Valusia IX
The next morning Lily found out what Da'Karis meant by the difficulty of training. "My lessons are simple and they require you to be focused and patient, you will repeat them until you are correct and flawless." he explained when he woke her at daybreak. He laid out what she would wear and left her to dress and wait upon his return, then he lead her to a place where they could climb onto the roofs above the city. Da'Karis led her to a place and then gave her the instructions she would need for her first lesson. "There will be a man who will arrive here in a few hours he dresses differently from anyone else coming into the building, when you see him note how long he remains there and tell me when I return.
Lily listened intently and nodded her understanding, she liked having something to do again, something real to do. Not that waitressing wasn't real or anything but this was just.. more her speed of life. Of course it wasn't so much fun when she had to wait and wait and wait. Then the man finally showed up. She kept track of the time and got a little bored while waiting for him to come back as well. Lily wasn't good at sitting still not doing anything, it's why she liked training to become a Ranger like her father was so much fun.
The man came and went spending only around two hours inside, Lily noted him leaving and had to wait another two hours for Da'Karis returned. He brought food and a waterskin as it was well after time for breakfast, "And you watched him come and go without tipping him off that you were here or leaving this spot as I instructed?" While she ate he pulled out a journal and marked something inside and listened intently to chanting coming from below their hiding spot. It was a temple of some sort below them and the prayers continued for a long time until they faded into the drone of the city. Crossing his legs Da'Karis laid the book in front of him and closed his eyes.
"Never moved and stayed low like you said. Recorded when he got here and when he left. Nobody ever looked up. But I stayed low anyways. Is this what you do when your gone? You just follow people around and write down how long they stayed where and when? That seems... very tiring." Lily said softly, she was hot from sitting in the sun all day and she was drinking liberally from the water skin, she slowly ate what he brought for food as well. She wished she could do something other then sit in someplace for a long time.
"Sometimes." he answered and made notes in the book before shutting it and waiting for her to finish her food and water. "Tomorrow you will wait for him again then follow him to the next place he goes. For now if you wish I have somewhere for you to freely practice and even spar with me if you like." Da'Karis had called in a favor for killing Gregor and secured a warehouse on the water where he could test her skills and teach her as well. Lily would get what she wanted to learn to not be afraid of the dark and how best to fight evil and fear.
"Really I am following him tomorrow?! You think I am ready for that oh gosh I am so excited about this now! And we even get to spar with you! Yay!" Lily wanted to do a little happy dance or clap but they were still being quiet and no one needed to know they were up on the roof and so instead she leaned over and gave Kar a big hug. She squeezed him tight and swayed a little before letting him go and doing a little shoulder and arm dance thing. She was all excited and happy for even such a small thing like this. But she was able to contain her happiness to such an extent that she didn't cause any kind of a scene.
The hug was surprising, but the rest of her reaction showed him she would not be repressed in who she was. "You must make sure you are not seen Lily or he will send men after you, it is of vital importance you find where his lair is and report it to me." They left the roof and went to the warehouse which he had spent sometime setting up to train her and increase her skills. He set some boxes up at the distance of rooftops and streets as well as a rope and even a slate section that Lily figured represented a roof. Da'Karis dropped his coat and removed his weapons before turning back to her, "Every sparing lesson with me will cost you in having to complete a challenge that I have faced before."
"A challenge? Like puzzles? Or like difficult obstacles in the physical realm you have to overcome? I love those! Like the gauntlet my parents put us kids through every year! Fun!" Lily smiled and rolled up her shirts sleeves. "Am I doing this all bare handed?" She asked she had stopped using her accent once they entered the warehouse and she was busy looking everything over. He said she would be blind folded so while she still had her vision she wanted to know where things where in a general sense.
"yes, and you will see. Today though is just a bit of sparing although I will not make it easy for you to do that." he explained. Quickly he got onto the crates and jumped the distance to the other side and waited for her. "You will need to get to me using the ways I do, then we spare, before I move again." his tone almost sounded playful to Lily. It was obvious that he meant business, and his training would require her to be on her game.
