Priya curled her fingers around the hilt of her long knife and slid the blade out of it’s sheath. She held it in front of her mid-section with a loose indifferent grip. Seia stepped forth and took her hand in his, moving her fingers about until they were wrapped around the hilt just below the crossguard. ”Hold it here. The weight is easier to manage the closer you are to the centerpoint,” he said. Priya nodded firmly, tightening her grip after her fingers had found their places. ”What then? Do I now stab you?”, she asked, grinning. Seia returned the grin, taking a step back. He held up his hand to fend her off. ”First you have to know where to aim.” He pointed at three places on his body, each accompanied by a ’here’. ”If you put a knife on those places, the man is dead.” But I don’t want anyone to be dead, she thought. The only reason she had agreed on this 'lesson', was the fact that she had almost died three weeks ago in an attack by two Northmen.
”Now attack me.”
Priya cleared her throat awkwardly and attempted to repress her smile. She looked around in thought, before suddenly pointing towards the sky with a loud dramatic gasp. ”What’s that?!”, she exclaimed. She had hoped to confuse Seia, but the man didn’t so much as glance towards the sky, his eyes being locked onto hers. She frowned at her failed diversion and jumped quickly towards Seia slashing the knife clumsily towards his throat. Seia’s arm twitched and he almost reached out to grab her wrist, before Priya stopped the thurst mid-motion as she didn’t actually want to hurt him. She simply stared at him, holding the knife in between them. ”You have tried that trick before.”, Seia said. Priya dropped lazyly her hand to her side and shrugged, grinning at the skies. ”Well, it never hurts to try it again.”
”Attack me. This time, stab. And do not stop yourself.”
Priya thrusted her lower lip outwards. ”But I don’t want to hurt you.” ”I will be fine. Left foot in front of the right, left shoulder forward. Like this,” Seia explained, taking up his own stance, while holding an invisible dagger. He thrusted it forward in a quick powerful jab. Priya eyed him keenly. She then straightened her back and cleared her throat again, attempting to seem serious even though she was at the brink of bursting into laugher ”Okay. Right.” She tried to mimic the stance Seia had taken and threw a slow and wary thrust towards him. Seia stepped nimbly out of her way ”Now. Stab the air.” She frowned and attacked the invisible opponent, slashing the air in a savage and reckless fashion. ”Only beginners get angry, Anger leads to mistakes, which lead to death. Again,” Seia told her. She sighed at his words but made another attack into the air.
Seia started to circle her, eyeing her movements, calling out ”Again!” after every time she stabbed the air. She winced whenever she heard his demanding loud voice but kept attacking. Seia pointed out more of her mistakes while she kept making them ”Do not over-balance yourself.” ”Keep your feet low, even when moving.” ”Do not slash, stab. You don’t want them to scream.” Priya grew irritated and started to stab the air more angrily ”-No anger-. Do not let it guide your motions.”, Seia said, still circling her. Priya did the exact opposite. She tightened her sweaty grip on the hilt, stabbing the air even more fiercely, letting out a wordless cry of frustration. Seia stopped circling and stepped to her side ”Put away the knife, Priya,” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Priya lowered her hand and dropped the knife on the ground. She breathed heavily and stared darkly at the ground. Seia bent down to pick up her knife, sliding it into her sheath.”You will never be the strongest fighter, but if you continue, you may someday be faster than me.” She raised her gaze to look at him wide-eyed.
