The Royal Secret // Amphibia AU

Training begins

"Hello? Is this the training room?" Anne called out unsurely, standing directly behind the door in case she had the wrong room. 

"Oh, yeah! Come on in" A female voice responded.

Anne stepped in, letting the door close behind her on its own accord. She walked past the wall that blocked her view of whoever was speaking to her. Once spotting her trainer she instantly fell speechless.

She has long blonde hair that frames her face, a birthmark on her left cheek, and a ghastly scar on her other. She wore a tank top with shorts. Her arms were covered in bandages from former battles, with some healed scars showing through to intimidate rivals. 

At first glance, she looked pretty intimidating. She was muscular, her face held a stony stare, and her glossy blue eyes told a story, a dark one. She wore a touch of mascara to mask the heavy bags under her eyes from a lack of sleep. However, it didn't do much good.

She was fairly young, around Anne's age, possibly a bit older. She couldn't have been over the age of 18.

"Your Majesty." The blonde said with a proper bow.

Anne jerked back letting out a startled yelp, she was too busy analyzing her facial features, she didn't even realize she had approached her. 

"Oh- You don't have to call me anything fancy, it's just Anne," she chuckled with embarrassment. She didn't like being called anything too royal, it felt unnatural. Inside, she knew she was a regular person, just like everyone else. Being called "Your highness" or "Your majesty", only reminded her that she wasn't one of them.

"I intend to stick with my customs." She replied firmly, yet eloquently. "My name is Sasha Waybright, I will be your instructor for as long as this course lasts." 

Anne began to blush foolishly at Sasha's strong response. "Sorry-" Anne murmured apologetically with humiliation tied into her voice.

"No biggie it happens to everyone. Now come on, you have a lot to learn." Sasha said with a shrug, they both walked over to a large workout mat Sasha had already set up beforehand. Anne sat down on the mat, while Sasha walked into the storage closet. 

"You'll be learning how to defend yourself in battle, think on your feet, hold your own, and thrive in the face of danger. You will be taught everything I know, and then some." Sasha began her speech, exiting out of the closet holding a large weight as if it weighed nothing. 

She dropped it on the mat recklessly, missing her foot by an inch. Anne flinched imagining how bad that could've gone. 

"Yeesh, you really don't care about safety do you?" Anne mentioned.

"Safety is only a limitation," Sasha replied sharply. 

"Let's get one thing clear before we begin. Just because you are the Queen's prized daughter, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you, or treat you any differently as I would any of my other students." Sasha stated upfront.

"My teaching style is hardcore. It's why I am so good at what I do, and why all of my students have become incredible fighters, if this is something you're not cut for I suggest you walk out now."

"No, I am ready for this. I can do it" Anne stated in a sure tone. 

Sasha nodded with a smile.

"We're going to start off slow and steady this week. Just to give you an idea of what's coming, by next week we will get into the more difficult stuff, that's when the real work will begin." Sasha said. 

She pointed at the weight she had placed in front of Anne moments ago, Anne looked at it in confusion, not knowing what Sasha wanted from her. She grabbed the weight's handle with uncertainty, glancing up at Sasha for assurance. 

"Lift it," Sasha said, standing up.

Anne also stood up, she attempted to lift the weight as hard as she could but failed. She wasn't able to get a foot off the ground before collapsing in a huff of air. It was too heavy.

 She tried again, but still, no luck. 

"It's too heavy, I can't lift it." She said with discouragement. "How did you lift this so easily?" 

"It's only a 40-pound weight, that's a beginner's weight. Anybody can do it." Sasha replied promptly, Anne looked down at her feet with embarrassment. She knew she should've been working out more, instead of pushing it off to the side to watch an unhealthy amount of angsty tv shows.

"Watch closely," Sasha said, she grabbed the metal bar in her fist, her body hunched over. "You have to utilize your upper body strength to guide you." She said, looking up at Anne.

She gave a demonstration, slowly rising up and lifting the weight up to her chest then placing it back down after a long minute. 

"Isn't that just because you're super strong? Like, unnaturally strong for your age." Anne remarked, folding her arms with an eyebrow raised, staring at the blonde with an endearing smirk. 

Sasha chuckled lightly at the joke. "I'm only strong because I've been doing this since I was 13, I put in the effort and it paid off."

"Now let's try this again."