It's been two years since the Mikaelson family moved into the village and everything was thriving. Rhaella was now 7 years old and she was making her way to find her father. She wants to learn to wield a sword and fight so she can be just like her father when she gets older.
She smiled when she found him "Father?"
Mikael looked at her "Yes my little Dragon?"
She gives him the most innocent looks she can muster "Father I wish to learn to wield a sword"
He crouched down in front of her "Now my little dragon, wielding a sword is not for women or children"
The seven-year-old pokes out her lip knowing that he will give when she gives him that look because 90% of the time he does "But father if I learn how to wield a sword I can be just like you when I get older"
Mikael sighed knowing that he rarely denies Rhaella what she wants "fine little dragon, I will train you to wield a sword but we start with wooden swords to avoid you getting hurt until you can properly wield it"
The seven-year-old wrapped her small arms around his waist "thank you father" Mikael sighed smiling down at her "of course little dragon... When we're finished you will be the fiercest little warrior in the village. First I'm going to teach you the basics before we get into the actual training"
Rhaella smiled happily as they started her sword training. Rhaella picked up the wooden sword and held it out in front of her as she was instructed: "very good little dragon now lesson one, the pointy end goes into your opponent in a real fight."
Rhaella nods staying that she understands what he's telling her "yes father"
"Now your opponents will not go easy on you just because you are a girl so you always need to be aware of your surroundings if you can use your environment it can give you an advantage. If you can maneuver yourself so that you can attack and/or protect yourself more effectively, you are more likely to win."
The young blonde nodded "what's next?"
Mikael couldn't help but smile at his little dragon "The correct way to grip the sword is with both hands, your right hand at the top end of the grip and the other hand at the bottom of the grip, closer to the pommel. This will allow for a much wider range of arm movements with the sword. Now there may be times where you have to use just one hand, like if you are using a shield then you will hold the shield in one hand and fight with your sword it the other, in some cases, you may even use the shield to attack your opponent. You will be taught both ways."
Rhaella gripped the wooden sword with both hands in the position her father instructed and he nodded at her "very good, next step is to hold your sword in the "ready" position at all times. The "ready" position allows you to be able to react to all of your opponent's moves. Hold the sword upright in front of you with both hands so the blade is perpendicular to the ground." then he shows her what the 'ready' position looks like and she copies what he did. "Holding the sword this way allows you to move it from side to side and up and down with ease."
"Okay little dragon now you must always have your body standing at a 45-degree angle with your left foot ahead of your left, This position allows you a firm base of support to attack from. It will also provide you support against your opponent's moves and make it more difficult for them to knock you over. Face your hips toward your opponent. Don't aim them to the side of your opponent." He gets into the position and Rhaella copied the position perfectly.
Causing Mikael to smile "That is very good little dragon, now this next step is really important that you practice it"
Rhaella gave a nod "of course father"
"Practice the 8 different angles of attack. There are 8 different basic attacking angles in sword fighting. These are straight down from the top, straight up from the bottom, diagonally down to the left, diagonally down to the right, diagonally up from the left, diagonally up from the right, and left and right strikes horizontally."
Rhaella follows his movements as he shows her the eight angles "These are the basic movements of sword fighting and if you perfect them, you'll be much harder to beat. Now, little dragon I think that's enough for today we will pick up tomorrow on defensive angles of wielding a sword" he drops a kiss on her head "why don't you run and see what your brothers are up to?"
She hands her wooden sword to her father running off to find her little brothers.
Finn looked at his remaining older sister "what have you and father been doing Ella?" she smiles at him "Well little brother, father is teaching me to wield a sword."
The six-year-old looks at her wide-eyed "but you're a lady Ella, ladies aren't meant to wield swords" she just chuckles at him "of course they are little brother, a lady can wield a sword just as a man does if she wishes and once I've perfected it I'm going to be the one to teach you and Elijah when he comes of age to wield a weapon"
"Father is going to let you teach us?" she grinned at him "of course he will little Finn, I am to be the best and fiercest warrior in the village father said so himself... Now, where is our baby brother?"
Finn smiled at his sister's excitement "mother has him, Ella" She nodded at him "well then I am going to get him from mother and watch him for her" with that the white-blonde haired seven-year-old dropped a kiss on the top of her brother's head ran off towards there hut to get her baby brother.
The next day at the same time Rhaella met her father in the same place as yesterday he nodded at her "first catch the sword" he tossed it to her and she caught it with both hands by the handle "good now we can start this will teach you how to defend yourself with a sword"
Rhaella nods remembering what he told her the day before and she gets into position her body at a 45-degree angle with her sword in the 'ready' position. Mikael nods at her as he starts explaining the first defensive step "The easiest defensive move in sword fighting is the simple step away. When your opponents bring their sword towards you, take a large step back to avoid their attack, This move will work best when your opponent is trying to cut across your body. But little dragon you must be aware that there are drawbacks to the step away. If your opponent is fast or skilled, they might take the chance to jab you with their sword after you step back."
The little warrior in training nodded "okay watch out when performing a step back"
"The next move is a block, When your opponent swipes at you with their sword, lift the blade of your sword against theirs to block their attack. Make sure you have plenty of grip on your sword to effectively block your opponent's sword. Once we go over all of the defensive steps we will practice them before we go into the next step of the lesson which is attacking your opponent"
Rhaella nodded at him with a smile "okay father"
"Parry your opponent's attack with your sword. The parry is a block that you can turn into an attack. When the opponent attacks you, redirect their attack by pushing their sword out of the way with your sword. Then you can move in to attack them. The parry is a very effective move that allows you to go from defending to attacking in a matter of seconds. You can also block your opponent's attack with your sword before sliding yours away from theirs and launching your attack."
