In the evening of that day, the crew of the small, 40' long, swoop was resting on it deck. The moon seemed almost too bright to sleep by. The river had passed out from under the canopy of trees just before sunset, and the sky was filled with more stars than Harry had ever seen before.
"I wonder how many stars there are up there," Harry commented.
"Too many to ever count. You'd have to be crazy to try," Gimli replied.
"On my world, many people actually do try to count how many there are. And they get paid for it."
"We Elves do not count the stars, but we do count the amount of ways we can use them. The beauty and power of the stars are of the purest kind, never being touched by the flaws of earth, or any of the Races."
Harry pulled out his phial, and a soft glow permeated the boat and reflected of the river's ripples. "What good does star light do, besides act as a lantern? I can already easily call up light."
"Really?"
"Lumos." Harry had pulled out his wand, and it overshadowed the effects of the phial.
"Starlight helps lead the way. Men seem to toss a coin when in a quandary with unknown consequences. Elves look to the guidance of the stars. The stars that we carry with us are more attuned to the position we are in than the stars in the sky, and lead us not to destruction, but to the path with the most hope."
Harry was silent at this. Perhaps if he had thought more about the consequences of going to the ministry… If he had a bit more guidance…
"That is a fair gift that Lady Galadriel gave you. Keep it safe, and it will serve you well." Legolas emphasized.
"I know that Galadriel gave you, Gimli, the gift of three of her hairs, but what did you get, Legolas?" Harry asked.
"A beautifully made elven bow, strung with a string of elven hair. It is a fair gift indeed, not unlike your own."
"Can you use it well?"
"Ho, can he use it well! Lo, Legolas. Here is a lad who knows nothing of your reputation."
"So, you're quite good at using the bow?"
Gimli was grinning madly. Legolas was smiling softly.
"In Helms Deep, in the battle of the Hornburg, Legolas shot down 5 Orcs, while riding his shield down a flight of stairs from the ramparts to the ground! He managed to shoot down more Orcs than I could kill with my ax!"
Can anyone say bloodthirsty? "Why were you trying to shoot down Orcs?" Harry was then regaled with Gimli's tale of the battle of Helms deep.
"… And then Aragorn threw me from the back door to the ramp leading up to the door, so we could clear off the bridge, take the offensive, and get those Orcs away from the gates."
Legolas laughed.
"Is there a part of my story you find amusing?" Gimli demanded.
"Yes, but you left it out! The part where you told Aragorn not to tell 'The Elf' that you had to be thrown to reach the bridge."
"And then the Orcs fell under our blades like…"
The moon had almost set by the time Gimli completed his story. Harry yawned. "Wow, I wish I could use a bow like that. I've never even touched a bow before. Actually, the only reason I'd ever used an ax before was for gardening."
"You sound like a hobbit. Most of them, the fiercest thing they do is gardening."
"It is nice to know that such a peaceful and simple race exists. At least they appreciate the sea, and the fairness of a grand body of water."
"What?"
"Dwarves are notorious for their lack of fondness to large bodies of water," Legolas said.
"Hmpf. Don't listen to him lad. The sea is just fine."
"Then you'd want to journey across it one day?"
"Perhaps. Now, let's sleep. The sun will rise in the morning."
In the morning, Harry Potter woke up with bright sunlight glaring in his face. "Good Morning. What's for breakfast?"
"Lembas bread! It is better than the honey cakes of Beornings! And they don't give much of that to strangers, with the shadow on Middle Earth. One piece will give a grown man strength for a whole day of marching," Gimli exclaimed.
"It seems like everything about the Elves are better and more magical." Harry commented.
"The wisdom that comes with the age and longevity of the Elves would give any other race the time they would need to discover the best ways of production. This wisdom of the Elves makes them seem more noble than any other race," Legolas explained.
"Are Elves immortal then?" Aw, Bloody Slytherin! If the pool's future comes true, and I am set against an army of immortals…
Legolas sighed, remembering his fallen comrades in the battles in Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. "No. We can be killed just as easily as humans with arrows or swords."
"And axes!"
Well, I'd better learn Gimli's lessons well. I wish I had learned more from Taski! She could take out anything, any day of the week…
"Yes, basically any material thing can kill us just as easily as you. We know more about the healing properties around us than humans, so some legends tell of how we magically heal ourselves."
"Can you teach me about healing? If I'm going to fight Voldemort, many of my friends will be hurt. But it is my destiny, so I want to prepare for this as well."
"Indeed. When we walk through Mirkwood forest, and visit the wood elves, there are many plants through there with powerful healing powers."
"But for now, Lad, pick up your ax," Gimli ordered, seeing Harry had finished his lembas bread.
"But I don't have an ax. You have the ax…" Harry trailed off in confusion.
"Galadriel stocked this boat well, she gave us many fine gifts. She did not have to hold back on supplying you, young hero, as you have no need for secrecy as we did last time we passed through Lothlórien in the fellowship." Legolas swung down into the cabin and brought up a shining steel ax, almost as good as Gimli's.
"Wow." Harry's eyes glittered; he had never been given a warrior's present before. A wizard, and now a warrior. How far could the Boy who Lived get from a 'normal' life? It's so light…
"Well, don't just stare at that ax, start your drills."
"You're not joining me today?"
"Dwarves can't swim, too much armor," Legolas whispered in Harry's ear as he walked past him back to the open deck of the boat.
Luckily, Dwarves don't have very good hearing.
After Harry completed the long and series of rhythmic swings and chops that had become almost second nature to him, after the uncounted number of days, (or was it weeks or months?) on the journey. As Harry normally trained in the evening after a grueling day of walking, with Gimli's extremely heavy ax, this seemed almost easy.
