Flashback Roses without thorns

[Roselina]

Roses fall, however thorns remain. 20th of winter 510 A loud thud was heard as the fifteen year old hit the ground for the third time that day, an annoyed sigh coming from her twin as she did so. Combat hadn't been something she had done before, but she needed to know it. What use was a criminal who couldn't protect themselves? They were slightly outside of the city, not very far away though, and from where they were practicing they could still see the so-called city of peace in the distance. It wouldn't take them very long to walk back. The twins had came to practice fighting, though it was hard to do on the snowy ground, causing Rose to slip over many a time through the practice, as her brother favoured an approach of 'throwing into the deep end' when it came to combat. Florian smiled as he pulled up his sister from the ground, though he looked slightly exasperated, so the smile was likely fake. He spoke with a playful tone, one that Roselina would adopt in the future, and grinned. "Well, I guess we'll start from the basics then, alright Rosie?" She nodded after her brother spoke, smiling back at him as he took a step back. "Okay, so first I guess I'll show you how to throw a punch. Pretty simple, lift your arm up, have your thumb on the outside of your fist so you don't break it, and then put all your strength behind it." Roselina put her fist into the position she was told to, and then threw a punch into the air, it was weak at first, and then she tried again, pulling her arm back and throwing it forward as hard as she could. Florian seemed happy with it. "Okay then, good, now try it on my hand." He held out his palm, his hand held up in front of him for Roselina to aim at. She felt bad about punching her brother, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt him much. She punched as hard as she could at the palm, encouraged to try again by Florian, and so did until he was satisfied. She noticed he flinched slightly at the last hit she threw. "That wasn't too bad for your first go, Rosie. Now come on, let's get the stance right so you can do a bit more damage." Florian took a step back, so Roselina could see what he was doing. He put one foot behind himself, lodging it into the ground, almost slipping on the snow-covered ground. He leant forward slightly, his arms up in front of him, clenched in fists. Roselina copied him as best she could, her brother directing her how to stand. "No, not like that. Move your leg back, not there either!" He was slowly getting more impatient, but she did the stance eventually, and her twin was noticeably less annoyed. He smiled and decided to move onto the next thing. "Now try another punch, and put all your strength behind it, it'll work better."

[Roselina]

Roses fall, however thorns remain. She clenched her fist again, punching into the air, the movement causing a sound as she did so. Florian nodded at her with a scheming smile, and then looked at her, his eyes sly. "Okay, now hit my palm again." He spoke, his tone slightly odd as he did so, as if he was masking a giggle. She raised an eyebrow at this, but did it anyway. The boy's palm knocked back slightly as she did so. "Again!" The same tone as before, but slightly sharper this time. As she flung her first forward at his palm, he moved backwards with a sly grin, his quick steps causing crunching sounds from the snow beneath them. Roselina slipped forward, barely having time to register what was happening as she fell face first onto the snow, a thud heard again as she slipped for the fourth time that day, yet it was the first time she had fell onto her front, and it hurt a lot. A loud and ugly laugh was heard from her twin as she pushed herself up off of the ground, her eyes slightly teary, though she tried to hide this as she stood up quickly, her dress slightly torn and her face with a cut on it. "Are you really crying right now?" He spoke with an almost gentle tone, which could have been interpreted as caring, but his eyes narrowed, and he pushed her. "Get up, you're useless Rosie." Florian spoke, using his childhood nickname for her. He's right. She thought as she brushed the snow off of herself, ignoring the scratch on her face and the bruise she could feel forming. I should try to be more like him. I should be better at this than I am. Though, the simple fact was. She wasn't better than she was, and she would never grow to be at her brothers standard. When she looked up at him he was sporting a grin on his face still, though not a happy one. It was never a happy one. She filled with anger for a moment, before she launched forward at him, a kick struck his leg, taking him by surprise, but her twin quickly began to fight back with an irritated look on his face. That look quickly turned into a grin, as he was much better at this than she was. The girl knew it was a stupid idea to fight him, but she wanted to get better, and if this was the way to do it then so be it. Florian landed a punch to her stomach, and stepped backwards out of the way as she clutched where she had been hit, and then flew towards him with a punch that just missed his face. Then she slipped, her ankle painfully twisted and she fell into the snow once again.