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How To Deliver Justice (with KiraMusani

Wendy drew her sword as Ethel had said the word "kill", so as she had finished the question, Wendy was looking down at her from her straddled position. She put the blade against Ethel's neck, where it could be seen in the peripheral vision."Depends on their next move. They try to mule kick me? They're dead. I'm by myself, which isn't likely, as I won't exactly be able to carry shackles with me, I'll remind them of their current situation if they can't tell by the feel of my blade at their neck." She took a deep breath. "I'll ask the arms officer with me to shackle the perpetrator, unless I outrank them... Which right now I wouldn't... If I did, it'd be"Book 'em, Danno. Or whatever the arms officer's name is."

The Captain of the Queen's Guard said, "I've seen enough, Private First Class Darling. Keep impressing me like this, you'll make Corporal before your sparring partner, who did it in a fortnight; fastest in Neverland history, and despite her loss... Just made sergeant. Well done, both of you." Ethel would be able to see him salute the both of them and march off the training field. Wendy wouldn't move until she got the okay from her superior she currently had on the ground at sword point.
 
Ethel smiled at her and nodded to the Captain before he marched off.
"Excellent, though make sure they don't have an escape, to some, death is preferable to capture, to others it is a requirement of their clan or what have you, what then? if they act before you have a chance to call for shackles, if they continue to fight despite facing certain death?" She asked before quick as a whip she lifted a leg and with her boot, pushed the sword to the side then stomped it down with her weight as she shot back up, trapping Wendy's sword to the ground as she regained her footing.
 
It seemed Wendy's guard instincts kicked in, as soon as her sword was held to the ground, Wendy, without letting go of it gave Ethel an uppercut to the jaw with all her strength. It wasn't anything she was taught, she just reacted without thinking.

She realized only after the punch was thrown. "Dear Lord, what have I done? Ethel, are you alright?"
 
As Wendy threw the uppercut Ethel was certainly surprised as she didn't expect it from Wendy, but her reactions kicked in enough to lessen the blow, and both moved their head back and caught her wrist though not in time enough to completely stop the blow taking a good portion of the damage. Though it was enough to have her reel back, both from the punch and from her last-minute dodge.

As she reeled back she kicked her foot with the sword under it to keep it behind her then caught her balance, holding her jaw from the strike.
"Ouch, nice swing, had I not moved I might be unconscious about now. But if it's hand-to-hand you want, let's go" She said turning her head side to side, cracking it with each turn, and getting into a combat stance.
 
Wendy nodded, satisfied. "Darling Heirloom weapon. Just let me have it to resheathe." Once it was back in its place at her hip. "There's going to be times I'm in full uniform, even aboard the Rumble Rose, when fights will break out, or I'm attacked in hand to hand. Best I learn to handle that now." She was watching for the move Ethel made, to counter, as whether she was the Captain's bodyguard, or Neverland Palace Guard, she already knew not to be on offense, unless they were at war. "How do you want to play it? Defending Hook or Innis, or a different scenario?"
 
Ethel paused and without breaking eye contact with Wendy, retrieved her sword.
"Excellent idea, instead of hand-to-hand, let's impose a scenario, you lost your sword in combat, and you need a new one, but alas, only enemies nearby, come and take it," She told her getting into an offensive stance, as most would be against an unarmed enemy.
"This also can show how being offensive, can help with being defensive"
 
Wendy's eyes grew wide. "Please, Ethel, we'll do some other hand to hand. Regular offense and defensive moves. Let me just have my family's sword back, I don't have any reason to fight a friend. You saw how I panicked when I clocked you. I'm so sorry about that."
 
Ethel got out of her combat stance, looking toward Wendy for a moment, seeing and hearing the desperation.
"Right, sorry, when you have been around as long as me, you forget how attached people can get to things." She said walking over and offering the sword over the handle first.
"Also don't worry about hitting me, I was married to someone to stabbed me before it's not a big deal, also we are sparing, it's expected"
 
As she sheathed her sword, Wendy looked at Ethel puzzled. "Wait, are you calling YOURSELF a thing? I also couldn't fight you for a sword, one would almost have to be a brawler. I did freak when I clocked you, although you did stop it from being a direct hit, of which I'm grateful. I couldn't have lived with myself I had hurt you."

