What's It Like?

by Crocochoo

Fem!Bilbo has synesthesia. Sounds are like touches for her. She learnt to live with it... and then Gandalf invited her on an adventure in the company of dwarves. Their voices torture her, especially the majestic voices of the Durin line, which inflames her to no end. Originally written for The Hobbit Kink Meme.

38. Lessons of a Warrior

I blame writerchick0214 for igniting in me a great love of Thorin's neck that always should be shown off instead of hidden underneath that glorious mane of hair.

That being said, I liked writing this chapter if only because it got to show off how amazing of a teacher Thorin is.

Summary: Thorin decides that Bilbo needs to be trained to use her sword...

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I woke with the soft beginnings of the blue dawn high in the sky by a soft touch along the curve of my back, sure fingers stroking down against my jacket until they were able to retreat underneath the heavy fabric. I smiled at the feel of fingers. A tickle of sensation and a soft chuckle, the touch growing more assured now that it knew I was awake. I sighed into the touch, loving it even as I hated it because after how far we had walked the day before after washing up in the stream, all I wanted to do was sleep until Thorin woke us up.

I knew that the presence on my back was Fili, having fallen asleep between Thorin and he and woken only briefly in the middle of the night when Thorin took second shift of watch duty.

The touch was firm, moving underneath my vest and pressing to the lighter fabric of my shirt. Fili's lips kissed the back of my neck and inhaled deeply the scent of my skin as he moved closer.

"Can't sleep?"

I smiled at the insistence of his kisses, the way his hand gripped my waist and pulled me back so that my back pressed flat against his torso. "I have slept enough."

I chuckled at the statement, feeling the roughness of his voice pulled fresh from sleep along my backside where it started to pinch before disappearing. "Ah, so you feel that it's polite to keep me from getting satisfactory rest?"

His fingers unbuttoned my vest and pushed the edges of it aside so that his hand could splay flat against my belly, "Unless there's another reason why you keep me from sleep?"

Figuring that his hand would travel downwards and show me his want for sexual intimacy, I was surprised when Fili's hand actually ventured up and urged me to turn onto my back. At the same time, he lifted up and positioned himself so that his upper body hovered over me, eager to kiss me as soon as I was flat on my back and looking up at him. His blue eyes gazed down on me lovingly and his mustache tickled my cheeks each time he went to kiss me.

For each moment that he could have spent explaining to me why he wanted me awake, he instead pressed a small peck of a kiss to my cheek, on the tip of my nose, against the closed lid of my eye. Each lovely brush of his lips pulled a sigh from me, "Dare I say all the reasons?" His knuckles traced along the soft skin of my cheek, "That I love you."

He kissed my forehead, "That I missed you?" I grinned at that one because ever since our bath yesterday, he had been at my side, "That I wanted a moment alone with you?"

I looked at him, truly looked at him and let my eyes take in the sight of how handsome he was and the way his voice brushed up against me in all the ways to show me how much he cared about me and wanted me.

"You are not satisfied?"

I asked seriously because given the nature of our relationship with Thorin and Kili, it was always important that we were receiving everything that we needed from one another. It was the benefit of being involved in such a dynamic and if Fili were not content with it, I wanted him to understand that all he needed to do was talk to me and we would figure something out.

My eyes told him the extent of my feelings for him and how I wished for him to unload all of his worries if he had any. In response, he merely sighed and let his head fall to my chest, clutching me to him tightly and adjusting so that he was comfortably listening to my heartbeat. Even as I tried to calm it, I felt it race underneath my skin.

"No, it is enough. I am simply greedy."

His voice curled along my skin possessively and I settled my hand in his hair, my knuckles every so often brushing against the back of his neck; when my knuckles touched along the more sensitive skin of his neck, Fili would breathe a bit deeper and nuzzle into my chest.

"Is there something bothering you?"

I watched the flutter of his eyelashes as his eyes opened and stared ahead at the grass we laid upon; he realized that I had figured out the real reason for why he truly woke me all alone in the middle of the morning. Kili was an earlier riser than both Fili and I but even he did not wake before dawn normally. That was something usually Thorin did but he was not beside us this morning either. If Fili wanted to talk to me about anything without alerting the others of any conversation, now would be the moment to do so.

I was curious as I watched him lean up and look at the sleeping form of his brother, checking to make sure that he was still asleep before he spared a glance at the nearby company. Seeming to be satisfied, he edged along the side of my body until he was nestled close and his head resting in the crook of my neck. Such vulnerability was unknown to me when it came to Fili, his need to want to be comforted by me in such a way something that I was unused to.

I worried as my hand went back to stroke his hair that what I did was somehow not enough but Fili did not say anything against what I did. He accepted it and sighed into the comforting touch, maneuvering until his hand came up and threaded his fingers with mine. His hands were rough against mine and I delighted in the difference of size.

