Eighteen Years Later...
By: Brandy Camel
Chapter Two: Roadside Conversation
Disclaimer: Short-hand version: The only people I own as of now are Delia and Areisan, who are of my personal creation. All others are property of J. R. R. Tolkien. Bless his soul. This chapter is a bit more on character building. It's very dialogue-driven. It's also just now happening in my head, so I apologize if anything seems amiss. It is very difficult to get inside a character that you don't own's head. I'm sure most of you know this. ^_^;; I'll probably revise this several times, so if you catch the first release of it, check back later. It might be better.
Areisan was a bit uneasy as the journey began. She did not quite know what to say or to do. She tried her hardest to remain neutral and to not let looks deceive her. After all, that was one of the most important lessons she learned as a princess; most people were out to take advantage of you. But this was an Elf, as well as a friend of her father's. He could not be a bad person, no matter which way she looked at it, and without really learning much about him, she already began to fall for him. Begging herself to stop thinking about it, she tried to strike up some vague form of conversation.
"How long should it take to get to Mirkwood?" she turned her head to address Legolas, since the pair were riding side-by-side.
"I estimate about two weeks. Unless we are delayed somehow, but I doubt such would happen..." he paused for a moment in thought. "I have been meaning to ask, and it may sound strange of me, but do you meditate?"
Areisan was indeed surprised a bit by the question. It definitely seemed out of the ordinary.
"I am not sure what you mean,"
"Well, most elves do not sleep at night. We usually only take about two hours of meditation to rest. I am not sure as to which way you were raised. The trip may take longer if you do not meditate, but that should not be too much of a problem,"
"Oh," Areisan was quite intrigued by this. No wonder Elrond seemed to be ever-alert. She wondered privately if her mother meditated as well. "I am sorry, but I had not ever known that fact. So I suppose you would count that as a 'no'," she smiled, a bit sheepishly.
Legolas nodded, not seeming to show much emotion. It seemed he had other thoughts on his mind, most likely about the trip and how they were to be traveling.
"That may actually work out for the best. The lembas will only last us about two weeks, and since you require normal human rest periods, it may take as much as a week longer,"
"Oh my! I am sorry to cause so much of a change in plans..."
"As I said, it is not really a problem. The extra week will give me time to teach you to hunt and survive on your own in the wild. Aside from the point, lembas tends to dull your sense of taste after a while," he smiled a bit to himself at that.
Areisan nodded. She still could not get over the fact she had caused an entire week-long delay, but Legolas' reasoning did make sense. The only thing she had ever done on her own is manage to sneak out of the castle... wait, no, she even had Delia's help for that. That was the part about being a princess that Areisan absolutely hated: She had never been on her own, and was terrified of it.
She stayed silent for a time after that, wondering what else there really was for her to say. The last conversation she started had kind of failed. You really do not tend to want to be guilty by the end of your conversation. It is usually not your priority, or your aim to begin with.
She knew she had something else she was going to ask, but the thought temporarily eluded her. Then she snapped to attention as if the thought had hit her like an arrow between the eyes.
Legolas quickly looked over, noticing her instinctive movement.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"No, no, I just remembered what I was going to ask you earlier. I am kind of sheltered to begin with, seeing as how I have been raised solely in Minas Tirith, and aside from archery and swordplay, what else exactly will I be trained to do?"
Legolas chuckled a bit at the sheltered comment, and promptly excused himself.
"I am sorry, that was rather inappropriate. It is just difficult for me to think of Ara- I mean, Elessar raising his daughter to be sheltered. Your father is probably the most unsheltered person I have ever met..." he smiled again to himself, as if remembering something of the past. "But back to your question, I will train you to hunt, defend yourself, and also instruct you a little on basic healing skills. Hopefully, you will pick up your innate elvish abilities to sense things about your surroundings, as well as the elvish techniques of battle," His face seemed to go straight again, and he murmured something to himself in Quenyan Elvish, which Areisan could only partially make out. She understood the root for "hope," but nothing more. Just the same, the prospects of learning all he said both fascinated and excited her.
"My father has surely chosen the perfect guide. This truly sounds fascinating to me, and I am eager to learn," she smiled over at him, showing her pre-gratitude for all she knew would come. He smiled a bit back.
"That is good to hear. I am glad that you desire to learn. That already makes the process simpler,"
Another few minutes passed by before Areisan could think of another topic.
"So, how is it exactly that you know my father?" she paused a bit cautiously as Legolas did not seem to be incredibly eager to answer. "That is, if I may ask?"
Legolas sighed and looked at her. "Do you remember anything of the War of the Ring?" Areisan gave him a look at first, stared forward into the scenery, as they were just now leaving the distant farm areas and truly entering the wild, and then seemed to remember something.
"I believe I heard my parents talking about it before. That war had happened before my birth, had it not?" Legolas nodded. "All I know is that it revolved around the Rings of Power and that the group on the quest involved my father, and a representative of each race, I believe... Oh yes, and I remember Gandalf. Very kind and polite..." she trailed off.
"Well, instead of regaling the entire story to you, I was the representative for the elves. This is not when I first met your father, but how I came to truly know him. It was a long and difficult quest, and it brought all nine of us very close together," Legolas paused, and winced at what he said.
"Is there something wrong?" Areisan questioned, genuinely curious what that reaction could be about.
"Only eight of the nine of us are left. One member passed during the quest. All of us only wish he could have survived to see Gondor as it is today. He would certainly be proud," Legolas smiled sadly, and Areisan figured she would leave the topic alone for another time.