Zara chipped at the tall tree stump until well past midday when the mind numbing tedium of the task broke her drive. Exhaustion and pain played a part as well as the fact the task left time to think, and if she thought about anything her mind would always inevitably turn to memories of the castle and of Him.

So as she wheezed, leaning against her short sword she stuck in the ground, she finally decided that she was doing something wrong. Walker said nothing as he lay some feet from the tree that was her obstacle.

Zara straightened and looked at the sky, the sun still hadn’t reached the tips of the Dragon spine. Her stomach was starting to complain, Zara hated that her time in the castle made her so soft. She could remember that she would go a day on one meal when she lived in the village. She returned her gaze from the sky and to the tree.

She made little progress. The tree she was hacking at was harder than she thought, it refused to be cut and all damage she dealt was returned to her hands and arms in equal, blunt, measure. She widened the patches of her work to the size of her palm but she barely made any progress towards the centre of the tall stump.

Despite all that she didn’t want to ask for help from Walker. He spent his time lounging around the grassy surrounding of the tree occasionally throwing glances at her progress. He revealed nothing when he did look, just a neutral appraisal of the state of her training.

With a heavy heart Zara made herself walk closer to the laying swordsman. She racked her mind on how to weasel information from the tight lipped bastard as she stepped closer. She sheeted her swords and set herself next to Walker and asked.

“How am I doing?”

He looked at her than at the tree than back at her. He stood to face her and said.

“Horribly.”

That was not what Zara expected, and it hurt more than she was willing to admit to herself. So she did what she had always done when something hurt her. She got angry.

“Well if you would teach me instead of lazing about all day I would be doing better!” she yelled.

Walker didn’t react at all. He simply answered “I see you have the will to train and learn. But will with no direction is pointless. What you are doing is just making you tired. Your body will find the best way to cut and strike on its own, but not if you continue to move without direction.” Walker looked at the tree and asked “What did I tell you to do before you started?”

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Walkers answer took the anger out of her sails like before. He seemed to have a way of talking so honestly and bluntly that she couldn’t find a reason for her anger to keep burning. It pissed her off. But again anger found no purchase so she simply answered “You told me to attack the tree and that the action would teach me how to hold and swing a sword.”

It was getting pretty annoying, the way he snuffed her indignation when she was angry at him.

“Close, but no. The task I gave you will teach you what you said, but it wasn’t to attack the tree.” He looked back at her “I told you to sculpt an enemy out of the tree, there is a big difference there. Just attacking a tree will do nothing, and the reason for your slow progress is lack of purpose in your strikes. That is why you must sculpt an enemy so that every strike you make has direction and meaning. That is the only way to learn.” He finished.

Walker's answer made Zara think. And thinking about it she found that he was right, again. She was mindlessly swinging her swords and only concerned herself with whittling the tree down.

“If I was doing it wrong, why didn’t you say anything before?” she asked, some amount of shame at her foolishness crept into her voice as the words exited her mouth, the fact that would have made her lash out at him if she knew he would react in some way.

“I am your master. There is no shame in seeking knowledge in me. So when you think a task I give you is pointless, ask.” She answered kindly

Zara could feel her cheeks burn, so she turned away to hide the blush. She was starting to trust him with her training, a little. She still expected some kind of trick or trap but Walker seemed to honest for that. So she walked back to the tree.

Before she could reach it Walker spoke up.

“Remember imagine an opponent that would match you in skill and strength when your training is done.”

His comment helped as well as annoy her but she refused to react. Instead she closed her eyes and imagined a silhouette of a sword master encased in the tree. She breathed in and swung her sword.

Unlike before, this time the sword sunk deeper into the tree and the force didn’t travel completely into her hand. So she swung again, and again loosing herself in the movement and exertion. Time slipped by without affecting her when Walker set his hand on Zara’s shoulder and pulled her from her trance.

“You did good,” he said “especially for your first day of training. But now you have to rest, you don’t have to rush. You will continue tomorrow, and it will still be a while before you are done.”

Zara expected his touch to be revolting, but it wasn’t, it was uncomfortable sure, but in an unfamiliar sort of way. So she turned to him and nodded silently than followed him to their camp. After a light meal of scavenged tubers, berries and fired boar they turned in.

Zara slept calmly for the first time in a while, whether from exhaustion or apparent safety she did not know.