riverviewlogs | Catch-all post!

Ivar couldn't help but roll his eyes. Much as he liked Ronan most days, he was just like every other ignorant person who had underestimated Ivar his entire life. What could some sixteen year old cripple know about fighting? He was probably just all talk, right? There's no way he was good as he thought he was.

Ivar was just going to have to show him exactly why his name was known a thousand years after he had died.

The Viking moved his sword in a quick, practical movement that knocked the blade completely from Ronan's hand. He continued the move in a smooth arc, pointing his blade at Ronan's throat. It had all happened very quickly, fluid movements that all bled into one another. "I hope you're ready to listen to me instead of being pig-headed and stubborn. Or do I have to thrash you like a dog with the flat of my sword?"

After the initial, instinctive reaction of surprise, Ronan looked vaguely irritated at this turn of events. He'd expected it, but he was hoping Ivar would at least get on with the instructing part. The fact that he had a sword at his throat didn't seem to disturb him. He raised his hand and pressed it the flat of the blade to push it down as he stepped away. Ivar would scare him, maybe beat him like he said, but he wouldn't kill him.

He might if Ronan kept on being Ronan, but that couldn't be helped. He had but two ways, three max, to express his feelings for people. The default was to be an asshole to them.

"I'm not your bitch. Find another dog. I already told you the lecture is boring. So how do I hold the dirk?"

Beneath it all, he was impressed by the skill, but it was against Ronan's code to show admiration. It was especially against his code to show it after getting a wimpy half-sword knocked out of his hand before being threatened.

You know, the temptation just to beat Ronan soundly over the head was growing stronger and stronger. If he hadn't known Ronan was ninety percent asshole anyway, he would have. There was no way was he letting Ronan get the last word in. "Woof woof," Ivar said in a sarcastic tone.

Then he got serious and wheeled over to grab the dirk from where it had landed in the corner. "Alright, you don't hold a dirk outwards like a sword or a dagger. You hold it down in the reverse grip." He demonstrated the proper grip, the same way one would hold an ice pick, with with the blade facing down towards the pinkie finger. "When someone with a sword comes towards you, you block it with the long part of the blade. Then you get in close and stab at them. Let's try."

He handed the blade back over to Ronan and took up a ready position again with his sword.

"Thought you'd never ask." After that, he took a break from being snide to actually learn something.

Ronan adjusted his grip until he'd successfully mimicked Ivar's demonstration. It didn't feel right initially, but he was growing to like the feeling of holding a weapon. Even if it was a shitty one that had just been knocked out of his hand.

He took up a defensive stance and watched Ivar. He tried not to focus completely on the sword. The shoulders and arms would move first, so he watched them as well.

Ivar waited for Ronan to stop being his usual jerk self and actually take this seriously. He lifted his sword up, using it with one hand in the Viking style. The other hand was usually supposed to have a shield in it, but Ivar had found that his mobility was limited enough as it was.

He brought the weapon up it a overhead blow like he was going to bring it down and take off Ronan's head. The teenage Viking went a little slower than usual so that Ronan would have time to parry using the method Ivar had just told him. He wasn't going to gain anything by just knocking the dirk out of his hands again.

Not one for mouthing off in the middle of a fight unless his opponent was his older brother, Ronan remained quiet.

He raised the dirk, shifting so the long part of the blade met Ivar's. Ivar hadn't demonstrated this far, so Ronan improvised what getting in close was. He stepped forward as if he could shove Ivar back, instinctively trying to push his blade away before moving to stab him.

It was about time that Ronan focused. Maybe Ivar wasn't going to have to beat him around the head after all.

He let Ronan push his blade to the side so that he could come in closer. Before he could come in for a finishing blow, Ivar did something unexpected. He dropped his sword, which wouldn't work as well at close range, pulling out a knife with his off-hand, and bringing it up to counteract the dirk. He pushed Ronan back, speaking as he did so. "Now do you see the advantage? It works against longer blades and in close quarters too."

If there was one thing that Ronan could focus on, it was fighting. He just had to get past the banter and into the action. Adrenaline was too sweet and too fleeting to waste. He wasn't there yet, but he planned to be before this was over.

Ronan took a half step back due to Ivar's defense, but then he pressed forward. "So what's your game plan?" He twisted his blade and swung it to the side. If he could knock Ivar's knife out of his grip, all the better, but all he needed was to get it out of his way and create an opening.

