Hex vs Mages 2 » Places

         Thud!
Smack!
Ouch.
I am not being trampled by a herd of elephants, sadly. Nope, I am sparring with my mother. And I am losing. Badly.

Every few days my mom decides that she needs to kick my ass. And I agree. Why? Because it's made my ace all my classes on fighting. However...it sucks. Mum seems to believe that beating me up will make me more resilient and a better fighter, and while it does, it also makes me hate her for 24 hours.

"Come on Becca, raise your arm a little higher. No, lower. Seriously, it's either too low or too high! It's like you can't decide if you're a boy or a girl!"
I sigh. It's a well-know fact that boys protect lower, and girls protect higher...for obvious reasons. I however, have been hurt both in the lower area and higher several times, so I fight like I'm gender confused, because no matter what the gender, it bloody hurts either way.
"Yes mum." I say, trying hard not to voice my irritation or my pain. I grit my teeth and stand up again after being knocked down, and manage to get a good hit in on my Mum's solar plexus. She goes down and groans in pain. Sheesh, I must have gotten a better hit in then I thought. I walk over to help her up, and Mum pulls me down, knees me in the gut, and pins me. Fuck. I did it again.

"Stop it!" my Mum chides, "Yes I'm human, yes you know me, yes I'm your mom! But to you, when you fight, whoever you are fighting is your enemy."
I hate fighting. I am better at stealth. That is why I want to be a spy. But of course, spy have to fight as well.
"Look, We'll wrap this up. Go for a swim Becca." Mum says, sighing in a slightly disappointed manner. I scowl as I change clothes, and I run out into the river. I swim several laps, and feel better as the water soothes my aches and my temper.
After floating around a while, I feel a rock splash next to me, and I look up. There's Ben, my best friend. He's the only one who gets what it feels like to be a constant disappointment to his family. Both his parents are elementals, but he...just isn't. He's smart, he's funny, he's even handsome, I guess, (I know that much from how some girls sigh when they see him) he's someone anyone could be proud of. But not his parents.

He heaves a great sigh and sits down next to me when I climb out of the water. "So," he starts, and I lie back in the grass and feel the sun warm on my face, preparing for the 3 questions. It's a stupid game we play where we each get to ask three questions and then we have to answer honestly. We created it years ago, when we both couldn't talk to each other comfortably because we were only just starting to be friends. I smile at him, and he continues. "Which mistake?"
I sigh, "The 'It's my mum' instinct." He winces.
"Oh, she got you good after that one, of course." I nod, and look back at him.
"Which potion?"
He groans. His parents always feed him "awakening potions" to try and get powers to manifest. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he was high all the time. "This time? Um....I believe they called it "Wind's breath." I rolled my eyes.
"That stuff is crap, and you know it. What is it? 'Blood of a Wind Mage infused with a gentle summer breeze'?"
He snorted and replied, "something like that."

We just lie there, in silence, just happy to be next to each other. We don't even bother to finish the game.