Sisterly Hit
75th of Fall, 511 A.V.
75th of Fall, 511 A.V.
Vallora had dressed the way her brother had asked her. Bare-footed and wearing nothing except a loose shirt and a pair of trousers. The familiar texture of countless blades of grass under her feet reminded her of her childhood. How she used to run around her pavilion’s tent, calling out to her parents as she did so. She had this idea that when she ran around the tent, there’s this long web attached to her and she could just wrap her pavilion in it. Her parents’ would just laugh, they never told her to stop.
Her parents . . . She wondered where are they now.
It had been real quiet ever since her parents disappeared. Usually, she would hear the voice of her father, calling out to either her or Xaven, saying that they should train. Or he would go out hunting with her brother, while Vallora and her mother stayed back at the pavilion. Sometimes they would sit down and talk. Mother would tell her about her days back in Wind Reach and Vallora would listen intently. Other times, Mother would work on her glassworks and she would here the sound of flickering fire, the scratching of glass. Now, it was only her and her brother. It felt lonely. Especially when Xaven left her to hunt. There was no one to talk to, no one at all. She hated the silence. Hated it.
“Ready for your first lesson in hand-to-hand combat?” Xaven called out as he walked out of the tent, wearing similar clothing as she was. Well, without the shirt. She had never understood the man of her family and their general dislike of shirts. Behind him, the canvas of their tent flapped restlessly, reacting to the firm breeze blowing in their way.
“Tell me, why are we doing this again?” she questioned. Vallora had no real liking in the arts of melee fighting – thus her choice in mastering archery rather than swordplay or knife-fighting. Close quarters tend to make her feel uncomfortable, vulnerable. She preferred facing her enemy a distance away, where they couldn’t reach her directly.
Xaven rolled his eyes as he closed the distance between them both. His dark, short hair was a mess, a clear sign that he had woken out of bed. Then again, it was early in the morning. “Because, Valle, soon we are leaving Cyphrus and we both have no idea what dangers are out there. You need to be able to fight, not just shoot pointed shafts from a mile away.” Ah, it seemed like he read her thoughts. Without any warning, Xaven swung his fist in a circular arc towards her face, stopping mere millimeters away from her face. “I have forgotten you have poor reflexes.”
“With those pointed shafts, I could kill you before you even had the chance to swing your sword at me,” she replied defensively.
Xaven raised both of her hands in a surrendering motion. “No need to be touchy, archer.” He winked and stopped about one yard away from her. “I’m not sure where we should start, actually.” Xaven pressed his lips together as he watched her, obviously thinking – it had always been his habit. Then suddenly his eyes brightened with an idea. “Now, considering that you’re a small girl with very minimum power,” he drawled teasingly, “I think I will show you about where to hit if you ever get into a fight.”
“Alright, first, you can hit the nose, eyes and groin with your palm, fist, knee or foot. Any of those will work alright. So, the basic idea is to give maximum force to the small, you know, area.” He pondered on something for a few seconds before looking back at her in the eye. “Try to hit me in the nose with the heel of your palm.”
Her eyes widened. “What? No! What if I accidentally break your nose?” She scrutinized at her brother to see if he was kidding. He wasn’t. “Are you serious?”
Xaven’s body started to shift into a fighting stance. “I’m serious. Hit me. Without any force, thank you. But first, watch my how stand. Sideways, so you can become a smaller target. Less place to hit.”
Hesitantly, she tried to copy his stance. She turned her body sideways, her right foot at the back and her left foot pointed toward the direction of her brother. “Don’t be so tense,” her brother commented. “Bend your knees.” She did as he asked, her knees bent the slightest. After that, then she realized that she felt more at ease in this position, like she could move better. “Now, put your hands up. In front of your eyes.” Vallora balled her fists and raised it just at her eye level. Even before Xaven explained, she knew the point of this particular gesture was so that she had sight on her hands and it also helped her block incoming attacks.
Xaven returned to a more natural pose as he reached out to lower one of her fists. “Just in case, your opponent attacks low. And put your thumb inside, Vale. You wouldn’t want to break a finger.” And so, she tucked both of her thumbs under the rest of her fingers. It felt slightly awkward, but she ignored the feeling. It made sense to do so. “And there you go, you’ve gotten it quite right. Don’t forget about it, alright? Now, back to hitting. Try it out. Bring your palm up to hit my nose.”
Vallora moved slowly but firmly. She aimed her hand slightly upward so that she could hit the base of the nose directly. Xaven reacted by leaning back to avoid the hit. “Now, if you missed, as you can see, my stomach will be leaning towards you as I dodged you first attack. It’s more vulnerable now. Aim a punch to my stomach. With strength now.”
“You sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I doubt you’ll hurt me.” Turns out, Xaven was right. Her muscle tensed as she readied herself for the blow. Vallora had reeled back her left fist in order to gain more momentum, but as it struck her brother’s abs, he barely reacted.
“Focus, Valle. Think of me as someone you wanted to hit. Hit me like you mean it.”
Vallora rolled her eyes at her brother’s statement. “Well, that should be easy. I’ve always wanted to hit you in the head.” This time, she strained her muscles more, willing herself to let out a burst of energy into the hit.
Xaven nodded approvingly. “That’s much better, sister. I almost felt the impact.” He laughed lightly. “Honestly, Valle, I have no idea how teach you these things. It should’ve been Father, not me.”His eyes darkened with worry. Before she could reply, Xaven had switched back to his cheery self. It was a mask, of course, a mask she could so easily see-through. They were both very anxious and a part of her knew that this lesson was Xaven’s effort to not think about their parents – hunting must’ve reminded him too much of Father.
“We’ll try it like a real fight, alright? Best learn from experience. My hits will probably hurt but it certainly won’t kill you. I’ll go slow. Remember, nose, eyes, groin – though I prefer you leave that last part alone. Hit the knees to make your attacker lose his balance. Use you elbow if you need more power.” Xaven grinned and the next second, he threw a punch towards her face. Reflexively, she brought her hands up. Xaven was right. The hit did hurt. He tried to hit her again but this time she was more ready, she backed away. Xaven was still in reach, though. Switching her tactics, she bent her forearm the whole way. Twisting her whole torso, she slammed her elbow into Xaven’s lifted arms. It certainly wasn’t a critical strike. There wasn’t time to think about anything and she just moved the way her body wanted to. Her foot kicked Xaven’s knee and he feigned imbalance, knelt himself on the ground. He was giving her a chance to strike.
With all the adrenaline, she barely realized she was putting all her weight into her arm. But it was too late. The heel of her hand slammed against the base of Xaven’s nose and he doubled back with a surprised cry. “Valle!” He brought his hand up to his nose and groaned. “Did I just break your bow or something? You certainly need not hit me like that.”
Vallora straightened and was shocked at the sight of blood trickling down her brother’s nose. Sure enough, she had hit him far harder than he had expected. She smiled apologetically at Xaven and shrugged. “Well, at least now you know your first lesson was a success?” That acquired her a fair amount of cursing from her brother. Vallora laughed gently. “Come here, let me look at that nose.”