Seven Princesses

Life Changes

Thirteen-year-old Princess Kara Zor-El was working through her Klukor forms with her cousin Kal and her Aunt Astra. Clark has recently celebrated his 30th birthday and had earned his final honors as a Knight of Rao. He was dressed in leather breeches, the same blood red as Rao's eternal sunrise, shirtless and shoeless as his order demanded when practicing. He was tall and heavily built, even for a Kryptonian, with hair dark as night and ice blue eyes that matched the rest of the El bloodline.

Astra was smaller than Kal and lithe like a dancer. She was the twin sister of Kara's mother Alura, but she carried herself as a warrior, much like a wild cat prowling on the edges of the forest. Her eyes were steel grey and never gave away a thought and she wore her brown hair in a loose ponytail, the grey streak from a magic spell gone bad evident throughout. She dressed for practice in the house colors. Leather breeches dyed blue, while her practice vest matched the red of her gloves and boots. The princess dressed like her aunt, although she wore a loose white shirt under her practice vest.

Astra watched Kara's movements as she moved from one form to another, making soft suggestions whenever she made a mistake. Kal, as usual, was harsher in his criticism, not in any way meant to be mean, it was just the way of his order. Kara learned from both, but her aunt's fighting style lent itself better to her size and reach. It also helped her to better control the strength and speed her young body possesses.

Forms finally ended and Kara was practically bouncing on the floor because it was time for her favorite part of practice, Swords. Her instructors learned early in her training that the wooden practice swords all trainees used could not hold up to Kara's abilities. So, she practices with a steel sword, forged especially for her and wrapped in cloth to protect her opponent and herself. Even at such a young age, Kara has shown the ability to not only learn but to adapt when she has a sword in her hand. She has progressed to the point where she now regularly fights two to three opponents at a time, each with strict orders that she not be treated like a princess when in the practice dojo. Kal and Astra both stand by, watching proudly as Kara takes on three skilled warriors at once. Then she misses a simple block and catches a sword in her shoulder.

"Kara!" Her cousin snapped, "you should have seen that attack coming. You have to concentrate on each opponent equally. Just because Non's attacks are weak does not mean he will not get lucky. Now! Again!"

Astra watched quietly, she too had seen the attack coming, and while she was more forgiving of Kara's mistakes, she was disappointed that Kara had missed it. "Young lady, watch the field, use your gifts. You should be able to hear the sword cutting the air before it strikes."

Kara cringed at the rebuke from her relatives, she hadn't seen Non's attack, because Floria was attacking from behind and she was concentrating too much on the more aggressive warrior's attacks. She fell back, took a deep breath, and relaxed. She decided then to try something a bit different. Kara adjusted her grip on her practice sword and pulled the practice dagger from its place on her thigh. Cat's Claw, the ability to use two-bladed weapons in battle was a form her Aunt had created to fit her own fighting style, and she had been teaching it to Kara for the last year. The young princess entered a basic defense stance as her cousin barked, "Begin!"

She predicted Floria's move and brought her dagger up to block the skilled attack. She recognized the strategy the three warriors were using, and she allowed them to think they had the advantage again. Floria worked her way behind Kara, while Non and Urso concentrated on a frontal attack. The warriors in front of her attacked in sync, one high, one low and Kara predicted what was coming, so instead of blocking Urso's high attack, she ducked, blocking Non's low attack with her dagger and bring her sword up and behind her back to block Floria's overhand swing from behind. Then she took advantage of Non's shock and kicked him across the practice floor, spinning to take Floria. who was so surprised by the kick, she almost missed the princess' turn, barely blocking the sword that was coming towards her stomach. She dropped her sword to block Kara's attack and was rewarded with a dagger strike to her neck. "Dead!" Kal called out. Floria was out, and in shock, the girl had moved so fast. Non was still catching his breath when Kara turned on Urso, who backed away quickly, trying to adjust his defense to Kara's speed and change of style. But he was also playing it smart, leading Kara towards Non. Kara smiled, she knew what Urso was up to and waited until he swung his sword high, to trick her into blocking that blow and leaving her legs open for Non to attack. Instead, she spun into Urso's attack and moved left, away from Non, pushing Urso into his partner, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. Kara completed the spin and held her blades at each man's throat. "Well done, Kara!" A rare compliment coming from her cousin's mouth.