28th of Glade, 121
Naila sighed.
“Get up.” She bit, scraping the underside of her nails. There was skin there, Fawns in fact. It had been bound to happen at some point but truthfully speaking Naila hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. The girl had nearly landed a fist upon her face but Naila had of course been quicker, grabbing the girl and digging her nails into the flesh to redirect her past her own body. She had hit the wall hard, and fell to the floor shortly after. But it had left the pale girls flesh stuck under her nail bed.
The girl grinned and blew a tiny wisp of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. “Getting impatient?” She asked, wincing as a bruised rib from two days ago reminded her of the proper ducking technique. Or at least, what wasn’t a proper ducking technique. Naila smirked, chuckling shortly to herself at the girls comment.
Fawn panted as she stood. They’d been at it for over an hour- a first of hers to go for so long, and although she’d broken a sweat she was not nearly as battered or bruised as she usually was at the end of their sessions. And she still had more in her.
The ginger broke into a sprint. Her ponytail flung wildly behind her as she dodged Naila’s outstretched fist. She ducked, pivoted her feet and twisted her body to nearly dance out of the way of Naila’s classic leg-sweeping trip.
She smiled to herself, sweat dripping from her brow as she raised her arm up beside her face to block the next attack and redirect it outwards. Nailas' brow was calm but her eyes radiated annoyance. The last few days had been a slow build towards these moments, and Fawn was finally beginning to see her practice pay off. Blocking, redirecting momentum, dodging trips were all things she’d learned simply by watching the woman and applying them to her own defenses. But it wasn’t even close to perfect.
Naila’s foot had come out and swung underneath the girls, hand about to catch the girls ponytail before she twisted out of the way and came to a crashing fall beneath her. She rolled, quick to her feet with a huff and focused eyes.
She took off. Naila grunted as the girl came swinging. She was faster, angrier. A tiny smirk played at Nailas lips, her body twisting with ease to dodge the girls flurry of blows that came towards her. They were direct, practiced, not sloppy as they’d been in the weeks prior. And for the first time Naila found herself actually working to dodge the fist that nearly scraped across her cheek.
She grasped the girls right wrist as she’d always done then, pulling the ginger closer and then past her to throw her against the wall once more.
But it didn’t work.
She’d practiced. Fawn let the momentum take her straight towards the wall at first but this time she curved, twisting herself and pivoting her foot until she’d spun around entirely and thrust her closed fist to the side of Naila’s face.
It was brief- the woman had recoiled before the fist had even hit but still not enough, not while she still held Fawn’s wrist in her hand. When fist connected with flesh she blinked in surprise and staggered briefly. The two stopped, and for a moment the only noise in the room was of Fawn’s heavy breathing.
But a smirk took over the woman’s lips as she touched the side of her face. “That was weak.” She said, a light laugh coming from her chest. “I suppose next time I’ll have to get serious.” She let go of Fawn’s wrist and stood up tall, watching as Fawn rose to her own proud height and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow that had threatened to fall into her eye. The girl panted, a smile slowly appearing on her face as she realized what had happened.
"I did it!!" She screamed, earning a squint and a wince from Naila as her shrill voice echoed in the room. Fawn looked down at her fist. It ached. She'd not exactly punched correctly, and had it not been for Naila's hold on her she would have likely fell forward with no control over her own direction. But she'd done it. The first contact after nearly daily practice with the woman. The girl beamed as she looked up at the woman.
"Yes, indeed. But you're sloppy. You lack control." Naila cracked her neck and moved her jaw, testing the damage actually done. Barely anything. But it had been done. Which meant she was at least ready for part two of how not to die. "We'll end here for today, you've earned it, and Lyra's getting cranky. I think she misses her books." The woman chuckled lightly and began to walk back up the stairs with Fawn who matched her pace, albeit with a small limp and a bruise forming on her knee from one of the falls.
Fawn didn't care that she'd fallen. Didn't care about the bruises, or even the missing pieces of flesh from her hand where Naila had sunk her nails into. Instead she was wholly focused on the fact that progress had finally been made. After so many torturous weeks of almost giving in, of living through flashbacks with Havershim, of waking nearly nightly to lucid dreams of his form looming over her bed, of multiple creams of salves being applied hourly and multiple trips to Telion- she’d done it.
