A Rose Trapped Inside a Fist

Disclaimer: I disclaim owning anything of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit. I only own my own characters brought forth from my own wild imagination (Narloth, Erebwen, Rhovan, Belegor, Tindir, Dagorast and Ashare).

I know this is super super short. Planning on making the chapters longer from here so bare with me! Don't forget to review!

Chapter Two- Adventure Skills

He had left and I'd gone about my business the rest of the day with every thought centered on the prophecy. I'd finally get my adventure but whose life would it cost?

I decided that regardless, I would need to learn some "adventure skills."

If an adventure really was in my forecast I wanted to be prepared. I was already proficient in hand to hand combat, although it had been years since I had even practiced. I had decided I need to learn some swordsmanship and my friend, Rhovan was meeting me to teach me what he knew. I myself, knew very little about it. Enough to defend myself against someone who didn't know much. So basically, I was clueless.

I spot Rhovan and jog towards him, waving.

He returns the gesture, smiling.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Ready," I reply.

I unsheathe my sword from my belt. It's plain and light weight but it's strong.

"That's a nice blade," Rhovan remarks.

"Thanks. It was my father's, he called it Firefrost."

"Well I hope Firefrost is ready for battle," he challenges, bringing his sword down in an arc that slices the air.

I swing Firefrost upward, quickly blocking his blow.

"Good," Rhovan compliments. "But your position is lacking. Always keep sideways to your attacker," he says, gently turning me. "That way your chest presents the smallest possible target."

"Noted," I reply.

"Okay, I want to see just how much you know. I need to find out your skill level."

"What do I need to do?"

"Give me all you've got; I'll simply block."

"But what if I hit you?"

"You are not going to hit me," he scoffs with a snort.

I bristle at his amused tone and say "I could hit you. Even master swordsman make mistakes. I could get a lucky shot, or you might not see me coming."

He looks at me patiently.

"I don't want to hurt you," I sheepishly tell him.

"How much experience do you have with a sword?"

I glance down at Firefrost. "A couple of minutes?"

"You're not going to hit me," he says, giving me a confident smirk.

I purse my lips at his comment and raise Firefrost, swinging it left and right, up and down. Rhovan blocks my swing every time. I swing harder and faster, remembering to keep sideways. Then I try to get the upper hand by moving around him but to no avail.

"Alright, stop," Rhovan says.

"Tired?" I scoff, hoping to wound his pride as he had mine.

"You're not terrible," he says, ignoring my comment. "but we have a lot of work to do. I think that's enough for today."

We sit down on the grass, catching our breath and relaxing. It's summer and a light breeze sifts its way through the trees that surround the practice field. I can hear the splash of the nearby waterfalls. I've often followed it to get to my friend, Erebwen's house.

"Have you seen Erebwen lately?" I ask, turning to look at him.

"No," he says, blushing.

I smile. Rhovan has had a crush on my friend since before I even knew him. He has never told her about his feelings for her and unfortunately Erebwen has been dating someone for almost a year now. His name is Morlyg and Rhovan and I have become suspicious of him because we occasionally spot bruises along Erebwen's arms. We confronted her about it and she had laughed, saying the bruises were from working on her family's farm. We didn't press the matter, hoping she was being honest. We were both quite worried that something was going on. Erebwen seemed quite secretive lately and I wondered what she was keeping from me.

"How about you? Have you seen her?" he asks.

"It's been a few days. Would you like to visit her with me?"

"Do you think he'll be there?" Rhovan asks, balling his hands into fists.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully not," I reply, punching him playfully in the shoulder to lighten his mood.

"Watch it. We haven't even gotten to hand to hand combat and I will bring you down," he says, smirking.

Now it's my turn to snort, even though he might be right.