𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐎𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 - 𝐓𝐋𝐎𝐔

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞.

The morning was frosty and cold but there was no wind and a clear sky. Days like these are Ciri's favourite.

She'd slept in the master bedroom, which she hadn't done the previous nights. She'd slept on the couch in the living room, like she had always done up until that point. She found it strange herself that she'd developed a sort of fear of sleeping in an actual bed.

She knew why but wondered why she couldn't overcome such a small thing, so she took that step last night and climbed under the covers on the mattress. It took her sometime to fall asleep but after cocooning herself in the duvet to make the space not feel so big and give herself a sense of security, she eventually drifted off.

She was right when she said she would sleep well, though she knew that it was only because she was mentally drained. She reckoned she would end up struggling to sleep for the following nights.

She dressed herself for the day and headed to the gates to meet with Maria, who explained to her how their patrols worked and how they were needing some extra guard with their hydroelectric power plant since the power plant wasn't as well defended. So, Maria suggested Ciri should take shifts when their crew was there.

Ciri liked the idea of it being out of town. She took Maria up on the offer and they rode out together to the plantation.

As they spent the day out of town and around the plant, Ciri learnt all about how Maria and her dad had made Jackson into what it was. She admitted to Maria about how impressed she was, since she had crossed many different camps and small guarded communities but not to the extent they were living in here.

After having her tour around the plant, Maria took her on a detour on their way back to Jackson so she could learn more about the area. It was mid-afternoon when they made it back to the city.

Maria was instantly swept away by her other duties the moment they rode through the gates and excused herself after telling Ciri where she might find Joel, Ellie or Tommy.

As Ciri began walking away from the gate, she heard Ellie's voice calling after her. She turned around to see the teen jogging towards her.

"Hey! I just got let off my wall duties early, are you free?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I was thinking you could give me my first lesson?" The girl looks up at her with a hopeful look.

"Sure! Let's head over to my place and get started."

"Yess!" Ellie cheers and begins to follow the brunette.

They walked down the side of the house to the backyard, Ciri instructed the girl to wait outside while she disappeared into the outhouse. She returned with a long rake and a broom which puzzled the teenager.

"I thought we were learning to fight, not do chores?"

Ciri snorts. "Well, I'm not letting you start off immediately with a real sword - that being the only sword we have which is mine and is way too heavy for you - we need to begin at with the very basics of self-defence."

She takes the rake and breaks off the metal end with her foot before then breaking off the brush end of the broom. She'd broken the poles just over halfway, so they had enough length without it being too long or too short.

"Oh I see."

"Now, take this." Ciri hands her one of the wooden poles. "I'm going to come at you and all I want you to do is block each strike I make, okay?"

Ellie looks nervous but nods anyway. Ciri chuckles. "Don't worry, I'm only going to send a few easy strikes. Nothing serious, and don't think too much about it."