9:28 Solace/July 3rd
How to throw a good punch: Form a fist but keep a small space in between your closed fist, keep your thumb near your fingernails, and hit with your knuckles not the flat side. You have to have good balance and throw your weight behind your punches to hit hard. Forearm and bicep strength is a big factor as well as timing to land the second one. Why am I explaining this? It's because I finally got my official weapon and punching things are on the list now.
Every single day since Eren showed me my new stance, I have been practicing almost religiously to get it down pat. I would fight against Eren and several other trainees in order to practice my footwork and how to use the wooden swords. I would be feeling like a purple bruise but in the end it paid off. I was able to parry instead of just defending, landing attacks when I saw the opportunity, and even including moves that weren't part of the overall guard training.
Eren noticed that I had good balance and I was quick on my feet. My laps turned into sprints where I would be forced to change my direction at the drop of a hat. Turning here and turning there while evading whatever Eren had to throw at me, usually rocks. I would have to evade while keeping a fast pace. It was almost like suicides in basketball.
With that I added a few kicks to my routine and, with my small body, a few rolls too. Eren said that having it would be extremely handy. Eren was slowly training me in a rogue style instead of a warrior style, taking my quick footedness and small stature into an immense advantage. I started to win against the trainees here and there. Every single time I did, I would look to Eren with my big and goofy grin. He would add a usual quip of how my uselessness is starting to wane and I would throw my wooden weapon. In all good fun though.
My new weapon?
Knuckle daggers.
"So this is something you have training in?" Eren asked. I gave him a small design on what I think suited me best. He tweaked it a little as we sat in his study right next to Aldous' right before we sent it off to get it made.
"Somewhat. I used to own a pair back home. I feel more comfortable with it than a regular dagger. Even with my knives I was scared to hold them in case I accidentally stabbed someone." I sheepishly chuckled. Eren frowned.
"You know you might need to do that eventually." Eren said, nodding at the finished design.
"Do what?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Stab someone with intention." Eren replied. I bit my lip and looked away, looking at the fireplace that illuminated the small room. I heard him sigh and rub his face. "It's something that you can't prepare for no matter what but it will eventually come down to that." Eren brought his hands together in front of him. He had a faraway look to his eye.
"What…um…when…?" I couldn't phrase it right. I sighed. Eren frowned.
"That's a story for another day. Now, I wanted to ask this for a while. You've mention you lost your entire family, it even shows on the records. Yet when you speak about them, it's as almost as if you believe they are alive, why?" Eren asked seriously. The pit in my stomach dropped to the floor. I knew this would come eventually. I would have given myself away if it wasn't for what Oriana did for me. I pouted, trying to come up with a believable lie. I decided to hell with it.
"My family is still alive, they're not dead." I confessed. Eren smirked.
"I knew it. Then why lie?" He crossed his arms and asked.
"Because I can't go back home, not yet at least. It's…difficult to explain." I sighed and rubbed my face, feeling the weight coming off my back. Eren leaned against the table and stared at me. "You're going to keep wondering until I tell you huh?"
"You are finally admitting it after so long so you might as well indulge me. Now, as you were saying?" Eren motioned with his hand. I chuckled.
"Well…it's kinda sorta unbelievable really. I'm not even sure if you're going to see it as the truth. Heh." I took a deep breath. "I'm not from Ferelden."
"That is expected." Eren snorted.
"I'm not from Thedas entirely." I confessed. Eren gave me a confused look.
"Then are you from the west? The lands that have no blight?" Eren asked. I shook my head. "From across the ocean? I mean that might as well have been a suicide mission but…" Eren took note of my solemn expression.
"I'm not from this world at all…" I whispered. Eren stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "I got into an accident, one where I would have lost my life and…something pulled me into this world." I leaned my chin into my hand, remembering all the things that happened on that first night. "I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it at all!" I got up from my chair and started to pace. "I mean, how could that happen to an ordinary person you know? I was just minding my own business and boom, I'm about to die. I'm about to die and that's that right? No. Lo and behold, I got saved, pulled by some weird spirit thingy or something, I don't know!" I ranted with Eren watching me carefully. He closed the door discreetly during my rant.
"I get pulled and wow, I'm saved! Then the world turns grey, green, and weird and then I fall again into freezing and shit smelling water of the Drakon river while a boat is burning almost right next to me. I'm freaking out you know, like hard panicking before I realized I needed to swim or drown. I swam to safety and realized I was in a place where I realized I shouldn't be in! I was like, what in the hell? Then I nearly died when I was covered in cuts and they were infected and Rael saved me. So now I've been here in Ferelden for nearly a year and only God knows how my family is doing!" I panted. I wiped at the stray tears. "All I wanted to do was go home and I don't even know how to do that. They need me, my kids need their mother, and my husband needs me for sure! God!" I kicked at the table before finally collapsing in a crumpled heap next to the fireplace.
