Chương 7: The Offensive
Tolfdir sneakily left his room, fully suited in his armor, and both his sword hung from his side. Creeping up behind a secant he gripped the scared young man by his shoulder, gently whispering into the young man's ear, "Where's the kitchen?!"
It didn't take long to be led to the kitchen where Tolfdir's began to stuff his face with bread while looking around at the space. After making sure nobody was around he dropped a few large balls of bread into his helmet and gave it a few taps before quickly leaving the Kitchen.
With the tourney starting the next day, starting with Archery then the Melee. The jousting would start the day after and most likely take the whole day, but Tolfdir didn't care about that… He had a job to finish…
Tolfidir began to roam the castle in silence, the servants gave him light nods whenever he passed and the maids bowed low.
Tolfdir was surprised to find a child roaming the halls, but quickly shoved his surprise to the back of his mind. Was it so rare to find a child within a castle…? Tolfdir didn't think so, there had to be almost a hundred people living in the Red Keep, the majority being servants… What were the chances one of them had a child…?
Yet, the woman who trailed behind the child caused Tolfdir's steps to stall, "Olenna…?"
The woman showed the same rosy smile Tolfdir had remembered, "Tolfdir, you seem to have taken care of yourself…"
Tolfidr nodded, "You don't look like you've aged a day since then, have you still yet to remarry?"
Olenna gave a nod back, as she gently pulled the child into her body, "We both know I'd never be able to remarry, after my late husband passed in his sleep. The smell of death never sat well with me."
With a solemn nod, Tolfdir's eyes fell to the child she held close, a tinge of pain washed through his heart as he crouched down, "Child, what's your goal in life?"
Tobin looked up to Olenna, as if asking for her approval to answer the question, the woman gave the child a faint nod, and the child returned his eyes to Tolfdir. Finding it surprisingly difficult to meet the man's eyes, "I want to ensure that my family legacy continues for centuries— NO! Millennium to come!"
Tolfdir's eyes softened, yet darkened at the same time… A coldness washed down his back as he stood up and moved past the duo without another word said.
"Mother," Tobin looked up to Olenna, "Who was that man?"
"Someone you should only learn from and never mimic, one day you may grow close to that man, but always remember to keep him at a distance."
Despite his mild confusion, Tobin nodded in understanding, "Okay mother."
Tolfdir remained in his room desperately clutching his short sword to his chest, until a Servant came to his room informing him the Melee was going to begin soon…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tolfdir eyed the man in front before dashing forward, low to the the ground, taking a wide stance perpendicular to the man, he unleashed a two hand thrust into his chest plate, shift his feet he sprung upwards with a tapered horizontal slate, nicking one person's elbow and deflecting a downward swing. His left hand shot away from the hilt while his right arm snapped into a deep swing on his right side, while his left grabbed a man by the back of his helm.
Tolfdir's previous swing, bought him enough time to violently twist his body bringing the pummel of his sword to a stumbling knight, the man seemed to have lost his feet when Tolfdir pulled his opponent back. Following all the way through, pivoting on his lead foot Tolfdir drove his armored knee into the side of the man in his grip, connecting with his elbow, a snap reverberated through his leg, and Tolfidr knew it hadn't come from his own body as he dropped low.
A swing had nicked his helmet, twisting his head a little but Tolfidir had already positioned himself, lunging upwards he drove his sword up into the neck of the man's helmet sending a satisfying crunch through the sword. Flinging the man from his sword, Tolfdir pointed at an angle towards the ground as he let out a roar…
"Thou Shall Fall!" His House Motto making its appearance for the first time in years. As he lunged towards his next opponent his wolf pelt muffler flared upwards briefly revealing the sigil of his house, a hollowed silver sun with faint steel trimming. His dull training sword plunged into a helmet's visor over a man's shoulder, gripping the other man's visor Tolfdir yanked back as he freed his sword, created some distance, then drove the edge of his sword into the man's neck.
Tossing him aside, Tolfdir heaved a short breath as his eyes rapidly roamed the field, before lunging towards another duo who were too engrossed in their own fight. Slamming his foot into the back of one man's leg, he dropped to a knee just as his opponent's sword slipped through his own, connecting with his head the man slumped to the side as Tolfdir's sword drew an awkward angle, forcibly closing the poor man's legs soon to fall backwards an expression of terror hidden under his helmet.
Tolfdir's next step lande on his helmet, before the kicked off to the side, performing a short roll before bouncing back to his feet with a groan, his shoulder had definitely taken the brunt of that maneuver. Yet, his advance didn't stop as lashed out with an upward slash parrying a downward slash while stepping in close. Tolfdir gripped the neck of the man's chest plate and drove in with a headbutt sending the man stumbling back a step, following through with a two handed downward swing to the man's lowered head sent him into the dirt.
Yet, a groan from behind, forced Tolfdir to snap around his sword trailing behind him in a curved upward swing, catching the man in the pit of his arm and resounding with a loud crack…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Mother, I think I understand," Tobin looked up towards his mother from the Melee Yard.
Olenna looked down, with stark curiosity, "What have you understood dear?"
