Hey guys. . . sorry for the wait. . . Also, I know this one is shorter than
normal, but trust me on it, okay? The next one will be longer.
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Aragorn hobbled down the stairs to the bar, which was empty at the early hour. He smiled as his eyes met Berylla's.
"How's your leg?" She asked, setting her rag down and walking from behind the counter.
Aragorn waved it off. "Oh, it's fine. Never really hurt too much in the first place."
"Oh, of course," the young girl said, but the smile on her face negated her words. "I'm sorry we didn't catch him."
"Oh no, don't worry about it. If there's something here that he really wants, he'll be back. We'll be ready for him next time, too. You also took something of his, and judging by the items in it, he'll be wanting it back. Thank you for helping us. We would have no lead if it weren't for you."
Berylla shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Your friend Nifren threw the dagger at him, but-"
Aragorn cut her off. "He missed, didn't he?"
With a giggle, she nodded. Aragorn shook his head in disbelief. "He's been a ranger for as long as he can remember. You would think he could learn how to actually hit something."
The man smiled when Berylla laughed. She was truly beautiful. He leaned towards her, his eyes on her lips. Letting her laughter fade, she did the same, her eyes slowly closing.
"I heard that, Strider."
The two jerked back as Nifren entered the room, bouncing jovially down the stairs. "So, Rylla, what's on the menu fer breakfast?"
Giving an empathetic look to Aragorn, she said, "Whatever you'd like, boys. Your choice today."
Nifren gave his order and the barmaid disappeared into the kitchen. The older ranger looked at his friend, warning in his eyes. "Don't ye be getting' involved with her, Strider."
Aragorn turned his head in surprise. "Why not?"
"Yer a ranger. Ye'll have another mission, and have ter leave here. Then what? Ye'll break both yer hearts."
"I can come back when I'm not on a mission."
"Haven't ye ever wondered why none of the rangers ye've met have been married? Ye'll put her in danger. It's not good fer either of ye."
Aragorn turned his attention to the bar as if looking through the walls. "You don't understand."
"Aye, I understand. It's ye that don't. I was married once, Strider."
The younger ranger's eyes widened in surprise. "You never told me."
Nifren checked to make sure that Berylla would not come back anytime soon. "I didn't think ye needed to know, but now I do." He paused, but Aragorn could tell that he was not looking for a response.
"I was workin' with two others to find a murderer. We split up during a chase, and the blasted man made his way to the inn. Me wife was expectin' me back, and was waiting downstairs fer me. He recognized her somehow. I never learned how. He waited 'til I caught up to him, then he took her as a hostage. He left, ran away, something, but he took her with him. I never saw her again. We searched fer him, but we had to finally give up." He leaned in, whispering to his friend. "I'm just trying to help ye, Strider. I don't want neither of ye to have to go through that."
"She might still be alive then! Surely, you haven't given up hope?"
"Ye don't know the whole story." He smiled suddenly, just as Berylla walked out with a platter balanced delicately in one hand. "Nor do ye need to. My, Rylla, this looks fantastic! But yer food usually is. I thank ye fer cookin' on this fine mornin'."
"But of course, Nifren. Anything for the protectors of our town."
Nifren looked to the ranger next to him. "Indeed." He rose, taking his breakfast back to his room.
Berylla said nothing. She tried not to avoid his eyes, but noticed that Strider wasn't trying at all. She cleared her throat.
The ranger looked up from his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I have a lot of work I need to get done. I'll see you later in the day."
Crestfallen, Berylla nodded. "Okay."
Aragorn, unlike usual, climbed the stairs slowly. He knocked on Nifren's door when he reached the top.
"Come in."
"You can't just give up like that," Aragorn said as soon as he had pushed the door open.
"What the blazes are ye talkin' about, Strider?"
"You can't stop loving because you've been hurt once. You get hurt sometimes, that's the way it goes. Either you get back up and move on, or you let it ruin the rest of your life. No one ever said that you would never get hurt. What would be adventure with a promise like that? Okay, so you've been hurt, but someone out there has been waiting to be there for you!"
