Little Elf
Chapter forty-seven
13th Amrath 3017
Snow: a white expanse of frozen crystals. Usually found at the peaks of mountains and on the ground after a particularly cold night.
'Stop laughing at me' Aragorn groused glaring slightly
'I am not laughing' Elle replied grinning down at Aragorn who was standing in three feet of snow. Elle, meanwhile, was standing atop the snow happily throwing handfuls of the fluffy stuff into the air causing it to catch on her hair, as if they were small diamonds.
'I beg to differ' Aragorn smiled rolling his eyes
'It is not my fault that I was walk on snow. So m'dear Strider, you should stride ahead' Elle pranced on the snow tugging at Anarmir's reigns.
'You act as if you have never seen snow before'
'Nop, I've seen an absolute tonne of it! But snow always makes me happy, it's refreshing and pure' Elle dusted some of it off of her shoulders.
'Your horse is not so happy'
'Yes, well…Horses are not made for snow are they? But we are near the top, an hours walk I suppose, at this pace anyway.' Elle winked
'If you had to trudge though this snow you would walk slowly' came the tart reply.
The snow was just above his waist on either side. Anarmir walked ahead, parting the snow, while Aragorn walked behind, still trudging through the snow, which had a tendency to collapse over the path Anarmir had created.
* * *
'We will camp here' Strider decided stopping by a large rock 'it will shield us from the wind as well as give us some privacy.'
Elle nodded, dropping her pack on the floor. Taking her bow and quiver off, followed by her swords.
Sinking to the snow covered floor she pulled out a piece of dried salted meat and put it on a piece of soft piece of bread before taking a bite out of it.
Aragorn, meanwhile, took his cloak off and laid it over the snow before sitting down on it and staring into the distance 'You should reach Rivendell in two days'
'I'm still a day behind schedule then' Elle replied frowning slightly 'I just hope those expecting me do not become worried when I do not arrive tomorrow'
'They will understand' Strider replied firmly
Elle nodded, taking out a water skin and having a swig before handing it to Strider who drank some his eyes widening 'It is freezing! There might as well be lumps of ice in it!'
Elle shrugged slightly 'It is cold here'
'Thank you for stating the blindingly obvious' Aragorn replied sarcastically.
Elle merely shrugged 'It doesn't effect me in any way'
'I noticed' Strider replied staring west 'it is beautiful is it not?'
Noticing the change in topic Elle followed his gaze 'the sunset? Aye, no matter how often I see it I am still filled with wonder. The way the sky blushes into rosy pinks set off by the strands of peach all the while tinged with the faint midnight blue of the night' Elle smiled 'and Ithil, sorry the moon, is already out glowing enchantingly, reminds me of my grandmother, she loved the moon'
'You speak as if she is no longer here' Aragorn noted his eyes intent on Elle who was still gazing west her eyes far away…
~*~ Brown hair was in two identical plaits tied off with electric blue hair bands. Blue eyes were alight with excitement while glove encased hands held tightly onto the much larger frailer hand. "Now my little elf are you ready?"Cold pink flushed cheeks nodded "Yes grandma!" an exuberant smile played across Elle's face
"Well then, sit down, find me Polaris"
Elle's bright eyes searched the night sky before fixing upon a familiar star "got it" she announced happily
"Good, now we're going to look for Ursa Minor which is a constellation."
"Teddy bear!" Elle burst plaits jumping around
"Yes, it is called the teddy bear, now how many stars does this constellation have?"
Elle paused her seven-year-old face creased in thought "Seven" she eventually decided
"Yes" a soft smile formed on Mary's face "you'll hardly need me soon."
"Never!" the young girl announced, "I'll always need you grandma."
"And I you, little elf. Now come, we are finding Ursa minor."
Elle nodded arching her neck to view the sky again. " What are the two of you doing?"
Elle's face fell; her mother had found them again "we're star gazing" she replied pointing to the sky.
"I can see that Ellie, but both of you will catch your death in cold."
"I'm wearing gloves!" Elle countered "and a scarf and a coat!"
"I don't care! Both of you! Honestly mum, what were you thinking?"
"Ginny, I sometimes wonder who is indeed the mother." Mary replied wiping a grey lock of hair away from her face.
"She is my daughter mum" Virginia looked down at Elle whose eyes were sparkling in interest still staring up into the sky.
They entered the slightly warmer house, the windows were open to let the heat in as it was the summer and Elle's young mind wondered why her mother said it was cold.
"Come my little elf, tell me what is the brightest star in the sky?"
"Sirius" Elle replied easily "Part of the Great Dog."
Mary nodded before continuing "It's Latin name is Canis Major. What about Canis Minor?"
"The little dog, its star is…" Elle paused "Pro…Pro…Procyon!"
"Yes angel. And who is the great hunter of the sky?"
"Orion and its star begins with B!"
"Yes, Betelgeuse"
"Elle it's time to go to bed." Virginia called causing Elle to pout
"That is unbecoming me dear"
~*~
…'Elle?' a hand came to her shoulder 'Are you well?'
Blinking she focused her gaze and rose an eyebrow 'Absolutely fine, haven't you seen an elf sleep before?'
Strider did not reply, instead he looked away frowning.
* * *
14th Amrath 3017
*What is it I'm forgetting?* Elle wondered *What is this sinking feeling in my stomach?*
It was late noon, approximately five if Elle was calculating correctly, they had stopped for an hour at midday and Strider had announced that to keep good time they would continue past nightfall.
'It is six hours past midday' Aragorn announced causing Elle to shake her head *So much for my time keeping skills*
'So we are going to stop in how many hours?'
'Getting tired?' Strider questioned glancing at her with a smirk
'Why ever would I be tired? I'm of the Eldar, you are edain, sorry Dunedain and are more likely to be exhausted!'