"Bilbo, there has been something I've been wanting to get off my chest for a while now," He wasn't looking at me as he explained, his eyes connected to the sight of our fingers playing, "I finally feel comfortable enough to tell you."

I stayed still, not wanting to disturb Fili from what he was about to say, knowing that whatever it was its importance was something not to be denied. His voice was nervous and trembling along my bottom, all the evidence I ever would need that while he was willing to tell me, he was very much uncomfortable doing so. "The nature of my relationship with Kili, it's a bit complicated. The way we are is actually-"

"Ah, you two are awake already."

Fili tensed and I looked away from my hand in surprise at the sight of Thorin hovering over us, "Good morning, Thorin."

"Good morning, Miss Baggins." My eyebrow raised at the use of his more formal nickname for me. He was all business this morning for some reason. "Good morning, Fili. Did you both sleep well?"

Fili sighed and moved away, sitting up to acknowledge his Uncle fully, "We did. We both woke early and were just talking. Is there something you wish us to do?"

Thorin waved him off, "No, not from you. Miss Baggins, Dwalin and I would like you to accompany us and please bring your sword with you."

With that, Thorin left Fili and I and went back over to the other side of camp where I noticed for the first time Dwalin sat, busily chewing away on a piece of dried meat. I was more than a little put off by the request to join the two dwarves only because Fili had been right in the middle of telling me something important; as soon as I looked over to the blonde dwarf, his face looked tired and he was scrubbing his palm along his bearded jaw.

"Fili?"

When his head swayed back to look at me, his expression was hidden for a moment before he seemed to realize what he was doing; just as quickly as his face were a blank slate that I couldn't read, his eyes softened and he smiled at me. He reached out and pinched my cheek, "Should be an interesting morning for you. Kili and I will come by later after he wakes up."

I nodded and stood from my warm spot in the grass, going immediately for my sword that was nearby and doing the familiar motions of attaching it to my hip that I had become so used to. I tried not to think of the conversation Fili was about to discuss with me just because whatever I would need my weapon for with the two older dwarves, I knew it was not something to be done while distracted.

As soon as I was in front of them, Thorin held up a piece of dried meat for me to chew on and before I could ask anything, we were off. Obviously Thorin did not have to mention to someone else to watch over the camp since Gandalf and Fili were up but a quick glance behind his shoulder assured him that someone was alert and watching over the sleeping company enough to settle his nerves.

I wasn't sure where we were going but it was far enough away from the camp that we wouldn't be a bother to the still sleeping dwarves, not that that was really anything to concern ourselves with. Aside from Thorin, the rest of the dwarves slept so soundly that it was hard to believe that even the ones trained as warriors could sleep through the things that they did. Though that wasn't exactly fair to say, Dwalin was like Thorin in that respect, in that he survived off very little sleep.

I hadn't yet buttoned up my vest again and I was grateful for it considering that the morning was annoyingly hot, which only made me frown at the thought of what the weather would be like when the sun actually came up. From beside me, Thorin and Dwalin wore their normal gear and I briefly entertained the thought of one of them passing out from heat exhaustion during the upcoming travel of the day.

Onward we walked until we reached a glade in the forest where we stopped as soon as Thorin looked around and deemed that the area was acceptable for their purposes. Purposes that I was still not enlightened to but I figured it could only be one of two things since I had my sword with me.

"Miss Baggins, Dwalin and I share the most utmost regard for your courage against the Pale Orc," Thorin began, his voice a trail of fingers up my calf. From next to him, I saw Dwalin nod briefly before heading off into the forest line again, "But that being said, we do not wish for a repeat performance for more reasons than one."

"What do you mean?"

"We're gunna train ya, laddie, so that you can fight with yer poker."

I turned at the sound of Dwalin's gruff voice against my cheek, my eyes instantly going down to the sight of three sticks in his hand, all of them the near length of what my own sword was. "Train me? Like as in sword fighting?"

"Yes, all dwarves are taught the basics when they are children. Your sword, Miss Baggins?" Thorin held out his hand so that I could give him my weapon. I was eager to comply with his wishes only because I was nervous of the overall prospect of the lesson and because I was excited for whatever they wanted to show me. With my sword in his hand, it looked as small as I could make it look big and he held it up, momentarily surprised by how light it truly was.

"Tell me what you see when you look at it."

My mind went blank even as I stared at it, taking in every detail that I could of the weapon that Gandalf gifted to me from the troll cave. I saw that it was shorter than a regular sword but that it was curved more elegantly. I had no idea if that was supposed to mean anything. It had a rather pointed end compared to Thorin's Orcrist and Gandalf's Glamdring and that was the only answer I could reasonably say without feeling like too much of an idiot out of my depth.

