Lynx: I'm back and I hope you all at least liked the last chapter just a teensy bit.
Legolas: When do I get introduced…? This is terribly boring… sitting here only on the A/N's and not in the actual story.
Haldir: Don't whine… I only get to be present for disclaimers. Oh yeah. Disclaimer: What does not belong to Lynx belongs to Tolkien, and what does not belong to Tolkien, belongs to Lynx. (Kicks the lawyers out)
Legolas: I want to kick lawyers out too…
Haldir: Be my guest…
Legolas: You shall all die! (Evil laugh)
Lynx: Uh… anyway, the usual read, enjoy, review motto.
Laure went about her room, tossing necessary items for her trip onto her unmade bed from all directions. When she was finished scouring her entire room down to the last drawer, she tossed her few things into a pack that she had found in one of her dressers and slung it onto her shoulder in satisfaction. It was still early in the morning; she knew many people were sleeping at this time.
When she got no more than three steps towards the door, it swung open, revealing her older sister, Artanis, middle child of Amros.
"Laure?" Artanis questioned as a surprised look came to her flawless face. "Are you planning to go somewhere?"
Laure blanched, searching her mind for something to say. She had not expected this... Quickly she ushered, "Archery practice."
"This early? Are you out of your mind?" Artanis' grey eyes traveled down to the pack hanging off her younger sister's right shoulder. "What's that for?" She asked suspiciously.
Laure chuckled nervously, "You know me… always prone to accidents… it's my medical supplies for treating on the spot injuries."
"Yes, I do know you." Artanis grinned, "Anyway, Father said you were awake so I came down to ask if I could possibly borrow that necklace Saeros gave you. It would go perfectly with that gown I have…"
"Ah… yes, help yourself." Laure smiled at her sister, impatiently tapping her thumb on the strap of her pack.
"You know I will." Artanis strode towards her dresser in four long strides, her black tail swishing with excitement.
"Well, good day, Artanis." Laure bowed her head to her sister. "I have to go practice that archery if I am ever to improve."
"Good day to you too, Laure." Artanis replied without turning around as she shuffled through her sister's jewelry box. "Oh... um… you're not going outside dressed like that, are you?"
Laure looked down at herself, noting that she was wearing a simple pair of pearl-white leggings with a hint of blue, a forest green tunic and a black velvet cloak with a hood. She smirked at Artanis' antics, "Of course I am."
"My sister, the tomboy of the family…" Artanis clucked her tongue against her teeth as she resumed fishing through the jewelry.
Laure turned and left the room, shaking her head. She went the direction of the gardens, where she usually practiced archery. She quickly hid behind an open door a few rooms away, waiting for her sister to come out so she could head in the opposite direction. Just as she suspected, her sister came out of her room wearing the necklace that the despicable Saeros gave her. Artanis closed the door quietly and went back into her room just across the hall.
Laure let out the breath she had been holding and adjusted the pack on her shoulder. Calmly, she made her way down the candle-lit hall of marble and tapestries, down the hall towards Valandil's room…
She reached his door to find it wide open and luckily unoccupied. She looked down the hall both ways to check if anyone was watching before she entered his room. Laure knew exactly where Valandil kept his battle armour, and she needed that armour to look convincingly like her brother. She went over to the oak dresser on the opposite side of the room and opened the second drawer from the top. There sat Valandil's armour in all its shining glory. It really was a beautiful set of armour; the metal it was made out of was bright silver and had not a speck on it. It was brimmed in sapphire and gold, with gorgeous tauren script engraved on the waistline and in the area of the collarbone.
Laure picked it up and held it before her, examining it. It was much lighter in weight than any normal armour, but it was as hard as diamond. It was a material only found on the reefs in the sea of Rhûn and was very hard to find. She carefully slung the armour over her shoulder, careful not to harm it in any way. She fished out Valandil's armlets and the silver shirt and leggings he wore underneath it, also placing them in her pack.
