Aches and Pains

[Neela Garcia]

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10th May

A dull ache radiated throughout Neela's body as she slowly worked her way through the motions of her fighting style, fighting an invisible enemy with slow, over exaggerated movements. Neela looked an absolute mess; bandages wrapped tightly around her torso and left limbs, the ones adorning her left leg already speckled with dots of red.

After being attacked a few nights back followed by her encounter with her mother aggravating the wounds the day before Neela should have been resting in bed but instead she was out here in a small section of dirt between her house and the small river that ran through the fort.

It wasn't concern over her safety that drove Neela to try and hone her fighting skills but guilt. In Neela's mind she was directly responsible for Grynn's death; if she had been a little more fluent in her fighting, a little more aggressive- if she had been able to scare Leon off by herself then Grynn wouldn’t have needed to try and help her. Grynn would still be alive.

A whine began to push at the back of Neela's throat at the thought and she swallowed it down bitterly, focusing on her movements to counteract the sudden melancholy. The boarding knives she had retrieved from the Meria were different to her usual weapons, more akin to a very short curved sword than an actual knife, and adapting her usual movements to them was proving somewhat difficult.

It didn’t help that her entire body felt stiff and fragile, her almost broken ribs even moreso. It was only grief and determination that kept the collie moving, steadily going through her movements again and again, oblivious to the world around her.

Word Count :: +286