My feet slammed onto something semi-soft, but my mind didn't have time to register much more than that, a much more powerful feeling was demanding my attention. I fell to my knees, groaning and gagging. I heard the staff clatter onto the mat, but I didn't care. I was too focused on my roiling stomach.

"Damn," Sif whistled as I tried not to retch. There was a clatter of metal against plastic and I dared glance up to see a red-haired man placing a white bucket in front of me. "You look green," he informed me with a smile that was barely visible in his thick beard

"So, who are you? And where am I?" The place looked a lot like some of the gyms I'd been to in Boston. The floor was covered in dark blue wrestling mats and the walls were simple brick with some pull up bars built into them. But that's where the normality ended, I realized as I spotted several straw dummies and racks of varying weapons bolted against the walls as well. I also spotted some plain wooden shields hanging from pegs on the walls.

"You are in the training rooms shield men and maidens frequent and I am Foreseti," the red-head said, meeting my gaze with unusually green eyes. "Very nice to meet you." He held out his hand to me, which I eyed warily, remembering what Thor had done when we'd first met. My hesitation did not go unnoticed.

"What? Isn't this how you Midgardian's say hello?"

"It depends," I said, "are you going to shake my hand or kiss it?"

"I was going to shake your hand," he answered, "but if you'd prefer I-."

"No!" I interrupted before he could finish. "I do not want that."

"Yeah," Sif piped up. "She doesn't. See, Thor kissed her hand when he met her and you should have seen her face!" She doubled over, laughing at the memory and I found myself smiling against my will. Though I had been mortified then, looking back the memory was quiet funny now.

"It was a bit of a shock for me," I admitted, "and I don't want it to happen again or offend you with my reaction."

"I'm not easily offended," Foreseti assured me. "I'm too nice a guy to let those things bother me."

He held out his hand, which I took this time but now I was even more wary about him. Every time I'd heard a guy declare himself to be "nice" he never was. He was someone who thought being kind to a woman entitled him to sexual favors and then got mad when she turned him down. More often than not, these were the guys I saw in stalking cases and some assaults.

I let go of Forseti's hand, determined to keep an eye on him as I saw him give a sidelong glance at Sif. "So," he said in his booming voice. "What brought you ladies here?"

Sif twirled one of the staffs expertly between her fingers. "Miss Hamada here has a a combat trial to attend next month, she needs to start training. I'm not a bad fighter myself, but it's useful to be trained against more than one opponent, don't you agree?"

Foreseti beamed, finally displaying his row of gleaming white teeth. "Good thinking." He looked at me again, crossing his arms across his chest which happened to be quiet thick and hairy. "Let's get started!"

"Hold on," Sif put her hand on his forearm, stalling him. "Let's figure something out first. Suzume, what training did you get on the department?"

I shrugged. "It varies from department to department, mostly it's just about defensive tactics and how to handle suspects that resist and assessing situations. I do some martial arts on my own, Jujitsu and Krav Maga are the ones I enjoy the most." I got blanks looks so I explained further. "Jujitsu is a Japanese martial art. I got into it in high school and continued it through college. I got into Krav Maga afterwards because Mathew, my partner told me it was useful for police officers. It's a fighting style that was developed by the Israeli military."

"Bit of a tough girl then are ya?" Foreseti sounded a bit disbelieving when he said that, which only increased my initial dislike of him. He reached out, as though to pat my head as though I were a child. Thankfully, he was moving at my speed,  which gave me an opening I was more than happy to use.

As he reached out, I grabbed his arm and yanked him forward, taking him by surprise which I took further advantage of when I stuck my foot out to trip him. A Greco-Roman wrestling tick Mathew had taught me in my first week on the job.

He landed with a hard thud and looked up at me, blinking with surprise. "Yes," I said confidently. "I am a tough girl." I cracked my knuckles in a mock-show of toughness. "Now, what can you teach me?"

Beside me Sif was smiling, her expression radiant with approval. She tilted her head at me, longhair falling into her face.She tossed me the staff I'd dropped and I caught it with ease. I had a feeling this would be the only part of the lesson that was simple. The staff was about five and a half feet in length and not too heavy, but even so, it felt awkward and clumsy in my hands.The feeling doubled even more so as I saw Sif twirl her about like it was an extension of her body.

"Since you already have an adequate knowledge of hand to hand combat," she said, still moving her weapon fluidly, "I think it's best we begin at weaponry."

