"Savina," said a quiet voice.
Savina yawned and sat up.
Aragorn was sitting on the ground next to her, pushing something warm into her hands, "eat it."
"What is it?" she mumbled groggily.
"The best damn fish I've ever tasted," boomed Gimli.
She ate the fish.
It was excellent.
After she was finished she stood up and stretched her legs. It was still very early in the morning, probably five or six, and kind of chilly. Shivering, she tied her cloak around her shoulders and looked around for Legolas.
A splashing sound caught her attention and she turned to see Legolas ankle deep in the lake, with a small fishing spear in his hand, no shoes on, and his pants rolled up, and Gimli standing on the shore, watching him with interest.
As she watched, Legolas speared a fish and tossed it to Aragorn, who stuck a stick through it and held it over the fire.
Legolas noticed her awake and nodded to her, "sleep well?"
She nodded and he went back to his fishing.
Gimli clomped over to her and looked at her, then reached into his pocket and pulled something small out, "I usually use this for my beard, when I get a chance, but you can have it." He handed her something and stomped back to the edge of the river.
Savina looked down and found herself holding a small comb made out of black, obsidian-like stone. It was obviously of Dwarven craft, with a thick, stout handle with a row of three rubies in it. She thought it was beautiful. She brushed out her hair, wondering how she could have forgotten to bring her own brush, which was sitting on her dresser at home.
Aragorn had taken out a small stone and was sharpening his sword, running the stone along the edge of the blade.
Legolas waded out of the water, dried his feet, and pulled his boots on. He noticed Savina watching him and smiled uncertainly.
Savina sat down next to him and smiled at him.
He smiled at her, "how do you feel today?"
"Better than I though I would have," she replied, then looked at him, "how do you feel?"
Legolas' smile faded a little, "we're closer to Mordor," he said slowly, "I feel…like I'm dying," he trailed off and looked across the river and the forest, and beyond that, the mountains.
Savina felt a pain in her head, much less than before, but still a stab of pain. And then her father spoke again.
"I'm dying, Savina!"
The pain was gone.
Savina shook her head and looked at Legolas, but he hadn't even noticed.
He was gazing at the mountains with a faraway look in his eyes.
Suddenly Savina felt a desperate need to do something for him, he looked so sad, so far from everything he loved. His eyes looked so empty and doomed. She glanced around and spotted his longbow and quiver of arrows sitting on the ground next to him. "Legolas," she began, "could you…could you teach me archery?"
He looked absolutely delighted, "of course!" He sprang to his feet and flung his arrows over his shoulder and picked up his longbow.
Savina got to her feet, a small grin on her face. It was good to see him genuinely happy looking. She followed him to the middle of the field, facing the forest.
"First you have to learn how to hold it," he took her left hand and placed it on the bow, then put an arrow in her right hand. "Now fit the little notch in the end of the arrow on to the string, level with your left hand – no, a little lower, that's it. Wrap you pointer finger around the string directly above the arrow, wait, you're moving the arrow, there you go." He paused for a breath, "now pull back, but don't let go."
Savina pulled back with her pointer finger, this was way harder than it looked.
Legolas bit his lip and studied her, then shook his head, "you're standing wrong, stand a bit sideways with your right foot back a step, no, that's too sideways." He stepped up to her, grabbed her by the hips, and moved her to the correct position.
"Now what do I do?" Savina asked, hardly daring to breath for the chance that she would lose her position.
He surveyed her, then stepped behind her and put his hands over hers, "you want both of your hands to be level with your shoulders and with each other. When you pull back, pull straight along your shoulder," slowly, he pulled her right hand back to show her, "see?"
Savina felt dizzy and distracted. Here she was, in the middle of a field, with this beautiful creature standing so close to her that she could feel his warm breath against her ear. She looked at her left hand; with his larger hand over it…it was beautiful. She could hardly breath. She shook her head, feeling foolish and glad Legolas couldn't read minds.
Legolas tapped her right hand with his finger, "keep this position," then he put his finger under her chin, "always keep your chin parallel to your arrow." He moved over a little so that his face was above her left shoulder and moved her face toward him.
For one beautiful, horrible moment, Savina thought he was going to kiss her.
"Always keep your nose pointed at your target and your eyes on your target." He glanced behind him at the forest, "what do you want to aim for?"
Savina tried to tear her eyes away from him, but she couldn't, he was mesmerizing.
"Savina," he began in a soft voice, as if he were trying to wake her.
She snapped to attention and looked at the forest, "that tree, I'll aim for that tree right there."
He nodded and stepped back to check that she still held the right position. "Ok, now move the whole bow up and down until you feel like you're in the right place, it should be sort of instinctive. When you hit the spot, let go with you right hand."
Feeling kind of stupid, Savina looked at the tree and moved the bow to face it; she didn't feel very instinctive at the moment. She took a deep breath and tried to focus, then let go.
The arrow went whistling across the field, going nowhere near the tree she had aimed for, and disappeared into the woods.
Savina looked up at Legolas, "I'm sorry, I can go get it if you want-"
Legolas waved his hand, "don't worry about it, do you want to try again?"
She shook her head, "no, that's ok, but thank you for trying to teach me."
"You did well, it was only your first shot," he paused and looked at her solemnly, "thank you. You," he looked in the direction the arrow had disappeared, "sometimes when I'm around you, I think maybe I won't die in Mordor after all."
"I don't think you will either," Savina said quietly.
"Legolas!"
They turned and saw Aragorn waving to them, "we have to get going!"
Legolas turned to her again, "you have saved me in so many ways, I-"
"Legolas!"
Savina turned and started to walk quickly toward Aragorn, she wanted so badly to be near Legolas, half of her had wanted him to kiss her, but some part of her held her back and made her angry at him for no apparent reason. She folded up her blanket, put on her cloak, and looked to Aragorn for direction.
Aragorn motioned to her feet, "take your shoes off and roll your pants up to your knees, we're wading across the river."