By the time they arrived, Sasha was already practicing. The young woman worked through the same motions as yesterday and Saga took the time to just watch, seeing if they could glean anything from it. They were soon startled by Olga's voice call from just behind them. “No slacking!” Saga yelped and Sasha was so startled by Saga's yelp that she tossed her ax at them. The ax rebounded on a shield right before impacting Saga and giving them a splitting headache and split head. Sasha looked mortified and Saga was pale as a ghost. Olga looked close to laughter. But the older fey touched schooled her expression quickly as she admonished Sasha.

“Your form is good, but your spatial awareness is terrible. Saga stood here for a solid ten minutes. And Saga?”

“Yes?” Squeaked Saga, still reliving the ax flying at their face. “I stood behind you for 10 minutes and you didn't realize I was there. Your spatial awareness is even worse.” Olga then shoved Saga not so gently as to make her stand where Sasha was. Saga stumbled and almost fell as Sasha caught their shoulder with an apologetic smile.

“As you two are both absolutely worthless when it comes to minding your surroundings, that is what we will practice today,” Olga said as she raised a hand, making four orbs of what appeared to be tiny balls of lightning appear. Sasha winced. Saga stared at each of the orbs and then back at Olga. The realization of what they were for slowly dawned on Saga and they realized just why Sasha winced.

“You two are going to spar like yesterday. But I will be ever so often try to attack one of you with these. If either of you gets hit, we start right over again. And you do not want to get hit. It won't harm you much, but it will hurt like you wouldn’t believe. Now, get to it!” Olga all but shouted, getting her two students to move with commendable haste.

Saga took their usual position, shield, and spear at the ready. Sasha leaned forward, axes in a lax guard. They stared each other down and that same feeling as the day before crept up on Saga. That itch to fight this person. To test themselves. Sasha's eyes shone with the same craving for battle. Then, as if some had just fired a starting pistol both fighters rushed forward. Only this time, their battle revelry was disrupted by a ball of lightning hitting either fighter in the side. They both fell to the ground, rolling about and clutching their sides in pain. Saga felt as if some just jammed a cattle prod up between their ribs and had to fight to relax and not cram up around the area of impact too much. Sasha seemed to be in a similar situation, swearing up a storm. Olga just stared impassively at them both until they stopped and got up.

“What is wrong with you Lady!? That was-” Saga started, all but frothing with rage but Sasha cut them off before Saga could go off the deep end.

“Extraordinarily painful Auntie!” Sasha finished pointing her entire arm at her Auntie who raised a single eyebrow and one finger to silence them both as two new orbs formed. The two orbs circled menacingly above her head as she stared both fighters down.

“What was that?” Her face showed not a single emotion but the all-encompassing judgment of a mentor who is waiting for their pupil to understand the lesson.

Both Saga and Sasha blanched and immediately retook positions opposite each other. Neither said a word, as they focused on their task. Saga tried to stymie the rage that had flared up. It had more been a reaction to the level of pain rather than the action. They had been warned after all.

“That's what I thought,” Olga said, a small smirk tugging on her lips.

The two began to slowly circle one another, glancing around for any more of the little balls of lightning that slowly drifted out from Olga and out around the two warriors. Their presence made Saga jumpy and had the berserker second-guess their impulse to rush in. Instead, the two got stuck circling one another, looking for an opening while also making sure they weren't getting suckered in to take a hit from the ever-present threat of the ball of lightning. Olga said nothing, just watching impassively. Saga pushed forward, moving in with a stab of their spear that Sasha deftly dodged, her left ax coming down a swing that Saga deflected. Both fighters disengaged, quick on their feet, looking for sneak attacks from the lightning orbs but none came.

The battle continued much in the same way. Saga moved, dipped in low to stab at a foot or a leg, testing the distance and trying to keep themselves clear of sneak attacks and not be blindsided. Or they would retreat under their shield, move away, and glance at the lightning balls, avoiding damn things as they would try to hit their exposed back.

Over and over, this repeated, putting Saga strangely on edge. They could certainly see the reason for such training. In just an hour they sparred, and they became much more aware of how they repositioned. Where they put their feet down. That said, an hour is not enough to fix even a small issue, let alone a longstanding flaw. And both Sasha and Saga would repeatedly get hit by the balls of lightning, although none of them seemed to hurt near as much as the first.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

By the end, Saga was shaking feeling back into their shield arm. The combination of low-level electric shocks and the impacts of Sasha's axes had made the arm go a bit numb. Sasha for their part staring at the sky, laying on her back, breath misting in the cold winter air. Saga looked at her, offering a hand for her to grab.

