A/N: This is a repost of the original stoy.
It is beta-ed now and the mistakes should be all gone. I hope so. ;-)
Thank you Ashley!
Thanx to all who have left a review and thanx for reading.
huggles
The Sharpshooter
'ESTEL!!!! ...Ouch... YOU NIFT! YOU MORON! WHEN I...ouch... GET YOU, YOU WILL NEVER...ouch...EVER BE ABLE TO THINK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE!! YOU WILL...ouch...HAVE NONE! I'LL FEED YOU TO THE WARGS; I PROMISE!!!! ...ESTEL!!!'
The angry and pain-filled voice of Elladan could be heard all over the peaceful rooms of Imladris.
Ten-year-old Estel ran through the hallways searching for somewhere safe to hide. His little feet were drumming frantically on the stone floor, trying to escape the wrath of his elder brother. Clasping his bow in a dead-like grip he rounded a corner and hid himself behind a very big vase that stood in a darker corner of the huge hallway.
/It was an accident. I did not mean to harm anyone. Truly it was an accident; all I wanted to do was to show my brother that I'm definitely able to handle a bow and to catch a prey./
This morning at breakfast his brothers had told him that they would leave Imladris for a short hunting trip together with Legolas, who should show up some time in the afternoon. Excited he had asked if he could join in; a hunting trip sounded much more interesting than lessons with Erestor.
But his brothers had refused to take him on this trip. He first, as they had said, had to learn how to use a bow properly and his first archery lesson would lie a few more weeks in the future.
He had asked the reason why he had gotten a real bow a few weeks earlier as a birthday gift, when he was not allowed to use it. His father had told him that this was the proper moment for such a gift but agreed to the arguments of his sons that Estel was still too young to go on a hunting trip.
During the remaining time of the breakfast Estel sat pouting in his chair until he was allowed to leave. He had run straight to his room, where he sat cross-legged on his bed and brainstormed for a way to prove his family wrong, that he was very well able to hunt. Frowning and gnawing on his lower lip, his gaze was fixed on his first bow that rested on a sideboard.
At that moment he knew what he would do.
Gripping his bow he ran to the armoury to retrieve a few practicing arrows. He knew he could not shoot with sharp arrows so he decided to use the lighter ones which were only used for all elflings' archery lessons. They would splinter when they hit a target, and so they could do no harm.
That was what he thought.
For his plan the practicing arrows were perfect. He would wrap a piece of fabric around the tip and drip this fabric with one of his watercolours, so he would be able to prove that he had indeed hit his target.
Estel knew he would never be able to sneak upon an elf so he decided that he would use the tactic of hide and surprise instead. After finishing his task of wrapping and colouring his arrows he hid in the Hall of Fire, which was empty at that time of day, and waited for his prey to show up. He had to wait a few hours before he finally heard voices outside the door and they drew nearer, so it was apparent that they would enter the hall.
He recognized the voices of his brothers and thought that it was perfect, so they would know from first hand that he was a hunter.
He notched one of his arrows on the bow, drew the string to back to his cheek like he had seen his brothers do many times, and waited. The door opened and the twin sons of Elrond entered the room deep in a conversation. They did not notice the little figure standing in a dark corner of the hall until it was too late.
'SURPRISE!' Estel shouted while he released the arrow. He had aimed for the chest of Elladan, but what he did not know was that an arrow never flew straight forward but in an arc, and Elladan's movement did the rest. Not even his elven reflexes could save him from what would happen to him because he was totally caught by surprise.
The arrow went straight to his very... very private parts and splintered at the impact, like it was supposed to. That was one thing he would find out later, but at that moment he was brought to his knees from an increasing pain that ran through his body and took his breath away for a second.
Rocking back and forth to ease the pain he did not notice the pale face of his youngest brother and the tears that ran over the little face. Estel was shocked from the events and stood rooted for a few seconds before starting to run. He had to fetch Ada as soon as possible.
Elrohir stood, stunned, beside his twin and tried to help him up to take a closer look. He was not sure what had happened, for he had entered the room shortly after his brother so he had only heard Estel's shout and then suddenly his twin was knocked down on his knees.
After a few seconds Elladan had suppressed the pain to a dull ache, and noticed Elrohir's attempt to look at the injury. Rising to his feet with much difficulty, he saw a dark green spot on his leggings and wooden splinters imbedded in the soft fabric. That was when Elrohir saw for the first time the area in which his twin was 'injured' and broke out in a fit of laughter.
Elladan growled. 'That is not funny, Elrohir! Have you ever been hit there before? ... No? Believe me ... it is no fun! Where is that little nift? I promise I will pull his ears as long as possible... he will look like an elf when I'm finished with him!'
He started yelling after his little brother while Elrohir tried in vain to repress his laughter. He could not; this was too funny, he could not wait to tell Legolas about it. This was a tale that was worth to be told.
Elladan started to run after his human brother but he only managed a fast limp, constantly cursing in dwarfish and other languages, yelling threats, what he would do to Estel should he find him, and was only interrupted by some sounds of pain he was not able to suppress.
Meanwhile Estel had reached the hallway that would lead him to the entrance and then towards his father's study. Glancing back over his shoulder he turned round a corner and ... thump! He ran into some one who was turning the corner, too, from the other side.
The impact threw him on his back, the bow clattered on the floor until it came to a sudden stop at the wall. Estel raised his tearstained face and saw Legolas, who had been the one who had come from the other side.
'Estel, are you all right? What had happened?' Legolas bent down to lift the boy up from the floor.