After she tucked Valandil's boots into her pack and grabbed the silver circlet that her brother often wore during war from its seat on top of the dresser, she closed the drawer and looked around for the only missing part… his sword. She froze when she suddenly heard footsteps and voices coming down the hallway.
She frantically looked around the room until her eyes came into contact with Valandil's mighty weapon on the opposite side of the room sitting on a rack on the wall. She dove across the room, grabbed the sword and its sheath from the rack, shoved them into her belt and dashed out onto the balcony.
Valandil then came into the room, closely followed by Amros.
"Yes, I have noticed that Laure has been acting very strangely the past week." Valandil said as he plopped down onto his bed, exhausted from the day's errands and nearly falling asleep where he sat.
"I wonder what is ailing her... My, is it cold in here!" Amros shivered suddenly before he had the mind to say anything else, "Do you always leave your balcony door open?"
"I must have forgotten to close it this morning before I left." Valandil shrugged as he pulled off his brown every-day boots and brushed back his mahogany hair tiredly.
Amros walked over and shut the balcony door, before returning to his conversation with his son that Laure could not hear anymore.
Laure was pressed up against the wall on the outside, waiting for Amros to get of view. The moment he did, Laure went to the rail of the balcony, looking for the easiest way down. She noted that it wasn't that far of a jump, maybe five meters vertically at the most.
'A real tauren could handle that easily,' Laure thought to herself as she tied Valandil's armour onto her pack so she could have her arms free. Frowning in concentration, she climbed onto the other side of the rail and lowered herself slightly for a shorter fall. She let go and landed gracefully on her feet before sinking down to her knees as her father's chief advisor, Calagin, strode by. He was the type of person that liked to get up early in the morning and take long walks. His daughter, Tari, was the same way, she also happened to be a great friend of Laure's.
When Calagin finally passed, his whistled tune silencing around the corner, Laure leapt out from the bush she had been hiding in. She sprinted across the grass and through some trees towards the stables, the armour on her pack jangling softly as she went. She almost screamed when Tari jumped out from behind a tree, her grey ears pressing against her blond hair in displeasure.
"And where do you think you are going?" Tari raised a sleek eyebrow at Laure, frowning the whole time. "You think you can just run away at the crack of dawn and not have anybody know about it? And is that Valandil's armour? You're stealing it! What is wrong wi-"
She stopped when Laure put a hand over the other's mouth and signaled for her to be quiet.
"I'm putting a stop to this war once and for all." Laure whispered, pulling Tari towards the stables and looking around to see if anybody saw them.
"Are you out of your mind?" Tari hissed when they got there.
"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?" Laure sighed exasperatedly, "It's starting to aggravate me."
"Laure, you cannot stop a war all by yourself, this is ridiculous!" Tari continued, ignoring her comment, "You're going to get yourself killed."
"Do not underestimate me." Laure snapped, her patience running thin. "I have to go Tari, promise me that you will tell no one that I am gone. You cannot tell anyone!"
"But Laure-!"
"No! Promise me!" Laure grasped the startled tauren by the shoulders.
"Fine, I promise… just… be careful." Tari whispered, hugging her friend, her sea green eyes brimming with tears. "I've heard a lot of disturbing things about King Thranduil."
"I promise… I'll be fine." Laure hugged her friend back. "Remember don't tell anyone."
Tari nodded in response, intent on keeping her word. She sniffed teasingly, "Look at you, all grown up and going out into the world on your own."
Laure grinned before she went into Lhunor's stall. The black horse belonged to Valandil and had been seen in battle with him. Laure needed to take every precaution if her scheme was to work. She saddled up the horse and fed it a handful of grains before she leapt onto its back.
Laure looked down at the teary Tari, "Remember, you've been sworn to secrecy. You can't tell anyone."
Tari nodded solemnly then waved as Laure kicked the horse into a gallop and was carried off into the trees, her hood in place so she could not be identified.