I half expected Thorin to look at me as if I were a sad little Hobbit, a scowl on his face as he was once again reminded that a lot of what I'd done on the night of the orc raid was a testament to how lucky I was rather than skill. Thorin did not scowl but he did sigh deeply, "That is true. It does have a pointed end... what else?"

He turned it in hand so that I could see it, take in more of its details.

"Um, it's curved?"

Dwalin wanted to snigger at the comment but withheld as best he could. I felt my cheeks flush just from the embarrassment because I was sure that all dwarf children knew what the obvious answer was. Thorin glanced at Dwalin before handing me my sword again. Upon giving me back my weapon, he pulled out Orcrist and showed me the blade. "What can you see with this one?"

"It's curved on the one side?"

Thorin clenched his jaw, probably forcing himself to remain polite given who he was talking to. I was not one of his nephews and I was no dwarf. Whatever was obvious to a fighting culture was lost on me and I would take no attitude from him concerning this. If he pushed too hard on this, I would leave and head back to camp without another thought given. I was no fighter and what more, I didn't want to be. I could name hundreds of different flowers just from description alone but to name any one feature on a sword and tell its significance was a lost art to me.

"It is." He clipped out, a quick sensation along my elbows, "How do you think that factors into how I fight with it?"

I thought back to how I saw Thorin fight and spar with it, moments when he most likely thought I hadn't been watching. "You slash with it a lot."

Thorin's mouth finally cracked a tiny grin, a glance over to Dwalin before coming back to my face, "And with yours?"

Again, I looked down at the sword held in my hand. "It has no such edge..."

I could offer no more because I honestly did not know what my sword could tell me from visual inspection alone how that factored into how it was made to be used. All I knew was that it was an Elvish blade and that because of its length in comparison to its purposed race, it was most likely a dagger to them. Thorin seemed to take pity on me and offered, "How did you attack the orc with it?"

"Oh! I stabbed it!"

Dwalin nodded, a wide grin on his face in remembrance of what I looked like when I pounced on the orc and literally stabbed it until it was dead. While the memory of killing the orc did not inspire the emotions it did for the dwarves, I at least was grateful that I saved Thorin's life. "A good bunch of stabs too, laddie!"

"Aye, your natural inclination with your sword is to stab," Thorin passed Dwalin his Orcrist and took again my weapon; he demonstrated his point by tapping on the very tip of the blade, "Its end is pointed but not as finely as Orcrist's. What this means to us is that this sword is made to pierce armor. It can slash as well but from its size and your height, its strength will be found through thrusting and stabbing motions. If we can demonstrate?"

I nodded because I was eager to see what Thorin was going to show me. I watched as Thorin shrugged off his heavier coat and felt around in his pockets until he looked at me, "Do you think I can borrow your tie?"

My hands went to my ascot ribbon that I almost completely forgot I wore except for the odd moment where I realized it was too tight or that sweat collected on it uncomfortably. I untied it without protest and offered it to him, watching as he took it and offered me my sword again in turn. His hands expertly took his long mane of hair and twisted it until it was high on his head and bound tightly with my ribbon. My mouth watered from the sight of that neck so exposed compared to its usual hidden state and I shook my head to snap myself out of my thoughts of wanting to nibble on the column of skin.

He held out his hand again for my sword and I offered it, watching as he took it in hand again and walked over to where Dwalin was waiting with Orcrist. "What we're going to show you can be done with axes but it's simpler to show you with swords."

I stood, watching over the pair as they positioned themselves steps away from one another front to front; their positions weren't anything like what I'd seen them use before in the past while fighting,but I figured Dwalin's was because he normally used his axes and not swords. Despite not being a normal user of swords, he did not seem to be phased by Orcrist, holding it as if he had done so already thousands of times before.

Thorin was impressive even with my shortened and tiny looking sword in his hand. He did not hold it two handed as he did with Orcrist at times but only in one hand with his body turned towards me. "For you, Miss Baggins, remember to keep your feet planted to the ground like so."

He positioned his feet so that one faced Dwalin and the other faced towards me; he braced himself, squatting so that his legs were slightly bent, and bent his arm so that the sword followed the line of Dwalin's eventual attack.

"Note my feet," He leaned lightly on both of them, "Positioned like this, I can freely move back and forth. Dwarves have a natural tendency to stand our ground and not move, which can make for easy targets if not experienced. This technique forces us to move." Dwalin readied himself and Thorin focused on the taller dwarf, "We're first going to show you a basic use of the technique; its name is derived from a mix of Khuzdul and Elvish but it can be roughly translated to 'Thrust and Step' "

Without checking to see if Thorin were ready, Dwalin moved forward and came at Thorin so fast that I was surprised by how easily and quickly Thorin moved away from him; again and again he stepped back, always keeping Orcrist out of range but always able to throw the attack off balance so that the sword's tip could not easily get to him. Every time Dwalin brought Orcrist around and down, Thorin just as easily knocked it off with an easy flick of his wrist, stepping back when Dwalin came too close and regaining ground when he found an opening.

