A/N: I know there's a much bigger age dfference, but for the purpose of
this story, Boromir and Eomer are only one grade above their siblings. It
made it easier to fit into a school system than if there'd been a massive
gap. I should have mentioned that before, and I apologize.
Title: Middle Earth Acadamy Rating: PG-13 Genre: Drama/Romance Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit characters, nor do I own any of the locations. They belong to Tolkien. I do, however, own several characters who are not in the books/movies/franchise, and who play major and/or minor roles in this fanfic. I do not own the archery sequence at the end, as I borrowed the concept from the move 'Robin Hood; Prince of Theives'. Summary: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy never happened. The Hobbit happened, and Bilbo did go to live with the elves (the Ring doesn't exist - let's say Bilbo destroyed it, but don't ask me how), and he left Frodo in the care of a boarding school. Bag End is being leased out until Frodo leaves school and decides what to do with it. All the main characters are in this story, though they may not come into it until later. Mirkwood, Gondor, Mordor, and Rohan are separate countries, with the rest being part of the Rivendell Empire.
*****
Two days had passed since Nienna had beaten the school record in the high jump, a feat remarkable in itself considering she was a lot shorter than the height it reached. Almost every student in the school had heard about it and congratulated her, except one. Why it bothered her that Legolas hadn't said anything about the jump, she didn't know, and she mentally slapped herself everytime she thought about it.
The auditions were at that lunchtime, and though Nienna would have preferred to be there first, fate had other ideas. Gandalf called her to his office to 'officially congratulate' her on her jump, which took all of twenty minutes, before keeping her for another fifteen while her name was inscribed onto the record holders roll. Then, on the way to the drama rooms, she bumped into Boromir and Eomer, who once again caused a ruckus about her jump. By the time she escaped and was almost at the audition, she ran into Legolas, who was walking in the opposite direction. She quite literally ran into him, as she rounded the corner at a faster pace than what was allowed, tripped on her own feet, and ploughed headfirst into the blonde elf.
"Oh, not now!" she complained, trying to untangle herself from the laughing Legolas. "Of all the days to have bad luck," she mumbled. Legolas was on his feet before Nienna, and offered her a hand up. "You know, corners are meant to be walked around," Legolas joked. Nienna laughed sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah – I'm late, so..." without finishing, she ran half-way down the hall and through the drama room door.
Alatariel didn't look away from the student she was watching audition, and instead put up a hand to silence Nienna. Letting out a breath of relief, she sat down and watched Pippin's audition. He was trying for the part he'd read opposite to her in class, and Nienna hoped he'd get it – he was a good actor, but frequently overlooked because of the fact he was a hobbit.
When he finished, Alatariel looked around the room as though coming out of a daze. Nienna knew her teacher took her drama very seriously. "Oh, Nienna, you made it! I wasn't sure you were going to turn up," she laughed, and Nienna blushed. "I'm sorry, I was held up by... well, practically everyone!" Alatariel nodded, "You're here now, and that's all that matters. You're trying for the part of Idril I presume?"
Nienna nodded, and walked to the stage. Alatariel flipped to a new page in her notebook, and looked up. "Which part are you planning to read?" she asked, and Nienna smiled. This was the easy part. "The part just after Idril has met Mablung, where she hates him more than anything." It was a comforting place for her, where she could leave all aspects of reality behind and become someone else. Taking a breath, she began the monologue she'd memorized.
"I was minding my own business, walking across the street, and he didn't see me in the middle of the road! He ploughs into me, knocks me off my feet, then yells at me for not watching where I'm going! Where is the sense in that? He didn't even bother to help me up, or apologise for knocking me down. He's an arrogant pig – he deserves to be locked away where no one can see him and no light is let in. And then I find out that he's the new photography assistant! How can I work properly if he's there staring at me as though I'm nothing but dirt? I'm not dirt, I'm nothing to do with dirt, and if he thinks that I'm going to falter, then he's been badly mistaken. I'll show him – if he does one thing against me, I'll have him fired faster than he can blink. Bastard...."
Letting her voice trail off, Nienna looked up to see Alatariel smiling. "You're very good, Nienna. Very good. I still have a few people to audition, but the results will be posted on the bulletin board on Monday afternoon. Have a nice weekend!" she finished, and Nienna smiled. "You too! Keep out of trouble!" Alatariel smiled – in many ways she was more of a student than a teacher, and had a reputation for partying over weekends.
*****
The weekends were usually fun, and this one was no exception. Saturday morning, Legolas and Aragorn skipped out on breakfast, and disappeared with two of the school's horses, not returning until lunchtime was long gone. Nienna, Eowyn, and Arwen slept in, before Arwen disappeared with Faramir. If she wasn't mistaken, Nienna was sure Eowyn was jealous of Arwen. In fact, she was certain after the night before when Eowyn had kept her up with her sleep talking. She didn't want to cause problems between the two, though, and so she didn't say anything to Eowyn. Arwen could be a heavy sleeper sometimes, and Nienna was pretty sure she hadn't heard a thing.
It was when Eowyn disappeared with her brother and Boromir after lunch with the intent to practise riding drills that Nienna realised she was by herself. She decided to take a walk to the bottom oval to see where everyone else was, and was surprised to find that most of the school was gathered around the start of the archery field. She walked to the slight hill that was in place for spectators, and saw that Legolas was the only archer at the line. The bow he held was definitely not from the school's stock, as it was lither, darker, and finely strung. The arrows in the quiver on his back were the same make, and obviously well-used, even from a distance.
She sat down and watched as Aragorn moved the target back fifty paces from the standard practise line. Legolas, from that distance, didn't appear to be fazed like she had when faced with the 2 meter high jump. He drew an arrow, placed it into place, drew back and fired. Realizing she had to use her elven abilities to keep track of the arrow's path, she raised her eyebrows and watched as the arrow hit dead center. The assembled crowd cheered, and Legolas drew another arrow. This one he didn't take as slow as he had the first, and by the time most of the crowd realised that he was intending to fire a second shot, it was already in the target, right beside the first.