"Where do we st-!" I cut off as Sif lunged at me, moving at a human speed, thankfully and so I swung out with my arms automatically and our staves crashed into each other. I winced as I felt hard vibrations run up and down the metal and to my arms and hands.

"You're hands are too close together," Sif told me. "Slide them apart more, gives you more control. These staffs and other weapons like it are designed for you to be able to use either end to attack or defend. And it would have been easier, in this case, to defend with the back end, which you were not able to do because of your positioning."

I adjusted my hands again, holding them more an equal width away from either end of the staff. The metal was smooth which helped make the transition easy. Sif nodded her approval to me. "Better,now adjust your stance, your legs are too close together. If you try to block a heavy blow you need a good foundation."

I did as she told me and then she nodded once to me before repeating her earlier attack. This time, I tried to swing out with the back end of the staff, again, our blows met and vibrations ran up and down the weapon, but this time I saw a different. Rather than just hitting blindly about as my first attempt had done, this one put more weight into the strike and allowed me to force her staff back towards her.

"Better," Sif said and I tried not to smile. "Now adjust your stance, your legs are still too close to each other."

And for the better part of an hour, Sif continued to teach me how to fight with a staff. The rules were strange to me, as I had never been trained in close combat with a weapon like this before. The need to keep my grip both strong and fluid at the same time was a concept I struggled with at first, but the time wore on, it became easier to do.

However, learning to have control of my strikes was another matter altogether. The staff was long and unfamiliar to me and I wasn't always able to control it when I had it in motion.. Namely, I struggled at times with stopping the staff mid-strike and switching direction. Sif didn't say it, but I could tell by the red flush to her neck and cheeks that she wasn't pleased.

"Dammit," I cursed as I'd failed to stop an overhead strike of mine for the third time. What she'd wanted me to do was stop the overhead and swing it down to towards her legs instead but when I had tried, it had been sloppy and unfocused. If it hadn't been for her incredible speed, I would've probably injured myself or her by now.

"It's alright," Sif grumbled but if the  sharp glint in her eyes was anything to judge by, it was not alright at all. I was not where she had hoped I'd be.

"Okay," Foreseti boomed and I jumped, startled. He'd been very quiet this whole time. "I'm calling a break, Sif tag out. It's my turn now."

Sif blew a stray fringe of hair from her face. "Are you serious? We barely started!"

"There are other weapons besides staffs Sif," he replied, getting off the nearby folding chair and walking towards us. "And she should learn a few of those too."

Sif shrugged and twirled her staff carelessly. "Fine, I give. Maybe a break from the staff is a good idea."

I looked at the racks on the wall, agreeing privately. Sif was clearly frustrated and my hands were red and throbbing from the constant striking and parrying. A break was welcome. "Where should I put this?" I asked as I scanned the rows. There didn't seem to be any real order to the placement of the weapons in the room. Axes, hammers, swords both long and short, daggers, bows and arrows and some other items I didn't recognize were all thrown together without regard for whether or not they were the same.

"I got it," Sif flew past me, snatching the staff right from my hand. She placed it on the rack and gestured at me to move. "Go and practice whatever else it is that he wants to go over."

I turned and saw the Asgardian standing near the row of straw dummies, a crossbow in one of his massive hands and a container of arrows as his feet. "Come," he said, holding the bow up a bit. "Let's see what you make of this."

I took the heavy weapon from him, the frame bulky in my hands. "Do you know how to load this?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I did an archery unit in high school, but we didn't use bows like this."

"It's easy enough," Foreseti assured me, "point the crossbow down so the claw foot," he indicated the piece with his index finger, "touches the ground." I did as he instructed and once it was done, he moved on without missing a beat. "Turn the safety off, you won't be able to pull back the string," again, I did what he asked, "now grab the string with both hands and pull it back, make sure you have a steady and even grip or you're more likely to hurt yourself or damage the bow."

I nodded and moved slowly, careful to follow his instructions. I had no idea if he'd be condescending if I did it wrong, but I didn't want to risk dealing with it. Whether I distrusted him or not, Sif was right about it being useful to spar with more than one partner and I didn't want to risk offending him. Once I stood back and he nodded his approval, I hefted the heavy thing again.

"Now just put the bolt in place and take aim," he said, handing me one of the short arrows as he spoke. I took it and notched it into place and then pointed the weapon at the straw targets at the end of the room.