Rhaella nods letting Mikael know that she understands what he said after seeing that she got the previous step, he continues onto the next one "Next you need to displace your opponent's sword and hit them as they attack. As your opponent brings their sword towards you, use plenty of force to block their attack and launch your own attack in 1 swift move. Hold your sword in such a way that you can effectively block their attack while hitting them with your sword at the same time. Step into the move for added power against your opponent's attack."
"Displace their sword and hit them when they attack"
"You are catching on to this very quick little dragon now the final step in the defensive steps is to counter cut against your opponent's attack. The counter cut is a combination of the step back and counter-attack. When your opponent attacks you, step away from their sword and attack their arm with your sword. Doing this will significantly weaken your opponent as you will have injured their fighting arm. Now let's get into position and practice the defensive techniques that we went over"
Rhaella smiles happily as she finally gets to practice with the wooden sword as she gets into the correct position, Mikael takes his position across from her "now first we practice the step back"
Rhaella nodded and stepped back as Mikael came at her with the wooden sword "good little dragon now let's do it a few more times before we move on" and so they practiced the step back a few more times making sure that Rhaella could do it decently before moving on to blocking.
After she had the block down decently they moved on to practicing the Parry. That one on her first try she didn't put enough power in her counter-attack "Now that was okay but little dragon you need to put more power into it when you channel the block into an attack."
Rhaella nodded "yes father"
"Again"
Rhaella got back into position and did it again and the second time she did better "that was better but it still needs work little dragon" She nods "Of course father, I'll practice until it's perfect"
He nods at her "I know you will little dragon, now let's move on to the next one"
Rhaella nods reciting the next step "Displace your opponent's weapon and hit them when they try to attack" Mikael nodded at her "good little dragon, now into position and let's try it"
Rhaella blocked her father's attack but she lost her footing and slipped going into her own attack. "Again little dragon, this time step into when you launch your attack"
She nods getting back into position and they do it again this time she steps into as she attacks and she does better but still not as forceful but given that she's still only a child, as she grows her force will get stronger.
"Now for the last step and then we will get into so attacks and will pick back up tomorrow at the same place, same time"
"Of course father" Rhaella got into her position holding her sword up in front of her in the 'ready' position then she lets her father attack first she steps back to avoid getting hit and then she swings the sword into her father's wrist that is holding his sword, he, of course, isn't hurt by it but he smiles at her "that one was very good little dragon"
She grins happily at the praise "now are we going to learn some attacks?"
"We are, now the lesson on attacking with your sword is that you should avoid stabbing movements with your sword. The natural instinct for most people is to try and stab their opponent as soon as they can with their sword. The stabbing move is a terrible move most of the time and it will only make you very vulnerable to your opponent. By moving forward in the stabbing motion, your opponent can attack your upper body with ease or they can step away and attack you from the side as you lunge forward. You should only ever use the stabbing move when your opponent is incredibly vulnerable."
Rhaella nods "only use the stabbing move when your opponent is vulnerable... understood, what's next?"
"Execute the basic attacking movement. To perform this move, bring your sword forward towards your opponent. Then step towards your opponent and slightly to the right. This will bring you away from your opponent and prevent them from attacking you. Bring your sword down in a straight line and hit your opponent. Bringing your sword forward will make it more difficult for your opponent to launch a counter-attack. Now let's do some practice runs on that before we get into the next one"
They get into position and practice executing the basic movement for attacking, once she got the basics of that down Mikael nodded at her "moving on to the next attack technique, Perform a feint and kick to your opponent's groin. Now you're going to do this one as I tell you what to do"
Rhaella nods "okay father"
"Lift your arms and sword above your head to invite your opponent to attack." she does as he says "When they do attack, block the move with your sword." he attacks and Rhaella blocks just as she was supposed to "Hold their sword in place and lift your foot towards their groin. Push with your foot against their body to push them off balance and to allow you to complete the attack." She does as he said now with her being small that move didn't have much of an effect.
"Number 4 is to always avoid lifting your arms and sword behind your head. Similar to the stabbing movement, all this move will do is open you up to an attack from your opponent. People think this move will allow them to launch a very powerful blow, but in reality, it only opens them up to their opponent and makes it very easy for their opponent to strike."
"Okay do not lift my arms or sword behind my head because it just makes me more vulnerable to an attack"
Mikael smiles at her "that's good little dragon now the final step that we are going to go over today is that you always need to control the flow of the fight. If you succeed in finding the flow and controlling it, you have a very good chance of almost directly influencing the entire fight directly through your actions. Controlling the fight means your opponent is always on the back foot, giving you a massive advantage during the fight. Try to identify the patterns in how your opponent fights and work against them."
"Got it controlling the flow of the fight is a way to control the fight"
"Now when we meet for training tomorrow we are going to go through everything that we've gone over in the past two days and practice all of it"
Rhaella nods "Yes father, I understand" he nods at her "good little dragon now run along and play" Rhaella nods and runs off.
So Rhaella and her father trained every day at the same time, Rhaella was getting better with each ongoing practice, she followed every instruction given to her and learned from the mistakes she made.