“You keep kicking my ass like that, and I just gonna give up on this warrior thing” Saga said as Sasha took their hand in their, own, pulling themselves up. Up close, Saga had half a head-on their fellow warrior.

“I wouldn't if I were you. Auntie said you were quite a natural and I got to agree.” Sasha said before stretching with an audible pop of her spine and a grunt of discomfort. Saga had managed to use their brawn to push Saga around a little bit at a time and Sasha seemed to struggle when it came to fighting while retreating.

“I’ll try not to give up just yet then.” Saga relented with an overdramatic sigh.

“Good job. Both of you.” Olga's voice came from the door as she walked out with two bowls of steaming hot soup. “You have a long way to go. But it's pretty clear that you both pick up on the little things quicker than most. For your remainder here, we will continue this training, since I am not coming with you.” She said as Sasha and Saga both devoured their food like starved animals. Tipping the last of the soup into their mouths directly from the bowl.

“Goodness. No table manners.” Olga laughed as she took the bowls back.

“Sorry, Auntie,” Sasha said with an apologetic smile. “Food was great though.”

“Sorry Miss.” Saga said sheepishly. The food had been good. Since coming here, it seemed that soups were a specialty of the local cuisine and Saga had to admit that they have all been delicious so far. The broth heavy beef and chicken soups did wonders for their soul. They chatted a bit with Sasha before leaving, mostly switching observations of each other's fighting styles and noticeable patterns before saga headed back to the Inn. They jogged the entire way there this time.

Upon arriving at the Inn, they realized there was something of a commotion. A large man, with a physique built on hard work, was talking with Olaf in a quiet voice. The man Saga realized was a very muscular elf. Olaf saw Saga approach and was going to warn them off when the elf saw them too. Saga had a sinking feeling they knew who this was.

“Saga Ljungborg,” He said, his voice gravely but even and without any notable malice in it.

“That is me, unfortunately,” Saga said, stopping before the large elf. They were about the same heigh, but the elf had muscle upon muscle. Like Arnold Schwarzeneggers elven brother.

“My son is very upset with you.” The man said.

“I apologize for the trouble I caused you, and for starting the fight at the Alehouse” Saga said with a small bow.

“But not for headbutting him?” The man said, raising an eyebrow.

“It was an accident.” Saga answered with a blank stare. They could see Olaf nod slightly in approval behind the man's back.

“So I hear. Let us hope there is not another one.” The man said with a clear smile tugging at his lips. “Especially since you will be on the same caravan south.”

“Wait. What.” Saga said, eyes widening. The man just patted them on the shoulder and walked past. “Talk to Olaf. He has the details”

Saga stared after him then at Olaf. Olaf gave them a tired look. “Congratulations.” He said before heading into the Inn. Saga stormed after. Olaf still had his back to them as they stormed up right into his space again. Saga was clenching their fists so hard as to feel the short nails dig into their palm.

“No way in hell will I babysit that asshole.” Saga snarled.

Olaf spun on them which caused Saga to reel back a little. Olaf towered over them, and for a second Saga realized just how terrifying his man would be to face in battle.

“You are. You will. All of us saw it as we had a duty to help you. We want to make sure you get a fair shot. But you have been in this world for only a few days, and you are already acting as if you understand it better than us. That your actions should not have consequences. Are you a child, Saga Ljungborg? Does your world not have consequences?”

“I am not a child.” Saga snarled, suddenly furious at the way they were treated. “But you are throwing me the wolves here. Why should I go along with it?”

“Because I want you to survive. And that means knowing what battles to pick. You humiliated the man's son twice. But he also knows his son was not doing a good job handling himself beforehand. He is giving you an out. And a chance to not only prove yourself but show up his son without breaking his fucking nose or making a spectacle of it.” Olaf said, and Saga suddenly deflated.

“I am sorry.” They ran a hand over their face. “I am being immature and self-centered.”

“Yes you are,” Olaf said, putting a hand on their shoulder. “But you have also shown you have principles and that you are ready to step in for others. I know what you did was to save Torbjörn and his father some trouble. I was told such by Torbjörn himself. You are just rash and ignorant in how you go about it.”

“Gee. Thanks.” Saga gave Olaf a deadpan look. Olaf brightened a little bit.

“You better be ready to train yourself half to death. Looking after an overgrown brat like Jasper will test you, no doubt!” He said and Saga rubbed their temples.

"Of course, you'd make it about training." They mumbled.

Sleep didn't come easy to them that night. Not because of nightmares, but because of all the thoughts running through their head. They stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an hour, counting the rings in the wood before they finally fell asleep. They didn't dream of the dead or war. They didn't dream at all in fact but slept like the dead, not noticing the large raven sitting right outside their window, watching.