She frowned as she heard Ethel explain about sparring, and a bit of Ethel's history. She thought about women in history that met untimely deaths, but couldn't think of any off the top of her head.

Taking a deep breath, she commented, that's true, but not when it's a reaction like that. That was instinct, not a sparring reaction. Even I know I need to be able to control that better. Know the difference between sparring and actual fighting. Learn the difference."

Wendy flexed her fingers, before balling them up into half fists, with thumbs extended. "As a captain of the guard for a privateer captain, I'm probably going to end up needing to break up tavernroom brawls. I know you jab like this," she punched out in the air, inside fist out, where her palm would hit someone a few inches taller than herself, squarely in the nose. "But how do I protect my own nose or protect myself from flying tavern missiles like metal steins, liquor bottles, glass mugs, chairs, plates and things like that? Even an occasional body."

At least her worse case scenario was an actual probability in a tavern brawl, but not all get that out of hand. She would probably only have a ten percent chance of being in one that severe.
 
"Heh, no the sword is the thing, though as a woman it would not be the first time I was referred to as a thing." She clarified with a chuckle as she handed it back.

Ethel nodded as she heard her explanation.
"Ahh, I understand, you want to learn to tavern fight, or bar brawl, and the such. No problem, it's a lot different from regular combat, as most of your opponents will likely be drunk." She held a finger up in response.
"This gives you both advantages, but also disadvantages in that, their pain tolerance is up and it's a lot easier to seriously harm or kill someone by accident, but they also have terrible balance and accuracy."

Ethel took a stance.
"Funny thing is, in bar fights it's best not to throw punches, and instead, redirect momentum and cause them to stumble and fall, which funny enough, is less likely to hurt someone who is drunk and who is sober, of course, you also need to be able to determine their level of intoxication to apply the right strategies."
 
Wendy raised an eyebrow. "I'm more likely to be in one, as a privateer Captain's Captain of the Guard, though, right? I gotta be prepared for anything, including defending my Captain's honour!"

Wendy then copied Ethel's stance. "What do I learn first, how to take a hit, blocking flying objects, stopping juggernauts?" Wendy was thinking worse case scenario, brawling, still; not the normal bar fight. Ethel needed to tone her catastrophic thinking first, before Wendy could learn anything useful.
 
Wendy blinked at her, standing erect.
"Well, let's see... I've seen Olivia drunk, before, and I swear her fighting just gets better after about five glasses of wine. Grovershire made this egg concoction last Yuletide with rum, calling it... Nog, I think. I couldn't tell you if anything happened, I was under the table, so to speak, after two glasses. That crap was powerful strong."

She thought some more of some of the other ladies from court that she saw last year. "The Amazon queen, Diana, she can hold her liquor, too. Wine's the strongest drink I've seen her drink though. She and Olivia got into once and fought each other to a draw, and they BOTH had at least four goblets apiece. Olivia doesn't even remember it. I never asked Diana.

Ariel, Clara, Millicent and myself, get a few in us and we can't even walk straight. Clara's brogue gets worse, and she's slurring her words and saying she loves everyone."

She finally looked at Ethel and shrugged. "Everyone else, I think it's their first year, or they didn't make last season and my first year. I know from what I HAVE seen this year, Clair and Princess Calla would be both just like Ariel, Clara and Millicent... Not coherent, little alone able to fight. So, what am I supposed to see as the pattern? I've never once been in a tavern except for breakfast or dinner, not much just drinking going on then. People are eating as well."
 
Ethel nodded along as she listened to her story.
"Okay, yes, I will Clarify, most drunks' weakness is their balance or lack thereof, some people know a technique called drunken fist, but that is few and far between, and not usually the type in bar fights, it's more often those who have been training so long it's more muscle memory than anything and the booze just numbs pain and the such." She explained.
"Anyway, with some exceptions, their balance is off, but they all have heightened pain tolerance, so what do you think is better, punching and kicking, or tripping and pushing?"
 
