All Shall Fade

Chapter 11

Mutual Respect

Aragorn didn’t return for over a week, and over that time Legolas had let me move on to using real swords, and my aim was definitely getting better with the bow – although I still occasionally pinged myself in the nose. They should really give you safety goggles or something like that. I hadn’t been expecting Aragorn to arrive, so when I turned up in the training area I was surprised to see him standing beside Legolas.

“Good morning.” I smiled as I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail. It had been becoming less frizzy and easier to manage recently – maybe it had something to do with the water here… Or the lack of cheap shampoo I normally used at home. Aragorn nodded at me whereas Legolas smiled in welcome. I’d recently told him where I was actually from, and instead of being distrustful like some people, he had been fascinated; he was probably the person I was closest to right now. Mostly because we had been spending every day training together.

“Alice,” The elf smiled in greeting as I went to stand beside him, “Do you have any experience in hand-to-hand combat?”

“Uh…” I frowned, thinking of the playful wrestling matches Toby and I used to have when we were kids. “Not much… I used to do a bit of kickboxing though.” Legolas looked at me, obviously not knowing what kickboxing was, before carrying on.

“Aragorn will train you in that field then – we won’t be doing any archery training today.”

“Aw… But I was just getting good at that…” I muttered as I rolled up my sleeves, preparing to get the shit kicked out of me by Aragorn – I knew he was probably looking forward to it. He passively shrugged and made his way over to the centre of the clearing as Legolas calmly sat at the edge.

“First to pin their opponent to the ground wins.” He smirked, probably knowing that I was about to get my face smashed into the dirt.

“Ok… Bring it on.” I sighed, “What do I have to do?”

“Behave as if you are blocking blows with your weapons, but use parts of your body.” Aragorn instructed me as he paced back and forth, as if he was sizing me up – there wasn’t much to size up to be perfectly honest.

“’Kay.” I nodded, adjusting my balance. I didn’t even see Aragorn come at me – and suddenly I was pinned by my shoulders to the ground, winded and gasping for air.

“And pay attention.” He muttered as he stood and dusted off his hands.

“Bitch…” I wheezed quietly as I got to my feet and caught my breath.

“You don’t have size on your side, so try and use your opponent’s size to your advantage.” He advised me as the process began again. This time, I managed to put up my forearm and hold him off for an extra second before he had me on the ground.

The second time, I landed a half decent punch on his shoulder before I was floored, and the third I almost managed to knee him in the stomach, but he was too fast and tripped me before I even realised he had dodged.

“Damn it…” I grumbled as I hauled myself off the ground and faced him again. I was getting frustrated, but Legolas had taught me to control my anger, so I took a deep breath to keep myself calm, and nodded to Aragorn. He ran at me, but this time I ducked – avoiding the blow to my shoulders that would send me sprawling, and swept out at his legs with a low kick. I grinned as he fell to his knees but grabbed me and pulled me with him – and then I was pinned again. “You’ve got to admit that I did better that time.” I scowled as he glared at me.

“In a battle you’d be dead by now.” Was all he had to say as he stood.

“Good to know.” I sighed, rolling my aching shoulders in their sockets. Why did he always go for the shoulders? I was beginning to work out a pattern to his movements in my head. He normally went for high blows, and I wasn’t good at those because I was short, so maybe I should work on low ones… A good kick to the crotch would probably take him down a peg, but that was dirty. And winning a fight using dirty tricks meant a hollow victory.

Who knew I had such excellent morals?

For several hours we continued this way, and I continued to get more battered and bruised. I hadn’t won a single fight, but I supposed I was glad that Aragorn wasn’t going easy on me… But did he really have to be sohostile?

“Why do I have to learn this?” I muttered, brushing my wild hair out of my eyes as I began to get fed up with eating dirt.

“Because if you lose your weapons in a battle, you need to be able to fight on.” Aragorn sternly informed me as I stuck out my tongue behind his back and thought I heard Legolas laugh from the sidelines. He was clearly enjoying his day off. Aragorn shot me a glare, making me think that he somehow knew that I was making fun of him, and boy was he going to get me back in a few seconds.

He didn’t disappoint. Before I could even defend myself I was on the ground. It seemed for every one step I took, he would push me back two.

“It’s not fair!” I voiced my opinions to Legolas as we walked back to the main buildings together at the end of the day, whereas Aragorn had wandered off on his own. “I’ve hardly progressed and at this rate he’ll have killed me before we even set off!”

“He’s only doing it because he’s afraid you’ll get yourself killed.” He murmured as I snorted.

“Psh… I’m sure he’d be happy to have me out of his hair.” I grumbled, “I’m pretty sure he hates me. I bet it’s because I don’t belong here.” I sighed and pulled my hair out of its ponytail.

“You’ll never be able to be friends until you have a mutual respect for one another.” The elf turned to me as we walked and I exhaled heavily.

“I’d rather drop dead than show him respect, and I’m positive he feels the same way about me...”

Three days of the same routine passed, I’d show up and get turned to pulp by Aragorn. Every now and again, Legolas would rescue me with some archery or weapons training, but mostly it was hand-to-hand combat or as I saw it Alice’s-face-to-the-ground combat. Saying I was frustrated was an understatement. I was sick of losing, and even Legolas’s advice about controlling my anger was beginning to lose its effect on me.

