Chapter 2, Letters and gifts

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Lenya's Point of view

I stared at the letter I held in my hands. It was folded and I didn't feel like opening it. Wasn't I clear enough when I requested that who over touched my stuff should leave it alone? Wasn't the note I left saying 'Don't touch things that don't belong to you.' subtile enough?

I had to admit that it wasn't exactly polite, but I couldn't get over the fact that someone read something so personal, let alone get involved in it. Because of this random person my little private place in the forest wasn't so private anymore. I even had to take my pen, ink and paper home because of this. Lira went crazy when she saw me sneaking in the house with it and instantly assumed I was secretly writing love letters to someone. I had to avoid her for two days before she finally kept her mouth shut.

Eventhough I told myself not to go back to the place and just leave it alone, I hadn't been able to resist the urge. The curiousity. I had to go back to see if someone had replied to my not-so-very-polite note. Maybe left something for me. Anything.

And appareantly they had, I thought to myself while looking at the letter in my hands. I had found it at the same bush where I had left my writing equipement, along with a little box.

My anger made place for curiousity. I sat down on the grass to make myself comfortable and opened the letter.

"Let's see what this person has to say for themselves," I mumbled.

'Dear unkown writer,

Firstly I'd like to apologize for my rudeness. I shouldn't have read your song, let alone write on the paper. Eventhough it's a weak excuse, I couldn't help it. There was no one around and at first I thought the letter was dropped by someone by mistake. I only took a look at what it said so maybe I could find the owner. Instead, I found a beautiful song that was missing it's ending. Something that beautiful shouldn't be left unfinished and without thinking I simply started writing. I meant no harm with it and I wasn't aware that it was personal to you.

In the box next to this letter you'll find a box. Please accept this gift as my apology.

Yours sincerely,

Linnod.'

After reading it once, I read it another time. And another time. Still surprised, I picked up the little box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful feather quill. The feather was colored bright red and there was a tiny ribbon tight around it. I realised a gift like this had to cost a fortune. There was no way this didn't cost a lot of money, I hadn't seen anything like it around town.

I was surprised, confused and a little bit ashamed at the same time. My anger with this random person had been completely misplaced and there was no way I could accept a gift this expensive.

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Legolas' Point of view

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Rae asked for the third time this afternoon. He jumped up and down inpatiently next to me and Luriel.

I sighed. "Like I told you 5 minutes ago, a person coming from that direction," I pointed in the distance, "carrying a little box."

He paused for a minute, and then replied, "And this person, is this a he or a she?"

"Rae, like I said, I don't know. I'm just curious to find out who wrote the song." My eyes scanned the area again. I had placed the letter and the gift there only this morning, but I was hoping the author of the song maybe randomly decided to drop by today, to see if his or her note had been replied to. I was too curious to find out who this person was. I had been careful not to use my real name though, just in case.

"What if, …" Rae started again, "… this person is a he?"

Luriel finally looked up from his book and replied for me, "Than he'd be happy to receive such an expenisve gift."

I smiled at Luriel, thankfully. "Exactly."

"No no, really, let's think about this," Rae grinned and continued excitely as he sat down next to us, "You might've given a red, ribboned feather quill to a guy. Doesn't that sound a bit weird to you? Red? RIBBONED?" His face went from me to Luriel and back. "To a MALE?"

Luriel closed his book and raised an eyebrow, "What exactly is your point, my friend?"

"Oh, nothing," Rae grinned and leaned back against the tree, "Let's just hope he's married. Great gift for a girl."

I shook my head and laughed. Typical Rae.

"Don't worry," Luriel whispered to me, "I think it's very kind of you. Male or no male."

After scanning the area one more time, I decided to give up. I couldn't sit here all day, waiting for a random person. Maybe I should simply go back later to see if someone had picked up the stuff and leave it at that.

I wondered if the person would even bother to go back to the place and closed my eyes.

I was enjoying the warm sun on my face when Rae suddenly poked me.

"Look, there's a girl coming from the forest!" he whispered and both me and Luriel instantly looked up.

"Isn't that the sister of that annoying little brat back in town?" Luriel replied, puzzled.

I immedeatly recognized the girl. "It's not her."

"How do you know?" Rae asked confused.

"Can't be. That's just some rude farmersgirl from down town. Her sister is that girl named Lira, Luriel's stalker." I replied dryly.

"Mind you," Luriel glared at me, "Last time I checked she couldn't wait to get rid of me and be alone with mr 'prince charming' over here."

"How are you sure it's not her?" Rae said and his eyes followed the girl.

"Trust me, I know." I started my rant, "That girl is rude and impolite. She has no manners whatsoever. That day when her sister, Lira, dragged me and Luriel down to her house to meet her family, she did noting but ignore us. I even tried to be polite and ask her something and I got nothing back but rudeness. The song I read was beautiful, pure and full of kindness. It doesn't match with this girl's personality."

"And she's family of that Lira," Luriel added, "Maybe that says enough on it's own."

"And she's not carrying the box," I added.

"Fair enough," Rae said and stared in the distance, "What about that guy?"

Our eyes followed his and we continued the search.