NB: This is a section from a story that I'm beta reading for a mate who hasn't come out of the figurative fanfic closet yet. I really liked it, being a Haldir fan. I'm trying to get her to post, so I'll pass on any reviews you give!
THE CHASEThere was a noise to his left. He froze, his only movement in his eyes as he glanced around himself, and his nostrils, flaring slightly as he scented the air as thoroughly as the game he pursued. The noise again, a little further away this time, like his quarry was moving quickly but heedlessly through the undergrowth. He spun and gave chase, his feet moving soundlesly over the leaf litter. His quarry was fast, but he was faster. The noises seemed to falter, and swerve a little to his right, the steps becoming uneven and clumsy, as if with fatigue and injury. He slowed a little as he got closer, then stopped, casting around for some sound or indication of the nearness of the object of his chase. He stood still. Moments passed. The breeze rose and rustled leaves around him. Nothing. He had lost the trail.
Abruptly a shape erupted from the undergrowth to his right, and launched itself at his chest with a high laugh, knocking him to the ground and holding him still despite his struggles.
"It seems the hunter has become the prey, Marchwarden," the woman on his chest said, her voice breathless from exertion. "And your life is forfeit to me."
Haldir chuckled and freed one hand to brush a lock of hair from his face.
"It already was, Fiusa," he asid, panting a little. He chuckled. "You combine cunning with your skills. I am helpless against you."
She shot him a brilliant smile, and relaxed her posture a little, dropping from kneeling on him to straddling him. She rubbed a hand across her cheek leaving a smudge of earth.
"Indeed you are. I have won this –"
She was interrupted by a growl from him as he clasped her thighs and suddenly rolled over, pinning her beneath him. His breath stirred the hair that had fallen across her face, and he raised his eyebrows, his face inches from hers.
"I too appreciate the value of catching an opponent with her guard down."
She smiled sweetly into his eyes. He felt a prick and a poke into his stomach, and raised himself off of her to look down. The point of her dagger dug lightly into his tunic, brushing the skin of his belly. He looked back at her.
"Apparently not enough," she said. He growled deep in his throat, and lowered his head to hers.
"But this victory, I think, is mine," he said softly, and kissed her soundly, his tongue brushing hers. She twisted her face away, breaking the contact, and neatly squrimed out from under him, settling on her haunches a few feet away. He stretched luxuriously, and settled back, regarding her playfully. She looked at him evenly, and began to casually play with her dagger.
"Didn't I give you that dagger?" he asked. She glanced up.
"Didn't I win it from you in a contest?" she asked archly, thrusting it into its scabbard and brushing her hands together before wiping them on her tunic.
"Only after I won it from Glorfindel himself. And then I gave it to you." His tone, as usual, was vaguely mocking, and drove small splinters of both attraction and irritation into her spine making her shudder lightly.
He noticed.
And grinned.
She picked up a small handful of earth, and threw it at his face, before leaping to her feet and haring away into the woods again, slowing only enough to ensure that he was following. Soon she might let him catch her, but not quite yet. The chase was becoming most enjoyable.
*If you, like me, get a little squishy about Haldir, I'd recommend "In the House of Elrond"(hope I got that right!) by SevereObsession. Very yummy bit of fluff! Oh, the story's good too!