"Um okay so different area's to fight in got it. So no weapons? I'm not very good with bare hand combat." Lily said offering that piece of information up before they began. She was training in armed combat and that was all she could really do. Leaning most heavily on the Elven style of combat for her short stature and therefore less muscle strength. But she climbed the crates and ran and leapt the gap to join Kar anyways. After all I wasn't called training for nothing.
The gap was a little wider than she was comfortable with and she landed half on them her legs dangled an few inches above the floor. Da'Karis stood where he was and watched, "If you touch the floor you have fallen to the ground and must start over. It is a hard lesson to learn, but one that is needed in the real world." He himself fell leaping from building to building before and carried several scars from hard landings, but it was part of his job. Already his next plan was to take Lily high off the floor and up into the rafters to the next area he set up, "If this is too hard I suppose we could work out something easier for you." Da'Karis hoped the slight would steel her resolve to prove she could do this training and therefore become stronger.
"No I've jumped longer... but these crates make it look shorter of a distance hang on." Lily said pulling herself up easily and quickly. If there was one thing her father taught her it was how to recover while on the edge of any surface from any area you might ever fall from. She figured from all the stories told of them and of course Mom's phobia of him falling all the time made him kind of phobic about it to and so teach all the kids these things. She should have jumped harder though. Stupid crates she'd never worked with them before. She was up in less then a minute and on her feet smiling as she always did. "Don't worry if I fall, Daddy taught me how to land from everything including thirty foot height with nothing to break your landings. My parents are keen on our survivability.
" Lily giggled.
Even before her giggle faded Da'Karis came on quickly and hip tossed her and took a stance that told her the sparing started now.
Lily landed hard but before she got her breath back she was on her feet again and tried a leg sweep before jumping out of the way of his longer reach. She really wasn't any good in hand to hand but her reaction time was fantastic. So was her dodging skills, though her observation left things to be desired. She gulped in air when she could and kept her mouth shut. A good way not to lose your tongue is when your teeth are together. As grandpa always said.
After a few more swipes back and forth, Da'Karis leapt straight up and grabbed the rope above them. Looking down for a second before he began to climb to the rafters. At times she could see he used his feet to climb and other times did not as he reached the overhead and stepped out. "Perhaps one more encounter then we will rest or I will give you time to practice your current skill set." he called down taking a seat to wait for Lily.
"Yes thank you!" Lily agreed before jumping up and grabbing onto the rope as well. This was much better for her but she had to struggle to use her legs more as her arms weren't up to par with Kar's. Her entire upper body strength was good but not anywhere near Kar's. But like most women her legs were where her power was at. It took her a few tries to finally get up to where Kar was but she did make it. This time she took a defensive stance right away not trusting him one bit.
The corner of his mouth picked up a little and he approached slowly towards her, then turned his back to her. "You will attempt to subdue me, the object is not to kill but to make me surrender or render me unconscious." He then waited knowing this was a dangerous place to wrestle as they were very high up and to fall might injure them both.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked but then she felt stupid asking it. So she lept and wrapped an arm around his throat making sure his adams apple would be where her elbow squeezed most put her other hand on the back of his head and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him backward so when they fell he would land on her where she knew it was safe and she could direct the fall. Then put pressure with her arm around his throat and pushed his head forward, 30 seconds tops and he would be out cold.
It took him only a few seconds to escape, but Lily did it correctly and he was pleased. "Very good." he praised her, then turned and they were laying face to face and he was looking into her eyes. Part of him wondered if she would attempt to escape or if she was in control of herself, they would descend later and perhaps work with her throwing knives.
"I could kill you... but it is the only escape I know and I am not going do it." Lily said speaking sincerely. The only way she knew to get out of this kind of spot was with a blade. And she had one, and she could use it, but Kar didn't know where it was on her person and that wasn't fair to him. Then she realized he was on top of her... and they were close... and she had done well... and he treated her different from every other girl and she really wanted to kiss him. So she began to blush and think about it. "C-can you get off please..." She whispered softly.
