"Catherine, it's good to see you."

Catherine looked away from her training and smiled warmly at the approaching figure of Shamir.

"Ah, Shamir. Come to train have you?"

"Indeed, I've been given an assignment by Lady Rhea and I figured I should train so I may be ready for it." Shamir answered, as she went to set up the targets.

"Oh are you going to be gone for a while?"

"It all depends. I'm leading a group of knights to go and fight against the Empire's troops. They're attempting to cross over into Kingdom territory." As Shamir spoke, she began practicing her bow skills. Arrow after arrow, being shot perfectly and hitting the target dead center. "Now then, if you don't mind." With a running start, Shamir leapt to her side and shot an arrow that hit the target directly.

"Right, right. I'll just keep working over here." Catherine went back to practicing her moves. Twirling and dancing around the dummy perfectly as she tried new maneuvers as well as old ones. Still, Catherine couldn't help glancing over at Shamir as she trained.

Shamir's face was calm and collected. A cool, focused look upon her face as she tried shooting in multiple different ways, simulating different attacks for a battle. Each arrow landed perfectly. Her dark hair fell around her face, seldom ever blocking her vision. Little glimmers of sweat adorned her face as Shamir continued to fight. Catherine then noticed Shamir barely glance at her, the faintest hint of a smile curling at her lips as another arrow was shot perfectly. Catherine quickly returned to training and attempted some mode advanced moves, swinging her training sword around. Over and over the dummy was hit. After a while, Catherine went to switch to using gauntlets. For a moment, she stopped and stared at the iron gauntlets she was given over five years ago. They had been a gift from her once favorite professor, Byleth. After all, it was thanks to them that she even began to practice with gauntlets.

Shamir made her way over and grabbed a spear that was leaning against the wall. Looking at Catherine for only a moment before heading over to a dummy and practicing with it. Catherine looked at the spear in Shamir's hands. A small, red ribbon was tied near the head of the spear. Looking back to her gauntlets, Catherine turned them over and saw the Black Eagles symbol painted onto the gauntlets. It was pretty faded and some bits wiped away after so many years and so much usage, but it was still partially visible. Catherine ran her fingers over the symbol and took a deep breath before slipping the gauntlets on. Going over and attacking a dummy, Catherine hit it furiously. Crying out as she did, the rage that welled up inside her made her hit the dummy even harder. By the end, the training dummy was beaten badly and practically torn to shreds. Huffing, Catherine stared at the dummy with a burning hatred that lay deep within her.

"That dummy didn't stand a chance," Shamir commented, having watched the entire thing.

Snapping out of it, the hatred became dormant once more. Catherine looked over and sighed. "Truly. I know I'll be able to cut anyone down if they dare to hurt Lady Rhea." She looked at the dummy once more, imagining a familiar face in its place. "They deserve it after what they did to hurt Lady Rhea. She trusted them. I...trust them."

Shamir nodded. "What happened is certainly...enraging. Yet I can't help wondering if they had some motive we don't know about."

"I don't care if they had a motive, they still chose to go against Lady Rhea. I won't forgive them for that." A darkness loomed within Catherine's eyes. Shamir watched her silently before returning to her own training once more.

Catherine slipped the gauntlets off and returned them to the weapon storage then left the training grounds without another word. She ran one hand through her hair as she walked, her mind heavy with memories from years ago.

~★~ End ~★~

Chapter Art: In Game Support Chat