Emma Carstairs (alsoflexible) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2020-05-03 21:21:00 |
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Emma was glad she’d taken up Sara on her offer of sparring. Before coming here, she hadn’t held Mundanes - even well-trained ones - in very high regard. There were just some things even the best-trained Mundanes couldn’t do that a beginner Shadowhunter could with the use of Runes. But since coming to Madison, she’d met a number of Mundanes who’d honed their skills to surpass even some of the Shadowhunters she knew. Emma had always respected skill and diligence, and she found both in Sara Lance. “Where’d you train?” They were done their sparring now, and true to her word, Emma hadn’t used any Runes to give herself an advantage. That had left her out of breath and sweating, and having had a thoroughly enjoyable experience. *** Sara was familiar with runes and how they worked after spending so much time with Isabelle at Verdant over the past couple of years, but she did appreciate that Emma didn’t give herself that advantage in their first spar. Maybe next time she could, give them both more of a challenge. She took a drink from her water bottle and chuckled at the question. “Well, I actually trained with an organization called the League of Assassins,” she said, deciding not to mention for the moment that she’d gone through said training twice thanks to the magic of time travel. “It’s kind of a long story how I ended up with them, but they trained me well.” *** “I always thought Assassins were loners, trained by mysterious masters in the forests,” Emma said thoughtfully. She toweled off a trickle of sweat from her temple. “Or maybe I’ve been watching too many kung fu shows.” Being trained by assassins explained Sara’s proficiency and skill in multiple weapons, though. Emma hadn’t encountered many assassins, but from what she knew, they weren’t the type to take prisoners or save people for questioning. *** They definitely were not the type to take prisoners. Sara’s training was largely about getting in, doing the job, and getting out as quickly as possible. Of course, she and Nyssa may have had a bit more fun with the fighting than they were supposed to sometimes. “The work is definitely solitary,” she said. “After training, we were largely on our own.” *** “What was your hardest assignment?” Emma was always fascinated by the stories of those whose lives revolved around combat. Aside from the Shadowhunters, whose god-given purpose was to keep the world safe from Downworlders, she didn’t know a lot of people with lifestyles like theirs. Sometimes it felt a little lonely, even with a parabatai like Julian. *** Telling stories about her League of Assassins missions were not something Sara did often. Or at all. It was a part of her life that she kept locked away tightly. “My toughest assignment wasn’t with the League,” she said. “It was with my crew.” Or at least that was the one she was willing to share. “I was part of a group that traveled through time and we had to protect our past selves so I had to deal with a teenage version of myself. That was the toughest thing.” *** Emma shuddered in sympathy. She was still a teenager, and she’d still hate to go back in time to deal with a younger teenage her. She’d been a menace. “That must’ve been frustrating. Were you allowed to tell her who you were?” *** “I told her I was a relative,” Sara said. She’d had to go with something at least remotely plausible to explain the uncanny resemblance between them. “It was a whole thing. My entire team was in danger and we had to keep someone from harming us and erasing our existence.” Time travel was a bitch that way. She grinned. “I’ve led a rather interesting life,” she admitted. “I was also shipwrecked on an island for a while.” *** Emma lifted an eyebrow. Just in the five minutes they’d been talking, it definitely sounded like Sara had had an interesting life. She supposed that was what came from time travel: so many adventures were available. “Did you have a volleyball to talk to? I hear that’s a thing.” Someone had told her that once, but Emma wasn’t sure where they’d gotten that information. *** Sara laughed. That was a movie she’d actually seen. “No, there were actually people there,” she said. “So I didn’t need to resort to that.” They hadn’t exactly been the best people, but she did what she had to do to survive. “How about you? Have you had much occasion to field test your fighting skills?” *** Emma’s gaze shadowed over briefly when she thought about all the times she’d had to field test her fighting skills. The first time had been when she’d been ten years old, when Sebastian’s Endarkened had overrun the Institute, when Julian had had to kill his own father, and when her parents had been murdered. She’d set herself on a punishing regime since, determined to never feel so scared and helpless again. “Lots of times,” she said grimly. “I’m a Shadowhunter. My job is to protect the Mundane world from the demons that would prey upon it. And there are a lot of demons.” *** Over the years, Sara had heard some Shadowhunter stories, so she nodded in understanding when Emma mentioned that. “Demons suck,” she said. “I’ve encountered those too.” And been possessed by one, which she didn’t feel the need to mention at the moment. “Well, anytime you want to practice, let me know,” she added. “I should probably get going now.” *** Demons seemed to be a pain in a butt in any world, it seemed. Emma nodded in acknowledgement, then grabbed her water bottle. “Thanks for the training,” she told the other blonde. “I’ll hit you up again soon.” With only Alec and Julian left from her world, she was going to need some extra practice. |