A/N: I'm back! Miss me? Anyhow, I've realized that my other stories – well, the characters aren't really that realistic. Please, as you read, if you find anything that doesn't make sense, or a character that is out of place, or incorrectly written, tell me. I really want to make my work the best it can be! Aside from that, enjoy this chapter!
Chapter I"Show me, if you want me to believe you," the girl demanded. The boys laughed. "Small one," one of the indistinguishable two began, "you really want us to show you the newest battle tactic we have learned?" He and his companion looked at each other, and laughed again. The other put his arm around the girl's slender, yet heavily muscled shoulders, and leaned toward her with the air of a confidante. "Gwendolynn, do you think that you can take on the both of us?" She tossed his arm off of her, and looked up at the two young men with a scowl on her face. "Yes, Tanjie, I can." The youth straightened, and turned to his twin "Well, Taijin, it seems that our little sister thinks she CAN defeat the two of us. What do you say? Shall we accept her poorly disguised challenge?" The other nodded, and grinned wickedly. Baiting their younger sister was so fun…
Taijin and Tanjie were in perfect form. They had been trained since a very young age to fight together, and they worked like a well-oiled machine. Even their stretching, as they warmed up their muscles, was in perfect tandem. Two well-muscled bodies, stripped to the waist, gracefully danced around each other, twisting and convulsing in impossible shapes. Their lean bodies pushed into the same forms, making one the mirror image of the other, but even more lifelike, for the sun that danced across their naked torsos showed the perfect bodies to be both completely real. They turned to face each other, and, planting their feet firmly on the ground, each pushed their hands against those of the other. Gritting their teeth, one of them pushed his hands until they were white, using the strength of his abdominal muscles brother's arms to lift himself above the ground into an almost horizontal position. He held it for nearly a minute, and then dropped gracefully to the ground. The procedure was duplicated by his twin, then they were at it again, stretching and bending, their bodied flowing in perfect rhythm.
On the other side of the arena, Gwendolynn was doing much the same exercises. Her body contorted as she bent, seemingly, every joint in her body effortlessly and smoothly. She, as many Elves were, was double-jointed, and her body showed as much as her arms and legs wrapped themselves around her torso in impossible positions. She collapsed to the ground, into a push-up position, balancing on the tips of her feet, her arms outstretched. She raised her upper limbs and interlocked her fingers behind the back of her head, pushing her arms in a steeple to the skies. All the while, she remained on the tips of her toes, in a horizontal position similar to the one her brother was employing on the opposite side of the fighting area. After a minute, she jumped gracefully to her feet, engaging once again in her stretching exercises.
She knew that, if she was to even put up a good fight against her bothers, she had to be perfectly warmed up, her muscles elastic with the flowing of her blood through her limbs. They knew that, even though there were two of them, and they were bigger than her, she was a little wildcat in a fight – flexible, strong, lithe, and very quick. They, therefore, needed to be prepared, and as strong as possible, if they were to defeat her quickly.
All three stepped into the ring, poised and ready. Once in the fighting circle, any attack was viable. Taijin and Tanjie tightened the fastenings on their leather bracers, and bent in tandem to lace up their boots. Gwendolynn stripped off her thick outer tunic and vest, leaving her torso covered only in a tight shirt not unlike the bodice of a dress, and bent to remove her shoes. All three rose as one, and charged to the center of the ring. Gwendolynn jumped into a half flip, landing with her back to the boys, then, as Tanjie flipped himself over her to land in front of her, she hoisted herself horizontally into the air and kicked as she spun, knocking Taijin to the ground. Tanjie kicked her, and she flipped backwards to avoid falling. She landed on her feet, and wiped the stream of blood trickling from the side of her mouth as she bounded forward to continue her assault.
A group of spectators began to gather. Some were drenched in sweat, and had traces of blood on them – obviously they had just finished fighting in the many other arenas. Some were soaking wet, and their clothing was askew – obviously come from swimming against the hard ocean currents. Still others wore regular clothing, and wrist guards. These also wore quivers on their backs and held bows. Warriors from all areas of the training grounds began to group together. This was no ordinary fight, that was plain. Most of the elves that came to the grounds had fought Gwendolynn before. Many had seen her brothers fight. But, for all their vast experience, none had seen a 15-year-old girl fight two newly mature men. Those few who hadn't fought her laughed shortly, and said that she'd never make it – she was only a girl, and a small one at that. The others shook their heads. This girl was determined, and skilled, and those who had fought her knew that, in her particularly, those two things were not good when combined. Not good for her opponent, that was.
