~Wistful Recollections~
The sun had barely passed its highest point in the sky, when the large company passed by the copse Legolas had fled to the day before and his conversation with Aragorn flitted though his mind. Aerlaer was running ahead beside Taurorn's horse, and Legolas smirked as the Ranger hung on as Aerlaer and the dark gelding played as they ran, feigning to bite one another as they pranced along. Well she is certainly getting the gallop she wished now.
He looked across to where Gimli was astride a strong and broad-shouldered pony, which Éowyn was leading from her own horse. The Dwarf was doing remarkably well even though his hands were grasping tightly to the pommel of his saddle, his gnarly knuckles white.
The group slowed to a canter and he felt Arod sigh. "You'll have a proper rest this eve my friend, unlike our last long journey together." He murmured and a grey ear flickered back to him before pointing forward again. Legolas let his mind wander a little as Arod's rolling, smooth gait lulled him. He found himself quietly singing to himself and it was quite a few moments before he realised the two riders just behind him were the twins. Elrohir rode up on one side and Elladen on the other.
"Elladen is it not interesting that one Elf sings of blue eyes?" Elrohir commented nonchalantly.
"And the other Elf sings of brown eyes?" Elladen added. They both snickered without looking at him before riding on ahead to catch up with Taurorn as Legolas glared at their retreating backs. He wondered what Aerlaer had been singing about. It could be a trick! They might be trying to make me think it could be me but it might be Elrohir's revenge for the apple incident. I am not so easily fooled by them. He grinned to himself and went back to singing his tune.
They rode on steadily, keeping to the road and surrounds which led through the East Fold, directly toward Minas Tirith. Legolas was beginning to get bored when Aerlaer dropped back to trot beside Arod.
"You look bored." She noted and he nodded. "So are Elladan and Elrohir and I confess I am a little too. Elladan has proposed a game."
"What sort of game?" Legolas asked cautiously, watching her dainty face for expression. He caught a flash of mischief in the pools of her dark blue eyes.
"Arrow catch." She replied with a jubilant shake of her mane.
"Why do I feel this game is effectively dangerous?"
"Not afraid there Legolas?" She snickered to him and he gave a derisive laugh.
"Of course not." He answered quickly. "What does this game entail?"
"We shoot an arrow to one another and catch it before shooting it back again." The Elfhorse replied.
"And if we should by chance get hit?" Legolas hedged.
"Elladan is blunting an arrow as we speak and securing a strip of leather to the end so at the very worst, you might get a bruise and as you said last night, once you learn how to heal you can tend your own bruises." She laughed.
"We didn't cover bruising this morning." He quipped and she snorted.
"That will be the next thing we cover then, because one of us if not all will undoubtedly get bruised!" She laughed once more and sped up until she matched the twin's grey mares stride for stride. Legolas heard them sniggering and heard 'Sinda' and 'Sides' in the quick exchange of conversation ahead of him and then Aerlaer and the twins dropped back to trot beside Arod.
"So, the wood-Elf wants to play?" Elladan asked with a grin and a challenge in his grey eyes.
"I'll play." Legolas replied with a smirk.
"Excellent." Elrohir grinned deviously. "We're playing in pairs. Us versus you and Aerlaer."
"Make room, I'm coming up." Aerlaer laughed and Legolas just managed to slide back in Arod's saddle before Aerlaer had shifted back to elf and swung up into the saddle, deftly and gracefully swinging her leg over to sit astride the trotting horse. He resisted the urge to wrap an arm around her waist, remembering her balance was probably better than his.
"Rules and terms?" Aerlaer asked Elladan and Legolas realised this must be a game the dark-haired Elf had devised.
"Every miss is a point to the shooting side." Elladan replied and then smirking, looked to Elrohir and Legolas had an uneasy feeling the other twin had planned his revenge.
"The terms are, the losing side must give the winning side vital information as requested." Elrohir looked straight at Legolas as he spoke.
"Well I had best think of what information I'd like to learn." Smirked Legolas, already decided on what he wished to learn, while hiding his discomfort at the challenge.
"Which landmark ends the game?" Aerlaer asked and Legolas glanced up towards the horizon line, near on fifteen miles ahead he could see another copse of trees.
"Those trees are a good distance away, would they suit?" He asked Elladan and the Elf nodded.
"Perfectly. We'll play at the back of the line." Elladan answered and Legolas followed as the twins wheeled their horses to the outside of the group of riders and dropped back behind them.
