Completed If You're Gonna Pull It, Know How To Use It (Edreina)

[Razkar]

4th Day of Fall
The Bronze Woods along the South Kabrin Road
18th Bell

Seven days and still there's no end to the trees...

That thought should have heartened Razkar, he supposed. Day after day, mile after mile of nothing but dense greenery... why wouldn't any Myrian enjoy such a sight? Fall was coming slower the further south the caravan journeyed down the Kabrin Road, and there was still thick, lustrous greenery in every direction. Not the stifling humidity, perhaps, but Razkar didn't miss that much.

But it wasn't home, and he wasn't on a sightseeing trip.

"C'mon, you wastes of guts and balls, get them bedded down! You?! Fuck're you doing with those mules? Tie 'em to a tree and get to the tents! No, Mrs Marovian, dinner will not be for a few bells; cookie needs time t'work, y'know..."

Razkar sighed outside his tent and thanked all the gods living and dead that he did not have Albrecht's job. He'd already given his instructions to the mercenaries guarding the caravan, dispersing them into a perimeter surrounding the resting convoy, but the bearded human? He actually had to oversee that rest, because it didn't just happen.

Animals to be fed and bedded down, wagons to be circled, personnel to be fed, fires to be made, a hundred little details and that was without the "paying passengers" to worry about.

Razkar groaned again. He'd met them once, in the last seven days since they'd left Syliras. Well-fed and fashionably-dressed, they'd looked down from their carriages like he was something between road kill and a cornered wolverine, fakes smiles on plump faces under nervous eyes.

Cattle. Mrrko had more courage and wit than them, and once Albrecht had made the introductions between them and the "famous" Razkar, he took his leave.

He hated hearing lies about himself, but if it shut them up, so be it.

There was a muted curse in Fratava from behind him and he turned to see the stooped, crawling Svefra emerge from inside the tent, rubbing the top of her red mane. Razkar crushed a smirk beneath his hand as she straightened up.

"Hit you head on tent poles again, hmm?"

Edreina just glowered at him, jaw muscles tight and eyes unimpressed. Every night, she'd been the one setting up the tent, maintaining their cover as master and student... and she was not happy. Not one bit. Even Navis seemed to be amused by the situation and she was not about to let the eight-pound fox kit think he was the Alpha of the two of them.

"Hey, I make fire," Razkar said reasonably, gesturing to the pile of kindling ringed with stones that he'd put together while she was shoving and cursing and flapping around under the tarpaulin of the tent, "And I cook. That seems like fair exchange..."

She opened her mouth to reply and a multitude of hooves quickly drowned her out. Razkar looked up and saw Moretta's squad return. Ten horsemen, led by the half-Drykas, trotted into the ring of wagons and the dark-haired female nodded her abrupt greeting to the Myrian. Heedless of the Svefra and anyone else, for that matter, she strode over to him upon dismounting.

"Report."

"Nothing around the perimeter that would could see." She said, actually standing to attention. Razkar frowned mentally: almost like a soldier... and she said she'd never ridden with the Drykas? Or the Knights? Then where had she learned that mentality? "But the ground is getting more uneven and hilly the further south we go. Not good horse country. Far as we know, the forest around us is clear."

"Good." Razkar said shortly, nodding behind her to the waiting horsemen. "Your squad and ten others, they sleep and rest. Others take first watch. Five bells, remember?"

"Yes, sir."

Was that... the suggestion of a smile on her face as she turned away? Razkar seemed to think so, and for some reason Navis was growling-

-but when he turned, the little fox kit was curled up, sleeping, and Edreina was swiftly looking away. The Myrian frowned. He could have sworn... well, anyway-

The Svefra paused, hearing the unmistakable sound of a sword being unsheathed. She turned and... no... not a sword... not quite.

Razkar tossed his gladius lightly from hand to hand, walking slowly around the unlit fire, spinning and flipping the familiar blade that molded to his hand like his own flesh. Without looking up, he spoke.

"Time, I think... to learn how to swing steel... apprentice..."

Now he stood, and before Edreina could draw his strange, sharp gift to her there was something twirling through the air, but not shining-

-his training gladius, two feet of dull wood the same weight as the bone-hilted blade at his hip. Her hand snapped out to clumsily catch it and the Myrian gave her an apologetic smile.

"But not with your gift, I am sorry to speak, Edri. I have not used it... not ever."

