warrior ( RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE. )

xi. THE BEST

WARRIOR!
( chapter eleven )

A FEW DAYS later, another dueling lesson was upon the Ares and Aphrodite kids. Ingrid, still on a blissful high since her painting date (yes, she was calling it a date) was actually excited to go to this class. Sure, Rachel wasn't there, but Piper was. The Aphrodite girl was easily becoming one of her favorite people, and she couldn't wait to share details with her.

   "Grab your partners and continue what we did the other day! Focus on your offensive striking skills. I wanna see improvement from everyone." Clarisse announced.

   Piper and Ingrid made eye contact across the arena. The Aphrodite girl tilted her head towards their usual spot where they met on the mat. "Ready to get your ass handed to you today?" Piper said and Ingrid grinned.

   "We'll see about that. What are you using today?" She asked and Piper branded her WOTD (Weapon of the Day). Ingrid's jaw dropped as Piper revealed a celestial bronze machete, identical to the one strapped at her hip.

   "No way." Was all Ingrid could say.

   Piper smirked. "Yes way. Now pick you jaw up off the floor and let's start already!"

   The girls took their starting stances. Both stared each other down before Ingrid took the first stab. Piper deflected it easily, and the two began to slash their weapons against each other's, trying to decide where to take a jab at next. Piper ducked down as if she was going to swipe at Ingrid's feet, making the Ares girl jump in reaction. But as she did so, Piper rolled around to Ingrid's backside to try and de-arm her from the back. When Ingrid caught on, she took Piper's previous position, giving her a puzzled look.

   "Was that on purpose or what?" She said, and Piper shrugged, clashing her weapon against Ingrid's.

   "Dunno." Was all she said. Ingrid was a bit taken aback but she didn't let it stop her.

The two continued to go back and forth, Ingrid jabbing at Piper's side, Piper jabbing at Ingrid's legs and so on. It wasn't until Piper ducked down once again that Ingrid sidestepped rather than jumping. Piper then must have anticipated this move because she grabbed at Ingrid's right arm and leg and yanked her down to the ground so that Piper's leg was on Ingrid's chest plate, her machete pointed toward her neck.

Ingrid smiled amusingly. "Did I just get my ass handed to me?"

"Hell yeah you did! Go Piper!" Yelled someone from the crowd that had formed once again around the two girls. Piper laughed, throwing her head back. She stood from her position above Ingrid and gave the girl a hand up.

Piper swung the machete around in her hand a few times before looking at Ingrid. "You know, I understand why you like it so much. It's so cool."

"True. But I've been training on it basically since I got to camp. How the hell did you beat me with it?" Ingrid said, and Piper shrugged.

"Learned from the best, I guess." She said and Ingrid rolled her eyes, punching her shoulder.

"Yeah yeah. Wanna go for another round? We have time."

As Piper opened her mouth to say yes, another voice interrupted her.

"Do you guys mind if I join in? I can't be an oracle if I can't defend myself, right?" Rachel said. The two girls snapped their attention towards the redhead who stood at their side with a sword and lazily put on armor.