***Well, as usual, I disclaim***
The image mirrored that of the afternoon prior, the young elf walking beside that of the taller warrior, again the silent, though for much different reasons then they had been the day before. Legolas had all but forgotten his fleeting angry but now he felt uncomfortable, how did he begin talking to Verya again; it was different with his ada or his siblings, why was it so different with him? He looked up to the raven haired elf, only staring long enough so he could not be caught, he let out a restless sigh, unconscious of the attention it drew from the larger elf, today's training was going to prove to be difficult indeed if the two persisted in such a tense manner.
Verya's feelings were similar to that of the younger elf's, he thought he would grow out of the awkwardness of relationships as he grew older, he would simply be able to forget the past and let bygones be bygones, but here he was unable to utter a word. He let a sigh, similar to that of Legolas', out; being an older was certainly not at all what he imagined it to be, still nervous around other elflings, still wanting to be everyone's friend. He was so proficient a warrior, he believed, because with that their were rules of conduct, if you practiced something hard enough you could master it, and he did; he had proven to be the best at his craft; life was not so easy, words, in his case, would never come easy; leaving him feeling like Kaimelar when put into social situations. At least now that he was the captain of the King's troops, he could be seen as the old, brooding warrior type, though he was far from that. He laughed at his own predicament, warranting him a queer look from the younger elf. Legolas took this moment of mirth from the elder as an opportunity to open conversations.
"Have you gone mad, Ver?" It was a start; Legolas still had not learned to filter some of his thoughts before they reached his mouth, making him come off as slightly rude and blunt to those who had not gotten used to his means of communication. Honesty in the hands of a young one could be a dangerous weapon indeed.
"No, why would you think I have gone mad?" Verya asked.
"Cause you were laughing and there was nothing funny. 'Dan, told me that means someone has gone nutters." Legolas said. For a long time, Legolas had thought the twin's younger sister, Arwen, was crazy: a long a complicated prank they had pulled on the two younger elves when they had first met. In retrospect, the two young elves now thought it funny.
"There was something funny." Verya argued, the thoughts in his own head had proved to be quite funny to him, though the little elf had probably not heard his thoughts.
"Oh, alright," Legolas conceded, assuming he had not been paying attention had enough to hear the joke, it happened sometimes. They once again resumed their silence, but Legolas had had enough. Pride sometimes had to be sacrificed when boredom came into play, especially when one was young, and had the energy he possessed. "I was a brat yesterday, I am sorry."
Verya was taken aback by the sudden apology, he had expected one, but not so soon, and not without the King's prodding, or at least Sildulin's. "Apology accepted."
"Good, now we can be friends again." Legolas took hold of Verya's hand, "Did you miss being my friend?"
"I did not think we were not. But, if you say so, then yes, I did miss being your friend." Legolas smiled at this; of all the elders he knew, Verya was certainly his favorite, after his ada, of course.
"Today, I do not mind just pulling the bow string, though, I do want to shoot an arrow soon." Legolas took a breath, Verya knew the little one was not done; he supposed after keeping quiet, voluntarily, for such a long part of the walk, he must have been near bursting by now. "Ver?"
"Yes?"
"Why do we wear clothes?" He asked, his blue eyes beaming up, looking innocent as a newborn, up at his superior. Verya furrowed his brow, how did one approach such a question, and better yet, what was the answer. Now that the question was proposed he could not think of a good reason why they did, without doubting that very answers credibility, as well as validity.
"Well, to look nice." Perhaps the young one would buy it, Verya waited, knowing in his heart, the answer would not suffice.
"That's all?" Legolas bit his lip, that sounded like a pretty silly reason; besides he was certain they would all still look nice even with no clothes; why bother with these stupid, uncomfortable tunics and such, Legolas began to squirm at the very thought.
"I think you would do well to ask your father that one, he is the King you know and makes up all the rules." He grimaced, wondering how his friend and liege would react to hearing the question from his son, and then discovering it was he who told him to ask.
"But then Ver, why does Sil wear dresses? Why don't I wear a dress?"
"Well, because, girls are allergic to anything but dresses, and will die if they wear anything else, and the same hold true for boys, um, so if you put on a dress you would die," Verya concluded, proud of his clear, concise, if not slightly melodramatic, answer; and from the look of horror dawning on Legolas' face, he was certain that he would not have to worry about the little prince running into the throne room in a dress. Though the image created in his head was quite entertaining, but no, he wouldn't dare put such ideas in the child's head as to get him in a dress in front of his father, he would leave that to the antics of the twins. "Alright, let us stop here."
