[Bronze Wood] Only my Wit is Sharper than my Dagger (Eris)

[Tyuru]

“Kill… an animal? Never. Animals are pure. They don’t sin. They don’t deserve death.” Tyuru thought about what she’d said. “Not all humans deserve death, either. But I’d suppose it would be easier if I had to kill someone who was a bad person. Then I might be doing something good.” There was a desperation in her voice. She needed to believe what she was saying was true. “But who am I to decide who is worthy for life and who is deserving of death? I can’t go around killing people, judging if they are fit to live or die.”

Distressed and feeling her faith in herself waver once again, and at the same time feeling slightly overdramatic, she sat again, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them there. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know why I’m here. Even worse, my moods change like the colors of a chameleon. I hate adolescence.” She attempted a smile through the gathering tears. She felt lost and hungry and tired and on top of it all knew she was being a complete Vantha and making drama out of nothing. Sniffing, she wiped hard at the tears and attempted another smile. “Sorry. I’m just being childish.”

[Eris]

Eris groaned inwardly. She felt like she just kicked a puppy. “Well, that’s good then. I agree with you – animals don’t deserve death. And it is true that many humans deserve death” she said soothingly. “And it’s good that you understand this. Most people don’t. They think they have the right to judge who dies and who lives, but we don’t. It’s important to remember that.” She paused, unsure of what she was meant to do. She had little practice comforting people.

With a sigh, she knelt down next to the girl, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder lightly. She spoke quietly and slowly – the same way she spoke to Rhine whenever the horse was in a bad mood. “Learning how to wield a dagger doesn’t give you the right to go on a killing spree – that’s something that takes maturity to understand. You need to have a degree of humanity to kill. If you ever lose that humanity, you’ll lose yourself in every human being you kill.”


“Besides, you have a long way to go before you can actually kill someone,” she said with a ghost of a smile as she withdrew her hand from Tyuru’s shoulder.

[Tyuru]

It took effort to smile this time. Maturity. That was something Tyuru was not sure she had enough of, no matter how hard she tried to kid herself.

“You don’t comfort people a lot, do you?” she managed, trying to not think about death for a second. Without realizing her complete lack of tact, she wiped her eyes on her dirtying skirt. Her fingers found something cold and there was a small shick as her finger drew along the blade of the discarded dagger by accident.

“Ouch.” Tyuru brought her finger to her mouth and gently sucked the small drop of blood away. “It’s really sharp. I barely touched it.” Once again feeling the same mixture of intrigue and revulsion, she picked up the dagger, smearing the handle a little with red. The ruby glittered like a fire.

“Do you know any pressure points?” she asked Eris, still studying the dagger’s intricately tooled leather grip and the designs embossed in the metal. “I learned from someone that you can seriously injure a person from sharply poking them in the right place.”

Yet another mood swing, Tyuru thought. Oh well.

[Eris]

Eris snorted at the girl’s question, not bothering to respond since the answer was so obvious already. The last time she had comforted a person was…about five years ago, wasn’t it?

Eris couldn’t suppress an exasperated sigh as she watched the girl slash her finger. This one was definitely accident prone – not a good thing when you’re dealing with sharp objects.

“You manage to hurt yourself just fine without knowing any pressure points,” Eris said dry. “The last thing I need is you poking yourself in the neck and passing out.”


“But you do bring up a good point. And since I’m earning my fee here – which I have not forgotten about, by the way – I’ll have to actually teach you something. Where do you think is the best place to strike an opponent who is significantly larger than you?” she asked, feeling much more at ease once she was back in her comfort zone – namely, injuring people.

[Tyuru]

Tyuru attempted a hurt look but it dissolved instantly into a smile. She really did have an annoying knack for hurting herself. And those around her.

Shaking away unpleasant thoughts, Tyuru put her injured finger in her mouth thoughtfully. “Nowhere, I’d probably run away,” she said truthfully, shrugging, “but luckily this is purely hypothetical, so what the heck, I’ll have imaginary me take a chance.”

Imagining a large, faceless opponent before her, Tyuru stood and tried to decide what she would do. The most obvious option would be to swing wildly at the enormous girth of her anonymous enemy.

