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There was, incidentally, a training room buried deep within the hotel and it had taken Zelda this long to find it. She usually liked to go out of doors as much as possible as she hated being confined but today she had sought out amusement within the hotel itself; doors were still something that were hit or miss and she hadn't felt like taking the risk today.

It looked nothing like a Hylian training room would look. The equipment was all impossibly modern and several contraptions were so complicated that Zelda did not have any desire to try to learn how to use them. What was of interest were several training dummies that looked remarkably like the ones used by the Hylian army to hone their sword and shield skills. This, she could work with - but not in a dress.

She returned to her room and changed into Sheikah training garb she'd worn all her years as Sheik but decided that she wanted to hone her physical skills in Zelda's body and not effect the change. Not today. It would cause too many questions and produce lies that she was unwilling to keep up for the moment. So much of her life had been trafficked in secrets and the hotel was the one place where Zelda wanted merely to be honest.

The fit was a bit tighter, considering, but Zelda had always been slender no matter which form she took. It would work for her purposes today and she stole back down to the gym to train. She had daggers tucked in her boots and launched an attack, daggers flying into the face of the two dummies to her left and right as she flung herself toward the center one to use fists and feet.

It had been a long, long time since she'd been able to use this particular set of skills.

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Zelda startled for a moment, which was never something good when one was throwing steel around. "Careful! I could have caught you with one of these things and done you a terrible injury. I am easily startled when I am practicing because I am not paying nearly enough attention to the world around me."

While she was skilled in battle, this was a definite flaw and Zelda did much better with the cloak of stealth that magic gave her. Out in the open, she was vulnerable.

Erik leaned against the door frame, smirk firmly in place. "Beggin yer pardon, but I reckon I could handle anythin ye threw at me, love."

He added a wink at the end, hoping to bring that lovely blush to her cheeks again.

Zelda huffed lightly, color coming to her cheeks. She could have truly hurt him and she felt like he was taking it entirely too lightly. Still, she guessed she did not look terribly threatening in this particular body.

"It's not something I do lightly. I've killed my fair share."

The confidence in her tone raised his brows close to his hairline. "Have ye?"

He looked from the woman to the target she'd aimed at and gave a grudging nod. "I can see ye've got a bit of lethal aim there, Princess, but daggers are one thing and swords quite another."

"A sword has longer reach," Zelda conceded. "But if you are filled with arrows and steel before you ever see your enemy, the sword does you no good. I do not particularly enjoy open combat if I can possibly help it. Too easy to be overpowered and killed by someone who possesses more brute force."

"Point to ye," Erik allowed. "Arrow would certainly agree with ye as he favors a bow over any other weapon and he's dead lethal with it. But I've always preferred a sword t'a quiver that can empty and leave ye open t'attack. It's good t'have a backup lest ye find yerself run through."

"You might be run through. They usually do other things to women," Zelda said quietly. "Before the running through, anyway. Would you like to see me use a sword? I don't think I could lift yours. It's entirely too large for a woman my size. We would need something much lighter if I were to actually be able to do anything with it."

Despite the comment about what was done to women, a problem even in his time, Erik laughed full and deep over the rest of her statement. "Ah, love, don't ye know the best way to a man's heart is t'complement the size of his sword? Despite the size, I'm certain ye could lift it fine."

He was never more thankful for his kilt as it did an admirable job of hiding the evidence of his mind conjuring images of her doing just that. Especially dressed as she was, like the other women here, with her legs almost bare, covered only in a form of braies.

Zelda was sure that she could, if only because she could use magic to augment her strength. Still, she was hesitant to show such things in front of Erik because she cared for him and was interested in him and she did not wish to see him look at her in disgust for using magic.

"Well, shall we give it a try, then? May I hold your sword?"

Erik had to close his eyes and concentrate on his breathing for a few moments before unsheathing his sword and walking, carefully, over to stand in front of her. "Aye, ye may. But have a care with it. It's more dangerous than ye might think."

"I am no delicate flower," she said, lifting the sword. It was too heavy for her to swing normally but she used magic to give her strength and flipped backward, holding the sword against the dummy's throat.