Legolas stopped in his tracks, looking up expectedly at Verya, awaiting his first orders; ready to do whatever was asked, or at least try. Verya gave the area a quick sweep around, then nodded approvingly, the sight had not changed that much since he was Legolas' age, and that was saying a lot considering his age. After a few moments to himself, Verya once again focused his attention on the blonde haired prince that was staring up at him his head cocked to one side, perplexed by the warrior's sudden somberness. As soon as he felt the dark eyes of Verya on him though, he straightened up, taking the posture of many of the archers he had observed in his younger days.
"We practice now?" he asked.
"Today, I want to try something a little more fun, something I thought you would enjoy a little more; for I enjoyed it a great deal when I was younger."
"Did you have a Verya that it to you?"
"I suppose you could say that, but my "Verya" was my ada." Verya knelt down next to the child, so their eyes were leveled; this gesture made Legolas feel rather important, so he tried to listen with the most attentive ears he could. "Now, since I know you have a great adoration for the treetops, and as I have mentioned to you, an aptitude amongst them far beyond your young years. So, I figure, why not use that talent and that pleasure you have swinging in those branches, in your archery training?"
Legolas nodded eagerly, Verya had completely drawn him in; he remained silent though as to let Verya finish. "So, you seem to have pulling that bow string back down, fairly well, though I recommend you practice on your own. But I'm going to add a new challenge, I am going to map out a course for you, and you are going to follow it, and when I give the command you are going to fire an imaginary arrow. Does that sound okay?"
"That sounds very okay."
***
They had been going at it for hours, Legolas being an apt pupil; it was hard to keep track of him in the trees as he swung from one branch to the next. And now, he had no trouble maintaining his balance when he was told to string his bow. Verya patted himself on the shoulder, he was too smart for himself, he got Legolas working on his technique as well as challenging the young prince; both sides were happy. It was now well into the afternoon, and Verya was having difficulty getting the elfling to take even the smallest break, but soon they would have to be going back.
A sudden, but frantic sound caught Verya's attention, he drew his eyes away from Legolas and concentrated on the sound; it sounded like horse hooves, two horses: elfish horses, at that. He racked his brain trying to remember who was patrolling where, he had not taken Legolas too far south, had he? Apparently he was not the only one distracted by the fast approaching horses, Legolas stopped and perched himself on a branch looking out till he spotted the two mounted elves; one looked strangely familiar.
"Kai!" Legolas shouted, recognizing his brother. What was he doing so far out here? Did he want to see Legolas practice, because if he did Legolas would not mind too much, in all honesty he would not mind as all. Kaimelar hastened his speed at the sound of his little brother's voice; he had forgotten that the little brat was so far out here.
"Legolas come down here and stand next to me." Verya ordered, Legolas catching the tone of voice willingly complied without a question, jumping from branch to branch till he was at his teacher's side, and not to shortly after Kaimelar and another elf his age approached the waiting duo.
After a moment to catch his breath, Kaimelar began to speak for the quietly expectant Verya. "Captain Verya, we were on patrol sir, just south of here, and we were ambushed by orcs, Tulcaharve and I were deployed to get aid sir. Our forces split and the others are not far off." Kaimelar finished, tentative about adding the last part since the only reason they split was to cover more ground faster. Verya nodded at this, then looked down to Legolas whose face showed a mixture of fear and curiosity, since he had never seen an orc, except in his own imagination, and in murals of great battles fought. What to do with the child; Verya felt an urge of responsibility to enter the fray, since he was the commanding officer of all the elfin troops of Mirkwood, was it not part of his duty to lead them, no matter what, but he also had to take care of Legolas. He could not simply leave the child here, and they certainly could not remain if there was a battle being forged so close.
"Sir, do you have orders?" Tulcaharve asked, looking to his distracted leader, and then stole a glance at the elf whom could be termed the distraction, Legolas smiled at him, when he caught the green eyes spying on him; and even though they were under tense circumstances, Tulcaharve managed to smile back.
"Kaimelar, I need you to take your brother to the other patrol group, order one of them, by my command, to take Legolas back to the palace. Tulcaharve, you will guide me back to the fight, and we will see what we can do there. Do you understand?" All three nodded, Verya lifted Legolas onto the horse and whispered in his ear, "I think we had a very good lesson today." Then motioned for Kaimelar to depart, with Legolas gripping onto his brother's hips to keep from falling as the horse raced off in the opposite direction of his and Tulcaharve's course, whom had already dismounted his horse to give his commander the reins. Once Verya had jumped onto the horse, Tulcaharve went on behind; a show of reverence and respect Verya very much appreciated, allowing the horse to guide them back to where the fray was.
