[ 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. ]
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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. ]