He nodded and began to back off her, Lily could feel his body against hers as he did get up and extend his hand to her. "I want you to show me your skill in throwing your knives Lily." he said as they walked down the stairs to where he set up a target area. He then took a seat and waited for Lily to start throwing her knives. It was something he didn't do a lot of, but he would not begrudge how she was trained.
"What type of knife do you want to use all the kinds you have or one specific kind cause I noticed you don't have one kind but rather a variety and I don't mind trying them all out as long as they are all balanced pretty well." Lily asked sticking strictly to business and she would run to Rose about what was going on later. She figured Rosi would help since Lily didn't know and she had picked the worst choice ever the first time so what else could she do but to ask someone else who knew more then she did? For now though she was looking over Kar's knives and picking them up testing their balance for throwing.
Da'Karis picked up several and threw them all, he had been practicing with them for years and knew their weight well, he didn't always throw them while fighting though. Lily happened to notice something far down the table, it looked like a hand held crossbow and a small case of darts for it, she figured in his job Da'Karis must use many different kinds of weapons. "Pick whatever knife you wish to try you have a good deal of time to practice." he said getting the knives he threw. Once he returned them to the table he sat and watched Lily decide which blade to throw at the target.
"perfect!" Lily smiled happily and she grabbed a handful. She quickly deployed them and they all hit near the mark with surprising accuracy, then she grabbed another handful. It was obvious she was more familiar with the straight blades and darts. But she had practiced with one of his curved sets and those were the ones that hit the bulls-eye while the others all came close. She clapped happily and ran over to gather them. She then began to throw them again. Each time more and more where collected into the red bulls-eye circle. It was obvious out of every skill she had learned this was the one she excelled the most at.
Da'Karis watched her, she knew how to use them but would that giddy happiness remain when the target was replaced with a living human? He was not a hunter of orcs and goblins, but he could if needed, he hunted humans and those like beings. Already tomorrow he knew her challenge and figured she'd try her best of that he was sure. "We should not tary long Lily, dinner will be ready soon and then study until it is time to sleep." His schedule was a constant one and he could modify it as fate needed it, "tomorrow you will follow the target, but he must not know you are there." He closed the book and waited for Lily to finish her last throw and put everything back before getting ready to return to the inn.
Lily didn't throw the last. When it was time to go it was time to go. She put them all back in the exact place she had picked them up. Not near or close but in the exact same spot. It was another one of those little things that made Lily who she was and confused everyone around her. "Okay finished! and I know I won't let him see me... I'll try really, really hard anyways. I also know I won't enjoy it as much when my target is a living creature so you don't have to give me that lecture either okay? It's just... I like hitting my mark it makes me happy and it's something I'm good at! I'm not very good at very many things but I am good at this and I want to stay good and even if I have to kill someone or something with this skill that's okay because I know it'll probably save my life one day or maybe the life of someone I love. I am starving right now though I think a bigger breakfast tomorrow might help with that. Especially if you're going to make me run around and do this course everyday. I hate studying though even though I know I will need it it's always so boring just staring at a book and not moving or doing anything how can you stand to sit still so long?! Thanks for putting up with me too Kar, I know I'm not easy to be around especially for people who don't like being around anyone but it means a lot to me that you're my friend." Lily just went on and on in her happy excited way of chattering.
When they arrived back at the inn Da'Karis leaned close to her ear, "Go and clean up before you eat. It is bad manners to eat smelling of sweat and work, so go clean yourself and come upstairs and we will eat unless you would rather spend time seeing Rosi." Rosi who had just set down food for her customers came by and interjected herself between them, "Of course she'd rather spend time with me than you, you never have any fun!" Da'Karis rolled his eyes and headed for the staircase not saying another word to either of them and disappeared, Rosi then turned and regarded Lily, "But truthful dear one you need to wash, he must be workin' you somethin' fierce go get clean and I will have cook start somethin' nice for you." So the choice became Lily's either to follow her teacher or stay to speak with Rosi, either way she needed wash water and clean clothes first.