“I suppose I’d try to use my smaller size as an advantage. To the life of me though, I can’t figure out how.” Frowning, she imagined dropping low to slash at the large opponent’s legs, then quickly maneuvering to her right to swipe at the distracted opponent’s back. Of course, she doubted she could pull this off without hurting herself.

“Maybe I’d strike at their legs. It seems like the safest bet. At any rate, I’d try my best to avoid giving them any chance at a counterattack. Once they hit I’d probably be out for the count, so I’d need to delay receiving blows for as long as possible. How, I don’t know. Probably from dodging and running around like a headless chicken.”

[Eris]

“Going for the legs is the right option, but don’t try to go for the torso. The size of his back might prove to be an easy target, but a scratch between the shoulder blades won’t delay him much. Besides, the chest and back will usually be the most protected by a thick jacket or leather armor,” she said with a nod.

“Keep the enemy coming to you and only strike at the limbs. If you take out one of his arms and then quickly lunge for another limb, it’ll be hard for a larger opponent to maneuver himself and dodge your attack,” she added, whipping out her dagger and lunging at an imaginary opponent.

“Running around like a headless chicken is something you can definitely manage. While you’re doing that, make sure to duck a lot.” Eris made another swipe through the air with her dagger and immediately crouched down. “A larger opponent will be tempted to strike at his own chest level. If you’re constantly below his line of sight, he’ll become more disoriented.”

“How about a smaller opponent?” she asked, twirling her dagger between her fingers. Eris never really had to consider that option for herself since she was just below 5’6’’ and was hard pressed to find any enemy shorter than that. But the taller girl might have more luck with that.

[Tyuru]

Intrigued, Tyuru listened closely to Eris’ instruction, bewildered that her joke had been correct in a sense. Running around like a headless chicken might be silly, but at least it wouldn’t get you killed.

“A smaller opponent…” Again she had to think for a while before answering.

“I’d probably have to protect my legs. I’d try to overwhelm them with my height by trying to make myself even bigger.” She was reminded of a cornered cat whose hackles would raise and whose fur would double its size. “I’d also fight closer to myself. That would force them to come within striking distance instead of darting about like a headless chicken.” Another smile grew on her lips. “How am I doing so far? Do I have any hope at all of becoming any good at this?”

[Eris]

“Not too bad. Honestly, I’d expected you to quit the first time that dagger drew a bit of blood. But you exceeded my expectations, so congratulations to you for that,” she said with a shrug.

“Do try harder to keep focused when you fight. All it takes is one single misstep and you’ll be left with a gaping hole in your arm. If you keep at it, you might just learn enough to keep yourself alive. The key is to always be prepared. Never assume that you’re safe or that your prospective opponent doesn’t have a weapon. Chances are you’ll be wrong,” she concluded her little speech with a quick flick of her wrist.

Suddenly her dagger flashed and she struck out with her left hand, blade aimed at Tyuru’s arm. She slowed down the speed of her lunge just enough to give the girl a chance to retaliate. After all, she didn’t want to kill her. Yet.

[Tyuru]

The praise made Tyuru glow, even if it seemed to be more of a statement than praise. She wanted to relpy, but the path of the dagger was clear. A surge of adrenaline raced through her and her thoughts seemed to both speed up and become slower. They spun around in her head haphazardly. One presented itself to her: Get your dagger, idiot!

She dropped to the ground, taking a step backward at the same time to avoid Eris’ dagger, and felt for her own dagger with her fingers. Once again a finger slid along the blade and the soft schick sound was heard. Grimacing and wincing at the same time, her hand found the hilt and she gripped the soft leather of the handle. From her position on the ground she supported herself with both hands and one leg and kicked out at Eris’ legs, meaning to sweep them from underneath her. It was clumsy and badly done, not to mention low.

[Eris]

Eris stumbled backward as Tyuru’s leg made contact with hers. A bewildered expression momentarily crossed her face. “Well, I suppose you should use all the resources at your disposal,” she muttered, lashing out with her dagger a second time. At least the girl had the sense to reach for her dagger, even if she did manage to cut herself again.

This time, she went straight for the girl’s throat. With Tyuru being so close to the ground, all Eris had to do was lean forward slightly and stab her dagger downward. Again, she made sure to check the speed of her blade.