On the line, Legolas knew he was starting to show off, but he didn't care. He was doing what he loved, and proving that he could do it. It was only a pity that the school didn't go big on having archery as a subject in sport, and he was forced to practise on weekends. Glancing around after firing his first shot, he noticed Nienna up on the viewers hill. It was her that inspired him to fire the second as fast as he did, with the hope that she'd notice. He saw that she did, as her head turned faster than most of the others watching. She was an elf, and was using her abilities to keep watch on the arrow. He didn't know what it was about the highly-strung Lorien elf, he didn't know, but there was something about her that made him want to prove himself.
Aragorn walked back up towards the crowd, bringing the target with him so the others could see how close he'd hit. Legolas listened to them talking, but paid no notice. His attention was fixed firmly on Nienna, and he realised that for once, besides their encounter in the hall, she was alone. "Do you think you could hit that tree up there?" asked Merry, a hobbit completely enthralled by the new student's archery abilities, pointing to the single tree at the other end of the oval. Legolas didn't answer, just swung his bow so that it was in position, taking out an arrow as he did so, and fired before anyone could say anything. The arrow hit a black notch on the tree with a slight thump. Merry glanced at Legolas with a slight expression of shock on his face, "Whoa..." he stated, and many other's matched his opinion with words of their own.
Aragorn laughed, slapping his friend on the back. "You're showin' off, mate," he said softly, and Legolas grinned, "Of course – do you think I'd do it otherwise?" Glancing back up at the tree, both Aragorn and Legolas saw two people emerge from the other side, looking for what had hit the tree, and then struggle to remove the arrow. "Arwen... and Faramir?" asked Aragorn, mostly to himself. Legolas raised an eyebrow, "Arwen as in the daughter of Elrond who you didn't shut up about all summer?" Aragorn glared at his friend, thankful that no one else could hear their conversation. "Yes, that would be her, and if you tell anyone, it'll be you on the other end of one of your arrows, got it?" Legolas laughed, "Secret's safe with me!"
He glanced back up as Arwen grasped the arrow and removed it from the tree with a final pull that sent her toppling into Faramir. No wonder he's mad, he thought, an elf like Arwen going out with a sod like that? Remembering that Aragorn had grown up in amongst the elves, and had always been close friend's with Arwen, he wondered how the two hadn't ended up together, but decided that it was none of his business.
He pulled the two arrows from the target, and waited until Arwen and Faramir arrived with the third before replacing them into the quiver. He glanced up at the hill, only to see that it was again empty – Nienna had gone.
*****
"I still think that he's from Mordor – where else would he learn how to shoot like that?" "He can't be – if he was, he'd be all deformed and stuff, like the banished elves who went there." "Whatever you guys reckon – my brother found out that he's from Mirkwood, but apparently he was adopted by a noble family from Elrond because Elrond wants Rivendell to be run by Arwen." "Your brother is full of shit!"
Nienna seemed to be in her own world as she walked through the dorm. The auditions were over, so she should have been glad, but it was the anxiousness of waiting that was getting to her. She couldn't concentrate on anything, and almost ran into five people before someone stepped out in front of her, managing to not only stop her forward movement (it couldn't be considered walking) but to send her sprawling to the ground as well.
She looked up, finally snapped out of her reverie, and was irked to find that she'd run into Legolas. Again. "We seem to have a habit of running into each other – everything ok?" he asked, and Nienna took a breath. "I'm fine. I'm just.... I'm just in another world," she finished lamely. "You didn't need to tell me that. What's wrong?" he asked again, and Nienna found herself getting annoyed, though with herself more than anything.
"I'm fine," she stated, again, and pushed past the elf. She'd made it to the end of the hallway and was sure she'd left him behind when a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her around a corner. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice low. Legolas grinned, "Finding out what's wrong. I've known you all of two, three days, and even I can tell something's bothering you. So, out with it."
"How do I know you're not just going to go and tell all your new mates? I'm sure they'd have a real laughing fest over it," she snapped, not altogether happy that her mood had been picked up on by Legolas. "Because I'm not that type of person. I wasn't brought up to go spilling secrets just to get myself some attention – there are much better ways to get attention than that!" Leaning back against the wall, Nienna realised that they were in the cut away where the fire alarm and equipment was kept, just out of sight of the regular passers-by who were likely to go past on a Saturday.
"Like what? Shooting a piece of wood with a bow and arrow? Real nice way to get attention, especially if someone gets hurt," she replied, though she knew, somehow, that he was too good to let someone get hurt. Legolas didn't say anything, only raised an eyebrow and caused her to lower her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed, and I'm annoyed, and I've literally run into you twice, which I never do, and...." She didn't finish, as she was well aware that she was babbling. Legolas laughed, "I know the feeling. You have no idea how hard it is to look as though you're always happy and that nothing's ever wrong."
Nienna glanced up, to see that he was fully serious. "You're wrong about that. I have to do it all the time – especially around Arwen. If she got the slightest hint that there's something wrong, she'd tell my mother faster than I could smile again. I've been the joker for so long, that's all I can be now." Legolas nodded, "That's sort of how it is for me, but mainly when I'm at home. I didn't go to a regular school for so long, and then when I did go, the stories that circulated didn't stop – they only got bigger, and I had to live up to them. I've done stuff that I'm ashamed of, and that I wish I could change, and even now, at a new school, it's too late to do anything about."
For the first time since they'd met, Nienna was actually agreeing with the blonde elf about something wholeheartedly. "It's not a fair world – there are some days when I just wish I could go away, and be me, all by myself. But then I realise, I can't just be me by myself because then no one would know, and it'd be pointless." Legolas was about to say something, when they heard Aragron calling his friend. "I'd... I'll catch you later," he finished, well aware of how lame he sounded, before he disappeared around the corner.
