The Raven and the Wolf

Wolves Enjoy Running and Playing

Finally a longer chapter. This is tedious. Oh well, I'll keep doing it anyways until my hands begin to rot and ecompose long after I have died of thirst and starvation.

The Training Grounds

“Ah, Milady,” said Arthur enthusiastically. “And Gwaine.” he said less enthusiastically. “Such a pleasure that you could join us. Are you feeling better, Milady?”

Rose nodded. “And you, my Lord? How is your training going?”

“My training is going rather well, but some of my knights are having trouble with some of the maneuvers. Sir Jackson,” he pointed to a man who was carelessly holding a crossbow in a dangerous position towards his face, “is having a hard time with his aim.”

“Can I help in any way?” Rose asked.

“I'm sure there's nothing you can teach them that I can't,” Arthur said arrogantly.

Rose smiled mischievously. “I'm not so sure about that. Sir Jackson!” she called. “Will you come here, please?” The knight quickly ran over to her.

“Yes, Milady?” He bowed, and his helmet fell to the ground with a clatter, making Rose laugh. She led him to one of the targets and whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened, and then he nodded. Sir Jackson held up his bow in its correct position and fired. The arrow flew through the air and landed in the center of the target. Everyone clapped, and Rose planted a kiss on Sir Jackson's cheek.

“How did you do that?” Arthur asked.

“Some people just need some incentive,” Rose replied. “And maybe a better teacher.”

“I am an excellent teacher,” said Arthur.

“Hmm, maybe, but I'm a much better one.”

“Is that a challenge?” Arthur gaped at her.

“Oh, yes,” she answered. She knew they were behaving like children, but she didn't care. This was the most fun she had had in awhile. Well, it was the most fun she had while not running for her life with the Doctor. Although, she didn't do much other than run. This change was nice and a friendly competition would make it even better. “But how will we go about it?” she said aloud. She clapped her hands excitedly. “Ooh, ooh! We can pick teams. If my team wins,” Rose thought for a moment, wondering what she wanted. “If my team wins, you have to do your own chores, without servants, for two days. If you win,”

“When I win,” Arthur interrupted, “you have to tell me everything about yourself during dinner, including how you managed to get Sir Jackson's aim straight.”

“It's a deal,” Rose said, shaking his hand. “And we have witnesses, so you can't back out.”

“Like I would back out of something so easy,” said Arthur.

“But you don't even know how to play the game,” Rose argued. “How do you know if it will be easy?” After Arthur didn't answer for a whole minute, Rose decided to explain the game to him. “First we'll choose our knights. Now, I think we should choose five knights, each. We won't compete, of course, and because this is about teaching, we will both have two hours to teach our knights after we have chosen them. Then, we'll have a series of competitions: archery, jousting, wrestling, and hand-to-hand combat. The one who wins the most competitions wins. ”

“Great!” Arthur said. “But how will we choose our knights?”

“We'll race to them. Who ever gets to the knight first gets to have them on their team, and the other person will have to choose someone else. You choose five knights and tell them to come back here.”