Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2023 19:29:28 GMT -5
In the brief interlude between freeing himself and watching Terach climb to his feet, inertia had started to set in, so now that he was seated on the ground, Ber felt less inclined to move. Sitting down was nice. Not moving was even better. Between whaling on the dummy with his sword, repeatedly kicking a different dummy, and now learning evasive rolls, the soldier suspected he would sleep well tonight, but despite the sudden, sedentary realization of his own growing tiredness, he could hardly complain. Not only was the exercise satisfying, but perhaps he would also be too exhausted for nightmares tonight.
Still, when the lieutenant told Ber to walk with him, the soldier peered up at him for a moment in silent complaint before pushing himself to his feet. The twinge had disappeared while he sat, but he shook out his legs regardless and, without noticing the lieutenant eyeing him, easily followed Terach over to the appointed spot. Listening to the explanation, he nodded and watched the subsequent examples. Perhaps because they harkened back to the somersaults that every child tried at least once, these rolls felt more intuitive, so at the other man’s words, Ber glanced down and lightly dug through the dirt until he found a pebble of his own.
He sized up the target one final time, then tucked his head to his chest and lowered himself into the first forward roll. Upon rising back on one knee, he attempted to throw the pebble in his right hand at the target like Terach had, but the movement had shifted his grip on the little stone and the angle was awkward. It flew embarrassingly wide. Cringing slightly, Ber directed his next roll to the side of the target rather than at it. As the momentum carried him back up to one knee, he leaned forward on his hands for balance and kicked out with the leg that didn’t hold as much weight. The solid impact with the target was satisfying. A little awkwardly, Ber dropped into forward roll away from the pole, ending up on one knee again as he glanced around to find the lieutenant.