Secret :
Timestamp: Day 4, Winter of 509 A.V
She finished stuffing the last of the straw into the shape of a dummy. Danica stood back and admired her work. There were three of them, stuffed straw and tied with grass; it was simple things that could be found out in the sea of grass tied together. Two sticks created the skeleton of them, set in a cross shape, the two sticking out horizontally acting as the arms. Two bundles of straw made up the body and head while two more loose bundles made the arms. Three of them stood in front of her, spread semi-circle. She would practice on these and then leave them here, the creatures of the Grasslands would use them as food or nesting and eventually there would be nothing left, just how life works.
She stood with her hands on her hips and viewed them once more for imperfections that might cause them to fall over or break apart on a single impact. Finding none Danica put up her blond hair and braided it quickly so it would stay out of the way. Altari was a good distance away and the blood bay cross breed watched his mistress curiously. She gave him a wave and he snorted and trotted away pretending not to be interested. But Danica saw him turn back and watch her again under the cover of eating grass.
She turned back to the dummies and pulled out her whip, it slithered from its place like a snake and dragged along the ground in serpentine movements. Danica felt the hard leather in her fingers and squeezed gently. Simple warm ups to start. Danica just moved the whip along the ground, stretching out her wrist. It was simple rotations, quick flicks, and just getting everything ready. She switched hands and did the same.
She always liked to start simple and today she wanted to train her accuracy first. She gathered up the collection of rocks she had brought with her and wandered over to the fallen tree trunk the rested over to her left. It was the reason she had picked this spot. It was open and remote as well as having a nice place to set up rocks to knock off. She placed ten of them along the trunk and stood back. They started small and went up in size as they went along. By the end she’d need decent strength to knock them off. She also knew she’d probably miss that first one a few times before she got it off.
Danica stretched out her hand one last time and then raised the whip, spinning it above her head. The passage of the leather thong through the air made a nice whooshing noise. One spin, two, three, four, and then she cracked it at the stone. With a snap it went taunt and the rock tumbled from its place on the trunk. Maybe she was getting better at this! Danica repeated the process, getting the whip swinging but as she snapped it at the second rock the mark was off and the rock didn’t move an inch.
Oh well. She needed practice and the first was just a fluke. Happens to everyone. She prepared herself again. As long as it takes, she told herself, she’d be out here to get it right.
She finished stuffing the last of the straw into the shape of a dummy. Danica stood back and admired her work. There were three of them, stuffed straw and tied with grass; it was simple things that could be found out in the sea of grass tied together. Two sticks created the skeleton of them, set in a cross shape, the two sticking out horizontally acting as the arms. Two bundles of straw made up the body and head while two more loose bundles made the arms. Three of them stood in front of her, spread semi-circle. She would practice on these and then leave them here, the creatures of the Grasslands would use them as food or nesting and eventually there would be nothing left, just how life works.
She stood with her hands on her hips and viewed them once more for imperfections that might cause them to fall over or break apart on a single impact. Finding none Danica put up her blond hair and braided it quickly so it would stay out of the way. Altari was a good distance away and the blood bay cross breed watched his mistress curiously. She gave him a wave and he snorted and trotted away pretending not to be interested. But Danica saw him turn back and watch her again under the cover of eating grass.
She turned back to the dummies and pulled out her whip, it slithered from its place like a snake and dragged along the ground in serpentine movements. Danica felt the hard leather in her fingers and squeezed gently. Simple warm ups to start. Danica just moved the whip along the ground, stretching out her wrist. It was simple rotations, quick flicks, and just getting everything ready. She switched hands and did the same.
She always liked to start simple and today she wanted to train her accuracy first. She gathered up the collection of rocks she had brought with her and wandered over to the fallen tree trunk the rested over to her left. It was the reason she had picked this spot. It was open and remote as well as having a nice place to set up rocks to knock off. She placed ten of them along the trunk and stood back. They started small and went up in size as they went along. By the end she’d need decent strength to knock them off. She also knew she’d probably miss that first one a few times before she got it off.
Danica stretched out her hand one last time and then raised the whip, spinning it above her head. The passage of the leather thong through the air made a nice whooshing noise. One spin, two, three, four, and then she cracked it at the stone. With a snap it went taunt and the rock tumbled from its place on the trunk. Maybe she was getting better at this! Danica repeated the process, getting the whip swinging but as she snapped it at the second rock the mark was off and the rock didn’t move an inch.
Oh well. She needed practice and the first was just a fluke. Happens to everyone. She prepared herself again. As long as it takes, she told herself, she’d be out here to get it right.
