Title: A Teacher's Duty
Chapter 2: A Class of Hooligans
NOTE: The title of this story has been changed from "The Terrors of Teaching Elven Teenagers" to "A Teacher's Duty" upon the advice of one of my reviewers. Thank you.
…
"I cannot believe I was unlucky enough to come and pay you a visit just when your father had this idiotic idea!" Aragorn complained, only half pretending, "I will never come here again! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER!"
"Aragorn," Legolas said, as sweetly as he could manage in his frenzied state, "Would you do both of us a favor and shut up for once in your life, please! For one thing the idea is not idiotic. We both know that we need each other as allies, because Mirkwood and Gondor have been facing the same enemies, orc skirmishes and such, and neither is well prepared for it. So if we join hands and together produce an army of the greatest skill the world has seen, then we're both better prepared. And for another, you can't help coming here again. You're going to be coming for one week a month to teach them yourselves; you can't help that. You're going to teach them for one week in a month and then disappear off to Gondor the rest of the time, but I'll be the one who's stuck with them for an entire year. You don't see me complaining!"
"Alright, alright I'll shut up, for now. But only because we have to go to our first class right now… And Legolas? There's no need to worry. I'll cover for you, when you need me to, at least for this week. I don't deny it'll be difficult for you, you'll have a hard time with this lot; since they know you're the Golden Prince of Mirkwood and all it'll be tough to teach them or get them to focus, but I'll help you through it. I promise."
Legolas smiled. Trust Aragorn to say something like that, and when he had most needed it too. "Thank you, mellon nin," he said, smiling gratefully at his friend. They walked on in silence, until they neared the glade in the forest that had been fixed for classes. As they made a turning, tumultuous noise greeted them.
"What the-?" Legolas exclaimed, stuffing his fingers in his ears.
Aragorn merely grinned. "Your childhood was centuries ago, so you may have forgotten the ways of a class packed with teenagers," he said. "Elven or otherwise. This is quite a huge realization for me. Maybe we did make as much noise as the teacher always asserted we did. He said we were the smallest class he had ever taught in his entire life and we still made the most noise. I remember certain occasions when he stormed out of the class at his wits end. Had absolutely no idea how to do anything with us."
"Thanks a million for the encouragement Aragorn," Legolas said sarcastically as they stepped into the classroom. What he saw nearly made him step right out again. They were everywhere. Throwing arrows and quivers all over the place, shouting louder than he had imagined any one had been capable of shouting. Even the girls were seemed to be taking a delight in yelling at each other at the top of their voices, though at least they weren't throwing things around like the boys were.
"I don't think even we were as bad as this," Aragorn muttered into his ear, but that was the least of Legolas's worries. His eyes raked the room again and again, trying to find some trace of sanity. His eyes fell upon one girl, standing quietly in the shadow of a tree, watching all that was happening around her without any change in expression whatsoever.
Her hair was curly, dark brown with a fiery red gold in it. It fell past her shoulders halfway down her back. She had been sensible enough to tie it back in one elegant knot, unlike the other girls, who had taken great pains with their hair. Her face was beautiful, but very cold and hard, as if she had pushed emotions back, far out of recall or desire.
Her eyes met his suddenly and something stirred within him, like an old memory that he had barely lived for a moment. He started as he saw her blue eyes. There was pain there, making her look centuries older than she was. Pain and loss.
"Well at least one seems something less than a hooligan," Legolas muttered to Aragorn, nodding towards the girl. Aragorn nudged him. He took a deep breath and clapped his hands loudly. Not one of them heard. He groaned, knowing he had no alternative now than to raise his voice, something he had not been planning to do on the very first day.
"EXCUSE ME! MAY I HAVE ORDER PLEASE!"
Immediately there was a lot of hissing and shushing and they finally quieted down.
"I would remind you," he said coldly, "that for a warrior his weapons are his greatest assets. Do not take them lightly. Now you have unlimited ammunition, but you will not always. So would you be so kind as to pick your respective weapons up and then stand before me in some sort of recognizable order?"
They did as he had told them to do, with downcast expressions, and flushed, embarrassed cheeks.
"Now," he said a little more pleasantly, "Can you please tell me all your names. The She-Elfs first, please."
"I'm Ananya Azverlet, sir," said a sandy-haired girl. "And this is my twin sister Enanya."
"How on earth am I to tell you apart?" Legolas exclaimed before he could stop himself, for the two girls were like as two peas.
"You don't, sir," Enanya, or so he thought, replied, "We'll take care of that bit, we've been doing it for years."
He waited till the rest of the girls introduced themselves, taking particular interest in Ivana Oakenshield, the girl he had noticed before. Then all the boys introduced themselves. He didn't pay much attention to them, except one boy, Elano Timani, who was very soft-spoken.
In fact, Legolas realized, though he hadn't noticed earlier, this boy hadn't been of the ones who had been chucking things and yelling like madmen. He had been standing so unobtrusively under a tree that Legolas had had to look around to find the origin of the whispered "Elano Timani."
He gazed at the class. Seventy-six students. By the Valar, he was lucky he had a good memory for faces and names. For once he truly sympathized with Aragorn, who was looking, to say the least, befuddled.
"Well," he said, suddenly at a loss as to what to do. "Shall we begin?"
…
TBC…
Many thanks to kind reviewers!
