Kinnegar felt some of his bravado melt off as Jira mentioned telling him the ways he would die.  But his resolve congealed a little more as he thought about it and the hard realization that he was becoming a man sank in.  No longer was he to be a happy go lucky boy chasing woodland creatures and fighting mythical foes.  He realized that the next time he had to raise his sword there would be a real warrior on the other side who meant to end his life.  He vowed to himself that he would pay attention to his teachings.  He still didn’t know exactly who Jira was or how she came to know what she did, but she has proven herself so far and he had no one else to trust, so he resolved to trust her completely until she broke that trust.<br/><br/>He followed behind her watching her steps and learning where she walked.  He realized after a bit that she wasn’t thinking about the next step every time, but following the path she had set out 10 steps ahead every time so she knew exactly where she was going.  At first he was right with her moving step for step and having an easy time of it, but after a while he found it bear down on him and fatigue began to set in, but that wouldn’t stop him.<br/><br/>He stepped up on a log and not paying full attention and hit a moss spot slipping off catching himself with his ribs against the log with a thump and a loss of breathe.  He looked up and saw the look of disdain from Jira but instead of resenting the look he knew that she would be a hard teacher and caught his breathes to move on.  Another time he lost attention and didn’t see the branch she had held for him to catch until too late as it smacked him in the face giving him a small but stinging cut across the cheek, this time when he cleared his eyes from the tears and sudden shock he could have sworn he saw her smiling.<br/><br/>He also listened to her as she spoke about defense and not paying attention to the sword, this made sense and he thought about wrestling with the other boys at the fair.  He had learned early not to watch their hands or feet but rather pay attention to their chest to see which way they would move.   Again he realized that she was speaking the truth and soaked up every word.<br/>