Double Fun
"Father." Legolas greeted respectfully. King Thranduil stepped from his throne and gave his youngest son a huge hug.
"Welcome back, Legolas," he said, a wide grin spreading across his ageless face. "You have thinned. Have you been eating well on your journeys?"
"Aye, Father," Legolas said, his heart warming at his father's concern. "Very well."
King Thranduil walked around his son with a skeptical look on his face. "This will not do," he said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Men! Prepare a feast for Legolas' return! Invite all of the Woodland Realm!"
"Father… there's no need…" Legolas started. King Thranduil patted his shoulders with a smile.
"Go and have a rest. I'll have someone calling you when the feast is done," King Thranduil pushed him towards his room.
Legolas, knowing fully well that his father cannot be talked out of giving the feast, sighed and retreated to his room with a respectful bow. But he went right past his room and into the royal guest rooms a corridor away. He stopped outside a room with a green door and knocked quietly. The door opened with a familiar face peeking out.
"Ethuil…" Legolas smiled at the young physician. "How's the lady?"
Ethuil placed a finger on her lips and closed the door behind her. She led Legolas away from the room. Then, she gave him a hard knock on the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Legolas gasped and pressed his bruised head with his hand. Ethuil folded her arms across her chest and gave him a furious look.
"That was for leaving for so long! Do you know how lonely I was? And that was a nice present you gave me on your return!" Ethuil retorted, displease written clearly all over her petite features.
Legolas sighed. "Ethuil… I…"
Before he could get another word out, he felt her jump onto him and knocked the breath out of his lungs.
"But this… is for coming back," he heard Ethuil said softly while burying her face on his torso. "Welcome back… brother…"
Legolas smiled and hugged his twin sister tightly.
"Come… I must show you something!" Ethuil said abruptly and pulled Legolas towards the training area.
Even before Legolas could protest, his speed demon of a sister had already dragged him to the steps leading to the training grounds.
"Wait here," Ethuil ordered and ran off herself into the arena, disappearing behind the towering doors. Legolas sighed in exasperation. That was how Ethuil was like ever since she was a child. Fast, hot headed and impetuous. She could never really sit still to study the art of Elvish runes, nor could she have the patience to learn how to use the bow and arrow properly. He could still remember the times when Ethuil used the arrow as the bow and vice versa. It was what Legolas considered a miracle that Ethuil can actually have both the patience and stamina to concentrate on the, what he had always thought of as most tedious, art of Elvish medicine and healing. And now Ethuil was actually the head of the royal physicians.
Suddenly, an arrow shot out from nowhere and towards Legolas. Reacting quickly, Legolas dodged and caught at arrow at its body. Judging by the speed at it was going, and the direction it was pointing at, the arrow was fired with the intention to kill. He looked at the direction where the arrow came from, and felt his heartbeats quickened painfully. It was from the training grounds!
'Ethuil!' If a skilled warrior was really within the training grounds with Ethuil, then she…
"Ethuil!" Legolas shouted as he burst through the doors. "Eth…"
"How was it?" Ethuil's cheeky face popped up suddenly beside him, giving Legolas the mother of all scares.
"Ethuil!" Legolas immediately pulled her to face him and inspected her body for any injuries. When he made sure that she was unscathed, he took a deep breath and exploded.
"What in the name of Valor is going on?" he shouted, shaking the arrow in her face. "Who shot this?"
Ethuil's face, which showed no trace of remorse, broke into a grin. "Me."
Legolas had his mouth opened to continue reprimanding Ethuil, but her reply stopped all the words from his throat from coming out. He closed his mouth and stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"You shot this?" Legolas asked, emphasizing on each syllable. His tall and lithe body stepped closer to Ethuil's petite figure.
Ethuil, sensing something bad was going to happen, took a step back and swallowed. "Yes."
"You?" Legolas was not going to let her off for shortening his life by a few centuries when she gave him such a scare. He stepped closer to her, his sky blue eyes twinkling dangerously as they stared deeply into their mirror images.