The Myrian frowned as if he were confessing some terrible disease or family shame. Admitting his ignorance of a weapon, especially one so close to his female... it was... difficult.

"Have not said that often..."

[Edreina]

Edreina's legs hurt from gripping his sides with her knees. Her feet hurt from when she decided to walk or jog alongside the caravan. Her back hurt from constantly having to sit upright on Jorven. Her stomach burned lightly from the rocking motion of her horse and the exercises she did each night to keep herself in shape now that she was unable to swim twice a day.

But most of all?

Her ass hurt. To say that she was saddle sore would be an understatement. After riding all day, it would usually take her a handful of chimes to be able to walk quite right. But, the one thing that did not hurt was her head... until she bonked it on the tent pole... Again... At least she had finished setting up the tent and Razkar had noticed her blunder-

"Hit you head on tent poles again, hmm?"

Petch. Were they not surrounded by curious eyes, Edreina would have walked over and punched him in the arm as hard as she could - likely injuring herself - just to drive her point home. Damn Myrian... Damn trip... Just as she started to list off all of the things that she did, about two score hooves made their nightly appearance to sour her mood, led by Miss Unboobed-and-dangerous herself. The two shared a brief exchange - which was far too long for Edreina's liking - but this time, she all but smiled at him.

The sight of such a gesture set Edreina's necklace humming gently and urged a quiet growl from her throat, one that rippled and wavered between alerting one to her presence and informing her that if she did not skedaddle quickly, they would have a problem. The moment she realized what she was doing, the Svefra turned and busied herself with getting their bedrolls into the tent and lain out, carefully separated until Leth's reign was absolute. Her cloak was lain out on her side of the tent, leaving her in her leather riding breeches, boots, and chest-bindings. Somewhere in the tent, she heard Navis snoring.

There was the gentle hiss of metal on leather, and as Edreina moved from the tent once again, she saw Razkar pacing their campsite, gladius in his hand. Before he spoke, Edreina was already moving over toward where she had hung her saddle.

"Time, I think... to learn how to swing steel... apprentice..."

The unfamiliar wakazashi would not, apparently, be needed. A familiar whump-whump cut the air behind her and Edreina was barely able to turn and bat the object from the air. When she saw that its form suggested a gladius, she half-expected to see blood on her hands. The other half of her mind had already accepted the fact that it was not a true blade. She fumbled with the object while it was still in the air before finally getting her hands on it. It was his training gladius, she realized. Fighting the urge to groan, Edreina turned and continued to walk until she found an area that was relatively empty and kind of flat. It was near the center of the camp which meant that people would be watching, but it was the best they would get without leaving the camp's safety.

Digging her toe into the ground, she got a feel for it's strength and grit before she started dashing about on it. After a tick, a small smile touched her lips. After their last spar, Edreina was excited to see how they would be able to maintain any semblance of dedication to their ruse. "Ready when you are, master..." Pursing her lips, Edreina moved the pseudo-gladius back to her left hand, having forgotten for a tick that she fought a bit differently from others. Well... Damn. Edreina moved it to her other hand again, trying to remember which grip she had found to be more effective in previous spars. Already she could tell that this was a dance to which she would have to work to remember the steps.

[Razkar]

"Ready when you are, master..."

Razkar let the sly smile grace his face as he started walking slowly sideways, Svefra instinctively mirroring him, the two soon-to-be combatants circling like scorpions. Oh, she was truly tired of her role as "apprentice" to the "great warrior", and the endless duties and silences that went with that. She understood the necessity of it, of course, but only Razkar knew just ho much she chafed and growled under the... subjugation.

He hoped it made for an interesting spar. Repressed anger usually did.

"I hear tone, I think?" Removed from the general swirl of the caravan, Razkar could allow himself a little more... intimacy with her, which he was grateful for. His smile widened and he shrugged lightly. "Only deceive to keep poor Svefra woman safe. The Kabrin Road is so unsafe for-"

She blew a raspberry at him, little pink tongue vibrating swiftly between her teeth as a fart-like sound cut him off. Black eyebrows like dead caterpillars rocketed upwards and he stopped circling. She cocked one of her own, open challenge on her gently smirking face.

"Hold blade proper, for start."

Edreina frowned and Razkar stepped forward, reaching out to take her wrist... and adjust her arm so it was bent, but the blade was perpendicular, facing her unseen enemy.

