A/N: Okay, I felt the need of writing this, so I hope you enjoy this one shot!
The clashing and slashing of elven steel was echoing through the practicing fields of the Mirkwood residence.
Her red flow of hair was dancing like a wild inferno whilst his silvery-blond mane twirled around him as they charged at one another.
The two fought with remarkably even skills in their dueling with swords.
The Mirkwood prince and Captain of the Guard fought both swiftly and smoothly with their dual blades, but at the same time, the audience around them had looks of concern written on their faces. The two elves had been clashing steel for an eternity it seemed, and none of them had grown tired, having them wondering if they fought until blood was shed.
Tauriel and Legolas fought as fiercely as infuriated wargs released from their cages, never backing down.
Some of the elves in the circle around them abruptly moved as their she-elf leader came leaping down from a fallen log and brought her right sword forcefully down unto Legolas' readied crossed block with a raging cry.
He pushed her back with his block but she didn't falter as much as he would like. The blades scintillated as the brims on their swords scraped together.
Legolas forced her backwards in the circle and had her fighting back in defense. She dodged each of his blows, much to his frustration.
Tauriel had enough of his dominant role in this duel and quickly found a way to get her in his place. She had never been the sub in any of her fights, and she was so absolutely not going to be inferior with him, prince or not.
She blocked one of his side blows one more time before she utterly surprised him by carrying out a series of melee attacks.
Her swift slashes with both swords had him struggling to block each one of the attacks whilst she whirled around, having him even more occupied with dodging, staying on his feet and holding up his guard.
Tauriel saw her opportunity and double charged and finished her move by sending her left sword at his throat, preventing him from fighting back.
"Smart move," Legolas told her shocked, yet impressed, with a small smile on his lips. His hands still held his own blades, but they were up in surrender. Tauriel raised a fine brow at him and gave him a nod of approving of his compliment whilst pointing the tip of her sword at him.
The crowd around them let out slightly shocked gasps mixed with joyous woops at her victory. Never had they thought the prince of Mirkwood could be defeated in his own passion.
However, Legolas wasn't done quite yet.
He took Tauriel by surprise as he swiftly removed her sword out of the way with his left sword with such force she staggered back.
Despite his sudden move, Tauriel executed his oncoming blow with her right blade. Legolas saw it coming and quickly disarmed her right hand, the sound of metal against metal screeching.
The she-elf came to a quick conclusion and lithely ducked under his swinging sword above her neck.
Legolas took one stride forward and when she straightened up again, he had one hand at her shoulder, keeping her in her place, and a sword at her neck.
"But not smart enough," he said huskily as they both stood there panting, faces inches apart. It was at the point where Tauriel looked into Legolas' crystal-blue eyes, which were gleaming with excitement, she knew she had lost.
All he could see in hers smoky green ones was the usual spark mixed with alertness after his finishing attack.
The crowd around them grew silent with low whispers and murmurs between them, but soon relaxed as they saw Tauriel and Legolas' grins spreading across their faces, which had them chuckle as well.
The two elves stepped apart after a moment of awkward silence and they clasped forearms as thanks for the duel and with a last glance at one another, they parted ways.
. . .
The last rays of the sun emerged through the trees of Mirkwood. The soft breeze whispered against the leaves and ground of the forest, signalizing that evening was to come.
That meant for every elf was to return in for the night. However, some elves remained, sharpening their weapons, cleaning up or simply chatting. Farther away from the archery court there was some horses stood drowsing by their three elven masters, who were discussing bow techniques.
Tauriel however, did not participate in the conversation. She was the only one left practicing with her bow. She had a standing quiver on the ground filled with arrows, and she reached down for one. She quickly readied it to her Silvan bow, lingering just a moment, before letting it fly. She watched it fly all the way across the court before it hit just outside the centrum of the target.
She frowned displeased at the result and bent down to get another arrow. She readied the arrow once more, but just as she was to notch it, an arrow flew past her and hit the core of her target. She whipped around and saw that Legolas was stood with his bow in his hand.
Tauriel quirked a brow at him before rolling her eyes with an amused smile at his appearance.
"Need some help?" he offered as he walked down to her side.
"Things are well in hand, thank you," she answered mildly as she concentrated. She let her readied arrow go and a second later, they watched her arrow hitting the bottom of Legolas' arrow shattering it, and the splinters of his arrow fell down to the ground.
"I see…" he answered impressed by her shot.
Tauriel notched another arrow, but she was slightly distracted by Legolas' presence, and with the fact he was stood so close to her. He stood so close that she could even smell the fresh scent of the forest radiating from him.
She let out a soundless groan as she saw the arrow hitting the third outer ring and she was just about to let another arrow go when she felt strong arms supporting hers.
"You see here, if you relax your wrist and steady your shoulder, you will hit your target easier and more securely," Legolas said against her ear. His breathy voice tickled her ear and she tried to hide the shiver that traveled down her spine, and she hoped he didn't sense it since he was stood leaning against her side whilst helping her.
Together they let the arrow fly and watched it pierce the center of the target.
"There you go," he said merrily as he looked down at her with a blissful smile.
"Well, I will keep that in mind. Thank you." Tauriel answered gently before she looked up at him, meeting his eyes once more that day.
"Anytime." Legolas murmured back, almost forgetting that they were still stood close, and when he finally managed to escape the trance her green eyes had held him in; he cleared his throat gently before stepping apart from her.
Tauriel dropped her bow and started tracing the string with her thumb and index finger as she admired the carpentry on the bow.
