Chapter 2- A Task Complete

The next few days were fast moving, and neither Laereth nor Haldir found time to meet up for the walk they had planned upon. It was nothing new that they did not see each other over a few days, even though their talans were close and should, under any law of averages, see each other at least once a day. But it seemed recently that she and Haldir were spending less and less time together, and to Laereth it seemed as though Haldir wanted to spend little time with her. He would either be busy practicing and honing his fighting skills or with his other ellon or elleth friends. However, she did have to admit that she was not being very conducive to a good friendship either, with all of the tasks her mother insisted she learn now that she was nearing one hundred and full adulthood. But that did nothing to make her feel better about being cast aside by her closest friend for things that were not necessarily so important that they needed to be taken care of right away.

But she was not content to just sit by and watch him move away from her. She was just not that type of elleth. And so she found herself walking around the city of Caras Galadhon, trying to find Haldir in one of his normal haunts. She had asked Tuilinn where she thought he might be when her mother and Tuilinn met up to spend the afternoon together, but she had no idea where he might be either. However, in the mean time, Tuilinn had asked to her find Orophin who had left the talan early in the morning and had not reappeared yet.

Just as she imagined, Orophin was out watching Haldir practice his swordsmanship, while trying his best to fletch arrows. She walked up to Orophin and knelt down in front of him, "What are you doing Orophin?"

"Hello, Laereth," he glanced up at her. "I am trying to fletch arrows. That was what Ada told me to do as my task."

"How did you procure these materials? Did Haldir get them for you?" she asked.

Orophin nodded his head vigorously, "He is helping me."

Laereth raised her eyebrows and glanced in the direction where Haldir was swinging a sword about wildly in a heated battle, completely unconcerned with what was going on outside of the small bubble of concentration he was in. It was just like him to be concerned with only himself, and no one else. Or at least could not be bothered with anyone else or anything else beside himself or his hobbies.

"He does not look like he is helping you," Laereth said.

Orophin stuck his tongue out slightly, in deep concentration for his own work, trying to get the feather attached to the shaft of the arrow. He succeeded in attaching it to the arrow, as well as he attached his fingers to it. His resolve to finally learn this task correctly did not waver as he tore his fingers away, shook his hand from the slightly stinging flesh of his fingers and went back to finding another good feather and placing glue directly onto the shaft. She chuckled at the pained, intense look on his face as he tried this next arrow and only accomplished with dropping it onto his leggings. This Elfling was one of the best Elflings in all Arda, always eager to please and always trying to be like his older brother. Unfortunately, Orophin's older brother did not seem to realize what a huge responsibility he held within the palms of his hands as his brothers' role model.

And the reason why Orophin had yet to master this rather simple skill was because his older brother never paid that much attention to him when their father was away.

Laereth smiled, and sat next to Orophin, "May I help you."

"Do you know how to fletch arrows?" Orophin said with a tone of awe, and looked up at her expectantly.

"Aye, I do. My older brother taught me how to do it because my naneth forbade my father from teaching me," she said.

"You have an older brother too?" he asked. "Where is he?"

"He is in Greenwood," Laereth replied, taking a fresh arrow shaft. "He is much older than I am. My parents had him before the last War, and he stayed in Greenwood because he was a captain in their guard."

Orophin seemed excited about this, "Really?"

"Aye," Laereth laughed. "Will you hand me that pot of paste?"

The Elfling did so, and she took out the brush, tapping it against the rim of the ceramic pot to get the excess off the horse hairs. "Now, what I do is take the brush and put a thin layer of paste on the end of the arrow shaft. As it dries, the paste gets stickier, so the feathers stay on better then having to hold them in place like you do." She demonstrated what she meant, and he watching in reverent appreciation for the skill.

"Oh, I see," Orophin replied, eagerly taking a shaft of his own and repeated what she had done.

"And after you have the feathers attached and the paste is dry, you can add little bits of paste here and there to make sure the feathers stay on," she said. They worked in silence for a few moments as Laereth finished hers and Orophin worked slowly on putting the second feather on the end of the arrow shaft.

