@wyferne
All this was a touch reckless, she knew, but a part of her -- the part that Fray's words resonated with the most -- knew that it was necessary. If she didn't find some way to vent her tumultous emotions, she might have ended up lashing out and making trouble for her brother and the others. No matter how upset she was, she couldn't allow herself to burden them further.
The weight of the great sword felt oddly comforting against her back as her boots plodded through the fulm-deep snow. She had tucked her ears beneath a hood again, and donned heavier armor to help obscure her appearance further; even as she headed towards the more remote parts of the Central Highlands, she didn't want word getting back to the Holy See that the Warrior of Light's sister was chopping trees down like a lunatic with an over-sized knife.
And trees would be her target today, even though Fray and huffed and grumbled about it. She had already slain a few beasts directly after the events of the Vault at Fray's behest (although that day was little more than a blur), but she still didn't feel confident enough wielding it yet. More than anything, a weapon this heavy that required both hands was much more different from her quick and light chakrams. She wasn't going to continue this dark knight nonsense without proper practice.
She reached around the halfway point to the Behemoth's Dominion before straying from the path to seek the nearby thicket of trees. Once she found a clearing that felt distant enough from potential patrols, she reached back to drag the sword from its sheath. The blade wobbled as she adjusted her grip on the hilt with both hands, widening and lowering her stance like Fray had shown her.
She inhaled slowly as she closed her eyes. The scene played out in her mind again, and her next breath in was shaky. She swung the blade with a grunt, catching its edge in the thick trunk that was her target. Yanked it out awkwardly. Again. Again.
She wanted to burn that big damned cathedral to the ground.