The shortened length of my own weapon should have put Thorin at a distinct disadvantage and maybe it was a testament to Thorin's skill but he did not seem at all inconvenienced by my weapon's lack of reach. He defended against Dwalin easily and when Orcrist was knocked off target again, Thorin suddenly took the initiative and went on the offense. Much of the same techniques came to apply to Dwalin, knocking my sword off balance but with the ferocity of Thorin's approach, he did not lose ground until Dwalin growled and slashed outward.

In response, Thorin darted away so that all Dwalin swung at was empty space and before he could bring Orcrist back to defend or possibly attack again, Thorin lunged forward and brought up the tip of the sword so that it angled upwards at his chin.

"Give."

The line of Thorin's legs was crouched and straightened so that most of his weight seemed to rest on his bent leg but he didn't look unsteady and when Dwalin did concede the mock fight, Thorin rocked back onto his back foot to stand up straight.

"That is the Thrust and Step. Forces you to maintain your connection with your opponent while at the same time managing your footwork."

Thorin's voice was authoritative, a short clipping against my elbow that made me nod and feel as much the student as I truly was. I watched as Dwalin stepped closer and readjusted Orcrist in his grip so that he could attack with it again. This time Thorin squatted and readied his sword again, "This lesson will purely be about parrying and lunges. You'll need to parry any attacks directed at you like so."

Finished with the sentence, Dwalin swiftly demonstrated each angle that he could attack Thorin, each time being parried by Thorin. Orcrist's blade made for Thorin's torso but with a simple shift of his arm, the blade of my sword parried the attack and forced Dwalin to pull back to reconsider a new angle. When he went in for his arm, Thorin once again shifted his arm and knocked Orcrist off balance. A quick knock designed only to misdirect the attack so that it would miss.

"Each move is designed to use minimal energy so it's very good for beginners."

Dwalin and Thorin maintained the simple looking system of movements, Dwalin not bothering to mention where he was going and Thorin easily being able to parry off each attack that came his way.

"Bring over two sticks, Miss Baggins."

I did as instructed, picking up two of the sticks that Dwalin held earlier, passing one to Dwalin who took it and passed Orcrist back to Thorin. At the same time, Thorin sheathed my sword for me at my waist and directed me to face Dwalin. I was nervous that I would be training against someone as big as Dwalin but Thorin did not seem to bat an eyelash at the difference in size.

"Take the stance."

I did my best to copy what I saw Thorin do, lining up my feet about where I thought I saw him do so earlier and squat down as he did. He took a moment to look at my copied stance before he nudged my back foot up closer to a more comfortable spot; he did not stop there, adjusting my other foot and moving my arm so that it bent more comfortably.

"Hand firm but not too tightly; put most of the pressure of holding your stick on your fingers rather than the palm."

His stern voice was on my elbow, traveling up my forearm as he adjusted my fingers, noting the line of my arm before he nudged that down a bit. "Relax the arm. Elbow close to the body so that you can move efficiently."

He inspected my stance again but he disliked the way my vest hung off my body and ended up pulling it off and setting it on his arm while he motioned for me to go back into position so he could adjust anything as needed. This time the corrections were not as many and he seemed content with that, copying the stance himself.

"The entire point of this technique is the use of your footwork. If you cannot attack, you must defend by backing away from danger. Move like me."

He moved forward two paces, feet taking sure steps forward and when his front foot went forward, his back foot followed. I copied it, moving forward two paces all the while feeling horribly stiff. "Take two steps backwards in the same manner."

He showed me how to do it and I mirrored him, finding it easier to back up than it was to move forward. "Keep yourself steady as you do the footwork. Move forward when an opening shows itself," He moved forward towards Dwalin, "and when you need to evade, move backwards." He stepped back away from Dwalin and out of his reach. "A calm head will keep your footwork from becoming sloppy and accidentally tripping yourself."

He motioned for me to do some of the footwork exercises, moving forwards and backwards on his vocal command that felt like a beat against my elbow every time he spoke out loud in the morning glade. Eventually Dwalin was called in to assist with the lesson, taking over the direction that I would need to go in. Whenever he came forward, I backed up and every so often, I was reminded that I needed to move forward to try and gain some ground again.

As Dwalin and I went back and forth on this, me trying my best not to trip over my own feet, Thorin called out corrections to my stance, repeating them until I figured out the adjustment myself.

"You seem to have the footwork down for now. Focusing on the offensive portion of this technique, there are two things you can do. You'll stab no matter what you do but you can do so either using the lunge or the feint. Feints will be another lesson so don't worry about that for now."

