[ Hooray for healing magic! That's allowed her to return to her work at the Purramid Café without worrying anyone because she could heal what injuries she got on Augueril 25 and be in to play with the kittens shortly after that. There's a bit of shame involved in not wanting to let people know that she'd dome something bad, but mostly just that she hates making people worry. As much as she can, she's going to avoid letting anyone know about her misadventures.
(Witnesses to her highway to the danger zone adventures, though, include her housemates, Killua, and, possibly pertinently, Kaede.)
The first hint from Leslie herself comes after a session of Leslie fulfilling her Purramid Café duties as the Royal Cat Petter. After buying a pastry, she settles in by one of the tables and props up a book on it to read as she chews on the sweet.
The book is technically about fighting with magic, but a frown is growing on Leslie's face as she comes to realize that Sir Frederick Hart's Magical Pugilism: A Noble Art is not really about combat. It seems that this Sir Hart attempted to promote some form of sport duelling among the aristocracy with a few dozen rules about how to not damage your opponent and a further list of moves that are not illegal but are dishonorable and should be avoided by true gentlefolk.
This...this is not really the kind of practical self-defence against non-sentient creatures and aggressing evildoers she was looking for. ]
[ It was definitely not the sort of book she expected to see Leslie paging through. Ursula knew on some vague level what had happened in the north, but hadn't tried to pry much further than the base details. She knew what had happened, but she didn't really know who did what, only that it had been quite a dangerous situation, and honestly she probably would have scolded Leslie for getting involved, too, had she known, and yet...
The connection between what Leslie was reading and what might have happened to her out there didn't quite settle in her mind where she thought it would. That expression was telling, after all... almost like peering into Polaris and seeing a reflection of a small Chariot and her own struggles...
She sat herself down across from Leslie, a medium roast with sweet cream made for herself, and let out a soft hum. ]
[ Leslie is focused enough on her book that she only notices Ursula sitting across from her when Ursula hums. She looks up quickly as Ursula speaks. ]
Oh! Ms. Ursula! Hello. [ She lays the book down flat on the table rather than propped up. ]
It’s not actually homework. I thought it might explain about how people fight with magic, but this seems like more like.... [ what was that word? ] Like a sport, I think?
[ Ursula hadn't wanted to interrupt Leslie, despite her desire to ask about why she felt the need to even study combat based magic, before that last part really twisted her train of thought. ]
Wait, a sport? Wh-...
[ No, no, Ursula, stay on track here. She shook her head, adjusting her glasses. ]
More importantly, why are you studying combat-based magic? That seems like a pretty deep pool to jump into... And a dangerous one, at that.
[ Leslie began to think about how to explain about why she came to the conclusion that it was like a sport, but then the question changes. She blinks, looking surprised. ]
Isn’t it more dangerous to not know how to fight? Miss Corrin and General Eisner have been teaching me how to use a sword to defend myself, but if I don’t have a weapon, or I were attacked by something different than I expect, I don’t think I could save myself.
[ She looks down, apparently embarrassed to admit that she doesn’t feel confident in being able to use her lessons well enough to, say, defeat a Nuckelavee in single combat. (As if that were the point of her lessons at this early stage.)
This should be expected, even with such great teachers. When she started less than half a year ago, she had to start from the very basics, because, while she eats well and walks around the Haven every day here, it’s still been less than half a year since she was malnourished to the point of stunting her growth and had an almost complete lack of exercise in her daily life.
It’s taken her this time to just go from being so thin that she looks like she’d snap like a twig to, at best, average for a child. Even just looking at her, it’s clear that she’s got a long road ahead of her in physical combat. ]
[ That... didn't really make her less worried. But something in Leslie's words sank in a bit deeper than they probably would have normally. Leslie was someone who tried hard. Very hard. Just at everything. It was impossible not to pick up on even if she didn't spend a lot of time with the girl. She wouldn't be doing this just based on whimsy, though, as she knew that much too. She wasn't prone to impulse, not normally anyways, and was pretty different from Akko in that sense...
And yet...
