Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings, only my OC, Freya.

I used Italic for Elvish conversations.

Author's Note: Hey guys. Thank you for reading and your support.

Comments and ideas are appreciated so don't feel shy and tell me what you think. ;)

Mira

Chapter Six

It's been a week since Lord Elrond told me I should go with the fellowship. For a while I thought he wanted to get rid of me. I was upset. A lot. But then again it was natural. I am an unwanted guest in his house after all. He has every right to send me away. Then he talked to me in private. He explained how my arrival has been expected by this Lady of Light, another Elf. According to Lord Elrond, she was the only one who could help me. Tell me why I ended up here. So I needed to go to Lothlorien to meet her. And apparently I had a duty. He didn't know what it was of course. I had no clue either. I'm just a normal girl with zero fighting abilities. The only thing I'm slightly good at is books. I'm not sure if that's even a skill. And most of the knowledge I have from it, is useless here anyway. How am I gonna help in this war? Read Sauron and his evil army a bunch of books and bore them to death?

I had no other choice but to go along with the choice that's been made for me, so I quit nagging after the first few days. Tried to look at it as another adventure. Don't think about the unnecessary stuff Freya. The danger and Mordor and that terrifying god damned eye there. I kept telling myself that. On the bright side I was gonna go with friends. Gandalf, Aragorn and the hobbits. I like to say I consider Legolas a friend too but I'm not very sure yet. He's quiet and most of the times not around at all. He spends time patrolling the woods with Arwen's brothers most days. And the rest of the times he's practicing in the training grounds or chatting with Aragorn. Gimli and Boromir don't interact with us much either. In fact Boromir was very against the idea of me joining their fellowship. He looked at me with disdain and suspicion and said no one takes a woman on these kinds of journeys. And that he would not trust a strange woman from another land.

It was actually like this. Three days ago, Lord Elrond called the members of this newly formed Fellowship to another council. I sat there without looking anybody in the eyes. I felt unwanted by most of them. Even Aragorn seemed to not like this new arrangement. The hobbits were my only supporters actually, specially Merry and Pippin.

At first they were talking about the routes and supplies and how to avoid dangerous paths. Then Boromir started complaining about me. He doesn't like me. That's obvious. He didn't even address me as he counted the reasons why they can't take a woman with themselves. It wasn't like I volunteered to go. I just had to. Gandalf kept defending me, saying he must accompany me to Lothlorien himself and there's no other way. Seeing the finality of Gandalf's words, the man finally gave up. No one else said anything about me that day. But I was angry. Gandalf didn't let me talk back to Boromir so I was exploding with unsaid comebacks and that pissed me off. They were looking down on me just because I'm a girl. The hobbits couldn't fight either and no one complained about them. It just wasn't fair.

For four days now I've been preparing for the journey ahead. I channeled my anger into working hard to get better. I had nothing else to do anyway. I talked to Gliriel about this, wanting to know if there's any way I can train without anyone from the fellowship, specially that Boromir guy, knowing. And so she gave me the best solution ever. Her childhood friend, Thandir, was a member of the guard and more than willing to help.

That's how I'm right now in the middle of the woods with Thandir.

"You are getting better Freya. You don't drop the sword as much as you did before." Thandir says, smirking at my sweaty form on the ground. I groan and roll around, grabbing my sword again.

"It feels like I'm losing my arms." I pant as I stand up to face him again.

"It's only natural. Your arm has no strength to keep up with a sword fight yet. It will take time." He says.

Elves and their bluntness. I chuckle at his words. "You can't help it can you Thandir? You just have to be painfully honest. You Elves."

He laughs, shaking his head at me and then takes position again. He looks just like he did two hours ago when we started practicing, not a single hair out of place. And I'm standing here panting like I've just ran a marathon, with my hair… well let's just not say how my hair looks like at the moment.

Since my goal was to not be a burden to my companions, I asked Thandir to teach me defensive moves for now. I kinda think it would be impossible for me to plunge a sword into any living flesh. In fact I don't think I'll get there at all. So our sessions would mostly go as Thandir attacking me with slow blows and me trying to block him as fast as I can move this sword. The first time I held the blade, I was extremely happy. It was quiet light. Maybe three or four pounds at most. It was the same weight as a very light dumbbell in gym. I couldn't be more wrong. A dumbbell is not this long and you don't have to keep it balanced in front of you for a long time. In twenty minutes my arms were burning and I couldn't bring the sword up at all.

"Keep strength in your feet Freya. That's the only way to keep your balance or you would fall down every time." Thandir said as he attacked, pushing me a step back each time our blade clashed. As if on cue I just fell down on my ass once more as he finished talking.

"Yup. I'll keep that in mind." I say getting up and brushing the dust off my clothes for the hundredth time this morning. Just then Thandir goes stiff and turns around fast with a raised sword, examining the trees. I look around too. There must be something in the trees out there but I don't see anything.

"Greetings, Lord Legolas." Thandir speaks to the trees in front of us, lowering his weapon quickly.

Did he say Legolas? Before I can move a muscle or try to hide the sword in my hand, the familiar handsome figure walks into the view. Looking as perfect as ever.

"Greetings, Thandir, my friend." Legolas says calmly. "I see you have taken a student." He continues, grinning as he looks at me with a glint in his eyes, nodding his head in greeting. Unfortunately I don't understand a word of it. It involved me and the sword I guess. I shift uncomfortably under his gaze, waving a hand at him.

