What's In Your Head

Kirsi had seen how smothering could lead to rebellion in children; it was part of why she, as a child, had wanted to pull free of the restraints her parents placed upon her. Now that she was older, and no doubt wiser, she knew that their restrictions had been out of love rather than mere desire to stifle her. She wouldn't repeat her own mistakes in raising her children though, nor her parents', as well as they had meant. It took a great deal of effort to stifle the scolding that part of her wanted to unleash on the girl, but she refrained. All she could do was pride her on a job well down and help keep her attentive so that she'd only grow stronger and more capable of defending herself.

She nodded with approval as Onyx mirrored her movements. "You're right, a lot of it is definitely instinctual. But some little things you'll have to train yourself to do during a fight. It's easy to get swept up in thing and leave yourself vulnerable," Kirsi explained carefully. "Just remember when you're fighting it's not all about doing damage. You do need to protect yourself too, especially when some of the best attacks will leave you the most open to retaliation." She was built large like her father and would likely lean toward using her strength rather than her agility to fight, but it was an important thing to keep in mind no matter what style of fighting she tended toward. "At least a cut on your shoulder is mostly superficial damage. Hard to avoid though, but you can make sure they don't get closer to your throat," she reiterated by tucking her neck down a bit lower.