Swapping of Skills (Shade)

Shade began to get edgy as they walked into the prison. She never would've guessed this would be where she'd stay in her later years. Not to mention, being away from the 'safety' of her tree, agitated her. She stayed close to Robert whilst in the prison. Usually she was the one on the out side of the fence looking in. Watching over the prison people. There was a somewhat of a comfort being behind a fence. She knew she was safe from the dead wondering outside, which helped.

"Self defense and basic combat skills should suffice." She answered directly, Shade already knew what she wanted.

Shade specialized in one or two basic survival skills. But her knowledge varied in multiple skill sets. It would be good to learn new survival skills, the more she new the longer she was bound to stay alive. Plus being in the prison kept her out of danger, at least for now.

"Bigger than myself? Eh... well they may be bigger but I'm quicker on my feet. So there'd probably be no chance I could knock em over on my own without difficulty. I'd probably let them wear themselves out first, than try unbalancing them. The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

At least that was her opinion, to her everything was bigger than herself.

She wasn't the tallest kid in her class that's for sure.

Shade nodded, she hadn't of thought of that. She was just thinking 'outside' of the box. "Understandable.."

At Robert's next question, took some deep thinking.

"Um.." She furrowed her brows in thought, she was use to fighting the dead. Which was simple enough as long as it was only 1 or 2 of them. They were dumb and slow, plus they didn't fight back like living people.

"Well the blow would be to fast for me to avoid it entirely, so I could try pushing my arm upward to counter your attack...not sure how that would go. Like this I suppose..." She stepped forward, and used her arm to push Robert's fist up and out of the way. It probably wasn't the most efficient way to counter that, but she wasn't extremely skilled on the subject. Her Uncle died when she was 8, so he hadn't had the chance to teach her much combat fighting.

"Incase your wondering, I only thought of that counter because of one of the moves I saw in Karate Kid."

Hopefully with Robert, she'd be able to rewrite that factor. The more capable she became, the more comfortable she felt being alone. Hiding wouldn't work forever, and as comforting as it was to hide up high, where it was safe. Eventually, that would get old and she'd be forced to face the dangers around her.

It was only a matter of time before that happened...

Shade was in awe, it was amazing he knew so much about combat! She could already feel herself getting stronger and growing in knowledge. "Okay, got it." She said in a direct tone. She listened carefully, it reminded her of school just taking lessons from Robert. Her previous life in school, wasn't very memorable...it also wasn't anything she wanted to bother remembering either. This was 100x better than Math...fucking just No. Another good thing about the apocalypse was no Math, for that, she was truly grateful.

Shade wasn't sure if this all would stick on the first try, but she'd try her best to remember. A depressing thought crossed her mind in that moment. This totally reminded her of camping, which reminded her of her dad...God dammit.

She sighed, thinking about the past was a fucking bummer. She shook her head and refocused herself.

"Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute." She apologized promptly and turned her full attention back on Robert.

"Okay building on it, got it." She balled up her fists and got into an awkward stance. As determined as she looked, she also looked as if a breeze could topple her over with one go. Her feet were apposed in different directions whilst her legs were stanced crookedly, her fists held close to her chest, but in the middle between her face and her stomach. Despite how queerly she was positioned, she had a focused look in her eyes and a fearsome scowl on her face.

"Bring it."

Shade glanced down at her legs. "Oh shit, sorry about that." She straightened her legs out and made sure her feet were redirected forward, digging her heels into the earth. It was slightly less wobbly that her previous stance and didn't look as absurd.

She blew some hair out of her eyes, and looked up at Robert. "Alrighty than." Shade inhaled and exhaled, taking a few deep breaths to compose herself. She'd really never had to 'defend' herself before. Unless Uncle Joel was showing off or something. But Uncle Joel was most likely dead, and Robert wasn't showing off. She knew she wasn't in any real danger, but this was probably just as important. She balled her fists up, and lunged forward aiming a blow at Robert's chest. It wasn't the quickest blow she could manage.

But Shade wanted to get a feel of what she was dealing with before she gave her all...

Shade almost fell completely forward when he'd dodged, she could just imagine all the laughter she'd receive if her brother or dad had been watching the idiotic scene. What an embarrassing predicament, she rebalanced herself and prepared to land another strike. She picked up Robert's advice and somewhat applied it to her next advance.

Shade jolted forward, but this time by keeping her feet under her, instead of sprawling herself out in the open. She aimed a little higher, posing to strike his upper right shoulder. She knew she wouldn't be able to learn everything in one day. It would take enormous amounts of time and repetitive practice. You can't learn to walk in a days time. She had the patience and determination to sustain such training. But even than she'd probably wouldn't even be half as good as Robert. She would give up as much time away from her beloved tree, as needed. But even so she knew it was best not to overwork herself. She only had so much strength, and her food supply was limited. A trip into town was needed, as dangerous as it was it was required for her well being.

The last time she headed into town, it almost cost her a life. It wasn't something she hadn't done a thousand times before and over. Even so it didn't lift the danger factor off the situation.

She'd just have to keep her head held high and hope for the best...

Shade felt a tad bit of pride in reaction to Robert's praise. She wasn't the fastest learner, but she did try her best to succeed. Taking in all what was happening wasn't easy, but she got a subtle clue how to react. She ducked in order to dodge his punch, moving behind him. Even as helpless as she seemed, daddy hadn't let her go on completely defenseless...Oh how she missed him. Without much thought, she aimed a punch at his lower back. She probably could've taken advantage of that kind of situation better if she knew how. She wasn't sure if that's how Robert exactly wanted her to react. She supposed it was rather cowardly of her to dodge like that. But it was a learning process, not a competition.

She was working up a sweat, despite the chill air. Food sounded good right now, she hadn't eaten since yesterday. Shade would've eaten sooner but she had to preserve what she had, survival tip 101. A nice juicy hamburger was only a fantasy nowadays, she'd kill just to have that...one more burger. Her dad made the best barbeque, especially during summer, they'd invite friends over and have a cook out. She missed that, but Shade supposed you couldn't go on missing the past. It was the future now and she'd just have to manage with what she had.

"A little longer...it'll start to darken soon anyhow. Best to take advantage of days light. I'll need to rest up after this so probably tomorrow afternoon is best."

Shade simpered looking rather pleased with her self, but she quickly wiped that away and refocused. She knew she'd have to do better than that one hit but it indeed meant she was learning. "Thanks." She said in reply. Going back into her stance she readied for another punch. She'd have to keep a level head, she couldn't afford to get cocky.

Shade tried to conceal her tiredness, she'd gotten slightly sloppy with her stance but corrected herself. She may not have been the strongest girl in all of Georgia, but she was determined and for now that was enough. Yes she was tired, yes she hadn't eaten, yes the cold was getting nippy but she managed to find the will to move on. Just like daddy had taught her, he hadn't raised no fool. Shade put up her guns (fists) and dug her heels into the earth. She reacted and moved forward, swiping a punch at his chest trying to put a little might into the blow.

"Sounds nice, I could use a nights sleep."

She looked forward to a fire, it was cold and it made her limbs ache tremendously. Any warmth was welcome, as long as it wasn't overwhelming. Sleep was another welcome thought, usually she slept high up to avoid walkers. Tonight she hoped she'd finally be able to get some real sleep behind a fence.

 It was unlikely, but she could only hope...