Back turned to the drow as she opened her mouth to answer Asahiâ€"hmm...she did have a point thereâ€"Niamh was completely unaware of the drow's actions until Dimitri called out and she felt the tell-tale tug of her dagger being slipped from her belt. Oh crap! For the span of a very long second, she expected to feel her own dagger biting into her flesh, driven by the hand of that filthy drow, as she whipped around to get the creature back in her sight. She shouldn't have turned her back! But she had thought it was secured! That had never happened before! Ohh, and her staff was still with her horse, and now it had her dagger, and she didn't know how to fight with her hands and feet like some did! Heck, she was no knife fighter, eitherâ€"that was just there for practical usesâ€"as it was only the staff that she'd been trained in!
But even as she turned, trying not to panic and ready to dodge as much as possible, she felt it breeze past her as it launched itself at Lajia, who managed to tumble out of the way, thank the Light. And then Nyva was upon the drow, sword drawn, and Niamh knew Vulcan would probably be there next. In any case, she knew they could take it. With them on it, it was as good as captured.
Blue eyes still wide, Niamh watched after them for a few moments before releasing the breath she had been holding and brushing her pale bangs from her brow. Oh jeez...that had been close. Way too close. And as the shock and adrenaline wore off, her brain started functioning again, and...aw, man...she'd...she'd completely forgotten. She could have helped...she could have blinded it...hurt it...
Like Lajia, she had been blessed with one of Mother Sun's gifts: the ability to manipulate fire and, if she really focused, individual components of fireâ€"light and heat. But she wasn't that good at it, and instinct always instructed her to go for the more tangeable defense and offense methods, first, like her staff. She didn't like to admit it that, not even to herself, because...it just...it made her feel bad that she wasn't very good at it, and that she didn't trust that ability. It made her feel like...well...like she didn't trust Mother Sun. Which she did! She did with all her heart, and she knew it! She was faithful! She just couldn't help but worry that others would interpret her lack of confidence in that area as a lack of faith. That would be the worst.
In truth, well...she was just among the youngest, and she was still learning.
Hopefully her blunder went unnoticed. She'd just have to play it off like nothing had happened. She hated it when she froze up like that. She could still act, make up for her inaction!
"Hey, you okay? It didn't get you, did it?" Niamh asked breathlessly, falling alongside Lajia and glancing over the woman with obvious concern, but only for a moment. A second later and her eyes were back on the drow, watching as Nyva confronted it, and Niamh shifted enough to position herself between Lajia and the potential fight. Lajia was the healer among them; she couldn't fight. Niamh was hardly any better without her staff, and now with her dagger missing, but she did have the Sun's blessing, and she watched the confrontation intently. It looked like Nyva had it under control, and if she did, Niamh didn't want to screw up anything by causing a distraction that could possibly bother the other woman.
[edited...because I misread a post... XD]