"Blade like this is too short for two hands. Better with one hand... or with other weapon." Razkar frowned and made a little humming noise. She suppressed a smile; she was learning his quirks, and knew he did that when he thought things over. "...when you know better to use your whip, you should use this in you other hand. Much better. More dangerous. But... for now..."

He stepped back and looked her up and down, noting the bent arm, bent knees, weight on the balls of her feet, body slightly turned sideways and blade... yes... he nodded.

"See? Hold like that, you can parry-"

In a single smooth, fluid movement, Razkar stepped back, raised his gladius in a carbon copy of her own stance, then jerked the diagonal blade upwards and to his right, as if fencing off an unseen dagger.

"Just so. You can thrust-"

His arm straightened, blade going from diagonal to horizontal in a singe flash of Leth-light, stabbing straight towards her breastbone and stopping a foot from it as his left foot slid forward with it.

"Or make slash, like so-"

The Myrian stepped back into his "ready" stance and swayed to his left, sliding sideways in the same direction-

-gladius hacking sideways towards the guts of his invisible enemy, avoiding whatever thrust of slash they aimed at him and disemboweling them at the same time. Once the move was demonstrated, he slid back into his ready stance and nodded.

"Now you, apprentice. Instructor in Taloba, once told us, 'Repetition is mother of skill'. So... repeat."

[Edreina]

And so, Edreina found herself repeating the motions he had displayed. Over, and over, and over. First the parry.

Edreina kept her body angled, swiping up and away so that whoever was coming at her would find their weapon out to their side. It had been some time since her hands closed around the hilt of a gladius, and so it took her some time for her muscles to catch up with the pattern her mind desired. Slowly, she found a rhythm in the movement, and began to wonder why she was keeping the rest of her body still.

Your entire body will become a weapon, Edri... You just have to remember to use. Razkar's words echoed in her head as frequently as those of the elders in her pod these days... Which was odd...

And so, Edreina began to use the motion of pivoting on her hips to put more momentum into a punch with her free arm, as if aiming to hammer into an opponent's soft midsection, just under the diaphragm. After a few repetitions of this, Edreina wanted to try something. Always a smart idea, aye?

Upon bringing the blade up, Edreina leaned back, cocked her leg up, and sent it forwards to topple over an opponent. The motion upset her own balance and she had to step back quickly to keep from fumbling. Her face was hard as she silently examined her mistake, knowing that her master would be doing the same. Perhaps if she had moved faster, had someone to actually push off of... It could have been better. Edreina decided that she would not attempt it until she was better at fighting... But it might be useful sometime if she truly needed it.

Next came the thrust. Edreina had spent a moment watching his form as he demonstrated, but it had been lost in her parries. "Master, will you please demonstrate again?" She hated asking, but it was better than fumbling about idiotically. Whatever snark or taunt he offered would be accepted in silence as Edreina had to maintain her submissive behavior. But slowly, her annoyance was building. Oh how she wished to spar with him, verbally, mentally, and physically. Nothing got angst out like absolute exhaustion.

As he demonstrated, Edreina held the false gladius beneath her chin, moving her hand quickly as she tied her hair in a tighter braid. It had been loosened by a day on the Kabrin and, as much as she was loathe to do so, the free-spirited Svefra understood the necessity of keeping her hair as unencumbering as possible without cutting it all off. Never cutting it all off. Then, there would be another way in which she and Boobless could be compared. Aside from that, her hair was too damn pretty. Even the bandanna, normally tied in a small bow, was bound tightly about the tip and knotted twice to ensure strength of the binding.

When the demonstration was over, Edreina pulled the blade from between her lips, narrowing her eyes playfully at Razkar as she let her tongue flick out to run along the flat of the blade for an instant. If he could mess with her, she could certainly do the same in her own way.

From there, Edreina commenced hacking and slashing and thrusting as she was shown, attempting to keep herself flowing from one to the other so that her body would learn the adjustments, the transitions, along with the motions themselves so that when a battle truly came, she would not be a stick in the mud.

Slowly, she found herself moving towards Razkar. Slowly, a plan started to form in her mind. "A wise old Myrian once told me," she said, eyes narrowed and voice tight as she kept the focus on her movements. "That the best way to learn is-" she ended up in front of him, just to the side, facing away. Perhaps he would see it coming, perhaps he would not. Either way, Edreina would drop to the ground and sweep her leg across it at his, attempting to knock him off of his feet. "-application." Her voice gained a playful edge as she stood either over or facing her Myr-... her master.

He was a hard teacher. But, sometimes, Edreina needed hard.

