Post by palmer canton on Nov 12, 2011 23:16:12 GMT -5
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It was late afternoon, a few hours before everyone in the camp would meet up for dinner, the sun was still at a decent height in the sky giving off plenty of light and summer heat. The path wasn't quiet, there were sounds of others walking in other directions on separate paths beyond the masses of trees, the sound of her own footsteps, and every other noise one may find in nature. Palmer kept her eyes fixated on the ground for the majority of the time. The last thing she needed was to trip and fall. Out here, in the middle of who-knows-where, was actually relaxing in Palmer's eyes. There was no one telling her what to do, no directions, no time limits. She was close to free... in a way.
Today was one of those days. Running on "Palmer time" she had been late to almost everything. Well not significantly late, but late enough to have to hear about it. During her hand-to-hand combat training she wanted to just yell "I quit" to the sky. It was worse than usual. Her hands and forearms were bleeding by the end of the session. Of course that really wasn't a problem since she could heal the wounds with ease, but the fact that she was told that she needed practice if she ever wanted to stand a chance was something that stuck out in Palmer's mind. She knew she was bad at fighting. It was never in her nature. Sure she could shoot a bow and arrow and be fine, but that was different, that came easily. This was something she would have to practice, she would have to try to learn. This was the reason she was planning to skip dinner and spend her time out here beating up a tree.
Palmer made her way down one of the paths between New Rome and the camp with plans to improve her "sword handling skills". She had walked through the trees, and along the path with the sword she had made during her first three months here at camp. For the most part it was balanced in her hand, nothing perfect, but good enough for the time being. Palm made it to a small opening in the trees. She quickly made her way through the plants ending up in a small field. Perfect.
It wasn't long before Palmer began swinging her sword at the air. From a distance she may look like she has an idea of what she is supposed to do, but from up close it was obvious that the girl was truly clueless. She knew what you were supposed to do, and she did most of it, just not with any grace or technique. After a while she began swinging the weapon at an old tree located near the edge of the field.
It didn't take long before Palmer was down right frustrated. She threw her sword on the ground before pitching a silent fit that ended with her laying face up in the grass with her eyes closed. The sun rays that passed the leaves on the trees touched her face, helping her to calm down. This sort of thing was nothing new. Palmer was still a kid in a way. She was sixteen in a new place with an already short temper. Sure she could control her emotions better than others, but when she was alone, or thought she was alone, Palmer didn't care to hold anything back. What was the point in that? Now she was laying in the grass, with her eyes closed, her sword about a foot away on the ground beside her, and humming a song she was sure she had never heard before. What a perfect little practice session this was.
