Season's Change Winter's Plight Book 1

30 Time

A/N

This is the second of the new chapters that have been added to the conclusion of this adventure. I absolutely did not notice that chapter 29 had not been previously posted when I posted it last week. So There is no longer a need to Highlight or bold the text because the whole chapter is new to you. 

Shelly

Time

Avi continued to work harder than she had ever seen anyone work, he trained with her for as long as he could, would take his meal and then demand that they train more. He had abandoned his long blade and taken up his daggers to learn how to use them as effectively as he had his single blade only to seek to add dual wielding to his skillset. She gave him hers and sent him through the movements to learn their heft and balance and gave him the knowledge he needed to wield them together.

Every now and then they ventured out into the wilds, hunting and continuing their training out in the clearing that they fell the deer in. His grace and skill only increased as time passed. He was beauty and grace in motion when he held any blade and poetic moonlight when he didn't.

He trained with and without Katana, with and without weapons, made his hands and feet weapons of their own. Katana watched him train, watched as every muscle toned and grew and the season moved toward spring.

He kept her ever by his side, never quite willing to be apart. They trained and talked and prayed together. His skill with her language and hand gestures grew. He spoke complete sentences, full thoughts and concepts solely in her native tongue as she did in his. He slipped words of his language smoothly into hers when he found hers lacking and she did likewise. Theirs was a beautiful shared language that they communicated in daily. As their skills at verbal communication increased so did their knowledge of each other's mannerisms. Their expressions and the way they moved became just as strong a conversation as one they had out loud.

His skill with blades increased as did hers without them. She was tossing him to the practice floor with ease within a fortnight and blocking most every attack he threw at her. When she threw him down, he happily got right back up and pushed twice as hard when they reconvened. He attacked, daggers in hands. Katana stepped into the attack pushing his blades out wide by applying force to his wrists. She grabbed one and pulled him off balance then flipped him over her shoulder holding his lead arm and prepared to defend against his second blade. Rolling to his knees, he brought it to bear with a soft growl. She rotated around him and pushed him off balance and back to the floor. When he gained his feet, he turned and attacked her again. He moved with a speed and agility he should not have possessed. She dodged that attack too, moving to the side but missed the second attack. He stopped his blade seconds from her skin then tapped her with its flat. His eyes blazed and his smile lit the room.

"You found my side." Her expression said it all. She was disappointed in herself. That was not something she could hide from him anymore. He had learned to read her expressions and her tone very well. That was one expression he despised seeing in her eyes.

"I did." He nodded and smiled reassuringly. He was very proud of her. "But that doesn't mean that you have not improved. This is not out there." He looked at her with the passion of a warrior and the patience of a prince in his eyes. "You learn by making mistakes. In here it is not do or die Katana. Yes, I know it is out there," he pointed to the cave entrance with his blade still in his hand, "but in here," his motioned encompassed the training room, "it is just you and me." She looked at him and he looked at her. The smile that had faded from his face earlier returned as her eyes indicated that she not only understood him but believed him.