Her feet hurried to brush past Naila and rush up the stairs. “I’m gonna tell me mum!” She called, pushing the door to the shop open and sprinting up to the apartment above. Bounding up the steps, it hardly took her seconds to reach her room and begin rummaging through the messy space to pull out her quill and a few sheets of paper.
She was still panting when she plopped down on the ground and used the chest at the end of her bed as a table.
’Mum, Dad,
I hope you’re doing well, and that glade crops have been plentiful. I wanted to share the news. A few weeks ago I’d started training in self defense with a friend. Honestly it has been hard, I wasn’t doing great, but today I landed my first hit! Score! I’m so proud, I think you would be too. And yes mum, I’m not too bloodied.
Anyways, I can’t wait to come see you both. Can you make that honey bread I love so much? I’ll be trying to visit between the 65th-75th of Glade.
See you both soon!
Love,
Fawn.’
A few hours later Fawn skipped down the road towards the traveling post. He was a short human fellow, about her fathers age with peppered hair and a kind smile. Sitting atop his single horse drawn carriage, he turned to the girl as she shouted for him to wait up. She skidded to a halt as she approached, her wild locks bouncing around her shoulders now that her hair was down from it's tight ponytail.
“"Sir! One more letter, if you please!" She said, holding up the enclosed parchment with 'Mum & Dad of Brisbane' written on top. The man smiled down at her with a chuckle.
"Miss Brisbane! Nearly missed me this season, it'll be my only trip down there in Glade, you sure that's all?" The man asked, gently taking the letter from her and placing it in a box at his side. He slid the cover over it gently and then secured it at his feet as a footstool. Behind him in the carriage were barrels and boxes full of city-made goods, medicines, and food, some of which gave the cart a wondrously exotic smell.
“Yes, sir! Just the one. Have a good trip, and say hello again for me!" She called, waving as the man tipped his wide brimmed hat and set off towards the city's western exit upon the main road.
“Get up.” She bit, scraping the underside of her nails. There was skin there, Fawns in fact. It had been bound to happen at some point but truthfully speaking Naila hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. The girl had nearly landed a fist upon her face but Naila had of course been quicker, grabbing the girl and digging her nails into the flesh to redirect her past her own body. She had hit the wall hard, and fell to the floor shortly after. But it had left the pale girls flesh stuck under her nail bed.
The girl grinned and blew a tiny wisp of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. “Getting impatient?” She asked, wincing as a bruised rib from two days ago reminded her of the proper ducking technique. Or at least, what wasn’t a proper ducking technique. Naila smirked, chuckling shortly to herself at the girls comment.
Fawn panted as she stood. They’d been at it for over an hour- a first of hers to go for so long, and although she’d broken a sweat she was not nearly as battered or bruised as she usually was at the end of their sessions. And she still had more in her.
The ginger broke into a sprint. Her ponytail flung wildly behind her as she dodged Naila’s outstretched fist. She ducked, pivoted her feet and twisted her body to nearly dance out of the way of Naila’s classic leg-sweeping trip.
She smiled to herself, sweat dripping from her brow as she raised her arm up beside her face to block the next attack and redirect it outwards. Nailas' brow was calm but her eyes radiated annoyance. The last few days had been a slow build towards these moments, and Fawn was finally beginning to see her practice pay off. Blocking, redirecting momentum, dodging trips were all things she’d learned simply by watching the woman and applying them to her own defenses. But it wasn’t even close to perfect.
Naila’s foot had come out and swung underneath the girls, hand about to catch the girls ponytail before she twisted out of the way and came to a crashing fall beneath her. She rolled, quick to her feet with a huff and focused eyes.
She took off. Naila grunted as the girl came swinging. She was faster, angrier. A tiny smirk played at Nailas lips, her body twisting with ease to dodge the girls flurry of blows that came towards her. They were direct, practiced, not sloppy as they’d been in the weeks prior. And for the first time Naila found herself actually working to dodge the fist that nearly scraped across her cheek.