Eventually Orophin succeeded in fletching his first arrow. He jumped up excitedly and looked around him. He spotted Haldir brushing away the sweat from his brow as he leaned against his sword and talked to his dueling partner. Laereth watched as he ran to Haldir and interrupted the conversation, thrusting the arrow into Haldir's face and talking happily. She saw the flash of annoyance in Haldir's eyes as he gazed down at his brother, but he masked it quickly by smiling and patting Orophin's head. Orophin continued talking and Haldir asked him something, and Orophin pointed in her direction.

Haldir glanced at her quickly and turned back to his conversation with his friend Arphenon. Orophin ran back to her and looked around for what he should do next. Laereth looked up at him, "Your naneth is in my talan if you want to show her."

Orophin nodded and started running in the direction of the nearest flight of stairs, but he paused halfway and turned back to her. She did not know what he was going to do until he came running back to her and threw his arms about her neck. That had been the last thing she expected, but she was overjoyed that she had done something to warrant a hug from him. He hugged her tightly and pulled back, "Thank you Laereth. Ada will be happy when he comes back to find I know how to fletch arrows."

"Aye he will," she said. "Now, go see your mother."

The Elfling nodded and once again he was off. She shook her head with a laugh escaping her, as she glanced down at herself. One of the feathers that had been attached to his tunic was now on her and she pulled it off, placing it with the other feathers as she began to clean up the mess he had left. Soon, a shadow fell across her and she looked up to find Haldir standing over her.

"It is about time he learned," he said.

"You were no help," Laereth replied as she gathered the things into her hands and stood up.

"What do you imply?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and began walking in the direction of Haldir's talan. "Maybe I would spend more time with my young brother than you do."

"You do not think I spend enough time with him?" he questioned as he followed after her.

"Nay, you do not," she replied. "You spend little time on things that do not concern Haldir."

He scoffed, "I do not. I spend a great amount of time with him."

"I do not mean just Orophin, Haldir," she said. "To everyone it appears you think little of others."

"I am busy perfecting my skills so that I may become a warden," he replied. "I cannot help it."

Laereth remained silent as she entered his talan and put the fletching materials on the table.

"What is this supposed to be? Some lashing from you for not meeting you to go for the walk?" he questioned. "If I remember correctly, it was you who was supposed to come find me."

"But I did find you two days ago, but you were with Arphenon. Yesterday you were busy with Caladiel," she glanced at him and grew silent again, watching him.

Haldir laughed, "Oh, I see the problem now... you are jealous."

"Hardly," she said.

"You are!" Haldir pointed at her, his eyes widened as though he were surprised she would have some type of normal emotional response to the neglect of their friendship.

She scoffed and shook her head, as she walked toward the door. "I am not jealous Haldir. You can spend time perfecting your skills all you wish. You can spend time with Caladiel and bind with her for all I care, but I hope we could still be friends. The way you go about giving me the cold shoulder, on the other hand, is what my problem is."

Haldir sighed and followed after her, "Laereth, I am sorry if it seems that way. I do not mean it."

Laereth turned and met his eyes, deciding it better to just let this argument die, "I know that, I am just overreacting."

"You always overreact," he chuckled, and was about to say something else when there a loud shout coming from Orophin who barreled into the room at top speed. They were quiet as they watched him slow down and place the arrow on the table.

"Where are you going?" Orophin asked.

"Well, I am going for a walk now that I brought your supplies back," Laereth replied with a slight smile, glancing at Haldir quickly.

Haldir smiled, "So will I."

She chuckled and looked back at Orophin, "You are welcome to come with us if you like, Orophin."

"Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Aye, but on one condition," she said. "You go change your tunic. I do not wish to walk around with a bird instead of a handsome ellon like yourself."

Orophin did not reply as he ran back into his chambers, and Laereth turned to Haldir and smiled, "Perhaps you should change as well?"

Haldir raised his brows in question, "You are kidding..."

Laereth laughed, "Be a good example for your brother."

