Chapter 7 - A man named strider
Bob sent two scouts ahead to the camp to tell of their arrival. The main party reached the top of the crest a little before sunset and Fëarána smiled as her eyes fell upon the caves two miles north or the traveller's cove. To human eyes, the cave appeared overgrown and uninhabited. She however saw evidence of it's inhabitants in the surrounding area. She glanced at the sun which was readying begin its descent towards its safe haven below the horizon and turned her gaze to her sister, a sigh escaped her lips as she began her own descent down the rise.
Fëárë swore loudly as she stumbled over a rock, her colourful language making nearby rangers cringe and her sister wonder where a princess would learn such vocabulary. She began to rant loudly about the unfairness of being tied and such, but no one was listening, all appeared eager to reach the camp and they were noticeably lighter when they stepped. Fëarána was uncomfortable and it was obvious to the few who cared to notice, the younger bob being one. He also noticed that Fëárë was becoming short- tempered as they rode onwards, well. at least more than usual.
It was in this moment that the scouts returned, accompanied by more rangers.
"Halbarad" Bob exclaimed hurrying up to one of the new rangers and clasping him tightly "How are you?" he enquired "we have not seen you for many-a- months"
"Well well" Halbarad cried, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Strider knows you are coming and a feast has been prepared for our returning kin." His voice faltered as he espied the two new companions accompanying the group. His confusion increased when he saw the bonds and blindfold on Fëárë. "What have we here? Why is this elf tied up."
"Orc spies." Bob answered as way of explanation.
"They don't look much like servants of the dark lord to me, anyway by the love of eru they are elves!"
"The servants of the enemy walk in many guises. They may seem fair, but inside they are much fouler. Trust me, I have been travelling with these creatures and they are evil, I can feel it."
"I sense no evil present." Halbarad answered, looking deep into the orange eyes of Fëarána and drawing a small smile from her solemn face.
"Yes, that one seems fine, but her twin is a different matter." He jerked his head in the direction of Fëárë who was walking near the back of the company. "That one is evil, she has the worst temper I have ever seen. Fiery is what I would call her."
"If you can't be a good example then be a horrible warning." Fëárë replied, her elvish hearing picking up on the conversation.
"See what I mean."
"Yes" the amusement was barely hidden in his voice, however the doubt was not. "Well, Strider will be able to tell once and for all if these two are elves or not. After all, he did grow up around elves."
"He did?" asked Fëarána curiosity pricking her head up "which elves?"
"See, look at the orc shy trying to gather information. I cannot wait to have these two found out, and that one killed." He directed the last bit at Fëárë who just scowled.
"We are here." Fëarána announced much to the surprise of Halbarad and Bob who had been immersed in their conversation.
They looked up and found themselves at the enterance of the cave, the vines dangling overhead. Now that they were so close the faint gleam of a fire could be seen shining out of the shadowed depths. This, Fëarána guessed, was where the rangers were, it was probably their hideout and main headquarters.
"Come" Halbarad said, interrupting her thoughts. "Dinner is almost ready and strider is cooking."
A gleam entered the eyes of all the weary rangers. It was well known that Strider was one of the best cooks having learnt from the elves. The party made their way carefully through the humble of rocks that littered the bottom of the ravine. One by one, the rangers and their prisoners scrambled up the rocky hill and into the awaiting caves, pushing through the vines and became swallowed by the light.
Fëarána gazed behind her, she stood on the brink of the cave, one foot through the natural curtain and the other still in the outside environment as she watched the sun slowly sink below the line of hills in the distance.
"Come we must go" whispered the ranger behind her as he softly nudged her through.
The cave was remarkably really. Large enough to fit a small army, which, she reflected, it actually was. Rangers lounged around everywhere. To the right of her, a group was clustered mending and making new arrows. Further on, another group huddled in a meeting and dear the cave centre sat the majority of the rangers near a roaring open fire pit.