Nienna stayed where she was, and let her head fall back against the wall. Letting out a deep breath, she was well aware that if she didn't calm herself down, she'd end up in tears. Nothing could change the fact that life wasn't fair.
*****
"How could you do this to me, Arwen? You've always known that I've liked Faramir... and so you go off and end up as his girlfriend? What sort of a friend are you?" Eowyn's voice travelled through the open doorway as Nienna made her way back to her room. She paused, and waited for the argument to finish before she entered, knowing that the two had to clear the air before it spontaneously combusted. Arwen's answer came back calmly, quite the opposite to Eowyn's. "I'm sorry – I went to talk to him about you liking him, and we got to talking, and things just led on from there. I didn't mean to hurt you, Eowyn, I swear I didn't."
"Oh really? The same way you didn't mean to hurt Nienna last year? Or the same way you didn't mean to break up Sierah and Boromir? Or Haldir and Cali? You just want what you can't have, Arwen, and you know it." There was truth in Eowyn's words, even Nienna had to admit that, but the family- loving side of her prickled at the way Eowyn spoke to her cousin.
"I didn't mean to hurt Nienna last year; it was an accident. I was drunk, he was drunk..." Arwen started on the old tale, but Eowyn cut her off, "And if you'd really classed your cousin as a friend, you would've controlled yourself. If I were her, I wouldn't have forgiven you so easily – I don't think she has, to tell the truth! She used to love hanging out with the guys, people who she could talk to when she couldn't talk to us, and now she's barely even friends with them, let alone having another boyfriend!"
Arwen's voice didn't rise, but it steeled as she answered, "It's not my fault he... anyway, it doesn't matter now – he's gone, and there's nothing anyone can do about it." Eowyn heard the finality in Arwen's voice as clearly as Nienna did, but she paid it no notice. "And what about the others, Arwen? You may be the daughter of a King, Arwen, but that doesn't necessarily make you a princess."
There came the sudden sound of breaking glass, before Eowyn left the room angrily, not seeing Nienna as she passed. There was only one place she was going – to see her brother, and to go for a long ride. It was something she always did when she was angry, or upset, and Eomer always dropped what he was doing for his sister.
Pushing open the door quietly, Nienna looked in to see Arwen cleaning up a broken vase sombrely. "Ni... I... did you... I mean... how was your day?" she asked, as though nothing had happened. "I heard, Arwen," Nienna stated flatly. "I heard everything, and do you know what? Eowyn's right – she was right all along. If you hadn't... he'd still be alive... and he'd still be here with me. Nothing can justify what you did; Eowyn *was* right – I shouldn't have forgiven you, even though you are my cousin."
Turning abruptly, Nienna walked as calmly as she could from the room, and headed towards the side door, where she knew no one ever was. Out the door, and down the short path into the centre of the garden, there was freedom. It was always quiet, and at this time of night, it was always empty. The trees blocked all sounds from travelling back to the rooms, and there was once a time when she'd used it for something other than a silent hide-away.
She found her spot, beneath the roots of a tree by the stream where waters had washed away the dirt, and cried. She cried for love lost, and for the loss of a friend who'd been more dear to her than any other. Unbeknown to her, though, there was someone else seeking the refuge of the garden, who could hear her sobs, and who wasn't sure how, or if, to approach her.
Nienna heard nothing, but felt the presence of someone else near by. It was an elf, there was no mistake about that, but who else would seek the solitariness of the garden? She didn't move from her spot amongst the tree roots, and eventually heard the silent footsteps of someone coming along the path.
She moved back into the tree further, and heard the feet climb the tree she was underneath. Definitely an elf, she thought to herself, as no one else here can climb trees that quickly or quietly, not even Aragorn.
She drew her knees up to her chin, and sat silently, watching the moon shimmer over the water. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she did not hear the feet coming back down the side of the tree, nor did she hear the twig snap above her head. It was only when a face swung down from above and looked at her through the roots that she knew who the other person was. "Legolas! What... you scared me!" Nienna accused, her heart rate starting to slow down; the blonde elf swung down completely. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to, but I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to talk unless you yelled at me first, so I figured I'd drop in."
Nienna scooted over, and let Legolas climb into the hollow. "I know you're not going to tell me on account of us not knowing each other, but I'm going to ask anyway, just to appear gentlemanly. What's wrong?" Nienna rolled her eyes, but she found herself smiling. "You're part right," she answered, "I don't know you well enough to tell you everything, but I'll tell you what made me upset." Legolas contemplated this, and answered, "Right, what made you so upset?"
Nienna leaned back against the solid wall of earth and sighed, "Arwen is going out with Faramir," she started, and Legolas nodded. "Eowyn started out liking Aragorn, but then she set her sights on Faramir. The only problem is that Eowyn's very shy when it comes to liking guys, and so she didn't tell him. Arwen told her that she'd talk to Faramir for her, but she didn't *talk* to Faramir, if you get my meaning. Eowyn kept pretty silent about it to start with, but something must have happened this afternoon, because when I got back to our room, Eowyn and Arwen were in the middle of a major argument. I heard the end of it, and I was mentioned.
'The only problem is, what Eowyn said about me is everything I've tried not to believe for the last twelve months, and when Eowyn left the room, and I went in, I said exactly that."
Legolas let her finish without saying a word, before he looked at his feet. "Eowyn should have left you out of it," he stated, though there was no blame in his voice. "I've met both, and they both seem like great people, but you've been the connection between them, have you not?" Nienna nodded, and let her chin rest on her knees again. "I'm always being the peacekeeper. I'm always acting as though I've got no better thing to do in life than to stop them two arguing."
