A/N: Not gonna say much to this chapter. Just read and enjoy!
- Miss Sofie
Oh, yeah...and for the chapter title... I know it sucks. I'm really lousy at coming up with good chapter titles. Go ahead and sue me! ;)
Chapter IV – Bow and Arrow
A few days passed and Adaniel felt more and more restless. Her leg healed quickly, but there was still some way to go, before she could walk properly. Running or climbing trees was out of the question, and not being able to do anything was not was she was used to. She was used to being outside walking or riding all day long, with or without Aragorn by her side. Lying in her bed was driving her mad, and on top of it all, she missed Boromir and Aragorn so terribly.
And the hobbits. She had grown very fond of them too, from the day they had arrived at the Prancing Pony in Bree. They had traveled to Rivendell together, where she had met Boromir. He had been the first ever to believe her age and her story, apart from Aragorn, of course. The truth was that she had lived among elves for the first three years of her life, which was the reason why she had an Elvish name. She had never known her parents, but Aragorn had been there, both like a father and a brother to her. He never scolded her like a father would've done, and neither did he get annoyed with her or play tricks on her like a brother would've done. He was just there to teach her what her father should've taught her, and a little more than that.
When Adaniel was born, Aragorn was already a grown man. She had often wondered why he didn't grow old and gray-haired, when she was younger, but that was only until Gandalf told her about his forefathers. It turned out that Aragorn was one of the Dúnedain, the Men of Westernesse, who grew old very slowly. It also meant that he could've been King, if it wasn't for darker powers trying to overtake Middle Earth thousands of yeas ago.
Adaniel had had a hard time understanding all of this, and as Aragorn never told her anything about it, she just left it at that.
In Rivendell, when Adaniel met Boromir, her heart longed to be with him from the very moment she set eyes on him. The feeling was mutual, but Aragorn came between the lovers. Not because he wanted Adaniel to be unhappy, but because he wanted to protect her. At first he didn't trust Boromir to be able to take care of her, but he soon learned to trust him with his own life as well as hers.
After a few days Boromir had come to Adaniel to ask for her hand in marriage. Though everything had happened very quickly, she had accepted at once and made Boromir very happy. They were to get married once they returned from their journey. A journey, which Adaniel had now been prevented from going on.
She sighed as she heard someone call her name. It hadn't been loud, but loud enough for her to be taken back to the present.
"Yes?" She answered and got to her feet. She had been lying on her bed again, looking up through the canopies, dreaming away.
"I've come to take you to the ground. Galadriel was afraid you were withering away." It was Haldir. Adaniel was surprised to hear a man use such terms, but then again…he was an elf!
"They were her words, not mine!" The elf added as if reading Adaniel's thoughts. "Can you walk?"
"A little." Adaniel answered and took a few steps towards the rope ladder. "Where are we going?"
"I thought I'd teach you a little archery." Haldir replied with something that could be mistaken for a small smile. "Aragorn told me you could need that!"
"He did?!" Adaniel exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "But he only just began teaching me!"
"Well, I guess I'll be finishing what he started, then." Haldir replied and offered Adaniel his hand climbing down the ladder. "That is…if we'll have time before the company returns!"
"Are you saying that I won't learn fast enough?"
"Those were your words, not mine. But…"
"But what?" Adaniel let Haldir support her as she took the last step down from the rope ladder. Her leg had begun to throb again, but she didn't let it show.
"You're a woman. Had you been an elleth, I wouldn't have doubted a second that I could teach you archery, but…"
"Are you serious?" Adaniel interrupted, not really believing him to be so. As Haldir didn't reply, she figured that he was being serious. She let go of the hand that was supporting her and tried not to limp. She walked off rather furiously. "Just because I'm a woman it doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
Haldir was by her side in no time, catching her arm to support her again. "Don't go spoiling your leg just because you're mad at me! That's exactly what makes you different from all the elleths out there." He said and gave a wave with his arm as to point out of whom he was talking. "None of them would ever do anything so stupid!"
"And no real man would ever speak to a woman like that!" Adaniel hissed, though slowing down and letting Haldir support her.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not so good with words." The latter replied with no sign of regret showing on his face. He then made Adaniel sit down by the fireplace, though there was no fire at this time of the day. "Wait here while I find a bow and quiver for you!"
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Learning how to use a bow and arrows actually gave Adaniel a lot of fun. For the first time in her life someone else than Aragorn was teaching her, and it led to a lot of misunderstandings. Fortunately, Haldir was patient, or at least pretending to be. He didn't seem to have as much fun as she did, but he never raised his voice either. He was so different from Aragorn. The latter would often raise his voice when trying to teach Adaniel something, though she had never heard him shout at others out of irritation.
Haldir had taken Adaniel to the edge of the Elves city to make it easier for her to concentrate. Usually she had no problems concentrating, but as Boromir kept popping up in her head, it made her aiming a lot worse than it had to be.
"A little more to the left." She heard Haldir's voice as she let go of the arrow, which shot past the tree many inches too far to the right.
"Don't distract me when I'm about to shoot!" Adaniel said and shot Haldir an annoyed look.
"I didn't do anything to distract you." The march warden said, not able to hide the annoyance of being falsely accused.
"As if telling me to shoot 'a little more to the left' isn't distracting!" Adaniel said and took out another arrow from the quiver on her back.
Haldir looked confused for a few seconds, but he didn't say anything. The next arrow hit the tree, but not the black spot.
"You should rest your leg for a while." Haldir suddenly said and took a few steps away from his student. "We'll continue tomorrow."
Adaniel looked at him just as confused as he had looked at her a moment ago, though not for the same reasons. As he called for one of the other elves, Feritol was his name, to come help Adaniel back to her flet, she couldn't help feeling left behind. She had no idea what she had said to upset him, but he certainly wasn't too pleased with her like all of a sudden.
"What's with him?" She asked Feritol, who offered to carry her back. She accepted.
"That's just Haldir. He's got his bad days as well as the rest of us. Maybe even a little more often. But once you've got his friendship, he won't let you down as long as he lives!"
"But Elves live forever!"
"Exactly!" Feritol smiled, and Adaniel realized he was trying to be funny.
"You know, that's the first time I hear an elf tell a joke!" She said and smiled back at him.
"Well, but though I was trying to make you smile, I still meant every word I said. Make friends with Haldir, and he'll protect you with his life."
"I'll remember that." Adaniel replied and couldn't help thinking of Aragorn and Boromir. They would too, she knew, and she missed them both an awful lot. For a moment she wondered where they might be right now, but then Feritol began talking again, and his voice made all gloominess disappear.
A/N: Dawnie-7: Yes, I lost my notes, and I haven't found them yet. But I am writing, so, hopefully, the chapter will be up tomorrow. Oh, and thanks for the review!