One of these men glanced up; his grey eyes glinted in a friendly fashion. He rose and started to walk over. Their party stopped and stood to attention, the rangers unyielding, and heads held high.
"No no no" the new ranger said, beckoning to the group, "don't do that, you must be tired, come and sit by the fire." Fëarána and the rangers made their way towards the fire and sat down. Immediately they were welcomed and bowls of hot, steaming soup was given.
"Who are your companions?" Strider asked once the travelling party was finished eating. Fëarána opened her mouth to answer when Bob angrily interrupted.
"These two are spies of the enemy, we caught them coming down from the pass of the mountains."
Aragorn glanced shrewingly at bob then looked once more at Fëarána. "Please" he gestured, ignoring the aghast look on Bob's face "What were you going to say."
"We are not orc spies" she stated levelly "we are on our way to the shire."
"Why the shire"
"It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. We were travelling over the mountains when we were taken captive by these rangers." She motioned around the fire to the familiar faces.
"Which realm are you from?"
"Quintaria, we lived in the city." She paused for a moment and looked over towards Fëárë before continuing. "We worked as servants in the royal palace." Strider narrowed his eyes but did not answer.
"Did you know the royal family?"
"Only by sight sir, we.." she paused for a moment and downcast her eyes to the floor "we worked in the kitchen and cleaned up the rooms of lower nobles."
"How are the royal family?"
"They seemed fine, but then again, the royal family keep intimate knowledge and family life separate from politics. The only outsider that ever knows anything would be the prince of Mirkwood or the Head of Servants Sailawen."
"You know the prince of Mirkwood?"
"Again sir, only by sight. He is the best friend of the prince Ohtarion. He is at the palace a lot."
"It would cause you surprise no doubt to know that the princesses are missing."
"They are sir" Fëarána asked the surprise quite evident in her voice. We watched the facial expressions of the rangers, eager for them to believe her, thankfully, they all seemed ready to accept her reaction.
"You did not know of this"
"No sir, we were given leave earlier this year. We decided to travel to the shire. We have been out of touch with our kin for many-a-months."
Strider looked thoughtfully at her. Then, surprisingly fast for a mortal he closed the distance between them and grabbed the sides of her head, staring intently into her eyes. After what seemed like hours to her, but in reality were minutes he released her. Fëarána stood there dazed a fog seemed to cloud her mind, she felt exposed, like the ranger had looked into her soul.
The fog was suddenly lifted when Strider's voice pierced through the denseness, like the rays of the sun through rain clouds. "They are not orc spies. They are elves."
A smile broke out onto the face of Halbarad and younger Bob. The latter walking over to Fëarána and bidding her sit down next to him and grabbing her into a friendly embrace.
"Thank you" she muttered, a smile also creeping onto her face
"My pleasure. And now all that propaganda is over with, my name in Arandur."
This introduction was all the encouragement the other rangers needed as they swamped the elf, shouting greetings and invitation. The happy clamour was startled quiet by another louder voice.
"Wow, now we are all happy little friends." Came the sarcastic statement from Fëárë who had been forgotten until now. "Since we officially not orc spies I would appreciate it if someone would be so kind as to UNTIE ME!!! NOW!"
Guilty looks were cast in the outermost reaches of the fire where Fëárë still stood bound and blindfolded, tapping her feet impatiently.
"Waiting Gentlemen" she snapped turning her blinded head towards the group.
Unease settled over the rangers, all eyes focusing on Fëarána. "Well then, what are you waiting for, untie your sister." An uncomfortable Bob announced.
"Oh no." a rare wicked smile appeared on her face, and a tone matched it. "This is your problem, I think I will leave it to you to sort out." And with that she sat herself by the fire and watched in amusement the varying degrees of horror on each ranger face. All looked hesitantly towards Fëárë, none willing to face her wrath.
"How about you get these off me NOW" she cried once again, stamping her foot in impatience.
"You can do it Bob" one of the rangers put in, shrinking from the evil glare he received from the nominated ranger.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Came the dismayed reply.
