Chapter Twenty Two: Of Swords and Moods
"May it be an evening star,
Shines down upon you,
May it be when darkness falls,
Your heart will be true,
You walk a lonely road,
Oh! How far you are from home,"
- Enya, May It Be
She climbed out of the river, greatly enjoying that she didn't smell of sweat and had no dirt under her fingernails. Her clothes stuck to every angle of her body. She didn't care. The sun was up and it's warm rays were peaking shyly out from behind white clouds and tree branches. She stretched leisurely, like a cat awakening from a long days sleep and smiled. Hmm... What to do, what to do. She chewed her lip thoughtfully before decided on making her way back to the pavilion to see who was there.
She skipped there, because walking was far too mainstream. Upon reaching their make-shift camp, she heard Pippin talking in a cheerful tone, "...And that's when Elizabeth fell out a tree!" What? When did I fall out of a tree? It seems like the kind of thing I would do, but I have no recollection of this. She shrugged and Pippin continued, "Where is that funny girl, anyway?"
She chose that opportune moment to bounce into the clearing, saying, "Gimli's right over there, why?"
Gimli looked up and glared at her from under bushy eyebrows, but otherwise let it slide.
"Oh, hello, Elizabeth!" Greeted Merry, "Where have you been?"
"In a river." Merry nodded like this was completely normal. Of course, when you have been with Elizabeth for long enough, one starts to accept things like this as the norm.
"Elizabeth!" She whirled around to face the source of the new voice. Sam came running out, making her think twice about challenging to him to a 100 metre dash. She looked at him with surprise. He was red in the face and breathing heavily. "Boromir..you...said...sword..." He sat down on the ground and attempted to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry, I think you dropped some verbs on the way here." She said, awkwardly avoiding Sam's eyes at the name 'Boromir'. He took a gulp of air.
"Boromir is looking for you, he said that he wants to teach you how to use a sword."
She blanched, memories of the last time she had been allowed to handle potentially fatal objects rushing back. "Does no one recall the last time something like this was suggested?"
Gimli shuddered. Merry and Pippin stopped talking and slowly turned an fascinating shade of jade. Sam winced and Elizabeth rubbed her arm where a pale scar lay as a reminder of how she picked up a sword and dropped it on her own arm. It wasn't pretty. "Um, Boromir said to meet him here in a few minutes." Said Sam, understanding the gravity of the situation but unable to stop Boromir from running head first into disaster.
"Right. I see." She spoke sedately. Tucking her hair down the back of her damp shirt, she bolted.
Laughing wildly as the figures of Dwarves and Hobbits became smaller behind towering trees and eventually disappearing completely in a green haze. In what universe is teaching me how to fight a good idea? Her laughter dimmed for a moment. Hold on. Must think logically for once. She leaned against the vast trunk of a tree, tapping a finger on her chin. I learn how to fight and I die by seriously maiming myself. She didn't like that option.
But what if I don't learn how to fight and I perish from Uruk-hai who want to kill Boromir? She was liking the state of affairs a great deal less. Hmm, maybe I learn how to fight and I defend Boromir from Ring-thirsty Uruk-hai? She liked that option a lot more.
She thought of Moria and how she had hardly been any use and how the bone and flesh broke and bruised at the most careless of blows. It was not an experience she wished to relive. These things can wait, I suppose. She thought, uncertainly. The bitter truth was not so far away as she liked to think. She resolved to make up her mind the next day and avoid Boromir for the time being. In the present, she sighed and walked on.
The day went fairly quickly. She held her hands like a gun and snuck around the trees, listening to Pippin and Merry's attempt to find her. It was a game she introduced to them and they had caught on surprisingly quickly. There was much bumbling about when they eventually found her sitting on a low branch throwing various tree debris at them. She felt happy and carefree, something she rarely had time to feel properly in recent times. She slept easily and did not dream.
She woke much as she had the day before; early and no bitter moods. She blinked and her eyes adjusted to the weak sunlight slanting through the trees. "Elizabeth!" Oh, bloody hell. What is it?
"Hmmm?" She said, sleep still clouding her mind.
"Elizabeth, get up."
"That's rude. I could be sleeping."
