Chapter 2: First Impressions

~ X ~

Thranduil watched for the very first time how Dillion, a man who slayed his enemy without mercy, dotting on a young ellth.

The three ellons and the young ellth sat in the tent where they were conversing and drinking wine together.

"She is a spitting image of her naneth" Dillion tried to squeeze the girl's cheek but got slapped away.

"Ada enough" She gave him a good glare, she reminded him of Legolas when he got upset about being dotted on.

"Does the Avari not have one leader?" Thranduil asked looking between Aaron and Zoë

"Aaron is the political leader, I am the one that leads our warriors into battle" the ellth said as she poured more wine into my cup.

How interesting

"My Ada informed me that your realm needs more people and you are in need for more warriors."

"That is correct" Thranduil replied making eye contact with a dark pair eyes that belonged to the young female.

"We are happy to oblige as long as our people may live here as well" Aaron said taking a drink

Thranduil watched as the female did not take a sip of wine.

Did she not drink?

It was uncommon for an elf not to drink, it was tradition, and it came along with the festivities.

She seemed unsocial like being around so many made her uncomfortable.

She observed and listened to those around her, a quiet thinker. That is what she seemed like to the king.

"We will have to expand since it seems you have brought many with you" Dillion said he held his daughter's hand.

Thranduil watched as Dillion's thumb ran over the girl's knuckles in a loving manner, she did not protest to his affections.

"Lately we have been getting more little ones to annoy us" Aaron laughed as he filled his cup with the red liquid again.

That is right, how did they have so many little ones?

~ X ~

Thranduil watched as his streets were filled with little ones running and playing. The ellths of the woodland realm pulled on some of the Avari men to show them around.

The two clans seemed to be getting along just fine. It had been three days since they arrived into his realm.

Dillion had not been much at his side as of late, every time he requested for him, one of his maids said that he was with the young Avari ellth.

He did not want to take the time from him, spending time with one's child is something that is hard to pull away from.

Dillion seemed like the dotting father to him however, same could not be said for his daughter.

It was to his understanding that Aaron was Zoë's cousin, her uncle's son.

They did not reveal where they were residing before coming to Mirkwood, but it did not bother him much. He had gotten a bit soft, as of late. His son wanted to leave and see more of the world and he wanted to keep him in his realm, safe and sound.

He understood the heart to venture, even in times of peace war can strike.

Dillion informed him that the Avari wanted to move because humans started to harass the young ones and the women.

They did not want conflict, they were a warrior oriented clan but because they started to have so many young ones, war would harm innocent lives.

It was a wise decision he thought.

He heard a knock coming from his office door.

"Ada, I brought Lady Zoë" Legolas informed him as the ellth was standing beside him.

Their attire was a bit different, at least for the women, or maybe it was just this ellth. She was wearing leggings, boots, and a short top that revealed her stomach and her arms.

"Thank you Legolas"

His son had left with a bow and smiled at the young girl.

"Please have a seat"

The girl nodded and took a seat by the side where a small table and another chair across from her was positioned.

"I believe it was your cousin Aaron, to come speak with me" Thranduil stated as he poured a glass of wine for himself and was going to pour one for the female, when she raised a hand to stop him of his action.

Thranduil set goblet down on the table.

"Aaron has been preoccupied by his sleep, he drank too much last night"

Thranduil smirked as he drank from his cup.

"I will not be as entertaining as my cousin, but I work just as well as him"

She made eye contact with him and again it seemed like, he could not pull away it was a very strange feeling.

"I have a few questions, and we have to work out the details so that everyone can live here peacefully and comfortably"

She nodded and gave a motion for him to continue.

"How is it you have so many elflings?" He asked and at that moment he could see her expression become serious.

She moved her concentration to the tapestries against the wall.

"We were having the same issues you are facing now, when the darkness surfaced my kin were growing less and less every day."

She took a breath and sighed.

"Adainformed me of something called a bond that Sandarin do with their loved ones that you can only love once and only marry once"

"That is correct" Thranduil answered honestly, it was a common thing to know about them.

"We made the choice that we would no longer do that, the bonds would be severed. The growth of our people, the survival of my kin that was our priority."

He stopped his action to consume the liquid in his cup. What did she say?

"Sever the bond?"

"Yes, we were down to only having less than a hundred elves, we made the order every man and women that was capable of having children would do so immediately."

She made eye contact with the King of Mirkwood, she knew something like this was highly frowned upon by other elves.

"Within two hundred years our numbers grew from less than a hundred to four hundred."

It had him taken aback, it was taboo by Valar to break such an important rule. It made elves special to share such a connection with their people, their loved ones.

