Need I remind all that this is a very fictional story.
Chapter 4
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The hobbit-children stared at Frodo with wide eyes. None of them moved, which made all of them look like stone statues. Frodo looked at the clock on the wall. It was fifteen minutes past eight o'clock.
"My goodness, it is way past your bedtimes. I will continue with this tomorrow," he said, getting up from his chair. Loud protest immediately came from the children.
"You have to finish it, Uncle!"
"Yes, what
happens to Prince Legolas?"
"Yes, yes, you have to tell what
happens to him!"
"Dragons and orcs! Dragons and orcs! Dragons and orcs, Unky!"
"All right, all right, but I must inform you that I gave my word to your parents that I have you sleep at exactly eight o'clock. As you can see, it is way past that hour."
"We promise to
keep quiet if you continue. Please, please,
Uncle Frodo," begged Frodo.
"Yes, don't stop while it is
getting really exciting," piped up Rose.
All of them looked at him with their lips pouted.
Then Frodo said, "All right, how can I not resist those looks? I will continue under this condition: you will not tell your parents I have you stayed up so late in the night. Is that a deal?"
"Deal," said the four in unison.
"Wonderful, in that case…"
(And we're doing that zooming thing again…)
(Frodo:)Aravad and Legolas went their separate ways after the lessons. Aravad decided to head towards the main gates of Mirkwood to visit her good (if not, best) friend, Caradir. He was one of the noble Captains of Mirkwood and the only one who can tolerate Aravad, for he was kind and considerate. In other words, he was a perfect gentleman-
"Don't you mean gentle-elf, uncle, he is after all an elf," said Rose.
"Oh, yes, how silly of me…"
(Frodo:)-a perfect gentle-elf. She arrived to find him standing on the wall of the gate and aiming his bow at something towards the woods away from the borders of the kingdom. Caradir was standing with is back towards her, and his long, golden hair shining against the sun. He was tall and strong with a stature of a noble captain. She smiled evilly, climbed up to the wall of the gate, and leapt next to him.
"Good day, Caradir!" exclaimed Aravad. He jumped in surprise and accidentally fired his arrow at the wrong place he intended it to be. It soared to the small camp outside of the gates, where soldiers were busy working.
"Watch out!" he called down to the soldiers. Then there was a huge commotion as the soldiers jumped out of its way and causing things to spill, break, and topple over.
Aravad stared in amazement at what she had done. She blushed deeply and muttered, "Oops."
Caradir sighed. "And a good day to you too, Aravad. Let me guess, Master Enedrion had let you out early again?"
Aravad nodded. "Fell asleep in boredom. It was not my fault the lesson was so dull."
"I'm sure it wasn't," muttered Caradir. He got down from the platform and climbed down the ladder of the wall. Aravad followed him eagerly, for he was like a big brother to her. They both started walking away from the gates.
"Well, it really wasn't. Legolas fell asleep and Master Enedrion got mad at him. It was rather odd because he had made it seem like I should care for Legolas so much."
"Did he now? He hasn't said anything to you, has he?" asked Caradir, with the utmost concern that made Aravad think that something was not right.
"No," she said slowly. "Should I know something that I'm supposed to know of?"
Caradir's face lightened a whole lot. "Nay, not anything that I know of."
"Well, in that case," she said, still doubting his words, "guess what?"
"What?"
"I have been practicing archery for some time now," said Aravad excitedly.
Caradir suddenly stopped walking. He turned to look at her. "Oh, Aravad. Have I not told you to stop? You're only going to get yourself hurt and in trouble. Besides, maidens are not fit to hold bows, especially for someone as clumsy as you," he added with a chuckle.
"I'm not clumsy," said Aravad indignantly. "I'm really getting good, honest! I mean I know that the pointed end of the arrow does not face you but the other way. And you don't practice near anyone. Come on, Caradir, you have to teach me again. I promise I will do a better job."
