Disclaimer:  I own nothing.

Chapter 7

Legolas was listening to the sound of the wind singing, trying to relax enough to sleep, when suddenly a different sound came to his ears.  He sat up, and moved towards the window, letting the cool breeze caress his skin.

There were voices in the forest.  He could barely hear them, but they were there.  A wave of curiosity swept through him, and before he knew what he was doing, he stepped out of his window and into the night.

Legolas concentrated on the direction in which the sound was coming from, and letting his instincts guide him, he made his way through the woods, the white trunks of the trees gleaming dimly in the moonlight.  Once he was close enough, he could make out words, but he still saw no creatures.  The voices were speaking in Sindarin:

…you aren't extending your arm all the way forward, you're aim is shaky.

Be quiet!  I know what I'm doing.

Hush!  Don't you know that someone could hear us?

Who would be awake at this time?

Wait…here I go…steady…

Suddenly, the whistle of an arrow shot right above Legolas's head, and he ducked into a nearby bush as to not be seen, though not as gracefully as he had planned.  The bush was full of thorns, which caught onto his clothing and hair. 

Wonderful…just wonderful…He muttered inside his head, angry with himself for coming out here at all.  He forgot his anger thought when the voices came to him again.

See?  I told you, you weren't extending your arm!  You completely missed the target!

I'd like to see you do any better!

Neither of you is any good.  Stop bickering.

Stop bossing us around.  You can't shoot a bow either.

I never said I could.

Legolas sat and listened to the voices argue and discuss, as he worked on untangling himself, as quietly as he could.  They were female voices, young female voices.  What would young girls be out this time of night practicing archery?

Legolas let his thought distract him, and his hand slipped from a thorn he was working out of his hair, hitting a twig.  The thorns bit into his skin, and the twig broke with a barely audible snap. 

Barely audible.

Legolas froze, not even breathing.  The voices had ceased at the small noise, as though they had heard him.  He prayed they wouldn't find him, whether they would harm him or not.  He didn't need to be accused of spying at a time like this.

Soon, through the branches of the thorn bush, he saw a pair of feet approaching him.  Three more sets of feet appeared behind the first.  Legolas tried to look up to see who it was, but the tangled mass of thorns above him blocked his view. 

That's when the feet stopped, and Legolas could hear the nearly silent creaking of a bowstring being pulled taught.  Legolas reacted quickly.  He pushed back on his heels and painfully ripped himself free of the thorn bush.  Knowing his chances of outrunning people with arrows was slim, he reluctantly stayed where he was and thrust his hands up into the air.

Don't shoot!  I'm a friend.  He said, only then looking up.  He couldn't believe what he saw then.

**********Personal thingy************

Haha!  A cliffhanger!  Go me!  Reviews please?

A Note To Mirovour:  *works up enough nerve to say this*  I'm really sorry too.  I shouldn't have sent that other mean review back to you…and you sister, even though her review did upset me.  Sorry, I just don't like my stories to be told before I tell them, that's all.  I shouldn't have sent that mean review back to you and your sister…whoever wrote that story about Draco Malfoy…sorry sorry sorry.  I feel really bad about it.  And I really didn't mean that comment about Harry Potter fics either.  I suppose Harry Potter's pretty cool, I just have no particular interest in it.  I don't particularly enjoy the movie's image of an elf, either.  *makes face*  But I really am sorry and I'll forgive your sister as long as you and her can forgive me.

As for your review—thank you.  If the concept of quadruplets boggles your mind so much, I'll offer you (and anybody else who is reading this) the explanation for it.  Here goes:  Waaaay, way back when I didn't have a clue about Lord of the Rings yet, only that I found Legolas very very sexy, I started writing this story.  You know how the Daughters of Celebhen are named after the four elements: Air, Water, Fire and Earth?  Well, in the beginning of my story…here's the part that's difficult to tell you…they all were Mary Sues…and they had powers over the elements and could control them…so in the beginning your sister was right.  But it didn't take me long to realize that those kind of characters weren't exactly embraced in fanfiction…so I changed the entire plot and just left the four sisters in it.  That's why there's quadruplets.  But no—the girls are not going outside the borders of their land—they are doing something else…I'm sure you must have guessed it by now. 

Also, yes, you are right when you say the Nimar have not interacted with Gimli very much.  That's just because…well…I don't particularly like Gimli very much…the majority of the story is focused on Legolas, Aragorn, one of the daughters of Celebhen, and one other character whom you've met but not gotten to know yet.  You'll see the plot develop as the story goes on.  Once again, thank you very much for your reply.  I'll be sending you (or you sister) another review to apologize for my rude response to your sister's review.  Thank you again.  =)