"If you shoot, I'll direct Arod. We can both catch." Aerlaer said to him. "We have to win this, they're up to something trying to get information from us. Although it is better perhaps than if the losing side had to fulfil a dare, that can get rather interesting." She added quietly but Elrohir overheard her.
"Oh, we can change it to dares if you want to, little cousin." He called to her.
"No, you've already stated your terms trickster, you must honor them." Aerlaer quipped back to Legolas's immense relief. He had not forgotten Elrohir's mad advice to kiss the elleth.
"Next time then." Elrohir snickered as he cantered his horse after his brother's until there was a forty meter gap between them and him and Aerlaer. Legolas unhooked his bow and rested it by his side in his left hand.
"Game on!" Cried out Elladan as an arrow came flying in their direction. Aerlaer maneuvered Arod in its line of direction and Legolas reached up quickly half standing in his stirrups to snatch the arrow from above his head. He twirled it around in his fingers as he raised his bow and sent the arrow soaring towards Elrohir.
The Elf caught it and sent it swiftly back. Aerlaer urged Arod forward and caught the arrow, quickly handing it back to him and he sent it towards Elladan who missed it.
"One point to us!" Chortled Aerlaer gleefully as Elladan rounded his horse back and leaned down, snatching the arrow up from the ground and deftly sent it singing towards them. Aerlaer hissed as she failed to catch the arrow and it hit her in the shoulder.
"Ha even!" Called Elladan gleefully.
"That is going to bruise." She muttered as Legolas rescued the arrow before it fell to the ground and let it fly towards Elrohir who caught it, once again sending it straight back, aimed lower like Elladan's had been. He caught it before it hit him and returned it to Elladan.
"Managed to catch it that time?" He called tauntingly to the Elf.
"You haven't won yet, wood-Elf!" He retorted and Legolas smirked as Aerlaer reached out to snatch the arrow, flipping it and effectively passing it back half fitted to Legolas's bow, all he had to do was fit it to the string, pull back and release it towards Elrohir. We work so well as a team. He tmused happily to himself as the arrow homed in on Elrohir.
"Ai!" The dark-haired Elf yelped as the arrow hit him in the head. "Think yourself lucky I can heal that!" Elrohir cried out to Legolas as he rubbed the side of his head. The arrow had fallen into his lap and he snatched it up and sent it flying towards Legolas who was still laughing and just managed to catch it before it hit his own head.
As the large company urged their horses back into a gallop, the game became faster paced and soon all four Elves felt the result of missing the arrow. Aerlaer sported another three round bruises on her arm and one on her collarbone near the one on her shoulder. Legolas himself had one on his right cheek and one on his shoulder and the twins were marked on their arms and head but the chainmail they both wore protected any further damage.
The game was tied and as they galloped towards the impeding copse of trees, Legolas shot the arrow as fast as he could towards Elrohir. The other Elf threw his arm out to grab it and missed, the arrow instead landing on the turf.
"Ha we win!" Chortled Legolas gleefully as Aerlaer gave a victory cry, strands of her hair sparking gold.
Elrohir wheeled his horse back and bent down to pick up the arrow and then he and Elladan rode over. The King, from the head of the line, had signaled his company to slow to a trot again and as Arod slowed the twin's horses fell into step with him.
"You owe us information." Aerlaer stated mischievously and Legolas couldn't help but smirk as he peered at the twins over her shoulder. They as a team had beaten them at their own game.
"Fine ask away, one question each." Elrohir answered, looking to him and Legolas was amused to hear his sulky tone. He realised the information he wanted he did not want to ask for in Aerlaer's presence.
"I'm still deciding what I wish to know." He said tactfully and Elrohir nodded and turned to Aerlaer. She was quiet as she looked towards the two identical brothers.
"Aerlaer?" Elladan hedged.
"Is it still a place I could call home?" Aerlaer asked quietly and a deep sadness crossed their faces as they looked back at her and slowly, regretfully shook their heads. Legolas felt the she elleth a fraction in the saddle as she slowly nodded in acknowledgment and his heart hurt for her.
"We go to find Aragorn." Elladan murmured and together the twins rode back up through the company and into the group of Rangers.
...
Aerlaer didn't know why she had asked such a question, she knew the answer was going to hurt her and now she felt sadness and regret for she had hurt her cousin's too. She felt a calming hand gently come to rest on her forearm.
