Once Upon a Time in Middle Earth
Disclaimer-see prologue
Summary- What happens when three LOTR obssesives, a LOTR fan, an anti LOTRinger and her boyfriend get sent to middle earth. Well 3 of them join the Gondorian army and have fun with bows and arrows and lightsabre shaped staffs. The 3 others are put to work as servants- for the moment! This is better than you think it is so please RandR
PG-13- for some minor swearing and kissing and stuff
Author's note- I have tried to make this chapter longer with more going on but it takes me a while to write. It is mostly about Anne, Jess and Stephen with a bit about Nell at the beginning. Next chapter will hopefully be more about Jo and Rose. Please bear with me I'm try to build the story up! Any comments are welcome!
Chapter 3
Jess, Anne and Stephen were sitting silently in Stephen's new room. All three had successfully passed a fitness test as boys in order to join the Gondorian army. The test had of course been taken with their new training clothes on.
"I can't believe they can think that we are boys", Anne said despondently looking down at the rather ugly red rug type thing that was covering the floor.
"I know", Jess replied. "And I can't believe how someone told them boy's names instead of ours and enlisted us in the army", she complained sending a death glare at Stephen.
"I've always wanted to join the army, and fight with swords and bows and arrows and stuff", he responded ignoring the other two.
"Well I haven't"
"Nor me. I mean have you seen those swords. I doubt if I could even lift one!" Anne complained, " And now we have to learn how to kill people before they can kill us. I mean Jess you can't even watch operations on the TV, how the hell are you going to cut someone up with a bloody big sword?"
"I'm planning on screaming, dropping my sword and running back to the castle as quickly as possible."
"You two are so useless", Stephen exclaimed. "Jo and Rose would be so much better at this then you two!"
"Yup they would"
"Well anyway training starts tomorrow and I for one want to get an early night", Anne said getting up off Stephen's bed.
"Good idea, good night Stephen"
"Night Jess, night Anne".
The two girls walked out of the small, one person room and walked down the hall to their next door to each other rooms.
"We are going to have to be bloody careful", Jess said frowning.
"I know", Anne said sighing. "I doubt that these people are going to be pleased when they find out what we are".
"Probably not, I wonder where Rose and Jo are?"
"I don't know. Probably better off than we are and Nell's still out in that room. Anyway its been a long day and I'm sure they will be fine. Though I'm not sure we will be! So we had better get to bed."
"Yup, goodnight"
"Night"
********
Earlier that day Nell was forcefully dragged by Sally in to the servant's wing. She was told that her attire was not exceptable and to change in to a servant's uniform. This consisted of a blouse type thing with a long dark coloured dress worn over the top, sensible boots and a scarf type thing to keep hair out of ones way when one was working.
This new look was however not to Nell's taste. As soon as these new clothes were presented to her, she took one look and threw a fit. Yet Nell did not get her way (which she had been getting since she was born) as she was surrounded by quite a few large and particularly menacing looking laundry women.
So Nell dressed in the servant's uniform was set to work cleaning bedrooms. She was under the instruction of a young woman called Carla who taught her exactly how to clean a bedroom properly.
Instead of finding the work extremely dull and utterly gross, Nell found herself enjoying the mindlesness and the physicality of the task. As well as the fact that she could look at a lot of other people's stuff without them knowing. Nell found quite a lot of written plans and documents which she found very dull, lots of very pretty dresses and jewellery which she would try on and she learned a lot of very interseting gossip from Carla.
The day had turned out quite well and after she and Carla had finished the last room, they made their way back to the servant's wing. This was a large lower part of the palace/castle type thing, very close to the kitchens and was always extremely busy with all of the servants coming and going.
When Carla and Nell arrived it was extremely busy due to the fact that it was the servants dinner time. The two women made their way to the benches for chamber maids, which were still quite empty, sat down and helped themselves to lots of food.
