Turned

Chapter 30: Pratice Makes Perfect

Kate moved fluidly, blocking and stabbing. Dodging and slashing. Running and spinning. Her swords now moved naturally like an extention of her arms, blocking Luke's swords and slashing towards him easily. Luke had to jump backwards to avoid Kate's sword several times in a row, hardly having the time to react. "Hey! You almost decapitated me that time!" He jokes and manages to block her next onslaught of blows with his large sword.

"Move faster then slow poke!" Kate taunts Luke as she moves both of her swords and manages to swipe Luke off of his feet.

"Ow.." Luke said, grinning up at Kate. "Well you have two swords and I only have one!"

"You gave me two and took one for yourself."

"I thought you'd need the upper hand. It seems I was extremely wrong, and that's a painful mistake." He rubbed the back of his head and stood.

Kate quickly tripped Luke a second time so he landed on his stomach, his face in the dirt. "Yes, yes that was a mistake Luke. You saw how I can fight!"

Luke said something that came out muffled, "Mmm mm mh mhmm."

"Get your fave out of the dirt!" Kate laughed a bit, lowering her swords and offering her hand out to Luke.

Luke lifted his face out of the dirt and took her hand. "Why thank you!" He grinned, and then yanked Kate into the dirt so she fell onto her stomach in front of him. He burst into laughter, a wide smile on his face. "I'm not making the mistake of giving you the upper hand again!"

Kate couldn't help the slight, sheepish smile spreading on her face as she laughed a bit and started to get up. "Well you're learning fast."

He grinned widely and nodded, standing up, "Oh yes I am!" He swung his sword towards Kate. Moving swiftly, she was able to cross her swords and catch Luke's large blade in between her two blades.

"Ha! I'm faster than you Luke." She taunted and stuck out her tounge.

He laughed more and drew his sword away, swinging it towards her legs and no longer afraid to try not to hurt her, seeing as she was far to fast for him to even hope to hit her. "But I'm obviously far better."

"How so?" Kate questioned, moving fluidly and avoiding all of Luke's blows with ease.

"I've done this longer than you and..." He quickly slashed at Kate and forced her to jump back. There was a splash as Kate tumbled backwards into the lake, having been oblivious Luke was guiding her slowly towards the water. "Know that it's important to pay attention to my surroundings!" Luke finished with a laugh.

She sat half in the water, chuckling slightly and soaked in water now. "Hey, I'm learning! You're supposed to be the one teaching me!" A playfully smile crosses Luke's face as he laughed and helped pull Kate back to her feet.

"You need to learn fast then."

"As fast as my brain allows?" She playfully pushed Luke, shaking her head, causing a chuckle to come from him. He playfully shoved her back and shook his head, sheathing his large sword at his waist.

"I say that's enough for today. We should head back and check over all the damage."

Kate sighed and sheathed both swords on her back, nodding. "Of course.. You think I can stay out here? Chances are you'll have duties to preform and so on, while I'll either be locked up or sitting around.."

He frowned slightly and studied Kate. "Locked up? What makes you say that?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, you're the only one who trusts me. The other werewolves will want me locked up and not staying around you all the time."

"You have a point sadly..." He looked up at the night sky and studied it. "Can you make sure to come back to my tent before sunrise?"

A wide smile spread across her face as she nodded quickly. Finally she had someone trusting her enough to leave her on her own. She wasn't just some human or some monster plotting to kill everyone in her path. Instead, she fell somewhere in between. Not quite human, nor quite a monster. One thing was certain, she was not helpless; at least, not completely helpess.

"Oh thank you!" Kate said, full of delight.

Luke chuckled and nodded. "Now stay out of too much trouble and make sure to come back, alright?"

Kate shook her head. "You're treating me like some sort of pet now.."

"Hey, isn't it better than a prisoner?" He teased.

"That is true.. Now I'll be back, have some faith in me!" In a burst of speed, Kate took off running. A woosh sounded as she ran, kicking up leaves and dust, leaving some swirling leaves in her place by Luke. He sighed a bit and shifted into his wolf form, running back towards camp.

Kate continued running in the other direction to explore. After a moment, she grew curious of the extent of her abilties. Bending her knees she jumped up and grabbed onto a branch several yards in the air above her. Gripping the branch she swung her legs around and released the branch. She flew up above the branch and then landed on top of it, a wide grin on her face.

She loved the feeling of all her power and strength. At times, it was scary, but other times it was thrilling. Torn between being a monster or attempting to be human, she chose not to choose. She would be between the two. She could no longer be human, maybe pass herself off as one but she would never truly be happy pretending and acting as something she obviously is not. Neither would she be happy as a monster who hunts and kills at pleasure. She did not want to strike fear into people as the red eyed man had to her. Maybe there was a way to put her power and strength to good use. But how?

For now, she could not conjure a satisfying answer. So instead, she left her worries behind and kept to another branch, starting to leap and jump, almost running across the branches of the towering trees surrounding her. She was going to enjoy herself until the sky started to lighten and become a twilight gray, then she would be forced to return to camp. But the thought didn't cross her mind, at least not yet.

●○●○●

Ana, the king's lead guard, lead a team of five. Including her, there were six, and her five finest warriors. This has to work or Nocturne shall have my head, Ana thought to herself as the group sprinted towards the werewolf camp. Kale, Ralph, Peter, Evan, and instead of Carlos, who had been killed, Leroy. They were all strong and mostly consisted of people Ana would go to straight off. The guards raced across the countryside from the castle, listening for any signs of Kate.

"This is a capture mission only! Killing the target is not acceptable! Any actions that result in the death of the target shall be reported to Nocturne, by the person, or people, who are responsible. Nocturne will decide their fate. Is everyone clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" The guards said in unison.

"Good. Now let's find that murderer!" Ana said, listening a moment and adjusting their course.

It took no less than an hour to scout out the werewolf camp and discover the new blood was not there. Then they circled the perimeter of the area and spread out. Eventually they were able to sense another vampire was nearby and moved towards the vampire. To their luck, it was Kate, oblivious to the group of guards, slowly closing in on her. She just kept mindlessly jumping from branch to branch, sometimes doing flips for fun. The guards readied themselves and drew their weapons. This was it, either their mission would be a failure, or success.