The next day was dreadfully uneventful for Arwen, mainly because she
saw nothing of her new friend all morning. Glorfindel suspiciously eyed
every move she made, and her brothers, who were still mad about the
previous night refused to help her escape the unbearable tedium of her
numerous lessons. In short, Arwen was stuck studying all day, and
Glorfindel even insisted that she make up a good deal of the work she had
missed from the day before. "What's wrong with you Arwen? You do not seem
focused on your studies. You do not seem yourself." Glorfindel would sigh
with a shake of his head every time he had to awaken Arwen from one of her
daydreams, which were numerous, and usually involved Glorfindel fading away
only to be replaced by another fair-haired elf. Lessons wore on seemingly
indefinitely, and the only break Arwen was allowed was at lunchtime, when
she was obliged to eat with Glorfindel in the classroom. Finally, just as
Arwen began to feel that her brain's severe numbness might be worth telling
her Ada about, Glorfindel held up his hand. She paused in her reading, and
awaited the ambiguous question he was about to ask. "No answers are wrong,"
he liked to remind her, "Some are just more right than others." To her
surprise however, instead of posing a question he stood and smiled. "We are
done for the day." He said. "And, as it is dinnertime already, I shall
invite you to accompany me to the great hall." Arwen stood and stretched.
"Forgive me Glorfindel, but I think I will retire early. I am very tired
this night." As if to convince him she yawned loudly. "Normally I would
send you on your way, but tonight's feast will be more than a celebration.
Tonight, your father's guests of honor will be the royalty of Greenwood,
and I'm afraid you will have to attend. Come now milady, we will stop by
your room first and find you something suitable to wear." Glorfindel took
her hand and led her towards her room. 'So I will be entertaining
Greenwood's royalty tonight. Maybe this feast won't be as bad as I
suspected.' Arwen smirked, 'At least I know with Legolas there it won't be
boring.'
When Arwen and Glorfindel entered the hall an uneasy silence had descended on the room. They were the last two to arrive. Legolas sat across from Arwen's seat, and beside him was a man she presumed could only be King Thranduil. Legolas resembled him closely, but there were noticeable differences. For one, Thranduil's face was worn, and slightly gaunt. For another, Thranduil's features seemed less refined, even sharper than Legolas'. Legolas' mother must have passed beauty to him that his father did not possess, for although Thranduil was not ugly, his features were far too rigid to make him a rare beauty among his kind. Across from Thranduil sat her father, who staring intensely at his soup, and beside Thranduil there was an Elf Awen did not recognize. As she took her seat she realized it was Aduil, the Elf Legolas had introduced to her. "Ah," Elrond said, looking up from his soup, "Thranduil, meet my young daughter, the Evenstar of our people, Arwen Undomiel." Elrond held out his hand to guide her to her seat, which was beside him tonight. She curtsied before sitting, and Thranduil, Legolas, and Aduil all stood to bow. "It is good to finally meet you princess, your beauty surpasses all description." Legolas said in a nonchalant tone before sitting. Arwen smiled and blushed a bit to convincingly. She looked at Aduil, who had taken on a very stoic look. Arwen couldn't be sure, but she though that when she met his eyes there was a twinkle of welcome there. Unfortunately it vanished so quickly she knew it could as easily be a trick of light as a greeting. The hall fell silent again, except for the faint whispers of Megundhros, who from what Arwen gathered was debating who would win the night's archery event with her bowl of soup. Arwen shook her head. What must Thranduil think of the elder's behavior?