***Hey, guys, thanks again for the reviews, I do very much appreciate, and I know last chapter had its corny little moment, but I thought Kai deserved a little love. Anyways, hope you enjoy it, and I'll keep trying to update as soon as I can, maybe I can get in another update this weekend. Again, thanks for reading this and reviewing.***
The image mirrored that of the afternoon prior, the young elf walking beside that of the taller warrior, again the silent, though for much different reasons then they had been the day before. Legolas had all but forgotten his fleeting angry but now he felt uncomfortable, how did he begin talking to Verya again; it was different with his ada or his siblings, why was it so different with him? He looked up to the raven haired elf, only staring long enough so he could not be caught, he let out a restless sigh, unconscious of the attention it drew from the larger elf, today's training was going to prove to be difficult indeed if the two persisted in such a tense manner.
Verya's feelings were similar to that of the younger elf's, he thought he would grow out of the awkwardness of relationships as he grew older, he would simply be able to forget the past and let bygones be bygones, but here he was unable to utter a word. He let a sigh, similar to that of Legolas', out; being an older was certainly not at all what he imagined it to be, still nervous around other elflings, still wanting to be everyone's friend. He was so proficient a warrior, he believed, because with that their were rules of conduct, if you practiced something hard enough you could master it, and he did; he had proven to be the best at his craft; life was not so easy, words, in his case, would never come easy; leaving him feeling like Kaimelar when put into social situations. At least now that he was the captain of the King's troops, he could be seen as the old, brooding warrior type, though he was far from that. He laughed at his own predicament, warranting him a queer look from the younger elf. Legolas took this moment of mirth from the elder as an opportunity to open conversations.
"Have you gone mad, Ver?" It was a start; Legolas still had not learned to filter some of his thoughts before they reached his mouth, making him come off as slightly rude and blunt to those who had not gotten used to his means of communication. Honesty in the hands of a young one could be a dangerous weapon indeed.
"No, why would you think I have gone mad?" Verya asked.
"Cause you were laughing and there was nothing funny. 'Dan, told me that means someone has gone nutters." Legolas said. For a long time, Legolas had thought the twin's younger sister, Arwen, was crazy: a long a complicated prank they had pulled on the two younger elves when they had first met. In retrospect, the two young elves now thought it funny.
"There was something funny." Verya argued, the thoughts in his own head had proved to be quite funny to him, though the little elf had probably not heard his thoughts.
"Oh, alright," Legolas conceded, assuming he had not been paying attention had enough to hear the joke, it happened sometimes. They once again resumed their silence, but Legolas had had enough. Pride sometimes had to be sacrificed when boredom came into play, especially when one was young, and had the energy he possessed. "I was a brat yesterday, I am sorry."
Verya was taken aback by the sudden apology, he had expected one, but not so soon, and not without the King's prodding, or at least Sildulin's. "Apology accepted."
"Good, now we can be friends again." Legolas took hold of Verya's hand, "Did you miss being my friend?"
"I did not think we were not. But, if you say so, then yes, I did miss being your friend." Legolas smiled at this; of all the elders he knew, Verya was certainly his favorite, after his ada, of course.
"Today, I do not mind just pulling the bow string, though, I do want to shoot an arrow soon." Legolas took a breath, Verya knew the little one was not done; he supposed after keeping quiet, voluntarily, for such a long part of the walk, he must have been near bursting by now. "Ver?"
"Yes?"
"Why do we wear clothes?" He asked, his blue eyes beaming up, looking innocent as a newborn, up at his superior. Verya furrowed his brow, how did one approach such a question, and better yet, what was the answer. Now that the question was proposed he could not think of a good reason why they did, without doubting that very answers credibility, as well as validity.
"Well, to look nice." Perhaps the young one would buy it, Verya waited, knowing in his heart, the answer would not suffice.
"That's all?" Legolas bit his lip, that sounded like a pretty silly reason; besides he was certain they would all still look nice even with no clothes; why bother with these stupid, uncomfortable tunics and such, Legolas began to squirm at the very thought.
"I think you would do well to ask your father that one, he is the King you know and makes up all the rules." He grimaced, wondering how his friend and liege would react to hearing the question from his son, and then discovering it was he who told him to ask.
"But then Ver, why does Sil wear dresses? Why don't I wear a dress?"
"Well, because, girls are allergic to anything but dresses, and will die if they wear anything else, and the same hold true for boys, um, so if you put on a dress you would die," Verya concluded, proud of his clear, concise, if not slightly melodramatic, answer; and from the look of horror dawning on Legolas' face, he was certain that he would not have to worry about the little prince running into the throne room in a dress. Though the image created in his head was quite entertaining, but no, he wouldn't dare put such ideas in the child's head as to get him in a dress in front of his father, he would leave that to the antics of the twins. "Alright, let us stop here."