Nell sat quietly for a while but she kept looking over at a group of superior looking women who wouldn't even glance at the other people in the hall. Even their uniforms looked better then Nell's, a group of similar looking men sat on the men's side of the hall.
"They're the Ladies maids", Carla said as she saw where Nell's gaze was resting. "They think they're so superior just because some Lady chose them to be their maid and look after them"
"Mmm", Nell responded instantly thinking that's where she would be in under a week. She would get there or die trying.
It was halfway through dinner when the last of the servants entered the hall. They were two girls both chamber maids, and were arguing forcefully. Nell recognised them instantly as Rose and Jo.
The two girls took seats opposite Nell and Carla before helping themselves to large portions of food.
"Good evening", Nell said tartly.
"Nell?" the two girls questioned.
"Yes, I am indeed the one you call Nell, who you left unconscious on the floor of Lord Boromir's room."
"Oh sorry about that," Jo said looking up from her plate. She didn't look sorry at all.
"Yeah we didn't want to wake you", Rose added eyeing Nell who was growling at them. Quickly deciding that growling was not lady like and shouldn't be attempted if she wanted to become a Ladies maid Nell decided to change the subject.
"Do you two know where Stephen is? Or the other two? I haven't seen them around here?"
"No idea", Rose replied.
"Dunno probably having a better time then we are here"
"Probably", Nell repeated. "Anyway night girls, we have got to get up early and even I need some beauty sleep to look good in the morning, so goodnight girls, see you in the morning Carla"
Nell left the table and made her way to her small empty looking room, got ready for bed and went to sleep.
******
The next morning not quite as early as the servants Jess, Anne and Stephen rose from their slumber, put on their training uniform, which was a nice green colour and congregated with the other young lads in the hall they had been enlisted in the day before.
The two girls and Stephen had been avoiding the other lads in case they asked questions they couldn't answer. However now there was going to be little chance of that.
Three men walked in to the hall, they positioned themselves in front of one of the walls so that all of the boys could see them. Everyone bowed, Jess, Anne and Stephen followed suit.
Out of the three men Stephen , Jess and Anne recognised one of them. That man was the first man they had approached in the hall, he still looked tall and important looking but now looked rather scary.
The other two men were also tall and they too had brown hair but one had lighter hair and the other darker. The one with lighter hair also looked to be the most important of the three and was also the most attractive. It was he that was standing between the two men and was waiting to address the lads.
"Welcome to you all. For those of you who do not me I am Boromir, son of Denethor the Steward of Gondor. I have been given the honour of helping to train you brave lads along with Captains Norvada (the first man) and Taranca (the darker haired man).
We will turn you all into soldiers and a fighting force that Gondor can be proud of. We shall give all of you a basic training in the art of war and how to use all of the basic weaponry. Then we will divide and train you in to the roles which you would be most suitable for in the army. For example if we notice you are gooding at tracking we will train you up as a scout. Therefore we will train the right person for the right job and gain an effective fighting force.
Training will start this morning and will continue until lunch. After lunch there will be written lessons to improve your reading and writing as well as mathmatical skills and the history of Gondor and its wars. All of your days will be organised like this until we decide that you deserve a day off. So after a few words from Captain Norvada you will make your way to the beginners practise area".
Boromir finished his speech took a step back and looked to his left where Captain Norvada was standing. The captain took a step forward and surveyed the lads, his eyes were cold and today there was no smile spread across his lips.
"Well lads, I'm going to say a few words of warning. Training will not be easy, you will find it hard, your muscles will ache, you will get many bruises and you will think of quitting more then once". The Captain paused for effect and glanced round the lads, eyes stopping on those he deemed to look weak, Jess and Anne were among them, both gulped.
"Those of you who do not take this seriously, do not try their best or misbehave will be given a warning or will get thrown out with dishonour attached to their name.
