TRAINING 2

"What was that about?" He thought then shrugged as he walked towards where Mozrael stood at one side of the room, where a large assortment of weapons was arranged against the wall in racks. There were all kinds of weapons there, such as knives, daggers, swords, maces, glaives, spears, longbows, crossbows, axes, and some that looked like guns, but just these had no such thing as a trigger or any part where you put in ammo. There were only seven of those, each with a different engraving of runes on it. They looked like they shimmered now and then, but at the same time, they looked like just some reflection of light playing tricks on the eye.

Mozrael moved over to where the swords were arranged and picked a long, slender sword. Its hilt was black and the sword itself looked closer to black than silver if one were to look closely. A blue line run down its center to the very tip. It was very light and easy to move around with, and even though may have looked fragile, never underestimate any of the weapons in that room. They were all powerful and sharp and faced against any normal blade, it might just cut right through without stopping. That was just how the amazing blacksmiths were.

Aramith moved over to where Mozrael stood and looked through the swords placed there. It didn't take him long to decide what his weapon would be. It was a simple sword the length of his forearm. It looked in every way mediocre compared to the long sword that tapered to a very sharp point that Mozrael held. Aramith looked closely at his weapon and turned it so he could see his purple eye staring back at him. Lia entered then and Aramith tilted his sword, looking at Lia through the reflection. She went and picked a bow and moved farther away from them, where a range was set up. Boxes of arrows were arranged away from the targets where archers would stand to aim. She took her stance between two of those boxes. She stood with her feet shoulder-width apart and parallel to the shooting line. Her front foot was moved back a little and turned slightly towards the target. Her back was straight, and her chin rotated so it was over the shoulder of her left arm which held the bow. She stood still for a second and breathed out gently, then simultaneously raised the bow and nocked an arrow. She aimed for the target and pulled the string back. With a twang, she let the arrow fly toward its target. It went unmistakably toward the gold center, half of its length disappearing into the target. She still kept her expression as she picked another arrow and Aimed once again. Just like before, she let it fly, and just like the previous one, entered the same center with the same length implanted as the other one.

Aramith and Mozrael watched her continuously make those amazing shots so effortlessly. She made it look so simple with the way her hand automatically dropped to pick another arrow to aim right after one was shot. She did it so fluidly, one might forget how difficult it was to aim with the bow as she was doing. Even though it looked beautiful, Mozrael looked at Aramith uncomfortably. Lia was unhappy that her brother didn't give her attention and even ignored her most of the time, but wasn't she acting a bit too much? All three of them trained together no matter what and this was the first time Lia had isolated herself as such. She was feeling more uncomfortable as she watched Lia and didn't know what to do. She wouldn't so easily join them to train and if Aramith was to train with Mozrael alone, she'd feel like she was being ignored even more. Per the way she saw it, things would have worked more easily if it was Lia and Aramith alone. She wished she'd come later after Lia and Aramith came, that way, Lia would be easier to deal with. How she wanted to get out with some excuse and then come back later, the tension between those two would've gone down a bit but the moment she tried to leave, Aramith would chase after her and bring her back, saying she was distancing herself again. How did such a simple thing turn into something as complicated as that? She looked at Aramith again but was surprised to see a smile though his eyes were on the arrows that were shot as they moved toward their targets. She then noticed that he'd raised his sword, holding the tip. He aimed, and threw it at Lia's arrows; he planned on hitting Lia's next shot, but Lia saw that and shot the next one with much power. She'd be able to dodge it was what she thought, but Aramith had already predicted she'd do that, so the sword was moving with a speed that matched the arrow she'd shot. It struck the middle of the arrow, snapping it into two. All of a sudden, Mozrael noticed Aramith wasn't standing next to her and a blurred figure was moving towards the range. He suddenly appeared where the sword would have fallen and caught it.

