Stay With Me [Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter 8: Training

As promised, half an hour later Louisa found herself in the courtyard. Upon return to her room she had been more than happy to discover that her own clothes had been laid out for her, washed and free of stains. Fighting Fili in the dress that the elves had given her might have complicated things a little.

She sat down on a boulder, waiting for Fili to arrive, peacefully humming a tune to herself. That is until she was viciously tackled to the ground. Louisa yelped in surprise as she was pinned to the ground, the person at least being kind enough to let her head be cushioned by their hand instead of hitting the hard stone. After overcoming the initial dizziness, she looked up at her attacker to find a grinning Fili.

„Lesson number one: Never, ever let down your guard!", he said proudly, laughing at her disorientated expression. Louisa's expression morphed from surprise to annoyance at his cocky expression as she tried to push him off her. „Oh shove off.", she grumbled, her pride wounded a little by how easily he had taken her down. Fili rolled off her, still chuckling at how upset she was. „Alright, I'll admit, that was a tad unfair but that makes the lesson no less important or true. You need to be aware of your surroundings at all times and always be ready to defend yourself if need be. You may be safe here but as soon as we leave the borders of Rivendell we'll be exposed to all sorts of danger. You can't let down your guard or you'll be killed.", he emphasized his point.

Louisa grumbled a little while getting up even though she had to agree with the point he was making. "Yes, I know. It won't happen again.", she mumbled as she straightened out her clothes a little and faced him. Fili smiled at her apologetically and drew his sword. "Good. Then let's get into it.", he said, motioning for her to draw her sword as well.

Hesitantly the hobbit drew her sword and held it at the ready. Fili took a moment to analyse her stance before speaking up. "Lift your sword a little higher and tilt it a bit more across your chest. You want to be able to block a blow to your chest no matter how unexpectedly it might come.", he said causing her to adjust her grip. "Like this?", the young woman questioned, eager to get it right. Fili smiled contently at her willingness to learn and nodded. "Now if I were to go for a strike from the left, what would you do?", he prompted her. Louisa furrowed her brows, not quite understanding what he was getting at. "Shift my sword to the left to block it?", she answered with a raised brow, wondering why he was asking such blatant questions. The dwarf chuckled at her sassy tone of voice. "Well that's not quite enough. Let me show you.", he said and went on to swing at her from the left without further ado.

Louisa gasped at the sudden change in teaching method and shifted her sword to block his blow, as she had explained. The second their swords clashed however, she was thrown off balance and stumbled backwards, trying to regain her footing. In less than a second Fili had the tip of his sword pointed at her neck with a smirk rising on his face. "And you're dead, sweetheart.", he sassed.

Louisa glanced from the sword at her neck up to his eyes. "You're talking about balance. About what I do with the rest of my body while blocking.", she realized. Fili rose his brows at her and tilted his head to the side a little in confirmation. "Now you're getting there. If I take a swing at you like that, what do you need to do to prevent this from happening? Let's go again.", he said, withdrawing his sword and giving her a moment to regain her stance. As soon as she had he swung at her again. This time however she shifted her entire weight onto her left foot and leant forward to be able to counter his momentum. Their swords clashed again but she was able to hold her ground and lock their swords.

Fili grinned at her, satisfied with her quick correction of her former mistakes. "There you go, lass, that's it!", he encouraged her. "Now you won't be able to block somebody stronger than you for long, it'll wear you out. You want to gain the upper hand and take control of the fight. You're not strong but you're short and quick. You can use that to your advantage. But to be able to counterattack you must get your sword out of this lock while making sure that mine doesn't stay anywhere near your body. How do you do that?", he questioned her further pushing against her a bit firmer to prove his point.