I waited a moment, making sure of my aim and then pulled the trigger. I grinned as the bolt found it's mark in the dead center of the target. "Nice," Foreseti approved, "can you do it again?"

I nodded, "Yes. I can."

And so, for another hour it was the same, load, shoot, reload and when the quiver ran out, retrieve the arrows from the target.

I was a lot better with the crossbow than I had been with the staff. I figured it was because of my background with my Glock. However, the weapon did come with its own set of challenges that were unfamiliar to me. One of which was reloading the weapon, which I could do but I was not fast like Foreseti was. The other was the actual weight of it, it was far heavier than my gun and soon my arms were leaden and weak from shooting it. Still, I was not going to voice that complaint aloud. I'd go as long as they would.

I paused to look at the target which looked a great deal like a porcupine now. I let the heavy crossbow fall to my side, my left arm sighing in relief as the weight left it. I didn't let myself savor that however, as I used it to retrieve another arrow from the container beside me.

"That's enough for today," Sif called, and I stopped, hand still on the arrow and turned my head to look at her.

"What?"

"I'm calling it," Sif said, popping up from her seat. "You've done enough for today."

"I'm fine," I disagreed. Yes, my bones felt like lead in my arms but I still didn't want to quit. We hadn't been at it that long. I didn't want to look weak to Foreseti. Though I certainly did not believe he was a "nice" guy, he did appear to be a friend of Sif's and I did want to show him that I was strong, even if I was only human.

"You need to eat something," Sif said. "You've probably burned through ten thousand calories today." She grabbed the crossbow from my sweaty hands. "We're done for the day."

"Come back to tomorrow," Foreseti told me with a smile that did look genial. "I'd be happy to help you prepare for the trial."

Yeah but what do you want in return? I thought, though I did notsay that aloud. Though Foreseti had been a decent teacher, anyone who proclaimed they were "nice" always set me on guard. Those who cried loudest about their virtues were the ones who usually lacked them.

"Can we walk this time?" I asked Sif, almost pleading. Dealing with motion sickness twice today had been enough and I really wanted to forgo that if I could.

"No," she said, shaking her head sadly at me. "Not all the way, we do have to teleport out of here. But we can walk the rest of the way."

It wasn't what I wanted, but it was better than nothing. "Fine," I said, reaching for her hand but to my surprise, she didn't take it. Faster than my eye could follow, Sif flitted across the room and then was back at my side, a small blue bucket in her hand.

"Just in case," she said with an apologetic shrug in my direction. "Bye Foreseti!" Then she took my hand and air crashed down on me like a hundred pound weight. Fast as it began, it was over and I stumbled against a wall, knees shaking and Sif holding the bucket out to me, ready in case my lunch decided to reappear.

"Sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to make you feel sick."

"It's not your fault," I said, careful not to open my mouth too much. I didn't have much in my stomach except bile but I didn't want that making an appearance. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you, I would've brained you during training if you weren't so fast."

Sif shook her head. "You've never trained like this before, I don't expect you to get it that fast. I haven't met anyone who can."

"You seemed upset during the session," I admitted. "Your face was all red."

"Oh that happens anytime I run," Sif said. "Always been that way." She brushed her hair back from her face. For the first time, I noticed that her roots were damp; she'd been sweating. I hadn't noticed since I'd spent half our staff training wiping buckets of sweat from my eyes. "I wasn't angry with you at all.

"You did well today," She said this with an approving smile. "You'll have to work out finer details, but you do have some raw materials."

My hands were still numb from the staff training and my shoulders felt as though they were being dragged out of their sockets from the crossbow. I didn't feel like that screamed of raw materials and it must have shown on my face.

"I'm serious you know."

"Yeah," I yawned. "I know, but I feel like I just had my ass kicked seven times."

"It was more than seven," Sif bumped me with her shoulder and I would have laughed if I hadn't been so tired. "But don't be hard on yourself. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," I said, "I'm okay, let's get moving." We began walking, silent for a bit and pondered what Sif had told me. Given what Thor had told me about his people, how their aging halted around their mid-twenties the idea that Sif had been a warrior longer than I'd been alive made perfect sense.

We came to an elevator and the moment we were close, the doors slid open as though they could sense us coming, perhaps it was more magic. We stepped into the elevator and I stared at the buttons with the runes inscribed in the metal. "Um which one...?" Sif pressed one of them before I could finish my question and we shot up. I didn't feel it though, thankfully. I wondered if that was part of the magic that had been built into the structure.