Estel wrapped his arms around the neck of the prince, buried his face on his shoulders and wept, between his sobs he managed to stutter a few words. 'It ... It was an ... an... accident. I swear it, I ... I did ... not ...mean to...harm him.'
Legolas stroke soothingly over the trembling back of the little human. 'Hush, little one, calm down. Do you mean Elladan? Do you hear him? He sounds not like he is injured. He sounds furious but not injured.'
Looking over the boy's shoulder Legolas saw the twins approaching – Elladan with a fast limp, his face red that it looked like it would explode any second. On the contrary Elrohir was struggling not to laugh out loud, but the wide grin on his face spoke more that words could say.
Legolas looked up Elladan's legs to find out where he was injured, but was not prepared when he saw the reason of Elladan's limping.
He started laughing so hard that he nearly let go of Estel who still clung to his neck. Composing himself he whipped away the tears that ran down his face with one hand, but he burst out a new, when he noticed that Elladan's colour took a turn to a deeper red.
'What is that noise supposed to mean?' Elrond demanded to know. He had entered the hallway to check things out when he had heard Elladan's yell.
'Elrohir, Elladan, what had happened? Why is Estel crying?'
Lifting Estel whose sobs had stilled during the last few minutes, Legolas rose to his feet and greeted the lord with a light bow.
'Lord Elrond, I think that Estel shot, by accident, at Elladan and had hit a... erhm... sensitive part of his anatomy.' He was able to tell the enraged Elrond before he started to laugh again.
'I'm sorry, Ada.' Estel's voice was heard muffled through the tunic of Legolas in which he still buried his head. 'I only wanted to show you that I am able to hunt, so that I can go to the hunting trip with them. Believe me I did not want to hurt anyone.'
Elrond took a closer look at his son, and mustered all his willpower so as to not laugh like the others. 'Elladan, come with me to the house of healings, I have to take a look at this injury.'
'Ada, you can't be serious! I will not go there to have a bunch of healers hovering around, while you look at this.' Elladan blushed to a level of red that looked nearly impossible to reach. 'I will take care of it alone in my room. And I do not want to see any of you in there, is that understood?'
With these last words he turned and left limping with all the dignity he possessed. Watching him until he turned the next corner, the three remaining elves could stand it no longer, and the loud laughter of a Lord, a prince and a brother filled the air.
Finally Elrond managed to sober again, and turned to Estel who had watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. Estel looked at his Ada and knew he was in deep trouble.
'My son, would you please wait in my study? We have to talk about the use of arrows in the house.'
Estel only nodded and released his hold on Legolas who put him back on his feet, and strolled to his father's study.
'Please don't be too harsh to him. I think he regrets what he had done, and from the look of it, he had learned his lesson well.' Legolas told Elrond, watching the tiny figure walking away with his head bent down and slumped shoulders.
'I know, and I know what I will do with our little sharpshooter here, and you could help if you want to.' Elrond said and added, 'I think your hunting trip will be a little delayed because I seriously doubt Elladan would be able to sit on a horse for the next few days.' That brought them to another round of laughter.
The next morning found them all at the table for breakfast. Elladan was still grumpy; Legolas and Elrohir exchanged glances over the table and both started to chuckle. Yesterday they had sneaked up to Elladan's room and they both had eavesdropped at his door. They had heard him curse like mad when he had removed the little splinters.
Now he sat on a thick cushion and grumbled under his breath something about 'revenge'. When Estel showed up, he was very quiet and barely touched his food.
Elrond decided that his youngest had suffered enough and addressed him. 'Estel, I changed your plans for your studies today. I think it is time to give you a much needed lesson.' Estel shrunk in his seat. He had no clue what would come next and after the lecture he had received yesterday he was afraid, what his Ada had in mind for his punishment. He saw himself in the kitchen, washing dishes the whole day, or worse, reading in the library for hours and hours.
'After breakfast, you will meet with Legolas in the entrance hall, and you will do what ever he tells you to do, is that understood?'
Estel only nodded for he did not trust his voice at that point.
Finishing breakfast in silence the family rose to their daily tasks.
'Estel, we meet in 15 minutes, please be in time.' Legolas told the boy.
When Estel arrived in the hall he was astounded that Legolas had his bow and quiver with him but he did not ask.
'There you are, come let's go.' Legolas turned and left the hall followed by a very confused human boy. They went through the forest and Estel recognized the way as the one who led to the archery field.
/What does that mean?/ he thought but he dared not ask. He would see in time what would happen.
Reaching the field Legolas bid him to wait while he went over to the targets. He bent down and lifted something off the ground.
Estel stood rooted when he recognized his bow. His father had taken it away from him last evening, and he had thought he would not see it again, but here it was! Legolas gave the little bow to the boy.
'Estel, your Ada thinks that it is time that you learn the proper use of a bow, and he asked me to teach you. He had said that you have to work hard on your targeting skills; he does not want an accident like yesterday's to occur again.'
Estel's eyes grew wider with every word, and after the words had sunk, a huge smile appeared on his face and lighted up his eyes.
'Do you understand Estel?'
Estel nodded, though he was still not able to grab the whole meaning of all this. He would have his first real archery lesson! He could not believe it.
Laughing and crying at the same time he hugged Legolas tightly. 'Thank you.' He whispered.
'So if you release me, we can start your lesson.' Legolas teased the boy, and brushed him lightly over the dark curls.
From the distance a smiling Elrond had watched the change in Estel's face from the sadness to joy, and he knew he had made the right decision. He watched as Legolas kneeled down beside the little human and explained to him how to hold a bow the right way. Then he left the clearing, still smiling to himself, towards the house and his duties.
The End