Wendy frowned and furrowed her brow. "Well, when you put it that way, I would assume only pushing. I know I would have to abstain while on duty, because you'd probably be able to push ME over with a feather. If you noticed, I only drank a little bit of grog, and then didn't even finish the whole stein. I even gave the rest of mine, that first night, to Olivia."
 
"Exactly, just you need to be more aware of your environment, as falling on a chair the wrong way and breaking your neck is possible, but yes, if you get into a punching contest with someone drunk, they are going to be able to take more punishment then normal. Though hopefully you aren't drunk yourself when combating, if that's what you want to learn then that is a whole different process, drunken fist combat style is quite a commitment." She explained.
 
Wendy shook her head. "No. Like I said, I want to learn to defend the captain, or whoever else I'm guarding, from getting hurt in the fight. Let's say they have the entrance blocked, and we're on the far side of the tavern, farthest from the exit."

This showed how often Wendy had been in a tavern in the evening. The back of the tavern was usually reserved for the smokers and ladies who were usually looking for one night stands with other ladies. This was near the back stairs leading to the rooms on the floor or floors above.

(Some tavern inns had three floors, but that top floor often only had two rooms, as it was also the roof. This is to show how little Wendy understands. Dunwyn's tavern, for story sake, is one of very few in medieval England, and only in the realm, to have the two room third floor. Rest would be Londonium, Edinburgh and Dublin.)
 
"Hmmm, Okay, so that is a whole different set of skills, and it's mostly reactions and practice, we could set up a dummy and have some people come in and try to get at it as you defend" She suggested.
 
Wendy nodded once with a hum. "Our captain, who just promoted us, would be able to gather enough guys together to take a swing at his favorite pupil and new sergeant." She gave Ethel a pointed look, as if to say she assumed that was Ethel. "If nothing more, to embarrass her, and attempt to beat me up with the Captain's okay. I haven't exactly made many friends among the men of Neverland's Palace Guard, mostly because of things Innis has hinted at, and either of my captains have done. Captain of the Guard has doubled my training, to keep me on my toes, so the rest of the guard just grudgingly accept, or nod to me, because Hook wants me as the ship's Captain of the Guard... Was it like that for you, too? Made frenemies?"
 
Ethel nodded along as she explained her suggestion, then chuckled at her question.
"Heh, frenemies, cute, friend enemies, I presume, yeah I suppose I have had my fair share of them, and when with the Captain, yeah, it kinda comes with the territory, you gotta understand you took a shortcut to the top lots of them may have been trying for years to achieve. And you are rather green which I think makes it worse" She rubbed her chin.
"As for me, I was already virtually as experienced as I am now when I worked with her, comparatively at least"
 
Wendy blinked. "Her? How long ago was that? My captain, the guy who just promoted us both, took over the Captain of the Palace Guard like 25 years ago, he was saying... From his mom, the retired Major General. He would have been coming up with you, maybe a sergeant if it goes THAT far back with her Captain of the Guard."

Wendy couldn't wrap her head around the fact of how ancient Ethel really was, when she didn't look any older than mid or late 20s.

On his return trip, the Captain stopped in front of the two. "Been meaning to ask you, Ethel. What exactly is your age secret? If Mother saw you looking much like you did when we came up together, she might say you're bewitched or something. The years haven't been as kind to her. Didn't you leave for some promised job on the mainland? Scandinavia, I believe."

This would be the time to also run the idea by him, which he would jump at, as long as he was the one Wendy defended. Unlike others, he would trust Wendy and Ethel with his life. He also wanted to see how good Wendy really was.
 
"Hmm, 25 years seemed about right for that, so maybe started about 20 before that? at least here? Sorry, I am not great with time, it all seems to pass so fast it's hard to keep track." She admitted.

"My secret huh? well, I figured you would ask eventually. Well as far as I can tell, whenever I die, I am rebirthed, at this age, almost immediately after from the earth, the ground, a tree, something like that. I obviously don't have anything on me when re-born, so naked. I even can change a little each time, a little taller as I age after, my head has gotten bigger over time, even my head shape is different, my original self would be nearly unrecognizable." She explained as they walked.

"I have died in many violent ways, but I have also died of old age, the same thing happens either way, as far as I know, I can't truly die, which trust me isn't as great as it sounds." She took a breath.
"Or are you asking, how old I am exactly if you count my previous lives?" She asked.
 