Lily went and cleaned, Then put on a fresh set of clothing. When she was finished and smelling sweet again she had to stand and think for a moment. Then she decided Rosi was the best option for the moment. So she went back downstairs and looked for Rosi before walking over and nabbing the girl. "Rosi I gotta ask your advice on some stuff!" Lily said linking her arm around Rosi's. "I need to know what's going on and I've failed really badly before and I know you know more about stuff then me so I really need to ask you what's going on." Lily said her new accent nice and strong.
Rosi looked confused for a few seconds, "Go have a seat in the kitchen and have them get you some dinner, I'll be in and we can talk." The idea that Lily wanted her advice and not Da'Karis's began to make her wonder if her new friend was interested in her old friend. Not that the idea wasn't too far fetched, Da'Karis was dark and brooding and a great many girls who worked in the inn swooned when he approached. Well all but her, she grew up with the assassin and was more sister to him than friend and counted on him for protection once or twice. The evening service arrived and that freed Rosi up to some time to herself, removing her apron she headed into the kitchen, "So, shall we leave the inn for this conversation or stay here?"
"I don't know which one would be better but then again, I have apparently no skill in this area whatsoever and my family would never let me look about or ask them about it because I've always been too young or unknowledgeable. So... I don't know what's wrong with me and I want to know what exactly it is and how I can stop it. So I really need your help because you know you've worked here and you're parents couldn't have been nearly as bad as mine so... Kar smells like spices... and he keeps being nice to me... and then... then I think about stuff... bad stuff. So what am I supposed to do? What's wrong with me Rosi? He's my friend and now he's teaching me how to protect myself better and why am I acting like this? I've never been a bad girl... well not on purpose before but I don't know why this is happening to me and I don't have anyone else to ask." Lily said not able to wait even a moment, to talk to her friend and she wanted to know what was wrong with herself and she wanted someone to tell her what she was going to do.
Rosi got them some food and told her to eat first then they would talk later, the stew and warm bread was filling and the wine was good. Then Rosi went out into the serving room and returned with a bottle of drink and led her out to the barn where they could talk alone, "So you've been thinking about 'stuff' and when you say 'stuff' you mean like 'kid stuff' or 'adult stuff'? Cause right now I think it has a lot to do with you blushing and looking away when he is shirtless, and has you two 'exploring'." She then opened the bottle and took a drink and put it into Lily's hands and encouraged her to take a drink too. One had a feeling this would be a long conversation with far reaching repercussions for everyone involved.
"I know what sex is." Lily said before blushing bright red and taking a swig from the drink. "But I've never felt these things before not ever. Not even with... someone I thought I loved. Is that's what is wrong with me Rosi? Cause he's my friend and I shouldn't have bad thoughts like this. I try not to really, but it feels like he's doing it on purpose. I think he finds it funny to make me blush just like my brothers did at home all the time. Even my sisters would talk about their men and make me blush. They used to say it was the only way to keep my mouth shut was when I was embarrassed. But I don't have anything to be embarrassed about right? Because yes he's in shape and he's a killer and he likes to wear black and all that but that's not abnormal in my family not really so why am I having these thoughts and dreams and being so weird! I don't know what's wrong with me!" Lily said she was almost in tears and she handed the bottle back to Rosi it as clear she really thought there was something wrong with herself.
"Perhaps because he while rescuing you saw you naked, you are trying to ferret out your feelings dear one. And you are not the first young lady to take an interest in him, but you are the first to get him to take an interest back in you." Rosi took another swig and passed the bottle back to Lily and then offered her handkerchief to wipe away any tears. "Besides a great many people have told me that sometimes the best lovers and partners are also the best friends, keep to your path Lily. Da'Karis has only known his training and that in itself was brutal at times and thus molded him into the assassin he is today." she said with a knowing smile and a pat on the shoulder.