"But you are not. So please get up."
She rolled over and found herself face to face with Boromir. "What do you want?"
"In case you did not get the message yesterday, I am to teach you how to use the sword a little better." She closed her eyes again. "Elizabeth!"
"Itoeahy..."
Boromir blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's too early."
"You were up earlier than this yesterday."
"That was an anomaly."
He sighed, frustrated. "Stop-"
"-Hammertime!" She interrupted, smiling.
"What? Will you please stop-"
"-In the name of looooove!" She sang.
He growled, "Don't-"
"-stop beeeeelieeeving!" She cooed, fully aware of how much she was bothering him.
"I am going to come back in half an hour. I expect you to be dressed appropriately and in a better mood." Her eyes still closed, she listened to the sound of footsteps getting fainter and fainter until they were gone completely.
She sighed and opened her eyes . She still wasn't completely sure how she felt about him. There was a feeling more than friendship in her stomach but her mind was telling her otherwise. Telling her that it was hopeless. There were too many factors against them. He clearly didn't like her anyway. "Stupid, stupid Elizabeth." She said to herself, swinging herself out of bed all the same.
She dressed in the same clothes as the day before, not seeing any reason why she shouldn't rummaged through her rucksack for an elastic band for her hair. She didn't find one, but her hair was clean enough from her little swim so she left it down.
Half an hour later, as promised, Boromir emerged, frowning. Maybe she had put him a bad mood. He was holding two swords. One was his and the other was far too shiny to have ever been used. He handed the new one to her. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, generally curious.
"Because after what happened in the mines, I don't want you to be unprepared if it ever happens again."
"Oh." Her eyebrows were raised.
"Tell me what you know about fighting with a bladed weapon." He continued, ignorant to her surprise.
"Um, the pointy end is sharp."
"Yes." He agreed. "But there is more to it than that."
Her lesson was an hour long. The only thing that kept her going was the close proximity with Boromir. By the end of it, her arm hurt from the weight of the sword, despite it only being a practice one, she was swearing profusely and, to put the pudding in the puff so to speak, her pride had been shattered so many times it hardly existed any more.
The clang of swords echoed in Lothlorien and she concentrated hard. He had explained the correct stance, the proper way to hold it and several techniques to incapacitate her enemy. She shuddered at the thought of what that might do to actual flesh. Lapsing in her concentration for only a second, he pushed on her sword and she was forced to her knees yet again.
As she was trying to extract herself from her new intimate relationship with the ground, he spoke, "Once more and then you are dismissed."
A sudden bout of anger swelled inside her chest. Who is he to tell me when I am dismissed? "Look," She snapped, "I am trying my hardest and all you have done is criticise me!"
"It is necessary that you understand what you will be up against." He said.
"The least you could be is pleasant. I haven't even seen you smile."
"You will excuse me if there is nothing to smile about."
She snarled angrily, feeling her temper snap thread by thread. She hit him on the chest, not hard but it still smarted her hand due to his leather armour.
"Did you just... hit me?" He asked, eyes held amusement, which annoyed her.
"Um... No?" She said, uncertainly.
He shot her a withering stare. "It was a rhetorical question. Try to attack me again. With your sword."
"Fine." If looks could harm, his kidneys would have been liquefied.
She walked back a few paces, then sprinted. Her eyes were full of determination and her new found fortitude made her vision include only the sword in Boromir's hand. This was all well and good and she probably would have seen it through if she hadn't tripped a couple of paces in front of him.
She stumbled into Boromir, who caught her. Her cheeks were crimson with embarrassment. She felt his laughter. She froze for a moment, and then her arms automatically crept around his neck to steady herself. Her face was pressed against his throat and she dared not move. He was silent, unsure of what to do. She closed her eyes to stop the dizzying world, the glow of the sky, the birds in the trees. She wanted to be here with him, wrapped in her moment, inhaling the scent of him, feeling the beat of his heart, as steady and strong as the pulse of the ocean.
His senses were purely her. He could smell the scent of her hair and was acutely aware of how close she was. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Can I go?"
"Yes." He answered, turning away.
She ignored the lump in her throat and walked away, all the while thinking just how stupid she had been to think he was interested.