They sat in silence for a moment, before Legolas swung himself out of the hollow. "I've got just the cure for a heavy heart," he said lightly. Nienna raised an eyebrow, "Oh, yeah? What's that?" Legolas held out a hand, which Nienna took hesitantly. "Let's go for a swim – the water's deep enough, I've already looked at that." At this, Nienna raised an eyebrow, "A swim? I don't happen to walk around in a swimsuit, you know, and if I go back inside to get changed, I'll get stuck with Arwen wanting to 'sort things out'." Legolas laughed, "I thought you were the bravest of the three, up for anything! Besides, I'm sure, knowing what I do about what you girls class as fashion, that your swimsuit reveals far more then your general underwear!"
Nienna was glad it was dark enough to hide her blush, but she had to admit that he was right. And he had a point about her being the bravest of the three friends – "You know what – you're on!" she laughed, and before long, the pair were swimming in the cold water of the stream, and laughing quietly about absolutely nothing.
It was well past midnight when they parted at the door where the boys' dorm went in one direction and the girls went the other. Neither said anything, aside from a simple goodnight, before walking down to their own rooms. Nienna pushed the door open quietly, noticing as she did so that Eowyn hadn't returned, and that Arwen was still awake, despite all pretences that she was asleep.
She slipped into the bathroom, changed into her nightclothes, and stared into the mirror. As an elf, her outward appearance rarely changed. Her deep green eyes stared back at her, but she found she couldn't outstare herself. Sighing, she reached for the comb on the sink, and spent a few minutes braiding her hair back from her face. She was annoyed with both of her friends, but knew that the confrontation had been building up for quite some time.
Knowing she couldn't hide away in the bathroom any longer, she opened the door only to run into Eowyn standing in the doorway. "I know you heard," she started as Nienna tried to push past. "I'm sorry I brought you into it, but I didn't know of any other way to show her how she treated people." Eowyn was a softhearted person, and she looked so close to tears that Nienna stopped. "It doesn't matter – you were right. I don't think I ever forgave her for what she did, but I did try and forget about it, to ignore it. I guess the problem never went away after all," she said, causing Eowyn to smile sadly. "We're not fighting, are we?" she asked, and Nienna shook her head, pulling her friend into a hug at the same time. "We're not fighting; none of us should be."
*****
Sunday morning dawned brightly, almost as though it were taunting the students inside. Arwen wasn't speaking to either Nienna or Eowyn, and spent all of her time away with Faramir. Again Legolas and Aragorn disappeared somewhere on borrowed horses, while Eowyn and her brother set about trying to teach Boromir how to mount a moving horse. Nienna watched for a while, but eventually the strain of acting happy wore her out, and she left when her friend wasn't looking.
She walked aimlessly around the school, pausing to look at the art gallery being assembled in the auditorium, and the new students involved with sports trials. She reached the farthest end of the school, before realising she was outside of Gandalf's office. The three voices inside caught her attention, especially as one was so angry, and she hid at the turn near the door to listen in.
"I don't care *who's* son he is, he's a bad influence! I know why he was expelled from his last two schools, and I don't think that influence should be allowed into such a fine school as this!" Nienna recognised the first voice, the calm one, immediately – it was her aunt, Galadriel, who always seemed to know everything about everyone.
"I want him out. Tonight. There was no point in making him wait for three weeks – we found out, and I want him gone before school begins on Monday." The second voice wasn't so familiar, and Nienna wondered who the hell it was.
"I'm not going to throw one of my students out over something that was never proven. Besides, isn't the schools motto 'He who sins but once is truly alive'?" asked Gandalf.
Galadriel spoke up again, "He has sinned more than once, Gandalf, and if you cannot see what you are doing to the students of this school by allowing him to continue here, than I shall have no option but to advise Elrond of finding a new headmaster. Good day, Gandalf." The door opened, and Galadriel walked out, so angry that she didn't see Nienna near the doorway.
There was the sound of muted voices, before another elf walked out. Nienna shook her head in bewilderment; Celeborn was the other! Though she classed him as her uncle, Nienna had had very little to do with him over the years, and was surprised at how angry he was able to get.
After waiting until the two higher elves had turned the corner, Nienna ran into Gandalf's office. "Why were they here?" she asked, and Gandalf looked up bewildered. "Your aunt and uncle? They had some... concerns... about the running of the school. There's nothing to worry about, I promise you." Nienna shook her head, "That's not what I heard. What was he supposed to have done that's had him expelled from two schools?" Gandalf sighed, and put down the pen he was holding, "You know I can't tell you that, Nienna. I cannot give out any information about your fellow students without their permission, and frankly, I don't see the need. Now, it's still early, go and enjoy your weekend, and please don't mention any of this to anyone."
Reluctantly, Nienna complied, wondering how Gandalf kept on top of things when people like Galadriel and Celeborn complained about things that seemed so small. She started to head towards the library, but changed her mind mid step and headed towards the bottom oval. Judging by the amount of people standing around the archery field, that's where Legolas was, and that's where she'd be able to blend into the crowd. All that was left to do was wait – if she new her aunt, there'd be news by morning about how angry Galadriel actually was.
Aragorn and Legolas were matching off this time, instead of Legolas showing off, and Nienna had a feeling that Legolas was going easy on his friend. Very few in the crowd noticed Nienna sidle in, but everyone noticed when she tapped Aragorn on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and Nienna laughed. "I've an idea – how well can you shoot amidst distraction?" she asked, and Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Well enough," he answered. Nienna crossed her arms, "Let's just see, shall we? Merry and Pippin can be the distraction for Aragorn," she stated, and the two hobbits jumped to the front eagerly.
As they were so short, they were able to jump even closer around Aragorn than any other could, and almost managed to trip one another up in their haste to be annoying. Aragorn let the arrow fly, and hit the very bottom of the target on the black zero-point zone. Shaking his head, Aragorn leaned on the bow and glanced at Legolas.
He raised his bow, blocking out every sound and movement around him with his mind. Just as he was about to let the arrow fly, he became painfully aware that there was someone very close beside him. He forced his mind to concentrate on the target, but it had other things planned. He let go of the arrow at the same time a small warm breath tickled his ear; the arrow landed on the ground in front of the target.
