Duendewood vs Solari: Battle Priestess

"Try this," said Ruin, and handed Aesa a wooden practice scimitar. 

She took it, held it up, and frowned. "I like it, I like the feel of it, but I don't really know how to use it." 

Ruin nodded. "I know. It's not that different from my blade -- or that thing your friend Tavros uses -- but it's meant for one hand. You can grab it with both, though, if you need to. But you can also use it with a shield, and that's what I want you to look at."

"So..." Aesa looked around. "You're not angry about last night?" 

Ruin shook his head. "No. Anica apologized, and anyway that wasn't your fault." He did not want to be discussing that -- any of that -- with Aesa, but he forced himself to sound reassuring rather than impatient.

"Oh. Good."  She was still looking at the practice weapon, at least. "Sooo... how do I use this?" 

"It's actually not that different from a mace," Ruin told her. "See how it widens out here near the end? That changes the balance, puts the weight farther out. And the curve of the blade makes for more powerful slices, if you line them up right. Among the elves, the scimitar is a fire weapon: you flick it out and snap it back, again and again. In your case, you'll balance that with a shield -- think of that as the ice that absorbs your opponent's fire."

"...As you say," said Aesa, and stepped back, lining the scimitar up behind the shield much as she had with the mace. 

"Good," said Ruin. "Now, you're going to have to coordinate the two movements: get the shield out of the way long enough to attack, but bring it back in immediately after your blade has passed. That part, I can teach you -- and again, it's not that different from the mace, except that you have to be aware of the edge of the blade." He paused. "What I can't teach you is the part you're really going to need, and that's the blessing of the gods."

Aesa stopped, staring at him, and Ruin held his hands up. "That is not an insult. You've been around a lot of paladins, and clearly you're drawn to using weapons. But you're a cleric, and you'll need spells to supplement your skills. Did you pray this morning?" 

Aesa nodded. 

"And what did you receive?" 

Aesa thought about it, then mumbled something and gestured without releasing either scimitar or shield. A faint glow seemed to settle over her, but Ruin blinked and by then it was gone. He lifted his own wooden weapon -- still notched from the blow from Anica's blade -- and said: "Good. Pretend I'm a monster. Attack me." 

Aesa stepped in, guarding with her shield, and swung the sword. Ruin voided, but it was a harder attack to dodge than it had been the previous night. Aesa swung again, and this time she might have hit him except she pulled the blow. 

Ruin held up a hand. "I know you don't want to hurt me," he said. "But you have to intend to. Just a moment." 

He turned away, and pulled a padded helmet off the rack. "All right," he said. "Try to hit me." 

Aesa swung, and Ruin slid back and evaded the blow. "Try again." 

Aesa stepped in, catching his blade on her shield, and he deliberately slowed his steps; her wooden blade crashed into the padded helmet. "Good," he said. "Try it again." 

He didn't try to dodge this time; she swung at his helmet and connected. "Again. Harder." Clong. "Again." Clong!

He stepped back, and shook his head. "There you go. You can't fight if you aren't trying to win -- and if you're trying not to hurt your opponent, you aren't trying to win." He paused, then added: "My cousin Werendril had the same problem when he first started."

Aesa grinned, then frowned. "That's--" 

Ruin shrugged. "It's precisely the problem with trying to be a good person and still fight. You end up wanting to fight without hurting anyone, and that's... not how it works."

Aesa stopped to consider that, and Ruin lowered his blade to give her time. "Very well," she said at last. "So what should I do next? Hit you some more?"

"Pray," he said. "You're a priestess, so pray. Pray to Amun, or Corellon, or both. Pray for the strength to serve them, and the martial skill to defeat their enemies. I don't know exactly how this works -- I've seen battle priests, but I'm not one of them. But the gods should know their business. And then, if you go into this sort of combat, use whatever magics they grant you to enhance your skill or take advantage of your opponents' weaknesses." 

Aesa stopped and looked straight up, suddenly distracted. Then she turned back to him. "Excuse me," she said. "I need to go to the chapel."

She turned and walked off, so completely distracted that the two paladins had to stop their bout as she passed between them. Looking after her, Ruin shook his head: she was either going to be completely brilliant, or she was going to get herself killed, and he honestly wasn't sure which. 

"Battle priest," rumbled Akkora, standing behind him. "Huh."