Thorin came in behind me and gently gripped onto the elbow of my arm that held onto the stick. "Think of your defense like you would a clock. Dwalin will aim high and you will liken it to a spot on a clock." He waited for Dwalin to designate with his stick where he would strike; immediately I tensed at the idea of him hitting me but Thorin's grip on my elbow squeezed to make me focus, "Don't tense up. Look at where the stick is; liken it to a clock face. Where is it?"

The stick pointed in the vague direction of my shoulder, "About ten o'clock."

"Very good, so defend your ten." His touch moved my arm so that when Dwalin's stick came close, my own stick parried it off course. When Thorin called for it again, Dwalin chose a different spot near my opposite arm, "Three o'clock."

"Defend your three then." Once again as his voice tickled along my arm, his light touch guided my arm to parry against Dwalin's stick. "Keep your wrist straight and unbroken and your elbow tucked in like so. Maintain this position right here as your default; always return to it when waiting to defend or readying for the offense. On your own now."

By natural occurrence, once Thorin was away from my side, it became that much harder to discern exactly where Dwalin was going to attack. What felt like a three to me was a two and more than once Dwalin's stick made contact with my arm or my torso. I tried to focus but my legs were beginning to tire from being in such an awkward position for so long and upon sighting it, Thorin corrected my stance, telling me to evenly distribute my weight. I apparently had a tendency to lean back against the side of my right foot.

Eventually to help me just get the motions down, Thorin began to call out the numbers for Dwalin to attack at and for me to parry against. Once he did that, it seemed to get better for me and I I began to get the hang of the simple motion of parrying. The lesson itself was interesting in comparison to the actual mock fight that the two had shown me, the movements in training feeling too controlled compared to earlier.

"Now, from a parry to an offensive. Parry your eleven."

On his leader's command, Dwalin went for my eleven and I parried it in a way that I had become used to, however, when I parried this time Dwalin did not back off and resume his normal stance and ready himself for another attack. "Extend the arm and attack."

I extended my arm in a way that I had seen Thorin do during the mock fight but upon me starting to lean forward, Dwalin stopped me. "Just use the arm, laddie. The body comes later."

I extended my arm and Dwalin stayed still and let the stick make contact.

"Again, parry your three."

Again, Dwalin and I did the steps, once again parrying and this time when I went to attack, I extended my arm swiftly to poke at Dwalin's unguarded shoulder.

"Very good. Take two steps back and we'll teach you how to lunge."

Two paces behind where I'd grown used to standing, I was waiting for Thorin to instruct me on how to lunge and to demonstrate, he came up beside me and copied my stance once more. "To lunge, you will need to be fast and nimble; you will stay with your feet in the same position but you'll kick out with your front foot like so."

He demonstrated it, kicking out with his front foot and lunging forward. "Arm straight before you do so, kick forward, and don't put your knee past your ankle."

He stood back into a regular position and motioned for me to try the movement a few times to get the hang of it without the actual need for combat. Once he figured that I had the motion of it down, Dwalin came forward with his stick and I backed up to avoid it and saw that he aimed for my shoulder; I parried it and when Dwalin was off balanced by the parry, I lunged forward and felt a rush of satisfaction that I managed to make my stick connect with Dwalin's chest.

"Weight off your hip, you'll tire yourself with that stance. Again."

We did it again and again until it almost became second nature, doing the lunge and making sure that my weight was evenly distributed and getting back into normal position only to do it again. Each time Dwalin picked a new place to target and each time I was able to parry it and lunge forward.

"Normal speed now."

"Oh wow!" A sharp slap on my bottom startled me and I went off balance from the shock of it. At the same time Dwalin and Thorin looked over and saw the brothers and Balin approach from the line of trees.

Balin smiled in our general direction, "I've not seen these lessons since the brothers were wee lads."

I assumed Balin meant to watch from the way that he sat down on the grass, both the brothers flanking him and looking at the training with a look of tender nostalgia. "Don't let us interrupt, Uncle."

Kili's voice was a pinch that made me blush from the encouragement behind it and Thorin cleared his throat to direct my attention back to him.

"Take up your stance again and this time at normal speed."

With an audience, I became nervous just from the idea that I would now be showing off in front of Balin and the brothers, who had gone through the same training as I. It was nerve wracking to think that they most likely had picked up on the lessons easier than I had and for a moment, I was a bit too anxious to do anything. It took Thorin coming up to my side and whispering in my ear to make me focus again on the task at hand.

"You're doing well. You can hold your own against Dwalin but if you want, I'll have you go against Kili instead for your spar."