The crowd went wild. Legolas lowered the bow, unable to stop laughing at Nienna's smug expression. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Now we're even."
Title: Middle Earth Acadamy Rating: PG-13 Genre: Drama/Romance Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit characters, nor do I own any of the locations. They belong to Tolkien. I do, however, own several characters who are not in the books/movies/franchise, and who play major and/or minor roles in this fanfic. I do not own the archery sequence at the end, as I borrowed the concept from the move 'Robin Hood; Prince of Theives'. Summary: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy never happened. The Hobbit happened, and Bilbo did go to live with the elves (the Ring doesn't exist - let's say Bilbo destroyed it, but don't ask me how), and he left Frodo in the care of a boarding school. Bag End is being leased out until Frodo leaves school and decides what to do with it. All the main characters are in this story, though they may not come into it until later. Mirkwood, Gondor, Mordor, and Rohan are separate countries, with the rest being part of the Rivendell Empire.
*****
Two days had passed since Nienna had beaten the school record in the high jump, a feat remarkable in itself considering she was a lot shorter than the height it reached. Almost every student in the school had heard about it and congratulated her, except one. Why it bothered her that Legolas hadn't said anything about the jump, she didn't know, and she mentally slapped herself everytime she thought about it.
The auditions were at that lunchtime, and though Nienna would have preferred to be there first, fate had other ideas. Gandalf called her to his office to 'officially congratulate' her on her jump, which took all of twenty minutes, before keeping her for another fifteen while her name was inscribed onto the record holders roll. Then, on the way to the drama rooms, she bumped into Boromir and Eomer, who once again caused a ruckus about her jump. By the time she escaped and was almost at the audition, she ran into Legolas, who was walking in the opposite direction. She quite literally ran into him, as she rounded the corner at a faster pace than what was allowed, tripped on her own feet, and ploughed headfirst into the blonde elf.
"Oh, not now!" she complained, trying to untangle herself from the laughing Legolas. "Of all the days to have bad luck," she mumbled. Legolas was on his feet before Nienna, and offered her a hand up. "You know, corners are meant to be walked around," Legolas joked. Nienna laughed sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah – I'm late, so..." without finishing, she ran half-way down the hall and through the drama room door.
Alatariel didn't look away from the student she was watching audition, and instead put up a hand to silence Nienna. Letting out a breath of relief, she sat down and watched Pippin's audition. He was trying for the part he'd read opposite to her in class, and Nienna hoped he'd get it – he was a good actor, but frequently overlooked because of the fact he was a hobbit.
When he finished, Alatariel looked around the room as though coming out of a daze. Nienna knew her teacher took her drama very seriously. "Oh, Nienna, you made it! I wasn't sure you were going to turn up," she laughed, and Nienna blushed. "I'm sorry, I was held up by... well, practically everyone!" Alatariel nodded, "You're here now, and that's all that matters. You're trying for the part of Idril I presume?"
Nienna nodded, and walked to the stage. Alatariel flipped to a new page in her notebook, and looked up. "Which part are you planning to read?" she asked, and Nienna smiled. This was the easy part. "The part just after Idril has met Mablung, where she hates him more than anything." It was a comforting place for her, where she could leave all aspects of reality behind and become someone else. Taking a breath, she began the monologue she'd memorized.
"I was minding my own business, walking across the street, and he didn't see me in the middle of the road! He ploughs into me, knocks me off my feet, then yells at me for not watching where I'm going! Where is the sense in that? He didn't even bother to help me up, or apologise for knocking me down. He's an arrogant pig – he deserves to be locked away where no one can see him and no light is let in. And then I find out that he's the new photography assistant! How can I work properly if he's there staring at me as though I'm nothing but dirt? I'm not dirt, I'm nothing to do with dirt, and if he thinks that I'm going to falter, then he's been badly mistaken. I'll show him – if he does one thing against me, I'll have him fired faster than he can blink. Bastard...."
Letting her voice trail off, Nienna looked up to see Alatariel smiling. "You're very good, Nienna. Very good. I still have a few people to audition, but the results will be posted on the bulletin board on Monday afternoon. Have a nice weekend!" she finished, and Nienna smiled. "You too! Keep out of trouble!" Alatariel smiled – in many ways she was more of a student than a teacher, and had a reputation for partying over weekends.
*****
The weekends were usually fun, and this one was no exception. Saturday morning, Legolas and Aragorn skipped out on breakfast, and disappeared with two of the school's horses, not returning until lunchtime was long gone. Nienna, Eowyn, and Arwen slept in, before Arwen disappeared with Faramir. If she wasn't mistaken, Nienna was sure Eowyn was jealous of Arwen. In fact, she was certain after the night before when Eowyn had kept her up with her sleep talking. She didn't want to cause problems between the two, though, and so she didn't say anything to Eowyn. Arwen could be a heavy sleeper sometimes, and Nienna was pretty sure she hadn't heard a thing.
It was when Eowyn disappeared with her brother and Boromir after lunch with the intent to practise riding drills that Nienna realised she was by herself. She decided to take a walk to the bottom oval to see where everyone else was, and was surprised to find that most of the school was gathered around the start of the archery field. She walked to the slight hill that was in place for spectators, and saw that Legolas was the only archer at the line. The bow he held was definitely not from the school's stock, as it was lither, darker, and finely strung. The arrows in the quiver on his back were the same make, and obviously well-used, even from a distance.
She sat down and watched as Aragorn moved the target back fifty paces from the standard practise line. Legolas, from that distance, didn't appear to be fazed like she had when faced with the 2 meter high jump. He drew an arrow, placed it into place, drew back and fired. Realizing she had to use her elven abilities to keep track of the arrow's path, she raised her eyebrows and watched as the arrow hit dead center. The assembled crowd cheered, and Legolas drew another arrow. This one he didn't take as slow as he had the first, and by the time most of the crowd realised that he was intending to fire a second shot, it was already in the target, right beside the first.
