Mira frowned as Arder blocked her blow by holding up his sword in a single hand. He didn't have to press the spare hand against his blade like she saw other sword users do, so maybe her attack was just that weak. She felt like she was missing something important and even after trying to spar with Arder, she felt like she wasn't gaining as much from him as she thought she would. She didn't think that Arder was a bad teacher, except she felt like he hadn't taught her much at all. Rather, he seemed to spend much of those sessions blocking and observing her with those cyan-coloured eyes of his.
Her brother was off to the side, with the hood of his green cloak up, watching curiously as she and Arder exchanged blows for the first time. Orla was beside him, cheering when she managed to dodge one of Arder's blows and she would probably cheer if she got a hit in on him. She didn't know Orla too well, since they met when she was young and she didn't have too many memories of her, but she was glad that somebody stuck by her brother. Orla seemed to have fond memories of her as well but Mira was a little embarrassed that she couldn't remember Orla as well as she would have liked.
When she didn't make a move to attack him again, he paused, his stance relaxing before he dropped the practice sword to the ground. It was probably best that they stopped practicing anyway, as the sun was just about to disappear over the horizon. "What are you thinking about?" he asked quietly.
"I just want to be stronger but... I haven't felt like I got anywhere."
"Well, why did you pick up a sword in the first place?" he asked suddenly.
"I want to be able to protect being close to me," she said intertwining her fingers together. It was a nervous habit of hers, something she picked up in childhood when she spent time with the other slaves. They taught her it was important to always look busy so when she got nervous and her mind froze, she moved her fingers. "Or... I guess I don't want others to feel like they have to protect me all the time. I'm not sure I'll ever be that good of a fighter to actually protect people but I don't want to waste anybody's time or talent trying to protect me on the battlefield. If I could help a little bit by being able to keep myself safe, then I would be happy. I don't like fighting but as long as I'm with Igneous, then it's a fact, no?"
Mira did want to see the journey to an end. If it wasn't for Igneous and Gerben, she would still be with that travelling troupe, not that she didn't like the experience it provided, but it kept her away from her brother. How was Will supposed to know she was in Adoss and not Fraedia? Staying around Igneouswas dangerous though, especially with Zahan after him.
"Well... you're useful in other ways. Your dancing is very, um, inspiring! I didn't mean that 'um' to be there by the way... it's a good thing, I wasn't being sarcastic or anything!" he said with a bit of a sigh as he looked away for a moment. He always did seem a little shy sometimes when he the situation wasn't serious, she noted. "But I think I can see... and I think I can help now."
"Huh?"
"I was trying to watch how you fight. If I told you, I don't think you would fight the same way and that wouldn't would help me understand what your problems are. I don't think you're fighting to a style that suits you. It seems like you've learned from somebody and copied their style instead of using that base of learning to create your own style. For example, you try to hit me with all of your strength but you don't have the strength for an attack like that to work, so it's easy for me to block and even easier for me to counter. You are dancer, not some sort of fighter or armour knight, so I think you should try to combine dancing and swordplay," he said. The more he spoke, the calmer he seemed to be, especially since they were talking about something he was an expert in. He didn't look very old either, so for him to be so good, he had to be knowledgeable.
It did sound like a good idea to her but she wasn't how to go about doing that. Arder must have sensed her hesitation.
"What you should be concentrating on is getting around an opponent with your footwork and then delivering a blow a weak spot. That doesn't even have to be very strong, just accurate. Of course, this wouldn't work with everybody, but it should be more comfortable for you and it should get you out of trouble if you can just incapacitate somebody," he said with a nod. "Dance like you normally would but hold your sword when you do it and practice swinging motions. We can practice some more when you get comfortable with that."
"You're not going to practice with me?" Mira asked, a little surprised. He was more than willing to help her before, so the sudden change confused her.
"I can't do all the work for you. I also thought you would, uh... prefer to practice on your own? You seem shy in clothing sometimes," he said, his eyes darting away from her face. She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in her dancing clothing. Usually she could wear it fine around the others and she would wear the cloak for travelling since she didn't want total strangers gawking at the loose and revealing fabrics, but Arder pointing it out somehow change that. She wanted her cloak.
"Maybe that's for the best," she said with a nod. "But thank you, Arder. Your advice is appreciated. I'll pay you back somehow, I promise!"
Arder blinked. "That's not necessary. If you accomplish your goals, I'll be satisfied with that."
"I'll practice a lot then! I should get back and see if anybody needs me, so I'll see you later. Thanks again, Arder!" she said with a wave, then she turned around and made her way back to the main camp. It was late at night but dinner would be served soon and she knew she could always help with that. She watched her brother and Orla get up and follow her.
This is short but it should serve as a taste of what I want to accomplish with the in-between, support like chapters. These should let me give some characters more characterization than I believe I can do through the main plot alone and clearly, Fire Emblem as a whole kind of has the same problem, hence the supports! I was originally going to write up three, but my schedule doesn't look too good and I wanted to see how this was received first.
Kaizer Rinzence gave me the suggestion of having a dancer using her dancing as a style of swordplay, so that's what gave me the idea for this support.
