Elias looked up. Dawn held her sword with steamy hot meat on it, the scent reached his nose, delicious, but gamey, he could scent the wildness inside it.
"You're sure?" Elias asked, leaning in, curious and hungry.
Dawn sniffed the meat twice, her nose shaking like it would on a dog. She looked at Elias. "This is as good as it gets, besides, the flame from the lungs has run out." She pointed out. Elias looked over to the flames and saw that it had indeed burnt out.
"I guess we feast," he said, eagerly yanking a portion off the blade. He leaned back against the wall, staring at the hot roasted flesh that was resting on his palm. He looked up and saw Dawn with hers, but she didn't dig in immediately. She paused, lowering the meat slightly. She closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
Elias watched her closely, curious about what she was doing.
'Is she praying?'
Dawn opened her eyes, meeting Elias's gaze. "Master, is there an issue?" she asked.
"No, no, I just saw you, uhm, praying."
"Yes, I do. I was taught from a young age that no one is worthy of sustenance, so when you receive it, be thankful for it." She explained in a calm tone, then looked down at the meat in her hands.
"I understand that what I am doing is dumb and probably has no real weight, but it reminds me of where I came from," Dawn said.
"Oh no, no, there is nothing dumb about that," Elias said quickly. Dawn looked at him.
"If anything, I'd say it's really nice that you do that, something to hold onto to remember home. All I remember is boards and books, lessons and teachers," Elias calmly said, his tone dropping toward the end. He leaned in and bit into the meat, ripping a huge chunk out with his teeth.
"Chewy," he muttered as he chewed eagerly.
Dawn stared at him for a few seconds, then she took a bite of hers. She chewed in silence while watching Elias.
After eating, Elias leaned back on the wall, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Ahhhh, that was great," he said.
"Seems your idea worked, thank you for the meal," Dawn said.
Elias propped himself from the wall immediately. "Dawn, you don't need to be all that respectful with me," Elias said. "It makes having a conversation hard, and inside this godforsaken place, I really need someone to talk to." He looked at her, eagerly waiting for her reply.
"I understand, Master. I'll try to be better," she responded.
"Sigh, I guess that works to an extent, as long as you get better," Elias said, getting up to his feet. He stretched his body. After sitting there for a long time, his entire body was stiff.
"So what is the plan, Master Elias? To leave here?" she asked suddenly.
Elias paused. He dropped his hands. "I don't know," he said, his gaze dropping to the cold floor, and his body lost its strength. "I'm not even sure there is a way out of here." He continued, then he clenched his fist tight and raised his head, looking right at her.
"But if there is a way, I'll find it, and I'll get out of here, no matter how long it takes or how much I have to fight."
Dawn looked at him, a soft smile tried to form on her face, but she wiped it away fast. "I see, then you must get stronger as well, Master. I can fight for you, but I might not be there every moment." Dawn said and got to her feet, picking up her sword.
"If you'd allow, Master, I'd love to see your sword skill," Dawn said.
"Oh? A spar? Sure," Elias said eagerly. He picked his sword and stepped forward. "So how do we do this?" he asked.
"Come at me," Dawn replied.
"Alright, here I go." He charged ahead and went for an attack, slashing downward first, but all he hit was an afterimage. Dawn had already moved to the side.
"Generic," she muttered.
"Tch." Elias clicked his tongue, pulled his sword back and went in for a slash.
CLANG!
She blocked it with ease.
"Textbook attack," she said.
'She isn't taking it even slightly seriously, tch.'
Elias pulled back and attacked again, but she blocked the attack as well, pushing him back again.
"Arghhh." He pushed again with another attack that she parried easily. She proceeded to use the base of her sword and slam into his chest, caving it in and throwing him back.
Elias slammed against the wall. He coughed a few times as he tried to gather himself.
"Your handle on the sword is pretty standard."
"Standard? I was considered a prodigy up until a few hours ago," Elias said.
"I'm not saying your use of the sword is bad, but you attack like you have been taught all your life. There is no personality to your blade, just a generic foundation.
You look where the book says, cut where it says, attack how it says. The sword for you is a tool, not an extension," Dawn explained.
"Whoa, I understood like half of that, and the rest sounded like unknown concepts," Elias said.
"Tch, it simply means you need more training and on-ground experience," Dawn said. "When you fought against the cat and the dog, what did you feel in that moment?"
"Uhm, well, it was a rush. I didn't have time to worry about my footing or how my stance was. All I knew was that I needed to cut through, take down the monster to survive. It was a rush of the moment," Elias explained.
"That right there is the feeling you should search for whenever you swing that blade in your hand. Do not search for the perfect execution, search for the right one," Dawn said. She walked over to the wall and sat down. "Get some rest, Master, you'll need it to recover from your wounds and gather energy."