New faces. (Tessa)

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The reflection of a handsome young guy was on the waters of Little tiber. He looked at himself and tilted his head checking the dark purple lines under his eyes and on his left upper cheek. That was an awful purple mark that was going to turn into a black eye by next morning. Well he deserved it, he got distracted at last second in the training with that group of campers. What would his grandfather think if he would know that just a group of 5 campers could put a fist on his face? only one of them was a son of mars and was the one who could put the fist on his face.

He threw a rock into the river and glared at the broken image on the river. Then saw a nymph peeking at him with a nasty look. He knew that maybe he had hit her or almost. So he sighed and nodded at her. "I'm sorry... wasn't aimed to you..." he usually never apologized to others, it wasn't in his nature, but when it was a beautiful nymph or a lovely beautiful girl, well he couldn't help himself when beauty was involved. his grandmother wouldn't forgive if he didn't took care of the beauty in the world.

He saw the girl with blue skin nodding at him and then diving into the river once more, leaving the young man all alone again. The sky was getting darker by every second, campers would be at their cohorts or maybe having dinner at New Rome, but for some time no one would be walking near the river or over the bridges. Which was excellent for him because he wanted to be left alone. He sat on the shore and made a painful frown, in that moment he realized that he also had a broken rib and a deep cut on his left arm.

"Perfect... not only a black eye... what a warrior I am." he said in a low voice as he saw the blood staining his long sleeve. He looked to the sky and wondered if his grandparents would be watching at him or if they wouldn't care about him at all. then he closed his eyes and just felt the soft breeze surrounding him in that quiet and warm twilight.

TAG: Tessa
WORDS: 389
NOTES: Hope it is ok

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Tessa's face was flushed as she made her way into the forest, holding a small cloth bag used to keep her sewing things in. It had several things stitched and embroidered into it, something she liked to practice on since it was a messenger bag she made herself anyway. She had been on a date with her boyfriend, and stealthy man who enjoyed keeping to the shadows. Most of the camp didn't even know he existed, but that was perfectly fine with her. She was happy keeping him all to herself, though she felt a bit bad at times. She was the head of infirmary now, and took her job seriously. She put many hours into working there, and what little time she took out for herself was often spent with Gunnar. She wanted to spend all of her time with him, but it wasn't something she wanted to voice. Not that she voiced much, but being needy was not something she wanted to be. If she could she would take all of his time, but that was selfish, and neglectful of her duties. Jason had trusted her with the infirmary and almost all she could do was paperwork unless something serious happened. She was only ever called to be with the patients when it was a serious case, and when it wasn't if she tried to help a patient they thought it was serious. She missed being able to just walk around and take care of people. She was a nurse though and though, perhaps being a doctor was not something meant for her, though she had studied so hard for it.

Tessa wanted so much to deny the side of her that was Venus. Seeing the girls sitting on the side lines giggling and being eye candy for the boys, and especially sons of Mars. It was like seeing those high school movies, with the cheerleaders and the jocks. Tessa had never wanted to be that kind of girl. If she were to be like anyone it would have been Hermione, smart resourceful, and no matter what was happening with the love of her life she was still able to keep her chin up. She could do what needed to be done. For a while she thought she would be able to do that, but recently she wondered. Talking with Gunnar, wanting to be with him, getting jealous when other woman looked him over. It was a terrible face she could never imagine she had. She wanted to bury it, and what better way than with sewing practice? Perhaps archery, but sometimes that was brought more aggression out of her than what she liked. She would need to practice later tonight though.

Tessa closed in on the part of the river she had been making her way to. It caught the most light for the longest, given the sun was on it's way down. She could easily sew by the light of the lantern she brought, but she much preferred the lovely light of the sun. Even the moon had a soft pleasant light preferable to the harsh fake electrical light. A sigh escaped her soft pink lips, what was she going to do with herself? She always liked the herbal and naturalistic remedies over the artificial ones that doctors often pushed on patients. Emerging from the forest a bit of wind caught her hair, and the skirt she had worn for Gunnar. The light pink, near blond hair fluttered around her face blocking her view for a moment before calming down. Straightening herself back up, and brushing leaves off her skirt she saw there was someone else here. She looked at him a moment before giving a slight nod as greeting, and a smile. Perhaps he knew of her as the head of infirmary, or as that mute girl that was rude enough to not speak when spoken to. She wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to just run off from a small surprise like seeing a stranger in the forest.

