Welcome back to my fic! I'm sorry that this update has taken so long.
Being a sophomore isn't easy! But alas, I cannot lie; I have slacked a
bit. That and I've had a bit of a case of writer's block. In fact, as I
sit here typing this, I still don't know exactly what's going to be in this
chapter. We'll just see where my mind takes me... Enjoy!
Note: Oh yeah, for those of you who say the romance is slow, I'd like to state that this isn't probably going to be you're average romance fic, to say the least. It won't be the usual, but I think it will turn out rather enjoyable regardless of this (Sorry, that's all I can say about it without giving some stuff away!).
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with Tolkien Enterprises.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To Be Forever Faithful
By: Ponytail Goddess
Chapter 11: The Unexpected
Belegwen was all aglow as she pranced out of the cafeteria. Her lips kept trying to form a smile though she was attempting to keep a straight face. The guard members had appeared slightly surprised at her presence, but they were not at all crude as she had originally expected. In fact, they had all been quite polite.
"I know not what I was afraid of before!" Belegwen murmured to herself as she walked towards the library where the commander had said they would meet. A light wind rustled the golden trees above her, a few of their soft leaves falling into her silvery hair. Her hand swooped up and brushed them out of her tresses, which were rather warm from the sun's vibrant rays.
She softly sighed as she entered the library, unready to leave the beautiful day for the confines of the indoors. With regret plastered upon her face, she searched through the rooms of the secluded library for her commander.
It was at the top floor that she finally found him awaiting her. He was sitting comfortably in a chair, leaning over the table reading something. There were several large books sprawled out on the table, some opened and some closed. Immediately he looked up, acknowledging her presence. "Come sit and we'll get started." He stated with an indifferent voice.
Belegwen was slightly startled at this voice. He was acting so strangely today and she couldn't figure out why. It was good that he wasn't being so demanding, but she was not used to this total lack of vigor. It was as if something very trivial was on his mind and was keeping him from functioning in his proper ways.
Silently, Belegwen pulled up a chair and they began.
*~*~*~*~*
Two hours later, a frazzled Belegwen exited the library. However, nobody would be able to recognize her with the abominable pile of books that she was carrying. "As if she didn't have enough things to read already..." She muttered insolently as she stumbled up the stairs to her room with the pile wobbling from side to side dangerously.
Whatever had been bothering Haldir before, he had quickly snapped out of it. In fact, he had popped up and became his bossy old self again. When she had questioned any of his strategies, he had quickly retaliated with answers, proving that his ways had been perfected years ago.
The funny thing was that every time he proved her wrong he got rather carried away with his voice. He kept getting louder and louder until he was nearly yelling about it. This, naturally, earned him many reprimands from the chief librarian, who had finally kicked them both out of the room for disturbing the peace.
Thinking about this put a small chuckle in Belegwen's mouth as she tromped up the final black marble staircase and pushed open the door to her room. Ah, the look on his face had been priceless when the librarian had told him that she didn't care whether he was a march warden or the lady of light herself; he had to follow the silence rule regardless!
Upon entering her small room, Belegwen promptly dropped all of her books down onto her armor rack and sighed deeply with relief. She then looked over the mess of books that were scattered on the rack and floor. Spotting the one she wanted, she quickly grabbed it. Bird Calls for the Leader's Level.
Belegwen now sighed again. He said that they would practice these tomorrow when they went back for their next three-day guard duty. This meant that she had to read the extremely thick book all tonight. She groaned at the thought of staying up through many late hours studying the thick book's contents. It did not seem to be a pleasurable experience.
Slightly annoyed at this revelation, Belegwen settled herself comfortably on her bed and was just about to start reading when her door burst open quite unexpectedly. Totally unprepared for this, Belegwen jumped and took a rather hard landing on the cold, hard floor.
Gazing up immediately, she found herself glaring at none other than the commander yet again. "Why don't you ever knock before entering!?!" She declared angrily, then instantly regretted the words that had flown out of her mouth.
Haldir looked surprised at her mouth as well. He was obviously not used to being talked back to as such. "Sorry", he muttered, looking down at the floor suddenly as if the black swirls interested him.