"You've gotten much slower and easier to predict," Aramith said mockingly. "And you forgot you're supposed to change from that dress before doing anything," he pointed at her dress. He didn't wait for her to say anything and left towards the dressing rooms. Lia was fuming and before she knew it, she had already nocked an arrow and was aiming at him. Mozrael shouted as she let it go, but just before it got its target, Aramith turned around on agile feet and ducked. Just as it was about to pass him, he raised his left arm and caught it, then straightened himself. All that happened in a second and looked like he caught it standing. "Predictable, predict able. I could predict your ability haha. You're so easy to read Lia and you're much slower," he chuckled and left, but Lia was in shock and unable to move. What had she just done? She'd shot a fatal one at Aramith; the person she supposedly cared for the most. What if he wasn't as skilled as he was? She'd have wounded him seriously, and there was no way she'd be able to show him her face after doing such a thing. Her heart thumped wildly and she stood still, eyes wide. Sweat dripped from her face and she breathed with difficulty. "Let's go," she heard and saw Mozrael standing next to her with a concerned look on her face. That was when she realized she'd dropped the bow. "Are you alright?" she asked again. Lia looked away, unable to meet Mozrael's eyes. How could I be okay? I almost hurt big brother. She stood upright and started toward the exit. "Wait, where-" "Just leave me alone," she cut Mozrael off and stormed off.

Aramith stepped out of the dressing room wearing a fencing outfit and holding the sword in one hand, the mask in another. "What is she...?" He saw Lia rushing out of the room. He aimed at her and threw the helmet in a projectile. It went towards her, flipping, and perfectly got her head. She was wearing it. Lia was furious and took off the mask and tossed it away. "Leave me alone, okay?" She shouted, but Aramith was right before her. He grinned as he grabbed her arm and dragged a struggling Lia towards the dressing rooms. "Just because I stopped you twice and embarrassed you doesn't mean you get to run away. You're too ashamed to face me because you're terrible? Who would have thought the day Lia would be so ashamed would arrive?" "Let me go." "NO. You're going to train with us till we all give up for the day, terrible archer." She still struggled to get away "No you don't get it, I-" "Shh! Watch this," he silenced her when they reached the door to the girl's dressing room. "What?" She asked, but before she knew it, he opened the door as quick as lightning and pushed her inside. "You're not coming out till you've changed and are ready to train." "Wait." He shut the door, locked it, and leaned against it. "Open!" "Not until you want to train. You're terrible as is already and you want to skip? I won't allow that, and even if you escape, I'll have Gebreth know so make your decision.

Mozrael was more amazed than startled at how he'd handled the situation. She couldn't tell if he was being serious as he said, or whether he did that just to bring Lia back to her normal self.

"Aren't you also going to train?" He asked Mozrael. She nodded and walked towards where he stood. He stood aside and bowed like a butler "Go in, miss." She smiled a little and went inside. As quick as lightning, he shut the door and locked it. Mozrael jumped in shock.

Lia hmphed and went to change, having no other choice. She chose a tight-fitting Brown leather jacket and trousers. since she was going to be shooting arrows. As she was dressing, she suddenly frowned. "What's his problem?" She thought out loud.

Mozrael Looked at her gently but focused on dressing up. She finished and Lia was now putting on the jacket. She walked towards Lia and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lia looked at her startled.

"If you're worried about him being angry, don't. He's very worried about you but he doesn't know how to help you that's why." "But even if that's true he doesn't act as if he cares about me. He only cares for you and ignores me. When I try for us to have fun, he just pushes me away but if it's you he doesn't mind. It's not fair." 'I understand what you mean but have you noticed he's a very caring person? Think of the cat. He found it when we went outside the other time and decided to bring it along. And the reason why he's always trying to get me around is that I'm shy of people. He wants to help me, that's why." Lia looked at the floor. "But what about me? He doesn't help me as you say. I just want to have fun with my big brother but that's too difficult?" "He...it's because he doesn't know that's what you want to do. He doesn't know that's how he can help you. If he did, he would try to make you happier. When you left the dining hall and he went after you, he was filled with worry, and when he came back to get me and we were coming here he only asked about you, whether he'd hurt you in some way." Lia groaned. "But...making him dress as a girl and putting him in a position where he has no choice but to act like a different person is something that would make it more difficult for him to understand your main motives." "What do you mean? I thought he liked it." "Not really...it somehow makes you like a..." "A what?" Mozrael looked away

"A sadist." Lia gasped "I'm not a sadist! Hmpf you're mean!" She drew away from Mozrael and dressed up. Mozrael apologized to her continuously till she finished dressing and looked at her. "When we get out, pretend we never had this talk." "O okay," Mozrael said with relief but then Lia went to the door and hit it so hard she jumped again. What's with these two?