Ashe had been trying to do better. Truly, she was. She was still painfully lost, but gods she was trying. That had to count for something, didn't it? She had gone to see friends, she had.. she'd opened herself up to something she was sure she'd never have again, and so far? She'd stopped considering losing herself completely. Instead, she found herself refocusing her attention, skirting away from the pain and the anguish and doing what she did best: avoided those bullshit feelings so she could do what she needed to do.
She was going to get out of this place one way or another, but her mother had been right. Hiding away in the woods, living there, nothing more than a drunken husk of the hellstorm she was? It wasn't like her. So the assassin was doing as Vervain had bade her: she was lighting the damn fire under her ass. Starting with training again. She'd lapsed in her consistency and care for it that episode she suffered, but today she was working her way back up to her usual glory with a three mile run. She'd get back to five, eventually more, but her lack of sleep and lack of food left her less capable than she had been months ago in Northaven.
Ashe had only reached the end of her first mile down a well worn game trail of the Woodlands when she heard the familiar sound of... a sword whisking through the air. She was on the alert immediately as the small-framed woman slowed her pace to a walk, and it was with absolute silence that she followed the sound without thought.
She watched from the distance of a few trees, standing entirely still until she vanished from sight entirely. She didn't know this man, had never met him or seen him. She watched his lunges with narrowed eyes.. assessed her surroundings carefully before seeming herself free of an ambush.. and she moved, revealing her form as she stepped into the clearing where the man slashed at leaves.
"You look like you could use a sparring partner," the wolf girl said smoothly in way of greeting. She reached back and pulled Reckoning from its scabbard at her back, and the dark metal of her sword glinted in the muted light of fall. She spun it deftly in her hand a moment, tilting her head at him. "Name's Ashe " she said as she watched him with piercing fire blue eyes. How smart was the man? Did he have any sense of self preservation not to trust her, or was he complacent and safe in his life? She leveled her sword and quirked a brow at him, the side of her mouth pulling into a half smirk.
She was going to get out of this place one way or another, but her mother had been right. Hiding away in the woods, living there, nothing more than a drunken husk of the hellstorm she was? It wasn't like her. So the assassin was doing as Vervain had bade her: she was lighting the damn fire under her ass. Starting with training again. She'd lapsed in her consistency and care for it that episode she suffered, but today she was working her way back up to her usual glory with a three mile run. She'd get back to five, eventually more, but her lack of sleep and lack of food left her less capable than she had been months ago in Northaven.
Ashe had only reached the end of her first mile down a well worn game trail of the Woodlands when she heard the familiar sound of... a sword whisking through the air. She was on the alert immediately as the small-framed woman slowed her pace to a walk, and it was with absolute silence that she followed the sound without thought.
She watched from the distance of a few trees, standing entirely still until she vanished from sight entirely. She didn't know this man, had never met him or seen him. She watched his lunges with narrowed eyes.. assessed her surroundings carefully before seeming herself free of an ambush.. and she moved, revealing her form as she stepped into the clearing where the man slashed at leaves.
"You look like you could use a sparring partner," the wolf girl said smoothly in way of greeting. She reached back and pulled Reckoning from its scabbard at her back, and the dark metal of her sword glinted in the muted light of fall. She spun it deftly in her hand a moment, tilting her head at him. "Name's Ashe " she said as she watched him with piercing fire blue eyes. How smart was the man? Did he have any sense of self preservation not to trust her, or was he complacent and safe in his life? She leveled her sword and quirked a brow at him, the side of her mouth pulling into a half smirk.
