When entering the well-lit, spacious sparring room, Terran felt excited. It had been awhile since he had been able to spar with Eory, which was a shame, because it was one of his favorite activities. Terran had many a good memory shared with his friends in the sparring room when he was training all of them—including Them and Eliita—to use alternate weapons. Tonight, it was a small crowd—with just Terran, Eliita and Eory—which made him a little sad--he coudn't admit it, but he missed Them--but he was nonetheless still excited.
Terran grabbed two wooden blades from one of the weapons racks and tossed one to Eory. Eory squeaked, trying to catch it, and he missed. Terran smiled and tsked. “Rusty already.”
Eory pursed his lips and picked up the blade. “Alright. I’m ready.”
Eliita cut in, “No, you’re not. Your stance is all wrong, Eory.”
Terran wasn’t going to tell the fairy. He was intending to just attack the fairy and let him detect on his own that his stance was wrong, but Eliita liked to take a kinder approach. “Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, remember?”
Eory nodded, taking a wider stance. From there, his muscle memory remembered the rest of the stance—with one foot facing forward and the other one facing slightly to the right. Eliita grimaced for a moment, about to comment on the fact that he was standing too much on the heels of his feet, but Terran suddenly interrupted her, “Eliita, he’s doing fine.”
Eliita looked his way with a frown—knowing what Terran must have planned for Eory. She recognized that this was her man’s lesson and not hers, and that Eory needed a man to show him how to do things more than he needed a woman to at this point in his life. Eliita stepped away and let Terran teach in his own way.
Terran could see the panic in the fairy’s eyes. Eory knew that something about his stance didn’t feel right, but Terran was already charging him with his wooden sword. Eory squeaked—trying to move backward—but his feet crossed and he fell on his rump. Terran chuckled, giving Eory a hand. Eory made a face, letting Terran hoist him to his feet.
“You said my stance was fine.” Eory muttered.
“I lied.” Terran laughed. “Alright, I’ll remind you of what the proper footwork should look like again.”
Terran instructed him what the correct stance was, and then he turned to Eliita. “Come on, let’s give him a demonstration.”
Eliita nodded. While she wasn’t as good with a blade as she was with an axe, she was certainly competent. “Alright, I’m ready.”
Eliita and Terran got into the proper stance, keeping their feet flat. While demonstrating, Terran continued instructing, “Obviously you just remembered a harsh lesson I taught you before about never crossing your feet. However, since you can’t cross your feet, I need to show you how to move appropriately. If you are moving toward your opponent, you want to move your front foot forward first while maintaining your posture, and then drag your back foot forward right after. Same thing when moving back: The only difference is that you want to move your back foot backward first and then your front foot.”
Terran modeled the position three times, and then he asked Eory, “Do you have it memorized?”
Eory nodded. “I think so…” Eory’s consistent lack of confidence bothered Terran. It reminded him of his little brother far, far too much.
Terran said, “If you don’t have it memorized, then tell me. Otherwise, show some confidence when you answer me!”
Eory shyly murmured, “Okay… I—I’m sure I have it memorized!”
Terran nodded his approval. “Alright, show me!”
Eory approached, looking at his feet nervously. Terran shook his head at the younger man, wondering what it would take to get him to be confident. He had gotten better over the years, but he still carried himself poorly. The people at the tower had been decently kind to the fairy over the years because he had gone out of his way to befriend them—although there were many who were still cruel to him, people who Terran had to protect him from—but the fairy still felt hated and unworthy of the basic privileges of life.
Eory stood in front of Terran with the stance the elf had shown him. Terran examined the fairy’s stance—everything looked good… except his shaking hand. Terran smiled, “Good stance Eory; however, you need a firm grip on your blade, too.”
Terran commenting on his shaking hand made him more nervous for a moment, but then, Eory took a deep breath and calmed himself. He said, “I’m shakier than a virgin in a brothel right now.”
Terran swallowed for a moment, trying not to laugh. In another moment, he couldn’t help himself; he burst out laughing until he was in tears. Eliita gasped, biting back laughter, herself. When she had calmed down, she asked, “Eory, where did you learn that talk? Them?”
Eory shrugged, blushing. “Partly, I guess. I made it up myself, but Them’s wild stories don’t help.” Once Terran and Eliita had gotten ahold of themselves, Terran was finally ready to continue the lesson. He instructed, “Alright, I’m going to lunge now.”
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