Episode Nineteen- The Teacher Meets Student

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Sparring with Cicero was a foreign concept to Alex. Even if it was for training, she felt like she was facing off against her family. Someone who was going to have high expectations of her, and she knew she was going to have to put her all into the training session.

Extending the bo staff out beside her, Alex familiarized herself with the weight of it. Each staff was different, and it took a moment for her to get used to it. There wasn't one she could find that matched her height closely, either.

Beggars can't be choosers, Alex thought. Rollo's were always much taller than her. And, if she could manage, Alex would find a way to make it work as well.

"Why did you decide to spar with me?" Cicero asked as they bowed to each other.

"I'm honestly not sure why we haven't been," Alex admitted. She took up the beginning stance for the drill Cicero had chosen. Basic defense blocking.

"Hands further apart," Cicero said as he struck out toward her legs. "And I suppose that's on me," he continued, addressing Alex's comment.

Alex followed his instructions and fixed her hands before she blocked the hit. The sharp crack that followed echoed through the room. "It's not all on you," Alex corrected. "We should have both been working together better."

They exchanged a few more blocks through the same drill before Cicero aimed the hits toward her abdomen. Slower movements increased in speed the more Alex became comfortable. Their footwork brought them around in wider circles.

Cicero started changing up the drills and aiming for her head, abdomen and legs in different intervals. The changes were quick, but Alex adjusted and managed to keep up a majority of the way through. Until Cicero tricked her with a fake hit toward her head.

The bo staff snapped across her shin. Alex jumped away and bit down on her tongue to keep from yelling out a slew of curse words. There were still other people training in the room, and she didn't want to completely embarrass herself in front of them.

"Ou-ch," Alex growled out, emphasizing the latter part of the word with a louder tone to her voice.

Chuckling, Cicero spun the bo staff beside him. "You were getting too confident. The drills may be easy to you, but they're still important."

"I think I remember why I chose Rollo for this part," Alex said. She bent down and rubbed her shin, the tender skin most likely already bruising underneath her exercise pants.

"They don't know how to challenge you like I do," Cicero added.

"No, but now I do," Rollo called from where she was sitting at the edge of the mats. She and Ace exchanged a smug look.

Alex stood back up and took her stance. She ignored the pain in her leg, though with each step it felt like the staff was rapping across her bone again. A challenge was good for her, and exactly what she needed.

They started the drill; the same three movements over and over. Cicero switched up from the head, abdomen and legs. He faked a few times, but kept the tricks to a minimum. Until, Cicero apparently noticed Alex falling back into being too confident.

Swinging the staff, Cicero distracted Alex with a fake hit to the head. Instead of landing a blow, he hooked out his leg and caught Alex behind the knee. She fell, hard, onto her backside.

A groan rattled in Alex's throat. "I don't think I want to spar with you anymore," she said. The staff loosened from her grip and landed beside her as she dropped back on to the mat with a huff.

Cicero's figure loomed over her, a hand outstretched. "Always get back up," he said.

"I'm too tired." Alex sighed. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. A cramp burned in her side.

Grabbing Alex by both hands, Cicero nearly threw Alex over his head. She stumbled on her feet for a moment before finding her balance. 

A glare cut out from under Alex's furrowed brows.

"If you won't stand up on your own, I'll be there to help you. But, you always get back up. It doesn't matter if you're tired," Cicero said.

Alex bent down and picked up the bo staff she'd dropped. "Are those your official words of wisdom?"

A chuckle shook Cicero's shoulders. "I have many words of wisdom. You just don't listen to them very often."

"Fair point," Alex replied. "But, I can't say this one's as lame as the others." She returned to her starting position to continue their drills.

By the time they finished sparring, Alex was drenched in sweat. Her gray shirt was soaked through. She slicked back the strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail and leaned over, steadying her ragged breaths.

"Is that you bowing, or are you about to pass out?" Cicero joked, barely breathing hard.

Snorting to hold back a laugh, Alex looked up. "Both, I think." She straightened her back and walked off the mats.

