Disclaimer: After reading my story I have decided to re-write my epic Hidden Identity. It will take a long time so be patient, will include all the best bits of the old version and some new bits. Still only own my made up characters though sigh shame, I'd love to own Legolas and Elrohir. Warning Fem Slash
Hidden IdentityChapter Two, First Test
Training was hard from the beginning, they did push ups, pull ups, they ran, the jumped, they climbed. It was tiring work for Leila, not so much for Shí. They did archery, they worked with swords, they twirled knives, the fought hand to hand.
"My thighs look like a mans, and my upper arms," Leila huffed as they polished their long knives in the small tent they shared. It had been two years since they'd joined up and now only had one year left.
"We are meant to be men you know," Shí said with a small smile, Leila never changed, still complaining about this and about that. "Come on or we'll be late for hand to hand, new instructor today remember." Still grumbling Leila rose and stored her knives before following Shí to the training ground where the rest of the men were already waiting.
"Almost late as ever you two. That's our new instructor, Prince Legolas," Dallas told them, nodding to the handsome elf with Dalamar.
"The Prince Legolas? As in Crown Prince, Heir to the Throne yadda yadda yadda?" Leila asked, staring with wide eyes. The two instructors walked over to the now complete group and stood before them, hands clasped behind their backs as tey looked at the men's faces.
"I am you new instructor. Dalamar tells me that you are a very good group of men, willing to give everything into your work and who always do your best. I want to see if that is true. Pair up and give me demonstration of your hand to hand combat skills," Legolas said loudly, his expression serious. The group paired off, Shí and Leila as ever going together.
They started with the normal stuff, simple punches, kicks to the side but then as they got into their usual comfortable routine the kicks got higher and the punches closer to causing actual harm until suddenly Leila's right foot soared cleanly over Shí's head. Shí didn't even move, in fact she barely blinked. As they continued to fight the other men including the instructors stopped what they were doing and formed a wide circle around the deeply concentrating pair.
Parrying both a punch and a kick from Leila her best friend easily threw her behind and to the side, spinning through the air. It would have greatly hurt however Leila landed if she hadn't managed to land completely in control and on her feet, fists raised to continue the fight. Before Shí could turn Leila's foot came up and hit Shí between her shoulder blades sending her face first onto the ground. The men began to applaud and Leila's head snapped up from where she'd been smiling at Shí, only then noticing their interested audience.
"Oops," she muttered as Shí got up, neither had realised what they were doing, they just fought as they had always fought, with the flexibility of girls.
"Very impressive," one of their friends, Dagon, said with an amused smile. At the edge of the training practice a group of women in elegant dresses giggled and waved at the two fighters. Leila blushed so badly her face burned.
"Seems we have a couple of very competent fighters in this group," Legolas commented, folding his arms over his chest. Shí looked calmly at him while Leila gazed at her boots.
"When did you learn to kick peoples heads?" Toledo asked Leila who bit her lips and shrugged. "He never did that before, I should know, he was either with Gaalin or me and he never kicked my head."
"I just got carried away, Gaalin's small like me," Leila mumbled explanation was barely heard by some of the men.
"Could you kick someone taller, say me?" Legolas asked. Leila looked up at him, Shí only came up to the Prince's shoulder.
"Maybe."
"Try." Legolas stepped out form the circle and stood before her, watching as she bit her lip and crossed the first two fingers on her right hand, she didn't want to kick him in the head. Before she could chicken out she spun round and brought her leg out, her heel going past Legolas's nose barely an inch away.
"Only just," Leila mumbled while Shí grinned.
"Where did you learn your fighting style?" Legolas asked.
"Home. We were only little when our village was attacked so we did what could, jumped form the roofs and knocked them from their horses. It was easy. We just carried on like that," Shí explained, her completely made up story rather believable, "Although even I his best friend still can't understand how he get's his leg so high so often."
"Hey! And that attack may have been easy for you but it wasn't for me, I was afraid of heights!" Some of the men chuckled at Leila's in put.
"What are your names?" Legolas asked.
"Sérle."
"Gaalin."