By this time, the sun was at its zenith, so Harry asked for lunch.
"But you just had a whole lembas bread biscuit at breakfast!" Gimli exclaimed.
"Ah, but the growth of youth of men requires a much greater sustenance than the maintenance of an old dwarf," Legolas reported.
"Hey there elf!" Gimli bellowed, but he handed Harry the lembas bread.
"Thanks." Harry ate the piece of bread slowly to savor the flavor. "Legolas, can you teach me how to use the bow and arrow?"
"Yes, the bow and arrow is an elfish specialty, so I can teach you much. Actually, it is good that you showed interest now. It is easy to find many moving targets when on a river."
Harry finished his lunch. "It's amazing; I don't feel that tired from this morning's exercise with the ax! I feel ready for a duel with it, I'd ask you, Gimli, to fight me with it, but I know you don't like the water…"
"Nonsense. I just don't like drowning." Gimli retorted. "I will fight you when we arrive at the old ford in Mirkwood, and leave behind our boats."
"Why at the old ford?"
"It connects with the only road, the old road, which goes through Mirkwood from the Great River to the Celduin, the Running River. We will go then walk north beside the Running River to the Wood Elves' territory, and then to Lonely Mountain."
"Well, Galadriel did not pack you a bow, I will get one for you when we get to the land of the wood elves. For now you can borrow mine, if you can bend it well enough to make a decent shot. It is a fairly stiff long bow. Hold it like this." Legolas stood up and grabbed his bow and an arrow from his back. He stood strait with his feet shoulder width apart, knees locked, and arms unlocked, grasping the bow with the pressure on his lifeline, and nock of the arrow between his pointer and middle finger, pulling on the string with his fingers between his 1st and 2nd joints. His fingers were wrapped around the bow, but not tightly. He brought the bow up to his shoulder and pulled back the nocked arrow easily. He then removed the arrow from the bow and handed both to Harry. "Your turn." (A/N: to visualize the shooting of an arrow, because I've never personally shot one, go to this website, it's got good pictures. http:www.student.utwente.nl/sagi/artikel/steps/step1.html)
Harry took the bow and arrow with no little nervousness. Legolas made it seems so easy. He nocked the bow and his hands as Legolas had on the bow…
"Point your feet at a right angle from the target." Legolas had pinned a piece of cloth to the mast, only 20' away.
Harry corrected his feet, and started pulling on the string…
"No, keep your shoulders as low as possible. And relax your front hand, and your arm muscles, and your leg muscles. Now aim at the top of the mast.
Harry aimed at the target, and the arrow flew right past it.
"Since you are right handed, you might want to aim a bit to the right of the target." Legolas commented, obviously trying to contain himself from smiling. "After you hit dead center of this target, you will aim for the top of the mast. Try not to hit the sails, Gimli would be upset with you, and we would have to walk the rest of the way to the Old Road. After that, I will tell you which pieces of debris to hit in the water.
This is going to take a while…Sailing to the old ford took a week. A bit more, but not a significant portion of time more. It hadn't looked that far on the map, but they were sailing upriver, and had to fight the current.
Each day had been similar to the one before it. Harry had got the target on the lower mast just before dinner. On the third day, Harry ran out of arrows, so they stopped off to get some wood to fletch more arrows with. It took that day, and until midday of the next day for Harry to successfully make a quiver full of arrows. Gimli then insisted that Harry continue with his ax training. On the night of the fifth day, Harry was able to hit the top of the mast ten times in a row, and Legolas moved him on to aiming for driftwood on the river. He did dismally; his personal best for the bits of driftwood was two pieces reasonably close struck in a row. The whirls and eddies in the river made the river quicken and slow in odd places, making the required lead on the target vary.
Late on the eighth day of travel, just a few minutes after dinner, Gimli called out, "Lower the sails! The old ford is just ahead, and the water is extremely shallow!"
Legolas and Harry, who had become with a few of the boat's trappings, rushed to obey. They quickly furled the sails, and Gimli threw out the anchor. They hopped into the smaller rowboat and scrambled ashore. After getting their supplies on and tying the rowboat to the tree, Legolas and Gimli started to walk down the road.
"We are just going to leave this here?" Harry walked quickly to them to catch up.
"Yes, we will need such a vessel on our return trip to Minas Tirith. After we visit the dwarves, if they consent to help rebuild middle earth, and Minas Tirith, then we will need to go back and guide them," Legolas answered.
"My people will rebuild the gates of Minas Tirith with mirthril and steel to replace those broken by the witch king first. And then, perhaps Rohan will let us make use of the beautiful Glittering Caves. But there is no rush, now that the shadow has lifted from Middle Earth. So, pick up your ax, and we shall begin that duel."
"But it is near dark, shouldn't we wait until morning…" Harry pointed out.
"Your attacker will not let you choose the time of day! We both have the same disadvantage, unless you can see in the dark. Besides, I plan to win quickly. So begin," Gimli growled.
Harry swung his ax around to cut at Gimli's side, and was blocked by the butt of his ax. Harry stumbled at the large force blocking his maneuver. Gimli then arched his ax to swing at Harry, and stopped the shinning blade an inch from his neck.
"If your ax was not elven made, it would now be too dull to even chop wood. As it is, you're dead. I suggest more practice. Work on your stance too. Keep centered; don't stumble at every blow. We will walk a few miles, and then stop for the night."
I'm going to need a lot more practice to be good enough to beat anyone… I hope I get enough time here… I don't want to go back if I can't protect my friends.