"Something my Naneth used to say; 'If you are happy then you are home'." Legolas spoke quietly and Aerlaer contemplated the wise words of the late Queen of the Woodland Realm.
"What was she like?" Aerlaer asked gently.
"I was only twenty-five when she died, only a half grown Elfling." He replied with a sad sigh and she placed her right hand over his wanting to comfort him. She had not realised just how young he had been.
"It feels as if she has always just been a memory to me and no more. I remember she was joyful and loving. I remember she used to sing to me and tell me tales of adventure of all the different Elves of Middle Earth. She always spoke so highly and lovingly of Adar, and told me stories of some of his own adventures and about Doriath and I decided I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. Back then Adar was full of joy too; the three of us would go out on rides through the Greenwood and have races and climb the trees. Nanath, like Ada, loved to wander through the woods and talk to the other creatures which dwelt there." Aerlaer smiled at the fond memories Legolas was retelling. His mother sounded wonderful. Legolas drew in a breath and Aerlaer instinctively knew what came next.
"Nanath and I were walking alone one afternoon along the forest river. We were close to the edge of the realms border when we were suddenly surrounded by a group of Orcs which had trespassed into our realm. I'd never seen an Orc before and I knew instinctively they were evil, but I never felt any fear.
If my mother was scared she did not show it, instead she calmly sent me up a tall tree and told me to climb as high as I could and not look or come down until I heard Adar call for me. I followed her bidding, climbing to the canopy. The view was beautiful, the sky so blue and clear and there were butterflies flitting around me.
Below I heard the sound of sword on sword and then the laughter and cries of the Orcs and I began to feel scared and then the scariest thing of all was the silence that ensued. The entire woods became deathly silent, the butterflies vanished and suddenly I realised I was alone. I will never forget such silence.
I clung to the branch for many hours, not daring to move until I heard the voice of my Adar. The stars were veiled that night as I hid up in the tree. Finally, I heard Adar's voice calling out for me but it sounded broken. I scrambled down the tree and ran to him and even in the dimness of the woods I could see in his eyes that Nanath was gone from us." Legolas fell silent and Aerlaer contemplated all he had told her. She felt him shift his right hand and then he laced her fingers in his.
"From that night forth, everything changed. Arda was never the same. He withdrew into himself and there was no leaving the halls. He kept me locked within the city walls for years and at first, I thought he was punishing me for what happened.
I discovered later it was his way of keeping me safe. I did not see any others my own age and he never spent much time with me either I think it was because it hurt him to look upon my face. I inherited my mother's brown eyes.
I was going slowly mad in the confines of the city walls, save for studies which I became near obsessed with to try and combat my longing to once again go out into the woods. Studying far off places made me long to leave even the Greenwood. There was so much more out there. When I finally come of age, Adar found me and gifted me a bow and quiver and the two fighting knives I still carry now.
He held a celebration within the city for me and finally I met Elves my own age and began to have some resemblance of joy back in my life. Weapon's training took over from studies, and I relished being able to finally do something challenging. Adar seemed to be able to tolerate the sight of me again as his grief began to lift. By then I understood he had remained in Middle Earth for me.
It was Adar, who taught me himself how to shoot with a bow, fight with knives and wield a sword. Eventually when he deemed I could fend for myself he let me out of the city but always accompanied by guards or the rare occasion, with him. I didn't care at the time, I was finally free."
"We certainly had very different upbringings." Aerlaer mused. "I would not have done well confined as you were, although there were times I felt I was."
"Tell me, what it was like living within the herd? Sometimes the Elves which patrolled that end of our borders would speak of the wild Elves. That is what my kin called yours; wilder even than some of the native Silvan's who dwelt in our realm. I envied the freedom they described you were allowed."
"We were wild indeed to varying degrees. Life was endless exploring, races and play fights with the colts. There were six of us young ones but Aerthor and I were the youngest, followed by Baran and Thenid who were our closest companions. We all learnt to wield weapons together and Aerthor and I were very competitive, always trying to outdo one another.
Our Nanath was adamant we had a rounded upbringing and she ended up tutoring all six of us. She also took Aerthor and I on journeys to Lothlórien and Rivendell so we could learn how all the other Elves lived and how to act civilized if need be. It didn't stop us creating mischief though and I think if Elrond had chosen a mortal life, he would be grey haired from the stress of contending with two sets of twins." Legolas chuckled.
"Life truly was wonderful and carefree and then Ada sent me alone to Lothlórien to live for a time with my grandparents." She quietened as she remembered the reason why she had been sent there.
