I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius,this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

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They entered the improvised training grounds, and Cirashala glanced at Fili with a confused expression, trying to figure out just what on earth he was doing. He had taken two fairly straight branches about two and a half feet long, broken off the twigs that stuck out, and was just finishing up smoothing out the boles with one of his knives. He looked up as the pair came into view, and his hand stilled. Regarding the young woman with a slight smirk, he gestured toward her hair with one of the branches, still littered with pine needles.

"Lost an arrow in a tree, I take it?" he asked, a trace of well hidden amusement in his voice. Cirashala scowled at him, and Kili suddenly seemed to find the task of removing any stray stones or pinecones out of the practice area to be of peculiar interest. Fili paid it no mind, knowing that, to an inexperienced fighter, any obstruction could cause injury, no matter how small. Obviously, they couldn't make the ground completely smooth, but they could remove obvious hazards.

He finished his task, sheathing his knife, before holding one of the branches out to her. She glanced at him, then back at the branch, recognition dawning on her face.

"A training 'sword', I take it?" she asked, and the young heir nodded.

"All swordsmen typically start their training with a wooden sword for safety," he said, "Since one too inexperienced may become injured with their own sword, or injure their sparring partner, until they become more accustomed to the movements. And, since we cannot very well carve you a training sword in the span of a few minutes, this will have to do." She nodded.

"Good idea," she replied, and he continued.

"Like Kili said with the bow, I would normally begin by teaching you the history of the sword, you would forge one yourself, and the like," he stated, much as his brother had done earlier, "However, we are limited on time." He gestured toward her "sword".

"Show me a ready stance," he instructed, remembering that she had mentioned back at the stream outside Rivendell that she had said she had been taught some. She raised her training sword up, right hand above the left where the hilt would be, and planted her feet with her left foot slightly in front of her right for balance, and he nodded in approval.

"Good," he said, "Now, you said you learned the basic positions, correct?"

"Aye," she said, and he crossed his arms, leaning against a tree.

"Show me."

XXX

Half an hour later, Cirashala was sporting several bruises, and Fili a few as well, the experienced swordsman having slight difficulty in anticipating her inexperienced and highly random movements. They stood in front of each other, the young woman panting, even though Fili had hardly broken a sweat.

"One more, and this time, try to block as many of my moves as you can, and attempt to get a hit in," he instructed, bruises earned during training sessions nothing new to him. "Give it all you have." She nodded, raising her sword.

Fili found he was quite enjoying the challenge of having to anticipate the moves of someone completely unpredictable. He had had some of that passionate, enthusiastic fighting in an opponent when Kili first started his training. But, as Kili learned and grew as a swordsman, his predictability had also grown, and now the two could duel for an hour before one of them won, each being able to anticipate the other's movements.

She has the same wild, reckless and passionate fighting spirit about her that Kili has, he thought to himself as he found himself hard pressed to block her wild and rapid strikes. Like him, I only hope that it doesn't get her hurt.

XXX

Fili got in several hits, despite the quick assault by the apparently agile young woman. Like Kili, she seemed to know that her strength could not match his, and so opted for an advantage in the fact that she could outmatch him in agility. What confused him, however, was that she did not cease her onslaught, even though by now he would have either seriously injured or killed her several times, had they been using real swords and it had been a real fight.

He finally got a very good hit on her though, landing it on her still tender warg bite, and she cried out in pain as she grasped it. His eyes widened.

"Cirashala, I am so sorry!" he cried, lowering his sword and moving toward her. "Are—" he got cut off as her training sword thrust straight into his chest, causing him to stop short and look at her with wide eyes. Her focused blue eyes never left his, though her jaw was clenched in pain. And she didn't lower her sword.

By now, most of the company had been watching their sparring out of curiosity, and they looked back and forth between the two. A few fingered the hilts of their weapons as she refused to lower her branch, eyes slowly narrowing.

"Cirashala, why aren't you lowering your sword?" Kili asked her after several tense minutes, Fili confused and a bit unsure of what to do. Her eyes never left Fili's, but her reply was directed at Kili.

"He hasn't said stop," she replied calmly. "I will not lower my guard until he declares our spar over." Fili's eyes widened slightly, as did several others. Dwalin and Thorin stood off to the side, but she could still see them look at each other, then back at her, their expressions unreadable. Fili gaped at her for a second, before smirking.

"Stop," he said simply, and she immediately lowered her sword, bending a bit at the waist to take a deep breath. Several of the company members let out the breaths they had been holding, hands leaving their hilts. Kili glanced at Fili, then at their uncle. Thorin looked hard at her for a moment, before nodding in approval. Without a word, he turned and went to his bedroll, the others following suit.

The two heirs grinned at her as she straightened up, arms and legs shaking slightly from her exertion.

"Well done," Fili said simply, nodding to her. "You were right-I should have stopped the spar if I was done. But I didn't, and you remained on guard, effectively 'killing' your opponent in a moment of distraction." She took a deep breath and let it out, visibly relaxing slightly.

"Are you all right?" Kili asked, gesturing toward her side. She glanced down, and nodded.