Legolas nervously fished through his soup. The atmosphere of the room was like a fragile sheet of ice floating just above dangerous murky depths. The feeling made Legolas very tense, as he was hoping that his father might discover newfound respect for the Elves of Rivendell on this night. Unfortunately judging by his father's expression this was not the case. Not only was the atmosphere chilly, but the mad old she-elf from before was talking to her bowl at the other end on the quiet conversation between Arwen and her brothers. ".but they are certainly adept at archery." said one of the Twin Stars (Legolas could not yet tell them apart) "Aye, Greenwood is skilled," said the other, "but still El, Lorien has many good archers of its own, and Imladris has two surefire participants." Arwen's eyes narrowed. "Who's that?" she asked guardedly. One of the brothers grabbed his knife and fork and elaborately pointed them at himself and his twin. Arwen rolled her eyes and suddenly turned toward Legolas. "I'll bet Legolas could outshoot you both." She said smiling at him. Legolas was shocked and a bit embarrassed to be caught be Arwen eavesdropping, and now both twins had turned to him too. "Well, is what my sister says true? Have you skill with a bow Prince Legolas?" The leftmost twin asked. Legolas found himself in a spot. To declare the better archer could lead to a dispute, but his pride would not allow him to admit inadequacies, especially before his father. "I am in the shadow of Ada and Master Aduil." He replied quietly. "This is easily settled." the rightmost twin said "We can hold an archery contest." "Ahem," Elrond interrupted. "There will be no unannounced contests. If you wish to challenge Legolas you shall have to wait until he is old enough to enter the official contest." Both twins sighed and that was that.
The rest of the evening consisted of pleasantries and weather- centered conversations, and when Legolas and Arwen were finally released the sun was already starting to set. "Its too late to go anywhere!" cried LegolasArwen smiled at him, "We could still go to the gardens. I did some reading about the last alliance today, and if you want I'll tell you about it." "That's what you were doing all day is it?" Legolas looked a little hurt. "Don't worry Legolas, I would much rather be with you than study. Glorfindel unleashed his wrath upon me though for skipping lessons yesterday. Sometimes I think its not so unbelievable that he killed the Balrog. He probably forced it to memorize the family trees of all of the Elven royalty since the dawn of the firstborn." Arwen said. Legolas smiled at her and held out his arm for her to take it. She did and they walked off to the gardens together.
Legolas' eyes were widened with wonder as he walked through the gardens of Imladris. So great was its beauty and bounty that it was unsurpassed by any other garden on Middle Earth. Legolas paused to look at a tall tree that grew near to the path. "This is a Horple Fruit tree." Arwen informed him, as she stepped forward and reached out to touch one of its branches. "It is well-known for its delicious fruit, but also for the fact that the bounty grows so high it is nearly impossible to pick. I've never had one, but maybe someday." Legolas looked up, but the fruit lay beyond even his vision. "Wait here." He said, and he walked over to a far shorter tree with low hanging, sturdy branches. He climbed up, and then leapt through the air to the higher growing branches of the Horple. Arwen gasped at his agility. "Wait," she cried "Its too dangerous you will fall and break every bone in your body!" Legolas looked down at her and smiled reassuringly, "Worry not Milady. You forget that I am a Wood Elf. I've been climbing trees ever since I could walk far enough to reach them and I've never fallen." With this, he started further up the tree. Arwen watched his swing from branch to branch with utter balance and calm until he disappeared. After about ten minutes, she saw a small black speck falling through the branches. As it fell though, it did not grow, and when she moved under, and caught it, she realized it was not Legolas. It was a perfectly smooth black fruit about the size of a marble, a Horple fruit. Overjoyed she looked up, and jumped back only to see Legolas bound from the nearest branch to right before her. He was grinning, and he held in his now stained tunic hundreds of the tiny Horples. Arwen beamed at him, "Oh Legolas that was amazing!" she cried. "It was harder than I expected at first, but I spoke to the Horple. She is much aggrieved, and she has long wondered why no one journeys up to pick her fruit anymore. She says she used to live in Greenwood very long ago, and no one has climbed her since." Legolas said, placing a hand on the tree affectionately. "She is very old, older than both our Adas combined. A number beyond comprehension." He held out his tunic and poured the fruits into a can Arwen had found nearby for watering. "Whats this?" came a voice.
