Sacred - A Karl Jacobs AU Story

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑟

༻𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐿𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛༺

After exploring the remainder of Sanctuary and indulging on a rather scrumptious dinner, Karl took Daeva to a small clearing among the cottages, which she had earlier learned was the training ring.
"We'll begin your training here, with the most basic self defense, against an unarmed attacker. Jim will be here to guide you."
Daeva was a tad dissapointed by this. She had hoped Karl would be the one to teach her. "You aren't...?" She began, but trailed off, not wanting to sound rude. But it didn't seem as if Karl minded, because he gave a brief grin, not meeting Daeva's gaze.
"Apologies, I'm not the one for battle training. I am a healer."

This was a surprise to her. "Healer?" She repeated; the term piqued her interest. Karl nodded, furrowing his brow as if in thought. "Do you remember, yesterday when we found you? We had used just a chain to break open your cell. And when the guards had come for us, I told you to close your eyes, and they were all asleep. Remember?"
Daeva nodded, thinking back to the previous night. What a mess of confusion it had been for her, however those memories were still fresh in her mind. She doubted she would ever forget such events as those.

"Those events had been because of our gifts. Jim is our fighter because he has the gift of strength. Without his power, we would never have been able to break open the cell, or even the dungeon the way we had. And Chandler, he has the gift of spells. He can put one to sleep, or wake them up. He can also do various other, shall I say tricks? And Christopher- Chris as he likes to be called-has the gift of Intelligence. He is the smartest one in Sanctuary. He can find a way out of any unfortunate situation."

Daeva didn't know how to believe it. It made a shred of sense in explaining the way the Safefinders rescued her, but it still seemed like folklore to her. It was difficult to wrap her head around these new facts. "So then," she began slowly. "Your gift is healing?" Karl nodded. "That's correct. I have the ability to heal wounds, and illness. My gift can only work on others, however. Should I be hurt in any way, I could not heal myself."
Daeva furrowed her brow at this. What good was the gift of healing if you could not heal yourself? If the enemy knew that, they would wipe out the healer before anyone else. How strange.

She was about to speak again when another familiar voice stopped her.
"Karlos, Dae, I trust you had a good time exploring Sanctuary?"
It was Jim, approaching them with a light grin. Daeva thought about the encounter with Victor, and decided not to mention it.
"Yes, we did," she responded. "I believe the dragon grounds are my favourite. They're rather magnificent animals."
Jim smiled and gave a nod. "Indeed. You'll get one of your own one day. For now we're starting with basics. Shall we?" He gestured to the center of the ring, and Daeva glanced back at Karl. He gave a light wave. "Good luck! I'll see you at supper." He began to walk off, so Daeva turned back to Jim with a nervous nod.
"Alright. Let's go."

[~]

"You have to anticipate where the hit will come from," Jim said calmly. "If you can do that, you can defend before it comes."
Daeva had been trying to do so for the past few hours. The two had put on soft, foam-like gloves to minimize the amount of actual injury, however Daeva hadn't managed to land a hit yet, let alone defend from one. She would throw her hands up in panic, and the hit would come from elsewhere. Frustration had been building for a while, and she grit her teeth, trying to judge Jim's movements to see where he'd attack.

"Ready?" He asked, and she nodded, hands balled in fists by her side. Jim moved forward in a mock lunge, and Daeva instinctively threw her hands up, only to feel a gentle jab in her abdomen. She dropped her hands in defeat, giving a cry of despair. How was she supposed to stop a war when she couldn't even stop an attack without weapons?
"This is useless!" She declared, walking away slightly in frustration. She wanted to get it, so why couldn't she? It wasn't that hard, surely everyone could do it.