Completed Still Not Strong Enough [Solo]

[Tesni]

1st of Summer, 514 AV

Tesni looked up into the sky, admiring its calm stillness. She enjoyed watching the wispy clouds float across the landscape. It was a true wonder to her. Although she did admire this nice weather, Tesni felt something lacking in her soul: a storm. It had been quite a while since the last one, and she missed her worshiped god's might dearly. Tesni was quickly snapped out of her daydream as she heard Drue whinny nervously. She looked in the direction her Strider was facing, and her bright blue eyes widened in terror. A flock a glassbeaks were heading right towards their location. At first, she couldn't move, for some reason, she was genuinely frightened. She had encountered glassbeaks many times before, but something was off this time. Her mind went blank, and her mind couldn't process the situation in front of her very eyes. What's wrong with me? Why can't I move? What's happening?

Her eyes filled with tears as the approaching flock came closer and closer. Her tears ran down her rosy cheeks, only then realizing she was crying. Those tears then quickly turned to anguish as she quickly grabbed her belongings and mounted her Strider. Tesni dug her heels into Drue's flank in a panic, and the Strider went flying. She couldn't even enjoy this ride. All that was going through her mind was, I have to get away, I have to get away!

[Tesni]

After she had been riding for a while, Tesni tightened her grip ever so slightly on Drue's mane, signaling him to stop. She was so out of breath, even though she really shouldn't have been. Tesni was utterly disappointed in herself. She dismounted her Strider and stroked his muzzle. Tesni looked at him, and said to him, her voice shaking,"I'm so sorry, Drue... I don't understand what happened... I thought I was able to protect you, but now I'm not so sure..." She felt so helpless at that moment. She never liked this feeling she would get once in a while. Tesni hated it, she wanted to just slice this feeling to pieces.

Tesni set up her tent and placed her things inside. She wandered for a bit, clutching her sheathed wakizashi in her right hand, until she reached what she thought seemed like a good spot. The air was fresh, the area was open, and she could still see Drue from where she was standing. Tesni unsheathed her sword, and held it in her right hand. She wouldn't let herself rely on hold it with both hands, because one day was hoped to master the fighting style of wielding two swords instead of one. Tesni held out her arm so that it was parallel to the ground. She inhaled, and exhaled, and began swinging the wakizashi, trying to keep the rhythm of both her breath and her swings in sync.

[Tesni]

After slicing through the air for a while, Tesni paused and set her sword on the ground. She let out a heavy sigh. She was disappointed in herself, and she felt like her so-called 'training' was doing nothing for her. She wanted to become stronger so desperately, but she had being convincing herself for so long that she didn't need anyone, but now she felt so vulnerable, so weak. Tesni fell to her knees and clenched her fists, punching into the dirt ground as tears began to drip from her chin once again. What's happening to me? How could I have become so weak? Her vision became blurred as more and more tears formed, but they were nowhere near tears of sorrow. Her tears were full of rage and hatred, but towards nothing in particular. There wasn't anything for Tesni to hate but herself. Her entire life some how just began crumbling around her for some unknown reason. She would never admit it to even herself, but maybe she truly had been alone for too long.

[Tesni]

For some reason, Tesni felt an urge to just run, run as far as her feet would carry her. She wanted to feel her hair float Zulrav's breeze, she wanted him to wrap her in his protective swirls of wind. Tesni felt something inside of her she could not understand, it was some sort of raging helplessness she couldn't explain. She sheathed her wakizashi, strapped it on her back, and she bolted at full speed. She ran and she ran, tripping over nothing countless times, falling to the ground and getting up again, ignoring the scratches on her arms and legs, and the tears in her dress. Tesni desperately wanted Zulrav to lift her up, she wanted her soul to be lighter and freer. Tesni had little restrictions, but she still felt so trapped, and she urgently wanted to break free. For the first time in many years, Tesni wanted someone to save her.

She tripped once again, and feel to her hands and knees. She stood and looked up into the sky that had gone from a serene blue to a canvas of orange and pink swirls. Tesni never knew she was capable of running for that long. She probably wasn't, it was just that she had become numb and unaware, so she just keep going without even realizing it. Tesni turned her head towards the direction she came, and her Strider was nowhere to be seen.

After quite a while, Tesni finally began to register what kind of situation she was in; she was lost. She didn't know where she was. Tesni let out a loud scream in emotional agony, terrified of what was to come. With more tears streaming down her face, she went back down on her knees, and put her palms together in front of her chest. "O Zulrav, please, please help me! I'm so frightened, but I put this upon myself! I wasn't thinking, and I was wrong. But please, even though I have made a grave mistake, please protect Drue, he is most precious to me! I should have never left his side, I should have been protecting him no matter what!" She shouted into the wind, hoping her deity would hear her plea.

[Khida]

Tesni

Skill	Points
Riding	+1
Running	+1
Weapon: Wakizashi	+1

• The danger of a glassbeak flock
• Riding: clinging onto a fleeing Strider
• Wakizashi: timing swings with breaths

Notes

As short as this thread and its posts were, there really wasn't much I could award. The introspective parts were very nicely written, but I suggest you try and work more detail into Tesni's actions. For example, when Tesni is swinging her wakizashi in rhythm, what does that feel like? Is it heavy? Does it tire her arms? Is she trying to follow the same path each time? What significance does this exercise even have -- is she learning a move, strengthening her muscles, using timing to add power to her strikes? If you can include details like these when writing about Tesni's actions, whether riding or running or wielding a sword, you'll earn more XP and lores.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade. Also, please edit your request to show this thread has been graded.