There was that spark. A spark she'd seen before, not just in Akko's eyes but other students. Something that sat in Ursula's mind... ]
Something happened. [ She didn't ask Leslie. She didn't need to. She knew. ]
[ She stiffens a bit as Ursula hits the nail right on the head. She’s ashamed and would rather just...leave it at that, but she feels like it’s not right to hide from things she’s ashamed of. There’s a few moments of struggling how to start, and then she speaks, her head still lowered. ]
I did something really stupid last month. I was outside the wall alone last month, before people stopped the Nuckelavee, and I got attacked. If people hadn’t found me in time to rescue me.... [ ...Maybe she’ll hold off from saying “I’d be super dead.” ] One of them nearly died. Because he had to protect me.
[ Now she looks up to meet Ursula’s eyes, her own a little watery. ]
I don’t want it to happen again. I won’t go outside the Bright Wall alone ever again, but that’s not the only place danger can be.
[ She knows of the Rathmores, even if no such incident has happened over her time in Aefenglom. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
(Witnesses to her highway to the danger zone adventures, though, include her housemates, Killua, and, possibly pertinently, Kaede.)
The first hint from Leslie herself comes after a session of Leslie fulfilling her Purramid Café duties as the Royal Cat Petter. After buying a pastry, she settles in by one of the tables and props up a book on it to read as she chews on the sweet.
The book is technically about fighting with magic, but a frown is growing on Leslie's face as she comes to realize that Sir Frederick Hart's Magical Pugilism: A Noble Art is not really about combat. It seems that this Sir Hart attempted to promote some form of sport duelling among the aristocracy with a few dozen rules about how to not damage your opponent and a further list of moves that are not illegal but are dishonorable and should be avoided by true gentlefolk.
This...this is not really the kind of practical self-defence against non-sentient creatures and aggressing evildoers she was looking for. ]
no subject
The connection between what Leslie was reading and what might have happened to her out there didn't quite settle in her mind where she thought it would. That expression was telling, after all... almost like peering into Polaris and seeing a reflection of a small Chariot and her own struggles...
She sat herself down across from Leslie, a medium roast with sweet cream made for herself, and let out a soft hum. ]
Interesting homework you have, today, Leslie...
no subject
Oh! Ms. Ursula! Hello. [ She lays the book down flat on the table rather than propped up. ]
It’s not actually homework. I thought it might explain about how people fight with magic, but this seems like more like.... [ what was that word? ] Like a sport, I think?
no subject
Wait, a sport? Wh-...
[ No, no, Ursula, stay on track here. She shook her head, adjusting her glasses. ]
More importantly, why are you studying combat-based magic? That seems like a pretty deep pool to jump into... And a dangerous one, at that.
no subject
Isn’t it more dangerous to not know how to fight? Miss Corrin and General Eisner have been teaching me how to use a sword to defend myself, but if I don’t have a weapon, or I were attacked by something different than I expect, I don’t think I could save myself.
[ She looks down, apparently embarrassed to admit that she doesn’t feel confident in being able to use her lessons well enough to, say, defeat a Nuckelavee in single combat. (As if that were the point of her lessons at this early stage.)
This should be expected, even with such great teachers. When she started less than half a year ago, she had to start from the very basics, because, while she eats well and walks around the Haven every day here, it’s still been less than half a year since she was malnourished to the point of stunting her growth and had an almost complete lack of exercise in her daily life.
It’s taken her this time to just go from being so thin that she looks like she’d snap like a twig to, at best, average for a child. Even just looking at her, it’s clear that she’s got a long road ahead of her in physical combat. ]
no subject
And yet...
There was that spark. A spark she'd seen before, not just in Akko's eyes but other students. Something that sat in Ursula's mind... ]
Something happened. [ She didn't ask Leslie. She didn't need to. She knew. ]
And you don't want it to happen again.
no subject
I did something really stupid last month. I was outside the wall alone last month, before people stopped the Nuckelavee, and I got attacked. If people hadn’t found me in time to rescue me.... [ ...Maybe she’ll hold off from saying “I’d be super dead.” ] One of them nearly died. Because he had to protect me.
[ Now she looks up to meet Ursula’s eyes, her own a little watery. ]
I don’t want it to happen again. I won’t go outside the Bright Wall alone ever again, but that’s not the only place danger can be.
[ She knows of the Rathmores, even if no such incident has happened over her time in Aefenglom. ]