Note: I'm not sure about the ages of the elves involved (Haldir and his brothers, so I'm just pulling that out of my head)
Swords clashed in the early morning air as the two elves sparred on the practice field. Haldir aggressively pushed his brother Rumil back across the practice ground. His other brother Orophin was already off to the side, nursing several bruises from his bout. Haldir showed little sign of tiring, while Rumil was looking decidedly disheveled. After several moments, which probably seemed an eternity to the younger elf, Haldir backed off his attack and signaled the end of the bout.
"Hey, not fair, leave him with some bruises," Orophin called out from the sidelines, holding a damp cloth to his head.
Haldir looked Rumil over critically. His brother Rumil had gone over to where Orophin was and flopped onto the ground, groaning and covering his eyes with his forearm.
"Please, he's done enough," Rumil said.
"Ay, I think his hangover alone would act as sufficient admonishment." Haldir replied absently as he too retired to the sidelines. Efficiently he wiped his weapons down and put them neatly in place. Again he fixed his brothers with a look they could only describe as 'slave driver Haldir'. "You really should be up and moving about. You will only stiffen up if you just sit there." A pair of weak protests drifted up from his brothers. Haldir sighed, shaking his head. "And this is what occurs when you have too much wine and insult a guest in my care. Mayhap you will remember that next time you reach for the wine bottle."
"I think your point is well taken, dear brother." Rumil sat up and rubbed his eyes. Orophin nodded his agreement, but said nothing. "I feel like an orc."
"You smell like one." Came a weak response from Orophin.
"He lives!" Haldir said mockingly.
"I wouldn't call I that…" he sat up, closing his eyes against the sunlight. "I'm headed off to the bathing pools, you best do the same if you're to meet with your lady from yesterday eve." He hauled himself to his feet and swayed a bit before finding his balance. He extended an arm to Rumil, who took it and also rose. The two miscreants and Haldir headed off to the pools to clean themselves up.
"You two do look a bit worse for the wear," he said, his eyes twinkling. Haldir felt very relaxed this morning after sparring. Truly, if he didn't know better he would say he almost felt carefree, something which rarely happened. He was typically very focused on his duty, almost to the exclusion of anything else. His brothers noticed that he seemed to have more bounce in his step, but did not comment upon it immediately.
Upon reaching the pools they were all too glad to strip and dive in. The cool water seemed to perk his brothers up, for they began peppering him with questions about Alanya.
"Who is she?"
"Where is she from?"
"What do you mean she's a mage from another world?"
"What what's a mage?"
"There are other worlds?"
"Can she turn people into toads? Gandulf said he would do that to us if we didn't stop stealing his fireworks."
"Enough!" Haldir finally said, exasperation lacing his tone. "You two are worse then two gossiping elleths."
"Yes, well, what can we say? We're curious about her."
Haldir ducked under the waterfall to rinse off, the sparkling water running down his hair. He headed towards the bank of the pool for the towels that were left there. He began to dry off, debating how much to tell about Alanya. "There is not much to say as of this point in time. Alanya and I are meeting with Lady Galadriel this morn to see what she has to say." His brother looked at each other as Haldir pulled on his leggings.
"She's very pretty," Orophin ventured. Before he could go any further Haldir's head whipped around and he found himself fixed with a deadly glare.
"If I so much as hear of you bothering her you'll serve on the fences so long you'll forget what the city looks like." He said with frost in his voice. Orophin raised his hands in surrender.
"Peace brother! T'was just an observation." He watched interestedly as Haldir scowled and set off. He looked at Rumil, who had been watching with interest. "He's got it bad." He noted with a satisfied smile.
"You could say that."
The two brothers looked at each other, looked where Haldir had headed, looked at each other and started to laugh. In his unthinking haste, Haldir had taken the path to Alanya's talan, rather then the path to his own.
Haldir strode down the path, giving vent to fond thoughts of trouncing his youngest brother yet again. If Orophin so much as smiles in her direction he's going to be moving to the fences permanently, he fumed. He stopped, suddenly confused by his line of thought. What on earth is the matter with me? We've only just met. Suddenly, he realized what the problem was. By the Valar, he thought. I'm jealous!" He flushed at the thought, also finally noticing that he was on the path leading to Alanya's talan. He hoped his brothers hadn't noticed, but with his luck, they very likely had. He passed her talan and looked up. Her windows were all open to the cool air, but he could hear no stirring inside. She might sleep be asleep, he knew humans needed more rest then his kind.
A few moments later he rounded the corner to his talan. As luck would have it, he collided with someone, sending them both sprawled to the ground. He was about to start apologizing when he realized he had crashed into the very object of his thoughts. Alanya sat opposite him on the ground, rubbing her head.
"You have a hard head," she accused with a half smile. "Or maybe it was my hard head impacting with your face."
"My brothers and Lady Galadriel would agree with you." He was silent for a moment. "Actually, I think most everyone who knows me would agree." He stood and offered her his hand. She grasped his with a surprisingly strong grip, pulling herself to her feet.
"I was just on my way to find you, I've actually been up for a little bit."
"That would be why your talan was silent when I passed it a moment ago. Here, since you are over in this direction you might as well come with me while I ready myself for our meeting with Lady Galadriel." They paced along side by side until they reached his talan. He ushered her up the steps and opened the door for her.
Haldir risked a covert glance around the talan. Fortunately since he had only just returned from the fences his talan was spotless. He sat Alanya down and disappeared into his bedroom. He toweled off the remaining water from his hair, and removed a stray leaf that had obviously gotten there when he collided with the mage. He smiled at the thought of her rubbing her head, complaining that he was the one with the hard head. He would have to remember to mention that one to Lady Galadriel, she would appreciate it, as she was fond of saying that to him as an elfling.