"Yes. Freya wanted to be ready before setting out on the journey. She asked me to teach her how to defend herself." What Thandir says definitely involved me. Can't they talk in a language I understand too? I should really do something about this.

Legolas walks toward me then. "Is that so?" He asks me in his melodic voice, knowing too well that I don't understand. I frown a bit. "What?"

"Thandir, Elladan was looking for you. He's patrolling the western road at the moment. Why don't you go and find him? I'll escort Lady Freya back to Rivendell myself." Legolas says, looking at Thandir.

"Oh thank you Lord Legolas. I shall go immediately then." Thandir smiles, sheaths his sword and gets ready to leave. "Freya, good job today. I apologize, I have to go on duty. Let your muscles rest for a day. We shall practice again the day after tomorrow." He grabs my shoulder and smiles down at me.

"Thank you Thandir. It's alright, I understand. I'm the one taking your time here, you know? And besides I can't move my arms any more so it's all cool." I say grinning at him.

Thandir leaves with that and in a second, I'm standing in the woods with the blond elf once more. I sheath my sword and turn to Legolas. He's looking at me up and down again. I start chuckling. Legolas raises an eyebrow at me in question.

"Sorry. It's just that I remembered the last time I was in the woods with you. I was wondering if you're gonna knock me out again. Am I safe with you now or should I look out?" I answer his silent question with a grin on my face.

He smiles then, his features soften slightly at my words. "You are quiet safe with me Freya. That won't be happening again." He walks closer to me and examines the sword in my hand carefully. "A good sword. Perfect match for you. Tell me Freya, why do you want to learn swordsmanship? You didn't say anything before."

Well, looks like it's a bit late to try to hide my intentions at this stage so I just give up and tell him the truth. I sigh. "Well, I thought I should learn to defend myself while I have the time. I know this quest is important and Frodo's safety is the number one priority. I don't want to be a burden to anyone." I admit a little hesitantly.

"You're not a burden. Stop thinking that. Gandalf knows best and if he says you should come with us, then you should." He gives me a scolding look before quickly moving on. "Anyway it's good that you want to learn to fight. Hopefully you will not need use of it through our travel. That's why we are there." He finishes and gestures for me to walk with him.

We start walking to the path back to Rivendell. I look at him from the corner of my eye. It didn't look like he was against me traveling with the fellowship. It was the first time he said anything about it. I guess I was wrong assuming that he wouldn't want me to go.

"Well, Boromir obviously made it clear that he's not willing to help protecting a woman, so I decided I might as well do something about it on my own." I say, setting my jaw with determination. I was still pissed at being treated like a child.

Legolas seems to find my words amusing, his eyes turning playful. "Hmm, is that so? Well I guess I'll be the one taking care of you then." He smirks.

God. Why is this man so fucking attractive? And why is he smirking at me like that? I blush and look away. I hear him chuckle beside me, clearly having fun teasing me. After a few moments of walking in silence, and me getting rid of my stupid blush, Legolas starts talking again. "So, why swords? Do you have a particular interest in melee combat?"

"Melee combat? God, no. Honestly I don't think I can cut anything with a sword. I just want to avoid being cut and I thought sword is basic." I say the last part more like a question, not sure if I'm right.

"How about archery? Have you considered that? It may be easier for you to shoot an orc from afar than trying to kill him with a sword." He suggests.

"Archery? Oh, I'm not sure… It actually seems harder and I don't think I fit archery very well." I say nervously.

"That's not true. If you practice enough, you will learn just fine. Beside, using a bow is much safer for you." He says seriously. I think about it. He's probably right. I heard he's one of the best archers of middle earth himself. He definitely knows more than I do.

"You're right. It's safer. But Thandir said he can't teach me archery. It's not his main weapon. So it's not an option." I say and turn to look at him. He's looking at me as if I just said the most stupid thing in the world.

"Freya. I meant, I can teach you."

Oh. Was he serious? He wanted to teach me? My heart sped up a bit. Stupid heart. He's just being kind with me. Like… Gandalf. Yes. Like that. "Really? I thought… I mean… I know you're a great archer and all but… I can't bother you with this."

"I wouldn't have offered you if it was a bother." He says.

"But Thandir… um." I mumble. Legolas frowns.

"Thandir? Is he the only one you're willing to learn from? I didn't realize you were that close." He says, not sounding pleased at all.

What? I don't get it. "No… No it's not that." I answer, confused. "Ok. You know what? I really love to learn archery from you. If you're not busy or anything." I decide it's better to just say what I wanna say.

He smiles once more, wiping away the frown from his beautiful face. "Good. Then we can start tomorrow morning."

We reach the gates of Rivendell a few minutes later. Legolas stops after we enter through the gates and turns toward me completely. "Alright. I should take my leave now. I'll meet you tomorrow after breakfast." I nod.

"Thank you for walking me back Legolas."

He nods and turns to leave then, but before getting too far he turns around and says: "You may want to rest Freya. You're going to need your energy tomorrow." He grins.

Uh oh. Okay. Tough teacher huh? Hmm, I might have decided too rashly. He's not gonna take it too hard on me on my first day, is he? I guess that's what you expect from one of the best archers alive. I start walking to the baths, deciding the only thing I can do for now is soothing my poor muscles with hot water. I can worry about Legolas working me to death later.