[Razkar]

It must have been what she did with her blade that distracted him. Just that half-tick of watching her pink tongue flicker over the wooden blade was enough to send a growling tremor straight to the contents of his breeches.

Sex and violence. Pain and pleasure. Something beautiful and innocent, but in a blink, some dark and deeply sexual.

"A wise old Myrian once told me, 'That the best way to learn-'"

Suffice to say, thoughts like that were rattling around Razkar's head when the Svefra made her move. He heard her words as if they were shouted at him from the other side of a canyon. He shook his head... shook it again... no improvement.

Wake up! Some suspicious voice that had saved him a dozen times piped up. You know that tone in her mouth, and it's not about to refresh lessons... and since when were you 'old'?!

"'-application.'"

Razkar caught the tone, saw the whirl of motion as she dropped, but in the time it took him to jerk his head down to his size, watching her lithe leg sweep out at the back of his own-

-she'd connected-

-and the Myrian's world shifted about ninety degrees the wrong way.

The ground became the sky and the ground became a mattress as Razkar's footing want to all the hells and his breath was knocked out by the impact. But with that jolt of pain his eyes snapped open and his gnosis exploded into life, years of battles and skirmishes and fights coming back-

-swinging out his own legs to repay the little bitch-

-but she scrambled back, away from him, feet unsure over the flat and non-swaying ground but solid enough for her to avoid him. Razkar growled low and kept his legs up, shifting his weight to his shoulder blades, torso almost vertical as he folded his legs inwards-

-jerked them back down hard-

-and slammed the soles of his feet into the ground, upper body thrown forward as he righted himself, facing her with his knees bent, lunging forward to thrust with his gladius at her stomach-

C'mon, girl, show me you learned some-

-and her own wooden gladius spun in a half-circle to knock it away. Almost, anyway. It would have been a nasty gash on her side rather than a full avoidance of the thrust, but better that than a sharp length of steel through her torso.

Again.

Razkar winced at the unbidden thought and the cringing memory that came with it. Still, no time to mope, or wallow, or even remember. The female backed up and they were suddenly circling again... and why didn't Razkar care if anyone saw her take him down so adroitly? She'd done him a favor, walking them from the main camp, yes, but... no-one?

The Myrian's teeth flashed like midnight lightning, face in shadow thanks to the clearing, matching the long, straight weapon in his hand. He tossed it from left to right, over and over, just to keep her hard, blue orbs flickering, wondering, guessing-

"Male was right."

-before lunging forward to her right, hammering a half-speed slash at her shoulder on the side she was clutching her faux-gladius. He'd taught her the basics, but now she had to prove she'd retained them.

[Edreina]

At this point, Edreina knew that she did not have enough skill with the blade to block the slash. It would likely end up skittering off the blade and up her arm if she tried. Instead, she leapt back out of the way, sucking in her stomach as the gladius sailed smoothly through where she had been. In an instant, she was capitalizing upon his loss of balance - a woman could only hope. She whipped her arm up and then back down, moving at full speed for she knew not how to slow her motions, nor did she feel the need to. This was, after all, Razkar she was fighting. Even if she managed to lop his arm off, he would kick her ass and then that of every mercenary riding with them. Because he was Razkar.

Ugh. How did she ever expect to keep up with that?

No no! Focus on here, now. Even he had to start somewhere.

From the height of the slash she pulled her arm back like a scorpion and aimed to stab at his midsection. If he knocked that away, she would pivot and use the momentum to aim a hard punch at the same general area. If he stopped the blade entirely, she would be flabbergasted. If he chose to twirl to the side, out of its way, Edreina would spin and aim her elbow at his kidneys.

Either way, Edreina was sure to get out of his range again, body settling in a low crouch. Before he could even command her to move again, she was lunging forward, arm cocked back in a lower version of her earlier thrust, attempting to catch him in the hip.

Slowly but surely, Edreina was finding her strengths and weaknesses whilst fighting. She was a hair faster than Raz, but his instinct and experience managed to make him move more efficiently, allowing him to intercept or predict her movements. After years of learning to work with the currents as she swam, to maintain a constant ebb and flow of energy so that she did not exhaust herself too quickly, her body moved fluidly from one attack to another, from a thrust to a punch to a parry in quick succession, making the best use of her momentum so that she would be able to conserve energy. But more than that, it felt good to be exerting herself in such a way again, testing her body's limits and building new strengths. What really threw her out of her groove, was when Razkar managed to stop her in her tracks. Like a rope slipping from a pulley, she would pause, becoming all but useless as her mind hesitated, contemplating several possibilities instead of the one that was most logical, most effective with how her body was already in motion. That was something that she would need to work on.