His laundry was sitting waiting for him and he pulled a clean linen shirt from the stack. Pausing a moment before he donned it, he called out to Alanya. "I trust you slept well?"
"I think I like this place better then my home already. No one is pulling me out in the middle of the night to go on missions. I could get used to this." Her voice floated in from the other room. Haldir grew curious. She had outlined what a mage could do but he still had no clue what she did with her abilities.
"I am looking forward to hearing what you do, Alanya. I am curious as to your duties as a mage." Haldir strode out of his bedroom, fastening the tie on his bracers. He noted that she seemed to flush slightly as he came out of the room. He hoped it was a favorable sign that her thoughts of him were in a favorably inclined direction. With her unusual appearance and beauty he had a feeling that it would be not only his brothers that he had to warn off, but a significant portion of the other males in Lorien as well.
"It's not that interesting," she said quietly, definitely flushing now. "I actually work for the government, you could say. I track down renegade mages, those who use their powers to commit crimes and.." she paused, apparently not sure how to finish. "I neutralize them. Sometimes it means burning out their abilities, other times….it doesn't."
"So your are a guardian of your land as I am a guardian of mine." Haldir had trouble believing that the small mortal woman before him was responsible for tracking down criminals.
"No, just a mage tracker."
Haldir shook his head. "If these renegades as you call them are not stopped they would hurt people, perhaps many people?" She nodded an affirmative. "Then you do guard your land by hunting down the dangerous." He shrugged. "It sounds very similar to me."
Alanya sat there blinking. "Well, perhaps. I suppose I never thought about it that way. On another note, did you enjoy pounding your siblings into small pieces on the practice field?"
"There was some joy in it." Haldir smiled and picked up a comb. "They are not so terrible. It reminded me of when we were younger."
"How old are they?"
Without thinking, Haldir responded, "Rumil is the middle brother, he is 2517 years old. Orophin is a bit younger then Rumil by two years. I myself have seen some 2520 years pass." Her sharp gasp alerted him and he mentally cursed, forgetting that Alanya knew nothing of elves. He turned to see her white faced and staring at him as if he was some strange kind of creature. Although perhaps in her mind he was.
"You don't…I thought-" she broke off, suddenly breathless. She got up and paced from one end of the room to another. Haldir frowned as she appeared to get agitated.
"Alanya, there is no reason for panic. You seem upset."
"I'm not upset," she retorted sharply. She paused and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "Wait, yes I am. No, I'm not upset…it just is very…unsettling." She sat carefully back down, as if her legs would not support her. "I'm sure I must appear as a child in your eyes with only my 29 years," she said quietly, some unnamed emotion in her eye.
Haldir kneeled before her to take her hands. "No," he said, smoothing back some of her hair that had become dislodged in her pacing. "That is a thought that is far from my mind at the moment." He raised one of her hands and kissed it. "Rest assured, we do not view you as such."
"Thank you Haldir." She looked away as if embarrassed by their close proximity. "I'm sure we should be off soon."
"Let me simply finish here and we will be on our way in moments." He attacked a particular unyielding knot, wincing as he did so.
"Here, let me, I think you're making it worse." Alanya held her hand out for the comb and somewhat blankly in surprise at her offer Haldir handed it over. The mage gestured for him to sit next to her, and proceeded to comb out the last few knots. He closed his eyes in pleasure at feeling her light touch.
"I never did mention this Haldir, but thank you for finding me that first night. If I hadn't had some type of care then, well, you wouldn't have me here doing this. Mages can die from the power drain that happened to me when I was brought into your world." Alanya said quietly as she worked.
"It is possible for you to die from the use of your powers?" Turning to look at her, Haldir's heart contracted at that unexpected piece of information. If that were the possibility she damn well would not be using them here! He breathed a sigh of relief when she shook her head.
"No, from the over-use of them. You can work up to the point of collapse, but if you do collapse and you receive no medical attention the chances are good that it can be fatal." She worked in silence for several more moments, finishing with a tap on his shoulder to indicate she was done.
"Thank you," Haldir said. He looked Alanya over, reevaluating his opinion of her. If she had to manage the use of a power that had the potential to drain you of life, he was certain she was stronger then she appeared to be. His estimation of her went up several notches. "Come, we must attend Lady Galadrial." He extended his hand to Alanya and she took it without comment.
Pacing down to the forest floor Haldir was again reminded that Alanya seemed more elf then mortal. Her feet made no sound and she moved as gracefully as one of his own folk. She gained many admiring glances from elves passing, most of which she seemed not to notice. Her face was calm, but he could feel a slight increase in tension coming off of her. He wondered what could be causing it.
"I'm fine Haldir,"
"What?" He was confused at her total non sequitor.
"You keep shooting me these little sidelong glances. I'm suddenly a bit nervous, and all the attention I seem to be garnishing is not helping. It's jjust that I'm more used to people ignoring me then not. At elast, once I'm outside of the boundaried of the school where I live."
"Why would someone as lovely as yourself be ignored?" He winced. I hope she doesn't notice the 'lovely' part of that.
"Most people are uncomfortable around someone who can do magic. They think we shall pick the thoughts out of their brains, turn the sheep into monsters and turn the people into toads." She replied calmly.
"We elves are perhaps more used to magic. Many of us have some small aquaintance at least with being able to use spells for healing." He shrugged his shoulders. "It is of no consequence that you are a mage." Ah, she appears to have skipped over the lovely part of my question. Thank the Valar. He was saved from further conversation by reaching Galadriel's talan. The guard on duty directed them instead to her garden. Arriving there, the sweet scent of flower blossoms filled the air.
The Lady was there to greet them, sitting on a bench beneath a small bower.
"Come Haldir, Alanya, join me and we will talk. You have many questions, and we must in all honesty address them as we may."