OUR CHILDREN'S WAR
Summary:
A long time ago a mysterious elf came to the Wolfriders seeking help. It was a cry for help, answered.
AN:
Many many thanks to Luna K, who beta'd this story. She's a great support and helps me fight off my writers block.
Genre: Adventure,
Rate: PG-13.
"As far as the eye could see, there were thousands of homes. And these were not like any human home could ever be. There was no human smell, no stench of rotten fruits and liquors. It was clean and smelled of roses... and elves of course...
Cutter couldn't believe his eyes when he first saw this elfin village. Neither could I. When the strange elf had first asked us to help his people, we thought he would just bring us to his friends. Not a whole elven community!
Even in our wildest dreams we couldn't have dreamt this. The houses, unlike the Sunvillager's clay homes, were made of brick! And they stretched into the distance, side by side, without an ending. A real city, the way we would have wanted it. Clean and without humans...
Harmony.
That was the word that came to mind for this place. Harmony. And strangely enough, that was what the elves had called it. Cutter really laughed when he heard this. But it was more because of the nerves I think because he had only said the word three seconds before Legolas did...
Legolas was the elf that had brought us there. He was this big elf , with hair as black as a night without stars; and unlike you and me, he had five fingers and five toes, small pointed ears and eyes that looked as if they were human.
But he was an elf... Just like you and me. He could even send to us, although it felt a little awkward. That's why we had trusted these new elves... You see, even if they didn't look like us, lived differently than we did and had different customs than us... they were elves. And they had proved non-hostile, so we helped them. Even when we first realized what we were getting ourselves into...
We were walking down the main road of Harmony- a road that was unlike any I had ever seen. They called it a 'street,' and it was made of stone- just like the houses some humans build, like these elves had built. The elfin children who were playing in the street stopped their games as soon as they saw us. Then, when we were close enough for them to recognise Legolas, they let out loud yells of happiness and welcome-backs.
Legolas, modest as he was, only smiled.
Some of the children that were also there only looked at us. I guess we were not what they had quite expected. I couldn't blame them either. We had come to fight in a war for freedom and none of us looked ready. Without the armor we had gotten from Two-edge in the war for the palace, we looked like an ordinary group of elves, only armed with a few weapons each. Luckily we also had our share of experience.
I think that is the main reason why we won the war... but you can never tell for sure. Don't forget that we did have help from Jordan..."
"Who's Jordan?" A young elf with dark brown hair and almost black eyes asked. "I mean I've heard of Legolas: The fearless archer with an aim that was flawless for a hundred feet! But nobody ever told me anything about a guy named Jordan...?"
Skywise chuckled. "Well.. Jordan wasn't exactly a person... The only thing we know about him is that he knew a lot about the orcs and that he wrote a book about it. Puckernuts we don't even know for sure if he was an elf at all!"
"So we won this war because of a book? But we couldn't even read back then, could we?"
Skywise smiled. "We've learned a lot from each war. In the first one we learned what going to war was like. In the second one we learned a lot about trusting people. And in this war, the war with Legolas the fearless archer!, we learned how valuable reading could be."
"And what about following your gut instinct? And being stubborn as Timmorn?" a voice demanded.
Skywise and the rag-tag group of elfin children looked up to see Cutter standing in the doorway... "I heard Nightfall had a lot of trouble with her students..."
Skywise and the rag-tag group of elfin children looked up to see Cutter standing in the doorway...
The chief smirked. "I heard Nightfall had a lot of trouble with her students..."
"She did... " Answered Skywise while he ruffled one of the children's hair... "It seems that some of them have developed a severe disliking in learning how to read..."
"And Nightfall asked YOU to help her?" Cutter shook his head. "The things I put up with.." He muttered.
"Aw, grampa!" A redhaired elf said. "You're just jealous that she didn't ask you to tell the story."
"Me? Jealous? In your dreams Redstone! Skywise can tell the story if he absolutely must. But I'll stay here just in case our friend wants to exaggerate a few facts. It's very important that you little cubs learn the whole truth about this tale."
Skywise grinned. "I think our chief here just wants to defend his actions." He paused, and then continued cheerfully, "He can stay if he likes. I wasn't going to exaggerate anything. Grab a chair Cutter." His tone was light and optomistic.
Cutter noticed that Skywise's grin became even larger when he sat himself down on one of the little chairs that was still free. It wasn't surprising to find empty chairs; the students had the rather nasty habit of sitting on the floor when they were listening to stories.
They had all gathered again around Skywise and had eagerly directed their attention back to him, expecting him to continue his story any minute.
"Well.. Go on then." Cutter said. "I haven't got all day."
"Grampaaa..." Redstone said, annoyed again. But Cutter just shrugged. However, when Skywise told Redstone to "never mind the old elf," he frowned. He was chief after all. And lately everyone seemed to forget that fact! But seeing the familiar, sly smile on his friend's face, he realized Skywise was only trying to provoke him. And the last thing he wanted was to give Skywise his way. So he said nothing in return.
When Skywise took his opportunity to continue his tale, Cutter realized he had been misled... and he also realized why Nightfall had asked Skywise to tell this story instead of him.
TBC