Captured Princess

Final Test

Shanaia continued her training and so far, her grandfather was very pleased with her development.

“You are doing well. You memorized each form,” Samael said.

“Thanks, Grandpa. It’s not easy but I am thriving,” Shanaia replied.

Samael nodded.

“Then you don’t mind if you start doing the whole routine,”

Shanaia whipped her head towards her grandfather.

“W-What? The whole routine?” she blurted.

“Yes. From the first formation to the last. Do them in chronological order and make sure you move gracefully… like a ballet dancer,” he told her.

“Are you serious?”

She asked and Samael frowned.

“As a heart attack,”

He told her and Shanaia let out a sigh of defeat. Then she went to stand in the middle of the mat.

“Go ahead,”

Samael signaled and Shanaia heaved a deep breath before she started. But as she did it, Samael was watching her like a hawk while walking around the mat. And when she made a wrong move, she was once again hit by the stick, and made her do it from the start.

Shanaia went on with it for two days until Samael finally saw her perform the whole routine without him using the stick.

“You did good,” Samael said at the end of Shanaia’s routine.

When she heard him say that, Shanaia was so relieved that she laid down on the mat.

“Finally… I can rest,” she mumbled.

“Yes, you can rest now. Tomorrow you’ll be practicing the whole routine by the stream,”

Samael said and when Shanaia heard that, she quickly sat up and looked at her grandfather.

“What? Why?” she asked him.

Samael looked at her.

“I need you to master the whole thing… using whatever gift you have. Incorporate each form and each movement with how you use your gift. That is the last part of your training.” Samael paused as he crouched in front of his granddaughter.

“You only have a few days to your two weeks. You better step up,”

He then smiled, patting her head before he stood up and walked away. Shanaia gawked for a second before she scoffed and laid back down.

“This is too much,”

**********************************.

The next day, Samael took Shanaia towards the stream and he told her to start practicing while standing by its banks.

At first, Shanaia doesn’t know what to do. She couldn’t do the routine while manipulating water. Her failed attempts made her feel so frustrated that in a fit of her frustration, she snarled and threw the floating ball of water toward a tree, destroying down.

“You are doing it again, using your emotion, your rage, and frustration with your gift. As you can see, it's really destructive,” Samael said, looking at the destroyed tree.

“I can’t do this!” she growled.

Samael looked at her.

“You can’t?”

“I can’t! It's too difficult! I am tired and my whole body hurts from all the beating I got from every mistake I made! I don’t want to do this anymore!” Shanaia cried.

Samael heaved a deep sigh at Shanaia’s outburst.

“Since when did you become a quitter?” he asked.

“Since I can’t do it!”

Samael pursed his lips and then he grabbed a long twig from the ground.

“You can’t do it?” he mumbled and then he started hitting Shanaia with the twig.

The latter started dodging every swing of the twig but Samael just continued to swing it toward her, regardless if he hit her or not.

“You would quit when you haven’t even tried hard enough. You are so easy to quit and just let it be done. You don’t care. You just do what you want and do not care the outcome,” he scolds her.

In one swing, Shanaia was able to catch the twig. Samael looked at his granddaughter in the eyes.

“Stop telling yourself you can’t and start thinking you can,” he said and then he let go of the twig before walking away.

Shanaia huffed after her grandfather left. She slouched and sat on a broken-down trunk. Then he flicked her wrist and let a small ball of water float over her palm. She then manipulated it to turn into several small floating balls of water before she made them move around.

“Why the hell is this so hard?” she mumbled.

She looked at her hand, watching the floating balls of water move. Then she merged the water balls and made them flat and long, like ribbons. As she watched the water ribbons move around her hand, she suddenly thought about something.

“Why not?” she mumbled.

Then she stood up and looked at the flowing water in the stream.

“Just like a ribbon. Let’s do this gymnastics style.” She spoke and then she manipulated water from the stream to move above her.

The water was in the form of a ball at first and then she slowly made it flat and long. And as the water stayed floating in the form of a ribbon, she started moving, doing the routine, slowly before she made the ribbon of water move around her body.

When she got to the second part of the routine, she was able to move faster and the water ribbon’s movement was precise toward directions that can hit anyone at their vital points.