An awkward silence filled the air. "What brings you here commander sir?" Belegwen inquired in a whispery tone. She was still in shock that she had spoken to him with such power. It was a quality that was unlike her.
However, Haldir seemed to snap out of his daze almost instantaneously and continued as if nothing had happened between the two of them at all. "I thought that we should practice some fencing skills today. Now." He stated, though it was more of a command than a statement. His calm and demanding demeanor had already returned.
Belegwen blinked a few times, then shot to her feet and followed him out the door and down the long staircase once again. She smiled as the sun hit her hair, warm and familiar. The two quickly approached the training area. Silently, they put on a few pieces of padding that would hopefully protect their bodies from any careless motions.
Gently, Belegwen reached down and unsheathed her sword. The blade shimmered brightly in the light as she unmasked it. Her sword was called "the Nimrodel" for it had been found down by the mouth of the river nearly an age ago. It was most definitely of Lorien origin, but none of the historian's were able to pinpoint its exact creator. The Lady of Light had given the sword to Belegwen about a half a century ago. Though its history was unknown to the Eldarin kindred, it had still served its purpose quite well and Belegwen would use no other.
Belegwen finally looked up to see Haldir already in a stance, awaiting her ready. Quickly, she acquired her stance as well and they started in. He started with a side slash. She instantly countered it and then tried a forward blow. Haldir blocked it easily, his hand quite steady yet nimble.
Suddenly, instinct kicked in and before Belegwen even realized what she was doing, she had kicked the sword right out of his unsuspecting hand. Nimrodel was pressed right up against his neck. A dull thud could be heard as Haldir's sword fell to the ground about five yards away.
Haldir's eyes were wide as he stared at the shimmering blade by his neck intently. Slowly, Belegwen pulled it away and both of the partners shared a sigh of relief. "Where did you learn that?" Haldir asked inquisitively, wiping a few lone sweat beads from his forehead.
"My father recorded tricks and tips for doing all of his special fencing moves in his journal. It is in my possession." Belegwen replied softly, her mind flashing to her dead family for an instant before she was pulled back into the present.
"I see", muttered Haldir in an almost gentle tone of voice. "I would like to look over those...unless you are opposed to this idea of course."
"I shall consider it", Belegwen replied, unsure if she was willing to allow someone else look through her father's private account. It was one of the few items she had that had belonged to her previous family and she treasured it greatly.
This revelation was followed by a moment of utter silence, only tainted by the wind's gentle whisper through the trees and the barely audible song of a bird from on high. "I was unaware that your father knew of such things... Pity. If I had know he had such skill, I would have had him at an even higher rank..." Haldir then paused briefly before asking, "Will you show me how to do that last move you did?"
"Certainly march warden sir. I would be happy to." She stated as she slowly walked over and grabbed up his sword from the grassy area where it had landed. Her eyes widened at its weight. How could he wield such a heavy item so naturally?!?
"This move is all about timing", she said as she lugged his sword over to him. He took it from her easily, as if it weighed nothing at all. This disgusted her greatly. It was unfair that he could have such strength! "You do not want to kick the sword while it is pointed or even slanted towards yourself or you will be impaled."
Belegwen took a breath and was about to continue when another guard member ran up from the confines of the shady forrest. The man looked horrible and the stench coming off of him was awful. He reeked badly of a smell that no Eldarin warrior could mistake...orc blood. He was covered in the foul navy liquid. His own blood was trickling down his face from what appeared to be a sword slash across his cheek. All in all, it was a putrid sight.
However, his urgency caught both elve's attention and they turned towards him. He stopped and immediately grabbed Haldir's arm harshly. His eyes were filled with fear and grief all mingled together. Utterly surprised, Belegwen instantly took a step back. The smell was already making her slightly nauseous.
The man the bent over, panting dreadfully. "Commander sir...orc attack on the western front...Orophin...I couldn't get there in time...I...", he stammered, then finally looked up to reveal tears welling up in his soft grey eyes. "Come sir, I know not of his condition..."
Upon hearing this news about his brother, Haldir dropped his sword and took off at a sprint towards the healer's flet. The other weary soldier followed after him, though not nearly as fast. Belegwen simply froze, stunned, as she watched the men run off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, there's another chapter. Feel free to give me some good feedback. I love it. I'll try to have the next update come sooner. Also, I think the rating might jump sometime in the next few chapters. I hope this doesn't affect your opinion on the story. Thanks! Have a nice day!