"It's not that easy, Aravad. What if we get in trouble from the king? Worst, what if I get stripped of my rank? I have worked very hard to earn my title. Many years, Aravad, many long years, and I am not going to just throw that away for a lesson worth of archery for a maiden forbidden to hold any sort of weapon."
Caradir continued to walk faster. Aravad struggled to follow at his heels. Both did not know where in Mirkwood they were going.
"I beseech thee, Caradir," wailed Aravad. "You have always told me how females and males should be treated equally. Well, here's that chance for you to accomplish that. Caradir, please, it is not like we will practice at the town square or anything of that sort. Besides, I am sure that my father would have wanted me to. King Thranduil has always told me that my father would have wanted me to learn how to defend myself. 'I will not have a child that would grow up always in distress,' he would tell me. You wouldn't ignore my father's wishes now, would you? My deceased father?"
Aravad knew that Caradir had some soft spot for anything that reminded him of her father. She just figured it was because he admired him dearly for Morandil was renowned in Mirkwood. She watched as he slowly came to a halt and turned around to face her. No expression was on his face, which, to Aravad's guess, meant that he did not want her to know what he was thinking. Finally, he sighed,
"Oh, all right. I shall teach you."
Aravad squealed with excitement and ran up to embrace Caradir, who looked a bit taken aback by being squeezed by a maiden. Not that this has ever happened to him before. No, he was quite the lady's elf, but it was different-it's Aravad.
"Thank you! Thank you very much! Oh, you will not regret this! I promise I shall not let you down," she said somewhere around his chest. Why do I have a feeling it would be unlikely, he thought.
As Aravad had let go of him, Caradir thought for a moment. Then he took her hand and said, "Come with me."
He led the way to an empty glade very far from the heart of Mirkwood. There, he told her to stay where she was and quickly left to somewhere Aravad could only guess. After a while, he came back bringing things such as fruits of different kinds, sacks filled with dirt, and many other things. He had set them up so that they were all on top of logs.
"Why would he do that?" asked Rose.
"So they're set up like targets, silly," said Young Frodo.
"Did they use hobbits as targets, Unky? Elves, did they, huh, Unky?"
"Faramir! Why on earth would they do that?" exclaimed Elanor, giving him a look of repulsion. "That is an outrage! Not to mention quite terrible!"
"Would they use Elanor as a target, Unky?"
"I'll show you who's the target."
(Frodo:)Lastly, Caradir disappeared again and came back, this time, with an elven bow and a quiver of arrows.
"All right, this is my bow and arrows. Handle them with care," he explained as he held it out for her. Aravad reached out to get it from him but he would not budge.
"Er, this is where you let go, Caradir," but there was a slight struggle. He still looked very hesitant. "Honestly, do you want to do this or not?"
Finally, he let go. "All right, now, how far did you get by learning archery by yourself?"
Aravad thought for a while. "Not much, I basically just aimed at things."
"All right," he said slowly. "Well, then, I have got a lot to teach you. But first, let me test your aim. See that sack right there? Go ahead and shoot at it."
Aravad did as she was told. And to her surprise, her shot was pretty good.
"Excellent, now try that apple over there."
"There? But it's very far."
"Just do it."
She put another arrow on the bow and was ready to fire when Caradir said,
"Be careful with that deer right there!"
"What deer?"
Everything seemed to have happened very fast. First, Aravad turned around so that the arrow was pointing directly at Caradir. Caradir, thanks to his magnificent elvish instinct, ducked quickly to avoid the arrow from sending him to the Halls of Mandos. Then this arrow shot far through the air and into a bush, where, moments later, a loud yell of pain was heard.
"Oops," muttered Aravad as they ran towards the direction where the arrow went.
* * *
(Frodo:) Now, Legolas made his way-
"Uncle, what happened to the person who got shot?" asked Elanor. But Frodo only smiled.