"To win a confrontation, you must force your opponent onto the back foot, advance only on the most unsuspecting prey, and strike swiftly and to those who can't be caught unaware one must respond with all the ruthlessness one can conjure to breed fear in others, furthering them onto a perpetual back foot. In an attempt to forever gain the advantage."
Olenna hummed in delight but softly chided, "That is only one side my dear, one can never be fully prepared with only offense. Only a balance of Offense and Defense can truly trump all, whether be a castle siege, a war field, or simply a battle of wits and words both Offense and Defense must be present and properly managed."
"Only so much ruthlessness can be used, fear erodes fear my dear child… and once the fear of the consequences are overshadowed by the desire for freedom, only vicious beasts remain… Yet you must remember that excessive kindness will always be preyed upon."
Tobin furiously nodded as he repeated her words in his head nearly a dozen times, before returning his focus to the melee, the one who had shouted 'Thou Shall Fall' in particular… One of the few men, his mother had warned him to keep distance from.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Tolfdir locked eyes with a behemoth of metal and flesh, wielding a greatsword as if it was only a longsword, the two stalled for a brief moment as the crowd separating them seemed to thin until there was nothing blocking their path, Tolfdir was the first to move. Immediately backpedaling before twisting around and slipping into the crowd, smashing a skull and breaking a knee cap that happened to cross his path. He could hear the screams of pain behind him, and knew that the behemoth was on his tail, catching sight of the fence he made a beeline for it.
Just as he grew close he leapt, narrowly avoiding the greatsword as it impacted the ground and kicked up a puff of dust. Half twisting while landing one foot onto the fence post, half crouched, Tolfdir bounded forward wrapping his sword behind the behemoth's neck and using it as leverage to drive both his knees into the man's chest.
The hit had left Tolfdir's knees trembling as his feet hit the ground, the man had dropped his sword and stumbled back a few steps. Not daring to take his eyes off the man, Tolfdir plunged his sword into the dirt before grabbing the greatsword and tossed it over the fence. Just as the behemoth began to charge forward, with a wide sidestep Tolfdir circled around the man and planted his foot onto his back, sending him crashing through the fences that marked the boundary.
Paying the man no more attention, Tolfdir snapped around only to find two people standing, some distance away from each other, forming a triangle. At nearly the same time they removed their helmets, one revealing luscious golden locks and the other a balding head of white hair.
Tolfdir started the two down with an obscenely large smile that partly closed his eyes, tipping his helmet over a small piece of bread fell out, deftly catching it, Tolfdir chomped down on it, "The weather is quite nice."
Both the old Kingsguard, and Jamie had similar reactions to Tolfdir's remark. They both held a deep frown, yet the old man was different. He had noticed Tolfdir's calm breaths, that lack of sweat glistening on his brow… the amount of blood smeared across his balde and splattered across his armor, his expression hardened knowing this wasn't going to be an easy fight as he put his helmet back on.
Jamie, however, seemed to have forgotten to place his helmet back on and recklessly charged forward assuming Tolfdir wouldn't, couldn't react fast enough…
However he couldn't be more mistaken, the tip of Tolfdir's sword 'tapped' his temple and Jamie dropped.
A deafening silence over took the arena, and only one voice could be heard, "Ohhh, SH*T!"
Tolfdir would've broke out into a fit of laughter if the old man hadn't lunged forward with a feint, calling his bluff, Tolfdir stepped in close enough for their helmets to touch, his sword fell from his hand as he crouched down and grabbed the bottom of the old man's cuirass, "Huuup!"
In one fluid motion, Tolfdir arched back to the point that his own cuirass dug into his back and kicked off the ground driving the old man's head directly into the dirt, a dull groan sounded out surprising Tolfdir, he had expected his lights to be shut out. However even after several seconds, the crumpled figure of the Kingsguard didn't rise to his feet nor attempt to…
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
The surroundings broke out into a thunderous cheer, but they began to die down as Tolfdir solemnly pointed towards the ground and spoke, "Thou Hath Fallen."
The cheers exploded once more, planting his sword into the dirt, his eyes scanned the stands only to spot a face that brought back a flood of memories…Tolfdir swiftly walked away leaving nearly everyone present stunned.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Seeing Tolfdir disappear into the crowd, Evelyn whispered to a robed woman at her side, "Call Astrid to replace your duty, then go find Tolfdir, inform him I wish to have a talk and will arrive at his door at dusk."
The brown garbed woman nodded under her black hooded muffler, before gesturing towards a black haired woman with a heater shield strapped to her back and a long sword dangling from her waist. Catching the gesture from the corner of her eyes she quickly came over, the robes woman whispered her a few words and the black haired woman took the robes woman's place, buttoning up her white tunic to look at least a bit more proper for her Lady…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
'Mother I want our House to last a thousand generations!'
'If it's you Tolfdir, I believe you could make it happen…'
'Mother! Please… open your eyes! P-please…'
(A/N: Thoughts on the fight scenes? I feel as if Tolfdir had it too easy and felt as if the story would lose some of its flavor if he was 'just' a strong warrior, so I'll most likely be injecting some mental strife to unsettle his mental state.)
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