She grasped the girls right wrist as she’d always done then, pulling the ginger closer and then past her to throw her against the wall once more.
But it didn’t work.
She’d practiced. Fawn let the momentum take her straight towards the wall at first but this time she curved, twisting herself and pivoting her foot until she’d spun around entirely and thrust her closed fist to the side of Naila’s face.
It was brief- the woman had recoiled before the fist had even hit but still not enough, not while she still held Fawn’s wrist in her hand. When fist connected with flesh she blinked in surprise and staggered briefly. The two stopped, and for a moment the only noise in the room was of Fawn’s heavy breathing.
But a smirk took over the woman’s lips as she touched the side of her face. “That was weak.” She said, a light laugh coming from her chest. “I suppose next time I’ll have to get serious.” She let go of Fawn’s wrist and stood up tall, watching as Fawn rose to her own proud height and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow that had threatened to fall into her eye. The girl panted, a smile slowly appearing on her face as she realized what had happened.
"I did it!!" She screamed, earning a squint and a wince from Naila as her shrill voice echoed in the room. Fawn looked down at her fist. It ached. She'd not exactly punched correctly, and had it not been for Naila's hold on her she would have likely fell forward with no control over her own direction. But she'd done it. The first contact after nearly daily practice with the woman. The girl beamed as she looked up at the woman.
"Yes, indeed. But you're sloppy. You lack control." Naila cracked her neck and moved her jaw, testing the damage actually done. Barely anything. But it had been done. Which meant she was at least ready for part two of how not to die. "We'll end here for today, you've earned it, and Lyra's getting cranky. I think she misses her books." The woman chuckled lightly and began to walk back up the stairs with Fawn who matched her pace, albeit with a small limp and a bruise forming on her knee from one of the falls.
Fawn didn't care that she'd fallen. Didn't care about the bruises, or even the missing pieces of flesh from her hand where Naila had sunk her nails into. Instead she was wholly focused on the fact that progress had finally been made. After so many torturous weeks of almost giving in, of living through flashbacks with Havershim, of waking nearly nightly to lucid dreams of his form looming over her bed, of multiple creams of salves being applied hourly and multiple trips to Telion- she’d done it.
Her feet hurried to brush past Naila and rush up the stairs. “I’m gonna tell me mum!” She called, pushing the door to the shop open and sprinting up to the apartment above. Bounding up the steps, it hardly took her seconds to reach her room and begin rummaging through the messy space to pull out her quill and a few sheets of paper.
She was still panting when she plopped down on the ground and used the chest at the end of her bed as a table.
’Mum, Dad,
I hope you’re doing well, and that glade crops have been plentiful. I wanted to share the news. A few weeks ago I’d started training in self defense with a friend. Honestly it has been hard, I wasn’t doing great, but today I landed my first hit! Score! I’m so proud, I think you would be too. And yes mum, I’m not too bloodied.
Anyways, I can’t wait to come see you both. Can you make that honey bread I love so much? I’ll be trying to visit between the 65th-75th of Glade.
See you both soon!
Love,
Fawn.’
A few hours later Fawn skipped down the road towards the traveling post. He was a short human fellow, about her fathers age with peppered hair and a kind smile. Sitting atop his single horse drawn carriage, he turned to the girl as she shouted for him to wait up. She skidded to a halt as she approached, her wild locks bouncing around her shoulders now that her hair was down from it's tight ponytail.
“"Sir! One more letter, if you please!" She said, holding up the enclosed parchment with 'Mum & Dad of Brisbane' written on top. The man smiled down at her with a chuckle.
"Miss Brisbane! Nearly missed me this season, it'll be my only trip down there in Glade, you sure that's all?" The man asked, gently taking the letter from her and placing it in a box at his side. He slid the cover over it gently and then secured it at his feet as a footstool. Behind him in the carriage were barrels and boxes full of city-made goods, medicines, and food, some of which gave the cart a wondrously exotic smell.
“Yes, sir! Just the one. Have a good trip, and say hello again for me!" She called, waving as the man tipped his wide brimmed hat and set off towards the city's western exit upon the main road.