Chaos ensured as the rangers present in the inner circle around the fire fought over who would be the one to approach her, all rangers dreaded the task, so the baton was passed from ranger to ranger, all quickly passing the duty like a hot potato.
"You've been her guardian for the trip, you untie her"
"Are you kidding, and since you are volunteering others, why don't you do it yourself."
"No he shouldn't do it, get Arandur to untie it, he's gentle."
"He wouldn't stand a minute, get someone strong. like Bob."
"For the last time, I am not going it. Since I am leader of a company, I order someone else to do it."
"WHAT! Talk about power abuse"
"I have it, I use it, deal"
The bickering continued for quite some time, the racquet drawing the attention of the other rangers scattered around the cave complex. Soon enough, all of the rangers were gathered around the fire, all fighting, all arguing. over who would be the unlucky person to untie Fëárë and face her wrath. From her position of the log, Fëarána watched in amusement, sitting beside her, strider chuckled quietly as he watched the commotion.
"Is she really that bad?" he queried.
"No, her barks worst than her bite, these men are just overacting."
"That settles it then. Back in a jiffy." And off he trotted to Fëárë, who by now was lived.
"Or was it her bite is worst than her bark?" Fëarána asked herself, cocking her head to one side is contemplation. "Oh well, we will find out soon enough."
~*~*~*~*~
All she could see was. well she couldn't really see anything with the blindfold on her eyes. but that was beside the point. The darkness seemed to engulf her, the black in front of her eyes fit her mood to a tee. To say that she was angry would have been an understatement, by the life of Elbereth, if someone said she was only angry she probably would have knocked them over the head and called them stupid. No, she was more than angry, and the yelling she heard from the rangers didn't do much to appease her anger either. All she wanted to do was to be untied, kick the living daylights out of Bob, then anyone else that got in her way, then forget the whole deal and continue on to the shire. But could she? No, of course not, she was still standing here, waiting for someone to come and untie her. What a great day this one had turned out to be.
She tensed suddenly at the sound of approaching footsteps. She wondered who it could be, the person was to light on their feet to be a ranger, but not light enough to be of an elf, *a hobbit* she mused, then laughed at her imagination. What would a hobbit be doing with a bunch of dirty, smelly rangers? *Maybe a dwarf then* that was quickly dismissed, dwarves could be heard from a mile away, she had never seen a dwarf, but Legolas had told her of the ones that had trespassed into Mirkwood, he said that they were so loud that he could hear them from the other side of the palace.
"You have caused quite a stir young elf." A voice whispered into her left ear. She spun around and brought her leg up to in an almighty kick. only to come in contact with thin air. "Be still and hold on a moment, I will untie you." This time it was in her right ear. Resigned to the fact that she would not be able to get the offending person until they untied her hands, she remained calm this time standing poise.
She felt callused hands on her own, quickly skimming across the bonds and untying them with ease brought about by practice. The intruder let the ropes fall away. The mysterious ranger moved his hands up into her hair, gently pulling the knot away from her curly hair then the blindfold lifted up over her eyes.
The brightness of the cave disorientated her for a minute, but only a minute. She swirled around to face her attacker, ready to teach him a lesson about messing with her. when her anger inexplicably drained away, leaving Fëárë totally stumped and utterly dazed.
Grey eyes stared into grey eyes, one pair still foggy, and the other bright with amusement. Amusement in his eyes travelled down to appear on his mouth, half hidden by the unshaven stubble so uncommon in anyone she had ever seen. *but that was perfectly reasonable* she thought to herself *this was the first time she had seen mortals before, not including the darling baby Estel she had nursed last time in Rivendell, but that had been decades ago, he was probably grown up, in love with a beautiful woman, a wealthy noble, not some..* what word would describe them. *yes, dirty, definitely dirty* she reflected looking at the ranger before her.
"Are you alright" he asked, concern fluttered over his face as he watched her, alarmed at the silence.