"No no no Rosi There has to be something wrong with me! I mean whenever he's close I get... well... I react... physically, and then... then sometimes he'll do something that's super nice and that he doesn't do for anyone else at all. I start thinking about it and then sometimes when I dream I have to clean my sheets and clothes afterword and there's something really wrong with me Rosi! How do I make it stop? Please please help me!" Lily begged setting down the bottle and grabbing her friends arm. She took the hankerchief and wiped her eyes because she had started to cry she really really thought there was something wrong with herself.
Rosi gave Lily a reassuring hug, "There is nothing wrong with you it is a normal part of growing up, something about Da'Karis arouses you and your body and mind play it out when you are asleep. I have had dreams like that before, granted not lately since I haven't found a man that piques that interest in me. As far as help there isn't much you could do I don't think other than work out those feelings before bed, lay upon a towel and touch yourself until you climax then clean up and go to sleep. There are shops in the east market that sell things that help with that kind of thing you could go to." Rosi was at a loss for anything else to suggest other than cause herself to climax then get some sleep, she wondered if Da'Karis had this effect on Lily what effect did she have on him?
Lily went vivid red the more Rosi told her and she buried her head in her arms and drew her legs up to her chest to rest her arms on. She was to acutely embarrassed to be able to say anything else or even face Rosi at the moment. Surely there had to be something wrong with her, it couldn't be growing up because she watched her brothers and sisters do that and none of them ever had things like this happen to them. Sure Conner was perverted but he didn't have things like this happen to him either. Lily thought Rosi would have known what was wrong with her but maybe Lily was so unlike anyone else that no one could advise her on what was wrong with her either. Lily wished that Aunt Arten were here to tell her what was going on... or even... maybe... though it was embarrassing and no one really liked having her come and tell them all things but... Maybe that really old elf woman would know. Of course Lily had no way of contacting her or knowing where to find her other then in Sildea.
Rosi patted her shoulder, "it happens to everyone Lily, when we get older and our bodies change it can happen you mean you've never touched yourself?" Rosi remembered the first time she ever did that it was a mixture of pleasure and guilt all at the same time, but she had done it several times since then and the guilt lessened over time. "Lily why don't you try what I suggested tonight and see if you don't have that problem tonight, nothing crazy just until that warm good feeling spreads through you then wash up and get into bed and go to sleep. Cause I can't think of any alternative other than approaching Da'Karis."
"Oh Rosi I can't! I can't do any of that!" Lily said her voice thick with the effort of not crying very hard, It was obvious however that she was failing. She was working very hard on trying to work hard and make everyone happy and that was obviously hurting her a lot. But how long it had been going on or even if it was only now that she was doing was the real question. Lily was the person she was as she has always been, she was never anything other then what exactly she was though Kar was teaching her how to lie and how to deceive other people into believing she was something or someone else.
Rosi was at a loss so she hugged Lily tightly, "Your just fine and there is nothing wrong with you! Maybe you just feel more for Da'Karis than the other guy from before and that is fine too." It was really the only thing she could think of to say at that point to hopefully it would help Lily get over what was hurting her. Cause the alternative was telling Da'Karis and letting the two of them figure this out behind closed doors, and that just seemed more strange than having this conversation. As it was finding out her new friend had nightly, erotic dreams about someone she thought of as a brother was a little disturbing.
Lily sniffled and took comfort in her friend's embrace. Maybe that was it. Maybe she cared more for Kar like she did her own family. After a few moments she composed herself again, and wiped her cheeks with her friends handkerchief. "Thanks Rosi. I... I feel better now. You really helped me. I'm sorry for all this. You probably never had to do this for someone before so I really appreciate all the things you've done for me since I've been here." Lily said before letting her friend go. She handed Rosi her bottle of alcohol back and stood up. "I'd better get to bed, Kar will want me up early again so I can train more." Lily said with a big sigh.
Valusia XI
Stumble!