Break My Fall

The knife shone above her trembling form, weilded in her shaking hand, which she held high into the sky as she bore the fatal weapon, that glinted decisively in the weak sliver of moonlight down the darkened alley. Miriam's penetrative orbs stared up at the shimmering blade as she brought the weapon back to waist level, and glanced to Aaron timorously. Aaron smiled at her with content, his effulgent emerald pools flickering happily. "Ready to fight?" he asked her, touching her hand gently. He swiftly unsheathed his own sword, and it glowed just as dangerously. "I-I think so," Miriam stammered, biting her lip tautly. Aaron saw the fear in her eyes and muttered, "Don't be afraid, you're going to have to learn to fight sometime, anyway. Might as well be now, so you can have more experience when you're older." Miriam looked away from him, her misty eyes focusing on the moonlit ground. "I-it's not that..I don't want to hurt you..I don't want to hurt anyone...I don't believe in fighting.." Aaron lifted her chin and gazed into her aphotic eyes. "No matter how much you fear it or loathe it, you can not avoid it. I have to prepare you... Fighting is necasary in this world, Miriam. You must overcome your fear inside to do this. And as for the pain, you won't be able to hurt me for I have bewitched your blade. It can not permeate my flesh, nor can mine permeate yours. So don't worry. Pain is just something you have to get used to as a fighter, and I can guarentee you will feel it. But not right now. I will never hurt you." Miriam pulled her dark cloak closer around her quavering body, feeling a stab of cold sink through her skin. The night atmosphere was beginning to grow chilly or maybe it was just the feeling of dread inside her soul. "Let's just do it," she said in a quivering voice, pulling a lock of crimson hair behind her ear. In her right hand, she gripped the handle of the gleaming knife, forcing her mind to stop envisioning what would happen if this all went wrong, trying to shake away the notions of anticipation that clung to the walls of her imagination. Miriam held the brilliant weapon, studying Aaron through her nebulous eyes, feeling vaguely faint and numb inside. Aaron leaned his blade against hers, and her long knife came to meet his as their battle began. Miriam looked down anxiously as she took a step toward him, and attempted to slash at his hip, but Aaron brought his sword in front of her blade, and they made a loud clashing sound as they collided. She jumped up, startled by the surprisingly loud resonating noise. "Eyes up. Don't look at the ground," Aaron told her sharply. She looked up at him, frowning to herself. This was harder than she thought. He paced towards her, so she went backwards a step, holding her weapon in front of her. She gave an alarmed gasp as he stabbed his sword through her chest, although it did not penetrate her skin, it went right through, as if she were some kind of ghost. "You have to learn how to block these attacks." Miriam shook her head bitterly, and dropped her blade to the ground. She would never understand how to do this. She wasn't meant to be a fighter. Slowly she fell to the soft earth, bending down with her head in her hands, and started to cry. "Miriam.." Aaron whispered gently, as he kneeled to the ground beside her. "It's okay. It takes time, experience, and practice. You'll get it, just don't give in." He wiped the tears that fell from her eyes and embraced her. "I-it's okay, I'll be fine.." Miriam said miserably, her voice sounding shaky and unstable. "I just don't know if this is for me..I don't want to be in a war.." Aaron nodded, and stroked the soft red curls that fell to her shoulders. "In this world, it's either you fight or you die. You can't ever hide. Those who are weak will disappear and the strong will live on, and in my heart I believe you are strong enough to fight. And to live on." Abruptly, Miriam grew quiet and her sobs faded out. He looked down at her in his arms. "You okay?" Miriam smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes. I'm okay. Help me up. I'm ready to try again." Aaron gave her a lambent smile, as he stood up quickly and pulled her up. She re-gathered her dagger and once again their blades made a clash as they crossed one another. She glanced into his sea-green eyes as they circled each other, determined not to look down. He tried to hit her leg with his sword, but she saw it coming and drew her blade down to stop him. The knives scraped against one another as Aaron praised her, "Good. You blocked your first attack. Now it's your turn to attack me." Miriam puffed out her cheeks nervously, but in her mind she had a plan. She took a long, deep breath and pretended to try to strike his leg, as a diversion. While he tried to stop her, she slid her blade through his stomach, and it glided in through his fibres easily,coming out through his upper back. She removed her knife from his stomach as he attempted to slice her shoulder, and ducked, just in time to avoid the attack. He slashed with his sword fiercely; she eluded all of his desperate endeavours. She kicked his sword high into the air as he tried to slit her throat, (though it wouldn't even harm her if the bewitched blade went in, it would do no damage whatsoever) and it fell to the ground a few feet away. Aaron ran to retrieve his blade, Miriam tossed hers down bravely ; she didn't think she needed to use it anymore. She formed fists with her hands and stood in a fighting position, waiting for him. He saw that she had ventured to stop using her weapon, and smiled at her. He sliced his sword through the thin midnight air above her knees ; Miriam jumped high enough over the blade for her to avoid the slash and rolled onto the ground. Aaron stood over her, brandishing his weapon in the air. She kicked her legs up and threw his body onto the ground, and he lay there out of breath beside her. She crawled toward him, out of breath as well, her cheeks flushed and her heart singing ; she never knew fighting would give her such a rush. "I think we've had enough p-practice for tonight.." Aaron murmured breathlessly, rubbing his eyes, starting to feel a bit tired. Miriam's mouth curled into a happy smile as she peered at him blissfully. "Thanks, Aaron. Thanks for teaching me how to fight." He smiled at her jubilantly. "It was my pleasure. You could have learned easily without me, I think you are gifted at it.." She put her arms around him, closing her eyes. "You really think so?" she asked uncertainly. He yawned in her arms. "Of course." Miriam looked at him strangely for a moment, then laughed. "You tired? Wanna go to sleep?" He placed his lips to her neck, caressing the skin lightly. She shivered, pulling him tighter into his arms. "Hmmm. I'd like that," Aaron said throatily, re-opening his eyes and looking harmoniously up at her. Miriam held him close to her, brushing her fingers through his light brown hair softly. He started to drift away into a tranquil sleep quickly, but there was not one piece in Miriam that felt tired. She could stay up all through the night, listening to Aaron's quiet breath, and the irenic sound of his heart beating, over and over again. She kept him in his arms. She was thankful that she had met him, for he had saved her life and if it weren't for him, she would probably be tied up in some chamber now, being tortured beaten or killed. For real. Miriam knew that people were after her, they wanted her to join Saruman's army and become one of them, they wanted her to serve the purpose of the dark side, to be apart of their game of genocide, but she would never betray her own people. Never. No matter how much they tried to hurt her, what they did to the ones she loved, she would never give in. And that was why she had the stinging red scar on her wrist, still fresh, still painful and the million other scars on her body, that were self-inflicted, but she had hidden with magick so no one would know that she put a blade to her own skin. It was the simplest way to cover up all of her mistakes. And make it appear as if they were never there. She took off her flowing dark cloak and wrapped it around Aaron's shoulders, kissed his cheek and leaned against him. She barely even knew him, but he had done so much for her, and Miriam felt something she had never felt before when she was with him. Slowly she shut her coruscating eyes and finally fell asleep too.