"Yeah, I guess so. Who are you?" The confused reply came
"The name is Strider madam" he said with a sweeping bow "May I apologise for the grievance committed to you in the company of these rangers. Their leader was mistaken and wishes to make up for his wrong-doing."
"I do?" Bob asked from his position near the fire
"Yes, you apologise for your small mistake." Strider answered firmly
"Small" Fëárë muttered just loud enough for everyone in the cave to hear. so in reality, it wasn't really a mutter, but more akin to a yell. "Small yes, and Mordor is a holiday destination!"
"I can understand you're a little upset."
"A little upset, who are you talking about mate, cause you certainly not looking talking about me."
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you."
Fëárë's eyes swept the cave, looking for something, before her eyes came to rest on the sword hilt at Strider's side. "You any good with that?"
"With what?"
"That" she said, pointing at his sword.
"Strider is the best swordsman around" came the indignant reply from a ranger near the entrance.
"Fine, then teach me."
"Teach you."
"Yeah, you teach me and my sister how to fight and we'll call it even. How about that?"
"Are you sure, the art of swordsmanship is a very tough road, hardly for a lady to attempt." "You seem to forget that I am not an lady, I am an elf. Anyway, I can't be much harder than learning archery or hand-to-hand combat."
"You know archery?"
"Yep, learned from the best." Fëárë announced proudly.
"Fine. We have an accord. sorry, but I don't remember hearing your name, or you sister's name for that matter."
"Do not worry, we didn't give it. My name is." she looked around, desperate for names to use. She looked at her sister quickly before looking once more at Strider. "The name is Lerya, and my sister is Óla."
Strider scoffed at that. "Do you expect me to believe they are your real names?"
"Do you expect us to believe anyone would call their little child 'Strider'? Believe me, we are not stupid."
"That is a good point." Strider averted his eyes and scratched his head. After a moment his head raised to reveal a hefty smile. "Well then Lerya, we have a deal."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN/ the translations for the twin's aliases are as followed.
Lerya: set free (this is Fëárë)
Óla: to dream (this is Fëarána)
Bob sent two scouts ahead to the camp to tell of their arrival. The main party reached the top of the crest a little before sunset and Fëarána smiled as her eyes fell upon the caves two miles north or the traveller's cove. To human eyes, the cave appeared overgrown and uninhabited. She however saw evidence of it's inhabitants in the surrounding area. She glanced at the sun which was readying begin its descent towards its safe haven below the horizon and turned her gaze to her sister, a sigh escaped her lips as she began her own descent down the rise.
Fëárë swore loudly as she stumbled over a rock, her colourful language making nearby rangers cringe and her sister wonder where a princess would learn such vocabulary. She began to rant loudly about the unfairness of being tied and such, but no one was listening, all appeared eager to reach the camp and they were noticeably lighter when they stepped. Fëarána was uncomfortable and it was obvious to the few who cared to notice, the younger bob being one. He also noticed that Fëárë was becoming short- tempered as they rode onwards, well. at least more than usual.
It was in this moment that the scouts returned, accompanied by more rangers.
"Halbarad" Bob exclaimed hurrying up to one of the new rangers and clasping him tightly "How are you?" he enquired "we have not seen you for many-a- months"
"Well well" Halbarad cried, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Strider knows you are coming and a feast has been prepared for our returning kin." His voice faltered as he espied the two new companions accompanying the group. His confusion increased when he saw the bonds and blindfold on Fëárë. "What have we here? Why is this elf tied up."
"Orc spies." Bob answered as way of explanation.
"They don't look much like servants of the dark lord to me, anyway by the love of eru they are elves!"
"The servants of the enemy walk in many guises. They may seem fair, but inside they are much fouler. Trust me, I have been travelling with these creatures and they are evil, I can feel it."
"I sense no evil present." Halbarad answered, looking deep into the orange eyes of Fëarána and drawing a small smile from her solemn face.
"Yes, that one seems fine, but her twin is a different matter." He jerked his head in the direction of Fëárë who was walking near the back of the company. "That one is evil, she has the worst temper I have ever seen. Fiery is what I would call her."