'But I have more experience then you, I have been doing this for years!'
'While you were in swaddling clothes I had travelled between various elven realms many a time'
'And I'm sure you had a large escort each of which treated you like a Princess'
Elle coughed *can he know?* 'and why would they do that?' Elle questioned frowning
'Shh' Aragorn waved his hand at her with a puckered brow.
Elle paused and heard an odd shuffle and creak of…metal?
'Goblins' Strider announced in a hushed whisper 'look over there'
Elle squinted her eyes into the darkness following Aragorn's line of sight *Well he did say that trouble followed him*
'About twenty, maybe thirty' Elle whispered. She glanced at Aragorn who sighed lightly
*What is that smell?* Elle crinkled her nose in distaste as a putrid smell enveloped her nostrils; she gagged slightly
'That's a good thing' Aragorn whispered 'it means they can't smell us'
'Because you smell so bad' Elle retorted
Strider rolled his eyes and glanced at her bow 'Is that Galadhrim bow just for show or is your aim true?'
Elle started at him 'You intend to slay them?'
'They are in our path and there is no way to get around them, at least now we have the element of surprise.'
Elle nodded, 'all hands on deck then' Elle replied slowly un-strapping her bow.
Aragorn took his own bow out, taking an arrow from his quiver and notching it. Nodding at Elle they both took aim and fired at the two goblins nearest them. They fell with a thud, but surprisingly no one turned.
'Elle, go to the left, I'll go to the right, we will confuse them'
Elle nodded her head in acquiescence and took off in a southerly direction. She briefly saw Aragorn preparing to notch an arrow. Doing the same they took aim and fired. Two goblins fell and this time the rest of the band heard and turned, taking out various knives and three un-shouldered bows. Aragorn swiftly fired two arrows hitting one of the archers. Elle then fired another two in quick succession, hitting an archer and another wielding a knife that was getting very close to Aragorn. Catching on quickly the remaining goblins split into two advancing in their general direction. Elle shot the remaining archer but he carried on unaffected. He was shot again but still he made his way forward, shooting and missing Elle by inches. Elle prepared to shoot at him once more but he then fell to the floor and arrow petruding from his back.
Shouldering her bow she unsheathed her two daggers, grimacing slightly in memory. 'Elf' a goblin hissed sniffing the air 'elves!' A cry of 'elves' was taken up in a cheer *elves mean you're more likely to be killed, you incompetent ugly-* Elle's thoughts were cut short as she heard a battle cry opposite her.
Aragorn had started fighting, Elle took a deep steadying breath *there's only nine of them*
Stealthily she crawled to her left before standing up and brandishing her knifes. Her right knife was immediately caught in a clash with a goblins blade. Swiftly bringing her left blade up she feinted a blow all the whole retracting her right blade before stabbing the goblin in the heart, her elven blade easily going through the crudely made armour.
Moving swiftly onto the next Elle noted that these mountain goblins were not as strong as the orcs she has encountered in Lorien. She made her way through the remaining goblins with practiced skill.
Slicing off the last goblins head she looked up to see Aragorn striding over to her a small smile gracing his face.
Elle grimaced, wiping her knives on the grass nearby, all the while looking at Aragorn from the corner of her eye.
'What?' she questioned as he still wore a smile. * What's he smiling about? I have a cut on my arm and I can feel the blood oozing out and he's standing there as if the cat has got the cream!*
'You said you knew just enough to get by with weapons, you are actually very proficient with a blade, as if you had been taught as if you were to join the army'
Elle shrugged 'I had a good teacher'
Aragorn nodded slightly 'we had better continue before more goblins arrive'
Elle inclined her head by means of agreement before following Aragorn.
Elle stopped suddenly her eyes widening in shock *I killed something*
***
A/n well that took longer than expected, to both type the chapter up and get around to typing it up. Well I won't bore you with reasons as to why I didn't update you've probably read them all before.
Hanya the bloody angel: You were quite right; something has to happen while you cross the misty mountains, as my old friend Bilbo will tell you.
BlackmageI2: Peanut butter cookies…sounds interesting…the only thing I ever have with peanut butter is toast, but each to their own.
KindCalypso: Nop, unfortunately your name doesn't have a definition on my computer, mainly as I wouldn't know how to do so.
Serpent of light: Thanks though I'm not sure of Strider agrees. Yes I did get the 1st review by the way. Yes, it is tempting to make him act like a King, but he's not, even during the actual books which occur in just over a years time he is debating with himself as to whether he could be a king so making him act like one wouldn't be quite right. Yes, he's 86, his birthday is the 1st March, and I annoyed friends by announcing that, on 1st March exclaiming "Happy birthday Aragorn" isn't exactly normal…
Kaye Thorn: Does Aragorn speak Sindarin? I would say a most definite yes. First off Quenya isn't really used in Middle Earth any more, in Valinor it's the main language I believe. I've come to the conclusion that he knows Sindarin because Elrond is actually a Sindarin name, as is Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen and Estel. The name Imladris is also Sindarin meaning cleft or cliff or something along those lines. Also, he would have been taught Sindarin so he could go to other elven realms and converse, in Mirkwood they're not very likely to speak Quenyan as they're not on best terms with the Noldor.
Candyfloss: Well I think this chapter is even longer than the last!
Sokochan: At the moment the appendices say that Aragorn spent 12 years in the dead marches and the land around it looking for Gollum at Gandalf's request, but I'm guessing that he took respite from that every now and then…
Haldir lover: Thanks for bugging me; your second review was quite funny, made me laugh lot. And I still need Haldir so you can't have him!
Mali: The line thing, I thought there was one I put a ___ which MSWord then converts into a nice big fat thick line, I never noticed that when I posted chapters that disappeared…but thanks for pointing it out.
Gwilwileth