Nifren's fork was frozen halfway to his mouth, which hung open. His eyes were wide in shock at the sudden, passionate outburst.
Strider, a little surprised at himself, stuttered, unsure of what to do. "You have to live life, not hide from it."
Nifren was speechless. How could he argue with that? The two watched each other in pregnant silence. Aragorn nodded then, excusing himself from the room.
"I can't believe I just did that." Shaking his head, he went to his own room.
The cloak sat on his bed. Every inch of it had been inspected. There was a letter written in a language strange to Nifren, and downright unrecognizable to Aragorn. There was a map of the town, an arrow pointing to the inn. Both were items important to their owner, but they did not help the rangers in the least.
Aragorn looked over the letter again. Nifren had said that he had seen the writing before, but he couldn't remember where, and certainly not what it meant. It had traces of Elvish to it, so far as Aragorn could guess.
Elvish. He was fluent in it, but he was no expert. Maybe his father would recognize it? The idea was discarded. For all he knew, the letter might be dangerous, and he did not want it falling into the wrong hands.
The human was growing frustrated. He was never at a loss of what to do. He always had an idea, no matter how ludicrous it may have seemed. Right now, he had nothing. He hated being at a loss for an idea.
"Help me," he mumbled.
"With what?"
Aragorn jumped. "Nifren! Stop scaring me!"
"Ye need to work on that jumpiness, bein' a ranger an' all. What do ye need help with?"
"The items in his cloak."
Nifren shrugged. "Yer guess is as good as mine. Ye know I meant no offense with what I said, don't ye?"
Aragorn sighed, his shoulders falling in exhaustion and defeat. "Aye, I know. I didn't mean to attack you either. It just sort of happened."
"Yeah, I know," Nifren said, smiling at his friend. "So let's figger this letter out."
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Legolas-
Have a bad day, did you? Mine was the best, either, to be honest. Quite far from it, really. I won't go into details, though, since you've had your own day to worry about. I hope this letter finds you on a better day.
I imagine that Elrond told me he same thing Thranduil told you would happen. I don't see how there can be varying opinions of it.
Your letter came a little too late for your advice to be useful. We found our traitor. After a long chase through town (in which a dagger lodged itself in my left thigh,) he escaped. We have his cloak, thanks to Berylla. It has many interesting things in it, but nothing we can make sense of. Both Nifren and I are at a loss. We spent nearly all day developing theories, but in the end, nothing productive happened. I only hope he will come back to get what is his.
I am a very patient person, by the way. Unlike a certain elf I know. . .
Telemnar reminds you of El and Dan? Your poor father. Between you and him, he must have his work cut out for him. Then, I suppose it's no more work than Elrond has. I had no idea he had been through rough times. I am sorry for speaking ill of him. I should know by now that if you find someone worthy of friendship, than he truly is a good person (elf).
Nifren told me not to get involved with Berylla. He said it would only cause heartache for us both. His wife was killed because of a mission he was on as a ranger. I know he is trying to protect me from that, but is the risk really worth never loving? I think I will talk with her, and if she does not like the risk, then nothing will come of us.
How is your paperwork coming along? I guess that means you're doing. . . homework, doesn't it? (I am so thankful that you are not near enough to hit me for that.) Then again, it appears I'm doing homework of sorts too. Funny how we are miles apart and still be doing the same things, isn't it?
Nothing else of interest to inform you of. I imagine Aldarion is becoming quite useless to you as a warrior. I've found that love in general makes you quite useless for anything. I guess that means I can blame Berylla for my lack of answers to this traitor, doesn't it?
I shall let you get back to your work then. I have to talk to Berylla.
Strider
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The bar maiden only glanced at the back table where Aragorn now sat, alone. The man sighed knowing that she was angry with him for his earlier actions. He couldn't really blame her, but it did upset him. Still, he had hoped she wouldn't have thought anything of it. He took one last drink from his tankard, then pushed his chair back and walked to the bar.
