#it's just hard to show much progress against an opponent as good as Riin

[thereluctantinquisitor]

#46 ✨✨

46 - shimmer

“Take your time, Adiran. Fight better.”

Maybe it was all in Adiran’s head, but he swore there was a challenge in the words. Mockery. Disappointment. He ground his teeth until they creaked, pulling in air like the world was running out of it. “Fight better? That your official advice?” He spat in the sand, blinking away sweat, his hair slick with it. It had been for hours. “You know what? I’ve spent the past eight years training with you, and you haven’t taught me a single fucking thing I didn’t already know!”

Standing a few yards away, Riin’s brow twinged, but if the comment had bothered him, he gave no further indication. Instead, he just swung his sword down from where it rested on his shoulder, the movement slow and meticulous. His feet slid into position. 

“You believe I have taught you nothing?”

Before Adiran even had a chance to muster a scathing reply, Riin was coming at him in a rush of cloth and steel, sand churning beneath his feet, blade arcing high, sweeping down, cutting towards his side---

--- without thinking, Adiran lunged forward, breaching the distance between them, slamming Riin in the side with his shoulder. The warrior let out a grunt as he was thrown off-balance, landing in the sand hard enough to shake the blade from his grasp. Staggering a few steps, stunned by his own response, Adiran spun, breathing hard, harried and wild around the edges.

“What was that supposed to be?”

Pushing himself up in the sand, Riin shook his head and spend a moment in silent contemplation, as though regathering some pieces of himself that had been shaken loose. But then he glanced up, and there was an almost amused tilt to his lips. “I did what you do when you are frustrated. More often than you should. What you just did to counter it...”

Something about the shimmer in his eyes locked Adiran in place. Pieces began to slide together - the unpredictable lunge, using his shoulder to deflect a reckless charge. How many times had Riin sent him to the ground with the exact same move?

Like a hollow stump, Adiran just stood there, for once unable to find any words to tip the situation in his favour. After a moment, sensing Adiran would be lost for a while, Riin grunted and hauled himself to his feet. As was custom after a fall, he began to dust the sand from his hair, his clothes, from his skin. Adiran watched as those hands, so at home holding a weapon, ghosted gently over his shoulders. Followed the tattooed lines that ran like rivers down his arms, thick and dark until they branched into a delicate delta, reaching towards his fingertips...

Adiran returned to himself with a sharp clear of the throat, eyes quickly seeking interest somewhere else. Anywhere else. “Yeah, well, you never actually taught me that, so...” His gaze found purchase on a nearby pillar, as though the pale stone was suddenly the most fascinating thing in the whole damn kingdom. “It doesn’t count.”

And that was when Riin laughed. Despite just being knocked down - despite the long day in the heat running endless drills at Adiran’s request - the sound was warm and fond and...

Focus on the pillar, idiot. You’re just tired.

“Some people learn better with gentle praise. You are rarely one of them, Adiran.” Kind enough not to call attention to Adiran’s strange behaviour, the Kyriin set about retrieving his sword before squinting up to consider the position of the sun. After a moment, he nodded to himself, silently declaring the session over as he rolled his shoulders and headed towards the storeroom. Not in the mood to argue, Adiran patted down his own breeches, then used his teeth to find the edge of the cloth wrapping his hands.

But one thing still bothered him. “Fine. I’ll bite.” ADiran forced his gaze away from the pillar as Riin approached. “How do I learn. According to you.”

Riin paused and regarded him for a while, his tall frame statue-like against the glare of the sun. At first, it seemed like he wasn’t planning to answer at all. Adiran was about to stalk off when Riin finally reached out and rested a firm hand on Adiran’s shoulder. 

“You, Adiran, learn best through frustration.”