I do not own the Lord of the Rings, nor the characters or its places. Only Mÿne is mine.


Frodo still needed time to heal his wound he gained at Wheatertop. Elrond had said it should take a week, at the most. The Fellowship used this given time to prepare for the journey. Mÿne trained a lot, but it was the fourth day now and she grew bored. Aragorn didn't have time to train with her and the rest of the fellowship was busy too so she was stuck with herself. Well, the hobbits were there too, but they had as much battle-experience as she had when she was six and they were only at the dininghall, stuffing themselves... So now Mÿne sat at the bottom steps of the long stairs to the palace of Rivendell, staring at the busy people around her. She held a book in her hand but she didn't want to read anymore. All the signs in Elvish made her dizzy. With her other hand cupped under her chin she watched a group of young elves pass her. She couldn't wait to hit the road with the fellowship.

"Aragorn told me I could find you here.." someone said behind her. Mÿne turned around and stared at Legolas' face. She crooked a smile and put away her book in her bag on the step below her.

"Yeah, I've been sitting here since breakfast." she replied. Legolas descended the last steps and looked at the elves on the market in front of them.

"How's Frodo doing?" he asked, not turning his gaze from the busy elves.

Mÿne shrugged, "He's doing fine, sometimes his shoulder still hurts but he says it's nothing more than a sharp sting." she said. She'd checked on Frodo that morning. Legolas just nodded.

"But I assume you were looking for me, since Aragorn told you I would be here." Mÿne said, cupping her head again and looking up. Legolas turned around to look at her.

"Yes, he asked me to take you training. He says your sword skills are good but you need to work on your aiming with arrows..." he shot her a questioning look.

Mÿne just shrugged and nodded, her aiming was not bad, but it always could be better. She rose from the steps and pulled her bag on her shoulder.

"I will get my bow, give me a moment please." she said, smiling. Legolas nodded and Mÿne walked up the steps to get her equipment.


She and Legolas decided that the woods would be perfect to train in. He wasn't really a talker, but Mÿne preferred to listen to the sounds of the woods anyway. The river rushed over the small pebbles on the bank, birds chirped softly and wind blew through the trees. Legolas stopped walking and looked around, silently. Mÿne pulled back her hair in a loose bun and waited for him to be ready. She fixed her gaze on his piercing blue eyes, which seem to look for something. After a moment he turned around, looking satisfied.

"First," he said while pulling his bow of his shoulder, "I want to see the way you aim. From there I can decide best how to train you."

Mÿne nodded and took her own bow as well. Her eyes darted among the trees, looking for a good target. She gaze fell upon a willow next to the river, the tips of the branches almost reaching the rushing surface. Mÿne grabbed an arrow from the pouch on her back and pulled back the string of her bow with the end of it. She squeezed one eye shut, her gaze pinpointed on the cracked bark of the tree. She pulled back the arrow some more, to give it more speed and power. The chirping of the birds seemed to faint, the rushing of the river stopped and the sound of the wind softened. Mÿne inhaled air, held it in and released her arrow. With a whistling sound it flew into the tree, cracking the old bark. Mÿne exhaled and looked satisfied at the result.

She turned to Legolas who frowned. Her smile dropped immediately.

"What?" she asked sourly.

"Your feet." he said, "You're unstable. I could push you over when you aim, if I wanted to."

Mÿne raised an eyebrow. Legolas' gaze was fixed on the same willow. Quickly he pulled out an arrow, pulled back the string of his bow and shot the arrow at the tree. It splitted Mÿne's arrow in parts. Mÿne sighed. Needless to say, she was impressed.

"Did you watch my footing?" he asked, looking back at her again.

"No, I was too busy trying to follow that arrow of yours." she grunted, taking a quick glance at his feet.

"I'll do it again. Watch my feet." he said, while he pulled out another arrow.

This time Mÿne watched as he parted his feet, leaned back a bit and fired his arrow above the previous one. It was a perfect hit, just like the last one had been. She supposed that's what true Elvish marksmanship was like, when trained long enough. Even with all the years in the world she wouldn't reach that amount of perfection.


For the next few hours they practiced Mÿne's footwork and her position. She found it harder than it sounded. It seemed that Legolas found a flaw in everything she did, even though she tried so hard.

"I think that's enough for today." Legolas said, looking at the arrow-covered tree. Mÿne nodded and placed her bow back on her shoulder. She and Legolas walked towards the willow to retrieve their arrows.

"Thank you." she said as she pulled out an arrow, checking the tip and placing it back in her pouch, "I never realised I was that...unstable while aiming." she gave a big tuck on the second arrow to release it from the crusty bark.

"I learned it from lord Elrond when I was a young elf..." Legolas said, brushing his fingers over the small feather on his arrow.