Legolas stopped in his tracks, looking up expectedly at Verya, awaiting his first orders; ready to do whatever was asked, or at least try. Verya gave the area a quick sweep around, then nodded approvingly, the sight had not changed that much since he was Legolas' age, and that was saying a lot considering his age. After a few moments to himself, Verya once again focused his attention on the blonde haired prince that was staring up at him his head cocked to one side, perplexed by the warrior's sudden somberness. As soon as he felt the dark eyes of Verya on him though, he straightened up, taking the posture of many of the archers he had observed in his younger days.
"We practice now?" he asked.
"Today, I want to try something a little more fun, something I thought you would enjoy a little more; for I enjoyed it a great deal when I was younger."
"Did you have a Verya that it to you?"
"I suppose you could say that, but my "Verya" was my ada." Verya knelt down next to the child, so their eyes were leveled; this gesture made Legolas feel rather important, so he tried to listen with the most attentive ears he could. "Now, since I know you have a great adoration for the treetops, and as I have mentioned to you, an aptitude amongst them far beyond your young years. So, I figure, why not use that talent and that pleasure you have swinging in those branches, in your archery training?"
Legolas nodded eagerly, Verya had completely drawn him in; he remained silent though as to let Verya finish. "So, you seem to have pulling that bow string back down, fairly well, though I recommend you practice on your own. But I'm going to add a new challenge, I am going to map out a course for you, and you are going to follow it, and when I give the command you are going to fire an imaginary arrow. Does that sound okay?"
"That sounds very okay."
***
They had been going at it for hours, Legolas being an apt pupil; it was hard to keep track of him in the trees as he swung from one branch to the next. And now, he had no trouble maintaining his balance when he was told to string his bow. Verya patted himself on the shoulder, he was too smart for himself, he got Legolas working on his technique as well as challenging the young prince; both sides were happy. It was now well into the afternoon, and Verya was having difficulty getting the elfling to take even the smallest break, but soon they would have to be going back.
A sudden, but frantic sound caught Verya's attention, he drew his eyes away from Legolas and concentrated on the sound; it sounded like horse hooves, two horses: elfish horses, at that. He racked his brain trying to remember who was patrolling where, he had not taken Legolas too far south, had he? Apparently he was not the only one distracted by the fast approaching horses, Legolas stopped and perched himself on a branch looking out till he spotted the two mounted elves; one looked strangely familiar.
"Kai!" Legolas shouted, recognizing his brother. What was he doing so far out here? Did he want to see Legolas practice, because if he did Legolas would not mind too much, in all honesty he would not mind as all. Kaimelar hastened his speed at the sound of his little brother's voice; he had forgotten that the little brat was so far out here.
"Legolas come down here and stand next to me." Verya ordered, Legolas catching the tone of voice willingly complied without a question, jumping from branch to branch till he was at his teacher's side, and not to shortly after Kaimelar and another elf his age approached the waiting duo.
After a moment to catch his breath, Kaimelar began to speak for the quietly expectant Verya. "Captain Verya, we were on patrol sir, just south of here, and we were ambushed by orcs, Tulcaharve and I were deployed to get aid sir. Our forces split and the others are not far off." Kaimelar finished, tentative about adding the last part since the only reason they split was to cover more ground faster. Verya nodded at this, then looked down to Legolas whose face showed a mixture of fear and curiosity, since he had never seen an orc, except in his own imagination, and in murals of great battles fought. What to do with the child; Verya felt an urge of responsibility to enter the fray, since he was the commanding officer of all the elfin troops of Mirkwood, was it not part of his duty to lead them, no matter what, but he also had to take care of Legolas. He could not simply leave the child here, and they certainly could not remain if there was a battle being forged so close.
"Sir, do you have orders?" Tulcaharve asked, looking to his distracted leader, and then stole a glance at the elf whom could be termed the distraction, Legolas smiled at him, when he caught the green eyes spying on him; and even though they were under tense circumstances, Tulcaharve managed to smile back.
"Kaimelar, I need you to take your brother to the other patrol group, order one of them, by my command, to take Legolas back to the palace. Tulcaharve, you will guide me back to the fight, and we will see what we can do there. Do you understand?" All three nodded, Verya lifted Legolas onto the horse and whispered in his ear, "I think we had a very good lesson today." Then motioned for Kaimelar to depart, with Legolas gripping onto his brother's hips to keep from falling as the horse raced off in the opposite direction of his and Tulcaharve's course, whom had already dismounted his horse to give his commander the reins. Once Verya had jumped onto the horse, Tulcaharve went on behind; a show of reverence and respect Verya very much appreciated, allowing the horse to guide them back to where the fray was.
***Hey, guys, thanks again for the reviews, I do very much appreciate, and I know last chapter had its corny little moment, but I thought Kai deserved a little love. Anyways, hope you enjoy it, and I'll keep trying to update as soon as I can, maybe I can get in another update this weekend. Again, thanks for reading this and reviewing.***