"You did not wish to go?" Legolas asked curiously and she shook her head.
"I had only been to Lothlórien a couple times before and I fought my Ada the entire way there. I was furious. Once in Lórien I could roam the woods at will but every single guard was under instruction not to let me leave the borders. I tried to twice but my grandmother persuaded me to remain with her. She asked Haldir to continue my weapon's training as Ada had asked her to.
Under Haldir, I learned hand combat and honed my skills with blades. I slowly settled into life in the Golden Woods. I truly do love the woods but I vowed I would not live there forever. Many years later, Ada allowed me to return home and to keep me out of what he deemed as trouble, had me join our guard under Aerthor's command which I did gladly." Aerlaer observed the mountains looming before them.
"Why did he send you to Lothlórien in the first place?" Legolas asked baffled and Aerlaer sighed.
"He did not agree with certain thoughts and actions on my part." She replied, not wishing to delve into it further. "Come, let us speak of something else we may both agree on. Court life, is it not awful?" Aerlaer asked and Legolas groaned.
"The one thing I do not miss is being addressed as my Lord or my Lord Legolas or Prince Legolas." Laughter burst from Aerlaer.
"Oh, is that so?" She chortled. "Clearly you have not herd yourself drunk when you ensure everyone knows you are indeed a Prince."
"I did?" He replied horrified and Aerlaer nodded, still laughing.
"I believe your exact words were; 'I'm a Prince you know." She quoted him in the charming and regal tone he had used and he laughed.
"Manwë I was very drunk wasn't I."
"Very." Aerlaer replied. So drunk you decided to kiss me you idiot. She thought sadly.
"I do regret not remembering dancing with you." He said wistfully. "That I will most certainly make sure I do not forget next time." He decided and it brought a laugh from her and then a remaining smile as she urged Arod on along the rolling plains.
…
Presently Elladan and Elrohir dropped back to them again.
"We head into the mountains now up through that pine wood. Aragorn said it will be walking and trotting only, do you want to stretch your legs as we travel through them? Elladan asked and Legolas nodded.
"Gladly, I think Arod will enjoy a break from us also." He replied and Elrohir's face lit up.
"We could play another game." He said excitedly and Aerlaer nodded enthusiastically.
"Chase!" She declared and Elladan groaned.
"But you will likely win." He said and she laughed.
"A game of chase from one end of the wood to the other, it looks about a mile deep. We could play in teams. Two enter the trees first and hide and try and intercept the other two who enter after from arriving at the other end.
"So, in other words you are challenging two of us to catch an elusive Elfhorse?" Legolas felt himself smirking.
"Try to catch." Aerlaer quipped and his smirk grew wider.
"Then you'll want me on your side my friend." Elrohir grinned to him.
"Looks like I'm stuck being chased like a deer then." Elladan mused. "Are we playing on terms?"
"Definitely on terms." Elrohir snickered, looking at Aerlaer. "No shifting to horse form and cheating and the chaser flooring the chased before they reach the end fringes of the trees dictates a win."
"And the winners?" Legolas asked hesitantly and Elrohir considered him thoughtfully.
"If one of us intercepts Aerlaer then we undoubtedly win bragging rights." A slow grin forming as he turned to Aerlaer.
"If." She said defiantly to which Elladan laughed.
The company had begun streaming into the trees at a walk and the Elves dismounted and let the three horses follow the group of riders under the canopy of leaves.
"Count to one hundred and then enter at your own risk." Elrohir chuckled deviously and Legolas grinned wolfishly at Aerlaer before turning to disappear swiftly into the trees with Elrohir.
"If I take down my brother, do you think you can handle Aerlaer?" Elrohir asked quietly and Legolas nodded.
"Definitely." He replied with confidence as his mind and senses settled completely into the mode of a hunter as Elrohir ran off.
Legolas ran lightly to the left of where the riders had ridden in. The forest seemed to have more sunlight filtering down. Aerlaer will be drawn to the light. She will either race through or go cautiously, I must be prepared for both. He scouted the ground for a largish rock and finding one, carried it with him.
He was sure in this situation; her wild instincts would take over. The foliage was dense and he thought of taking cover in the frond-like plants but his speed and advantage would be in the trees. There was a faint animal path winding through the foliage. He found a spot where to the left of the path there was a small grove surrounded by near impenetrable foliage. A natural trap. He quickly climbed up a large tree a few paces up the path, rock in hand and waited quietly. Watching and listening.
