A/N: The description of this story says there is fluff. And so far there has been no fluff.

I really struggle with it, but my friend gave me some prompts so I've decided I'll be attempting to do them! So here is a first try.

Set between The Hobbit and LOTR.

"You would not have to ability to do it."

Aragorn scoffed, shaking his head in the vague direction the voice had come from.

"You overestimate the difficulty of it." He answered.

"You underestimate it."

Aragorn smiled. One of his favourite things to do was tease the elf, even when his claim was completely untrue and he realized this. Of course he did not truly believe it, but it was enlightening to see Legolas so indignant over their banter.

Continuing to walk, he followed the path which had turned to little more than tree roots and the fallen autumnal leaves. The wood was small, only stretching a mile or two between the mountains. If they kept going, they would eventually get to Mirkwood, though that was not their intention. There were still a few months left before Legolas had to return. His father would get worried if his absence stretched too long.

Aragorn had been more than a little surprised when the elf had turned up. Nobody had thought to send a warning, not even Elrond, though Aragorn had no doubt that he knew of the meeting. So he had been wary at first, but after the confirmation he had begrudgingly accepted that the young elf would be tagging along behind him for a while.

But he had forgotten quite how useful it could be to have someone by his side. It had been a while since he had parted from the other rangers, going his separate way, and it was definitely pleasant to have company. And Legolas had proved himself to be much more helpful than Aragorn had expected. He had expected someone more like Thranduil, though they'd never met in person he had heard stories, and had not been looking forward to the idea of having a mini version of him trailing after him.

Yet Legolas was anything but proud and cold. He was quiet and thoughtful, and though he had a stubbornness to outmatch even Aragorn, he had been very handy. Aragorn appreciated having someone who could watch his back. Not to mention the fact he was definitely effective when it came to ambushing, though he put himself in the line of fire to be so.

The past few months had to be some of the best Aragorn had experienced, once he'd got used to the elf's company. As the winter had turned to spring, and the spring to summer, and even as the days began to grow dark and cold again, they grew closer. Aragorn came to trust Legolas with everything he had. And each time they were put into a dangerous situation, the trust grew, until Aragorn could say with certainty that he trusted Legolas with his life.

He was not looking forward to the visit they would inevitably have to make to Mirkwood, however brief it would be. Legolas did not speak much of his life there, nor his father, and Aragorn had a feeling that his life there might have been a far cry from the life he himself had experienced with Elrond in Rivendell. But the trip would be necessary, even if they were just going so that they could convince Thranduil to let Legolas continue campaigning out of the borders.

Aragorn smiled to himself as he heard Legolas drop out of a tree behind him, landing on his feet nimbly. He would never get over the way that elves were able to wander across trees as easily as of they were solid ground.

"You truly believe what you say?" Legolas asked. Aragorn did not turn back but continued walking, Legolas catching up and walking beside him."

"I do. It is not as hard as you make it out to be."

"So you could achieve it to my level?"

Aragorn frowned contemplatively.

"I think I could, given the opportunity."

Legolas scoffed, and then stepped in front of him, barring the way. He reached to his back, pulling his bow over and pushing it into Aragorn's chest.

"Prove it." He said, a glint in his eyes. "If it is so easy, then you should have no trouble."

"It is really not that difficult. I had some training by my companions up North."

"Well then, your limited training should be more than enough."

Aragorn laughed. He dropped his pack to the ground. They had no real destination, so no real time pressure. Stopping and making camp early would not be a disaster. Besides, they were at the edge of a clearing where they could easily set up and keep watch.

"Fine. But you should go first."

"Oh, so you wish for me to set the target."

"If you would be willing. Otherwise you will have to accept my word."

Legolas placed his own bag down next to Aragorn's, and while Aragorn knelt down to rummage through them he clasped one of the arrows from his quiver. Pulling it out, he lowered his bow and positioned it, then drew the string back, taking aim. But he did not aim to one of the further trees as Aragorn expected him to, but the nearest one, not more than five meters away. The arrow lodged itself firmly into the bark, and Legolas turned to Aragorn with a grin.

"Your turn."

Aragorn raised his eyebrows.

"You can hardly set a challenge for me if the end goal is easy. I'm beginning to fear that you doubt my skills."

"What gave you that impression?" Legolas asked sarcastically. He held the bow out. "If you manage to make this shot then, certainly, I will give you a chance to demonstrate your skills."

Aragorn stood up and took it begrudgingly. Legolas had never seen him use a bow, so he supposed it would have been reasonable for him to set an easy target. But it was clear that Legolas was doing it purely for the enjoyment value.

He took one of the arrows held out to him, positioning it, then drew back the bow and aimed. It certainly had been a while since had had done this. The rangers had been more than competent in archery to extreme levels of ability, but after years of staying with the elves, Aragorn had spent most of his time pursuing different methods of combat, ones which involved blades. Yet he could remember a little, and gathered his knowledge as he steadied his arm.

Letting the arrow fly, satisfaction flowed through him as it lodged with a thud, right above Legolas's. He turned to the elf, giving a bow.

"You see? Archery is not as big of an achievement as you make it out to be."

Legolas retrieved the arrows, pulling them from their place wedged in the tree. He said nothing, so Aragorn continued, "All you must do is aim a stick in the air, and fire at someone."

Legolas, having retrieved his arrows, turned back.

"Is that so?" He asked, taking the bow back from Aragorn. "I feel I have not set the bar high enough, Estel."

