Sorry this is posted so late. I've been on a ban for a
while, and I wanted to get all my other fics out of my hands before I posted
this. Updates should now be more constant, and hopefully a new chapter will be
up every two weeks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I don't own Legolas, I don't own his father, and I
don't own the Lord Of The Rings or anything affiliated with it. Got that?
Nothing. Well, technically, I guess I own Rûnlain and maybe even this story
idea!
Notes:
The rival kingdom, Rûnlain, actually means 'Sunrise of thread' in Sindarin. I
just liked the way it rolled of the tongue. I also don't know how old Legolas
is, so I just left it as 'incalculable'. ^_^ Another thing: Legolas' archery
instructor's name is Celeblach, which means 'flame of silver'. Ah, and
one more note: This is new to me, but in elvish, all C's are hard. Thus said,
you would pronounce 'Celeborn' as though it read 'Keleborn' and 'Celeblach' as
if it read 'Keleblach'.
Enjoy!
_______
I have lived incalculable years. The eighth year of my life is where my story
begins.
It was an ordinary spring day, but a plot was being shaped. A plot that if
successful would put Mirkwood out of existence. A rival kingdom, Rûnlain, would
be trying to conquer Mirkwood when no one expected it.
As I said, it started as a relatively normal day. My father and his
advisors were going over land grants, I was being tutored, and my mother was
sewing with her ladies. The guards came crashing through the doors to my
father. "We're being attacked, Sir!" The first said.
"The others are alerting the women and children," the second informed
him.
My father rose from his chair. "Tell all the men you can to suit-up!
Continue getting the women and children to safety!"
The two left the room, and my father stopped the second. "Who is it?"
"Rûnlain, sir," the guard replied.
My father sighed. "There's no need to use all our man-power against, but
suit up everyone you can in case they've brought allies."
The second guard nodded and left the room.
My father sighed as he turned to his advisors. "I'm sorry, but it appears
that we'll have to save this for another time." He turned and left the
room to get his weapons, and to be suited up in his armor.
A guard burst into my room, telling my tutors and me to meet my mother and the
others in the middle of the castle. "It's nothing to worry
about," he said, "just an assault by a smaller kingdom."
He hurriedly left the room to inform others.
"Come, Master Legolas," My tutor said, bidding me to follow him. I
followed him out into the hall, but then I slipped un-noticed down the other
direction of the hallway.
I snuck out to the battlements easily enough. I still wonder about that today.
How can the strongest kingdom for miles leave the back ways unguarded during battles,
and remain the strongest? Nonetheless, upon arrival, I realized that the battle
would be fought on the ground. The army of Rûnlain was already collected on a
cleared out part of our land, and our men were quickly filing out to the
fighting grounds. I picked a safe enough hiding space, where I could watch the
battle from a safe distance away.
Soon enough, a few hundred men stood on opposite sides of the field. My
father and his most trusted guards leading Mirkwood, and the rulers of Rûnlain
leading the opposing force. The battle call was sounded, and the front
lines of the two forces charged at each other while those in back fired arrows.
There were only a few men on horses who were fighting, and every one of them
was knocked off. My father was one of them. From my hiding spot I
watched flaming arrows being shot, horses and elves going down. I heard
the clanging of metal against metal, and the cries of elves in pain and
anger. I could smell the stench of the fresh blood.
The battle appeared to be drawing to a close, and Mirkwood was winning.
That was when my father was knocked down after being hit with some projectile
in the back of the head. None of his trusted elves were around to see it
happen, and all others were focusing on themselves. Risking my safety, I sprang
from my hiding place and rushed towards him. I was closing in, when an
elf from Rûnlain came onto him from behind, lifting his sword above his head,
preparing to drive it through my fathers chest. My father was unconscious, so
he couldn't save himself, and no one else was paying attention to where he
was. In desperation, I thought frantically of what to do. I stopped
half in fear a few feet from where my father lay. Without thinking, I picked up
his bow he had dropped, and quickly fitted it with a stray arrow. I took
precise aim and quickly shot the elf as his blade stopped inches from my
fathers flesh.
The elf warrior dropped his sword by his side. He looked at my arrow sticking
out of his chest. His gaze shifted to me, and he dropped to his knees beside my
father. I fitted another stray arrow and aimed. I shot the arrow, and it went
sailing to his chest. He fell back on contact, and his eyes rolled to the back
of his head.
I dropped the bow, and rushed to my father's side. He was slowly regaining
consciousness, and was recovering from the blow to his head. I stayed by
his side until the remaining Rûnlainians surrender. They ran back to their own
kingdom, with half of their best warriors dead or dying. My father was now nearly
at full consciousness, and I helped him to his feet when his guards rushed to
him.
He was taken to the hospital along with several other fighters who had been
injured. Those from Rûnlain who had died were burned. Those from Mirkwood were
buried. I was escorted to my mother, to try and explain why I had been on
the field during battle.
A guard took me to my mother's quarters and left me there for her to handle.
She was overjoyed that I was alive, but was stern that I was never to do that
again until I'd been trained. She'd been told of my bravery with the bow and
how I had saved my father's life. She was amazed I had been able to pull it off
when I had hardly ever had the chance to practice archery. I told her of
my new interest of it, and my new desire to be a warrior, and she was hesitant
to let me have fighting lessons. After my father was released from the hospital
the next day, he persuaded her to allow it.
I would begin my lessons in less than a week. I assured my mother yet again
that I had not been injured in battle, and I was 'allowed' to get back to my
studies after I was rested.
It had been two days and we had heard nothing from the ruler of Rûnlain. A few
days later it was learned that he was over-thrown and killed, and that the
citizens had become nomads until they could find a place to settle, and quite
possibly, conquer.
I went through the rest of the week eagerly awaiting my fighting lessons.
Finally, the day came. My schooling lessons were cut short, and I was
allowed to go to Celeblach, who would be teaching me the art of fighting. I
arrived where he had told me too, and he handed me a bow and arrow. "What
do you do with it?" He asked.
"Shoot it?" I guessed, wondering exactly what he meant.
"How do you shoot it?"
I fitted an arrow in the bow, and pulled my arm back, keeping my elbow level
with my shoulder.
"Good," he said, inspecting my stature, "except for one thing.
If you do it like that, the arrow will never travel over 20 feet. If that's how
you did it the other day, it's a good thing you were shooting from a short
distance, otherwise, you would have never hit target."
I lowered my bow. "Really? What am I doing wrong?"
He took his own bow and fitted it with an arrow, showing my how to properly
hold the bow and arrow, and how to aim with exact precision. Soon, I was able
to hit targets over 50 feet away. Now, I can send an arrow sailing for hundreds
of yards and hit my target, but 50 feet was quite an accomplishment for a
child.
______
That's chapter two. I'm going to try as hard as a can, (or as hard as I want
to) to try to get the next chapter up soon. What do you think of this story? Is
it getting better, worse? Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!
Oh yea, a super-special thank you to my beta-reader, Bringer of the Storm! Thanks a lot, if you hadn't proofread this for me, it would have had grammatical errors galore!