The guards at the gates let her through, considering that many taurens liked to go to the shores of the sea this early in the morning.
Laure rode hard for at least two hours before she began to set up camp near the border of the forest of Rhûn.
Leading Lhunor over to a shaded tree, she tied his reigns onto a low tree branch and allowed him to graze on the grass at his feet. She walked at least five feet from him and began to set up a fire. The moment she got the flame to spark up, she began to set up a makeshift bed out of her cloak. After getting it to her liking, she lay down and waited for sleep to claim her. Before she knew it, she drifted off to sleep without much difficulty, thoughts of tomorrow becoming her dreams.
She awoke abruptly the next day when a single cold and wet raindrop splattered onto her forehead. Wiping it off with her sleeve, she sat up, examining the darkening sky for signs of the weather. The sun had already begun to disappear behind a sheet of dark, ominous looking clouds, just waiting to pour their contents out onto the world below them.
Laure stood, stretching the kinks out of her muscles and yawning. The fire had long since burnt out, leaving nothing but ashes and blackened wood in its wake. Sighing, she began to quickly take off her clothes. After binding her chest tightly, she pulled on Valandil's silver leggings and his shirt from her pack. It was much too baggy for her, but she would deal with it as long as necessary. She shrugged the reflective armour on like a sideways jacket before fastening the leather latches on the sides, tightening them until they were comfortably at the right width.
She dug around in her pack until she found her brother's armlets, which were equally as impressive as the armour itself in its own way. Instead of being made of priceless materials, they were dark brown leather nearly black in shade. They too had beautiful flowing tauren script twisting around the wrists and the forearm in cleverly planned formation. After tugging those on over her forearms, she sat down and began to wrestle Valandil's lengthy boots onto her own feet. They were similar in colour as the armlets and had the same script engraved in silver, wrapping around the shins like vines of ivy. They were very comfortable boots and when put on properly, covered the entire leg up to the knees.
Sighing in relief, she finally fastened her long black cloak around her neck and shoulders, eternally grateful that her brother had the exact signature cloak as she. All three of them received these cloaks from their father as a gift, made of the finest velvet in all of Rhun. They were identical, each of silky ebony with large hoods and an extravagant silver clasp in the shape of a fox's tail to fasten it with.
She started digging around in her pack once more and extracted from it her brother's silver war circlet with the sapphire jewel embedded on the front. The strands of silver wrapped elegantly around the jewel and around each other like strings of yarn. She placed it on her head, relishing the cool feeling the silver brought to her forehead, where the jewel shone brightly.
As the last bit of her masquerade, she would have to do something about her face, even though it did look much like Valandil's, but with a feminine touch. Taking the inside of her cloak, she rubbed off any beauty enhancements from her face, including the substances on her lips and on her eyelids. With that done, she mussed up her hair a little more towards her brother's fashion and tucked the rest of it underneath her cloak so her hood was accessible at any given moment.
With that being everything she could possibly do towards making herself look like Valandil, she closed her pack after throwing into it all remaining items that she was not wearing. She strode over to where Lhunor stood with his head bent down to the grass. She patted his mane fondly before attaching her shrunken pack to the saddle so she would not have to carry it. After untying the black horse's reigns from the branch, she hoisted herself up onto the saddle and gently nudged him. He snorted in annoyance at having his breakfast cut short but made no further complaint as he began a quick trot, riding away into the west towards the elvish kingdom of Mirkwood.
Lynx: Omigod… so much description I know it's boring, PLEASE REVIEW I NEED REVIEWS (bursts into tears)
Haldir: (automatically goes to console her)
Legolas: (looking for more lawyers to boot out)
Laure: (walks in) I've been called to say the farewells. We hoped you enjoyed reading, now we wish for you to review please, for the sake of this author and her moral.
Legolas: (finds one lawyer hiding under a desk) (smiles like a devil)
Lawyer: (screams and runs)
Legolas: (gives chase) Come back here you vile human! I shall destroy youuuuuu!