"If you can't be a good example then be a horrible warning." Fëárë replied, her elvish hearing picking up on the conversation.
"See what I mean."
"Yes" the amusement was barely hidden in his voice, however the doubt was not. "Well, Strider will be able to tell once and for all if these two are elves or not. After all, he did grow up around elves."
"He did?" asked Fëarána curiosity pricking her head up "which elves?"
"See, look at the orc shy trying to gather information. I cannot wait to have these two found out, and that one killed." He directed the last bit at Fëárë who just scowled.
"We are here." Fëarána announced much to the surprise of Halbarad and Bob who had been immersed in their conversation.
They looked up and found themselves at the enterance of the cave, the vines dangling overhead. Now that they were so close the faint gleam of a fire could be seen shining out of the shadowed depths. This, Fëarána guessed, was where the rangers were, it was probably their hideout and main headquarters.
"Come" Halbarad said, interrupting her thoughts. "Dinner is almost ready and strider is cooking."
A gleam entered the eyes of all the weary rangers. It was well known that Strider was one of the best cooks having learnt from the elves. The party made their way carefully through the humble of rocks that littered the bottom of the ravine. One by one, the rangers and their prisoners scrambled up the rocky hill and into the awaiting caves, pushing through the vines and became swallowed by the light.
Fëarána gazed behind her, she stood on the brink of the cave, one foot through the natural curtain and the other still in the outside environment as she watched the sun slowly sink below the line of hills in the distance.
"Come we must go" whispered the ranger behind her as he softly nudged her through.
The cave was remarkably really. Large enough to fit a small army, which, she reflected, it actually was. Rangers lounged around everywhere. To the right of her, a group was clustered mending and making new arrows. Further on, another group huddled in a meeting and dear the cave centre sat the majority of the rangers near a roaring open fire pit.
One of these men glanced up; his grey eyes glinted in a friendly fashion. He rose and started to walk over. Their party stopped and stood to attention, the rangers unyielding, and heads held high.
"No no no" the new ranger said, beckoning to the group, "don't do that, you must be tired, come and sit by the fire." Fëarána and the rangers made their way towards the fire and sat down. Immediately they were welcomed and bowls of hot, steaming soup was given.
"Who are your companions?" Strider asked once the travelling party was finished eating. Fëarána opened her mouth to answer when Bob angrily interrupted.
"These two are spies of the enemy, we caught them coming down from the pass of the mountains."
Aragorn glanced shrewingly at bob then looked once more at Fëarána. "Please" he gestured, ignoring the aghast look on Bob's face "What were you going to say."
"We are not orc spies" she stated levelly "we are on our way to the shire."
"Why the shire"
"It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. We were travelling over the mountains when we were taken captive by these rangers." She motioned around the fire to the familiar faces.
"Which realm are you from?"
"Quintaria, we lived in the city." She paused for a moment and looked over towards Fëárë before continuing. "We worked as servants in the royal palace." Strider narrowed his eyes but did not answer.
"Did you know the royal family?"
"Only by sight sir, we.." she paused for a moment and downcast her eyes to the floor "we worked in the kitchen and cleaned up the rooms of lower nobles."
"How are the royal family?"
"They seemed fine, but then again, the royal family keep intimate knowledge and family life separate from politics. The only outsider that ever knows anything would be the prince of Mirkwood or the Head of Servants Sailawen."
"You know the prince of Mirkwood?"
"Again sir, only by sight. He is the best friend of the prince Ohtarion. He is at the palace a lot."
"It would cause you surprise no doubt to know that the princesses are missing."
"They are sir" Fëarána asked the surprise quite evident in her voice. We watched the facial expressions of the rangers, eager for them to believe her, thankfully, they all seemed ready to accept her reaction.
"You did not know of this"
"No sir, we were given leave earlier this year. We decided to travel to the shire. We have been out of touch with our kin for many-a-months."