At one such moment, she watched as brief annoyance flashed across her lover's face before he shoved her backwards, obviously fighting every urge to headbutt her. Some would be discouraged, but it only made Edreina want to try harder. The Svefra wanted ever so badly to be able to make Razkar proud... And so she lunged forward an instant after being pushed away, eyes and lips set hard.

[Razkar]

She wanted to much to succeed at what she did. Any fool could see that. She moved swift and sure but even as Razkar dodged and parried and swayed and retaliated, he caught glimpses of her face tightened in concentration.

Good. She's taking this seriously.

She swayed from his slash and before his arm had even stopped moved her weapon was thrusting at his stomach, forcing him to jerk his own back in front of himself, twisting his wrist to knock it aside-

-but the Svefra didn't let him pull her arm and weapon too wide, just jerked it back by her side-

-other hand jabbing out into a short punch at the middle of his torso-

-which he batted away with his own free hand, getting ready to lunge forward with a backhand if she wanted to mix it up a little-

Stymied again! She was already whirling away from him, learning her lesson well: battle is fluid, but if you can't produce a decent blow, withdraw and wait until you can. Ticks later, it came, Svefra coming in hard and low, under his guard, gladius thrusting out to his hip-

-only for Razkar to twist to his left, right knee coming out at the same time-

-slamming it into her forearm as it extended towards his stomach, now out of her range-

-knocking her off balance-

-but once again, she adapted, rolling away instead of trying to block or parry the vertical slash he aimed at her with his gladius, buying herself time and distance... circling... circling... then on again!

Carved oak thudded onto sharpened iron over and over, mingled with grunts, cries, barks and the wet, thick slap of flesh and bone impacting into each other. The occasional caravan hand stopped to see the distant figures framed by the hundreds of thin pine trunks.

Light and darkness, whirling around each other, waning Syna aiming flashes of her glory at the clashing blades...

"C'mon, boy," Seb grumbled at the gawking Manny, tugging his sleeve, "Fire's not gonna build itself, is it?"

"You ever see a man move like that?"

Seb squinted and saw Dira and poise and ability in a male well-acquainted with all three. Each time he came close to the female with his straight, bone-bottomed blade, he winced, sure the poor thing would take a cut-

-like when she came in hard and he stopped her close, hand wrapped around her wrist, so close they could kiss or bite or butt heads... but didn't... and with a barely-audible snarl he threw her backwards, almost with contempt.

"No... No, I ain't. C'mon."

"Seb, c'mon, we're not gonna-"

"Now, lad!" The older sellsword said with a tone to his voice, knowing enough from raising five children to apply it perfectly. Well... probably five. Two were kind of dicey. He was a man always on the road, after all. "Mister Albrecht won't take kindly t'you lollygagging, and I doubt the Myrian'll take kindly to... well, the same."

"He's teaching her!"

"She's his apprentice! That's how it works! You've got to make a... wozitcalled...?"

"Blood oath?"

"Yeah... no... well, maybe, look-"

He shoved an armful of firewood in the boy's arms, satisfied by his surprised grunt that Young Manny was getting the point.

"We're here to get, y'know. Get the fire going, get a pot over it and get some food in our petching stomachs. Getting, not looking, right? Now lets go..."

Manny knew The Tone when he heard it; arguing with it never worked. So he trudged behind the sighing Seb, until he heard an almighty crash-

-saw the Svefra had swept high at Razkar with her dagger, only for the Myrian to have blocked it-

-then metal ground on wood as Razkar pushed her training sword away, then down, twisting his gladius downwards, pushing hers to the ground-

-then stamping on the blade, pinning it-

Silence. Inactivity. Nothing, not even a breath... and Master rolled his eyes at his Apprentice.

