"Are you ready?" "Of course." Penelope smirked at Gavin as she brandished her sword. The female knight gripped the reins of her horse in her free hand and shifted the small, brown mare into position as she readied to attack Gavin. Over the course of her two years back amongst the knights, she spent most of it training and improving on various skills. One of them happened to include fighting on horseback. After having to fight with the mercenaries on horseback, she figured it would be wise to improve upon that skill, especially since she had found it quite difficult at the time. The knight was much more balanced and confident now about fighting while riding. However, it had been a long time since she had practiced the skill. Penelope gave her horse a small kick and charged at Gavin. The male knight was quick to block her, doing so almost effortlessly as she swiped at his side. She rounded her horse around his, attempting to strike from the back this time as she gave him little time to recover. Gavin moved out of the way, guiding his horse forward before looping around to attack her. Their blades scraped against each other as Penelope blocked him as he passed by. Though Gavin claimed to be worried about how he would perform on top of a horse, his skills seemed just fine in her opinion. It didn't surprise her. He had always been close to Alan and his family so of course he had picked up a few lessons from Bran before. She didn't doubt that's where most of his skill came from. [i]Guess I better start giving him a real challenge.[/i] She smirked to herself and then charged towards him again. As she drew close, she suddenly slowed her horse and aim for his chest. Gavin raised an eyebrow at her, catching her confident smirk, as he shifted his blade to block her attack. Penelope shifted some of her weight into the blade, pushing against him rather than pulling away like usual. It seemed to catch Gavin off guard, as he was used to her using her speed rather than her strength. Using his surprise, she quickly retracted her sword and then swiped at his side, hoping to throw his balance off. Gavin leaned away, momentarily off balance. However, the male knight didn't give her a chance to utilize it as he suddenly jabbed his sword towards, using the motion to regain his balance while forcing her to go on the defensive. The two clashed their blades a few more times before their sparring finally reached its end as Gavin disarmed her. Slipping past her defense, he used his sword to knock hers out of her hand onto the ground below. He pointed his weapon at her and Penelope held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright you got me." she chuckled. "I don't even know what you were worried about. Your skills seem fine." "Well, I definitely feel a bit better about them after testing them against you." Gavin smiled at her as he sheathed his sword. "I'm not that good but I'm glad I could help." Penelope mused as she dismounted the mare to retrieve the sword on the ground. "Not that good?" Gavin raised an eyebrow at her as he dropped down to the ground as well and grabbed the reins of his horse. "You don't even specialize in fighting on horseback but I'm sure you could win against half of those fighting in the cavalry. You're a talented knight, Penelope." The female knight blinked, surprised by his high words of praise. "I doubt that but thanks." she replied to him with a small smile. Her smile faltered as she suddenly became a bit wary of his complimenting as she thought of Crow. Penelope grabbed the reins of her horse and turned brisky to walk off. "Come on we should put the horses." she told him, quick to put some distance between them. Luckily, Gavin didn't question it and followed behind. --- As night fell, Penelope spent most of the evening alone as Olivia was busy and spending too much time with Gavin would likely go against the promise she made to Crow. Instead, the knight found a peaceful moment alone, leaning back against a tree as she watched the stars come out in the night sky. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. The knight found herself thinking about life after the war. She specifically thought about how her family would react to finding out about her love for the thief. The thought was brought on as she found herself recalling the conversation with him about the stars during their trip to Younis. It made her think of her mom then how her mom had likely felt about her father and eventually lead to her thinking about the future situation to come. She didn't care much for what Edward or his side of the family thought. Edward would likely be the first to disown her, already having a deep dislike of her anyways, so Penelope didn't expect much understanding from him. She was more concerned about Layth and her father. Especially Layth. The knight frowned a little as she recalled how close Crow had gotten to killing her brother. Layth likely wouldn't take the news well. She found herself hoping he would just turn his back on her, a little worried he might try to hunt them down once he found out. It was harder to say how her father would react. Part of her was still holding on to a hope that he might actually come to understand her after having been in a similar situation. [i]That's all in the future though... Who knows how much longer this war will go on anyways..[/i] she thought with a sigh, feeling herself becoming impatient for its end. The knight stood up and made her way to her tent, ready to call it a night as she grew tired.