"Thank you, now back to practise but change partners please," Legolas ordered as he turned and walked away. Toledo grinned at Leila, ready to partner the amazingly flexible fighter.
"That one is so cute," the group heard the girls giggle from the side.
"Who are they talking about?" Leila asked Toledo as they began to spar.
"You, lucky thing. Some of them are seriously cute," the other boy looked quite envious. Leila on the other hand was in shock, staring at him stupidly before looking over at the girls who giggled some more a wave.
"Oh dear…"
Two weeks later and the group were camped out in the forest for some training. It was such a hot day that most of the men had stripped to just leggings to do their practise, their upper bodies shined with sweat. Leila and Shí could not, they kept their shirts on and as a result Leila was red in the face and slightly dizzy. It didn't help that every time she saw one of the men's chests she got even more flustered and embarrassed.
"Is Sérle straight?" Dallas asked shi quietly.
"Why do you ask?" Shí asked with a surprised frown.
"Watch him, every time he looks at one of our chests he blushes."
"Strange, I don't thing he's gay. He had a sweetheart back home, so sad." Shí sighed and looked sorrowfully at Leila.
"Had? What happened?" Dagon asked.
"She died, speared by an orc in front of him. He couldn't save her." The two men looked slightly ill now and obviously felt sorry for Leila. "If you'll excuse me." Shí quickly went over to Leila and pulled her aside, behind a tree in fact. "You're lucky I can improvise."
"What?"
"You blush every time you see one of the men's chests. They noticed and asked if you were gay. I had to make up some cock and bull story about your sweetheart being speared by an orc," Shí informed her.
"Oh…well thanks. So now I just act shy around women. Not hard to do, at least I have an excuse to avoid them now. They all flirt with me," Leila shuddered. Shí laughed loudly.
"Well you are cute…as a boy I mean. You make a cute boy," Shí blushed slightly before walking away quickly, leaving Leila to stare after her friend who had always openly been into her own sex. She was still stood there, worrying over what Shí had said when it started.
"ATTACK!" Elves dressed in black with the mark of Sauron on their chests appeared from all around the camp, arrows thudded into both trees and elves, one barely missing Leila who quickly ran towards her pack to grab her weapons.
"I thought the report said they hadn't got past Grey Watch!" Dalamar shouted at Legolas as they drew their long knives.
"They hadn't!" Leila and Shí glanced quickly at each other, that was their village, where their families were. They had no more time to think, the attackers were upon them and vicious fighting began, one on three in the favour of the bad guys. Of course Shí and Leila were mixing their special hand to hand in with their knife fighting and had already succeeded in taking many of the enemy out.
Leila was fighting a rather good and very furious enemy, he had a long curved sword which he wielded expertly, she had to use both her knives to block him every time he struck and her kicks weren't doing anything to him. Suddenly, while her knives were locked together by the sword he pulled a knife out of her belt and slashed up her cheek in one single stroke.
She screamed, just managing to hold onto her knives. A growl took over after the scream and she pulled her knives away, ducking to avoid his sword, them spun and smashed her foot into the side of his head, using so much force it snapped his neck. Another charged at her and she dropped, her legs spread one in front and one behind her and thrust one knife upwards, spearing him through the belly.
He fell down and she jumped to her feet easily, knives ready for the next one to attack her. One tried to attack her from behind but quite easily she flipped him over her shoulder, disarming him at the same time and holding him to the ground with a foot pressed against his throat just enough to restrict breathing.
"I am not in the mood," she growled and spat blood in his face, "You aren't going anywhere."
Meanwhile a little way away Shí was taunting her attackers making it looked easy and then quickly killing them, once she kicked on in the balls and speared him on his charging friends sword. Then of course she slashed his friends throat before he could get his sword free. At some point a sword bit into her arm but she ignored it, continuing her fight. The last she killed before all the dark elves were dead was one running at her, sword ready. Barely blinking an eye she threw her knife, it spun through the air and imbedded itself to the hilt in his neck.
The only one alive was the one struggling under Leila's foot.
"Are they all dead?" Legolas asked.
