Questlog: From enemy to friend

As Gimli had promised, he had (at least after Valandil had been officially warned and every protest had been nipped in the bud) taken a close look at the fortifications. Legolas had accompanied him and at the same time kept an eye on the guards on the tops of the walls. Aragorn had not been too enthusiastic about what they reported, but lived like them in the hope that they could somehow fix the predicament in time. According to what their scouts reported, they only had a few days left until the enemy was at the city gates.

Now, one day later, the two friends strolled across the market and looked at the display, mostly dried fruit or household goods such as raffia baskets or clay pots. It was not too crowded, because the weather was getting more unpleasant and colder every day. At least it didn't rain, which was probably a significant improvement compared to the weather of the last weeks. Occasionally even the sun came through the clouds.

"A lot of work ahead of us," Gimli remarked.

"Yes, I guess we have," Legolas said laconically. The elf probably didn't like it so much that it was more work than he thought. Gimli considered buying his friend a whip so that he could better push the shooters, so that he could get it over with faster.

But at that moment he noticed something else. "Look there, Earenis," he said and pointed to the elf. She was at the stand of a blacksmith and looked at the display. Mostly they were simple kitchen utensils or tools for field work, but there were also some knives underneath that had attracted Earenis' attention.

"Oh, great..." Grumbling Legolas wanted to turn off, but this time Gimli was faster. He held his friend by his sleeve.

"Stay right here," he said. "We'll both go to her now and have a reasonable conversation like among civilized people. We do not attack each other and we do not want to smash each other's heads in. Will we?"

Legolas narrowed his eyes. "Have you made up your mind that we are to be friends, Earenis and I?"

Gimli put on an innocent face. "More or less," he confessed, "You don't have to become best friends, but I'm sure you'll realize that she's certainly easy to talk to. You know how it is with the stubbornness of the dwarves..."

Legolas sighed resignedly. "Yes, I know that. Unfortunately."

"So..." Gimli stomped towards Earenis, taking care that Legolas really followed him and didn't flee secretly. "Hello!" he greeted the elf enthusiastically. He was sure that his plan would work out.

Earenis turned to the newcomers. At first she noticed Gimli and a smile flitted across her otherwise dark face, but when she noticed Legolas' face, she immediately fell back into familiar facial expressions.

"Hello," she grumbled back.

Legolas stayed discreetly in the background and tried to look like air if possible.

"We saw you standing here all alone and thought you might enjoy a little company," Gimli tried to start a conversation.

"Hmmhmm. Nice."

She didn't really seem to be that enthusiastic.

"What are you looking at?" he tried again.

"Knife."

She really had everything pulled out of her nose! But that would surely turn up. "Good quality, isn't it?" Gimli judged after a quick glance at the display. The blacksmith's work did indeed make a good impression.

"The price-performance ratio isn't really right," remarked Earenis, "Good knives, yes. But nevertheless overpriced."

Gradually, Legolas' interest seemed to have been aroused. Gimli tapped himself on the shoulders in his thoughts as the elf stepped beside him and took a closer look at one of the long knives. He balanced it on his finger.

"A butcher's knife," he noted derogatorily. "Good for chopping but not suitable for a fight, for which this was probably intended."

"I never said that all knives are good," grumbled Earenis, obviously a bit more out of tune again.

"That's probably true." Legolas' gaze fell on the sword hanging from Earenis' hip. It was new, the one Aragorn had promised her. "May I?" he asked, and that he asked in a reasonable tone of voice made Gimli look at it as an even greater success of the day.

Earenis, in any case, did not seem to trust peace completely. Nevertheless she loosened the sword in its sheath, drew it and handed it to him with the hilt. Legolas stepped back a little to have more room, then he swung it experimentally and checked the blades.

"That's good work," he said appreciatively.

"The king gave it to me," she said softly. "He is just and wise, it would certainly never have been his intention to mock me by giving me a bad sword."

"It is an appropriate weapon, I think," Gimli threw in. "You have earned it."

"Mistaroa," corrected Earenis. "He has alerted me to the danger."

The dog had been dozing in a corner of the market until now, and every now and then he nibbled languidly on a bone between his huge paws. When he now heard his name, he immediately jumped up and trotted to his mistress. Arrived at her, he sat down in front of her, looked at her from big dog eyes and probably expected to be stroked once again. She did not pay any further attention to him.

Legolas handed back the sword. "Maybe... maybe I should apologize to you." Embarrassed like a schoolboy who had done mischief, he stared at the tips of his boots. "My suspicions that night were not entirely justified."

That was an interesting development of things! Gimli nodded approvingly, and Earenis also seemed perplexed. She had probably expected the least of all.

"It's all right," she just said. Apparently she was uncomfortable with this topic, because she changed it quickly. "I hear you're planning to rebuild the defenses of this city."

"By force, yes," Gimli confirmed. "A dump is a good name for it, I think. But somehow, it will work out." As he noticed Earenis worried about the mine, he added: "You're not worried about anything concerning the few orcs that will soon be at the gates, are you?

"Well..." She printed a little bit around. "I have never taken part in a siege. Hired from various mercenary troops and maybe one or the other band of bandits, but that... is a bit bigger than occasionally chasing a troll or something like that."

"Don't worry about that, girl," Gimli tried to comfort her. "Aragorn will do all right, he always has, you'll see."

Earenis smiled gratefully.

Legolas laid a thoughtful mine. "A thought just occurred to me... Did you perhaps kill the trolls in the Troll Shaws?" he asked. "When we went north to the cave where we found you, we found two dead trolls on the way. One of them looked as if a big wolf or dog had torn him apart; what it was exactly, you could not tell anymore."

"Yes, it was Mistaroa and me," she confirmed. "Some villagers had hired me to take care of the problem." She shrugged her shoulders. "So I did it."

Legolas seemed to wrestle with himself, but then he nodded approvingly. "Not everyone can handle two trolls at once."

She just hummed to confirm. Apparently, she didn't seem to trust peace anymore. But at least Gimli was satisfied with the result, Legolas had jumped over his shadow. He knew he could make the boy do it! Even though it might have been enough for now.

"We have a few more courses to go," he said. "It was a nice chat and I'm sure we'll see you again soon."

They said goodbye and parted ways again.

As he left, Gimli said softly to his friend, "See, that did it."

"Oh, shut up!" Legolas hated it when the dwarf was right.

Gimli grinned into his beard. The day was a complete success!