"What?!" He barked, suddenly more fierce and forward with her than he perhaps had ever been, all affection shorn away as he concentrated solely on educating her. "Just stare? Hope your enemy gets bored or walks away? If I was enemy now-"

He raised his other foot to kick out and finally Edreina moved, rolling away but unable to dislodge her gladius, leaving it under his boot. Razkar shook his head and bent down a little, hooking his gladius expertly under the wooden blade, finding the center of it-

-and flicking it towards her with a jerk of his weapon, sending it flying towards her sideways-

-and she caught it, but only just. The Myrian circled her again, still shaking his head, clicking his fingers fast, over and over-

"Fight is like this! Not time to think or hope or make plan in head! You get one tick, if you lucky, and then must act! If you hesitate, you die." He paused, face serious, grave (an easy thing to assume when you had Razkar's features), but also touched with a deep, personal pride. "You know what it is to kill. So know some of what it is to die. That what you want? Like bandits in mountains? Must act, Edri. Even if lose weapon."

Then Razkar spread his arms wide, gesturing to the dry skin over his nearly-bare body... and then to the layer of sweat on hers.

"And you sweat! You are tired!" His gladius flashed forward, gleaming orange in Syna's fading light, pointing at her weapon... which was shaking ever so slightly. "Already you shake. You grip is strong, but have shaking, have tremble. Will be able to move so fast? To block-"

He drove in fast, faster than she could have avoided, a short, sharp sideways swing to her side, knowing she would be able to block it but not avoid it-

-and winced at the gasp from her when iron met wood and the sheer violence of the clash sent tremors up her arm, face contorting in pain as muscles pleaded with her to stop-

-knocking her sideways, Razkar barely even breathing hard as he circled her, eyes stern and half-buried under a frown.

"-with arm so weak? That is why we train so hard. To build muscle in arms, and muscle in mind, and strength in heart to move when must. But only thing makes that is over and over and over."

He slapped his gladius into his palm with every word and his merciless eyes bored into hers as she stared right back at him, determined with every inch of her being not to flinch from his stare. Edreina knew that for all they shared, all they cared for each other and would risk for one another, he was still her master in this art, and she the apprentice.

This was how Myrians learned the arts of war. A brutal and unyielding regimen that not only denied weakness, but ruthlessly destroyed it.

"Are you ready?"

And yet... he gave her that opening; that chance, to say "no". She could have, and knew he would not think... wait... would he think worse of her? His face was suddenly so hard and inscrutable; might she read a mountain face better? Razkar wished he could be more open with her. Deceit, deception, the mind games he forced himself to play with Albrecht and others...

He felt sullied using them on her, but they'd worked on him. Herliz and Orad, those vicious fucking bitches, they'd battered him into a warrior worthy of the title "Child of Myri".

Time to see if I can do the same...

[Edreina]

"And you sweat! You are tired! Already you shake. You grip is strong, but have shaking, have tremble. Will be able to move so fast? To block-"

He moved faster than she could get away, forcing her to raise her blade in an attempt to just stop him. That was all she needed to do, right? Stop him? From there she could decide what to d-

A pained gasp was pulled from Edreina's lips as she forced him to come to a stop, metal vibrating in her grip, impact jarring her arm. But, she did not yield, leaning into the clash instead, eyes hard. He was mocking her... playing with her. Was the anger slowly building in her chest something he wanted? Was that all part of his master plan?

When he knocked her sideways, her body gave way and she fell to her knees, chest heaving in ways she had never known. So much for a swimmer's endurance. After riding, walking, and exercising nearly constantly over this trip in ways Edreina had never before attempted, her body was tired. Tired enough for her arm to quake and give was as she attempted to brace herself on her knee in order to rise to her feet.

It was pathetic.

"-with arm so weak? That is why we train so hard. To build muscle in arms, and muscle in mind, and strength in heart to move when must. But only thing makes that is over and over and over."

In the pocket of her pants, she could feel the Balicani calling to her though its claws were carefully removed from her skin. She was so very tempted to pul it out, to use its rage and instinct against her master. But, she would never learn to cope with it if she never gave herself a chance to fight with and against it. Of course that was true. But, Edreina realized that the same applied to herself. To be better, she had to will herself to be. The little ember in her chest was slowly fanning to life as Razkar spoke. Something about the tone he was using, compared to what Edreina was accustomed to, made her want to bare her teeth in defiance.

"Are you ready?"

Edreina claimed the fire.

Her hands closed around a clump of died earth and she hurled it at the Myrian as she rose to her feet, charging him despite the way her legs wished she would just lay down. Once close enough, she wrapped both hands around the gladius and aimed a broad slash at his midsection. If he deflected it, she would reverse her spin and aim a nearly identical slash at his upper torso from the other direction. If he dodged it, she would release the gladius with one hand, allowing her to loop the blade around, pulling her arm back to strike forward in a savage thrust.