Unfortunately I will not train with you very often, as my attention will be on the older lads. That pleasure will be given to Captain Taranca and My Lord Boromir who has expressly wished to help train you young lads. So do not dissapoint him. Now make your way to the training area where your work will begin"
"I don't know if I can do this", Jess said looking very scared. Her eyes were wide as she looked from Anne to Stephen.
"Of course you can. Its just gonna be a bit of fun", Anne said smiling as she grabbed one of Jess's arms and Stephen grabbed the other and before she could reply started to pull her toward the exit where all of the other boys were leaving.
"You can always get thrown out", Stephen said smiling.
"Yeah, I spose", Jess muttered.
"And at least we don't have captain Nervada, he looked well strict and just think you'll get to see lots of yummy Boromir", Anne said smiling at the thought of the rather attractive man.
"Boromir", Jess murmured.
The three were at the end of the large group of boys. They were walking through lots of long corridors with tapestries hung up on the walls. The other boys all seemed to be chatting excitedly and all appeared to be very tall to Jess and Anne. They soon reached an open area, which would be where they practised every morning.
Anne and Stephen pulled Jess to the back of the group of lads who were waiting for the two instructors.
"Now you two", Stephen said looking at the two girls "Remember your names are not Jess and Anne, they are Jaye and Aran and do try to behave like boys you don't want to give yourselves away do you? Anne are you listening to me? Anne? Anne stop staring at that boy "
"Huh", Anne muttered as she looked away from a tall black haired boy who was surrounded by a crowd of other lads.
"Look, this is exactly what I'm talking about, you two can't stare at men like that. You'll get in to trouble."
"Yes mum", the two girls replied looking at Stephen.
"But we should try and make friends with some of the other boys so we aren't just an elite group"
"You're right Stephen", Anne said sighing. "We'll behave and get to know some other boys".
Boromir and Captain Taranca arrived at that moment with a couple of servants who were carrying a box of staffs.
"Now", said Boromir as the boy's attention was focused on him. "Firstly a soldier needs to have stamina and be limber enough to fight. So we will start with a run around the area and then we will go on to do some exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, jumps and twisting exercises".
For the next hour Anne, Jess and Stephen were put through complete agony under the direction of Captain Taranca.
"You know I think I'm going to grow to hate him, "Stephen murmured to the two girls as they were doing sit-ups, which the girls who always did a lot of sit-ups every night before they went to bed were doing well at. Stephen on the other hand was having trouble with them and unfortunately for him Captain Taranca had noticed.
"Less talk and more exercise", he snapped. Stephen just rolled his eyes and commenced his twentieth sit-up.
Tired and acheing the three finished their warm up exercises and stood in line with the other boys, waiting for their next task. Captain Taranca took a staff and began to pace up and down in front of the boys. His eyes lingered on each boy as he passed him and directed a comment at him as if assessing his potential. Being the last three in line Anne, Jess and Stephen could hear what Taranca said to each boy. He seemed to like the black haired boy Anne had been staring at and his crowd.
Taranca didn't however pass positive comments to everyone and many were too fat, too skinny, a dreamer or too small.
Taranca reached Anne first and told her that she needed to turn her excess fat in to muscle and grow quickly. Anne looked down at this but kept her mouth and tears in check.
Stephen was a "too skinny, dreamer, who wouldn't be able to use a sword". Stephen royally annoyed with this and cursed Taranca under his breath. Unfortunately Taranca heard. He turned towards Stephen leaning in so their noses' were almost touching and shouted in slow clear voice "You will not answer back and you will not mutter behind a training master's back."
Stephen nervously nodded and looked to the floor. Taranca gave Stephen a searching look then stopped in front of Jess. He looked at her eyes narrowed. "You are a pretty boy blondie but put on some weight and we'll see how you do". Jess extremely surprised looked straight in to his cold grey eyes, saw a smile twinkling in them and began to wonder if there was more Taranca than met the eye.
"Now then my lovelies, lets see how you get on with a staff. The staff will help you with your basic technique and will help to prepare you for the sword. Now Boromir and I will give a short demonstration, then pair you off and you can practise some simple moves".