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The breeze was warm and moving slowly around him, it barely moved the surface of the river, so it was pleasent to be there, perfect to clear up the mind of confussing thoughts, doubts that could cloud any warrior's mind in the moment of a battle or even a single training. Maybe that was what happened to Nick while he was training. He closed his eyes and the first thing that came to his mind wasn't the training as it used to be, the images of his opponent, the very different way that person moved and attacked, so he could think on the perfect way to defeat that person...

No! now when he closed his eyes the first thing that showed up in his mind was the beautiful and smiling face of Kaylee! Her silky pale skin, her soft long brown hair, her luminous and expressive hazel eyes, all of her just popped into his mind whenever he closed his eyes! That was a distraction, that was something that he didn't need! He used to be so accurate! Even Remus was proud of him and his way of fighting! Now he wondered what his 'brother' would think of him being distracted by a sweet angel face.

He opened his eyes and still looking at the sky with it's pink, orange and purplish tones all over it until mighty Apollo finally set on the horizon. He breathed deeply and frowned again at the move of his lungs, they pushed his muscles and his rib cage, so his broken rib moved too. It wasn't a killing pain, in fact if he didn't move he didn't feel it, but when he did, then it was dull as if someone just punched him there whenever he moved or breathed deeply, as he had just done. He looked at the first stars that were showing up and smiled, again thinking on the day that he spent some time laying on the grass right next to Kaylee.

He snorted and then with a sad smile he spoke to Venus and Mars, wondering if they would listen to him. "Beautiful Lady Venus and allmighty powerful Mars,... Is she a test? Should I just ignore her? or did you send her to make me focus better? because I'm clearly failing, I only think of her... I'll work harder to be worthy again of your blessings..." But he stopped when he heard the steps of someone coming from the forest, he immediately changed his expression, he frowned and got completely serious, he grabbed the dagger he always had with him in the stealth of his boot and waited a second to see who was it.

A girl walked out from the woods and nodded at him with a sweet smile. She was beautiful, could easily be Venus, if she desired to show up as a mortal, but then she wasn't glowing in that pinkish dust as Venus always did, so maybe she was only another nymph, maybe this time she was a tree nymph, so he didn't need to be rude to her. Nypms were always beautiful creatures that protected nature. He as a descendant of Venus would protect them just because they were beautiful, pure and innocent. His face softened a bit, his frown faded and it was changed for a gentle smile. "good evening, beautiful nymph... I hope my thoughts spoken out loud hasn't bothered you." His voice was also gentle, a tone that he only used with the ones he cared about, which in fact were really few.

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His voice whispered over the winds, speaking out to her Grandmother, and to Lord Mars. She didn't want to interrupt him in his prayers, didn't want to bother someone who was seeking advice from the gods. Though an interesting pair to request help from. Tessa was mildly curious as to what he was talking about, and even if she wasn't she could not help but over hear his words. They seemed sad, lonely and a bit frustrated. Though she wasn't very sure of that. His words made it slightly more clear about the gods he chose, probably a fool in love. She couldn't help but give the smallest of laughs, quiet and more of a hum then anything else. She could relate to that a bit, being a fool in love unsure if looking at that person was the right thing. She had thought perhaps she had fallen to the trap, unable to stop thinking about her own dearest. Her plans seemed to fly out the window when it came to him, everything she made such careful plans for she'd drop to spend a moment with him. Perhaps not taking care of people, nor cohort practice. Not unless he needed her. It was a new way to show her values, for her to figure out her own priorities. She never quite saw them that way before. She always wanted to be the perfect little Roman soldier. She wanted to be praised, to be cared for, cared about. She'd reflected on herself, mostly in her dreams. She dreamed now. Sleep taking her more often than it used to. Sometimes Gunnar would be there, sometimes she would be looking for him, but always in her dreams his name was mentioned.