He saw a flicker of movement and then from around a turn in the path stepped the elleth. Legolas realised now why the Elves of the Greenwood referred to Elfhorses as wild Elves. She walked with trepidation, eyes bright, seeking out any dangers, seeking out him. She looked as if at any moment she would bound away.
He had been right about her choosing the lighter side of the woods and following the path. She stepped into a golden ray of sunlight and paused a moment and then looked intently around her. The light played through her hair, turning it to copper and gold as she stood poised, testing the air. Wildly beautiful, pure and free, and I have to catch her. His heart began to speed up at the thought as he watched her. Suddenly her eyes fell to the tree he was hiding in, wild and curious and a smirk played on her lips.
"Come out of your tree, hunter." She called lazily. How in Arda did she know I was up here? He realised he could still attempt to play out his plan and cast the rock up high in the air hoping she either wouldn't see it until it fell right to her or if she did see it, it would take her attention off him. She saw the rock right away, glancing up and slightly in the direction it flew. Now was his only chance. He leapt out of the tree and sprang towards her, blocking her path and she leapt to the gap in the path to the left. Yes. She ran fleetly into the small, closed in grove and realizing she was trapped, spun back towards the exit which he was blocking.
Her eyes were a dark, wild blue as she watched him warily, deciding her next move. He waited muscles coiled, ready to move and then determination flickered onto her face and she sprinted towards the gap he was blocking like an arrow.
He expected her to try and swerve around him and was caught flying back, hitting the floor of the woods, leaf matter and small foliage softening the impact. Aerlaer was on top of him in a tangle of legs and arms and then before he could process what had happened, she had leapt up and dashed away. He lay there flat on his back recollecting his thoughts. By Eru she is quick. He grinned and slowly pulled himself up from the ground and ran at a lope, making his way along the track and out of the woods.
The company were just leaving the trees when he emerged. The twins, Taurorn, Aragorn and Merry and a very smug looking Aerlaer were waiting for him.
"Father always warned the guards never to corner an Elfhorse if they ever came upon them in the woods. Now I know why." He said as he stopped before them and he received six smirks.
"We don't get caught." Aerlaer said simply.
"How did you know I was in the tree?"
"I could feel you watching me." She replied with a tilt of her head and Elrohir snickered.
"Oh, I did floor Elladan." Elrohir said and the other brother scowled a little.
"Yes, because you threw a rock at me. It was hardly fair." Elladan retorted.
"It wasn't in the terms that objects were disallowed." Aerlaer quipped with a laugh. "We've drawn really because you only floored Elladan but perhaps we won because I did floor Legolas."
"That's that then. We won." Elladan smirked to Elrohir.
"Mibo yrch!" Elrohir retorted and leapt up onto his horse. Elladan laughed good naturedly as he settled into his own saddle and shaking his head, amused, Legolas leapt up onto Arod.
"We only have about a mile left but it is all uphill from here." Aragorn said as he turned Brego around and Legolas fell into stride on one side of him while Aerlaer, shifted once more, followed on his other side.
"Where is Gimli?" Legolas asked as he looked ahead for the Dwarf.
"Right here." He heard the Dwarf grumble as he clung to the pony Éowyn was leading.
"You can let go you know." Chuckled Aerlaer as she left the trail and Legolas watched her nimbly leap from rock to rock, making the most of the complicated terrain of jutting rocks, pines and low foliage and bushes.
"Show off!" Called Taurorn and she shook her mane out carelessly and lined up a large fallen pine and cleared it with over a foot to spare before wheeling and leaping up onto the tree.
"More like Elfgoat!" Chortled Elrohir and earned himself a nip on the leg by his own horse.
"Ow." He grumbled. "You told her to do that."
"Maybe I did. Maybe she likes me more than you." Aerlaer replied mysteriously as she leapt down from the tree to walk quietly beside Elrohir's mare, but Legolas was certain the two horses were having a conversation of some sort. Presently Aerlaer turned her head back to look at him, ears flickering uncertainly before resuming walking with her head bent towards the mares.
"I wonder what they are talking about." He mused and Aragorn chuckled beside him.
"Absolutely no idea in the slightest. We are nearly there, Taurorn let us make our way back to Halbarad." The Rangers trotted on ahead leaving Legolas riding alone with Elladan, bringing up the rear of the company.
"Have you worked out what information you wish to learn yet?" The Elf asked casually and Legolas nodded but suddenly a completely different question formed in his mind.