He liked what he was seeing in Ronan. Now that he was properly focusing, it was clear to Ivar that he was going to get the basics down in no time flat. He wasn't having to start from square one with him like he was with some of his other students.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ivar's blade was in the forward position, perfectly suited for stabbing and going on the offense. He switched it to his right hand, the dominant one. He kept it close to the body rather than sweeping it outwards, so when Ronan swung his blade, he was braced for the impact, but he still felt it all the way up his arm.

Ronan knew he shouldn't expect to disarm Ivar on the first try, but the failure frustrated him anyway. It gave him that extra push as he stepped even closer, shifted back into the stance he'd use to throw a punch, and thrust his dirk at Ivar. Brute force was his go to for fighting, and he carried that with him here. With that much power, he could possibly wedge it into his bone, if used properly. He had confidence that Ivar would find a way to stop him, but he still aimed at his shoulder just in case.

At the same time he raised his other hand, ready to try and stop Ivar's dagger if he tried to take advantage of any possible opening and stab Ronan. It was half-planned, half-instinct. Normally, he'd grab that hand and twist it away and he seemed ready to try it now. No one ever accused Ronan of thinking long-term or having any regard of his physical well-being.

Ivar waited to see what Ronan would do next. He didn't disappoint as he thrust the blade forward again in an offensive move. Ivar brought his blade up to block the blow again and then grabbed the wrist holding onto the dirk.

He pulled him forward with the momentum, quickly pulling his blade back and then forward again as if he was going to stab Ronan in the stomach. He stopped before the knife could actually do any damage. They were at a nice stalemate right now, so Ivar flipped his knife downwards, running it along the inside of his arm down towards the floor. "You're not bad. Raw but that can be worked on."

The sudden movement ruined Ronan's attempt to block Ivar, which was really a good thing for his fingers.

Ronan stepped back and lowered his dirk. He didn't acknowledge the compliment, if it even was one. He took it as an assessment. "What's next?"

"You've got the basic movements down for offense. What comes next is a lot of practice." Tedious, he knew, but Ivar wasn't going to listen to any complaints. Bigger moves would come after the basics had been mastered. It wasn't going to do Ronan any good if he didn't know how to stab properly.

"As far as defense goes, you need to work on that. You leave yourself open to unexpected moves too much. And I doubt those monsters are going to play nice and wait for you to learn to block properly if they come back again." At least after a few more sessions he'd be able to rest more easy knowing Ronan could defend himself properly.

"Yeah, my guts could've told you that." Some other parts of his body could as well, but that was the one that nearly did him in.

"So what I'm gonna have to do a bunch of practice moves before I can fight?" He raised his dirk and pointed it at the sky. "And am I stuck with this?" He could work with it but now he wanted to try knives in addition after seeing what Ivar could do.

"Practice is the only way to learn properly. Do you think I just woke up one day knowing how to fight? I didn't have a whole lot to do when I was young, so I just constantly tried to get better." Ivar had been on a constant quest to be not only equal, but better than his brothers. It had taken a very long time to achieve that goal.

"I think you'll do alright with a knife as well." He'd wanted to get Ronan's measure and now he had it. A different weapon wouldn't hurt any to try.

"I just practiced on my brothers." Ronan's father was not the best parent. Later, Ronan was not the best brother.

He nodded his approval at the knife comment. He swung the dirk once to try it out again. It was far less satisfying when it passed through air instead of striking metal.

"Alright, so let's get the boring crap over with. Show me what I've gotta do to keep my viscera on the inside next time."

Ivar grinned. "So did I." Ubbe and Hvitserk he actually sparred with, Sigurd he more tried to just beat the shit out of because his older brother was a punk-ass bitch.

"Alright. Follow what I do." Ivar proceeded to show Ronan the basics of how to use a knife to fight with. He went over the moves first at normal speed and then more slowly to show off the nuances. When he was done he looked over at Ronan, he asked, "Got them down?"

Ronan nodded. "Got it." He pointed his blade at Ivar. "When I'm finished learning, we get a rematch."

Not a real fight, of course. He didn't want either of them to get bloodied. But he wanted to see Ivar at his best. He could say it would be a test of his skills, but honestly the motivation was pride.

Catch-all post!

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