"Gods, can you slow down a bit." Olivia panted as she took a step back from Penelope. Penelope chuckled at her friend and lowered her sword for a moment. "Come on, Olivia. Usually you keep up better than this." she smirked a little. Training had begun as usual and this time Penelope had decided to partner up with Olivia as a sparring partner. Olivia wasn't as skilled of a swordsman as she was but the other female knight was still a competent opponent. It had been a while since the two had tested their skills against each other, mainly because Olivia usually avoided sparring with Penelope. "I've spent the last two days practicing, I'm sore." Olivia rolled her eyes. "What I don't understand is why you're not." "I am but I just try to push past it." Penelope shrugged. Olivia gave a heavy sigh. "Of course you do." The other female knight subtly smirked and then suddenly lunged forward with her sword. "Think fast!" Penelope quickly deflected the attack, having partly suspected Olivia would try such a move. She had sparred with her enough times to know that Olivia often resorted to some type of trick or surprise to gain the upper hand against opponents of higher skill. In the past, it had worked but now Penelope knew better than to lower her guard around her friend until the sparring match was officially over. She raised her sword and swiped at Olivia's side. Her friend blocked it quickly, clenching her jaw slightly as she strained. The two clashed their swords a couple more times as Olivia went back on the defensive as Penelope tried to find an opening. She finally managed to slip past Olivia's defense to get close enough to hook a leg out and sweep her feet out from under her. Olivia fell on her back and Penelope quickly advanced on her, pointing her sword down at her throat. "Yield now?" "Yeah, yeah." Olivia panted tiredly. Penelope smiled and sheathed her sword before offering her hand to her friend and helping her up to her feet. "You're improving a lot with your defense. It was hard to find an opening that time." she mused. "I guess." Olivia shrugged. "I'm not good with swords.. I think I'll just stick to my dagger and mace." ---- The rest of the day went by smoothly and Penelope even managed to have a bit more free time than the day before. It wasn't long before night fell. She spent the evening with her friends and eventually parted with them to head off to her tent. She still planned to go to sleep early, intent on actually staying true to her word about heading out with Nina on a patrol the next morning. As she walked, her gaze drifted over the guards that she passed. It was the night of the raid. She hoped it went smoothly for the thieves. Penelope didn't worry too much about it. Crow was feeling better and he was a skilled thief so she managed to not focus on any lingering concern as she headed into her tent for the night. [i]Hopefully my comrades won't go crazy about a few missing supplies like before though..[/i] Penelope thought as she settled down in her bed. Closing her eyes, the knight soon drifted off into a deep sleep.