He was being hard on her for a reason: life would never take it easy on her.

It was time for her to start taking this seriously.

And so, she threw herself into the fighting with abandon, doing her best to stay in motion even if that meant back-pedaling whenever he stopped her, dropping to her knees, or plain old stumbling. So long as she did not stumble. A clumsy target was better than a still one. She let instinct guide her.

Razkar's strength was either growing or Edreina was slowly growing weaker, for after a few more ticks of hammering at one another, one of Razkar's strikes made the student's hands go numb. The gladius clattered down to the ground, but Edreina did not watch it fall. Her arms were trembling worse than ever, but her legs were just a touch stronger, she hoped. The Svefra turned as the blade fell from her hand and moved to kick Razkar swiftly in the chest. But as her leg snapped out, the other gave way and she fell to the ground again.

"Petch..." she growled, chest heaving, unable to rise past her elbows. She was weak... so damned petching weak. How did she ever expect to follow Razkar, let alone keep up with him. Blue eyes buried their unsure gaze in the grass as the fire died, bracing for Razkar's disappointment. With how coldly he had been treating her, Edreina understood why people rarely approached him. There had been no warmth in his onyx eyes, only the cold air of a teacher.

Maybe that was why he had decided on this ruse: it would make separating himself from her easier once he was reunited with her. Deep down, she hated this. Edreina utterly abhorred their need to lie, fearing that one day it would become the truth and she would be left with a heart full of feelings she could not name. But, at least she understood the need. It would not do for everyone to know that such a warrior had chosen a woman such as she as a mate...

With that thought, Edreina went cold all over. No. She was just overthinking things again... With an air of defeat, she muttered, "I'm done for today," and moved to complete the arduous task of simply rising to her feet.

[Razkar]

"I'm done for today..."

"We are done, when I say we are done, apprentice..."

The words struck her as a blow, and their violence was not solely visited upon the Svefra. Razkar felt a sting as if his own hand had struck him, some voice whispering that this Myrian cruelty would not work. Because to these barbarians, it was just that: cruelty. Looking down at the exhausted, panting, shamed figure struggling below him, Razkar felt stirrings of that fierce, protective fire that recoiled at this... treatment, of his Edreina.

Adapation. The key to all survival and training... and it is not only practiced by the trainee. You fit the lesson to the student, "master"; the knowledge stays eternal.

"Edri...?"

Her eyes did not rise; perhaps she thought it was a trick. So Razkar lowered himself to one knee, one hand cupping her cheek... and she resisted him... not wanting this cold black eyes to see her own so turgid and shining with tears, but he was merciless, remorseless-

She opened her mouth, finally looking up... and saw her lover looking down at her with an open, steady gaze. Under Syna's dying lights the piercings on his face gleamed weakly... but his eyes were alive again, a soft and coaxing smile on his lips.

"Over walls over Training Yards in Taloba, you know what is there? Not just trophies and records of kills and battles... but words from Myri's own lips, long spoken, far, far before my father's father was born."

Goddess, he could see them again. The runes carved deep into the stone that had been there for centuries and would endure until the world's death. Every morning the recruits like him - raw-boned and wide-eyed - lined up and recited the maxims on each wall, turning smartly to the right each time... but that one... he remembered it most of all.

"'Our greatest victory... is not in never falling... but rising... every time we fall...'"

The words were... a balm, or so he hoped. So many times he'd been where she was, face in the dirt, bones and muscles exhausted, ever fiber of him just wanting to rest, to run, to crawl to some shameful shadow and be forgotten.

Razkar had turned his head and seen those words... seen Myri's implacable, fearful beauty in them... and not only the wisdom to unite a scattered peoples, but the love and compassion to grant them something even more precious.

"Hope, Edri." His hand moved to her cheek, a soft and hidden caress, just for her. "Believe that you can get back up. Be stronger. World is hard... and cruel... but not just lay down."

A chuckle rattled from beneath his sharpened teeth and she heard the tap of flesh on flesh... looked up and saw him patting a scar on his thigh, worn down to a white line by the years. Razkar's smile widened as her own brown furrowed.

"First time I spar with my mother. I fell on my sword." There was a little click as her jaw dropped. "Yes. Fell over my feet when she attack. Tried to put out hand to stop... but hand had gladius in it. So, see how well that went..."

He chuckled again, and she echoed it. Weakly... but all hopes were fragile things. The Myrian rose to his feet with a vibrant jerk and spread his arms in a modest-looking shrug.

