Disclaimer: Don't you like Batman Beyond? I love that show…
Chapter Nine: Boundaries of Friendship (AKA ANOTHER crappy song)*
"Elorelei? Do you have the Astronomy chart? I lost mine." Legolas looked helplessly at his best friend for the past four hundred years at the Castle and then some.
Smirking, the young lady elf, sporting a green and brown tunic, picked up the paper from underneath a nearby table. "As usual, Princey's lost his own head WHILE it was attached." The elf laughed, then immersed herself in her book, but heard the muttered response of "Princess." "Shut up." She added.
"You shut up."
"You shut up first."
"You shut up first first."
"You shut up first first first."
At this point, the librarian ever so kindly told them both to shut up.
The time at the Castle went by quickly to those living there, and slow to others. Legolas grew to be the most enchanting prince in the eyes of younger females. His archery skills were amplified many times over and his skills with people and things grew; many predicted he would become a great king. Whether by choice or by fate, Legolas was popular. Elorelei had managed to stay out of the limelight, though there was rarely a time they weren't spotted together. Her hair was no longer light to dark brown, but almost black. The green in her eyes increased until they looked like forest with a river of blue flowing through them. She grew stronger by day and smarter by night and no one, not even Legolas, could surpass her archery.
"Miss Whitecloud! Miss Whitecloud!" Rilar ignored the laughing of the several boys in his class. Elorelei Whitecloud was the finest archer in the school, female or no. "Please, show these young ones some real archery."
A low murmur passed threw the crowd with remarks like "A female teach us archery?" "He must be older than he looks." The facts were, however, that Rilar had barely aged a day, much less several centuries. Though many thought he taught better with his old assisant, Jayik now had control of intermediate archery, and Rilar had advanced archery. That's the way it was.
"Miss Whitecloud here will be doing a little trick for us. A trick that most of you should be able to do." He glared at his class, most of them slackers, thinking they knew that what-what's about archery, when they didn't know enough to shoot an irugu from thirty feet.
Pulling a small fruit from his pocket, Rilar tossed it as high as it would go, then caught it. The students chuckled.
"She will put an arrow through this, at it's greatest height. Depending on how high you throw, only ADVANCED archers can do this with a MEDIUM sized fruit. This is a relatively small one. Elorelei?" He stepped back, allowing her to stand right next to him, but she did not draw her arrow. He tossed the fruit upward, and she fitted, aimed, and shot her arrow in one fluid movement. The class fell silent.
She realized, while she didn't thrive on it, she could get very used to this impressing people thing Legolas talked about.
*~*~*~*
"Elorelei... Wake up..." Legolas nudged the sleeping elf in the back again. She made a small mumbling sound but did not stir further. "Hey, Princess, wake up."
"Shut up, Princey. I'm awake," yawned Elorelei, stretching. "I just needed a little nap before you drag me off into uncharted corners of the forest." She rubbed her eyes a few times, then saw Legolas throwing some food into a bag. "Going on a field trip, are we?" She thought for a moment he was running away, but what did he have to run from?
Not thinking of the consequences, he grabbed her wrist and made to pull her outside. "No time to explain, we- .... oh, hello." A tall, blonde elf stood in the doorway. Her eyes were stony blue and full of a strange cunning that gave her face a rather twisted look. She was smiling broadly.
"Hi, Legolas." Niqueran smiled and looked into the Prince's blue eyes until he tore them away from her.
"Hi.... hi....." Though he hated to admit it, her name escaped him, so Legolas closed with, "Just hi."
Elorelei muttered and looked at the ceiling. "Well said, Princey." She slung her bag over her shoulder and waited for Niqueran to move.
Niqueran made no such gesture. "Going out for an evening stroll, dear Prince?" Elorelei almost choked on her own laugh.
"Actually, I was, so, if you could-"
"Oh no," tutted the smitten elven lady. "No rush, do sit down."
"No," He said firmly. "We really have to go." Without waiting for retaliation, he brushed her aside politely as he knew how, then walked on, Elorelei still unwillfully in tow.
*~*~*~*
"Hey, Legoldenlocks? Do you mind telling me what in Yuilar's name is wrong with you? Are you eating those herbs Eli sends me? Those are for Iledian, not for you. Or have you been eating Ms. Graceheart's homemade cakes? I warned you about those, don't say I didn't." However, nothing she said seemed to sway him. He didn't stop until they'd reached the same ringlet of trees Elorelei found when they had first come here.
The Prince sighed contendly and put his back against a tree.
Elorelei nodded as if he had just ratified something. "Yup, Princey's gone insane. I'll go get the-"
"Oh, just sit down," said Legolas, torn between irritation and amusement.
She swung up and sat on a branch of the tree Legolas was under. Her stomach was flat against the branch and her arms hung down. "What's on your mind? You weren't exactly Prince Charming to Niqi back there." She asked, accepting a pomegranate he tossed to her.
A sigh came from below. "I'm not EXACTLY Prince Charming anyway." He picked up a rock, skimming it off the surface of the river until it disappeared from sight.
"This is true," Legolas jumped as Elorelei suddenly hung upside down before his face. "But only I know that, and I won't tell a soul, honest." She smiled. He weakly returned it, but could not keep it for long and again kept looking out over the water. She disappeared from view until he heard her land softly at his side. "Legolas..." Her voice was very soft now, she was through joking.
He sighed again. "What are you going to do when we leave here?" He asked, shutting his eyes, and closing out the world.
The first response that came to her head, came out of her mouth. "Be a Princess, I suppose. Until I'm old enough to leave that."
"Where then will you go?"
There was a pause for a while. Legolas opened one eye to be sure she hadn't left, but she was still there. She pulled her knees to her chest and gazed beyond the water. Her eyes wandered far away, in places he couldn't see, let alone imagine. To his shock, she started to sing in a clear, angelic voice that made a sound like a crystal bell.
"Where then will you go, my little sparrow?
Will you follow the wind, take you where it may?
Where then will you go, my little sparrow?
Why do you want to go so far away?
Is home not enough, my little sparrow?
Will you look for treasures in places unknown?
Will you take my heart with you, my little sparrow?
While you explore and you fight and you roam?
Where then will you go, my little sparrow?
When you have seen all the greatness in this great, big world?
Can I hope to have my heart back, my little sparrow?
Or will I never see you again, will the wind never blow you home?"
Legolas stared. Her cheeks were dampened from the tears than ran down her face. Her eyes were still wandering but Legolas could vaguely see them returning to their spot on the water.
When she finally realized where she was, she sprang up, quickly, wiping her eyes. "I'm- I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to- I didn't know I would-"
He silenced her. "Don't apologize, that was beautiful. Where did you hear that?"
She said nothing, but found something interesting on the ground to stare at. "What did you want to talk about, Legolas?" She asked, furious with herself for just going off like that. She began to walk toward her bag.
"Why don't you want me to see you cry?" He circled around a tree and popped up in front of her, knowing fully well what she was capable of but that she would never use it on him.
"Oh no," She began, her voice tainted with anger. "We are NOT turning this into a discussion about me. This is about you, Legolas, I didn't want to come out here." She had never used his proper name so many times in a row since when they first met.
He huffed. "Tomorrow, at Lunch, then? When you're not so uptight by me seeing you have an sensitive side?"
"Fine." Without waiting for a response, she picked up her bag and began walking away. Thinking she'd left him behind in the woods, she hardly noticed (or if she did notice, she didn't acknowledge) that he was following her until she reached her room.
"Goodnight, Princess," said Legolas, turning to go his own way.
She sighed. "Night, Princey."