She was a little confused about what that would accomplish, but decided to go with the odd request regardless. Unsheathing her sword once more, she took a breath and ran into the meadow, her sword completely still...
Grayell watched as the floating flowers fell by her blade, swirled about her - but a significant number of them were still severed by her unmoving blade. He smiled and joined her as she stood.
Can you tell me why you still cut many flowers down - without effort?
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
You're fast kiddo. REAL fast. But you need to be a hair smoother. Allow me to demonstrate. If I try to grab a LOT of flowers with my hand...
Grayell lunges, sweeps his hand through the air and then snaps it shut. He opens it to reveal nothing.
Well I get nothing. Now, if I try for just one...
Grayell snaps out and back in an instant. He opens his hand, a flower there.
Well I succeed. Precision is key. Less movement. More purpose. You could get as many flowers standing still and simply taking them at will, one at a time.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
She should've seen this coming... With a slow nod, she takes in Grayell's drop of knowledge. Really, she just trying to be flashy... Despite her mentality trying to create an excuse, she could use a little more work on that. After all... she had gotten... rusty...
Grayell looked at her for a moment and then lifted her chin. He studied her for a moment and then winked.
Well c'mon kiddo. Standing here isn't going to do us a damn but of good. We either train - or we just run around like nutters and stir up the flowers. Whatcha think?
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Pulling herself out of her dark thoughts, her eyes met with Grayell as she flashed a smile. That sounds like fun, she thought. Either one of them, really. She didn't mind. She was free now...
"Y... yeah... Training sounds like... fun right now..."
The smile on her face faded a little. What I've learned, huh...? All of the things she had been taught weren't seen by many others... at least, anyone still living... With the way she had lived, that wasn't really an option, though... She didn't want to blame herself, but it seemed impossible not to... It's not like they suddenly died in front of her... These thoughts... they poisoned her mind relentlessly. She didn't want to kill to live anymore; she just wanted to live...
"I... I cannot... teach you... You... have already mastered what I know..."
While she had yet to see Grayell in an actual fight, she was sure that all of the non-lethal techniques she'd acquired had been already refined and put to use many times by Grayell. Anything more than that... well, she was going to take those secrets to the grave...
Grayell shrugged, then laid back in the grass. He took a long stem and slid it into the corner of his mouth, sighed contentedly and looked at the flowers floating over them.
I dunno. Anything I guess. I'd like to get to know you better - but maybe you can ask me something.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
She thought about that for a moment... What would anyone want to know about her...? Sure, she was a bit of an oddity in the group, but nothing more. There were her favorites, but who would be concerned about what color she liked or what food she enjoyed? Aside from the goals she had in mind from the beginning, there was little to know about her... or so she thought.
"I... haven't heard much... about you, Grayell... You... are a very strong warrior... I can tell... What... led you down that path...? What drew you to fight...? I look at you... and all I see... is something... something amazing... something that would take years to become... it's all very... interesting..."
Grayell was amused by that notion, he certainly didn't think it was the case.
I used to enjoy rough-housing when I was a kid. It wasn't much a part of my life. Sure, I was taught how to fight, how to defend myself but I rarely needed it. Nothing that couldn't be sorted out with a good whooping and a friendly drink afterwards.
But things change as did I. I learned the hard way - I either won or I died... or you know, ended up badly torn up and having to mend. That lasted a long time actually, until I decided to really learn how to fight. That's what led me back east.
Tallia "There are some things... that we all can't escape from..."
Tallia clung intensely onto every word. She loved stories. It was rare when she could just listen to someone else talk about their journey. Sharing things like that made her feel like a bigger part of the world, as though everyone else had heard their legacy. It was a comforting thought.
"And... and that's... where you trained...? Where you built yourself... to become a warrior...?"
Certainly, she wanted to hear more. Especially Grayell. Not many seem to know much about the eastern lands, save herself.