"Whatever did Aerlaer do for King Falas to have her held in Lothlórien?" He asked and Elladan looked at him completely surprised. He studied Legolas thoughtfully before sighing.
"It is not something she speaks of." Elladan said carefully and glanced up looking to where Aerlaer and Elrohir were now mingling amongst the Rangers well ahead.
"I am sure there is more to it which only King Falas knew off, and I think my own Ada knew the full story too." He sighed. "The reason he sent her away was to keep her away from another Elf." Elladan said quietly and now Legolas had even more questions.
"Who was the other Elf?" He asked.
"No one knows, only her parents, my Ada and our grandparents know that information, well that is what Elrohir and I believe." Elladan replied. "It is all a bit of a mystery. I really should not tell you any more of it and do not press Aerlaer to.
She buried those memories long ago, I do not wish them to be fully awoken only to hurt her again. If she recalls them by her own will, and sometimes she does, that is her decision but do not push her to." He warned and Legolas sensed if he went against Elladen, the Elf would make his life extremely difficult.
"I understand." Legolas nodded. He didn't understand at all. The way Elladan spoke it sounded as if this Elf was special to her. Possibly an Elf she had loved. Still loved? Aerlaer to him was the complete opposite of an elleth fading from heartbreak. She was life itself, shining brilliantly. Life simply radiated from her.
Maybe it was a dark Elf her Ada disapproved of or maybe it was a matter of rank. Maybe it had been another Elfhorse? Maybe it was just an idea of love as what Tauriel had been to him. He realised Elladan was observing him with a wistful look upon his face.
"The lack of information is driving you mad already is it not?" He tilted his head enquiringly and begrudgingly, Legolas nodded.
"It all seems so strange." He admitted and Elladan nodded in agreement.
"Falas was not strict on ranking or any of that but that was not the strangest part of it. He was the kind that would not stand in the way of such things yet in this he did without an explanation. He drilled the ridiculous notion into her head that love was instant and whatever she felt was not. Aerlaer eventually came to believe it. I have seen many cruel things in my lifetime and I rate the way Falas convinced Aerlaer to forget the Elf and go to Lorien in my top five." He said quietly. "He tore apart everything she believed in and betrayed her, just so she would come to believe his lies." Elladan's words were bitter.
"Does she still believe them?" Legolas asked, horrified her own Adar could put such influence on Aerlaer's mind and heart. Elladan took a moment to answer as if he was thinking carefully about something.
"Last time I saw her, yes she certainly believed it still. Now she no longer does thankfully."
"Were they a dark Elf perhaps?" Legolas asked as he digested all this new information.
"We don't know, perhaps. They dwelt in Mirkwood is all we do know." Elladan replied with a small shrug.
Aragorn's words rang in his head. No. Both Elves might have had similar personalities but their hair was entirely different, he had settled this question many years ago. Still...
"How old was she?" Legolas asked.
"She had just come of age." Elladan replied, looking curiously at him. "That is a strange question to ask?" He added with a raised eyebrow and Legolas shrugged.
"I just wondered how young she was." He replied. That settled it. She was too young for he was certain the other Elf had been hedging closer to one hundred, she was too learnt and worldly to have been younger. Elladan was watching him curiously, to be exact, gazing into his eyes.
"Yes?" He asked flatly.
"I was just curious the ratio of blue eyed to brown eyed Elves in Mirkwood." He said casually and Legolas looked at him baffled.
"Purely for a research project I had been working on back in Imladris on eye colour statistics per realm. I was not able to ask you while you were last in Imladris, we were both a little preoccupied." Elladan explained nonchalantly.
"Oh, well I would estimate maybe five percent of the Elves had brown eyes. There were green eyed Elves too, not many. Perhaps twenty five percent. The rest, seventy percent were types of blue to grey." Legolas carefully answered. What a curious thing to research.
"Excellent." Elladan replied enthusiastically. "You have helped me greatly my friend. I just need to know the percentages of noble Elves, do you know that?"
"That percentage is very simple." Legolas laughed. "I am the one percent to a sea of blue." Although given Adar basically raised Tauriel, her green eyes should be there too. He thought bitterly.
"How interesting." Elladan replied. "Thank you for your help, brown eyes are quite rare then. Ah finally we have arrived. I better find Elrohir." He left Legolas to arrive upon the wide and long flat green of the valley floor alone and still slightly baffled.