"Not this one your highness," Leila called calmly. The men gathered around her and smirked at the sight of the small, young and rather thin boy easily holding down the stronger and larger man with only one foot.
"Good, one for interrogation," Dalamar said, nodding to two men who when Leila stepped off the man hauled him to his feet, binding his wrists firmly behind his back. As they tried to haul him away he pushed himself right in Leila's face, growling angrily,
"I'll get you back for this boy!" Leila merely smiled at him as he was dragged away, still shouting back at her about his revenge when he escaped.
"Sérle, your cheeks looks awful," Shí said worriedly, turning Leila's head with a touch to her chin to get a closer look, "Look's really painful."
"It is but I doubt your arm is much better."
"Bury the dead. We ride for Grey Watch in an hour," Legolas ordered before walking away, his entire body tense. The men watched as Shí walked over to one of the body's and pulled her knife from his neck, using all her body weight to free it. Calmly she wiped it clean on the man's black tunic.
"Hey look at that ones neck," one man said quietly as they moved the dead into a pile to bury. Leila blushed slightly.
"What did you do?" Shí asked with a grin.
"Spinning kick with a little bit more force than necessary."
"Nice." They were helping to dig the mass grave for the enemy when the healer of the group marched up to Leila and grabbed her arm.
"You should have come to me immediately, you too Gaalin," he scolded as he led Leila away to where he'd set up his healers things. Shí's arm was quickly bandaged and she was sent on her way, Leila's face was not so easy. "That's going to need stitches."
"Oh," Leila moaned, squirming slightly. The healer gave her a look that clearly said, 'If I don't put the stitches in it's going to hurt a lot worse.' "Just do it." As he used the thin thread and sharp needle to sew her cheek back together Leila flinched, biting on her knuckles to stop herself from screaming in a very girly way.
"There, all finished. Now hold still and I'll put a bandage over it," the healer told her while rummaging in his pack for a clean one. Leila mumbled what was meant to be a thanks, "You won't be able to talk properly until it's healed I'm afraid and it will most likely throb until then."
"Thanks," Leila kept her jaw clenched as she spoke, literally only moving her lips to speak. The bandage was tied off securely and she touched her cheek gently with her fingertips.
"Come and see me every morning so I can keep a constant check for infection," the healer ordered her as she stood up. Leila walked over to her horse, stroking it's main for a few moments before she sorted out her packs and bags, making sure that they were secure.
"I'm not going to tell you anything!" Their prisoner's shout broke through the relative silence of the wood. "I'll never tell you anything." He looked away from his interrogators Legolas and Dalamar and his gaze found Leila's. It turned immediately icy and he spat angrily on the ground, smirking at her. "Fought well that boy did, too well." Legolas looked over and saw 'Sérle' packing his things with his cheek bandaged up.
"Everyone saddle up! We ride in ten minutes!" Legolas shouted, storming away from the prisoner who laughed loudly at him. The tents were dismantled and secured to the saddles and the elves mounted their steeds with their usual elegance and grace. Dalamar tied one end of a length of rope to the prisoners bound hands and the other to his Prince's saddle before they both mounted.
The group gently kicked their heels and the horses moved off, the prisoner running behind. After about an hour Leila's mount ended up next to the prisoner who glared at her and said angrily,
"I'll get you boy, no one beats Valbal and lives more than a week!"
Leila looked away from him and kicked her horses sides, sending it into a faster pace than the others. She sped off ahead of the group, ignoring everyone.
"Sérle! Come back! You'll get lost!" Legolas shouted after her but Leila continued riding through the trees, her hair flapping wildly around her along with her cloak. Soon she was out of sight.
"Don't worry my lord, we come from Grey Watch. He won't get lost going home on a route we've used many times before," Shí said calmly to her Prince.
"Good. But what made him go off like that, I'll have him court marshalled for abandoning his group," Legolas asked angrily.
"Our prisoner spoke to him and then he was off."
"Oh," Legolas turned to glare at Valbal who merely grinned back. "Well let's speed up a bit so that we won't arrive too much after him."
A/N R&R.