His greeting was polite, and a bit confusing. Looking at him strangely a moment she frilled her grows and gave him a funny look. That type of look that said so many things, that she didn't know what he meant, that he was wrong, and that finally she understood what he said. With a quick shake of her head she smiled again, pulling the notebook from her pocket and writing in her beautiful handwriting. It was a bit curly, obviously girly, but with the perfect spacing and straight lines one might expect of a skilled calligrapher, or a computer. For those in camp who knew what computers where and how to use them. 'I'm no nymph, I'm a legionnaire like yourself. Tessa Yates.' Not talking, doing her best not to make a single sound, the only person she freely made any kind of noise around was Gunnar. Even her own laughter she would stifle, or the pain of training. Surprises still eked a bit of vibration from her vocal cords, and Gunnar seemed to enjoy exploiting that weakness of hers.

'Pardon me, but you sounded a bit like you have troubles. I know I'm nowhere near as good as speaking with the gods, but perhaps I can lend you an ear?' She cared about people, and she loved caring for them. It was why she decided to try furthering her education with the nursing program at the local University. She'd probably go into the real world at some point to train too, but she wanted to bring it back to New Rome. She wanted to bring it back to the place she and Gunnar met, the place that became home to her after being left by her parents. She still felt a tad bit abandoned, perhaps more than a tad, and wondered if Gunnar would do the same. When the thought came to her she evaluated it, and found reason to disprove it instead of dismissing it completely. Ignoring the nagging feeling would not make it go away after all.

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The wind blew softly from New rome to the camp, which brought to the place where Nick and Tessa were some of the soft noises from the city and also some of its smells, food... he was hungry, he hadn't noticed it before, maybe because when he was training only that filled his head, well... only that used to fill his head. Now Kaylee was there, all the time, when he trained, when he ate, when he slept! She was always there, which brought him into the trouble he was in that moment.

The cool breeze left them with a warmer feeling, maybe it was lady Venus, if didn't feel like romantic warmth but only... the warmth you felt with a friend, with someone that you could care about. usually when someone interrupted him in such way, he would get up turn on his heels and walked away from the girl, nymph or not. But he stood there. Even when she looked at him with those eyes as if he had told her something weird and funny. then he saw how she took a notebook, he frowned then, why a nymph had one of those and why would she write on it instead of speaking?

He got up and frowning a bit due the dull pain on his side. The adrenaline from training was already vanishing from his body so his sore muscles were already demanding some rest for the day. When he looked at her notebook his first thought was to leave her there, to go to his cohort. But then he looked at her and nodded. He wouldn't leave her out there all alone, someone could hurt her. It was getting dark and it was dangerous for anyone to go out in the night, even more for a girl like her. she seemed delicate. "I'm Nicholas Robinson, sorry about the confussion, not may girls go out to the woods by themselves, and you shouldn't do it, for sure." he said with a slight smile. He knew she could hear even if she couldn't speak.

Then he read her next message, admiring her beautiful calligraphy, it kind of reminded him of his mother's, but hers was less curvy. Then he cleared up his throat. He wasn't used to talk to others about his problems, only to Amelia and to Remus, but neither of them were there and neither of them needed to know that his mind wasn't balanced at all. then again that warm breeze just made him feel as if he could really trut that girl. So well... he asked Venus and Mars for some help, then this girl showed up... well maybe that was their answer, or at least Venus because it was her kind of reply.

"I have one of the most ancient problems in mankind... I'm in love... and now I'm a complete mess, a warrior isn't used to feel that." he said and shrugged regreting it as the broken ribs moved and scratched the muscles inside his torso. "but I don't think a beautiful girl like you know about it. for sure you are happily in love with the perfect guy and your life is just perfect." he smiled at her and tilted his head.

