Her face was in the dirt. Again. So often had this happened when training with her mother, she had started to wonder if this wasn't the proper state for her face to be in. Perhaps if she tried hard enough she could learn to live like this. To siphon off nutrients from Thanalan's many varieties of dirt.
Someone was standing over her. It was obvious from the fact that the blazing sun wasn't burning her back. Said someone was tall, just based off of the sheer length of their shadow.
"Are you going to lay there all day, or shall we go again?" Her mother's voice was firm, but amused.
Winttrach brought her head up, twisting her neck to peer into her mother's armored boots, "The former does seem appealing."
Summer Lily clicked her tongue, nudging at Winttrach with the toe of her boot. "Get up, little dragon."
With an overly dramatic sigh, Winttrach brought herself up from the dirt, brushing off waves of dust from her leather armor. Her wooden sword and shield were retrieved soon after, and her feet spread in the stance that had been battered into her.
Her mother did much the same, producing a wooden set of arms herself. There was no question as to how Summer Lily was able push Winttrach into the dirt so easily. The former was as tall as a roegadyn woman could come, while the latter still had so far upward to grow. Winttrach's eyes lingered off to the very real sword and shield that sat off to the side of their little arena against a shriveled tree. The sound of wooden sword hitting shield brought her attention back to the fight.
"Eyes on your foe, attention on your foe. Survey your surroundings when given the moment," Summer Lily said, sword pointed straight at Winttrach. Winttrach nodded, bringing her shield up, bracing herself. Her mother refused to move.
"What is the item in your hand, little dragon?"
"Uh," Winttrach muttered, looking down at the wooden shield as though it might be something more, "A shield?"
"Correct." Her mother strode forward, slamming her sword into the shield in question as though to prove that point. "What does that shield entail?"
The stinging in Winttrach's arm quickly returned as she bore the brunt of the blade against the shield. Shifting her stance to follow where her mother retreated to, she prepared for another blow, "Restricted movement, improved defense."
Another sprint, another blow, another retreat. "Correct, to a point." Summer Lily leveled her sword at Winttrach's face, "What does it mean for you?"
"I don't know," Winttrach said without a clue. The wrong answer. This time the charge ended with a shield bash, which left Winttrach stumbling, though she managed to recover her balance.
"You are a shield," her mother said flatly, blade prepared to run again. "You are the protector. The wall between friend and foe." Another strike, which Winttrach managed to deflect, even though she was clearly wavering. "You are the rally point. A creator of courage." Her mother's voice grew louder as she spoke.
Provoked by those words, Winttrach took a more stoic stance, ready for the next blow. Her mother charged again, with her most fierce strike yet. The younger readied herself, and stood for as long as she could against her mother's blade. Which once again placed her flat on her back.
A sigh escaped her mother's lips, "We have a long way to go."
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