Boromir and Taranca gave a short and impressive demo/ mock fight. To all of the boys they made it seem effortless and easy and all were eager to get a staff and begin practising. That was until of course they were given the staff which was very heavy and lightsabre shaped. So while Boromir and Taranca were busy giving out staffs and putting people in to pairs Stephen decided to demonstrate his self-taught Jedi skills.
As soon as Anne and Jess realised what he was doing they turned away cringing. Stephen was awful. He swung the staff around, quite manically and passed it from one hand to the other. It was incredibly embarassing, everyone had stopped whatever it was they were doing to stare at Stephen.
Boromir's mouth was hanging open a look of horror on his face, while Taranca was cracking up with laughter beside him. Stephen realising that everyone was looking at him put the staff down and turned a brilliant shade of red. He looked to Anne who was grinning at him to Jess who had her head in her hands, then to the training masters with a sheepish look on his face.
Boromir recovered first and finished handing out the staffs. Taranca meanwhile was still laughing manically at Stephen and only stopped when Boromir cleared his throat and began to divide them in to pairs.
Anne was paired with Stephen and Jess with the black haired boy. Anne was sending envious looks in Jess's direction but Jess didn't notice as she stared openly at Boromir.
"What is the matter with you?", the black haired boy snapped at Jess waking her from her daydreaming.
"Sorry?" She replied.
"Why are you staring at Boromir?"
"Um well I've never seen him before and I've heard so much about him, that well its just he's such a hero, you know", Jess answered in a rush but the black haired boy gave her a weird look and they continued going through the basic moves Captain Taranca had demonstrated.
The staff work continued for an hour until all boys felt thoroughly exhausted. They were then given a wooden pole and a shield and learnt how to use the shield as a defensive weapon. Then they moved on to hand to hand combat and how to do the basic fall, kicks and punches. Just before lunch Boromir and Taranca moved them on to the archery court...
Disclaimer-see prologue
Summary- What happens when three LOTR obssesives, a LOTR fan, an anti LOTRinger and her boyfriend get sent to middle earth. Well 3 of them join the Gondorian army and have fun with bows and arrows and lightsabre shaped staffs. The 3 others are put to work as servants- for the moment! This is better than you think it is so please RandR
PG-13- for some minor swearing and kissing and stuff
Author's note- I have tried to make this chapter longer with more going on but it takes me a while to write. It is mostly about Anne, Jess and Stephen with a bit about Nell at the beginning. Next chapter will hopefully be more about Jo and Rose. Please bear with me I'm try to build the story up! Any comments are welcome!
Chapter 3
Jess, Anne and Stephen were sitting silently in Stephen's new room. All three had successfully passed a fitness test as boys in order to join the Gondorian army. The test had of course been taken with their new training clothes on.
"I can't believe they can think that we are boys", Anne said despondently looking down at the rather ugly red rug type thing that was covering the floor.
"I know", Jess replied. "And I can't believe how someone told them boy's names instead of ours and enlisted us in the army", she complained sending a death glare at Stephen.
"I've always wanted to join the army, and fight with swords and bows and arrows and stuff", he responded ignoring the other two.
"Well I haven't"
"Nor me. I mean have you seen those swords. I doubt if I could even lift one!" Anne complained, " And now we have to learn how to kill people before they can kill us. I mean Jess you can't even watch operations on the TV, how the hell are you going to cut someone up with a bloody big sword?"
"I'm planning on screaming, dropping my sword and running back to the castle as quickly as possible."
"You two are so useless", Stephen exclaimed. "Jo and Rose would be so much better at this then you two!"
"Yup they would"
"Well anyway training starts tomorrow and I for one want to get an early night", Anne said getting up off Stephen's bed.
"Good idea, good night Stephen"
"Night Jess, night Anne".
The two girls walked out of the small, one person room and walked down the hall to their next door to each other rooms.