Haldir shook his head and started toward his room muttering, "You are just like my mother."

She smiled to herself and sat in a chair while she waited for the brothers to come back and join her. Soon they were off walking along the paths of the city and ventured a little ways out to a deep river to sit and talk. Orophin went off climbing and jumping from tree to tree, while she Haldir sat on the bank of the river. She hitched her skirts up around her legs and put them in the warm water, resting back on her hands.

Glancing at Haldir, she noticed that he was preoccupied with something, and while it was obvious he was staring at her legs, she could not believe that he was staring at them in the way it seemed. There would never be any chance that Haldir would look at her in that way, and she was not quite sure she wanted him to look at her in that way.

Haldir closed his eyes tightly, and shook his head as though trying to void the thoughts going through his head. He opened his eyes and looked away, "Is the water warm?"

"Surprising, yes, considering that autumn is now in the air," she replied. Haldir smiled and took off his boots, rolled up his leggings and stuck his own feet into the water. They sat for a long while, enjoying the sunlight and not caring about the world around them.

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Out on the fences...

"I do not know how the March Warden does it, but he always does," Ruscon said sarcastically as he placed his bow against a tree trunk and settled himself on the flet beside Orthordir.

"What?" Orthordir asked, glancing up at his friend, "How he manages to cut back the presence of wardens on the borders every single time we come out here? I know, I find it quite remarkable as well. Soon the inside of the city will be a tightly guarded fortress, but the rest of our realm will not. And if our enemies reach that far inward, there is no way of protecting the city."

Another of the wardens preparing to head out to the post Ruscon had just vacated chuckled, "It is not as though we can do anything about it either. Amroth does not seem to care."

"He is new yet. He will learn quickly that something needs to be done," Orthordir replied. "At least I hope."

A long silence passed between the friends, but Ruscon finally let out a heavy sigh, "It has only been a week and I miss Branneth already. It has never been like this before."

"I agree," Orthordir said. "It seems like an age ago I left Tuilinn."

"You realize what is happening, do you not, Orthordir?" Ruscon asked with a faint smile.

Orthordir laughed, "We are turning into lushes for our wives."

Ruscon nodded his head and gazed out at the horizon, "Aye, my friend... that would be it. But it is more my family than anything. I spent such a great deal of time with Bainon in Greenwood, helping him perfect his skills. With Laereth, I was there to see her grow into the beauty she has become. And now with Cuileth, I feel as though I have spent no time with her."

The other Elf nodded his head in agreement, "I know what it is you speak of. It is the same for Haldir and me. I spent so much time with him as a young Elfling, but now I am lucky to have a day devoted to Orophin or to even find time to carry Rúmil about on my shoulders. Just one of these days I would like to sit down and actually teach Orophin how to fletch an arrow, since it seems his older brother will not."

"I would be afraid to try to teach Orophin how to fletch," Ruscon replied with a laugh. "I do not fault Haldir in not wanting to teach Orophin."

Orthordir chuckled and sipped a bit of water from his drinking gourd. "I would agree, but you know as well as I that Haldir has problem with thinking only of himself and not of others. He probably does not even think past his next practice session to others' needs."

Ruscon sighed, "And you cannot fault him on that either, Orthordir. It is good to see an Elf the drive he has in him to become a warden."

"True, though I would prefer to see him a captain of the guard elsewhere than here," the Elf replied. "And in the mean while, I would see him act a slight bit more aware of the world around him, than just his immediate space. He needs that skill to be successful as a leader, as well as a soldier by any means. He needs to be prepared to risk his life for others."

"He will learn it eventually," Ruscon said. "There will be something down his path that will make him realize that he is not the only person in the world. Perhaps an elleth to change his mind?"

Orthordir laughed, "He laughed at my face when I told him it was his task to tell Laereth he loved her."

Ruscon chuckled and shook his head in a dismayed fashion, "Was that wise? If Haldir does realize this in the next month, and tells her, how will he feel if Laereth completely brushes him off? You could have at least warned me that this was going to be his task."