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Reviewers:
True-Slytherin-gurl: That wasn't exactly soon, was it? Sorry!
Deana: Sorry it took so long. Yeah, I figure I needed to do something new. . . I'm glad it's going over well. Legolas is in the next chapter, no worries!
Leggylover03: It's coming, I promise!
Silvertoekee: He'll eventually go for Arwen, just not yet, lol. He's too busy with Berylla. Thanks for the review!
Lainfaer: Aw, thank you so much! Sorry for the wait!
Nenya: You are on the right track, but you're not quite sure about what, are you? ::evil grin:: Yeah, it would have been a bit unreal. Leggy is super cool, but not super human (elf). I won't kill Nifren, he's too cool. Darn these OC's takin' on lives of their own. Berylla isn't trouble. . . but uhm. . . sh! Don't tell anyone what you said about her. ::wink:: Ah, Minastir isn't a bad guy, he was trying to do what was best, following orders from his king while trying to be true to his friend. What would you have done in his place? Okay, Leggy will wear his headpiece. That's a good idea. Hey, the festival is coming up soon. ::big grin and some drool::
SPEoD: Oh, Lord, you should see the horse stuff I've bought (or been given). Yes, I'm a horse stuff shopper. AND I HAVE A NEW HORSE! Sort of, I'm leasing her. Anyway, yay! I can ride again! Yes, they jump for fun, but they know when to stop. A jumper, a horse that' made to jump high courses a lot, will eventually have leg problems and will have to be retired sooner that a dressage horse or a hunter jumper. We won't see Fal, but he is mentioned quite a lot. He's sort of the centerpiece of Leggy's half of the fic. Okay, Minastir is not a bad guy! He did what he had to do while obeying orders. . . what else oudl he have done?
Jazi: Minastir wasn't stupid. . . what would you have done in his place? Yeah, Leggy doesn't seem to be having any problems getting into trouble on his own. . . I'm so glad the letters are working! I was worried, because it was different. Reactions. . . I wanted to kill you! I'm loving the new one so far! Update soon!
Lulu Bell: 6k! You wrote a short one! (Well, short by your standards.) Hm, don't stress over getting INTO high school. There's enough stress once you're there! Minastir is keeping as quiet as he can because as Legolas' friend, he feels bad having to tell the king what he did. Lol, it won't end anytime soon, I promise! No! I haven't seen frappachino guy again yet. . . my friends have been draggin' me to different theaters, ::pout:: Lol, Uhm. . . I went to my parents for X-mas, then his house for New Years. He proposed to me! I said no. Which is a good thing because I found him all over someone else the other day. . . ::shakes head:: guys, go figure. Okay, my friend's little cousin and his sister were at his house, and the girl was like, 15-ish, and she goes storming through the house, and my friend looks at his little cousin, and he's like, "What's wrong with her?" and the little boy goes, "Oh, she's just PBSing." AH, it was SO cute! See you next review!
Angel With No Wings: Haha, I better be careful and not let you get your hands on Minastir. . . he still has a role to play in this story. Yes, Legolas does have a temper, doesn't? Takes after his dad a bit (refer to The Hobbit). Lol, I'm glad it struck you funny! I said something awful was gonna happen to Fal? Are you sure? Let me go check. . . I can't find it, can you give me the reference? Oh, never mind, I found it. Hm, I have to make something up, but sure, it still holds. (Be careful what you wish for, you may have just made him die.) Okay, so I'm ten years too late, but it still doesn't say she was his first, does it? Thanks for the review!
LegolasLover2003: Maybe he will eventually tell Thrandy. . . we shall see. He was a bit intimidating, wasn't he? Well, he was really pissed off, so he couldn't be as laid back as he usually is. Besides, for all he knew, he just ruined his brother's life, you know?
Das Blume: Fine, so I can never really hold to my promises. . . I think I repeated it in everyone's review response, lol. I don't like slash, except OC noncon, you know? (More along the torture lines, lol.) Good luck with your plothole!