-P.G.
Note: Oh yeah, for those of you who say the romance is slow, I'd like to state that this isn't probably going to be you're average romance fic, to say the least. It won't be the usual, but I think it will turn out rather enjoyable regardless of this (Sorry, that's all I can say about it without giving some stuff away!).
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with Tolkien Enterprises.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
To Be Forever Faithful
By: Ponytail Goddess
Chapter 11: The Unexpected
Belegwen was all aglow as she pranced out of the cafeteria. Her lips kept trying to form a smile though she was attempting to keep a straight face. The guard members had appeared slightly surprised at her presence, but they were not at all crude as she had originally expected. In fact, they had all been quite polite.
"I know not what I was afraid of before!" Belegwen murmured to herself as she walked towards the library where the commander had said they would meet. A light wind rustled the golden trees above her, a few of their soft leaves falling into her silvery hair. Her hand swooped up and brushed them out of her tresses, which were rather warm from the sun's vibrant rays.
She softly sighed as she entered the library, unready to leave the beautiful day for the confines of the indoors. With regret plastered upon her face, she searched through the rooms of the secluded library for her commander.
It was at the top floor that she finally found him awaiting her. He was sitting comfortably in a chair, leaning over the table reading something. There were several large books sprawled out on the table, some opened and some closed. Immediately he looked up, acknowledging her presence. "Come sit and we'll get started." He stated with an indifferent voice.
Belegwen was slightly startled at this voice. He was acting so strangely today and she couldn't figure out why. It was good that he wasn't being so demanding, but she was not used to this total lack of vigor. It was as if something very trivial was on his mind and was keeping him from functioning in his proper ways.
Silently, Belegwen pulled up a chair and they began.
*~*~*~*~*
Two hours later, a frazzled Belegwen exited the library. However, nobody would be able to recognize her with the abominable pile of books that she was carrying. "As if she didn't have enough things to read already..." She muttered insolently as she stumbled up the stairs to her room with the pile wobbling from side to side dangerously.
Whatever had been bothering Haldir before, he had quickly snapped out of it. In fact, he had popped up and became his bossy old self again. When she had questioned any of his strategies, he had quickly retaliated with answers, proving that his ways had been perfected years ago.
The funny thing was that every time he proved her wrong he got rather carried away with his voice. He kept getting louder and louder until he was nearly yelling about it. This, naturally, earned him many reprimands from the chief librarian, who had finally kicked them both out of the room for disturbing the peace.
Thinking about this put a small chuckle in Belegwen's mouth as she tromped up the final black marble staircase and pushed open the door to her room. Ah, the look on his face had been priceless when the librarian had told him that she didn't care whether he was a march warden or the lady of light herself; he had to follow the silence rule regardless!
Upon entering her small room, Belegwen promptly dropped all of her books down onto her armor rack and sighed deeply with relief. She then looked over the mess of books that were scattered on the rack and floor. Spotting the one she wanted, she quickly grabbed it. Bird Calls for the Leader's Level.
Belegwen now sighed again. He said that they would practice these tomorrow when they went back for their next three-day guard duty. This meant that she had to read the extremely thick book all tonight. She groaned at the thought of staying up through many late hours studying the thick book's contents. It did not seem to be a pleasurable experience.
Slightly annoyed at this revelation, Belegwen settled herself comfortably on her bed and was just about to start reading when her door burst open quite unexpectedly. Totally unprepared for this, Belegwen jumped and took a rather hard landing on the cold, hard floor.
Gazing up immediately, she found herself glaring at none other than the commander yet again. "Why don't you ever knock before entering!?!" She declared angrily, then instantly regretted the words that had flown out of her mouth.
Haldir looked surprised at her mouth as well. He was obviously not used to being talked back to as such. "Sorry", he muttered, looking down at the floor suddenly as if the black swirls interested him.
An awkward silence filled the air. "What brings you here commander sir?" Belegwen inquired in a whispery tone. She was still in shock that she had spoken to him with such power. It was a quality that was unlike her.
