Training in the rain(Aleta/Open)

[Alanna Cooper]

The sky was somewhat cloudy for the day. There was a hint of rain coming along. Some people, upon glancing at the sky, would have gone back inside and wait until the rain had let up. But to Alanna Cooper, the King's Champion, the rain meant nothing. She was use to spending all of her time in different weather. The training masters at the Tortallan palace had trained the pages and squires in all kinds of weather.

The Lioness pushed her coppery-red hair away from her voilet eyes. She wore her hair cropped short to her shoulders like she always does. A dull gold shirt and blue jeans were all she had on for the day. Alanna called it her training clothes. She would always be seen in shirt and breeches. But if there was a special event going on, she had to be all dressed up. And that would happen once in a while, the lioness thought with satisfaction. As long as it didn't happen every week she was allright with that.

Never in her wildest dreams would the lioness find herself in a completely un-familiar area that she did not know about. Then again she did travel whenever she had the time. The Lioness was always on the go. She loved to travel and met certain people. And she was glad the king had let her go in Britain.

Alanna had found the place fasinating enough. Her real reason was so she would be able to keep an eye on her granddaughter, Aleta Crow. The girl had the temper like her mother and grandmother. The thought made her grin. Aleta was in her fifth year and in Slytherin. Alanna thought it was crazy around Hogwarts with its magical stairsteps and the like. She then shrugged. As long as Aleta was happy then it was allright with her.

The sword moved through the air with ease, even though it was a rather heavy sword. But Alanna had handled heavier weapons than this. So it wasn't a bother to her. She was well known for her skills in sword fightening. But her best trait was her temper. Lost in her thoughts and movement she did not noticed she had company.

[Aleta Crow]

A sigh escaped Aleta's lips as she looked out the window. It was a weekend, and she was wandering about the castle, with nothing to do. It was raining outside, although she didn't really care about that. She didn't care if she got wet, if her hair got messed up. She didn't even care if she got mud on her, she just looked for something inside, first. But, of course, nothing entertaining was to be found inside the castle. Everything interesting was outside.

A thought struck her, and Aleta ran down to the dungeons, into the common room, and into her dorms. She shrugged on her training clothes, a tunic of green lined in silver with black breeches, and grabbed her sword. It was a lovely thing, a gift from her grandmother, the Lionness and King's Champion, Alanna Cooper, as she would be called here. She grabbed her belt, and put it on, attaching the sword's sheath to the belt.

As quickly as she came, she left. She hurried through the damp dungeons, and escaped the dull castle by the double doors to the grounds. Lush grasses were flattened to the ground, glued by the rain and mud. Small puddles were dotting the grounds, the water in them overflowing. Rain occurred often here, she had learned quickly. Rain definitely was one thing she wasn't all that fond of.

As she approached the training grounds, an area newly set up near the lake, she noticed a shadow swinging a large weapon in the rain. She wondered who would be practicing in the rain, besides herself. She knew some of the nobility of the "Four Isles", as they were now called, were coming to the castle, to help teach weaponry, magic, and various customs of the different countries. Perhaps this was one such teacher? In any case, she gripped the hilt of her sword, just in case.

As she got closer to the training grounds, a gasp of surprise escaped her mouth. It was her very own grandmother, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop. A rare grin flashed across Aleta's mouth as she ran towards her grandmother. However, she stopped by the tree that had various signs up about the use and rules of the training grounds. She watched her grandmother swing her sword in various patterns.

Her grandmother was one of the best knights in Tortall, being the King's Champion, and nicknamed the Lionness. Her grandmother, like her mother and herself, had bright, coppery red hair. It was a family trait, and they all had that, even with her grandfather's brown hair and her father's black. It was simply something that just happened. That aside, her grandmother was the only lady knight in the realm with that title, but without the shield that marked her as such. The border of the Lionness's shield was that of a regular knight, not a lady one.

Alanna knew many of the sword patterns, and was practicing such as now. Aleta walked towards her, standing several feet away. "You know, that dummy over there is magicked to act as a partner for swordsmanship. Although, a living partner is so much better." Aleta remarked, leaning against a post. A smirk alighted her lips, and her eyebrows were raised in question, amusement in her lovely eyes.

[Alanna Cooper]

Alanna turned and grinned at her granddaughter. Her purple eyes glittered with amusement. An evil grin was spread across her face. "A living partner would certainly be much more useful Ale," she told her with a more evil grin.

Ever since Aleta was born the family had developed the habit of calling her 'Ale'. It went well to their mind. "How are things going?" she asked curiously. "I suppose you have lasted a few months without fightening?"

She knew her granddaughter well enough. That was for certain. What Alanna regretted was she hardly even knew her own daughter. Aly did not want to follow in her mother's steps. She wanted to become a spymaster like her father, George. But Alanna forbade it.

She did not want to see her only daughter in dangerous situations and killed. She had fritted enough over hre long disappearance. The Lioness was far certain that she would give Aly a good one to let her know how much she had upset her.

But she didn't want to. She was so glad that her daughter was home. She was even more surprise that she was married and pregant. Alanna was overjoy that she was going to get a grandchild. Aleta was certainly the picture of hers and her mother's temper.

"Not getting into any trouble so far?" she asked, eyebrow raised.