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Aragorn hobbled down the stairs to the bar, which was empty at the early hour. He smiled as his eyes met Berylla's.
"How's your leg?" She asked, setting her rag down and walking from behind the counter.
Aragorn waved it off. "Oh, it's fine. Never really hurt too much in the first place."
"Oh, of course," the young girl said, but the smile on her face negated her words. "I'm sorry we didn't catch him."
"Oh no, don't worry about it. If there's something here that he really wants, he'll be back. We'll be ready for him next time, too. You also took something of his, and judging by the items in it, he'll be wanting it back. Thank you for helping us. We would have no lead if it weren't for you."
Berylla shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Your friend Nifren threw the dagger at him, but-"
Aragorn cut her off. "He missed, didn't he?"
With a giggle, she nodded. Aragorn shook his head in disbelief. "He's been a ranger for as long as he can remember. You would think he could learn how to actually hit something."
The man smiled when Berylla laughed. She was truly beautiful. He leaned towards her, his eyes on her lips. Letting her laughter fade, she did the same, her eyes slowly closing.
"I heard that, Strider."
The two jerked back as Nifren entered the room, bouncing jovially down the stairs. "So, Rylla, what's on the menu fer breakfast?"
Giving an empathetic look to Aragorn, she said, "Whatever you'd like, boys. Your choice today."
Nifren gave his order and the barmaid disappeared into the kitchen. The older ranger looked at his friend, warning in his eyes. "Don't ye be getting' involved with her, Strider."
Aragorn turned his head in surprise. "Why not?"
"Yer a ranger. Ye'll have another mission, and have ter leave here. Then what? Ye'll break both yer hearts."
"I can come back when I'm not on a mission."
"Haven't ye ever wondered why none of the rangers ye've met have been married? Ye'll put her in danger. It's not good fer either of ye."
Aragorn turned his attention to the bar as if looking through the walls. "You don't understand."
"Aye, I understand. It's ye that don't. I was married once, Strider."
The younger ranger's eyes widened in surprise. "You never told me."
Nifren checked to make sure that Berylla would not come back anytime soon. "I didn't think ye needed to know, but now I do." He paused, but Aragorn could tell that he was not looking for a response.
"I was workin' with two others to find a murderer. We split up during a chase, and the blasted man made his way to the inn. Me wife was expectin' me back, and was waiting downstairs fer me. He recognized her somehow. I never learned how. He waited 'til I caught up to him, then he took her as a hostage. He left, ran away, something, but he took her with him. I never saw her again. We searched fer him, but we had to finally give up." He leaned in, whispering to his friend. "I'm just trying to help ye, Strider. I don't want neither of ye to have to go through that."
"She might still be alive then! Surely, you haven't given up hope?"
"Ye don't know the whole story." He smiled suddenly, just as Berylla walked out with a platter balanced delicately in one hand. "Nor do ye need to. My, Rylla, this looks fantastic! But yer food usually is. I thank ye fer cookin' on this fine mornin'."
"But of course, Nifren. Anything for the protectors of our town."
Nifren looked to the ranger next to him. "Indeed." He rose, taking his breakfast back to his room.
Berylla said nothing. She tried not to avoid his eyes, but noticed that Strider wasn't trying at all. She cleared her throat.
The ranger looked up from his thoughts. "I'm sorry, I have a lot of work I need to get done. I'll see you later in the day."
Crestfallen, Berylla nodded. "Okay."
Aragorn, unlike usual, climbed the stairs slowly. He knocked on Nifren's door when he reached the top.
"Come in."
"You can't just give up like that," Aragorn said as soon as he had pushed the door open.
"What the blazes are ye talkin' about, Strider?"
"You can't stop loving because you've been hurt once. You get hurt sometimes, that's the way it goes. Either you get back up and move on, or you let it ruin the rest of your life. No one ever said that you would never get hurt. What would be adventure with a promise like that? Okay, so you've been hurt, but someone out there has been waiting to be there for you!"