"We are going to have to be bloody careful", Jess said frowning.
"I know", Anne said sighing. "I doubt that these people are going to be pleased when they find out what we are".
"Probably not, I wonder where Rose and Jo are?"
"I don't know. Probably better off than we are and Nell's still out in that room. Anyway its been a long day and I'm sure they will be fine. Though I'm not sure we will be! So we had better get to bed."
"Yup, goodnight"
"Night"
********
Earlier that day Nell was forcefully dragged by Sally in to the servant's wing. She was told that her attire was not exceptable and to change in to a servant's uniform. This consisted of a blouse type thing with a long dark coloured dress worn over the top, sensible boots and a scarf type thing to keep hair out of ones way when one was working.
This new look was however not to Nell's taste. As soon as these new clothes were presented to her, she took one look and threw a fit. Yet Nell did not get her way (which she had been getting since she was born) as she was surrounded by quite a few large and particularly menacing looking laundry women.
So Nell dressed in the servant's uniform was set to work cleaning bedrooms. She was under the instruction of a young woman called Carla who taught her exactly how to clean a bedroom properly.
Instead of finding the work extremely dull and utterly gross, Nell found herself enjoying the mindlesness and the physicality of the task. As well as the fact that she could look at a lot of other people's stuff without them knowing. Nell found quite a lot of written plans and documents which she found very dull, lots of very pretty dresses and jewellery which she would try on and she learned a lot of very interseting gossip from Carla.
The day had turned out quite well and after she and Carla had finished the last room, they made their way back to the servant's wing. This was a large lower part of the palace/castle type thing, very close to the kitchens and was always extremely busy with all of the servants coming and going.
When Carla and Nell arrived it was extremely busy due to the fact that it was the servants dinner time. The two women made their way to the benches for chamber maids, which were still quite empty, sat down and helped themselves to lots of food.
Nell sat quietly for a while but she kept looking over at a group of superior looking women who wouldn't even glance at the other people in the hall. Even their uniforms looked better then Nell's, a group of similar looking men sat on the men's side of the hall.
"They're the Ladies maids", Carla said as she saw where Nell's gaze was resting. "They think they're so superior just because some Lady chose them to be their maid and look after them"
"Mmm", Nell responded instantly thinking that's where she would be in under a week. She would get there or die trying.
It was halfway through dinner when the last of the servants entered the hall. They were two girls both chamber maids, and were arguing forcefully. Nell recognised them instantly as Rose and Jo.
The two girls took seats opposite Nell and Carla before helping themselves to large portions of food.
"Good evening", Nell said tartly.
"Nell?" the two girls questioned.
"Yes, I am indeed the one you call Nell, who you left unconscious on the floor of Lord Boromir's room."
"Oh sorry about that," Jo said looking up from her plate. She didn't look sorry at all.
"Yeah we didn't want to wake you", Rose added eyeing Nell who was growling at them. Quickly deciding that growling was not lady like and shouldn't be attempted if she wanted to become a Ladies maid Nell decided to change the subject.
"Do you two know where Stephen is? Or the other two? I haven't seen them around here?"
"No idea", Rose replied.
"Dunno probably having a better time then we are here"
"Probably", Nell repeated. "Anyway night girls, we have got to get up early and even I need some beauty sleep to look good in the morning, so goodnight girls, see you in the morning Carla"
Nell left the table and made her way to her small empty looking room, got ready for bed and went to sleep.
******
The next morning not quite as early as the servants Jess, Anne and Stephen rose from their slumber, put on their training uniform, which was a nice green colour and congregated with the other young lads in the hall they had been enlisted in the day before.
The two girls and Stephen had been avoiding the other lads in case they asked questions they couldn't answer. However now there was going to be little chance of that.
Three men walked in to the hall, they positioned themselves in front of one of the walls so that all of the boys could see them. Everyone bowed, Jess, Anne and Stephen followed suit.