Strider looked thoughtfully at her. Then, surprisingly fast for a mortal he closed the distance between them and grabbed the sides of her head, staring intently into her eyes. After what seemed like hours to her, but in reality were minutes he released her. Fëarána stood there dazed a fog seemed to cloud her mind, she felt exposed, like the ranger had looked into her soul.
The fog was suddenly lifted when Strider's voice pierced through the denseness, like the rays of the sun through rain clouds. "They are not orc spies. They are elves."
A smile broke out onto the face of Halbarad and younger Bob. The latter walking over to Fëarána and bidding her sit down next to him and grabbing her into a friendly embrace.
"Thank you" she muttered, a smile also creeping onto her face
"My pleasure. And now all that propaganda is over with, my name in Arandur."
This introduction was all the encouragement the other rangers needed as they swamped the elf, shouting greetings and invitation. The happy clamour was startled quiet by another louder voice.
"Wow, now we are all happy little friends." Came the sarcastic statement from Fëárë who had been forgotten until now. "Since we officially not orc spies I would appreciate it if someone would be so kind as to UNTIE ME!!! NOW!"
Guilty looks were cast in the outermost reaches of the fire where Fëárë still stood bound and blindfolded, tapping her feet impatiently.
"Waiting Gentlemen" she snapped turning her blinded head towards the group.
Unease settled over the rangers, all eyes focusing on Fëarána. "Well then, what are you waiting for, untie your sister." An uncomfortable Bob announced.
"Oh no." a rare wicked smile appeared on her face, and a tone matched it. "This is your problem, I think I will leave it to you to sort out." And with that she sat herself by the fire and watched in amusement the varying degrees of horror on each ranger face. All looked hesitantly towards Fëárë, none willing to face her wrath.
"How about you get these off me NOW" she cried once again, stamping her foot in impatience.
"You can do it Bob" one of the rangers put in, shrinking from the evil glare he received from the nominated ranger.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Came the dismayed reply.
Chaos ensured as the rangers present in the inner circle around the fire fought over who would be the one to approach her, all rangers dreaded the task, so the baton was passed from ranger to ranger, all quickly passing the duty like a hot potato.
"You've been her guardian for the trip, you untie her"
"Are you kidding, and since you are volunteering others, why don't you do it yourself."
"No he shouldn't do it, get Arandur to untie it, he's gentle."
"He wouldn't stand a minute, get someone strong. like Bob."
"For the last time, I am not going it. Since I am leader of a company, I order someone else to do it."
"WHAT! Talk about power abuse"
"I have it, I use it, deal"
The bickering continued for quite some time, the racquet drawing the attention of the other rangers scattered around the cave complex. Soon enough, all of the rangers were gathered around the fire, all fighting, all arguing. over who would be the unlucky person to untie Fëárë and face her wrath. From her position of the log, Fëarána watched in amusement, sitting beside her, strider chuckled quietly as he watched the commotion.
"Is she really that bad?" he queried.
"No, her barks worst than her bite, these men are just overacting."
"That settles it then. Back in a jiffy." And off he trotted to Fëárë, who by now was lived.
"Or was it her bite is worst than her bark?" Fëarána asked herself, cocking her head to one side is contemplation. "Oh well, we will find out soon enough."
~*~*~*~*~
All she could see was. well she couldn't really see anything with the blindfold on her eyes. but that was beside the point. The darkness seemed to engulf her, the black in front of her eyes fit her mood to a tee. To say that she was angry would have been an understatement, by the life of Elbereth, if someone said she was only angry she probably would have knocked them over the head and called them stupid. No, she was more than angry, and the yelling she heard from the rangers didn't do much to appease her anger either. All she wanted to do was to be untied, kick the living daylights out of Bob, then anyone else that got in her way, then forget the whole deal and continue on to the shire. But could she? No, of course not, she was still standing here, waiting for someone to come and untie her. What a great day this one had turned out to be.