Arwen looked up to see none other than Elladan, and Elrohir behind. "What do you
have there El?" Elladan asked. "I don't know brother, you look and see what you sister
has picked for us." Elrohir replied. "She's
not my sister, she's yours." Elladan said taking the can from his brother. "Give those
back!" Arwen yelled at her brothers. "Yeah, those are ours!" agreed Legolas
angrily. "And just what are these. things anyway? Don't think I'd eat them, they look
fit for an Orc!" Elrohir laughed, "Or an annoying little sister." Elladan added. Said
Elrohir: "How about we see what this Prince of Mirkwood is made of. I propose a
mounted archery match, winner takes the Orc chow." "A splendid idea." Elladan
concured, flashing his brother a grin. Arwen was about to argue when Legolas spoke. "I
agree." He said softly. "What?" Elrond's children all looked at him in confusion. "I'll go
get my bow." Legolas said, and before any of them could speak again he was gone.
A.N. OK, that was it! Hope you like it. I'm sorry I update so rarely, but I try to give you guys as a lot when I do. Here's the other thing! The second and only currently running L/A website is up! If you haven't gone, check it out! stylin*bebe (The Webmistress) has made it look so good and there's so many goodies, oh and make sure you sign the guestbook! The link is:
So go! Now on to the shout-outs! I'm glad so many of you liked it! Personally I think I've written a better one, which incidentally I'll be posting in the very near future called "Winters of the Heart". (Sorry, couldn't resist a plug) Its about L/E as adults, so that's whats coming up!
To Meg: Even if you don't review thanks for the beta gal. You're ok! (Even if you do like Dumbledore better than Gandalf)
To Daydreamer22688: Here's the next chapter I hope you like it. I'm glad you thought the last one was good. Thanks for taking the time to review.
To Azura Greenleaf: I agree, they do make a good couple! We're just a small band of L/A fans in a sea of A/A fans, so thanks for your review it means a lot to me.
To Pishymishy: Hey, its you! I know you! Thanks for reviewing for me again. You totally rock!
To Karone Evertree: Hey, cool name. (Sorry, I dunno where that outburst came from) Thanks, I like to do long spaced out updates and I thank you for your patience. Sorry about those typos, FF.net was having issues, so I hope this chapter is better. Also, thanks for your comment, and please feel free to say you like the story as many times as you want ;)
To Astronema: Hehe, thanks for the review. I think. (:
To Musicstarlover: Thanks for your review. I'm very happy that you liked my story. What would Thrandy and Rondy think if they found out? Hmm, I don't know but it wouldn't be pretty. Let us wait and see what the future holds.
To Shmag: Again, thanks for the betas/reviews
To Jessie: Hey, thanks so much for the review! Jessie here if you don't know her is an A/L author too, and you should really read her stories. She has a lot more better ones and shes been writing for a lot longer than I have. Jessie, you rock!
To Gionareth: Well now look what you just went and did, my head's been inflated to twice its normal size. Thanks so much for your comments, they keep me goin.
To Kawaii Elf Girl: I agree, Legolas seems to like nice Thrandy better. I think we could keep our Elven king happy a few chapters more maybe.Thanks for the review!
-J.P.
When Arwen and Glorfindel entered the hall an uneasy silence had descended on the room. They were the last two to arrive. Legolas sat across from Arwen's seat, and beside him was a man she presumed could only be King Thranduil. Legolas resembled him closely, but there were noticeable differences. For one, Thranduil's face was worn, and slightly gaunt. For another, Thranduil's features seemed less refined, even sharper than Legolas'. Legolas' mother must have passed beauty to him that his father did not possess, for although Thranduil was not ugly, his features were far too rigid to make him a rare beauty among his kind. Across from Thranduil sat her father, who staring intensely at his soup, and beside Thranduil there was an Elf Awen did not recognize. As she took her seat she realized it was Aduil, the Elf Legolas had introduced to her. "Ah," Elrond said, looking up from his soup, "Thranduil, meet my young daughter, the Evenstar of our people, Arwen Undomiel." Elrond held out his hand to guide her to her seat, which was beside him tonight. She curtsied before sitting, and Thranduil, Legolas, and Aduil all stood to bow. "It is good to finally meet you princess, your beauty surpasses all description." Legolas said in a nonchalant tone before sitting. Arwen smiled and blushed a bit to convincingly. She looked at Aduil, who had taken on a very stoic look. Arwen couldn't be sure, but she though that when she met his eyes there was a twinkle of welcome there. Unfortunately it vanished so quickly she knew it could as easily be a trick of light as a greeting. The hall fell silent again, except for the faint whispers of Megundhros, who from what Arwen gathered was debating who would win the night's archery event with her bowl of soup. Arwen shook her head. What must Thranduil think of the elder's behavior?
