"That's different because--"

Why would Katie believe her?


"You'll listen to me--"

No she won't. She'll pout and sandbag, indefinitely.


"Okay, practice your way. See how far that approach gets you in combat--"

They can't afford a Resurrection.


. . . Sigh.

"If you practice using two hands first, your technique will be sloppy and you will die. I do not want you to die, because we cannot afford to resurrect you."

"And if I ask Teg, she'll say the same thing?"

Summoning Teg prediction powers . . .

"I think so. I only know how to teach you hand-by-hand first. I don't know how they teach it in Lastwall but I suspect it's the same."

"Well can Teg teach me?"

"After this session you can go to Teg and ask whatever you want. I'm not going to stop you from switching teachers if you want. But I'm not breaking off the session. You should at least try what each-handed, and actually both-handed, feels like, under me. Plus, you're admirably Chaotic about following through on plans and respecting seniority, but the rest of us are stumbling golems, and you'll have to slow down somewhat for us."

"Fair, fair. I'll give it a try."

"Great!"

"Now if I say hold your sword like a giant pen, do you know what I mean? Grip it with your back fingers and hold it loosely and maneuver it with your thumb and first two fingers."

Demonstration.

She pulls a red ball made of straw, half as high as her knee, from where it was resting on a wall and starts chasing it around, stabbing it unerringly with her swords, one at a time.

"It's stupid, but we don't currently have practice automata."

She kicks it to Katie.

As Katie mimics Tazich's actions, one of her swords hits the straw ball wrong and gets jostled from her grip, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor. Thankfully, she catches herself with her now free hand.

pick her up pick her up

no you cannot do that Tazich she will not learn and if she does not learn she will DIE

"Are you, that you're aware of, afflicted with some kind of curse?"

"I would agree that I sure seem like it, but if I am it's one powerful enough to hide from Detect Magic."

"How hard have the people you've known with Detect Magic tried? I didn't get it today, but I can pray for, tomorrow, getting Detect Curse.

Urgathoa likes me."

"There's really no need for that. It's not like I have any real enemies or anything. My dad does, but like, presumably if someone wanted to get at him they'd either curse him or kidnap and ransom me, not curse me."

"I hadn't even been thinking about the fact that you're a princess. It's really not that out there."

Especially with this level of . . .

. . . Don't be delusionally cruel at the newcomer, Tazich. Maybe it was just a fluke.

"Well, try again."

She does. It goes a lot better this time. She's getting her bearings.

Does it seem like she's having fun?

She's still not the best at maneuvering two swords at once, but chasing the ball around is pretty fun.

"Wanna practice duel?" She holds up a stick.

"I'm afraid of losing humiliatingly and feeling like a pathetic moron, but I guess I have to start at some point."

Stance!!

She waves the stick slightly back and forth like the swaying head of a cobra. Her eyes scan every inch of Katie, looking for an in.

Katie stands anxiously with her sticks up and at the ready. She really wishes she was wrestling Tazich instead, but that's not nearly as practical a skill. She's going to wait for her to attack first, blocking is probably the hard part, she should prioritize figuring that out.

Better start predictable. Ready to pretend-stop despite her greater strength if Katie crosses their sticks in time, she goes straight for Katie's heart.

Ohshit. She moves one stick up to catch Tazich's and swings the other at her chest while she's distracted.