However, Haldir seemed to snap out of his daze almost instantaneously and continued as if nothing had happened between the two of them at all. "I thought that we should practice some fencing skills today. Now." He stated, though it was more of a command than a statement. His calm and demanding demeanor had already returned.
Belegwen blinked a few times, then shot to her feet and followed him out the door and down the long staircase once again. She smiled as the sun hit her hair, warm and familiar. The two quickly approached the training area. Silently, they put on a few pieces of padding that would hopefully protect their bodies from any careless motions.
Gently, Belegwen reached down and unsheathed her sword. The blade shimmered brightly in the light as she unmasked it. Her sword was called "the Nimrodel" for it had been found down by the mouth of the river nearly an age ago. It was most definitely of Lorien origin, but none of the historian's were able to pinpoint its exact creator. The Lady of Light had given the sword to Belegwen about a half a century ago. Though its history was unknown to the Eldarin kindred, it had still served its purpose quite well and Belegwen would use no other.
Belegwen finally looked up to see Haldir already in a stance, awaiting her ready. Quickly, she acquired her stance as well and they started in. He started with a side slash. She instantly countered it and then tried a forward blow. Haldir blocked it easily, his hand quite steady yet nimble.
Suddenly, instinct kicked in and before Belegwen even realized what she was doing, she had kicked the sword right out of his unsuspecting hand. Nimrodel was pressed right up against his neck. A dull thud could be heard as Haldir's sword fell to the ground about five yards away.
Haldir's eyes were wide as he stared at the shimmering blade by his neck intently. Slowly, Belegwen pulled it away and both of the partners shared a sigh of relief. "Where did you learn that?" Haldir asked inquisitively, wiping a few lone sweat beads from his forehead.
"My father recorded tricks and tips for doing all of his special fencing moves in his journal. It is in my possession." Belegwen replied softly, her mind flashing to her dead family for an instant before she was pulled back into the present.
"I see", muttered Haldir in an almost gentle tone of voice. "I would like to look over those...unless you are opposed to this idea of course."
"I shall consider it", Belegwen replied, unsure if she was willing to allow someone else look through her father's private account. It was one of the few items she had that had belonged to her previous family and she treasured it greatly.
This revelation was followed by a moment of utter silence, only tainted by the wind's gentle whisper through the trees and the barely audible song of a bird from on high. "I was unaware that your father knew of such things... Pity. If I had know he had such skill, I would have had him at an even higher rank..." Haldir then paused briefly before asking, "Will you show me how to do that last move you did?"
"Certainly march warden sir. I would be happy to." She stated as she slowly walked over and grabbed up his sword from the grassy area where it had landed. Her eyes widened at its weight. How could he wield such a heavy item so naturally?!?
"This move is all about timing", she said as she lugged his sword over to him. He took it from her easily, as if it weighed nothing at all. This disgusted her greatly. It was unfair that he could have such strength! "You do not want to kick the sword while it is pointed or even slanted towards yourself or you will be impaled."
Belegwen took a breath and was about to continue when another guard member ran up from the confines of the shady forrest. The man looked horrible and the stench coming off of him was awful. He reeked badly of a smell that no Eldarin warrior could mistake...orc blood. He was covered in the foul navy liquid. His own blood was trickling down his face from what appeared to be a sword slash across his cheek. All in all, it was a putrid sight.
However, his urgency caught both elve's attention and they turned towards him. He stopped and immediately grabbed Haldir's arm harshly. His eyes were filled with fear and grief all mingled together. Utterly surprised, Belegwen instantly took a step back. The smell was already making her slightly nauseous.
The man the bent over, panting dreadfully. "Commander sir...orc attack on the western front...Orophin...I couldn't get there in time...I...", he stammered, then finally looked up to reveal tears welling up in his soft grey eyes. "Come sir, I know not of his condition..."
Upon hearing this news about his brother, Haldir dropped his sword and took off at a sprint towards the healer's flet. The other weary soldier followed after him, though not nearly as fast. Belegwen simply froze, stunned, as she watched the men run off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, there's another chapter. Feel free to give me some good feedback. I love it. I'll try to have the next update come sooner. Also, I think the rating might jump sometime in the next few chapters. I hope this doesn't affect your opinion on the story. Thanks! Have a nice day!
-P.G.