The warmth of the fire was making me sweat as I brought my knees up to my chest, armor be damned. All I did was stare at the floor, wiping at my tears. It felt good to let this all out but, at the same time, it brought out all the feelings I kept hidden. I sighed after feeling more composed. I stood up but refused to look at Eren in the eye.
"So yeah, there you go." I shrugged my shoulders. "That's what, where I came from. So go ahead and label me as an insane, idiotic, stupid girl or whatever." I huffed. I heard Eren coming up to me and braced myself for anything that he was going to say or do to me.
"Look at me." Eren said sternly. I shook my head. Eren sighed. "Look at me or I'm going to force you." I hesitantly looked up. Eren crossed his arms.
"You are an insane, idiotic, stupid girl." Eren repeated. I was going to kick his balls again when he put up a hand. "Although this story is extremely unbelievable and I have no studies on the fade or spirits, something about the way you explain sounds...plausible."
"Are you ser-" I started.
"Regardless." Eren interrupted. "It does not matter your origins, who you left behind, or anything from the past." Eren put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me square in the eye. "You are my guard, you are the one I am entrusting to watch my back, and to defend me from those who cause harm to me or my family. I trust you. It's a stretch I admit but your feelings for your missing family are there. You will get to see them again I am sure of it." Eren nodded.
"You know...you actually sound nice right now? It's really weird." I said. Eren growled and threw his hands up in exasperation.
"Why thank you, you ruined the moment." Eren rubbed his face. I laughed.
"Sorry, sorry...ok serious moment again. Thank you. You don't understand how much this really means to me, I mean that. Thank you." I said sincerely. Eren looked over at me and rolled his eyes.
"You can be such a pain in my ass but I have to admit, my life has been interesting since you've been here." Eren smirked.
"I'm here to please but...can I take a day off? I'm...really exhausted." I whimpered though I didn't mean for it to come out like that. Eren rubbed his face and nodded.
"One day and then I want to see that obnoxious, annoying, and tenacious guard after that." Eren flicked my head. I nodded. I went out of the study and went back to my room. I took off my armor and laid in bed, looking at the ceiling. After the cry earlier, I really wanted to cry some more but all I felt was a big empty hole inside of me. As if there were no more tears to cry or that I was getting used to being away from my family. I didn't like that one bit.
9:28 Solace/July 21st
"Ow!"
"I told you not to run your finger across the blade!" Eren berated me as my knuckle dagger fell on the training ground.
"But I wanted to check if it was sharp! You told me you got it sharpened!" I stood there, holding my left wrist while my thumb bled like crazy. It was an odd habit of flicking the blade to check it's sharpness. It's what I always did with my cooking knives but daggers are on a sharpness all their own.
"All the training that we put in and it got dull, of course I got it sharpened!" Eren shouted at me while flinging a handkerchief at my face. "Now stop bleeding so we can pick it up again." Then a guard came and saluted.
"Milord, your presence is required in the main hall." He said.
"Why?" Eren asked.
"Rendon Howe and his family has come to visit." The guard replied. A pit in my stomach fell to the ground and the blood rushed out of my face. Eren must have noticed my unease.
"I understand, tell my father I'll be coming in half an hour." Eren said. My cut was already turning into a scab before Eren got my arm and started to drag me. I was able to pick up my fallen dagger in an instant, not wanting to forget it.
"Eren! Hey!" I struggled.
"Stop. We'll need to be presentable for Howe's family." Eren continued to drag me despite my protests all the way to his room. He made me stand in the corner before taking off his armor and getting another set that was much cleaner. He gave me polish and a rag. "Clean your armor as fast as you can." Eren said gruffily. I sat on the bed, taking off my own armor and doing what he said.
"Is there something that I'm missing? Why are you so mad all of a sudden?" I wondered. Eren scoffed.
"Howe and his family is here. This means that my father and he are going to start to bore us with their old war stories, my mother and his wife are going to gossip, his son is going to be annoying, and then they're going to try to set me up with his daughter." Eren scorned the last part.
"Well that sucks." I laughed.
"You have no idea but you need to be presentable for them so keep on shining." Eren said.
"Aren't you going to be a little embarrassed that you'll have me as your glorified nanny?" I asked. Eren scoffed.
"You are not my nanny. You are my personal guard and I expect you to act that way too. Try not to say anything that will get on Howe's wife's bad side. That women is a demon in disguise." Eren shivered.
"I can tell that this is going to be a fun meeting on my part…" I mumbled.
Beta'd by the beautiful FearaNightmare!
I am really liking the lovable jerk that is Eren. Sorry it's been taking such a long time to get to the blight, I'll be there by chapter twenty or so
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