"We are here to learn it once again, to live in peace without malice of men. To help our kin to survive, the beloved caves of Mirkwood should be filled with life again."

Thranduil was taken aback, she seemed so young but her wisdom was that beyond her years. He knew now the reason Dillion had made this type preposition to him.

Take her hand

The words his general told him a few weeks back was now ringing in his mind.

"Yes, Greenwood is in need of life, the trees have been livelier since your arrival lady Zoë." The ellon observed her features once again.

Everything about the Avari seemed dark their eyes, their skin tone, and even their hair, but it seemed as though that was not the case in their personality or hope for their kin.

~ X ~

She had watched him as the conversation about the elflings ended.

"We should also discuss the matter of training, since my father informed me that spiders and orcs have been a bit of a disturbance on your borders."

"I will assign my son, Legolas, to that matter with you and Dillion can also be of assistance since he is my general."

She nodded and was about to leave when Thranduil said her name. Zoë halted her actions and turned around to face the notorious King of Mirkwood.

"I do not know if you were informed but you are more than welcomed to take one of the rooms in the palace." Thranduil said as he stood up

She noticed how tall he was, the man stood a good foot and half taller than her and she was average height for an elleth.

"I appreciate the offer your majesty, but I rather be with my kin while they are settling down"

The king nodded in understanding.

The young elf opened the door but stopped when she realized to mention something.

"We are having a feast tonight, your realm is invited, and we would like to show you how we celebrate."

"I will make an announcement"

~ X ~

She walked through the camp and watched as the mothers were fussing over their children. Her men drinking and smiling while being scolding by their lovers.

The ellth entered her tent and grabbed some clothes to change into and started to make her way to the lake.

Evening was starting to descend on them, everyone was preparing for the festivities. Some of the men went into the woods to hunt for some meat. They had started to complain a little when they arrived and all they received was fruits.

Zoë started to undress by end of the lake, she stripped until she was in the nude and entered into the lake.

A week of traveling made anyone dirty, she had been too concentrated on the dangers while having so many children with them.

They had only been attacked once during their travels, and she thanked Eru for that.

She walked deeper in to the lake and ducked into the cooling water.

~ X ~

Thranduil had decided to take a walk in the woods. It started to become a bit crowded and with everyone being busy with the new comers. Thranduil decided it would be best to go for a walk.

He was reaching close to the river, when he heard water splashing. Thranduil made his way closer to the lake but hid behind a tree when he saw hair splashing out the river.

The way the droplets of water splashed around the ellth in a way that made the entire body glisten and glow. He looked closer when he realized it was an Avari, the dark tone shined brightly as the last remaining sunlight hit her body.

He wanted to look away, it was inappropriate to watch someone in their own privacy. But he just could not once he realized it was her. He watched closer as she rubbed her arms with the water, wring her hair out to tie it up.

He did not want to say it but when he first meet her, he thought that her people must all be so beautiful. She was a gift from Valar herself, she had a standoff attitude, but he did as well. His kin loved him and feared him at the same time.

He walked close as she started coming out the water, he was not paying attention because he had stepped on a twig making it snap with a loud sound.

"Rhaich" Thranduil cursed

He felt a hard clank, he turned his head to find a dagger next to his face, and he got too distracted by the ellth.

"Come out" He could see that she had grabbed two more daggers, but she did not get dressed, she was standing there in the nude with such a glare, that could even stand up to his own.

Thranduil decided his best action to take was to reveal himself, he pulled the dagger out of the tree.

She was about to aim another one at the intruder, when she saw the form of the king being revealed to her.

She glared at him.

They did not say anything to each other for about five minutes, simply observing one another. She had observed how his eyes diverted from her face to her breast and lower and then back up to her face.

She was going to say something when a cold breeze hit her making her skin shiver.

Thranduil took off his coat and walked towards her, she stepped back pointing the dagger towards him.

He did not cower, how could he, a young beautiful ellth was in front of him shivering from the cold.

He walked towards her and draped his coat around her shoulders, his coat covered her entire form.

As he held the coat to the ellth's form he could feel the heat from her body traveling through the air.

She watched the great king of Mirkwood, pull the coat over her, she caught his eyes.

His eyes were deep, there were many emotions hidden in his cerulean eyes.

Pretty

She thought as he looked at his eyes, the men in her clan did not have eyes like that. It was a trait that attracted her mother to her father.

His eyes, my darling held my world in them

That is what her mother told her.

Thranduil turned around and left into the woods making his way towards the palace.

~ X ~

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, please let me know your thoughts on the story, should I continue or just drop it.

Please Review!