Just the Start. (The Clovers series: Book 1)

Chapter 25

"I'm sorry Fortis, I wasn't in a good mood yesterday..." Falice apologised the moment she approached me.

"You don't have to apologise Falice," I placed my hand on her arm and gave it a light, comforting squeeze. "I understand."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "You do?"

"Yeah, I heard..." I rubbed my forearm nervously. "About you and Ducan."

"Me and Ducan are just..."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I only see him as a good friend," I assured her.

"No Fortis..." Falice trailed off when Zander and Ducan approached us.

"Is there anything wrong?" Zander asked.

"No," Falice answered instantly.

Her face was bright red and she was looking down at her feet. She must be extremely awkward after the confession.

"Fortis..." Ducan started and I stepped over to Zander's side quickly.

"Zander, Gladion would be evaluating my combat skills soon. Can you help me do a quick assessment?"

"Okay."

"Great. Ducan can you pair up with Falice in the meantime? She can't train alone," I requested.

"I can help you with the assessment," Ducan proposed.

Falice's head bobbed up and down in silent agreement. More interactions with Ducan seemed like a bad idea to me. Besides, Falice and Ducan should use this opportunity to clear things up.

"Thanks Ducan, but it's Zander job to assess," I pointed out.

Before he could say anything else, I strode away with Zander right behind me.

"What do you want to be assessed on?" Zander asked.

"Everything I guess," I answered.

"Okay, let's start with the hip throw. Remember the pointers."

I nodded and got into position. Using my hip as pivot, I successfully threw Zander to the ground.

"How is it?" I asked when he got back up to his feet.

"Not bad. But you can be faster," he commented.

I smiled. Coming from Zander, a 'not bad' is better than nothing.

"Next try the double leg take down," he said after a few more hip throws.

In my peripheral vision, I noticed that Falice and Ducan were not training at all. In fact, they were staring in our direction. Will they be alright on their own?

"Pardon?" I asked absent-mindedly.

"Focus," Zander snapped his fingers in front of my face, reverting my eyes back to him.

However, my attention only lasted for mere seconds.

"Stop," Zander said and I skidded to a stop before him.

What now?

"You started with the wrong leg. Try again."

"Okay," I moved away from him to create the distance required for the take-down.

This time, I made sure to start off with the correct leg. When I made the move to lift Zander up for the take-down, my mind wandered back to Ducan and Falice. The next thing I know, Zander jerked to his right without warning and both of us crashed onto the ground forcefully.

My head collided with his jaw in the process and I groaned from the pain.

I sat up and Zander moved his jaw to make sure that it was not broken before doing the same.