The Water Warrior(Book 1)(Completed)

Chapter 11: Swords and Knives

     The two opponents circled each other ready for the other to attack. This time Firestar started, but Aqua managed to parry his attempted attack, but he anticipated this and did a counterattack. Though Aqua did not expect this, she just moved her body to avoid being impaled due to her fast reflexes, as previously proved by Darkmoon and his knives of death. As Aqua moved away from Firestar's sword, he leaned far enough forward that she used her right elbow and hit him hard in the back where he landed face first on the ground.

     Aqua took Firestar's vulnerable moment and moved to strike, but he rolled over onto his back where he blocked her blow with another parry just as her sword made contact with his. Knowing Aqua would not expect this next move, he kicked her in the chest causing her to stumble backward and him to be able to get up off the ground.

     A little angry now, Aqua added some strength to her constant attacks, but Firestar returned with the same amount of power. Once she had Firestar just where she wanted him, she moved her sword in a circular motion which his sword followed and flung it at a tree which it embedded itself in. Now that Firestar was defenseless, Aqua pointed her sword at Firestar's neck leaving only a few inches of breathing room which caused him to say, "You got lucky."

     "Luck? You mean skill," replied Aqua as she lowered her sword. The sound of clapping caused Aqua to avert her attention. "Nicely done," said Darkmoon which shocked Aqua a little bit considering he never complimented her before. "There are a few things we need to work on for form and I will show you a few new skills that you may not know about, but besides that, I think you have done very well."

     "Thank you," said a beaming Aqua. Then Darkmoon proceeded to help Aqua with her stance, he made sure she had her left foot forward and all her weight was evenly distributed. After that he made her do a few simple moves which she did with ease and he helped correct any displacement in her footing or techniques.

     Hours passed quickly in the Forbidden Forest, for Aqua was having quite a bit of fun with her training for once. All out of breath, Darkmoon allowed her to take a short break before moving on to the next task since she had basically mastered using a sword the right way and in combat.

     Aqua walked over to the river and cupped some water in her hands. For it was very humid in the dense forest, the water was very cool and refreshing. After quenching her thirst, Aqua used her powers to lift some of the water out of the stream and sprinkled it over her head to cool her body down. When she had finished resting for a bit, Aqua headed back over to resume her training with Darkmoon.

     Aqua saw that he was waiting by the weapons table as she called it, so that is where she went. Once by Darkmoon's side, he instructed her on what to do next. "For your next lesson, I will teach you how to accurately use throwing knives. This is a very useful skill to use when your enemy is farther away and you can't use close combat as you did earlier," said Darkmoon as he picked up a knife and demonstrated.

     "Use your left hand as a guide and keep it straight out in front of you," Darkmoon lifted his left hand as he spoke to show Aqua what he meant. "Then wrap your fingers around the handle, but leave your pointer finger on the top of the blade. After you have your grip, you want to plant your feet with your left foot forward. When you throw, your hips will rotate giving momentum to the throw. Now as you get ready to release the knife, your arm will make a nice L shape with your hand slightly tilted in." And with that Darkmoon threw the knife and it sunk deep into the center of the target in the clearing. Flawless.

     Aqua took in all of Darkmoon's words and actions as she practiced his movements without a knife. After having accepted some criticism from Darkmoon and perfected her form, Aqua was ready to use the knife. She picked up the knife and positioned herself. Then Aqua closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was ready. Aqua opened her eyes and let the knife fly. It flew through the air and buried itself in the leg of the human target on the right. A little surprise the knife had actually hit something, Aqua allowed herself to smile. The only bad thing was she had actually aimed at the middle target, not the one shaped like a person, but she was not about to say anything.