Loyalty, Honor, and a Willing Heart

Chapter 7 - In the training field

Next morning found most of the dwarves sleeping soundly. It had been a long time since they had had a good and long night of sleep, without watches, and under a secure roof. It was really resting. For the female part of the gang it had been less time, but somewhat harder, because they had had longer watch turns, and so less hours of sleep, plus the anguish of not knowing what to expect each morning. But up with the birds they woke, as they were expected in the training field and it had been so hard to get Thorin and Company’s trust that they would not chance to lose it so soon.

After a breakfast composed mostly of oat, fruits and milk, much to the dwarves disgust, they set to the field. To the women’s surprise, the hobbit Bilbo was there too, seeming unhappy, with a small sword at his side. He should be trained by Fili, along with Iris, and it was compelling to him that a girl, and very younger than him, would be training advanced techniques of dual weapon swordplaying and he did not even know how to hold his one right. His letter opener, as Balin noticed. Her were more or less waist high, but incredibly lightweighed, and really worked for Iris. At least it was Fili to train him, he was more at ease with the younger dwarves.

Fili taught him some basic moves and stances and left him alone fighting a dummy. Then he made Iris show him what she was able to do, and begun to correct her balance and swing, as she was not used to sharp blades that actually cut the air. Kili and Lily were still trying her range, for her weapon had changed much in the transposition of worlds. And Ellen was thinking of how she could escape Thorin’s stern eyes, and reached the brilliant conclusion that it was better to finish it as soon as possible and try to rest her bruises.

***

Fili had put both hobbits to fight one another with blunters on their swords, Iris just with one of them. He said she should be trained with one handed fight, too, in the event of losing one sword or have one hand maimed – or lost, as he insisted to put it to scare them more.

Bilbo was uncomfortable with fighting a girl. As they were training at an easy mode, Fili not really much worried to push them too hard, they were able to keep chatting to each other, the three of them. They found out her age in hobbit years should be about twenty-five, that means, in her betweens, the unrestful and irresponsible years between twenty and thirty; but it also meant half of Bilbo’s age, and suddenly he thought himself as a bitter old and lonely Halfling. She was pure radiance, her fire-red curls framing her delicate face lightened by heavenly blue eyes. He thought there had never been someone like her back at the Shire.

“Bilbo, you will be dead in no time at all if you don’t put your mind where it should be!”

“Yes?” He turned to Fili, startled, in his better clueless mode.

“No! Don’t look at me, look at her!”

“Isn’t that what I was doing?”

“Yes, but…” It was helpless. “Oh, forget it. Get a little rest, I’ll show Iris some techniques.”

Bilbo sat down and kept looking at Iris, her hair flowing in the wind like a flame while dueling with Fili. The dwarf stopped sometimes to correct her grip, her movements, holding her sword with his hand upon hers, making her move with him, and it was absolutely not needed at all, Bilbo was sure.

***

Lily was as happy as she could be, thinking it was more interesting than any boffering tournament she would ever attend to. Kili was funny and a very nice company, albeit never losing a chance to mock her. First they tested her range, which was a bit short of his, and then her precision, and then precision with range, and that’s when they stopped to see his uncle and her aunt fight, along with her sister and Fili. The memory of Dwalin’s duel was fresh, but the boys knew their uncle was more than hard beating, and it was obvious the elf was getting a hard time with him.