She tensed suddenly at the sound of approaching footsteps. She wondered who it could be, the person was to light on their feet to be a ranger, but not light enough to be of an elf, *a hobbit* she mused, then laughed at her imagination. What would a hobbit be doing with a bunch of dirty, smelly rangers? *Maybe a dwarf then* that was quickly dismissed, dwarves could be heard from a mile away, she had never seen a dwarf, but Legolas had told her of the ones that had trespassed into Mirkwood, he said that they were so loud that he could hear them from the other side of the palace.
"You have caused quite a stir young elf." A voice whispered into her left ear. She spun around and brought her leg up to in an almighty kick. only to come in contact with thin air. "Be still and hold on a moment, I will untie you." This time it was in her right ear. Resigned to the fact that she would not be able to get the offending person until they untied her hands, she remained calm this time standing poise.
She felt callused hands on her own, quickly skimming across the bonds and untying them with ease brought about by practice. The intruder let the ropes fall away. The mysterious ranger moved his hands up into her hair, gently pulling the knot away from her curly hair then the blindfold lifted up over her eyes.
The brightness of the cave disorientated her for a minute, but only a minute. She swirled around to face her attacker, ready to teach him a lesson about messing with her. when her anger inexplicably drained away, leaving Fëárë totally stumped and utterly dazed.
Grey eyes stared into grey eyes, one pair still foggy, and the other bright with amusement. Amusement in his eyes travelled down to appear on his mouth, half hidden by the unshaven stubble so uncommon in anyone she had ever seen. *but that was perfectly reasonable* she thought to herself *this was the first time she had seen mortals before, not including the darling baby Estel she had nursed last time in Rivendell, but that had been decades ago, he was probably grown up, in love with a beautiful woman, a wealthy noble, not some..* what word would describe them. *yes, dirty, definitely dirty* she reflected looking at the ranger before her.
"Are you alright" he asked, concern fluttered over his face as he watched her, alarmed at the silence.
"Yeah, I guess so. Who are you?" The confused reply came
"The name is Strider madam" he said with a sweeping bow "May I apologise for the grievance committed to you in the company of these rangers. Their leader was mistaken and wishes to make up for his wrong-doing."
"I do?" Bob asked from his position near the fire
"Yes, you apologise for your small mistake." Strider answered firmly
"Small" Fëárë muttered just loud enough for everyone in the cave to hear. so in reality, it wasn't really a mutter, but more akin to a yell. "Small yes, and Mordor is a holiday destination!"
"I can understand you're a little upset."
"A little upset, who are you talking about mate, cause you certainly not looking talking about me."
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you."
Fëárë's eyes swept the cave, looking for something, before her eyes came to rest on the sword hilt at Strider's side. "You any good with that?"
"With what?"
"That" she said, pointing at his sword.
"Strider is the best swordsman around" came the indignant reply from a ranger near the entrance.
"Fine, then teach me."
"Teach you."
"Yeah, you teach me and my sister how to fight and we'll call it even. How about that?"
"Are you sure, the art of swordsmanship is a very tough road, hardly for a lady to attempt." "You seem to forget that I am not an lady, I am an elf. Anyway, I can't be much harder than learning archery or hand-to-hand combat."
"You know archery?"
"Yep, learned from the best." Fëárë announced proudly.
"Fine. We have an accord. sorry, but I don't remember hearing your name, or you sister's name for that matter."
"Do not worry, we didn't give it. My name is." she looked around, desperate for names to use. She looked at her sister quickly before looking once more at Strider. "The name is Lerya, and my sister is Óla."
Strider scoffed at that. "Do you expect me to believe they are your real names?"
"Do you expect us to believe anyone would call their little child 'Strider'? Believe me, we are not stupid."
"That is a good point." Strider averted his eyes and scratched his head. After a moment his head raised to reveal a hefty smile. "Well then Lerya, we have a deal."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN/ the translations for the twin's aliases are as followed.
Lerya: set free (this is Fëárë)
Óla: to dream (this is Fëarána)