Out of the three men Stephen , Jess and Anne recognised one of them. That man was the first man they had approached in the hall, he still looked tall and important looking but now looked rather scary.
The other two men were also tall and they too had brown hair but one had lighter hair and the other darker. The one with lighter hair also looked to be the most important of the three and was also the most attractive. It was he that was standing between the two men and was waiting to address the lads.
"Welcome to you all. For those of you who do not me I am Boromir, son of Denethor the Steward of Gondor. I have been given the honour of helping to train you brave lads along with Captains Norvada (the first man) and Taranca (the darker haired man).
We will turn you all into soldiers and a fighting force that Gondor can be proud of. We shall give all of you a basic training in the art of war and how to use all of the basic weaponry. Then we will divide and train you in to the roles which you would be most suitable for in the army. For example if we notice you are gooding at tracking we will train you up as a scout. Therefore we will train the right person for the right job and gain an effective fighting force.
Training will start this morning and will continue until lunch. After lunch there will be written lessons to improve your reading and writing as well as mathmatical skills and the history of Gondor and its wars. All of your days will be organised like this until we decide that you deserve a day off. So after a few words from Captain Norvada you will make your way to the beginners practise area".
Boromir finished his speech took a step back and looked to his left where Captain Norvada was standing. The captain took a step forward and surveyed the lads, his eyes were cold and today there was no smile spread across his lips.
"Well lads, I'm going to say a few words of warning. Training will not be easy, you will find it hard, your muscles will ache, you will get many bruises and you will think of quitting more then once". The Captain paused for effect and glanced round the lads, eyes stopping on those he deemed to look weak, Jess and Anne were among them, both gulped.
"Those of you who do not take this seriously, do not try their best or misbehave will be given a warning or will get thrown out with dishonour attached to their name.
Unfortunately I will not train with you very often, as my attention will be on the older lads. That pleasure will be given to Captain Taranca and My Lord Boromir who has expressly wished to help train you young lads. So do not dissapoint him. Now make your way to the training area where your work will begin"
"I don't know if I can do this", Jess said looking very scared. Her eyes were wide as she looked from Anne to Stephen.
"Of course you can. Its just gonna be a bit of fun", Anne said smiling as she grabbed one of Jess's arms and Stephen grabbed the other and before she could reply started to pull her toward the exit where all of the other boys were leaving.
"You can always get thrown out", Stephen said smiling.
"Yeah, I spose", Jess muttered.
"And at least we don't have captain Nervada, he looked well strict and just think you'll get to see lots of yummy Boromir", Anne said smiling at the thought of the rather attractive man.
"Boromir", Jess murmured.
The three were at the end of the large group of boys. They were walking through lots of long corridors with tapestries hung up on the walls. The other boys all seemed to be chatting excitedly and all appeared to be very tall to Jess and Anne. They soon reached an open area, which would be where they practised every morning.
Anne and Stephen pulled Jess to the back of the group of lads who were waiting for the two instructors.
"Now you two", Stephen said looking at the two girls "Remember your names are not Jess and Anne, they are Jaye and Aran and do try to behave like boys you don't want to give yourselves away do you? Anne are you listening to me? Anne? Anne stop staring at that boy "
"Huh", Anne muttered as she looked away from a tall black haired boy who was surrounded by a crowd of other lads.
"Look, this is exactly what I'm talking about, you two can't stare at men like that. You'll get in to trouble."
"Yes mum", the two girls replied looking at Stephen.
"But we should try and make friends with some of the other boys so we aren't just an elite group"
"You're right Stephen", Anne said sighing. "We'll behave and get to know some other boys".
Boromir and Captain Taranca arrived at that moment with a couple of servants who were carrying a box of staffs.
"Now", said Boromir as the boy's attention was focused on him. "Firstly a soldier needs to have stamina and be limber enough to fight. So we will start with a run around the area and then we will go on to do some exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, jumps and twisting exercises".