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Never one to be hungry often, Tessa could still appreciate the sweet smell of food. She was a Venus child at heart, and food often brought the thought of a family eating around the table. The warm love of a family, or what it should be. That was what she felt from the warm breeze that brought with it smells of food, and the soft sound of laughter from New Rome. She'd seen some of the families there, more so when she was looking at becoming a nurse. She used to only go to New Rome for a very specific purpose, and leave almost as quickly as she entered. Only the burden of heavy books would slow her down. Now she started to look around at the people, the families. She could see her mother in them, the love and care that each had, and she'd wonder how her own father could act the way he did. How he could forget about her, and not talk to her. That was what she wondered about now. She'd been treated as family by Jason, a friend by Lilith, and a lover by Gunnar. So many ways to care for someone, and she was starting to think, and some small part of her started to realize maybe the way her parents cared for her was not normal. Perhaps not everyone would leave her, or that she might not have to try and be perfect in everything to get attention and love. Perhaps they would love her for her. There was still fear in hear heart. Fear that they only loved her now because she worked hard and did well. It would never go away, not as long as she was able bodied and working just as hard as she could.

Tessa was rather confident in her skill of fighting someone off, even if Valerie was recently killed. Her own Centurion, but that was one thing, and she was certain her uncle and Remus would be able to find whomever was crazy enough to do such a thing and bring him to justice. She would never hope for the death of someone, but if anyone came close it was the person who threw the first stone. 'I didn't quite want to go back to the barracks just yet.' she wrote out with a smile. It was easier to hide what was her flushed face outside than inside with the other girls. They would be able to notice her face, and clothes from a mile away. Thankfully there weren't too many other Venus decedents in her cohort. They had a tendency to be in the fourth and fifth cohort, though if she remembered correctly the third cohorts Centurion was a daughter of Venus, and sometimes skipped practice with her own cohort.

The warm wind stirred her skirt around her knees, making it flutter and ripple. Most of her hair stayed nicely tucked behind her ears where she put them, but were gradually pulling themselves out so she had to tuck her notebook under her arm to push them away again. She liked looking people in the face when she was talking to them. It was a good thing too, she could more easily see how he favored one side, and how his face showed the threat of an injury. 'Are you injured?' Was he being a tough hard core Roman by not showing his injury? No, he was being an idiot. That was how Tessa saw it anyway. To stay at the top you had to make sure your body was at it's best as often as you could, and that included going to the infirmary when you were hurt. Tessa had a good eye for the people who tried faking it, as did most people who worked in the infirmary for a while.

A soft flush came across her face as he mentioned her being in love. He was right. Someone who she couldn't stop thinking about, even the skirt she wore was for him, though she was not with another male. 'I'm not used to it either.' she wrote with a rather sheepish looking smile. It didn't show her teeth, but it was sweet and bashful. 'I feel like I'm a complete mess also, I try to do archery or practice with my sword but it's hard to concentrate.' at times the soft caress of the wind would remind her if his light touch. It wasn't something she wanted to tell him, that a brush against her skin would remind her of his touch. The warmth gentle hands. Her face turned more red as she thought about it and shook her head looking again at the man in front of her, because her eyes had started gazing off to the side. 'Even now thoughts of him come to mind.'

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Nicholas looked at her, why would a cute girl like she was wouldn't want to go back to the cohorts? and in some ways he understood why she wouldn't like to go back to the cohort. Not only the other Venus children or legacies, also the kids of other snoopy gods, those who always wanted to know what was going on in the life of other demigods only to spread rumors about them. He hated them, he could be grandson of Venus, but he had never done something like that. Maybe it was because of how his mother taught him that Venus should be honored.

"Why don't you want to go to the barracks?" he asked because maybe her reasons weren't the same ones than his. Then he noticed how the cool air was giving her some cold feeling. But he wasn't wearing anything he could use to cover at least her shoulders and back. His shirt under his armor was for sure covered in sweat, so it wouldn't be nice for her to have a sweaty cloth on her back, besides it would be worst for her to feel a wet cold cloth at her body. He looked around and saw his shield and then sighed. she could sit on the shield, but then what would be used to cover her? "I'm sorry I can't offer you other thing to have a seat, but my cold shield and I have nothing to offer you to cover your back or your legs, I'm deeply sorry about it."

It wasn't his fault at all, but as a gentleman he felt kind of responsible of her comfort out there in the cool night. then in that sweet handwriting she asked if he was injured, well... his ego was more injured and damaged that night than his body, he had suffered worst injuries in his life, but it was nice of her to have noticed he was feeling some physical pain. "Nothing that I haven't suffered before, a couple of days and I'll be fine, My ego is more injured right now. Are you daughter of Apollo?" He smiled at her in a twisted smile, then set his shield next to him, but not too close to him, he would respect her if she was in love and well, he was in love too.