"It's fine," she said. "Might bruise slightly come morning, but then again, I am sure there are quite a lot of places that will bruise." She looked wryly at Fili, who chuckled.

"That is the price of training, I am afraid," he replied, "Though I do apologize." She held up her hand.

"Don't," she said simply. "I should have blocked the hits." The two nodded at her in approval, and Fili's expression turned serious.

"You are good in the sense that an experienced fighter cannot predict your moves," he said, "But you left several gaps in your defense. That is how I was able to get so many hits on you, despite you hitting me in the process. A fight is not won if you are killed as well as your opponent." She bit her lip, unsure if what she had to say would get her in trouble with her trainer, but decided to speak.

"I would rather seek survival than to merely win a fight," she replied. "I only learn to fight because I must, for my safety and that of your company. I do not fight for sport." The two nodded.

"And that is how it should be," Fili replied, sharing a look with his brother. Thorin had instilled that concept into them at a very young age, having seen far too many battles and far too many lives lost to ever treat it as mere sport. They had had plenty of sparring experiences in their young lives, of course, and would often enjoy the challenge of besting each other, but deep down they always knew that it was training, whether one enjoyed it or hated it.

Cirashala stood there patiently, looking from one to the other, her training sword dangling loosely in her hand. Bombur called supper, and they glanced over to the now roasted venison, before back at each other.

"I think that is enough training for one night," Fili replied as Kili looked hungrily at the roasted meat. Cirashala nodded, thanking the two before making her way to her pack to collect her bowl.

Oh, I am going to regret this tomorrow, she thought to herself as she sat down shakily on her bedroll. A scent that was decidedly not venison reached her nostrils, and she glanced down at the sweat dampened tunic in disgust. I don't care if it is cold, I WILL bathe in that stream tonight.

XXX

After supper had been eaten, and the company, save those who were on watch, were bedded down, Cirashala, who had feigned sleep, sat up. Bifur and Oin were on watch together, and she was immensely grateful for that, the first being sometimes not quite aware of his surroundings, the second half deaf.

They were both seated looking away from her, and so she very quietly grabbed her soap and her spare clothing out of her bag, and proceeded to creep out of camp as quietly as she could. She brought her weapons with her, hoping that, since her sword was likely of elvish make too, she could use it to warn her should any orcs get too close.

She made her way through the trees as silently as she could, hood drawn up so as to attempt to not draw attention to herself. The moon was full, aiding her in providing enough light to see rather easily, all things considered. The night was fairly quiet, the only really audible sound being the gurgling of the stream as it passed over rocks and crickets chirping their midnight songs in the tall grasses on the other side. She stepped up to the stream, and, seeing a small inlet surrounded by trees and brush toward the right, began to make her way toward it, hoping that the foliage would aid in concealing her.

She saw a very small opening in the bushes near the base of a tree, and crept toward the inlet through the opening. Her quiver caught slightly, and the rustling she heard emit from it as she attempted to untangle it sounded deafening in the fairly quiet night. She finally got it loose, tumbling backward slightly. Landing in a bush with several audible snaps of twigs, she started as she heard a slight gasp.

Her head turned toward the sound, and as her eyes beheld the source of the gasp, her face fairly flaming in mortification as her hand flew to her eyes.

XXX

Kili had slipped quietly out of camp, muttering the excuse to his brother about needing to visit a tree. He had secretly grabbed his soap, longing to get the stench of travel off himself. He was used to not bathing for days at a time, but when Cirashala had fallen on him, she had accidentally gotten some tree sap in his hair, and it was pulling on his scalp in a very irritating manner.

Finding the small inlet, he had quickly stripped down and slipped into the water. The icy chill from it elicited a sharp intake of breath, and he began to quickly scrub at the offending spot on his head, hoping to be done with it as soon as possible. The water came up to about his chest, and he planted his feet to keep from slipping on the smooth rocks.

He had just brought his head up out of the water from rinsing it, when he heard the branches snap. Wiping his tightly shut eyes quickly with the back of his hand, he opened them quickly, only to gasp in horror as he saw the source of the sound. His hands instinctively went down to cover a certain area, face and ears flaming in embarrassment as he crouched further in the cold water.

Cirashala's hand flew to her eyes, and she jumped up as quickly as she could.

"S-so-sorr—" she stammered, unable to finish the word, before flying back the way she came. His breathing came in quick gasps, and he could practically feel his heart pounding in his ears.

S-she saw me, he thought in a panic. A-a girl…saw me…bathing...

He was quite certain he would never be able to look her in the eye again.

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A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan- No problem on the grammar mistakes- I completely understand! But, if you wish, I will correct them for you before moderating your reviews. Yes, she is beginning her training finally, but it will take her a while before she is good enough to passably spar. Yes, Balin is becoming a father figure for her, and it is nice that she has earned his trust :D I will do my best to keep calm and write with my little ones-they were not too nice to me while I had to do errands today-very cranky :( But I am glad you reviewed, and glad that you enjoyed the last chapter :D

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow! I almost thought I wasn't going to get any reviews last chapter, and it made me sad :( I really look forward to them, so pretty please review this one! :D Love you all-thank you for being such dedicated readers :D I hope this chapter wasn't too choppy because of my rough day :(