"Think what you will, but my word stands until proven otherwise." Aragorn answered, smiling. A challenge.

Legolas rose to the bait. Within the time it took Aragorn to blink, he had fired again, aiming in less than a second. When Aragorn looked for the arrow, expecting to see it in a neighboring tree, he instead saw it on the other side of the clearing, not just embedded in a trunk, but lodged in a thin branch. Aragorn could only just about see it, the distance much further and the target a lot smaller.

Legolas offered him the bow, and he took it.

"So you wish to proceed with humiliating yourself, instead of accepting that archery is, in fact, not as easy as one might presume?"

"I would not dream of it." Aragorn replied, also taking the arrow. "Be it that I humiliate myself, which I highly doubt, then your point will be proven. Then I will give myself chance to regret my actions, as you will give me little chance to forget my failure."

"Your stubbornness is showing, Estel."

"Iston, mellon nîn." Aragorn said, slipping into elvish.

This time it was harder for him to find a position he was comfortable in; he could barely see where he was aiming for a start. Even when he recalled every scrap of information he could remember the rangers teaching him about shooting, he could not find an easy way to relax and let his hands move for him, as they had instructed him to.

"If that was an orc you would be dead by now." Legolas pointed out. Aragorn responded by lightly pushing him away from where he had been hovering by his shoulder.

"Hush. I am concentrating."

He could feel Legolas smiling triumphantly out of his line of sight. The weight of his gaze bore heavily down on Aragorn, and he felt his heart skip a beat as he aimed again. This time he made a little more effort to get a successful shot, even knowing that it would be near impossible for him. He was correct in his assumption, and the arrow flew far too wide.

"Are you ready to redraw your claim?" Legolas asked.

"If you would be so kind as to silence yourself for a moment."

"You're trying again? Don't waste all of my arrows."

"We are barely a days walk away from the nearest village. You can restock there, or make your own."

"You won't be saying that if we are ambushed tomorrow, and I do not have my primary method of protection."

Aragorn sighed.

"I will attempt it once more. Then I suppose we will have to compromise to dissuade any disagreements."

"You will have to compromise, because you will have to realise that I'm right."

Aragorn did not reply, but took aim again, trying to balance his weight more equally and hold the bow firmly.

"Raise your arm." Legolas said.

"Will you be silent for one minute?"

"If you do not aim higher then it will fall short. And you have not accounted for wind." He continued, walking to beside Aragorn and gently reaching to correct his arm. He lifted it slightly, and Aragorn let him, despite the nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him that in doing so he was accepting that he was wrong.

When Legolas had made sure that his aim was correct, he stepped back.

"Try again."

Aragorn drew the bowstring back, and waited for Legolas's approval. "No, you see when you pull back the string you tend to raise the other arm. Now it will go too far."

He came close again, and lowered the bow. Aragorn's arms were trembling slightly in his attempt to keep steady, but he tried to not let it have a sizeable impact. "That looks better. When you're ready, release it."

Aragorn took a couple of breaths as he tried to document how he was standing, and his position. Though he had clearly lost, as he knew he would, it did not mean that he would have to accept defeat in later years. If he remembered the technical aspects now, he would be able to recreate them later on. Though being able to top Legolas's centuries of training would be unattainable no letter what he told himself.

When he eventually released the string the arrow flew just over, he had spent too long lost in his thoughts. But Legolas smiled happily.

"That was good! Given that you seemed to have retained little of any other teachings, that was especially good."

"I am not a beginner." Aragorn said indignantly. Legolas hummed in disbelief. "Well, I might have spent less time than I could have on listening to the other rangers."

"I am not surprised."

Handing the bow back to Legolas, Aragorn turned to sort through the bags.

"We might make camp here, if it suits you. I see no point in traveling further, we should make for the settlement tomorrow." He said contemplatively. The longer he could spend before he had to deal with the hostile staring his reputation as a ranger could bring, the better.

"That suits me well." Legolas agreed. He wandered away, and when Aragorn next looked up he saw him absentmindedly collecting the arrows.

When he returned, they sat in silence for quarter of an hour, Aragorn sorting through their remaining food and Legolas needlessly keeping watch from a branch. When he could bear his curiosity no more, Aragorn faced Legolas.

"What is on your mind?" He questioned.

Legolas tapped his foot thoughtfully.

"I was considering the matter of, maybe, I could help you to expand on your archery skills?" He replied. "If you want to, of course." He then hastened to add.

Legolas watched nervously as a smile crawled its way onto Aragorn's face as he digested the offer.

"I would love that, if you would be so kind as to assist me."

"You would?" Legolas beamed. "I shall do my best to help you Estel, though my teaching skills are somewhat lacking- "

"However, may I request one thing in return?" Aragorn continued. Legolas tilted his head, signalling for him to expand. "In exchange, you will forget everything which has occured in the past hour."

Legolas grinned.

"Oh, I see. Well, Aragorn, I feel as if this is not quite equal to that. But I will compromise in this case. We may forget your shortcomings."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"But do not think that I will not tell Elrond the second we are in Rivendell once more."

Aragorn scowled, but it had little heat behind it. Legolas, on the other hand, was smiling widely, all previous nervousness gone. They had a few hours left before they needed to sleep, and he had plenty of ideas for how he could start Aragorn off.

And, in later years when Aragorn had mastered using the bow, who was he to judge when Legolas told this story to the rest of the Fellowship?

A/N: I have no idea if this is good or not, but I hope you enjoyed! Have a lovely day/night!

Elvish translation:

Iston - I know