Wild Justice
Chapter 16: The Breaking of the Storm
(Part 2)
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Despite the obvious chill to the autumn going on winter air, the young eleven prince of Mirkwood was feeling slightly heated. Not only because of his condition and the large cloak he wore, but also for the slight worry and anticipation he felt brimming inside of him, though a small part of him felt the excitement. He chewed thoughtfully upon a stick of cinnamon as he entered the courtyard, shifting his bow and setting his quiver upon the one of the stools placed for such use.
He looked up towards the twins and returned the smile that Elrohir gave him. They both approached him and Elladan indicated to the target set about twenty feet away from them. Legolas assessed the distance and took note of the wind's direction and gentle force, this looked too easy. He turned to Elladan:
"You must be losing your touch if you find this challenging, Elladan."
The Elf just smirked to him. "Oh, it's not me you're competing against."
"Oh?" Legolas questioned, his brow furrowed when Elladan pointed towards his brother. "Elrohir?"
Elrohir smiled at him again, "Ignore my brother, you know how he likes to exaggerate things. I merely wanted us to spend time with one another, preferable doing something we all enjoy. When you said you were unsure, Elladan decided to pray upon your pride to get you to agree."
Legolas frowned at them both but Elrohir continued to speak. "But please stay, I apologise on behalf of my brother and I for misleading you."
Legolas folded his arms and simply nodded, his guard up once again. There was something distinctly not right about this whole situation. "Will Elladan not be competing in this also?"
"Nay, Legolas, I shall not. I simply want to watch and see if you are still as good as you were."
"Perhaps you are afraid that you are too old and now lacking the required skill?" Legolas smiled sweetly, his voice spoken in an offhand way. He took small pleasure in the way Elladan's eyes flashed before his face took on its masked politeness.
"Oh no. I would just simply hate to outdo you."
Legolas chuckled a little, "So be it then. Just you and myself, Elrohir?"
Elrohir nodded and they took up their positions, taking a few moments to warm up their bodies so as not to pull any muscles. Once ready, they lifted an arrow to their bows and postured themselves. A nod from Elladan to Legolas and the blond Elf fired first, testing the air with his first shot.
It soared through the air, going slight off its mark as the wind speed changed. The blond haired Elf frowned delicately, lifting another arrow and changing his aim slightly, it flew true. Happy now that he was sorted he nodded to Elladan who ran down towards the target and pulled his arrows free. Elrohir repeated the same action; fixing his stance- he took three attempts before he was satisfied.
They shot aimlessly for a while before deciding that a small competition between them would do no harm. First to three sets with three shots per set allowed. It was relatively simple and so the more enjoyable.
Legolas had just shot his third arrow, earning himself another win as it, like the previous two, embedded itself more or less directly into the middle, had Elrohir's last arrow not been stirred off course from a particularly nasty gust of wind, they would have drawn even for that set. Their scores stood at Legolas winning: two sets to one.
The blond-haired Elf grinned at Elrohir who looked ruffled. "I had forgotten just how good you were at this, Legolas."
The prince of Mirkwood waited for Elladan to collect his arrows back and for Elrohir to begin again. Of the three sets already played, Legolas had won two of them, narrowly missing winning the set before as the child within him had decided at that moment to kick out at him, the shot had thus flown wide and he had barely been able to keep from blushing at Elladan's loud snickering. He had scowled heavily at him though, forcing the dark haired Elf to stop.
Before he knew it, it was his turn at shooting again. Elrohir's aim had improved with every shot, out of the three arrows just fired; two of them were in the centre and one bordering it. Overall, it was an excellent attempt. Legolas lifted his bow again, barely taking any heed of the hand signal Elladan gave to his brother who returned with one of his own. His muscles were protesting now, all of them, even the ones he never knew about were aching with the strain of simply firing arrows.
It was a little upsetting to the Elvish prince, whom prided himself at being one of the better archers in Mirkwood, he still had improving to do of course, but the fact that this simple pleasure of his, one that usually helped relax and ease his tensions, was actually straining him, was most off putting. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind- he could worry about the hurts and pains later in the comfort and safety of his room- Legolas pulled his arm back, ready to fire.
Just as his fingers began to release, Elladan let out a shout. The arrow arched high into the air, soaring deep into the dense woodlands. Legolas spun to glare at Elladan who was making an effort to appear innocent.