"How often will you be able to train me?" I asked as I leaned against the cool wall of the elevator. It was a relief against my sweaty skin.

The door dinged open and my eyes snapped open, startled by the sound. I hadn't even realized we'd stopped. "That depends," Sif told me as the doors began to open. "How often do you want to train?"

"Ideally I'd like to do that every day, but I know it's not always going to be possible since you have other responsibilities here. You're part of Thor's council aren't you?"

Sif nodded. "I am, but not at the moment. Anyone who's got a contestant in these trials gets a free pass until further notice. I'm free to train you as often as you'd like."

I felt a wicked grin pull at my mouth. "You're kidding me right?" I heard my voice reach a sharp pitch as a swooping feeling of excitement rippled through me.

"Nope!"

I put my hands to my mouth to muffle the high-pitched sound I was emitting and partly to hide the stupid grin on my face. I didn't know much about Sif, but I had gathered enough from this one training session and her actions in the month she was part of the department to know that she was excellent at combat. I supposed part of that was due to however many centuries worth of experience she had-and she was offering to share what she knew with me.

Apparently the thought showed on my face. "You look like a kid in a candy store," she commented. "Did I use that expression correctly?"

"Yep," I nodded, lowering my hands and trying to get myself under control. I'd managed to stop the squealing, but I still had that crazy grin plastered to my face.

"You really like all this stuff don't you?" She commented, her long, muscled arms swinging at her sides as she walked. "Fighting and whatnot?"

I shrugged and tried to hook my fingers in pockets that weren't there. "It's not exactly fighting that I enjoy. I don't like being caught in situations where fighting is something I have to do."

"So what do you like then?"

We turned a corner as I answered her. "I like knowing that I'm capable. That I can do all of this, it makes me feel strong and capable. And if something bad happens, I like knowing I have the skills and prowess to do something to protect myself and others if I have to. I don't have to be a victim."

But you were, a little voice in the back of my head said wickedly. You were a victim when that Jotun attacked you. I grit my teeth against the truth of the words, pain and angering boiling my blood as I recalled his red eyes and that damn smirk as his ice spikes impaled Yuki.

Yes, I had been a victim that night. All my skill, knowledge and ability had been useless to me. I'd been unable to do anything then. But it didn't mean it had to stay that way forever."Nana korobi ya oki," my father's voice sounded in the back of my mind. I'd been beaten by that Jotun once but I was my father's daughter. I would not stay down.  I was going to stand up again, even if I had to drag my bloody, broken body up inch by inch to do it. And if that monster had any since, he'd be far away when I did. Today was my first step in that journey back.

"Nana korobi ya oki," I repeated to myself and I realized I must've been louder than I thought because Sif acknowledged it.

"What?"

"It's a saying in Japanese," I explained, "fall seven times, stand up eight."

Sif smiled. "That's good advice, who taught it to you?"

"My dad."

"He is very wise."

"Yes," I agreed. "He was."

"Was?" Comprehension dawned on her face. "Suzume, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," I lied, decade old anger burning inside me as I recalled that night I'd opened the front door and had my world shattered.

"Suzume are you okay?" Sif's voice was laced with caution and I snapped out of my thoughts to look at her. Her amber eyes were narrowed and her hands were reaching out, as though to comfort me.

"I'm fine." I said, confused by her behavior. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look angry."

I smirked. "I'm not. I just have resting bitch-face syndrome."

Sif's eyes widened and her jaw hung open. "What?"

"It means when my face is in a neutral expression it looks like I'm really mad, when in reality, it's just how I look. I'm not mad, I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

"How sore I'm going to be when you beat my ass up and down the mat with a stick tomorrow." I lied, not wanting to talk about Micheal Cortez or what he'd done to my family.

In that moment, thankfully, my body provided a lovely distraction in the form of a growling stomach.

Sif laughed at the noise. "Is the Midgardian hungry?"

"Very," I agreed.  "Which way to the kitchen?"

**************************

New chapter! Suzume has begun her training! For those wondering, no I did not make the NaNoWrioMo goal, my final word count was 41,192-so close! Sadly, one of my classes ended then and I had a 200 point paper due, as well as training for a new job at Aldi's and having to stay at a friend's house since the store I was training in was an hour away from home and we got a large snowfall during the weekend. During which time I also started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it's pretty awesome! Any other fans out there?

Write on! :)