"please, have a seat" he said cleaning the surface of the shield for her. then he read about her feeling about being in love. so she wasn't used to it either. "you're not? why?" he asked and then smiled at the way she explained her feelings about the guys she loved, they way that feeling messed up with her mind. He nodded and looked away, to the sky. "I guess Lady Venus wouldn't have given us such blessings if we couldn't handle them, but..." He looked then, down to his hands. "but I was trying to get a words with her, because I don't really know how to get a hold of my mind right now."

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The cool night air didn't normally find her bare legs. Even in summer she would often wear pants and didn't mind it in the slightest. She was not made for the cold, any hair on her legs was thin and a light red blond color. Even then they were few and far between, so much that she could pluck them and have no problems. That was what she normally did. The light hair on her arms was also thin, and sparse. Though that she did not pull from the roots. She needn't be completely hairless, especially since it was hardly visible in the first place. However the thing about hair is that it insulates you. It keeps you warm, and with none of that Tessa partially shivered as the cool air swirled around her smooth legs.

'I don't want to go because of the chattering they would give me. I don't normally dress up like this and they would bombard me with questions.' As normal her fingers fell light on the pen, thin smooth lines of black ink traced along her paper. Her hands adept in writing, and in a number of other skills over the years, from stitching up wounds to her latest use of forging. She hadn't formed calluses on her hands, nor would she. In her years fighting and training, her skin would rather tear than form calluses, or so she realized. She began using gloves and arm guards long ago because of this.

Looking down at her legs she smiled up at the gentleman in front of her, for despite everything he was sorry for not having a coat for her to use. That was sweet. 'Don't worry, I'll be fine.' Always her reply, always the reply of everyone in the legion. Even though she berates other people for doing the very same things, she is quite the lovely little hypocrite. 'He's my grandfather actually. I'm head of the infirmary at the moment. I've suffered broken bones, and deep sword wounds before, but I would still get them treated. As they should be.' She would always be stubborn about that, people who were injured needed to get themselves fixed up as soon as they could. Then they could go back to being big macho men fighting and training. She had no place for injured fighters in a camp run by her uncle.

Stepping forward the gathered her skirt under her knees and sat on the cold metal shield, scooting it a little closer as she did so. Close enough that she may take off his armor, which she certainly started to do without a care in the world. She was a medic after all, stripping someone of their armor was not unusual, and she was fairly good at it. Normally stripping clothes involved a pair of scissors though, but she'd try to find what was wrong without going through all of that.

She stopped what she was doing with a small sigh, looking up at the night sky. How silly her grandmother must be, to send Tessa possibly the only one of her descendants so inept at this concept. 'I've never felt this way before.' She would rather use her Apollo gifts, she knew how to use them. She knew how to talk to someone about muscle systems, and nerve systems, and everything else the human body was in the process of doing. This love stuff was so completely strange to her. 'My grandmother has some strange idea's I think. Asking for her help you've perhaps gotten her most clumsy decedent. I'm sorry.' she kind of was sorry in this moment. She'd always wanted to be claimed by Apollo, always felt she was more of his legacy than Venus' and this simply drove that feeling home.

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Family... he knew the meaning of the word, but it seemed that not the Venus kin neither the Mars kin, knew about it. Mars kids were usually brute and irrational, always thinking on their muscles and their warlike skills. to be in their club you needed not only to be strong and a perfect fighter, but also being claimed by Mars. Venus kids were always checking if your looks were perfect, if you could fit among them or not, and if you didt fit with them, then you automatically were considered an outcast. Usually being claimed by Venus gave you the entrance to their club. only being descendant of the high fine lady didn't do the trick. Being on both sides by blood was kind of a problem.

"I think I understand what do you mean... I hate their gossips and chatterings..." he said and then smiled kindly at her. It was uncommon to him to feel so calm around someone, Amelia and Remus had that effect on him, recently Kaylee too, but not others, not even that cute girl in his cohort, or sweet Soleil. But Tessa was different too. She made him feel like an open book, as if he could tell her what it was going in his troubled mind and heart and nothing would backfire him at any second. "but well... they have nothing else in their brains, it seems that they got the worst side of Lady Venus."