On the line, Legolas knew he was starting to show off, but he didn't care. He was doing what he loved, and proving that he could do it. It was only a pity that the school didn't go big on having archery as a subject in sport, and he was forced to practise on weekends. Glancing around after firing his first shot, he noticed Nienna up on the viewers hill. It was her that inspired him to fire the second as fast as he did, with the hope that she'd notice. He saw that she did, as her head turned faster than most of the others watching. She was an elf, and was using her abilities to keep watch on the arrow. He didn't know what it was about the highly-strung Lorien elf, he didn't know, but there was something about her that made him want to prove himself.
Aragorn walked back up towards the crowd, bringing the target with him so the others could see how close he'd hit. Legolas listened to them talking, but paid no notice. His attention was fixed firmly on Nienna, and he realised that for once, besides their encounter in the hall, she was alone. "Do you think you could hit that tree up there?" asked Merry, a hobbit completely enthralled by the new student's archery abilities, pointing to the single tree at the other end of the oval. Legolas didn't answer, just swung his bow so that it was in position, taking out an arrow as he did so, and fired before anyone could say anything. The arrow hit a black notch on the tree with a slight thump. Merry glanced at Legolas with a slight expression of shock on his face, "Whoa..." he stated, and many other's matched his opinion with words of their own.
Aragorn laughed, slapping his friend on the back. "You're showin' off, mate," he said softly, and Legolas grinned, "Of course – do you think I'd do it otherwise?" Glancing back up at the tree, both Aragorn and Legolas saw two people emerge from the other side, looking for what had hit the tree, and then struggle to remove the arrow. "Arwen... and Faramir?" asked Aragorn, mostly to himself. Legolas raised an eyebrow, "Arwen as in the daughter of Elrond who you didn't shut up about all summer?" Aragorn glared at his friend, thankful that no one else could hear their conversation. "Yes, that would be her, and if you tell anyone, it'll be you on the other end of one of your arrows, got it?" Legolas laughed, "Secret's safe with me!"
He glanced back up as Arwen grasped the arrow and removed it from the tree with a final pull that sent her toppling into Faramir. No wonder he's mad, he thought, an elf like Arwen going out with a sod like that? Remembering that Aragorn had grown up in amongst the elves, and had always been close friend's with Arwen, he wondered how the two hadn't ended up together, but decided that it was none of his business.
He pulled the two arrows from the target, and waited until Arwen and Faramir arrived with the third before replacing them into the quiver. He glanced up at the hill, only to see that it was again empty – Nienna had gone.
*****
"I still think that he's from Mordor – where else would he learn how to shoot like that?" "He can't be – if he was, he'd be all deformed and stuff, like the banished elves who went there." "Whatever you guys reckon – my brother found out that he's from Mirkwood, but apparently he was adopted by a noble family from Elrond because Elrond wants Rivendell to be run by Arwen." "Your brother is full of shit!"
Nienna seemed to be in her own world as she walked through the dorm. The auditions were over, so she should have been glad, but it was the anxiousness of waiting that was getting to her. She couldn't concentrate on anything, and almost ran into five people before someone stepped out in front of her, managing to not only stop her forward movement (it couldn't be considered walking) but to send her sprawling to the ground as well.
She looked up, finally snapped out of her reverie, and was irked to find that she'd run into Legolas. Again. "We seem to have a habit of running into each other – everything ok?" he asked, and Nienna took a breath. "I'm fine. I'm just.... I'm just in another world," she finished lamely. "You didn't need to tell me that. What's wrong?" he asked again, and Nienna found herself getting annoyed, though with herself more than anything.
"I'm fine," she stated, again, and pushed past the elf. She'd made it to the end of the hallway and was sure she'd left him behind when a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her around a corner. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice low. Legolas grinned, "Finding out what's wrong. I've known you all of two, three days, and even I can tell something's bothering you. So, out with it."
"How do I know you're not just going to go and tell all your new mates? I'm sure they'd have a real laughing fest over it," she snapped, not altogether happy that her mood had been picked up on by Legolas. "Because I'm not that type of person. I wasn't brought up to go spilling secrets just to get myself some attention – there are much better ways to get attention than that!" Leaning back against the wall, Nienna realised that they were in the cut away where the fire alarm and equipment was kept, just out of sight of the regular passers-by who were likely to go past on a Saturday.
"Like what? Shooting a piece of wood with a bow and arrow? Real nice way to get attention, especially if someone gets hurt," she replied, though she knew, somehow, that he was too good to let someone get hurt. Legolas didn't say anything, only raised an eyebrow and caused her to lower her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed, and I'm annoyed, and I've literally run into you twice, which I never do, and...." She didn't finish, as she was well aware that she was babbling. Legolas laughed, "I know the feeling. You have no idea how hard it is to look as though you're always happy and that nothing's ever wrong."
Nienna glanced up, to see that he was fully serious. "You're wrong about that. I have to do it all the time – especially around Arwen. If she got the slightest hint that there's something wrong, she'd tell my mother faster than I could smile again. I've been the joker for so long, that's all I can be now." Legolas nodded, "That's sort of how it is for me, but mainly when I'm at home. I didn't go to a regular school for so long, and then when I did go, the stories that circulated didn't stop – they only got bigger, and I had to live up to them. I've done stuff that I'm ashamed of, and that I wish I could change, and even now, at a new school, it's too late to do anything about."
For the first time since they'd met, Nienna was actually agreeing with the blonde elf about something wholeheartedly. "It's not a fair world – there are some days when I just wish I could go away, and be me, all by myself. But then I realise, I can't just be me by myself because then no one would know, and it'd be pointless." Legolas was about to say something, when they heard Aragron calling his friend. "I'd... I'll catch you later," he finished, well aware of how lame he sounded, before he disappeared around the corner.
Nienna stayed where she was, and let her head fall back against the wall. Letting out a deep breath, she was well aware that if she didn't calm herself down, she'd end up in tears. Nothing could change the fact that life wasn't fair.