Legolas nervously fished through his soup. The atmosphere of the room was like a fragile sheet of ice floating just above dangerous murky depths. The feeling made Legolas very tense, as he was hoping that his father might discover newfound respect for the Elves of Rivendell on this night. Unfortunately judging by his father's expression this was not the case. Not only was the atmosphere chilly, but the mad old she-elf from before was talking to her bowl at the other end on the quiet conversation between Arwen and her brothers. ".but they are certainly adept at archery." said one of the Twin Stars (Legolas could not yet tell them apart) "Aye, Greenwood is skilled," said the other, "but still El, Lorien has many good archers of its own, and Imladris has two surefire participants." Arwen's eyes narrowed. "Who's that?" she asked guardedly. One of the brothers grabbed his knife and fork and elaborately pointed them at himself and his twin. Arwen rolled her eyes and suddenly turned toward Legolas. "I'll bet Legolas could outshoot you both." She said smiling at him. Legolas was shocked and a bit embarrassed to be caught be Arwen eavesdropping, and now both twins had turned to him too. "Well, is what my sister says true? Have you skill with a bow Prince Legolas?" The leftmost twin asked. Legolas found himself in a spot. To declare the better archer could lead to a dispute, but his pride would not allow him to admit inadequacies, especially before his father. "I am in the shadow of Ada and Master Aduil." He replied quietly. "This is easily settled." the rightmost twin said "We can hold an archery contest." "Ahem," Elrond interrupted. "There will be no unannounced contests. If you wish to challenge Legolas you shall have to wait until he is old enough to enter the official contest." Both twins sighed and that was that.
The rest of the evening consisted of pleasantries and weather- centered conversations, and when Legolas and Arwen were finally released the sun was already starting to set. "Its too late to go anywhere!" cried LegolasArwen smiled at him, "We could still go to the gardens. I did some reading about the last alliance today, and if you want I'll tell you about it." "That's what you were doing all day is it?" Legolas looked a little hurt. "Don't worry Legolas, I would much rather be with you than study. Glorfindel unleashed his wrath upon me though for skipping lessons yesterday. Sometimes I think its not so unbelievable that he killed the Balrog. He probably forced it to memorize the family trees of all of the Elven royalty since the dawn of the firstborn." Arwen said. Legolas smiled at her and held out his arm for her to take it. She did and they walked off to the gardens together.
Legolas' eyes were widened with wonder as he walked through the gardens of Imladris. So great was its beauty and bounty that it was unsurpassed by any other garden on Middle Earth. Legolas paused to look at a tall tree that grew near to the path. "This is a Horple Fruit tree." Arwen informed him, as she stepped forward and reached out to touch one of its branches. "It is well-known for its delicious fruit, but also for the fact that the bounty grows so high it is nearly impossible to pick. I've never had one, but maybe someday." Legolas looked up, but the fruit lay beyond even his vision. "Wait here." He said, and he walked over to a far shorter tree with low hanging, sturdy branches. He climbed up, and then leapt through the air to the higher growing branches of the Horple. Arwen gasped at his agility. "Wait," she cried "Its too dangerous you will fall and break every bone in your body!" Legolas looked down at her and smiled reassuringly, "Worry not Milady. You forget that I am a Wood Elf. I've been climbing trees ever since I could walk far enough to reach them and I've never fallen." With this, he started further up the tree. Arwen watched his swing from branch to branch with utter balance and calm until he disappeared. After about ten minutes, she saw a small black speck falling through the branches. As it fell though, it did not grow, and when she moved under, and caught it, she realized it was not Legolas. It was a perfectly smooth black fruit about the size of a marble, a Horple fruit. Overjoyed she looked up, and jumped back only to see Legolas bound from the nearest branch to right before her. He was grinning, and he held in his now stained tunic hundreds of the tiny Horples. Arwen beamed at him, "Oh Legolas that was amazing!" she cried. "It was harder than I expected at first, but I spoke to the Horple. She is much aggrieved, and she has long wondered why no one journeys up to pick her fruit anymore. She says she used to live in Greenwood very long ago, and no one has climbed her since." Legolas said, placing a hand on the tree affectionately. "She is very old, older than both our Adas combined. A number beyond comprehension." He held out his tunic and poured the fruits into a can Arwen had found nearby for watering. "Whats this?" came a voice.