The Captain of the Guard raised an eyebrow as he peered at Ethel. "Such a fantastic story it HAS to be true, but hardly anything my mother would believe. I scarce believe it myself." A sigh. "But it would explain why we haven't heard from you in the LAST 25 years. And how this could be the closest to a homeland that you can have, since most people who have heard of Neverland but haven't been here, consider us a myth." He glanced at Wendy.

Wendy sighed and explained, "As far as England goes, both you and The Jewel Kingdom, which is part of, yet not a part of Greece, we consider you legends. Right up there with Camelot and King Arthur's Court. However, Princess Sapphire of House Amethyst, who looks a lot like our Princess Calla, has relegated Jewel Kingdom once again in the realm of fact. Olivia and Ethel can do the same for Neverland."

The Captain cleared his throat. "And why can't you? Don't you wish to return to England?"

Wendy shook her head. "I'm already a First Class Private with the Queen's Guard, and Captain Hook already has me as captain of the ship's guard. I feel im already where I belong. Either aboard the Rumble Rose or the Palace Guard here in Neverland. I'm a swordswoman at heart. Going back to Berkshire, I would not be happy or fulfilled. Most I can look forward to is shipbuilding. I want adventure."

The Captain nodded. "So... Private Darling. You tell on yourself. That's why you want to be the best here. You want to earn your position that's been offered by Hook, or the honour bestowed on you by Queen Innis."

Sergeant." The Captain addressed Ethel. "We do not go easy on anyone, but when they have purposed in their hearts thusly, we go harder on them."

He turned back to Wendy. "You will defend me with your very life. How I go, you go." He saluted both. "Here in the training grounds in one hour. I'll prepare both Hook's crew and the best of the Neverland Guard to give their all in coming after me. Sergeant, inform our recruit exactly what that means."

It meant trying to discourage Wendy from living by the sword as most guards have to do.
 
Ethel nodded, and once he finished looked to Wendy.
"Yes, for most life is short, there is much more to it than violence and combat, I have lived many many lifetimes, and take it from me, if I only had one, I would much rather it be spent peacefully with people I care about." She explained.
"However, if violence comes to you, it is best to know how to defend that life to the best of your abilities."

Ethel paused before continuing.
"I get the want for adventure, I mean it would be pretty hypocritical of me to claim otherwise, just know eventually you will want something a little more, quiet, and just be sure that life is ready for you when you want it."
 
Wendy paused, and looked at Ethel, her brow furrowed in thought and concentration. "Ethel, this is the most alive I have felt in my young life. You can't begin to imagine how boring things are back in Berkshire. Court season isn't all scouting, tracking and the like. It's also, mostly, how to be a proper lady. Painting, cross-stitching, cooking or wine making, singing, dancing..." She sighed. "In fact, unless the husband, which you rarely, if ever, get to choose for yourself, allows it, some things we do in courting, like archery, polo, tracking, scouting and hunting, will be skills never again used. That's not the life I want." She thought about it. "Things we'll be doing in Dunwyn for Christmas all deal with being a helpmate or a proper lady. Getting the tree, if Christmas is celebrated in the home, would usually fall on us, though the man would help bring it in. Mom had to get the tree, but she'd help the staff cook, plan our party games herself, and even cut the firewood." She shook her head, and then said sarcastically, "So, yeah, yay, fun."

Within the hour, the Captain of the Guard returned, with about a dozen of Hook's privateers, and no less than a dozen of the top Palace Guard. Wendy wanted to protect someone from a tavern brawl, the Captain of the Guard would oblige her. He turned to Wendy. "I'm in your hands from here. Defend me from those two dozen ruffians. Get me safely through them.

Wendy drew her sword and nodded to the Captain. He raised his arm as he took his place behind her, and brought it down in a chopping motion to signal the two dozen to begin fighting each other, and not to charge Wendy and him until they reached a certain mark.

Ethel would notice that most of the privateers and some of the guard must have already hit the ale, grog and rum pretty hard already. Wendy was about to get a crash course in drunken fist and fighting, and she'd have to defend her charge (her Guard Captain) within a minute.
 
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