Ascension

Shiera II

Obara blinked as the arrow embedded itself in the shaft of her spear and there was the sound of clapping. Shiera glanced up and found Oberyn and Doran looking down at her from the balcony. She smiled up at them before the butt of Obara's spear bonked the side of her head and she winced.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Shiera cried, rubbing her head.

"Pay attention, you're lucky you aren't in a real fight, or else you would be dead," Nymeria scolded as Obara straightened and spun her spear around in her hand.

"But I wasn't ready!" She complained and her two older sisters shared a look.

"You must always be ready for a fight and aware of your surroundings," Oberyn called as Shiera shifted her grip on the bow she held.

Grumbling to herself, Shiera held three arrows in her hand, knocking one while carrying the other two between her free fingers. Obara began to circle her again and they watched each other waiting to see who would strike first. Shiera's eyes flicked from Obara's face to the spear and back, calculating and trying to figure out where her older sister would strike.

Obara lunged forward, jabbing her spear forward so quickly that Shiera barely had enough time to dodge. Her feet carried her backward and she drew back her first arrow before firing it at Obara and loading the second without dropping her bow arm. Her sister ducked and used her spear as a makeshift shield to block the next projectile that flew at her.

Suddenly Obara was right in front of Shiera, startling the younger girl. She hooked her spear through the limbs of the bow and yanked it out of her hands. Sheira ducked as Obara swung her weapon in the air before she lashed upward with the last arrow she had. Her hand curled tightly around the shaft as Obara arched backward before attempting to hit Shiera's side.

The younger girl winced as the wood crashed into the hand she had used to block the incoming shaft before wrapping her hand around it. Shiera felt Obara yank her weapon out of her grip, using her superior strength to her advantage and kicking her away in the process. Sheira stumbled backward and hit the ground, a thin layer of sand blowing up into the air as the arrow in her hand tumbled out of her hand. She groaned and looked up to find Obara pointing the tip of her spear at her throat.

"You've improved, Sister," Nymeria admitted as their older sister stepped back to make room for her. Shiera took her sister's hand and Nymeria pulled her up. Obara moved across the courtyard and picked up a towel and threw it to Shiera, who caught it.

"Thank you," she said and Nymeria snatched it from her hands before wiping the sweat off of her little sister's face.

"You could have left a scar, Obara," Nymeria complained as she dabbed at the cut on Shiera's cheek that rested right under her right eye.

"She should be glad that it might scar. Shows she survived a battle," Obara reasoned in a nonchalant tone, causing Nymeria to glare at her sister.

"Yes and now because of you, Shiera will have a very noticeable trait that will-"

"Oh please," Obara said. "She has purple eyes. A scar won't make a difference." Nymeria rolled her eyes.

"Yes, it will. Plenty of women in the Free Cities have Valyarion features - eyes, bone structure, hair, whatever. But a scar under her right eye makes it easy to identify her," she pointed out and Shiera just sighed as Nymeria and Obara jumped headfirst into an argument.

Shiera stepped away from them and moved to pick up her arrows that lay on the ground. The palms of her hands stung as the sand in the training field snuck into the scrapes in her flesh. Her arrows were made from pale wood, smooth to the touch, and easily identifiable.