*****
"How could you do this to me, Arwen? You've always known that I've liked Faramir... and so you go off and end up as his girlfriend? What sort of a friend are you?" Eowyn's voice travelled through the open doorway as Nienna made her way back to her room. She paused, and waited for the argument to finish before she entered, knowing that the two had to clear the air before it spontaneously combusted. Arwen's answer came back calmly, quite the opposite to Eowyn's. "I'm sorry – I went to talk to him about you liking him, and we got to talking, and things just led on from there. I didn't mean to hurt you, Eowyn, I swear I didn't."
"Oh really? The same way you didn't mean to hurt Nienna last year? Or the same way you didn't mean to break up Sierah and Boromir? Or Haldir and Cali? You just want what you can't have, Arwen, and you know it." There was truth in Eowyn's words, even Nienna had to admit that, but the family- loving side of her prickled at the way Eowyn spoke to her cousin.
"I didn't mean to hurt Nienna last year; it was an accident. I was drunk, he was drunk..." Arwen started on the old tale, but Eowyn cut her off, "And if you'd really classed your cousin as a friend, you would've controlled yourself. If I were her, I wouldn't have forgiven you so easily – I don't think she has, to tell the truth! She used to love hanging out with the guys, people who she could talk to when she couldn't talk to us, and now she's barely even friends with them, let alone having another boyfriend!"
Arwen's voice didn't rise, but it steeled as she answered, "It's not my fault he... anyway, it doesn't matter now – he's gone, and there's nothing anyone can do about it." Eowyn heard the finality in Arwen's voice as clearly as Nienna did, but she paid it no notice. "And what about the others, Arwen? You may be the daughter of a King, Arwen, but that doesn't necessarily make you a princess."
There came the sudden sound of breaking glass, before Eowyn left the room angrily, not seeing Nienna as she passed. There was only one place she was going – to see her brother, and to go for a long ride. It was something she always did when she was angry, or upset, and Eomer always dropped what he was doing for his sister.
Pushing open the door quietly, Nienna looked in to see Arwen cleaning up a broken vase sombrely. "Ni... I... did you... I mean... how was your day?" she asked, as though nothing had happened. "I heard, Arwen," Nienna stated flatly. "I heard everything, and do you know what? Eowyn's right – she was right all along. If you hadn't... he'd still be alive... and he'd still be here with me. Nothing can justify what you did; Eowyn *was* right – I shouldn't have forgiven you, even though you are my cousin."
Turning abruptly, Nienna walked as calmly as she could from the room, and headed towards the side door, where she knew no one ever was. Out the door, and down the short path into the centre of the garden, there was freedom. It was always quiet, and at this time of night, it was always empty. The trees blocked all sounds from travelling back to the rooms, and there was once a time when she'd used it for something other than a silent hide-away.
She found her spot, beneath the roots of a tree by the stream where waters had washed away the dirt, and cried. She cried for love lost, and for the loss of a friend who'd been more dear to her than any other. Unbeknown to her, though, there was someone else seeking the refuge of the garden, who could hear her sobs, and who wasn't sure how, or if, to approach her.
Nienna heard nothing, but felt the presence of someone else near by. It was an elf, there was no mistake about that, but who else would seek the solitariness of the garden? She didn't move from her spot amongst the tree roots, and eventually heard the silent footsteps of someone coming along the path.
She moved back into the tree further, and heard the feet climb the tree she was underneath. Definitely an elf, she thought to herself, as no one else here can climb trees that quickly or quietly, not even Aragorn.
She drew her knees up to her chin, and sat silently, watching the moon shimmer over the water. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she did not hear the feet coming back down the side of the tree, nor did she hear the twig snap above her head. It was only when a face swung down from above and looked at her through the roots that she knew who the other person was. "Legolas! What... you scared me!" Nienna accused, her heart rate starting to slow down; the blonde elf swung down completely. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to, but I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to talk unless you yelled at me first, so I figured I'd drop in."
Nienna scooted over, and let Legolas climb into the hollow. "I know you're not going to tell me on account of us not knowing each other, but I'm going to ask anyway, just to appear gentlemanly. What's wrong?" Nienna rolled her eyes, but she found herself smiling. "You're part right," she answered, "I don't know you well enough to tell you everything, but I'll tell you what made me upset." Legolas contemplated this, and answered, "Right, what made you so upset?"
Nienna leaned back against the solid wall of earth and sighed, "Arwen is going out with Faramir," she started, and Legolas nodded. "Eowyn started out liking Aragorn, but then she set her sights on Faramir. The only problem is that Eowyn's very shy when it comes to liking guys, and so she didn't tell him. Arwen told her that she'd talk to Faramir for her, but she didn't *talk* to Faramir, if you get my meaning. Eowyn kept pretty silent about it to start with, but something must have happened this afternoon, because when I got back to our room, Eowyn and Arwen were in the middle of a major argument. I heard the end of it, and I was mentioned.
'The only problem is, what Eowyn said about me is everything I've tried not to believe for the last twelve months, and when Eowyn left the room, and I went in, I said exactly that."
Legolas let her finish without saying a word, before he looked at his feet. "Eowyn should have left you out of it," he stated, though there was no blame in his voice. "I've met both, and they both seem like great people, but you've been the connection between them, have you not?" Nienna nodded, and let her chin rest on her knees again. "I'm always being the peacekeeper. I'm always acting as though I've got no better thing to do in life than to stop them two arguing."
They sat in silence for a moment, before Legolas swung himself out of the hollow. "I've got just the cure for a heavy heart," he said lightly. Nienna raised an eyebrow, "Oh, yeah? What's that?" Legolas held out a hand, which Nienna took hesitantly. "Let's go for a swim – the water's deep enough, I've already looked at that." At this, Nienna raised an eyebrow, "A swim? I don't happen to walk around in a swimsuit, you know, and if I go back inside to get changed, I'll get stuck with Arwen wanting to 'sort things out'." Legolas laughed, "I thought you were the bravest of the three, up for anything! Besides, I'm sure, knowing what I do about what you girls class as fashion, that your swimsuit reveals far more then your general underwear!"