They watched in awe as Gwendolynn fought both boys, often turning from one to the other. She flipped, leapt, kicked, punched, and spun with an ever-reducing strength, as she fought to keep her brothers at bay. They were trained to fight together, she knew, and the only way she could possibly win would be to undermine their teamwork and prevent them using any of the double attacks they were known for. The onlookers could see that, although her stamina was waning, that of Tanjie and Taijin was as well. They were dripping in sweat, panting hard, and their exposed torsos showed where bruises were already taking hold. Like a fox fighting two hounds, she desperately battled. Her strength, she knew, lay in her speed and flexibility. She acted on this, always contorting her body to find imaginative ways to hit her opponents, then bounding back with inhuman speed. Her brothers used their superior strength and size to undermine her attacks, and to launch attacks of their own. Her mouth was bleeding again, and twice she had double over in pain at direct hits to her stomach, leaving a tender bruise that sapped her strength even more. Her arms were covered in bruises, and her clothing in dirt from where she had rolled on the ground to evade attacks or get up from falls. They weren't in much better condition.
All of a sudden, she gathered her strength and flipped in the air, landing on Tanjie at such an angle as to force him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. She bounded off, doing a series of flips to distance herself from the fallen man, as he tried to stand. At this point, he could no longer simply bound to his feet, or even roll. He turned onto his stomach and used his arms to raise his body, push-up style. The aforementioned limbs failed him, and he fell into the dust. He crawled to the edge of the ring, and sat to watch Taijin and Gwendolynn finish the battle. Gwendolynn smiled to herself. She had, at least, beaten one of them, and she had broken apart their duo, from which came much of their battle-strength. Unfortunately, she underestimated how close the twins were, a fact she realized as Taijin's face lit up with the fire that was in him, and he began to glow faintly with the fierce white heat that signaled anger among their mother's kin.
He sprung at her, a raging beast, swiftly kicking and punching at her as she retreated, dodging his blows. Her eyes filled with terror as she realized why people feared her brothers – when they were both up, they were powerful because they were together. When one was down, the other was powerful because of his hatred for whatever had felled his brother. Their closeness as twins was their secret strength, she suddenly knew, and resolved to remember. Forcing herself to think as a woman, she became incensed when a blow she had dodged brushed her chest. She realized that this had been happening throughout the fight, and her rage grew. The warrior inside of her laughed, knowing full well that the more feminine side of her was the key to unlocking the hidden power of her anger. I am truly my mother's daughter. She thought, as she unleashed her light. Her body glowed faintly in the bright sunlight, and her eyes became twin orbs of fire, matching her brother's.
The onlookers gasped. Those who knew of Gwendolynn and Taijin's lineage were as surprised as those who did not. Even though they were aware of the secret power that resided in their Vanyaric brethren, they had never seen it with their own eyes. The anger-light, combined with the fiery temper of the Noldor racing through their veins was a deadly combination, one that had the audience captive with fear. The siblings flew at each other, every movement heightened, every blow accentuated with the light of their anger. Out of no where, Taijin's fist came plunging down to meet Gwendolynn's shimmering brow, and she fell to the ground, her light extinguished as unconsciousness took over. His light faded as well, as he collapsed, panting, in the dirt beside her. The audience breathed a collective sigh of relief – no one had wanted to see this type of violence any longer, but all had been rooted to the ground.
Gwendolynn sat up and smiled faintly at her brothers. "Nice moves. I wish I had learned them." They, in turn, smiled down at her, and shook their heads silently.
A/N: Well, I am quite satisfied with this chapter. Very satisfied. Sorry if I messed up your nicely ordered Tolkien worlds by introducing the "anger-light", but it seemed the only way to end the fight, plus, the talent is needed in later chapters, so I figured I had better introduce it now. These chapters are pretty much introductory, which explains why we have skipped two years in the life of our heroine. By about the fifth chapter, things should be moving on a more normal, day-to-day recounting. Please review!