"You fought well in our match today, Tauriel, well done," Legolas suddenly praised her and she couldn't help but smile whilst fidgeting with her bow.
"Hmm, I think I almost had you once or twice there, despite your victory. But I will not go as easily on you next time, Legolas," Tauriel said playfully as mischief twinkled in her eyes when they met his. He cocked a brow in amusement and unsheathed his swords.
"Is that so? Well then, care for a rematch?" he asked her as he stroked the edge of his left sword.
In truth, he felt pleased that the two of them were the only ones left in the training field, whereas he enjoyed time with her alone.
Tauriel immediately laid her bow down against the quiver and responded to his request by unsheathing her swords as well. She rotated one of them elegantly before sending him a secure smile, which he returned.
"Bring it, Prince." She said whilst smirking.
As being told, Legolas attacked first, but his attacks were blocked by his opponent. The fierce expressions on their faces under their match earlier were now replaced by grins, as they almost danced with a playful pace to their blocking, dodging, charging and slashing. They moved as gracefully as all elves did, but they also moved in synch with each other, which made their clashing of blades an art.
Tauriel, however, wanted more fun in their little game.
Just as Legolas sent a sword her way she locked it with hers and with the help of her footwork, he was disarmed. He was now lessened by one sword, having him using the remaining sword against hers dual-blades.
Although Legolas had one sword against hers two, his strength made up for it, though Tauriel was swift and lithe in her movements which had him more or less busy with blocking each of her blows.
Legolas was growing weary of fighting with only one sword, and decided to make things a tad more interesting.
He waited for his opportunity to come, and when it did, he tackled Tauriel and as planned, she fell backwards.
Much to Legolas' surprise, Tauriel had dragged him down with her, and when she hit the ground, she flipped them around so she was on top of him. She had lost one sword in the process, but she rested the sword she had left at his neck and held him down with her free hand.
Legolas smiled at her boldness, and his eyes met hers once again.
"Now, that's highly unfair, don't you think?" he asked her playfully, and his heart jumped as she laughed merrily.
"Oh, don't tell me you are giving up so soon?" she answered just as teasingly. Her panting made her long strands of hair fall down from her shoulders and unto his chest. Legolas brushed away one of her auburn strands that was dangling in front of his face and gently tucked it behind her pointy ear.
Tauriel's heart was hammering against her chest at his touch, and by the fact that he was lying on the ground underneath her overpowered.
They locked eyes and Legolas stroked her neck tenderly, and with a blink of an eye, he swiftly flipped them over once again. He grabbed her hands and entwined their fingers above her head and pinned her down.
"You could only wish it," he answered with a grin whilst he watched her confused expression turning into frustration by the fact that he had gotten her so easily. Her red mane was a wild mass on the forest ground and her sword was a mere feet away from her grasp.
She didn't really think about her swords at the moment, though.
What had her mind was the prince who had her pinned down and was so close to her. She didn't fight back, mostly by the fact that he was too heavy for her to pry free, but also because she didn't mind having him so close.
Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips before she spoke.
"It seems like I never win our duels, do I?" Tauriel asked hopelessly. Legolas chuckled at her remark.
"There is one thing you have won, Tauriel," he said huskily as he looked lovingly down at her.
"Ten' anwa...?" she said knowingly with a small smile on her lips.
"Cormamin…" he whispered and at first she seemed shocked at his words, but then she smiled beautifully up at him. Never had she thought he cared that much for her, and now that she heard him say those words, she almost couldn't believe it. (However, she trusted she heard him right.)
"Then you could replace it with the one you bear – mine…" she whispered back, and those were the confirming words. The ones who had him leaning down slowly, slowly enough to see if she would pull away.
Tauriel closed her eyes and leaned in as well and their lips met halfway in a soft, warm kiss. Legolas released her hands and ran them down her slender, yet strong arms, and stopped once he reached her ribcage. In return, Tauriel rested her arms around his shoulders whilst hugging him closer.
This had Legolas kissing her more deeply and he poured all of his love into it. He didn't even register it when Tauriel rolled him over so she could lie down beside him, her mouth never leaving his. He brought her closer to him by cupping her face with both hands before they moved back to lace at the base of her skull, fisting her hair.
He then sat up so he could travel his smooth lips down the column of her neck and rained kisses on her soft skin there, whilst hugging her closer.
Tauriel let out a small moan whilst she fisted the silky tresses of his silvery blond hair, her arms still around his shoulders.
Legolas knew that if he didn't part away from her now, he would either go too far than intended with her, or he would succumb from the lack of air.
With much effort, he pulled away from her and her from him, but they were still entangled in each other's embrace. Tauriel rested her hands upon his broad shoulders and he had one arm on her waist whilst the other one was cupping her face. They looked into each other's eyes and she leaned into his warm hand.
"We should go back for the night," he suddenly said, and she simply nodded in answer.
He stood up and offered her a helping hand, and she took it as he pulled her up to her feet. They picked up their weapons and he grasped for her hand again as they walked back to the Mirkwood castle, and she noticed how perfect their hands fit together.
He looked down at her now seemingly tired face and she felt the weight of his gaze. She looked up at him and her eyes met his.
"I still won the duel, though," Legolas told her ardently, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Next time, prince, she thought to herself whilst giving his hand a loving squeeze.
A/N: I had slight problems working the last part out, but it'll do.
Hope you liked it! (I really like tips and such through reviews )
Translations:
Ten' anwa - For real/really?
Cormamin - my heart
~Dragon
