oldest McLaren was talking to them.
"How was the stream? Did you find any rare fish? - Mrs McLaren asks.
"Just Akko's trauma, it seems she didn't like going deep, she's still travelling in her thoughts about all this, she didn't go deep - Amanda said.
"Of course, just like you, you invented going deeper and you were higher than you, this stream is two of you deep, even an adult gerudo sinks here, it's not for nothing that she was traumatised, but we will not give up teaching you to swim, seeAkko, tomorrow I'll go with you in the stream, I can teach you in the shallow - Said the older redhead.
"In that childish way hahahahaha! You'll be held in Mrs McLaren's arms," said O'Neill, teasing her.
"You can't say anything, that's how you learnt to swim too Amanda, you'll ridicule even your friend, she must never have swum, just like you who lived in the desert, but without fighting let's enjoy breakfast, since today the day doesn't have much to work on, I'll invest some of the afternoon to train this warrior here - Chelsea said.
"Thank you Mrs McLaren, you are always so kind," said Akko with a smile and ate her lunch.
The four of them were filling up with food and Akko was even comforting herself more, thinking more about the water situation, since for her it was a memory and a not very interesting experience, when she finished eating she sat down on a pile of hay, watching Amanda and Holly working and getting very reflective.
The older McLaren arrives with the two swords to go train with the girl and already has a look of a mother worried about the girl.
"The water thing had an impact on you, didn't it? Do you have any trauma from that?" Mrs McLaren asks.
"They used to dunk my face in the water when I failed with things or to make fun of me in my village in Luna Nova, falling was bringing back these childhood memories, I can't not imagine the girls dunking my head and saying that I should be there with the fish, that I'm more useless than them" Kagari said with her arms half crossed.
"Oh, poor thing, know that you are not useless, your work in the stable was excellent, even I leave it so clean, you can stay a good few days like that, congratulations, well if you don't want to train with the sword now I understand, your little head has to be in place warrior" Said Chelsea.
"I want to, I won't keep my head down, I am a warrior after all, the future of Hyrule depends on me and a childhood trauma won't stop me" Said the crimson-eyed one getting up from the hay.
"Well then, come on, show me what you've learnt, let's see if you still remember yesterday's lessons" said the McLaren, already in a combat position.
Akko takes a deep breath and starts to fight, in the most going without being calm and also without being desperate, she seemed to attack even in a bad way, it was noticeable that her psychological was affected by all that trauma of the stream, which soon the oldest was realising and starting to defend herself using her hand stopping the sword and then taking it out of the girl's hand.
"You don't have the mind for it, do you?" said Mrs McLaren. We can talk a bit," said Mrs McLaren.
"I'm fine, we can train, we can train! I don't want to be a failure, I don't want Hyrule to fall because of me I'm not a failure!" the ruby red of Akko's eyes filled with tears and she was soon crying into a hug on Chelsea's shoulder who was mutually giving the girl a hug.
"You are not a failure Atsuko, you are a warrior, come here, you don't have to force yourself, you have to keep your head cool, come with me" Said Mrs McLaren taking the girl to a pile of hay where she was wiping her tears.
"Look at me Mrs McLaren, I am a warrior and I beat a farmer, a farmer, you are simply much better than me, if Hyrule was in your hands it would be much better, but no, Woodward chose the flaw, the scum, what I am... She chose the worst possible one" said the brown-haired one crying.
"You're not a failure and no I'm not just an ordinary rancher, the truth is I wasn't even born on this ranch, my parents and I are from Luna Nova, just like you, we fought to help the queen win her throne and then she rewarded us with this ranch, we are warriors, I only stayed on the ranch to have a quiet life with my girl, I lost a lot of precious people in that battle, my parents and almost my wife, who left 11 years ago ... She disappeared, said she was going away on business and hasn't been back since, I'm sure thieves got her or some soldier from Appleton kidnapped her, her being gone always makes me sad, anyway... You're not a failure, I know what it's like to feel cast aside, I know what it's like to feel like a nobody, my sister is gigantic in achievements next to me, I was also considered useless by the people of Luna Nova, but here I am, look, success only comes after a lot of failure, I failed a lot, I copied my sister a lot, I tried to be like her, but when I found my style, my way of fighting, it was what saved the queen's life and what could guarantee our victory 20 years ago, believe it or not it was great, you will still be the great warrior, I trust you, if Woodward passed this mission it is because she recognises your potential" Chelsea was giving a good wipe to Akko's tears that moved her to open a smile.
"Do you really think I could be a great warrior? "I'm a problem in everything, I think I do better as a farmer than as a real warrior, we can even swap, you become the hero of Hyrule and I'm the farmer, it suits you better" Akko said and she heard some good laughs from the older one.
"Hahahahahaha, believe it or not, there are a lot of people better with the sword than me, Queen Laura is a monster, no one has ever beaten her, I know that well because this woman has already beaten me and beaten and beaten a lot yet, I trained a lot with her to perfect, but anyway, for sure you will find your style, you will find your sword that best fits you and you will be a better warrior even than the queen herself, I recognise that from you, let's train a lot yet okay?" Said the eldest and Akko only agrees with her head.
"Thank you Mrs McLaren, you really know how to make someone feel better, thank you, I think now I can think about using the sword better, you can teach me how to hold it better, not only in combat, the position you use seems perfect " Kagari said.
"Of course, we will find the best one for you, my style is not very sword-focused like yours, I use rapieras like my niece, I taught her by the way, it is a style that I perfected more, well in the most I teach you the varied styles, you look more like the queen, a long sword warrior, with this little thing you can even go far at first, but you will need the master sword of Arcturus later" Chelsea said.
Akko was cracking a smile, learning more stances, seeing which one would fit her best, while Chelsea was getting better at tactics, like wielding the sword with a firm grip on the sword, ready to go deep.
The arrival at the ranch was already full of work, but also with moments where Akko was having some more emotional moments when remembering some traumas she was having when she was younger, in the most she was thinking that she was not so useful, without giving up on how far she is able to go, thanks to the help of Chelsea who was helping her to feel better.
See you, ranch witches ...