His voice made me shiver from how it trailed up my along my neck and I smiled at the note of confidence that was in his voice concerning my ability to take on Dwalin for my own spar. It also became obvious from his offer that he outed his own nephew and where he sat in terms of skill for this particular technique. Such a thought was comforting because this technique wasn't just child's play and was something at least one of the brothers still struggled with.

He moved away back to a respectable distance and motioned for me to continue.

Once again I squatted down and readied myself, completely unknowing what this technique would be like when it would come at me at full speed. It was hard enough getting the basics down at a slower speed but now that I was expected to do it all at normal fighting speeds with very little preparation... the very thought made me nervous and my adrenaline pump.

"Start at three and go from there."

I watched Dwalin and I eyed his stick, trying to discern where he would attack even though Thorin already said that it would start at three...

I panicked when Dwalin darted forward to swing his stick at my three and given my natural instinct to flee and hide from danger, I just barely stopped myself from giving up my stance and backing up and tripping over my own feet. My eyes couldn't keep up with Dwalin coming at me at full speed and I did the only thing I was supposed to do in this situation.

I backed up, feet propelling me backwards with an ease I did not calculate being as swift as it originally appeared to be. While in training the footwork seemed clunky and overly complicated when a simple step forward could have been enough; now that I was actually fighting against Dwalin, I found the footwork made it easier. One foot back, keep the other foot close. Back up, back up. Get away from Dwalin until I could ready myself and defend against the attack.

Because I had evaded the only known attack that Thorin dictated at the beginning of the exercise, Dwalin did me no favors and went for any other target besides the three that was called out earlier.

"Come on, laddie. You have to stand your ground sometime. Your enemy won't always let you run away."

Dwalin encouraged me, his voice a rough brush against my cheek and I found it ironic that this technique that I learned was used to teach the dwarves to leave their ground and yet their most common instruction was to stand the very ground I was supposed to abandon.

I wasn't comfortable with any opening that I felt I could see, all of them being entirely too fast for my liking but when I saw Dwalin going for my shoulder, I knew that I didn't want to back up from that or give him the possibility of actually making contact with my shoulder and the shock from it making me drop the stick from my hand if he connected. I did my best to remember the training, the movements that I repeated until I became bored with it.

So used to me backing away, Dwalin wasn't expecting for me to finally stand my ground and parry the attack, a push of my stick against his that threw his point off balance and left an opening that I could use. I went forward to attack, extending my arm out but Dwalin parried it and it forced me to step back and regain my control.

The way that I was fighting was like a giant game of turns.

Was all battle like this? The time against the orc had been far too fast but had there been turns involved with that? I pounced on him and sent him to the ground, then he rolled us over where I responded by stabbing him. After that, it was just a matter of dominating any chance he got to overthrow me.

So fighting was a giant game of turns? Well, if there was one thing that hobbits were good at, it was the notion of games.

Again, Dwalin came at me and I parried the attack but as soon as I had done so, I thought I saw my opening where I could attack. My turn. I missed from him backing up. His turn. He came at me, a full lunge that made me back up so that he would miss. My turn.

As he moved to stand back up into his normal stance, I used my agility and lunged forward; it took advantage of my smaller size and how light I was on my feet, for quicker than Dwalin could get back to his full height, the point of my stick was under the line of his ribs and I was too stunned to do anything more than keep my stance.

He stayed still, almost as if he were waiting and Thorin did nothing until I figured out what I had to do. "Give?"

Dwalin was still for a long moment until he grinned and lifted his stick away in a gesture of yielding, "Aye, I give."

Claps and cheers from the sidelines erupted and I looked over and was stunned to see that besides Fili, Kili, and Balin, Bifur and his cousins were standing off to the side and cheering. Gandalf was also smirking at me and clapping while Gloin nodded his head in respect.

I felt the embarrassment return and went to hide my face from view when I overheard Gloin comment about how long it had been since he'd seen the technique being taught.

"Reminds me of the times when I taught it to my boy Gimli."

I felt my face redden with the knowledge that like much of their culture being so immersed in battle from an early age, the technique truly was something that they taught to their children!

"Miss Baggins, you're ready to spar. This time anything is to be used in your defense and offense."

I focused on the authoritative tone of Thorin's voice who was undisturbed by the appearance of more people around this training session. I tried my best to focus on Dwalin as I got back into proper stance but Thorin had to correct my positioning again and lifted my arm to be at the correct height. It was obvious that I was growing tired from the training but Thorin said nothing in response to it.

"It's good that they're here anyway; rarely is battle a match between two opponents. Focus your attention on Dwalin while making sure that no one catches you unawares."

Thorin motioned to start, this time not giving me the advantage of knowing which direction the attack would come in from. I had to watch Dwalin to see where he would attempt to strike. He was fast for his size and when he extended his arm to strike at me, I barely had time to even realize he was going for my torso before I went to parry.

