Strawberry - In the empty Blacksmith's shop
Confronted by Hathaldir
The guard certainly seemed to be doing his best to intimidate the helpless young boy he saw before him. Unfortunately for him, not only was this 'boy' not a boy, but she was also not the least intimidated. Small she might be, but she was far from 'helpless', having dealt with far more frightening things than this man. First, her eyes narrowed, as he stepped in closer, demanding to know what 'he' had been sent for. She could come up with a dozen things. Horseshoes, nails, a tool of some sort, a variety of common household items... but she said not a word. Partly, because before she had a chance to decide what to answer, the man had made a grab for the knife in her hand.
Strawberry was caught off guard, having not expected him to try anything like that. How could she have let her guard down? She knew better than to get careless like that, and should have anticipated such an action from the man. Annoyance at herself flared within, which fueled her to act on instinct as his grip closed on the knife, wrenching it from her grasp. Strawberry twisted herself around lithely, so as to break his grip on her hand, and possibly leave him with his own wrist in pain. She was momentarily unaware that the motion had brought his arm across the top of her head, pulling her cap from her head. Stepping back once free of him, she realized she had acted before taking the time to think it through. A long, tightly braided rope of hair came tumbling down from where it had been coiled on top of her head, hidden beneath the hat and tucked carefully out of sight. She glanced with some alarm back at the forge, seeing that her hat was beyond saving by this point, and, further alarmed, turned back to face the guard as she heard his exclamation. "You!"
That was it. He'd recognized her from the posters she knew were plastered around town. She should never have come here, she'd known it would be dangerous, so why had she gotten so careless? She could have kicked herself. But instead, she focused that anger on the situation at hand. He had recognized her, and now there was no way she was going to get out of here without a fight. He would arrest her, and bring her to her greatest enemy, and that would be the end for Strawberry. She couldn't let that happen. No sooner had the word left his mouth than Strawberry leaped into action. The first was a powerful, close-range punch to the sternum. Despite his armor, it ought to leave him a bit winded, but it was more for the purpose of driving him back a step or two. Sliding back swiftly to give herself room for her next move, she leaped into a spinning kick aimed at his face; a feat he likely did not expect from a girl who barely came up to his chest. Letting the spinning motion carry her immediately into a follow-up move, a kick that lashed out to sweep his leg out from under him, she hoped that would be enough to hinder him from chasing her as she leaped up to her feet, intending to make a hasty exit..