"I thought it was obvious to Laereth that she was in love with him," Orthordir said.

"Obvious to everyone else except those who should find it obvious," Ruscon replied. "Laereth believes that Haldir is too conceited to even realize what a friendship they have."

Orthordir nodded his head, "And that could very well be the case, but we can always hold out hope that they will one day see past their differences and bind."

"Laereth would be so angry if she knew we were trying to push them together," Ruscon laughed.

"So would Hal-," began Orthordir, but the sound of an Elvish horn ricocheted off of the trees, calling them to attention. Both Elves jumped to their feet quickly, looking about, spotting the very large column of orcs headed in the direction of the forest. Ruscon grabbed his bow and pulled an arrow from his quiver as he moved along the branches of the trees to get to better vantage point. In the pit of his belly, he could just barely sense a feeling of foreboding as the creatures bore down on the tree line.

Not only were the wardens unprepared for a battle, but the posts were not adequately manned to face the huge number of orcs.

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Back in Caras Galadhon...

Laereth was just beginning to pull her legs from the water so that they could head back towards the city when they heard the sounds of beating hooves. She glanced at Haldir, who had the same look of worry on his face. Both knew what this meant. They had been around long enough to see the wounded Elves carried in from the borders during the last war, and each time it grew no easier to see. But it was undecided which was worse, the anxiety one felt as they waited to see who the wounded, or slain, were, only to find that it was not their fathers, or if the worst part was to find the gaping wounds.

Haldir looked about, "Orophin, come! We must go back to the city now!"

The Elfling fell from a tree and joined them on a run back to the city where the Elves were now congregating to see whom the horses had brought in. Most of the time, the healers would have the wounded and slain out of sight quickly, but this day it seemed a deluge had been brought in, and the wounded lay out by the door to the healing houses.

As usual, a hush settled over the Elves, each whispering to each other about certain things, but not loud enough for others to pick up what was being said.

Haldir started to push his way through the crowd, and she had not noticed it before, but his hand was grasping hers as the crowd parted. She knew it before they even came upon the first slain Elf, by the way the other city folk were looking at them with forlorn gazes, exuding sentiments of pity. Haldir's grasp on her hand tightened considerably as he came upon the slain Elves. He turned his head away from the sight, his jaw clenching tightly as though he were trying to fend off tears as she was then able to gaze upon them with her own eyes.

There, side by side, lay their fathers. In life they stood beside each other as best friends, fought beside each other in battle, and so in death did they remain together.

All at once she felt a feeling of great fatigue, queasiness, hate, anger and sadness. She did not think it was possible to be so full of emotion, but she was and she was unable to hold back a pained, "No!"

In an effort to make the image go away... in a hope that this was all a dream, she turned quickly from the scene only to find herself in Haldir's arms. Letting out a loud sob, finally, Haldir only held her more tightly and she could feel that in addition to her trembling, so was he, however much he tried to mask it.

But her pain was short lived when she heard the frantic call of an Elfling, "Ada! Ada!"

She looked to the side, finding Orophin standing beside his father, trying to get him to wake up by a shake of his shoulder. The reality soon hit Orophin and he fell to his knees, crying loudly, his small head resting against where his father's heart should have been beating. Laereth wanted to reach out and take hold of the Elfling- to hold him tightly- but Haldir held her securely in place. For a short moment she thought it was selfish of him, but she glanced up at him, and saw the tars brimming in his eyes, and she knew that she was the only thing holding him upright.

That sight was just too much for her to bear, and the tears began to fall much more freely, before she realized their mothers had yet to see this... that was, of course, until she saw her mother and Tuilinn making their way through the group. Two of the other Elf-maids there took up the care of the babes while they pushed forward.

The image that would stay forever emblazoned in her mind, would be that of seeing her strong, independent, energetic mother fall at her father's feet out of pure grief and hearing her call out a faint, "Ruscon, hervenn nín, melethen."

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Naneth- mother

Adar- Father

Ruscon, hervenn nin, melethen- Ruscon, my husband, I love you.