For the next hour Anne, Jess and Stephen were put through complete agony under the direction of Captain Taranca.
"You know I think I'm going to grow to hate him, "Stephen murmured to the two girls as they were doing sit-ups, which the girls who always did a lot of sit-ups every night before they went to bed were doing well at. Stephen on the other hand was having trouble with them and unfortunately for him Captain Taranca had noticed.
"Less talk and more exercise", he snapped. Stephen just rolled his eyes and commenced his twentieth sit-up.
Tired and acheing the three finished their warm up exercises and stood in line with the other boys, waiting for their next task. Captain Taranca took a staff and began to pace up and down in front of the boys. His eyes lingered on each boy as he passed him and directed a comment at him as if assessing his potential. Being the last three in line Anne, Jess and Stephen could hear what Taranca said to each boy. He seemed to like the black haired boy Anne had been staring at and his crowd.
Taranca didn't however pass positive comments to everyone and many were too fat, too skinny, a dreamer or too small.
Taranca reached Anne first and told her that she needed to turn her excess fat in to muscle and grow quickly. Anne looked down at this but kept her mouth and tears in check.
Stephen was a "too skinny, dreamer, who wouldn't be able to use a sword". Stephen royally annoyed with this and cursed Taranca under his breath. Unfortunately Taranca heard. He turned towards Stephen leaning in so their noses' were almost touching and shouted in slow clear voice "You will not answer back and you will not mutter behind a training master's back."
Stephen nervously nodded and looked to the floor. Taranca gave Stephen a searching look then stopped in front of Jess. He looked at her eyes narrowed. "You are a pretty boy blondie but put on some weight and we'll see how you do". Jess extremely surprised looked straight in to his cold grey eyes, saw a smile twinkling in them and began to wonder if there was more Taranca than met the eye.
"Now then my lovelies, lets see how you get on with a staff. The staff will help you with your basic technique and will help to prepare you for the sword. Now Boromir and I will give a short demonstration, then pair you off and you can practise some simple moves".
Boromir and Taranca gave a short and impressive demo/ mock fight. To all of the boys they made it seem effortless and easy and all were eager to get a staff and begin practising. That was until of course they were given the staff which was very heavy and lightsabre shaped. So while Boromir and Taranca were busy giving out staffs and putting people in to pairs Stephen decided to demonstrate his self-taught Jedi skills.
As soon as Anne and Jess realised what he was doing they turned away cringing. Stephen was awful. He swung the staff around, quite manically and passed it from one hand to the other. It was incredibly embarassing, everyone had stopped whatever it was they were doing to stare at Stephen.
Boromir's mouth was hanging open a look of horror on his face, while Taranca was cracking up with laughter beside him. Stephen realising that everyone was looking at him put the staff down and turned a brilliant shade of red. He looked to Anne who was grinning at him to Jess who had her head in her hands, then to the training masters with a sheepish look on his face.
Boromir recovered first and finished handing out the staffs. Taranca meanwhile was still laughing manically at Stephen and only stopped when Boromir cleared his throat and began to divide them in to pairs.
Anne was paired with Stephen and Jess with the black haired boy. Anne was sending envious looks in Jess's direction but Jess didn't notice as she stared openly at Boromir.
"What is the matter with you?", the black haired boy snapped at Jess waking her from her daydreaming.
"Sorry?" She replied.
"Why are you staring at Boromir?"
"Um well I've never seen him before and I've heard so much about him, that well its just he's such a hero, you know", Jess answered in a rush but the black haired boy gave her a weird look and they continued going through the basic moves Captain Taranca had demonstrated.
The staff work continued for an hour until all boys felt thoroughly exhausted. They were then given a wooden pole and a shield and learnt how to use the shield as a defensive weapon. Then they moved on to hand to hand combat and how to do the basic fall, kicks and punches. Just before lunch Boromir and Taranca moved them on to the archery court...