"Time. Practice. And getting back up after I fell." Master extended a hand to apprentice. "We are not done... but we will wait until you rise..."

[Edreina]

"We are done, when I say we are done, apprentice..."

His words of iron may well have been forged into a blade with the sole purpose of slicing down into her soul, crippling her in that instant after his words registered. What he said was not at all as damaging as the way in which he said it. There was no kindness in his voice, no compassion. No Raz. Only Razkar. Weight fell upon Edreina's shoulders as she realized that this behavior was not innate, but learned. Somewhere along the line, someone had been this hard upon Razkar, and now he was simply repeating the process.

Monsters are not born, but crafted... Despite how much it pained her to apply the expression to her lover, it felt right at that moment.

With a pained groan, Edreina managed to get one leg beneath her, resting her arm upon the bent knee as she willed herself to continue, to rise and continue fighting. Every tick she dawdled was another moment of disappointment for Razkar, she knew, and that only made it harder. If she was going to end up disappointing him in the long run, why bother? She was no warrior; she was no Myrian. A bitter voice in her mind chimed in that she could not even claim to be half. Something akin to defeat passed through Edreina's blue eyes, but only shoots of grass and the tiny crawling things of the earth were privy to it.

"Edri...?"

The caring tone of his voice was a mockery, surely, something implanted by her imagination in an attempt to soothe her. At the softness of his touch, Edreina felt herself disintegrate. That hurt more than any blow, for some reason... It took all of her willpower to blink away the tears, to look up so that she could apologize for her weakness, as she always did.

What she saw nearly made her melt. Stony Razkar had been eroded away for a tick to reveal her Raz, soft and gentle and caring. It suddenly did not matter that he was displaying his affection so openly, that someone might see them and be able to glean the truth through their ruse. In that moment, she felt strength slowly leaking back into her limbs. As he spoke, she felt her will return.

By the end of his story, she actually felt herself smile ever so gently, as if she might shatter again in an instant when her lover was swallowed once more by her master.

"Time. Practice. And getting back up after I fell. We are not done... but we will wait until you rise...

Without pausing, Edreina took his hand and used it to help herself rise. All the way up, her legs protested, thighs screaming and throbbing and shaking as they threatened to give way. "We have an old saying in Fratavan..." Her words were slow, measured, each lilting syllable pronounced with the greatest of care so that they could be imparted upon her master. Once that was done, she said it at regular tempo, words flowing, rising and falling and twisting about one another, so that he could hear its natural cadence, and the way it seemed to hang in the air - at least in Edreina's opinion - a tick after her lips finished moving. "In this tongue it means: 'The Suvan's strength lies not in the tidal wave, but the constantly ebbing tide that slowly washes away the most mighty cliffside.'" She paused, shuffling her feet lightly as she naturally felt a bit odd in sharing one of her kin's proverbs with an outsider.

"Right then. Let us continue until the master is... satisfied." Mostly back to normal, the teasing Edreina capitalized upon her Myrian lover's fetish for the mingling of the different breeds of lust and passion. Leaning over for tick, attempting to ignore the way that her world shifted and blurred as she did so, Edreina retrieved her practice gladius and assumed the ready stance.

The fight resumed more slowly than before, each motion more measured as Razkar instructed and Edreina learned as quickly as she could. Despite the way that her arms shook and her hands felt ever so heavy, she strove forward, attempting to banish any negativity that entered her mind. This was what it took to be able to stand beside Razkar and by the gods, she was going to do it. Each time her body protested, she gritted her teeth and pushed through it, ignoring the fact that her triangle-tipped blade swung wide simply for the fact that she was still doing it. She was still building up both her muscles and her skill.

This time, there were more punches, more elbows, more knees thrown into the mix as the Svefra attempted to prove her merit, making up for her lack of ability with her blade until she could truly hold her own with that as well. Instead of using just the sharp end of the metal in her hands, Edreina also used the butt of the handle to strengthen her punches as a knuckleduster would, or to hammer the head of it into the point where two muscles met, hopefully causing one to go dead just long enough for her to get another hit in. Exhausted, she was unable to get away from Razkar as easily, so she had to resort to relying upon blocking and deflecting his blows more than ever. Within a handful of chimes, Edreina gained more bruises than she felt she had ever before in their sparring. Twice she counted Razkar having to avert his strike upon the realization that the redhead would not be able to block, deflect, or even stop it.

And yet, she struggled on...