"Y…Yes…" Ethuil, sensing that something was really wrong with her usually mild-tempered brother, took another step back.
Legolas smiled pleasantly, and Ethuil saw how his handsome face lit up to a stage beyond perfection. She swallowed thickly and her heart began hammering against her ribs. The last time Legolas showed such a friendly smile was when he was barely a century old. And at that incident, she almost had a nightmare of deadly arrows with flying swords for a month.
"Sorry…" Ethuil apologized softly. "I wanted to surprise you with my new bow."
Legolas cocked an eyebrow and sighed. He can never stay angry with her for long. The only soft spot he possessed was probably this twin of his. "Don't do this again. I thought something happened to you."
Ethuil immediately felt even guiltier at her brother's tender tone. She knew that if Legolas had played the same trick on her, she would probably have the same reaction, only more violent. "Sorry."
A faint smile and less deadly smile appeared on his face. "Now… where's that new bow you wanted to show me?"
* * *
Legolas slipped onto the silken silver-blue tunic and relished the smoothness of the cloth. It had been a long time since he had slipped into his home clothes. While buttoning his shirt, he had a sudden thought for his friend, Gimli.
'I wonder if he's safe at his caves… If only there's some way I can contact him but…'
"Legolas!" a male voice shouted and soon, an elf with long copper hair tied held neatly together by a silver headband burst into his room.
"Aduial!" Legolas shouted happily. The two old friends laughed and gave each other a thump on the shoulders.
"I was the Southern woods when word was going around that there would be a feast for the return of Prince Legolas," Aduial began breathlessly. Then he repeated King Thranduil's actions and looked all about him. "You look thinner…"
Legolas sighed in exasperation. Perhaps it was a mistake having his father's right hand man as a best friend. At certain times, like right now, it sure felt as though Legolas had two fathers. "You know, my father did and said the exact same things as you had."
Aduial laughed. "This is what we call 'Great minds think alike.'"
Legolas shook his head. Then he changed the subject. "Thanks for teaching Ethuil how to use the bow and arrow."
"That was nothing. She's a pretty good student," Aduial replied with a faraway look in his jade eyes, as though indulging in some fond, distance memories.
"She was so good, she almost killed me just now," Legolas retorted indignantly, causing Aduial to burst into laughter again. Then he eyed his friend with a sly look. "I wonder how it was possible that my dear twin can actually listen to someone else other than me and Father. Unless… he was someone she fancies…"
A pale pink tinge touched Aduial's cheekbones and he turned away. "I heard that you brought a lady back?"
"She was injured when I found her in the Central woods," Legolas explained. "Ethuil will not let me in to see her, but judging by the intensity of her grumbling, that lady was rather badly injured." Legolas' brows knitted as he thought about the wound on her abdomen.
"Don't worry about it too much," Aduial comforted. "You can be sure of Ethuil's skills."
Legolas could not resist the urge to tease his friend again. "Hm… You seem to know a lot of Ethuil." He deliberately elongated his sentence for a better teasing effect.
Aduial turned away again, but not before Legolas caught sight of his rapidly reddening cheeks. "Let's get your bow and have a few rounds, shall we?"
Legolas was up to any type of archery challenge. He hadn't had touched his bow since Sauron was defeated, and he was eager for an excuse to use his prized bow again. "Now you have said the magic words. Let's go."
* * *
Hihi again! Thank you for reading this short chapter… If you think this sucked, give your comments! I love to read reviews… =D
Androme
Jasper: Hi! Thanks for reviewing… ^_^ About the three rings and the powers information, thanks for telling me about it… =P As you may have guessed, I'm not really that… erm… informed about the past, present and future of Middle Earth. About the Encyclopedia of Arda, I'll check it out soon, ya? =D As for the trilogy, I had read it, but only once. This story is erm… actually… to show another side of Legolas which I interpreted from the movie. (you can say I'm better at 'reading' pictures than words… =P) Hope you like it… but perhaps I'll re-write it again… (Why again? This is a third time I'm rewriting this story… =P) But really thanks for your reviews!!! Hope you like this chapter… _^