The spar was much the same as it was before but at some point, I realized that Dwalin and I were no longer going back and forth the way we had done before. So focused I was on maintaining eye contact with his stick and him in general, I didn't notice that we circled one another, still following the same back and forth pattern. With the addition of more unrestricted movement, it made the footwork a little harder. The trick to the entire technique besides the footwork was apparently keeping your arm from parrying or defending too heavily in one direction as when I did so, Thorin immediately called out to keep the elbow close to my torso so that I wouldn't leave myself open to attacks.

In response to the command, Dwalin tried to make me break from my correct stance, doing almost everything in his power to make me extend too far but each time, I tried my best to prevent him from catching me open. At the same time, Dwalin was better at making sure to keep any openings from me as well.

Finally when it seemed I had an opening to really go on the offensive, a rogue stick out of the corner of my eye made me jump back in surprise. I hadn't been keeping an eye on the spectators and in response, Thorin had most likely signaled for Fili to come in and join the fight with the third stick that still sat by the sidelines. Given how many sticks Dwalin had collected earlier, this was always the plan but just instead of Thorin, it would be Fili taking over.

Now with the spar being two on one, my nerves frayed and I grew more anxious just thinking about my footwork. Thorin was confident that I could handle it or else he wouldn't have called in Fili but it seemed so much more overwhelming with two people I was forced to watch for any impending attacks.

"Fili, your feet are too far apart."

The quick glance that I spared to see Fili correcting his stance provided Dwalin the necessary distraction to try and attack me and I backed away out of his reach so quickly I nearly unbalanced myself. Fili and Dwalin were relentless and more than once I wanted to call the whole thing off, so busy dodging and parrying and trying to remember my proper stance.

Through it all Thorin was a proper teacher, diligently pointing out when stances were off or when I defended too widely and lost my protection. When it became obvious that I was being mentally overwhelmed by the two and the corrections, Thorin commanded Dwalin and Fili back to take turns and then slowly let me take them both again. He dictated the flow for me by calling out which numbered areas to attack and I was able to get back into the mental routine of defending, this time going from spot to spot in rapid succession. Thorin's assistance in this helped me greatly for when he stopped doing it, I was able to follow along against Fili and Dwalin, parrying and trying to get my own offensive in.

Dwalin was much better at the technique than Fili was, who often had to be corrected for his stance and how wide his feet went. It was only a matter of time that I needed to wait, a darting of my eyes to see when Fili's legs went too wide and before Thorin could correct it. Dwalin himself left no openings and kept his stance perfect, a sign that he was a true warrior already tried and tested in battle and most likely incorporating this technique into everything he did. It was natural to him in a way that it wasn't to Fili so when I noticed the elder brother's feet went too wide, I parried off Dwalin's attack and ducked to the side, lunging forward and reaching to strike at Fili.

If his feet had been in the correct placement, he would have been able to back up as easily as Dwalin and I could but with his feet so wide, he wasn't able to step back as quickly without fumbling. He was taken off guard by my direct attack against him and in his stumble, I went for what would be a hit against his chest. It was a mistake on my part to attack Fili because as soon as I did so, he caught my stick under his armpit and kept me from pulling it free.

An imitation of true battle that I hadn't been expecting.

Dwalin wouldn't be stopped from my distraction and in real battle, pulling my sword from a body would take some time as well. I remembered how long it took to pull my sword from the skull of the warg and from Fili's grip and the grin on his face, he wouldn't let me have my stick back even if I tugged. I had a split second to decide if I wanted to abandon my weapon and fight Dwalin bare handed or-!

I twisted and grabbed Fili's stick that was still held in his hand and spun us so that when Dwalin brought his stick up to strike, he got Fili in the back. I couldn't help but laugh at the sound of Fili making his death noises, cursing and sputtering that he would get revenge for his family name before falling off to the side with my stick still held underneath his arm.

At the same time as Fili fell, I went for Dwalin but he was not distracted by Fili's display as much as I was. Just as I went to attack him, he parried off my stick and took advantage of my lack of control to ram his shoulder into my chest. I went down quicker than I even realized I could, a gasp of air escaping my lungs even as I stared up confused at the sky.

I wondered how it happened but before I could really think on it, Dwalin was above me ready to finish the job; I remembered Gollum and the orc and knew how fierce I could be even while down on the ground. To combat the fact that I didn't have a stick anymore and was down on the ground, I used my hobbit instincts and kicked out at his waist.

Fili laughed at the sight of Dwalin stumbling back with the blow – not even expecting the force he got from my dainty looking legs – but that wouldn't deter him and he was coming at me again. I had to give the dwarves some credit for their tenacity but I wouldn't be taken down so easily even by someone I considered a friend. I got back to my feet and went to shoulder him, realizing upon impact just what a terrible idea that was when faced against such a dwarf. It might have worked against a goblin who was a lot less burly than Dwalin but I hadn't been thinking of how he was far more solid and amazingly steady on his feet.

