Training

The other vexyn crashed to the ground, their body leaving a furrow in the dirt as it slided to a stop. The onlookers waited silently to see if they would move, but the big body did not stir. Knocked out cold.

Ragna regarded her opponent smugly, breathing heavily. The fight itself had been laughable, her opponent acting like a hatchling compared to her own fighting prowess. That’s what it must feel like to wrestle a xynlet, she had thought, while effortlessly evading every punch. When she lost all patience, her wings grabbed onto the other vexyn’s pelt and with an expert twist of her upper body, she had thrown them right over her shoulder. Which brought them to where they were now.

The other vexyn still didn’t twitch and Ragna couldn’t contain her laughter.    

“I’m not quite sure what’s so funny”, her instructor said, unimpressed.  

Ragna just kept grinning, stomping down on all impulses to give lip.

The instructor regarded her, eyes narrowing in contemplation. Ragna’s smile slowly faded.

The other vexyn started circling her.

Ragna looked onwards, standing at attention. She couldn’t see the other vexyn anymore, but she could feel him moving behind her.

“Our training serves to find out our strengths and weaknesses.” The instructor explained. “Since you are superior to your peers when it comes to strength and agility, I think we should start focusing on the things where you clearly need improvement.”  

He came up to Ragna’s face again, meeting her eyes.

Still trying to keep down her amusement, Ragna asked: “And what would that be?”

---

“That’s so nice of you dear, to help me with my groceries.” Lumine smiled, the expression so warm that it could light up a fireplace.  

Behind her walked Ragna, loaded with dozens of bags, containing only-the-moons-knew-what. She had no idea what the old xyn had purchased, only that it weighed a ton. They had strolled through Moonreach’s shopping district for hours, or rather, Lumine had strolled. Ragna had shuffled behind her, pouting, thinking of her instructor’s words regarding what she still had to learn: Respect and patience.  

He had thrown her into shopping hell.

Lumine had prattled on the entire time, about how NICE it was of her instructor to send her such strong help, about her garden, about her cute little house and her budden companion, about teas and cozy nights. She had also started to tell Ragna about her planned date with another vexyn, but Ragna had long ago stopped paying attention. She just wanted this nightmare to end. She would rather battle numerous corruption beasts than spend another afternoon with “granny xyn”.  

Lumine suddenly stopped and Ragna had to twist her body in a funny way to not run into the older xyn and drop bags everywhere. She cursed softly.

“We’re here”, Lumine said, cheerfully. Ragna looked up.

They had reached the other xyn’s home, a small cottage with flowerbeds and vegetable gardens in front. Insects buzzed everywhere and smoke rose from the chimney. It DID look cozy. And far too boring for Ragna’s liking.  

She looked around, frantically searching for a way to escape, while Lumine opened the small wooden gate and walked towards the front door.  

“Now come on and get in, dear, while I make us some tea. You’ll need your strength for later.”

Looking at her in horror, Ragna caught up reluctantly, trying to find words to tell Lumine that their shopping spree was done. She might hate everything about this afternoon, but that didn’t mean she had to be cruel towards the old lady.

“Look, Lumine. It has been… uh, a nice day and all, but my instructor probably wants me back to the training grounds.” She cringed. That sounded so wrong in her own ears. But Lumine only laughed.

“Oh dear”, she said, chuckling softly, while she slowly took bag after bag from Ragna and stacked them in the hallway, past the open door. “You are terrible at lying.”

Ragna, now freed from her load, could only blink in confusion as Lumine’s wings suddenly locked into her shoulder pelt. She gasped as she was lifted, her considerable weight thrown by the much smaller – and older! – moxyn. She met the ground with a grunt, narrowly missing a patch of carrots.  

It hadn’t really hurt, but confusion kept her down for a while longer, before she looked up and met the gaze of a very smug Lumine.

“Did your instructor not tell you, that I’ve been a royal knight once, too? A quite powerful one, at that.” Her eyes started glowing, indicating a fellow fire elemental. “Oh my, could they have forgotten?” She asked in mock regret. “It has quite been some time.”  

Ragna suddenly didn’t believe her “old lady” act anymore. Not one bit. A maniac grin broke on her face. She regarded the seemingly frail xyn in front of her, seeing her with new eyes.

“Huh." She said. "Interesting”.