They grew silent again, only retrieving their arrows.

"You know, Aragorn never tol-" Mÿne started after a few moments, but she was cut off.

"Hush!"

Mÿne looked at him with raised eyebrows. She could see he was listening to something. With a movement as fast as lightning he aimed his bow at the bushes across the river. He squinted his eyes. Mÿne turned around, hand on her sword and gazed focussed on the other side of the river. She stepped back a little, not dropping her gaze.

"What did you hear?" she whispered to him. He didn't answer but shot his arrow instead. It flew into the tree behind the bush with a small thwacking sound. A small yelp was heard. Mÿne frowned, she'd heard that yell before...

A creature stumbled out of the bush. A few strings of hair plastered on it's face and mumbling to itself.

"They mean to kill us, precious! Yes, they are! But we'll get back on those nasty elves, yes we will!" Gollum said as he crawled away in the forest behind him.

Legolas still frowned as he lowered his bow. Mÿne made a mental note to tell Gandalf when they were back in the castle.

"Gollum..." Legolas said while putting his bow back. Mÿne looked at him, surprised.

"You know him?"

"Yes. I came to Rivendell to tell lord Elrond that he had escaped from our guard." he said, "But I'd never thought he would be this far into the west already."

"He followed us from Bree." Mÿne said, "I met him when I was scouting the area on the way here. He's a clever creature."

Legolas nodded, "Let's get back. We have to report this."


Back in the castle they looked for Gandalf. They found him in one of the many studyrooms of lord Elrond, hunched over some old documents. He looked up when they stormed in.

"He was here. Gollum." Mÿne said, wiping some strands of hair out of her sight. Gandalf didn't look surprised.

"Yes... He's following the Ring. He must have it back, he cannot go on without it." Gandalf mumbled.

He frowned and turned his gaze back to the documents in front of him. It seemed he wasn't surprised as they were. Even more so, by the looks of it, he didn't even care as much.

Legolas just shrugged and Mÿne followed him out of the room. They were silent for a minute. How did Gollum keep track on them? How did he know they had the Ring? Would he strike once they were on their way to Mordor?

A disturbing thought sneaked into her head. What if Gollum told the Nazgûl?

With a quick turn she walked back to Gandalf. He was still hunched over his documents, maps and books. He was scribbling down some notes and was mumbling to himself, mostly routes they would take.

"What if Gollum told anyone?" she blurted out loudly. Gandalf looked up again.

"I don't think he will." he said and he crooked a small smile. Mÿne frowned, how could Gandalf be so easy about it?

"But if he told the Naz-"

"He won't, Mÿne. Gollum is already consumed by the Ring. He wants it for himself. Don't worry Mÿne."

With a sigh Mÿne nodded, turned around again and walked out of the study again.


Legolas waited for her outside, a frown marked his face when he looked at her.

"I was just assuring something. Thank you for helping me today." Mÿne said.

She smiled at him and walked past him. His hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her.

"If you need help again with your aiming, you can ask me." he said.

Mÿn smiled and nodded, "Thank you, I will."

Legolas pulled back his hand, nodded at her and walked off.

Mÿne didn't realised it before, but she was feeling quite hot. She walked off in the direction of her room. When she got there, she threw off her bow, her pouch with arrows and her sword. The light breeze flowed through the open window of her room and gave her some cooling. She leaned on the windowsill, looked over the forest in front of her and she squinted her eyes at the river in the distant. Was it just her or did she see a small creature at the banks, his hands grasping in the rushing waters?

Mÿne decided to shrug it off. She took out her little pipe of her back and filled it with some weeds she bought at Bree. She lighted it with a candle nearby and relaxed at the windowsill. Yes, life was good in Rivendell, but her heart still belonged to the woods.


The next day Mÿne decided to take a rest. She was dressed in some simple elven dress, her hair braided by Arwen when they sat down in the gardens.

"Where's Aragorn?" Mÿne had asked her. Arwen sighed.

"He's been occupied lately by his fate." she answered.

"You mean...he being the heir to the throne of Gondor?"

"Yes... he's in doubt. Or maybe he's afraid." Arwen said while she ended the braid with some nice Elvish flowers. Normally Mÿne would have refused the flowers, but she decided to let Arwen have her way this time.

"It's a big choice he has to make. I do not envy him." Mÿne said. It was true. She rather was in the woods, roaming around and killing some orcs or goblins than sitting on a throne, growing old.

Arwen remained silent, finishing the braid and smiling sadly. Mÿne could almost guess what she was thinking about. Aragorn would go on a terrible and very dangerous task, leaving her behind.

"He'll be fine Arwen, trust me." she said with a confident smile on her face, "I'll keep an eye on him. We all will."