"Elladan, you did that on purpose!"
"Me?" Elladan raised a hand in offence.
"Elladan! Not even you could have a valid excuse for shouting out 'MISS'."
Elladan grinned. "Oh but I do have a valid excuse." His eyes glinted and Legolas frowned at him. He had really been enjoying himself with the light bantering between the three of them and- despite the aches- he had been reminded of days long gone by where he had none of the worries he held now. But now, as with those times before, Elladan almost always managed to put a damper on things- especially his mood.
"And?"
"And what?"
"This valid reason you had, Elladan, I am waiting to hear it." He felt Elrohir come up to stand behind and beside him.
"Oh." Elladan smiled. "It was a distraction."
Legolas just looked at him slightly confused for a moment before speaking. "That was the obvious part."
"Not for you to literally miss, Legolas. I only wanted you to focus you attention solely on me."
"Whatever for?" He hadn't really had his friend down as the attention seeking type.
"So that you would not be paying attention to my brother." And as the words were spoken he felt two strong hands, grab his arms and twist them smoothly behind his back.
"What? What is this?" his brow folded in uncertainty.
Elladan approached him with one of his cocky grins plastered on his face. "I simply want to check something, my friend. Allow me to see your stomach?"
The Mirkwood Elf's eyes widened. "You-" he held his tongue from the insult sitting upon it. "You have no right to do this. Let me go!" he struggled vehemently but Elrohir's grip just tightened.
"Please do not struggle, Legolas, my friend," began Elrohir softly, "We mean you no harm. We don't want to hurt you."
Legolas only pulled harder. "Friend!" he spat, "Release me this instant!" he growled angrily, his eyes wide in mounting fear, and suddenly as he saw Elladan approaching closer, he felt something click into place.
He had felt cautious upon entering the training yard, even a little in the library when he was being baited into coming; this was planned- all of it. The archery was simply a distraction. This was the exact reason he had been avoiding the twins since the incident with Elrohir. How foolish could he have been? He felt like crying, but instead he put all his efforts into struggling that more fiercely.
"Lle lava?" spoke Elladan.
"Amin avar!" Legolas kicked out at him, Elladan leaping away.
"Legolas please don't do this!" Elrohir started but Legolas thrashed against him, causing the dark haired Elf to twist his arms higher. Legolas let out a strangled cry between clenched teeth.
Elrohir expertly slipped his leg between the younger Elf's, separating his legs in a way that made it almost impossible for him to kick out unless he wished to force them both to the ground. And Elrohir was banking on Legolas not to be so foolish, as if he even attempted such a move; he would be falling flat on both his face, and his stomach.
Even Elladan knew he wouldn't take such a chance. And so he approached closer.
"Forgive us, melonamin," Elrohir whispered into his ear and Legolas pulled feebly at him before dropping his head as he felt his robes being opened and his shirt lifted to expose his growing stomach to the chilled air. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes at this shame and he bit his tongue to keep from crying as he heard the twins gasp sharply at the clear bulge there.
"Aiya!" Elladan almost sprang away, but curiosity made him step closer, his hand held forward to touch the swollen stomach.
Legolas' eyes flashed at this, "If you touch me Elladan, I will not hesitate to maim you. You both had no rights to do this to me, and you most certainly have to right to touch me thus. You've found what you were looking for no doubt, now let me go."
Elladan nodded and hurriedly pulled both shirt and cloak back over Legolas' stomach. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Does my father know?"
Legolas glared at him; want to cry forgotten as red-hot anger flared through him, he moved violently, jerking his body in attempt to free his arms.
"You could have asked me all this! You could have asked me instead of humiliating me!" he said in a half-shouting, half-strangled voice.
"You would have denied it!"
"As would have been my choice! My reasons for sanctuary have nothing to do with you two! Nothing! Now release me!"
"What, in Valar's name, is going on here?"
All three elves froze as one extremely livid and outraged Lord Elrond stepped into the training yard.
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Elvish Translation(s):
Lle lava? – Do you yield?
Amin avar! – I refuse!
Quell – Good
Melonamin – my friend
Aiya! – Oh!
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To Be Continued...?
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Peace,
CS WhiteWolf
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