Shanaia continued and when she swiftly moved her arm to her side like she was swatting the air, the water ribbon moved like a whip, hitting the broken-down trunk she was sitting on earlier.

The impact of that move destroyed the trunk and all that was left of it was small pieces that were a bit bigger than a toothpick. Shanaia smirked and continued with the routine.

And when she was done with it, several trees and boulders were destroyed, but not to an extent that looked like a bomb was dropped there. Shanaia was sporting a wide grin on her face as she was delighted at what she did.

Liking the outcome, Shanaia decided to do it again and again and again. And while she was practicing, her grandfather was watching her from a distance, while perched on top of a tree branch.

“I knew you could do it. Well done, little cub,” he mumbled.

Since Shanaia was getting a hang of the deadly ballet, she would wake up extra early and sneak out to go to the stream and practice. She spent their remaining days in the tribe practicing while her brothers would take long breaks from their training.

Two days before they left the tribe, Shanaia was practicing in the same place by the stream. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice someone was sneaking up to her. But when that someone was close enough, Shanaia made a move in accordance with the routine and blocked the person coming her way.

But as she does it, that person is quick, so quick to evade her blocking and went to come at her from a different direction. Shanaia swiftly able to manipulate the water ribbon while she was doing the routine that not only blocked the incoming threat but also launched an attack.

Her water ribbon went for the intruder, hitting it like a boxer’s punch. As that intruder was thrown down the stream, four more intruders wearing masks attacked her in a very quick manner.

Shanaia gritted her teeth and blocked their attacks at first as she assessed how they fought. Once she got the information she needed, that’s when she started attacking. One end of her water ribbon attacks while the other end defends her.

Her every movement now is fast, accurate, and fluid, like the water she manipulates. Soon, all five masked intruders crash either on the ground or in the water.

Then in her final move, she modified the final form and she made her water ribbon glide in front of her and she glided her palms against the water in the opposite direction, creating a ripple. And from those ripples, water darts appeared. They froze and they flew towards the five masked intruders.

But before the ice darts hit them, Shanaia stopped them midair, just a few inches away from them.

“Show your faces,” she spoke.

Then she heard clapping from behind her, and when she turned around, she saw her grandfather with a pleased look on his face.

“You did very well!” Samael exclaimed.

“Grandpa?”

Samael did a small wave and it finally dawned on her. She looked at the five masked intruders and the floating ice darts turned to water before they evaporated. As soon as it disappeared, the five masked intruders got up and walked closer to each other before taking off the masks.

Shanaia gawked upon seeing her five uncles.

“What the?”

“Surprise!”

Her five uncles holler at the same time while Shanaia is gawking in disbelief. She then looked at her grandfather.

“What the hell is going on here?” she asked.

“For days, you have been training tirelessly and I can see a huge improvement. And since you and your brothers are close to going home, I decided to test you.” He answered.

“Test me?”

“Yes, test you. I thought about asking some warriors to put on the mask and attack you, but –“

“But we volunteered instead,” Styx said, cutting off their father midsentence.

Shanaia looked at them while her mouth was partially open.

“We wanted to see the legendary deadly ballet come to life so we volunteered,” Samuel said and the others nodded.

Then Shanaia noticed her brothers standing behind their grandfather.

“We wanted to see too,” Seb said, grinning like a Cheshire cat with Crane smiling broadly as well.

Shanaia rubbed her forehead and then she scowled and looked at her uncles.

“I could have killed you! I did not notice and smelled you!” Shanaia exclaimed.

“Well, that’s the point of us wearing these masks,” Seve said.

“We need to conceal our presence and our scents so you won’t hold back,” Stephen added.

“But you did control yourself and did not kill us,” Siegfried spoke.

Shanaia groaned.

“Still. It was a dangerous thing to do. I could have really killed you,” she stressed.

“That’s why we declined when they asked us to join,” Crane said, smiling.

“We are playing safe,” Seb added.

Then Samael walked closer to Shanaia. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Either way, you exceed my expectations and I am happy to send you home to your parents knowing I fulfilled my promise. I am proud of you,” he said and then he lowered his head, kissing the top of his granddaughter’s head.

Shanaia looked at her uncles, her brothers, and then at their grandfather. She felt emotional as she remembered all the hardships she went through with her training. And now, she smiles brightly as she masters what she came there.

“Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, everyone,”