"You'll find out soon." With that, he went on-(Frodo:) he made his way deeper into the gardens, humming merrily along. He stopped to observed the beautiful flowers along the way. He thought for a moment and decided to pick a few of them, very color of each kind of flowers. For you see, Legolas has a secret. And this secret was that he currently courting a beautiful and graceful maiden by the name of Criselda. However, since it was a secret, the citizens of Mirkwood quickly learnt of this news. King Thranduil, who still had hopes for Legolas and Aravad, was oblivious to this news and considered it as a mere rumor. The fact was that Legolas was convinced that he was in love with this maiden and was considering choosing her as his wife.
"Wait, Uncle, that can't be. He can't marry that Criselda. I mean he's meant for Aravad."
"Just let him continue his story."
(Frodo:) What he did not know was that even though Criselda was a beautiful and graceful as she was in the outside, she was snobbish and conceited in the inside. The only one who knows this was Aravad, for aside from Legolas, she loathed Criselda. Criselda shared the same interest to her. She thought that Aravad did not have right to live in the King's court, for she was just an orphan whom the King felt sorry for.
(Frodo:) After his lessons, Legolas had agreed to meet Criselda at the gardens. She had told him that she had a special day planned for them. Whatever it was, Legolas could just imagine impatiently. At last, he had caught sight of a maiden waiting under a tree. She was dressed in a long, glimmering, and lavender dress. Her long, golden hair flowed and shined against the sunlight. She looked more beautiful than ever. Legolas's heart leapt with joy by the scene he was just witnessing. Criselda saw him and walked quickly towards him.
"Oh, Legolas, I have been waiting for you," she said.
"I apologize for making you wait for long, love. Here, have this bouquet of flowers as a token of my sincerest apology," he said as he presented the flowers he picked in front of her.
"Oh! Legolas, they are beautiful!" she exclaimed in utter delight. She took them from his hands and smelt them. "And they smell divine."
"So, what is the surprise that you have for me?" asked Legolas knowingly.
"Aye, of course, I almost forgot. Well, close your eyes and come with me," she answered alluringly. She took him by the hand and led him deeper into the gardens to a small clearing. In the clearing, there was a blanket spread over the ground with a basket on top of it. "All right, here we are. Now you can open your eyes."
Legolas stood open-mouthed at the blanket laid on the floor and the basket on top of it.
"Surprise," whispered Criselda near his ear. "What do you think? Do you like it?"
"I love it," he said as he turned to face her. "And I love you."
"Oh, and I love you too. Now let's eat."
They sat down on the blanket to eat. Criselda opened the basket to reveal the parcels inside. She laid them down on the ground.
"One question I must ask from you, love," said Legolas, "how did you know that I absolutely love picnics under the shades of trees?"
However, Criselda simply grinned and said, "Well, I have my sources and I don't tell who they are."
Legolas laughed softly. "Well, aren't we a tease?" he said playfully. He leaned over to kiss her but accidentally spilled a goblet of wine on the blanket and some on him along the way.
"Oh, dear, here let me help," said Criselda.
(Frodo:)Legolas got to his hands and knees to help Criselda clean up the massive stain on the blanket. A soft whooshing noise came towards them. Then all seemed a blur as Legolas felt an immense pain at his, er, lower back area-
"You mean his bum? Uncle, come on, I am turning ten next spring. I think we're pretty old enough to hear those kind of words," said Young Frodo.
"Yeah," agreed Rose and Elanor together.
"Yeah, Unky, so you can say bum or butt or heinie, tooshie, behind, bottom, ass-"
"All right, that's enough, Faramir," warned Elanor.
(Frodo:) Anyway, he felt pain at his bum. He turned to see what it was and then gave out a yell of pain. An arrow was sticking out of his, er, behind. He felt as though he was dying and everything became blurry to him. The last things he heard were the frustrated reassurances of Criselda as he completely blacked out and a rustling of the bushes nearby.
I don't own anything. Not even Criselda, coz she owns herself. Hello starfish!
