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[Sirus]

Ursa took a look around at the training grounds. At least the place was somewhat open, though the lack of trees and clean air was a shame. With a sigh, he pulled something out of his pack and held it out to Diana.

: "This for you, Princess. Should be fine for first lesson or two." He would have called it a "training axe", but in reality it was basically a stone tied to the end of a stick. The stone was the same general size, shape, and weight of an axe head (but without sharp edges), and the stick was the proper length, but a stick with a rock was all it was. Ursa found himself hoping that she would like it, though.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"OK."

Diana took it and tried out a few different grips, to figure out where she was most comfortable with the weight. It only took a few seconds for her to get flustered.

"Er, how do I hold this, Ursa?"

[Sirus]

: "Whatever way Princess feel is best! Axe have more handle than sword does, and changing grip important part of axe-fighting. Will learn more with practice. For now use both hands, one near end of handle and other just below stone. Let Princess get feel of weight."

Ursa demonstrated with his new handaxe, getting a feel for the unfamiliar weapon. His hands had been too big for years to wield his trusty old hatchet two-handed.

[SeriousConcentrate]

After a few moments of trying it, she looked at him in frustration, prompting him to show her more directly. Diana blushed slightly as Ursa took her hands and placed them correctly on the axe. The big man was surprisingly gentle for his size.

"Oh, so like this? I think I have it."

"This is for control, right? It doesn't seem like you would get a lot of power this way."

She gave it a few practice swings, then glanced at Ursa, hoping she wasn't embarrassing herself to much with her amateur abilities.

[Sirus]

: "Exactly. Also to show that while axe can be swung like sword, it not only way. This way, for example, good for defending self with haft. If want more power, move hands closer together. Harder to control though, so be careful. No mashed toes on first day, please."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Should I be hitting a target to see?"

Diana walked over to one of the training dummies and swung a few times slowly to get a feel how the weight was balanced, then tried a harder swing... and ended up stumbling forward off-balance.

[Sirus]

: "Whoa, careful!" Ursa moved forward to catch Diana before she fell/pick her up if she already did.

: "Princess all right? Got to build up right muscles a bit more before trying big swings like that."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Diana looked up as Ursa put his hands on her shoulders and steadied her.

"...Thank you, Ursa..."

After a moment she seemed to come to her senses.

"...I-I mean, that won't happen again! I know how to do this now!"

She stepped away and swung the axe at the training dummy again. This time she hit it with a pretty solid 'thunk' to the chest.

[Sirus]

Ursa either missed the blushed or thought it was just from exertion, because he didn't comment on it. Probably the smart thing to do.

: "Good hit. Try adjusting grip between swings, see how that changes speed of swing and how well can control it. And if arms feel tired, take a break. Don't want to lose grip and throw axe away. Ursa learned that the hard way, took most of day to find again."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"All right."

Diana moved her hand a little further away from the rock. The balance shifted dramatically, and it took her a few more practice swings to get used to it again. Once she thought she had it, she swung at the target... and was immediately mortified as the axehead went slightly over the dummy's shoulder and she smacked it in the jaw with the haft.

[Sirus]

Ursa gave a good-natured chuckle.

: "Not killing strike, but would hurt for sure. Ursa want Princess to try something. First, hold axe with both hands near end of handle. Will want big, strong swings for that. After that, try keeping one hand just underneath blade. Should be more of a punch than anything else. As practice, keep track of how you must change distance to dummy with the different stances."

This was where axe-work got its subtlety. A sword was quick and precise, true, but with only a short hilt you were limited to fighting at a certain distance. A skilled axe fighter could quickly adjust to his or her advantage.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"R-Right... Let's see..."

Diana shifted her grip to the bottom of the axe and stepped back a few paces. She took a deep breath, then stepped forward and swung the axe up, over her shoulder, and down onto the top of the training dummy's head. The stone 'blade' of the axe slid off the dummy's head and hit it on the shoulder, then slid off again.

"That was good, right?"

[Sirus]

: "Pretty good, but a swing like that easy to dodge, and if blade gets stuck in ground Princess would be in trouble. Keep to swinging from side for now, like treecutter; harder to dodge, and if miss can keep mo--mo--"

: "...What word for keeping things moving instead of letting stop?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Momentum. Hmm. Let me try it."

Diana took a step to her right and changed her grip very slightly, making it so her left hand was below her right instead of the other way around, then swung from left to right and smacked the dummy in the shoulder.

...I was aiming for the neck... this thing is pretty heavy.

[Sirus]

Momentum, right. That was the word.

: "Good work! Don't worry about aiming for neck all the time; hitting body does just as well and is easier to hit. Even Ursa almost never cut head off with one hit, so don't bother most of the time. Well, Princess have any questions so far?"