He looked at her as she had a seat slowly shook his head at her reply. it was such a Roman reply, all of them were fine, no matter their loins were pouring on the ground into a pool of blood! They were always fine. So he smiled at her, but then knit his brows when she started to undo his armor. He was going to make a dirt joke about how she wanted to have him in an incestuous way, but then she told him about how she was head medic and her grandfather was Apollo. He understood and smiled gently again, letting her undo his armor, feeling the cool breeze.

"She for sure got strange ideas, but I don't think it was wrong if she sent you here. besides I'm sure that wearing a dress like that with a blush on your cheeks like that you for sure are in love too." smiles and holds her hands in his. He needed a medic and what was better than a medic that could understand his words of a troubled heart. "let's do this, why don't I go with you to the infirmary, you take care of my broken bones and injuries and I tell you what troubles my heart, then we can talk. you wouldn't have to go to your barrack, I'm sure you should have a comfortable set of clothes there to change into and then both would win with this... what do you think?" he smiled at her again and let her hands go, so she could write on her little notebook.

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Her fingers were light, so that one could scarcely feel them, but she could feel. Every bump, every slight indent, she could find. It was part of her abilities, she always assumed she got from Apollo. Her acute sense of touch, it was amazing and helped her so much. People wouldn't even feel her fingers as she grazed them across the skin. Setting the armor to the side, her fingers traced over his shirt, the ribs that lay underneath. His black eye was nothing new, and anyone should realize you only need to put a bit of ice on it to keep the swelling down. Not much more, it was just a bruise. She looked at the cut on his arm, left arm. She was left handed herself, but that wasn't something people noticed very often. She was near ambidextrous, but her left still far outclassed her right. She rolled up his sleeve to look at the deep wound there. Not a bit of sympathy was in her eyes, she never felt pity for people who were injured. It happened far too often to feel sorry every time someone in the legion got hurt. Though her touch was full of care, soft and gentle.

Cuts were easy enough to deal with. Internal injuries where much more annoying. After rolling his sleeve up she pulled a small first aid kit from her pocket. She didn't have much, but she could clean it and wrap it until she got him to the infirmary. As long as he wasn't bleeding out, or get it infected. She'd have to check his side as well, it was swollen and didn't feel quite right. Either a nasty bruise, or a broken rib. She took out a peroxide wipe, and showed it to him. Everyone in the legion should know what those were by now, and the pain that came with cleaning a wound. She wiped cleaned it up, and the area around it as fresh blood began to come from the newly cleared cut. Some of the clotting having been wiped away by the wipe. She put gauze against his wound to absorb the blood and wrapped it with the skill and quick hands of someone very well practiced in it. When she was done with his arm she smiled up at him and pat it gently. It was cushioned, so the small pat wouldn't hurt.

A small bashful smile across her face. 'I think it's love. I certainly can't stop thinking about him'. She listened to him, and gave a bit of a nod. It's always good when other people suggest the infirmary without her having to drag them along. She's never talked to him before, most certainly attended to his wounds a time or two, but never talked to him. It was rather interesting how he would assume she had a change of clothes in the infirmary, which she did. She always advised everyone else there to do the same, but he wasn't a medic. 'You're right, I do have a change of clothes there. We defiantly need to get your injuries checked out as well, and in the mean time I don't mind listening to your problems.' there was also the fact as the sun was going down it was getting harder to write in her notebook. Undoubtedly it was getting harder for him to read. She sat forward on the balls of her feet and stood up, letting her skirt fall back to it's usual flutter around her knees. Extending a hand she offered to help him up as well, more like she offered both her hands. Notebook and pen aside she didn't want him to hurt himself. It would be much better to offer both hands.

Sliding the tip of her shoe under the shield she kicked it up so she could grab it, and offered it to him. She had learned many different ways to get a shield up off the ground from being in second cohort, any weapons for that matter. Even if she was a medic, and an archer. She still practiced a good bit with the traditional front line Roman weapons.