Nifren's fork was frozen halfway to his mouth, which hung open. His eyes were wide in shock at the sudden, passionate outburst.
Strider, a little surprised at himself, stuttered, unsure of what to do. "You have to live life, not hide from it."
Nifren was speechless. How could he argue with that? The two watched each other in pregnant silence. Aragorn nodded then, excusing himself from the room.
"I can't believe I just did that." Shaking his head, he went to his own room.
The cloak sat on his bed. Every inch of it had been inspected. There was a letter written in a language strange to Nifren, and downright unrecognizable to Aragorn. There was a map of the town, an arrow pointing to the inn. Both were items important to their owner, but they did not help the rangers in the least.
Aragorn looked over the letter again. Nifren had said that he had seen the writing before, but he couldn't remember where, and certainly not what it meant. It had traces of Elvish to it, so far as Aragorn could guess.
Elvish. He was fluent in it, but he was no expert. Maybe his father would recognize it? The idea was discarded. For all he knew, the letter might be dangerous, and he did not want it falling into the wrong hands.
The human was growing frustrated. He was never at a loss of what to do. He always had an idea, no matter how ludicrous it may have seemed. Right now, he had nothing. He hated being at a loss for an idea.
"Help me," he mumbled.
"With what?"
Aragorn jumped. "Nifren! Stop scaring me!"
"Ye need to work on that jumpiness, bein' a ranger an' all. What do ye need help with?"
"The items in his cloak."
Nifren shrugged. "Yer guess is as good as mine. Ye know I meant no offense with what I said, don't ye?"
Aragorn sighed, his shoulders falling in exhaustion and defeat. "Aye, I know. I didn't mean to attack you either. It just sort of happened."
"Yeah, I know," Nifren said, smiling at his friend. "So let's figger this letter out."
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Legolas-
Have a bad day, did you? Mine was the best, either, to be honest. Quite far from it, really. I won't go into details, though, since you've had your own day to worry about. I hope this letter finds you on a better day.
I imagine that Elrond told me he same thing Thranduil told you would happen. I don't see how there can be varying opinions of it.
Your letter came a little too late for your advice to be useful. We found our traitor. After a long chase through town (in which a dagger lodged itself in my left thigh,) he escaped. We have his cloak, thanks to Berylla. It has many interesting things in it, but nothing we can make sense of. Both Nifren and I are at a loss. We spent nearly all day developing theories, but in the end, nothing productive happened. I only hope he will come back to get what is his.
I am a very patient person, by the way. Unlike a certain elf I know. . .
Telemnar reminds you of El and Dan? Your poor father. Between you and him, he must have his work cut out for him. Then, I suppose it's no more work than Elrond has. I had no idea he had been through rough times. I am sorry for speaking ill of him. I should know by now that if you find someone worthy of friendship, than he truly is a good person (elf).
Nifren told me not to get involved with Berylla. He said it would only cause heartache for us both. His wife was killed because of a mission he was on as a ranger. I know he is trying to protect me from that, but is the risk really worth never loving? I think I will talk with her, and if she does not like the risk, then nothing will come of us.
How is your paperwork coming along? I guess that means you're doing. . . homework, doesn't it? (I am so thankful that you are not near enough to hit me for that.) Then again, it appears I'm doing homework of sorts too. Funny how we are miles apart and still be doing the same things, isn't it?
Nothing else of interest to inform you of. I imagine Aldarion is becoming quite useless to you as a warrior. I've found that love in general makes you quite useless for anything. I guess that means I can blame Berylla for my lack of answers to this traitor, doesn't it?
I shall let you get back to your work then. I have to talk to Berylla.
Strider
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The bar maiden only glanced at the back table where Aragorn now sat, alone. The man sighed knowing that she was angry with him for his earlier actions. He couldn't really blame her, but it did upset him. Still, he had hoped she wouldn't have thought anything of it. He took one last drink from his tankard, then pushed his chair back and walked to the bar.
