Four days later Rin was standing in the middle of one of the beautiful green fields in the Valley-the same one she had once set fire to-and training with a bow she had borrowed from the House, using a few pinecones set upon a rock as targets. She hit them, most of the time, but her skills were far from perfect, especially compared to the elves of Greenwood.
Rin was pretty sure that the warm, relaxed atmosphere of the Valley was starting to get to her head. In the forest everything was in constant movement, nothing ever stopped, and Rin had gotten accustomed to that. She wasn't used to everything being so calm. It was getting on her nerves.
One more arrow missed the pinecone and flew into the grass behind. Rin sighed and sat on the ground, throwing the weapon aside. She had gotten her sharp senses, her quiet step and her looks from her mother, but apparently not her archery skills. "Far from perfect" did not save your life in battle.
"Your stance was wrong." Rin didn't need to look to know that Kili was behind her.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Around ten minutes." Up to here with the sharp senses. She had been too focused on whining about her horrible archery skills to notice him.
"So you saw how bad I am with this?" Rin picked up the bow and got up, turning around to face Kili. He walked over and took the bow, looking at it for a few minutes.
"The fact that it was made for somebody at least a head and a half taller than you might be part of the problem."-He took his own bow from where it was strapped to his back and handed it to Rin-"You can try with this one. Don't bend your elbow so much. You pull the bowstring too far back and that slows the shot down."
Rin nodded and took the bow, pulling another arrow out of her quiver. The shot was much cleaner this time, hitting the pinecone with enough force to send it flying a few meters behind the rock.
"That's interesting. The bow itself feels steady, but more flexible. What is it made of?" The weapon was simple, without intricate designs, definitely made by someone who knew what they were doing.
"Yew. The bowstring is made of sinew. What do you make them out of at Greenwood?"
"We also use sinew for the bowstring, but the bow itself we make out of oak. I've made mine according to my height, but the wood itself is quite hard to bend, and requires more strength. That's why I have the bad habit of bending my elbow so far back. Legolas keeps telling me to fix my stance when I'm training." Rin had left her bow back at Greenwood, knowing her swords were going to be more useful.
"Who is Legolas?" Rin hadn't realized until now that she had never mentioned her cousin to the Company. She was pretty sure that the older dwarves knew Thranduil had a son, but the others had no reason to.
"My cousin, Thranduil's son. He is the one who taught me how to shoot. Well, him and Tauriel, my training instructor."
"They did do a decent job."
"They did an excellent job, I just have no talent."
"Don't bring yourself down. If you think you have no talent you should see how Fili shoots."
Rin laughed and handed him the bow back.
"What is he like, your cousin?" Kili asked as he sat on the grass. Rin did the same and said:
"Depends on how well you know him. He might come off as cold, distant, even arrogant at first glance, but he's probably the best person I know and one of the few I trust to watch my back. We're kind of like you and Fili, I guess."
"Sounds like it."
"Speaking of Fili, he is coming."
Kili looked up to see his brother making his way towards them through the tall grass.
"He is still halfway across the field, how in Mahal's name did you hear him?"
"You dwarves walk as if you have iron tied to your feet."
Fili reached them a minute later.
"Uncle send me to tell you that we will be leaving in the afternoon."
Rin wasn't sure if she was happy to leave. She couldn't wait to get back on the road, but looking at the edged, gray mountains and thinking about how cold it was up there, even for her, toned down her enthusiasm.
"Back to sleeping on the ground. I hope we don't have to worry about orcs up there, at least. I am not too eager to swing a sword or shoot arrows around sharp rocks and ravines."
"By what I see, you are not bad at shooting arrows, but how good are you with a sword? We haven't seen you fight since you joined the Company." Fili turned to Alagos. Rin had left the sword propped against the rock.
"I am better with a sword than with a bow, that's for sure."
"Up for a sparring match?"
Rin grinned.
"Bring it on."
Fighting with somebody who wielded two swords wouldn't have been so hard if Rin had had her normal advantage thanks to her height, but now she had to rely only on her speed. She was faster than Fili, but he was stronger and every time their swords clanged together, Rin's teeth chattered.
The way he fought was a whole other deal. While elves relied on speed and flexibility, the fighting style of the dwarves focused more on going full force with every hit.
The fight went for about ten more minutes, until one particularly powerful hit send Alagos flying aside. Together with her grip, Rin lost her balance, which resulted in a hard landing, a few colourful curses and a sword pointed at her.
"Alright, you win. Get that thing out of my face." Rin growled, but accepted the hand Fili offered her to help her get up.
"Not bad for an elf princess."
"Shut up."
"Your left guard is down. You keep guarding your right side, and you don't step as firmly on that foot, even though you hold the sword with your right hand."
"It did look like you were always keeping that foot behind you." Kili joined in from where he had sat to watch the fight.
"Well you are right. I have been trying to stop fighting like that, but it has been a habit of mine ever since I got my leg torn up by a spider."
"You got your leg what?"
"Now that sounds like a story."
"It's not too much of a story. I wasn't fast enough to block the spider, and it bit into my leg, tearing up an artery and everything else around it. I still have a scar. It took me a month to be able to walk on it again, and the injury kept acting up for years after that. That's why I rely more on my left foot."
The two dwarves glanced at each other.
"Is that what we're going to be up against in the forest?"
"Not if we're smart enough to go around their territories. Lucky for you, I know most paths through the forest. We just have to hope they will still be safe when we get to Greenwood."