I once again picked myself off the ground and rubbed my bruised hip where Aragorn kept kicking me. I fired him a glare and he shot me an equally hostile glance. I kicked the dust at my feet as I ran through my next strategy in my head. I refused to lose again. I nodded to Aragorn and once again he came at me with a standard blow to the shoulder, which I ducked to avoid, then sidestepped so his kick missed me. I dropped to the ground and rolled a few feet before getting up again and realising I was a reasonable distance away.Sweet. I rocked on the balls of my feet as I nervously waited for him to approach me again. I was not going to lose this one. He came at me again and landed a heavy punch on my stomach, driving the air out of me – I still managed to give him a good hard kick in the ribs before he had me on the ground again. I refused to believe that I’d lost again so I jerked my knee up and got him hard in the stomach, and for a second his grip on me loosened. It was long enough for me to shove his shoulders and roll over, so I was the one pinning him.

“Ha!” I laughed victoriously as I sat on his chest, and then suddenly I was flipped over and found myself face down on the ground with my arms pinned behind my back – rendering me totally motionless. “God damn it!” I yelled as he released me and I scrambled unsteadily to my feet.

“Alice!” I looked up to see Legolas running towards me from where he had been watching, “You’re bleeding.” I frowned as I became aware of a stinging sensation on my cheek and I lightly brushed my fingertips across the thin graze that marked my skin. My fingers came away sticky with blood. I must have scraped myself on a rock that was on the ground.

“It’s nothing.” I muttered, clenching and unclenching my fists angrily. I was so sure that I was going to beat him there!

“Maybe you should rest-”

“No,” I cut him off sharply, sounding harsher than I had intended, “No, I’m fine.” I insisted in a softer tone, “If you get hurt in battle you’re not given the chance to rest, are you?” I sighed as I cast a glance at Aragorn, who was observing from a distance.

“Just don’t push yourself too far.” Legolas murmured and I nodded.

“Sure.” I agreed, turning away and walking back towards Aragorn.

A few minutes later, I once again found myself sprawled on the ground, cursing under my breath. I sat up and glared at Aragorn’s retreating figure as I stood. Anger flared inside me as he turned back. I couldn’t figure out who I was angrier at, myself or him.

Screw controlling it, I was about to let it out.

I nodded and we ran at each other, and for the first time, I struck the first blow, and the second, and the third… I wasn’t really focusing on where I was hitting him, I was just blindly striking out and forcing him back, until I suddenly found myself pinning his wrists to the ground as I crouched over him. I breathlessly panted for air as we looked at each other in surprise. My sudden attack had caught us both off guard. I sat back as realisation hit, I’d beaten Aragorn. I hauled myself to my feet and held out my hand for him – something he never did when he beat me. He grasped my wrist as I pulled him up and he nodded once at me.

“Again?” He asked between gasps for air.

“Again.” I nodded as a grin crossed my lips. I glanced over at Legolas who was grinning as much as I was.

About a minute later, I found myself on my back, frowning in confusion as Aragorn pinned me. Why hadn’t I been able to beat him this time? As I sat up, he stood, and to my surprise I found him holding out his hand for me to take. I smiled a little as I took it and he hauled me up.

I didn’t beat him again that day, and I was beginning to think that it had been a fluke. I didn’t mind that much though, as Aragorn now treated me differently. I thought back to what Legolas had said about mutual respect, and it seemed that Aragorn now respected me a little. I had to admit; I respected him a lot more for it.

For the first time, we left the training area together, leaving Legolas behind to practice his archery. Not that he needed to practice; I think he just wanted Aragorn and I to talk. Come to think of it, we hadn’t talked properly since that night on the cliff top, when he’d told me his real name. That had been around two weeks ago. It had almost been a month since I arrived here. We walked in an awkward silence for a while, before he broke it.

“You did well today.” He mumbled, acknowledging my progress for the first time.

“Thanks.” I smiled, my cheeks reddening a little as I received his hard-to-earn praise, and then I frowned as something that had been bothering me crossed my mind. “I don’t get it…” I sighed as he glanced up, “Legolas always told me to control my anger, but I was only able to beat you when I got angry.” I looked up at him as he thought about what I’d just said.

“Legolas was right.” He nodded, “You should control it, and once you’ve controlled it you can use it to your advantage. Trying to use your raw anger will probably only get you killed, or occasionally it might work.” I thought I saw him smile a little, as if he knew which method I had used.

“I see.” I muttered, folding my arms loosely across my chest as we reached the main buildings. We slipped into silence again as we walked through the courtyard, before I noticed that Aragorn was staring at me. I looked up at him curiously as he stopped walking.

“Your arm,” He murmured, and I realised that he was looking at the inside of my wrist, “Has it healed?”

“Uh huh…” I nodded, holding out my arm for him to see. He reached out and caught my wrist with a gentleness that surprised me, considering that for the past few days the only time he’d made physical contact with me was so he could beat me senseless. His fingertips lightly brushed across the grey scars that stained my pale skin, they would probably be there permanently.

“Lord Elrond healed you?” He enquired softly and I nodded.

“Yeah…” I glanced up at him as he focused on the scars, “I… I would have died if you hadn’t delayed it.” I whispered shyly, “Thank you.”

“I would not have left you to suffer.” He murmured, releasing my arm and breaking our contact. I smiled a little as he looked up and met my gaze.

“Well…” I coughed, retracting my arm, “All the same, I owe you one.” He smiled very slightly as we resumed walking again and reached the delicate winding stairs that lead to the corridor my bedroom was on. We’d been training all day, and it was beginning to get late. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.” I said as I placed my foot on the first step. “G ’Night.” I smiled as I put my hand on the toothpick-thin rail and began climbing.

“Goodnight Alice.”

I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Aragorn turn away and walk back across the courtyard. I shook my head and smiled. I just didn’t get that guy.