"But I still do not prefer swords. Yours is very fine, though, and well-made."

"Nay, I can see that," Erik commented as she lifted the steel easily, something he knew was no small feat as he carried the thing on his back as well as in battle. "Ye've a touch with the blade and a lethal streak with it," he commented with a nod to where the blade's edge rested.

And thankfully, his body was starting to get over the reaction to the talk of her handling his sword.

Zelda lowered the sword and wondered if she had overstepped. She had shown a side of her that was self-sufficient and needed no man for protection and it wasn't entirely feminine.

"I learned this because I had to learn it in order to protect my throne. It has been a long time since I have had a chance to practice."

"Any time ye want t'brush up on yer skills, I'm at yer service," Erik responded with slight bow at the waist. "I'm sure we can find suitable substitutes so I don't end up hurtin ye by accident."

He had to admit to being pleased that she took it upon herself to fight for her throne herself. Only the Countess had been as stalwart about fighting for her title and risking all of it to set the crown on Bruce's head.

"Actually, could we work on hand to hand? No weapons," Zelda said, not relishing the idea of going against Erik while he used a sword. That would require a great deal of magic and would be difficult to ignore. Besides, she wanted to work on relying upon herself and not something that Nayru blessed her with.

"I simply wish to practice and you're so much bigger than I am that it will be a challenge."

The idea appealed, quite a lot, but oh, how it was fraught with danger. Not physically. He could bring his level of fight down to training rather than proving himself to the Chief and the rest of the Guard. But hand to hand required closeness, extreme closeness, and her lush curves and her manner of dress...

He was sure he could handle it.

"Hand to hand it is then," Erik nodded and set the sword on the floor near a wall where it wouldn't be in the way.

Zelda took a moment and launched an attack, thinking to go low and use her short stature to her advantage in trying to take him out. She did not use magic this time, only her own strength, and wondered if Erik would be quick enough to see what she intended and counter it or if she'd catch him off guard.

It was something like a dance, a good sparring session, and there was give and take on both sides.

She completely caught him off guard. Erik was still trying to decide how to best position himself, and where to attempt first when suddenly he was taken out at the waist by the smaller blonde and found himself on his ass.

"Well played," he commented, grinning despite being completely bested.

Zelda was currently straddling him and rather than be embarrassed, she grinned brightly. "I told you that I did not do this lightly. I trained for many, many years under a powerful warrior. She taught me everything I know about stealth and attack."

It took nearly all of Erik's concentration to not focus on where she was sitting. "Aye, I'm startin t'see that."

His hands were flat on the mat beneath him because they wanted to go to her hips, to shift her just a little. But since that went against everything he's promised her, he kept his hands off her and used his legs instead, lifted enough to raise her from his thighs and rolled out from under her.

"Will you train me further? I want to learn to swim and be deadly in the water too," Zelda said, rising to her feet and grinning at him. "I want...I want, when I return to Hyrule, to be fully equipped to lead an army into battle if I have to. I want to take my kingdom back brick by brick."

"I'll do everything I can t'help train ye," Erik replied while getting slowly to his feet. He waited a moment or two before springing at her, taking her wrist and getting it up and behind her back.

"Now. How would ye get out of this one?"

Being held this way effectively cut her strength in half. Zelda sunk down, wondering if she could use his height against him but that only pulled her shoulder and made her yelp out in pain. "Ah! I have no idea, Erik. You'll have to teach me the right way to get out of it."

Erik loosened his hold at her yelp, but not enough for her to free herself from it. "From where ye are, ye've got a few vulnerable area for attackin. A quick snap of yer head backwards would get m'chin, stompin on m'foot at th'instep would to t'unbalance me. But the best way t'drop a man holdin ye thus would be a quick elbow backwards," he told her. "Guaranteed t'take down any man with ill intent and free ye t'get distance enough t'arm or run as the case may be."

"So, like this?" she asked, sharply jabbing him with her elbow so she could pull free. It was effective, even if she hated hurting him to get out of it. Apparently learning combat with someone she was attracted to made it much, much harder to actually implement anything of use.