DANCING AFTER DEATH - kol mikaelson

25: If You're Not A Price... What Are You?

Alaric looked at me with a deadpan expression as I hit the dummy he set out in the woods, it being the billionth time.

Well, not the billionth time. But it sure felt like it.

"You suck at this."

"No shit sherlock."

A grin appeared on his face as he walked forwards and readjusted the dummy, walking behind it to hold it in place as I punched it once more. He studied my stance for a moment, critiquing it in his mind, before he frowned, walking back up to me.

"You're going to break your hand if you punch like that."

"And then I could just kill myself and walk over from the Other Side unscathed."

"And then you'd have to bury another body," he raised his eyebrows. "What number are you on? 7? 8?"

I frowned. "No idea, actually. What are you on?"

"First? Second? I don't know. If I could go back in time and watch my deaths I'd count that."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," I turned to him, swiping the hair out of my face so I could look at you properly. "Have you–"

"How about," he interrupted with a smile. "I teach you how to throw a punch, properly, to minimise your damage. And then we go to the Grill and get food afterwards so we can get out of this cold."

I narrowed my eyes at him but complied anyway. "Okay. Fine."

"Alrighty, first of all," he tilted his head. "Are you a lefty?"

"Ambidextrous."

He looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I shrugged. "I really badly hurt my hand when I was little and trained my other hand to do movement things like cast spells and write and do... everything. I was afraid I'd broken it and Donna wouldn't take me to the hospital."

"Spells need... hand movements?"

"Some do," I frowned in thought. "Not really Bennett's considering they're the more... the theoretical side of magic. Using magic when it's needed, in life or death situations," I shrugged. "But other covens that I've run with, some do completely non-verbal magic. Like, one dude, Dave, he made a whole bunch of brooms sweep around this huge warehouse where he built these massive tesla coils and played them to the song Secrets by OneRepublic. He was a bit of a nerd, though he's cool."

"Um–"

"He then went off to kind of save the world from this chick named Morgana," I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully. "We lost touch a while ago though."

"Right," Ric frowned as if he were concerned for my mental status before clearing his throat. "Well. What foot do you kick a footy with?"

"Uh..." I blinked. "Left."

"Right, well, what a lot of people don't know is that a lot of power from the punch comes from the bottom half of your body, not the top. So, make sure you have a strong stance. Left foot behind your right, angled towards the target."

I followed his instructions, my clumsiness resulting in me almost tripping over my own feet, before I steadied myself.

"And, hold your hand like this,"

He showed me a fist with his thumb over his middle finger. "If you hold it like this," he placed his thumb underneath all of his fingers. "You'll get a boxers break. They're annoying. Don't recommend."

"Make sure your arm is straight, strong punch otherwise you'll sprain your wrist, bend the knees, pivot etc. etc.," I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Knowing how to punch is all well and good, but how is it going to protect me from the things that are out there?"