Arwen looked up to see none other than Elladan, and Elrohir behind. "What do you
have there El?" Elladan asked. "I don't know brother, you look and see what you sister
has picked for us." Elrohir replied. "She's
not my sister, she's yours." Elladan said taking the can from his brother. "Give those
back!" Arwen yelled at her brothers. "Yeah, those are ours!" agreed Legolas
angrily. "And just what are these. things anyway? Don't think I'd eat them, they look
fit for an Orc!" Elrohir laughed, "Or an annoying little sister." Elladan added. Said
Elrohir: "How about we see what this Prince of Mirkwood is made of. I propose a
mounted archery match, winner takes the Orc chow." "A splendid idea." Elladan
concured, flashing his brother a grin. Arwen was about to argue when Legolas spoke. "I
agree." He said softly. "What?" Elrond's children all looked at him in confusion. "I'll go
get my bow." Legolas said, and before any of them could speak again he was gone.
A.N. OK, that was it! Hope you like it. I'm sorry I update so rarely, but I try to give you guys as a lot when I do. Here's the other thing! The second and only currently running L/A website is up! If you haven't gone, check it out! stylin*bebe (The Webmistress) has made it look so good and there's so many goodies, oh and make sure you sign the guestbook! The link is:
So go! Now on to the shout-outs! I'm glad so many of you liked it! Personally I think I've written a better one, which incidentally I'll be posting in the very near future called "Winters of the Heart". (Sorry, couldn't resist a plug) Its about L/E as adults, so that's whats coming up!
To Meg: Even if you don't review thanks for the beta gal. You're ok! (Even if you do like Dumbledore better than Gandalf)
To Daydreamer22688: Here's the next chapter I hope you like it. I'm glad you thought the last one was good. Thanks for taking the time to review.
To Azura Greenleaf: I agree, they do make a good couple! We're just a small band of L/A fans in a sea of A/A fans, so thanks for your review it means a lot to me.
To Pishymishy: Hey, its you! I know you! Thanks for reviewing for me again. You totally rock!
To Karone Evertree: Hey, cool name. (Sorry, I dunno where that outburst came from) Thanks, I like to do long spaced out updates and I thank you for your patience. Sorry about those typos, FF.net was having issues, so I hope this chapter is better. Also, thanks for your comment, and please feel free to say you like the story as many times as you want ;)
To Astronema: Hehe, thanks for the review. I think. (:
To Musicstarlover: Thanks for your review. I'm very happy that you liked my story. What would Thrandy and Rondy think if they found out? Hmm, I don't know but it wouldn't be pretty. Let us wait and see what the future holds.
To Shmag: Again, thanks for the betas/reviews
To Jessie: Hey, thanks so much for the review! Jessie here if you don't know her is an A/L author too, and you should really read her stories. She has a lot more better ones and shes been writing for a lot longer than I have. Jessie, you rock!
To Gionareth: Well now look what you just went and did, my head's been inflated to twice its normal size. Thanks so much for your comments, they keep me goin.
To Kawaii Elf Girl: I agree, Legolas seems to like nice Thrandy better. I think we could keep our Elven king happy a few chapters more maybe.Thanks for the review!
-J.P.