Rollo took the bo staffs from Cicero and Alex and wiped them off before placing them back on the rack. "I don't think I have made you work that hard. Keep it simple. That's a good thing to keep in mind for next time."

Alex groaned, not looking forward to another round of getting bruises. "Maybe just don't hit me with anything though, okay?"

"You need to stretch out now, or you won't be able to practice grappling with Rollo tomorrow," Cicero said. "Rollo and I have to go talk to Edric about some things, but you should stay here and cool down for a bit."

At least we're on a better page, Alex thought. Though, she was hoping they would have spent a little more time together. 

"Yeah. Don't want to miss out on that," Alex said sarcastically.

"I already put the pistol back in the armory, so I'll hang with you," Ace whispered, looping his arm through Alex's. He took off his boots and walked with her back to the mats. The two of them took a seat in the center.

Both Rollo and Cicero took leave of the room, the doors swinging behind them.

Alex sat cross-legged facing Ace. "I don't think I've ever seen you stretch," she mused.

"Yeah," Ace started, "I wasn't actually planning on stretching with you. These muscles don't stretch out very far."

"Then why stay with me?" Alex asked, placing the bottoms of her feet together. She reached her hands forward, stretching forward as far as she could go.

Ace looked around the room. "Who else is going to bother you?"

"Stretching in peace can be just as nice," Alex replied, slowly sitting back up. She pulled in one foot and stretched the other leg out beside her, leaning to the side to touch her toes.

"I can go if you want."

"No," Alex said hastily. She switched her legs, careful to not aggravate the bruise on her shin. "It's just weird that you're sitting there watching me stretch."

Exhaling, Ace started to copy the stretches that Alex was doing. It was obvious that his statement about not being flexible was true. He grunted and groaned with the effort of just trying to reach his toes.

"Maybe you should be training with Brin. She's been having me do this thing called yoga. Watching you stretch is giving me cramps," Alex said.

They stood up and spread their feet out shoulder-width apart. While Alex was easily able to reach the ground, Ace struggled.

"I don't see how it would benefit me," Ace grumbled. He reached over to his left and right foot respectively as best as he could.

"You think the only useful thing is shooting?" Alex chuckled. "Take a note from my book and learn what you can while we're here. Who knows how much longer that will be."

"Do you really think we'll be leaving soon?" Ace asked.

Alex shrugged as she stretched her arm out to the side. "I hope so. It's like I've been moved from one prison to the next."

"Have you talked to Cicero about any of this?"

"I've only just now started sparring with him," Alex said with a roll of her eyes. She pulled her leg up behind her by the ankle and leaned forward, wobbling for a moment before she found her balance.

Ace repeated her movements less gracefully, and resorted to just stretching his leg. "Maybe you just need to be direct with him. I don't think you've ever had a filter. If you don't want to ask Edric about how much longer we'll be here, you should ask Cicero. They're all talking to each other anyway, apparently."

"Yeah, always with the secret conversations, huh?" Alex added. "And why aren't you so impatient to leave?"

"I guess I don't feel as trapped as you do," Ace said. "But I never felt trapped before, either, so I don't really blame you."

The comment took Alex by surprise. She had felt trapped. It was something she could freely admit herself, but hearing the words from Ace felt sharp in her ears. Like the admittance from another person only solidified how she felt.

Given the time, Alex would talk to Cicero about it. She felt like stepping up to spar with him was a good start. They had always been close; they had a good relationship. She didn't want to push them further apart by insinuating anything he was doing to protect her was wrong.

Because, admittedly, he wasn't wrong. They were safe in the bunker. The decision to leave Marksberg had kept them alive. None of them were ready yet to face the outside on their own, and there was still much for them to learn from the others they had found. Edric, Greg, Daniel—everyone could prove to be useful to helping them survive.

Alex finished her stretches with Ace, and they left the training room in silence. There was much to consider, and she would have to devise how to best approach her conversation with Cicero. 


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