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Reviewers:
True-Slytherin-gurl: That wasn't exactly soon, was it? Sorry!
Deana: Sorry it took so long. Yeah, I figure I needed to do something new. . . I'm glad it's going over well. Legolas is in the next chapter, no worries!
Leggylover03: It's coming, I promise!
Silvertoekee: He'll eventually go for Arwen, just not yet, lol. He's too busy with Berylla. Thanks for the review!
Lainfaer: Aw, thank you so much! Sorry for the wait!
Nenya: You are on the right track, but you're not quite sure about what, are you? ::evil grin:: Yeah, it would have been a bit unreal. Leggy is super cool, but not super human (elf). I won't kill Nifren, he's too cool. Darn these OC's takin' on lives of their own. Berylla isn't trouble. . . but uhm. . . sh! Don't tell anyone what you said about her. ::wink:: Ah, Minastir isn't a bad guy, he was trying to do what was best, following orders from his king while trying to be true to his friend. What would you have done in his place? Okay, Leggy will wear his headpiece. That's a good idea. Hey, the festival is coming up soon. ::big grin and some drool::
SPEoD: Oh, Lord, you should see the horse stuff I've bought (or been given). Yes, I'm a horse stuff shopper. AND I HAVE A NEW HORSE! Sort of, I'm leasing her. Anyway, yay! I can ride again! Yes, they jump for fun, but they know when to stop. A jumper, a horse that' made to jump high courses a lot, will eventually have leg problems and will have to be retired sooner that a dressage horse or a hunter jumper. We won't see Fal, but he is mentioned quite a lot. He's sort of the centerpiece of Leggy's half of the fic. Okay, Minastir is not a bad guy! He did what he had to do while obeying orders. . . what else oudl he have done?
Jazi: Minastir wasn't stupid. . . what would you have done in his place? Yeah, Leggy doesn't seem to be having any problems getting into trouble on his own. . . I'm so glad the letters are working! I was worried, because it was different. Reactions. . . I wanted to kill you! I'm loving the new one so far! Update soon!
Lulu Bell: 6k! You wrote a short one! (Well, short by your standards.) Hm, don't stress over getting INTO high school. There's enough stress once you're there! Minastir is keeping as quiet as he can because as Legolas' friend, he feels bad having to tell the king what he did. Lol, it won't end anytime soon, I promise! No! I haven't seen frappachino guy again yet. . . my friends have been draggin' me to different theaters, ::pout:: Lol, Uhm. . . I went to my parents for X-mas, then his house for New Years. He proposed to me! I said no. Which is a good thing because I found him all over someone else the other day. . . ::shakes head:: guys, go figure. Okay, my friend's little cousin and his sister were at his house, and the girl was like, 15-ish, and she goes storming through the house, and my friend looks at his little cousin, and he's like, "What's wrong with her?" and the little boy goes, "Oh, she's just PBSing." AH, it was SO cute! See you next review!
Angel With No Wings: Haha, I better be careful and not let you get your hands on Minastir. . . he still has a role to play in this story. Yes, Legolas does have a temper, doesn't? Takes after his dad a bit (refer to The Hobbit). Lol, I'm glad it struck you funny! I said something awful was gonna happen to Fal? Are you sure? Let me go check. . . I can't find it, can you give me the reference? Oh, never mind, I found it. Hm, I have to make something up, but sure, it still holds. (Be careful what you wish for, you may have just made him die.) Okay, so I'm ten years too late, but it still doesn't say she was his first, does it? Thanks for the review!
LegolasLover2003: Maybe he will eventually tell Thrandy. . . we shall see. He was a bit intimidating, wasn't he? Well, he was really pissed off, so he couldn't be as laid back as he usually is. Besides, for all he knew, he just ruined his brother's life, you know?
Das Blume: Fine, so I can never really hold to my promises. . . I think I repeated it in everyone's review response, lol. I don't like slash, except OC noncon, you know? (More along the torture lines, lol.) Good luck with your plothole!