The Young Gladiatrix

Talk of Training

With a quiet sigh, Ash led Stephi into the arena for training, her mind full of questions and a slight hint of hatred. Decimus had once again had to leave for work of his own outside of the arena, leaving Ash with the other guards and her fellow knights. She'd completely forgotten about the other gladiators. And they seemed to have forgotten about her. Either that or they were just ignoring her. But it didn't matter now. She was different from them. Very different.
As she walked with Stephi, Sir Neville and Lord Stafford jogged over to her, stopping her from going any further. "I'm not so sure you want to be in here right now, Ash" stated Lord Stafford, resting a firm hand on her shoulder as she gazed past him. Her eyes instantly narrowing. "Father" she muttered under her breath. Seeing the fire in her eyes, Lord Stafford tightened his hand on her shoulder. "Don't ignite that flame, Ash. It's not worth you starting something with him. If something is to happen, let him start it. At least you've got us on your side"
She couldn't argue with him there because he had a point. She had people on her side to back her up. Her father appeared to have no one right now. "I have to train with Stephi. I can't skip a day just because he's hanging around in here. Is he stupid enough to make a move when you're here watching?" Sir Neville gave her a leg up into the saddle as he replied; "I hope not. But if he does make any attempts to do anything to you. We can, and will deal with it. Knights code of chivalry. And for the fact that we don't believe he should even have this stance towards you. It's not very father-like"
"He's never been a father" muttered Ash, shifting the reins into her left hand. The two knights cast a look back at her father. He was already watching them. "Just don't let him distract you today, alright? Focus on Stephi, and listen to Sir Howard. He's taking the first half of your session" Ash merely nodded, trotting Stephi over to Sir Howard.
Lord Stafford and Sir Neville watched for a moment. "She's going to end up killing that man" commented Sir Neville, his arms folded as he gazed to Lord Stafford out the corner of his eye. "Wouldn't you? Based on what she's said, and what we've heard from Decimus and around the arena. Kaiser is no father to her, nor was he a father to Niero. He's a horrid man, and an even worse father" replied Lord Stafford, watching as Ash and Sir Howard trained; charging along the rail time and time again. "Maybe this is where Ash's attitude comes from. Though she seems to have one thing her father doesn't have. And that is love for others. Understanding. Ash may not have the most patience. But she tries, at least. Look at the way he's watching her"
"At least it's not distracting her" commented Sir Neville, watching Ash and Sir Howard as they charged at one another again. With Ash managing to unhorse Sir Howard and shatter her lance. A perfect hit. It earned a chuckle from Lord Stafford. "Training is paying off. She's focused" He watched how Ash rode round to check on Sir Howard, jumping from her horse to help him stand after making sure he was ok. "You want to challenge her again, don't you?" asked Sir Neville, watching Lord Stafford for a moment. "I do, yes. She's improved. She just needs work in hand to hand combat. She was good at defence, but attacking. She seemed nervous to strike"
"Probably because she doesn't want to hurt you. Even if you did hurt her" Sir Neville directed his gaze back to Ash and Sir Howard, motioning for Sir Howard to work on hand to hand combat with her. "She got up after it though. And only remained down after the 2nd or 3rd hit. Desire to go on is there. We just need to work on her ability to stay on her feet during foot combat"
The pair silenced for a moment. Watching Sir Howard and Ash. He demonstrated a technique. She copied. Then they tried it on one another. They repeated this process several times until Ash seemed to have it down. She was dodging attacks, then performing her own attacks. She was going down, then getting up with a counter-attack to take her opponent down. When she eventually made Sir Howard yield, she backed off, offering a hand to help him to stand.
Her actions earned smiles from the knights. "Still want that challenge, Stafford?" asked Sir Neville, watching Ash and Sir Howard return to their mounts.

"Now more than ever"

[Author's Note: I'm getting used to these none-conflict parts. They're a nice break from the real fighting. But look at that! Lord Stafford wants another challenge! He's impressed with Ash's progress and wants to challenge her again! Should this be a private challenge open to only those of high profile, or should it be another public challenge?]