A/N: I only own Almyra, and sadly all others are Tolkien's so far. Ah well.
Almyra watched him sleep, protecting him as she held him close. She reassure herself that he was surely just tired, but then again, had any elf ever slept as much as he did? And, she wondered, the camp he came from. They must worry now of him.
She almost decided to wake him up, and tell him of her worries about the camp, but as she looked at his fair face she sighed. I'm so gullible, she thought tiredly, and got up. Shouldering his packs as well as her own, she picked him up and made her way tracking back to his camp.
Gimli, son of Gloin paced around the fire, muttering. "Where in Middle-Earth is Legolas?" his gruff voice covered his worry for his friend. The hobbits were sitting by a stone, only faintly aware of a problem as they talked. Gandalf paced restlessly, thinking deeply as a rustling noise was heard in the bushes.
Aragorn emerged, shaking his head, and sat next to Boromir. "I didn't find anything." He sighed despairingly. A movement in the forest interrupted his next words. Boromir leapt up with a cry, and ran toward the shape in the distance. Aragorn followed him to inspect what the noise was. A few moments later, and a cry was heard ringing through the forest.
"You do not touch him, you idiot!" a female voice yelled furiously. Gandalf's eyes widened, and took off after Aragorn. In a flash, the entire fellowship was at the scene.
Almyra held her sword with a hand that shook with anger in front of Boromir. "You do not touch him, you idiot!" she had cried. She had put Legolas behind her carefully, his eyes opening slightly at the sight before him. He looked ahead of Almyra, and seeing Boromir and the others, his eyes widened with realization and horror.
He struggled to get up. "Almyra…" he said, looking up at her. She glared at Boromir, then turned to Legolas, kneeling and moving strands of hair off his face. "Legolas, mellon-nin, it's all right," she whispered, ignoring the stares of the others. Legolas nodded, and she got up. She turned to Boromir, and dodged a nearly fatal blow as Boromir's sword descended. Her eyes burned angrily, and she smiled dangerously. "My offer still remains—she raised her sword defensively—and I'm still not afraid."
Everyone except her and the three others understood her meaning. "Step aside, Boromir." A voice behind him commanded. He turned to protest, and saw a determined Aragorn brush past him. Boromir barely had time to step away when the swords clashed.
Almyra stood her ground, her sword locked against his own. She gave a grim smile that she always wore in a battle. He is a skilled swordsman; elves trained him well, she thought, as much as it pains me to say so. She just managed to block one of his blows, and returned one equally as strong immediately.
Suddenly the pace changed. She realized that the fight they had just finished was a sort of test; Aragorn had thought she was bluffing when she said she was good with a sword. "Thought I was lying, were you?" she said quietly. Aragorn stepped forward, his sword glittered in the dark forest, and raised his eyes to stare into hears.
"Yes, but now," he raised his sword above her head and Almyra dodged the sweep down, "you'll get my full attention." He gave a quick slash that almost managed to slice her arm before she blocked it. She looked at him carefully, eyes narrowed, then nodded. Without warning, she spun her sword down, and brought it up, sidestepping and giving his sword a powerful clash.
Aragorn blocked it and gave another attack, a whirlwind of intricate moves Almyra could barely follow. "Good, aren't I?" he said with a sneer, seeing Almyra's eyes widen. She cursed her self and resolved to mask all her feelings and thoughts from now on. He is better at his blows than his blocks. I could use that.
She did an overhead sweep and watched him look in surprise. He managed to block it though. Damn. Well I just have to keep working at this. She let her natural reflexes take place and concentrated on finding a strategy.
The others watched them in silence, as Aragorn and Almyra did a vicious play of who's-better-than-who. Legolas was standing, his eyes wide with worry for his rescuer and friend. As he watched Aragorn get harder and harder to best, he saw that she was tiring. She spent the last day with no sleep, no food, just caring for me… he realized, and turned to Gandalf.
"Mithrandir," he said urgently, "she will never survive this, and she was without food and rest for probably days, she will lose her life protecting—
Gandalf held up his hand. He nodded his head towards the battle scene, and Legolas saw with surprise Aragorn, on collapsing to the floor with a torn and bloody tunic. In front of him, Almyra panted, her sleeve torn revealing a deep gash.
She had cast her elven cloak on the ground to reveal a light armor that had protected her from the stronger blows. She looked at her sword arm in alarm, seeing the wound on her arm and knowing she'll never be able to fight with it properly…
Legolas gasped as she switched her sword to her left arm. Beside him, he could feel Gandalf moving restlessly. Almyra stepped to Aragorn, and pointed her sword to his chin.
She opened her mouth, but whatever words she meant to say were lost as Gandalf stepped forward.
"Almyra, step aside. Now." Almyra looked at him, but seeing the expression in his eyes just nodded solemnly. She walked away from him and Aragorn, and went to the group of others. Unaware of the awed looks she was getting from the hobbits, she smiled at Legolas. Legolas stood for a moment, still recovering from his surprise, then pulled her swiftly into a hug.
She shook her head and pulled away, slightly smiling. "I'll get blood all over your tunic. Wait, that's my tunic. Never mind." she shook her head and hugged him tightly. "I hope you don't do this again anytime soon…" he muttered. She pulled away, laughing, and turned to the others, who were having trouble not staring at the two elves.
"Well, I'm sorry about all this fuss, but I didn't expect to see them," she nodded
Boromir and Aragorn, "here. I'm Almyra, an elf, and hoping you won't be angry for disturbing you." Her last comment made the hobbits grin slightly, but they looked at Aragorn anxiously. Almyra followed their gaze and sighed.
"I didn't hurt him badly, just enough to make him stop trying to slice me up." She looked at them closer. "Hobbits, are you? Interesting…" she murmured. Merry looked at her in surprise, and whispered something to Pippin. They both turned to her, smiling cheerfully. "How do you know we're hobbits, lady? Not many folk do." Pippin asked, and Almyra smiled.
"First, you can just call me Almyra, I am no lady. And, I know that you're hobbits because this is the Fellowship of Nine, for the quest of the One Ring."
A/N: a cliffhanger! Sort of anyway. I've been writing as fast as I can, so hey all is good! And if you're getting disgusted because Aragorn or Boromir was a favourite character of yours, never fear it'll get better! And hey I might just go faster if u REVIEW!