Rangers Apprentice: Forgotten Ruins

Avis Tries To Kill Me

*Jacklyn's POV*

As we all walked to the Battle school I whispered to Avis, "Nice riding back there." She grinned at the compliment then nudged me in the shoulder. "It was nothing. Besides, you could have done the same." I just gave her a pained look. "What?" she asked. "No, I couldn't do the same. I mean yeah I took lessons but let's just say that...they didn't...end well." Avis just stared at me for a few seconds before saying, "Oh." At that, the conversation closed.

Seriously though. Those lessons did not end well. See, the horses I had to learn to ride on were- you know what. I'm not gonna bother. A few mutted gasps of shock and muttering's of "Wow"'s and "That's so cool"'s made me look up to see the battle school. To put it simple, it was plain. A wooden fence enclosed a sandy area where students practiced drilling there swords against poor wooden dummy's. A few low buildings across the way must have been the barracks and the mess hall for all the boys in the school. The air was filled with the sharp crack of wood against wood as the younger students drilled with wooden swords. Several feet away from them was the metallic ring of metal against metal as the more experienced students practised not only with metal swords, but against each other.

"This looks like fun." Avis mused, somewhat to herself. I grunted in agreement and continued to look around. Brighton looked like a school boy being shown is favorite thing in the world, but then again I guess he was.

"Welcome to the battle school. Redmont's Knights are among the best in the country." Denise said as everyone continued to stare wide-eyed at the students. "Thank you Denise. I'm sure the boys will let that get to their heads sooner or later now." Everyone turned to look as a well-built man in chain mail armor with a sword at his hip strode up to the group. He had short graying hair and a nice mustache to go with it. Ladies and gents, Battlemaster Sir Rodney of Redmont.

Brighton was speechless. The look in his face was priceless and I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't have phone with me to take a picture. "Over there is a few old wooden drill swords. Let's see how you boys do with them." Before Denise could even begin to protest, all the boys dove for the swords and got into pairs, instantly going about whacking each other on the head. It was a sorry but amusing sight. The girls had all gone to one side and cheered their friends on while me and Avis watched Brighton. He was okay, but after a while it kinda got boring to watch.

I glanced over to the barrel where the boys had gotten the swords and noticed that there were two left. I nudged Avis and directed her attention to them. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She grinned. "Absolutely. Let's do it." We grabbed them and set about to face off. I knew she had experience on her side, but I had a good amount of strength and speed in me. Which also explains why I've never been beaten at Ninja in my school before, or my house for that matter.

She thrusts at me and I nearly got impaled, jumping back in time so she only grazed me. After that I lost ground fast and gained lots of bruises. After another whack at my arm, I got somewhat annoyed and before I thought about what I was doing, swung fast and hard at her. She blocked, but the force of my blow sent her staggering and a deafening CRACK filled the air. Avis looked at me a bit stunned but quickly grinned. With that, we really went at each other. Only this time, I was able to dodge faster to the point where she hardly landed a blow and I kept flicking my wooden blade at her, constantly sending it one way then in mid-strike, switching direction.

We were so focused on trying to brain the other person that we didn't notice that almost the entire school had stopped to watch. By the time Avis disarmed me, told you she had experience on her side, we were breathing pretty hard and giggling like maniacs. "I almost had you," I said, pretending to be frustrated. Avis rolled her eyes, "Sure you did Jacklyn, sure you did." We both continued to snicker until a horrible screeching sound exploded our ears.

"Who gave the two of you the permission to do that? The nerve of you girls! You should be ashamed of yourselves! Ladies are not supposed to act like that! How dare-" I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that this went on for a while. By the time she was done is when we noticed that everyone was watching. Brighton looked like he was trying not to laugh, Denise looked like a tomato, Arielle had a stupid smug look on her face and Sir Rodney looked... I don't know, thoughtful, annoyed, amused, maybe even impressed? Hard to tell with him. The rest of the wards looked embarrassed even though they weren't the ones getting yelled at and the battle students were clearly making fun of our fight by mimicking sloppy sword strokes. Jerks. Though some of them did look wary of us.

"I think the girls got the message Denise," Rodney said somewhat gently to the raging mad woman. She glared at him but merely sniffed. "I am so sorry about that Sir Rodney. The two arrived last night and are making it abundantly clear that I have work to do with them." As if me and Avis are going to be broken by her of all people. "It's quite alright Denise. I'm actually curious as to where they learned to do that." She did not take that well, but thankfully kept quiet. After a few moments I realized that he was asking us a question since he was staring at us with an inquiring look. "My father taught me a few lessons in fencing sir," Avis spoke up. He looked at me and I shrugged. "I just have good reflexes." He seemed to accept that because he just nodded.

"Well, that's all for today. Please put the swords up as you leave." He dismissed the group then turned around and barked orders for the student to continue their drill and asked who gave them permission to stop. In a few moments, the school was filled once again with the sound of multiple people hitting each other with sticks. Me, Avis and the boys put all the swords up and followed a still infuriated Denise back to the castle. Judging by Lesly's happy manner, the kitchens were next.

Brighton caught up to us and shook his head smiling. "You were great Avis! You too Jacklyn." Mhmm, I see how it is. He totally likes her. Avis blushed and mumbled a "thank you" before falling silent, regaining her breath from trying to make me a Human sheesh kebab.

•Again, sorry for the wait but school has been death. I had a mental breakdown a few days ago thanks to school and homework had been unbelievable. Next week is Trimester finals so it should be interesting...•

~SO