Nienna was glad it was dark enough to hide her blush, but she had to admit that he was right. And he had a point about her being the bravest of the three friends – "You know what – you're on!" she laughed, and before long, the pair were swimming in the cold water of the stream, and laughing quietly about absolutely nothing.
It was well past midnight when they parted at the door where the boys' dorm went in one direction and the girls went the other. Neither said anything, aside from a simple goodnight, before walking down to their own rooms. Nienna pushed the door open quietly, noticing as she did so that Eowyn hadn't returned, and that Arwen was still awake, despite all pretences that she was asleep.
She slipped into the bathroom, changed into her nightclothes, and stared into the mirror. As an elf, her outward appearance rarely changed. Her deep green eyes stared back at her, but she found she couldn't outstare herself. Sighing, she reached for the comb on the sink, and spent a few minutes braiding her hair back from her face. She was annoyed with both of her friends, but knew that the confrontation had been building up for quite some time.
Knowing she couldn't hide away in the bathroom any longer, she opened the door only to run into Eowyn standing in the doorway. "I know you heard," she started as Nienna tried to push past. "I'm sorry I brought you into it, but I didn't know of any other way to show her how she treated people." Eowyn was a softhearted person, and she looked so close to tears that Nienna stopped. "It doesn't matter – you were right. I don't think I ever forgave her for what she did, but I did try and forget about it, to ignore it. I guess the problem never went away after all," she said, causing Eowyn to smile sadly. "We're not fighting, are we?" she asked, and Nienna shook her head, pulling her friend into a hug at the same time. "We're not fighting; none of us should be."
*****
Sunday morning dawned brightly, almost as though it were taunting the students inside. Arwen wasn't speaking to either Nienna or Eowyn, and spent all of her time away with Faramir. Again Legolas and Aragorn disappeared somewhere on borrowed horses, while Eowyn and her brother set about trying to teach Boromir how to mount a moving horse. Nienna watched for a while, but eventually the strain of acting happy wore her out, and she left when her friend wasn't looking.
She walked aimlessly around the school, pausing to look at the art gallery being assembled in the auditorium, and the new students involved with sports trials. She reached the farthest end of the school, before realising she was outside of Gandalf's office. The three voices inside caught her attention, especially as one was so angry, and she hid at the turn near the door to listen in.
"I don't care *who's* son he is, he's a bad influence! I know why he was expelled from his last two schools, and I don't think that influence should be allowed into such a fine school as this!" Nienna recognised the first voice, the calm one, immediately – it was her aunt, Galadriel, who always seemed to know everything about everyone.
"I want him out. Tonight. There was no point in making him wait for three weeks – we found out, and I want him gone before school begins on Monday." The second voice wasn't so familiar, and Nienna wondered who the hell it was.
"I'm not going to throw one of my students out over something that was never proven. Besides, isn't the schools motto 'He who sins but once is truly alive'?" asked Gandalf.
Galadriel spoke up again, "He has sinned more than once, Gandalf, and if you cannot see what you are doing to the students of this school by allowing him to continue here, than I shall have no option but to advise Elrond of finding a new headmaster. Good day, Gandalf." The door opened, and Galadriel walked out, so angry that she didn't see Nienna near the doorway.
There was the sound of muted voices, before another elf walked out. Nienna shook her head in bewilderment; Celeborn was the other! Though she classed him as her uncle, Nienna had had very little to do with him over the years, and was surprised at how angry he was able to get.
After waiting until the two higher elves had turned the corner, Nienna ran into Gandalf's office. "Why were they here?" she asked, and Gandalf looked up bewildered. "Your aunt and uncle? They had some... concerns... about the running of the school. There's nothing to worry about, I promise you." Nienna shook her head, "That's not what I heard. What was he supposed to have done that's had him expelled from two schools?" Gandalf sighed, and put down the pen he was holding, "You know I can't tell you that, Nienna. I cannot give out any information about your fellow students without their permission, and frankly, I don't see the need. Now, it's still early, go and enjoy your weekend, and please don't mention any of this to anyone."
Reluctantly, Nienna complied, wondering how Gandalf kept on top of things when people like Galadriel and Celeborn complained about things that seemed so small. She started to head towards the library, but changed her mind mid step and headed towards the bottom oval. Judging by the amount of people standing around the archery field, that's where Legolas was, and that's where she'd be able to blend into the crowd. All that was left to do was wait – if she new her aunt, there'd be news by morning about how angry Galadriel actually was.
Aragorn and Legolas were matching off this time, instead of Legolas showing off, and Nienna had a feeling that Legolas was going easy on his friend. Very few in the crowd noticed Nienna sidle in, but everyone noticed when she tapped Aragorn on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and Nienna laughed. "I've an idea – how well can you shoot amidst distraction?" she asked, and Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Well enough," he answered. Nienna crossed her arms, "Let's just see, shall we? Merry and Pippin can be the distraction for Aragorn," she stated, and the two hobbits jumped to the front eagerly.
As they were so short, they were able to jump even closer around Aragorn than any other could, and almost managed to trip one another up in their haste to be annoying. Aragorn let the arrow fly, and hit the very bottom of the target on the black zero-point zone. Shaking his head, Aragorn leaned on the bow and glanced at Legolas.
He raised his bow, blocking out every sound and movement around him with his mind. Just as he was about to let the arrow fly, he became painfully aware that there was someone very close beside him. He forced his mind to concentrate on the target, but it had other things planned. He let go of the arrow at the same time a small warm breath tickled his ear; the arrow landed on the ground in front of the target.
The crowd went wild. Legolas lowered the bow, unable to stop laughing at Nienna's smug expression. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Now we're even."