This is my first Haldir fic, and hopefully one of the best ones I will write. I am trying desparately to keep the elves in character, but it is also my first full-elven charactered fiction. Honestly I have more practice with hobbits, but ah, well. Believe it or not, this fic was inspired by the scene in TTT the movie, when Aragorn hugs Haldir. I found it rather cute and funny his expression. It was like 'Oh… all righty, then.' Lolz, well, enjoy!
~ Hoshiko
The Child in the Forest
It was dark among the trees of Lorien. Night had fallen an hour ago, but there was still peace among the trees. Haldir sat on a talan along with his brother Orophin, talking quietly. The night was quiet itself, and was only broken when another tall but light body hopped down besides them.
'My, you are late!' Haldir said, pretending to be serious, but not succeeding, 'Rumil, Celeborn would have your head!'
'Ah, but yours would look much better on the wall, my dear brother!' Rumil answered, and Haldir chuckled.
'Probably so, yes.' He said, swinging himself up on a branch, 'but you see, I am always here on time.'
'If you do not wish to be you do not have to.' Orophin said, looking at the stars. 'It has been so quiet for so long, it has started to get tedious…' he said, keeping his gaze. It was 430 of the Third Age, and things around Lorien had been peaceful. Indeed to a Guardian of the Golden Wood it would seem that way, for, in elven interpretations of time, the Last Alliance had just ended not too long ago. Haldir and Orophin remembered it, though Rumil had not come of age at that time.
'Do not speak like that!' Haldir warned, looking down at his younger brother, 'it is better than seeing any more of our kin wounded and killed.' He said, and Orophin agreed silently. Going to the other side of the talan Rumil looked out across the vast forest. His sharp eyes locked onto a small moving object. Quieting his siblings, he could hear the faint sound of pounding feet and snarls of some creature.
'Are those orcs?' he asked, not sure if what he saw was really there. Haldir and Orophin immediately rushed over to him and looked, too.
'Yes, they are, come along; our time of idleness is over.' Haldir said quickly, and immediately began jumping nimbly from talan to talan, his brothers close behind. They were much faster than the orcs, so they headed them off, and bent their bows. In the speed of elves they each loaded a white arrow into their bows, and started their attack on the orcs.
The orcs did not stand a chance. They were a very small band, and though once they realized they were under attack, their arrows missed. Trying to hit an elf in the dark was not an easy task. When most of the orcs had been killed, there was one that Haldir saw, though he was shooting another. It ran off behind the bushes, and suddenly a shriek could be heard. His brother's heads immediately shot to the side, but Haldir jumped down from the tree.
'I will get it, do not worry!' he said, and they continued with their battle. The orc was facing the way opposite of Haldir, and Haldir killed it quickly. It fell to the side, dead. What Haldir saw afterwards made him question his eye sight for the first time in his long life.
It was a child. A small child, curled up, the best protection it had for itself. He walked up slowly to it, his brothers coming behind him. He gently put a hand on its shoulder, but it just curled up tighter.
'Leave me alone, you mean orcy!' it whined in the Common Tongue from its ball. He could hear his brothers snickering from behind him.
'No, no, I am not an orc, they are all gone.' He said as gently as he was used to, and it shook its head.
'I don't believe you!' the child said, and in a flash bit Haldir's hand. He drew it back immediately, not used to pain of any sort. He watched his language because of the child in front of him, but the words he said in his head would have made even Orophin blush.
'I do not think the child likes you.' Orophin said in Quenya, and Haldir shot him a look of death.
'I would happily see you do better.' Haldir said, and Orophin just shrugged. Haldir turned back to the child and kneeled next to it. It seemed at the other voice, the child had looked up, and now looked at them in wonder. Haldir could easily see it was a girl, now. 'What are you doing in the forest alone?' Haldir asked, and the child immediately started shedding tears.
'I- I…' it sniffed, 'I want my mommy!' she cried, and buried her head in her hands. Haldir sighed, and rubbed his temples.
'What does you mother look like?' he asked as much as his trying patience would allow. She suddenly stopped crying, and looked at him.
'Well… she… she… she's as tall as you, and-and she had gold hair, and I lost her…' she said, and Rumil, who was more learned in the common tongue than Orophin, kneeled next to her, Haldir standing.
'Where did you loose her?' he asked calmly, and the girl pointed to the way the orcs had come.
'She told me to run over there, so I listened to her, and now I can't find her, and I'm cold, and I'm scarred…' the girl whined, and Rumil nodded.
'It's all right.' He said, and looked at Orophin. 'Orophin, go where the orcs came from and see if you find a maiden.' He said, and Orophin, though not excited with taking orders from his younger brother, went, leaving Haldir and Rumil with the child. They waited, the girl latching onto Rumil, and when Orophin returned, he shook his head.
'I found a woman about half a mile away. She had been killed with a swift slice to her neck. She was weaponless; she had no chance against them.' He said, but the child did not seem to understand Quenya, so she looked up at him with curiosity. Rumil stood up and looked at his brother.
'Are you sure?'
'I doubt my eyes not.' Orophin said, and Rumil nodded.
'Come along, we will bring her to the Lord and Lady, they shall know what to do.' He said, and looked at the child.
'Haldir, would you please get her?' he asked, and Haldir raised an eyebrow.
'Me? Why me?'
'Because you are the oldest and most responsible.' Rumil said matter-of-factly, and Haldir rolled his eyes, picking the girl up.
'Tulya, ai-er.' He said soothingly in Sindarin, and she nuzzled her head into his clothes, sobbing silently. He held her rather awkwardly and Rumil started to talk to her in Sindarin. The language that was like singing to the ears of someone not used to it was calming, and with the very even moving of his walk, she fell asleep quickly.
