Onyx

[ CH 4 ] - Adjustment

"Shia?" Naomi's soft voice bounced off the walls of the empty hallway. Shia's room sat in front of her, the door being the only barricade between the mother and daughter. "Shia, are you alright in there?" Her knuckles poked at the door, the sound resonating in the air. "Have you eaten the food I left you?"

Her eyes drifted to the floor, soon sighing in relief when finding no such traces of the food tray nearby. Though, the everpresent heavy feeling flowing out from the girl's room continued, seeping throughout the home.

"Your father and I wanted to give you some space, but just remember that you can talk to us any time if you-" Naomi stopped, hearing a loud crash from within. "Shia?!" The mother spun the doorknob, storming inside.

The girl inside was trembling, sitting against the wall as she held her hands over the flattened fox ears on her head. Her wooden sword rested near the center of the room, far away from her. A quiet ramble flowed out from her lips, spreading all around the unkempt room littered with clothing.

"Sweetie?" Naomi slowly reached out, hearing the girl's cries gradually growing in volume as she got closer.

"Stay away!" Shia screamed, slapping her mother's hands away. The woman flinched, before slowly moving in and pulling her into a soft embrace.

"Deep breaths... you'll be alright, Shia."

"Haah... Haah.... Mom..?"

"Mhm... You feeling better?" Naomi smiled as Shia turned to face her. The younger girl blinked a few times before nodding slowly. "You don't need to force yourself to get over this. These kinds of things take time."

"I know, but it's already been a week." Shia paused, scoffing quietly at herself. "I'm only getting worse now. I could at least hold a sword before." She reached for the blade in the room, watching as it was swiftly taken away before she could grab it.

"Stop." Richard's voice filled the room as they both turned to face him. "You can't rush things like this, Shia. Jon and Kory wouldn't want you to do this."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing though." She spoke through gritted teeth. "They wouldn't be out there training like this daily if it weren't for me. If I wasn't even at that festival with them, they wouldn't have gotten hurt." She struggled to get out of her mother's grasp, reaching for the sword as the memories of that day flashed in her mind. The feelings slammed into her immediately, feeling her body shake, but still she reached out for the sword in her father's hands.

"They're fighting to get revenge for me..." She winced. "And here I am, scared of holding a dumb sword...! Too scared to even just train with them!"

"You mean this dumb sword that's a nonlethal copy of what could've sliced you into pieces? The same thing that's just made of wood instead of the real thing?" Richard sighed, running his fingers alongside the blade. Shia grimaced at her father's words, nodding with a grimace on her face. "I'm not going to train you anymore. Not until you're past this."

"Wha- Dad! That's not fair!" She gasped in protest. "Mom? Come on, tell Dad! He can't do that!"

Naomi frowned at her, causing the girl to flinch. "I don't think you should train either, Shia. Your father's right. Sure, not every monster out there is going to have swords, but some do. Being lucky and not finding any would be a blessing, yeah, but when you get to your real goal in that duel... What will you do? If you freeze up in a place like that, then... you could only expect the worst, right?"

"You're making it sound like it's too dangerous either way." Shia huffed, looking away.

"Because it is." Richard nodded. "Adventuring and this duel garbage isn't a joke."