I practically bounced off his chest but I couldn't get away either; in the next second, I squeaked at the feel of his giant hands on my arm and near my waist, hoisting me up so I lost what ground I actually had. I panicked at being hefted up and over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, now without any means to defend myself. I knew I could hear the raucous laughter of our spectators as they took in how quickly the spar devolved.

Thorin should have intervened at some point but he was curiously watching just to see what I would do in such a situation and I did the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed Dwalin's hair and dislodged from his grip, kicking out and squirming until he was forced to let me go. If he had noticed the grip on his hair, he wouldn't have so easily let me free but unfortunately for him, he didn't. As I twisted to fall behind him, he certainly felt it as he went down with a cry of pain.

In a rush, I looked around for something to use against him but he was already up and recovering. I felt myself panting from the rush of activity, the fact that I was tired, and from the astonishment that nothing could keep Dwalin down for long at all! He was the epitome of dwarf warrior in a culture based around fighting and mining.

Unfortunately for him, he still didn't mind my height versus his.

When he came in close to finish me off with his stick, my foot shot out but this time I didn't go to kick him.

"Do you yield, you squirmy little Hobbit?"

He was grinning down at me, pleased by how I managed to defend myself for so long against him and how dirty I resorted to fighting when the cards were against me.

I smirked back, "Do you?"

Dwalin was surprised by the question and he poked my neck with his mock weapon, "You do realize that you have a sword at your throat right?"

I nodded and darted my eyes to look down at where my foot was; he finally looked down and saw that the ball of my foot was hovering near the center of his legs. A fatal wound I would receive but not without kicking him in his balls before I went down.

He burst out into laughter, leaning back away from me and holding out his paw of a hand so that he could help me up. He easily swung me up, clapping me roughly on the back all the while still laughing. Thorin, who had stood nearby watching the entire match had a light smirk on his own face but was also shaking his head.

"Well, it's hard to figure out who the winner was." He chuckled with a smile, his voice a sensual touch against my spine, "While you may have been killed in battle, Miss Baggins, you immobilized your opponent and killed my heir. We'll be singing songs about you in no time at all."

I laughed at the idea and before I knew it, I was in Fili's arms being cheered on for killing him.

Now with the sun overhead in a bright glow of yellows and oranges, the company divided up once again to go back to the camp site and to rest where we trained. At some point, Thorin made his nephews get up and train with Dwalin, ashamed that their stances for such a rudimentary technique was still so horrible despite being taught it for nearly 70 years straight. I laughed at the idea of it and relaxed into the grass, feeling the sweat cool against my skin and my limbs go limp from the earlier training.

"So how did I do? Honestly?"

Thorin looked at me out of the corner of his eye, leaning back against the grass so that he could enjoy what was left of the morning before we would need to trudge along to the home of Gandalf's friend.

"There's room for improvement." He teased lightly, a small turn of his lip that almost threatened to turn into a smile. I smirked at the image and adjusted so that I could lean closer. "You handled yourself well against multiple opponents too... Next time it'll be Dwalin and I." His voice chuckled at the thought of something and he closed his eyes to shield them from the brightening sky. "Though you won't be able to use such techniques to down the two of us."

I sat up and huffed, "Hey! I'll have you know that hobbit instincts are rarely ever wrong!"

"Ah, I see. So if you find yourself in battle against multiple opponents, completely outmatched? What would your hobbit instincts tell you to do then?"

His voice trailed along my legs and he rolled over so that he could look at me, his eyes every so often darting over to watch his nephews train with his best friend. I smiled at the thought of doting Uncle Thorin and fingered a piece of silvery dark hair that had fallen free from the tie. "Stab them and hide, of course."

Thorin grunted in response to the question but his eyes remained serious as he reached up and trailed a finger along my neck and down until he was obstructed by the buttons of my shirt. "Those instincts wouldn't be wrong in that case. Stab them and hide if you so choose." His eyes locked onto mine and he leaned forward to press a quick kiss to my lips, "But, do not hide so well that I cannot find you afterwards."

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of hiding?" I giggled at the touch of his hand along my neck and again when he grinned at my response, "True, it would defeat the purpose but if it keeps you always in my sight, it will be enough. I would have you close so that my blade could always protect you."

I smiled at the sincerity of his words along my spine and how they echoed along the skin of my wrists, carefully chosen words that declared his love for me in a way he could freely express. I leaned back against the grass and promised him that I wouldn't hide so well that he couldn't find me and delighted when he laid down beside me.

In the background, the brothers sparring continued all the while Dwalin ranted out corrections to their stances and how they were dishonoring their ancestors with each move.