I meant to say this in the last chapter but this chapter is going to be a flashback on how Arandur and Lark met. (NO ROMANTIC INTENTIONS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN BETWEEN THEM) I hope that you'll like it and I really would LOVE some more reviews. Next chapter will bring back the dwarves and we'll FINALLY meet Thranduil but Lark probably won't be in it...:( ah well...I'm going for a few days so don't expect any updates and I'm sorry that this chapter is a little late...ANYWAY PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
Old Friends
The dark-haired elf sighed as he checked his snares; nothing. He didn't like this part of the Greenwood. There was nothing to hunt here, either that or something was hiding everything from him. A twig snapped and the elf spun round. He couldn't see anything...but he felt watched.
"Tekina where are you?"
The small, blonde looked round for the finch. The sneaky little thing had requested hide and seek, now she couldn't find her. A chirp came from behind her; the little bird thought she could hide.
"FOUND YOU!"
The finch fluttered and nuzzled her face. This was so much better than listening to Radagast's lecture on mushrooms. The girl put a finger to her lips and silenced the finch.
"Shhh Tekina..."
She opened her ears...a wolf not far from her but, that was not what she had heard. It was the heavy breathing of what the wolf was hunting. It was almost human. She shifted into a lynx and went to investigate. Tekina chirrping down her ear, warning her. The lynx growled and the bird was quiet.
He felt his breath hitch when he saw the grey beast. It was snarling at him, it's teeth bared for the kill. Stumbling back, he tried to get his bow but, he ended up falling on it; snapping it in two. His foot suddenly felt a tightening sensation; it had got caught in the snare. Green eyes widened as the wolf crouched low; ready to pounce. Then a small lynx jumped from the bushes and tackled to wolf to the ground.
"Oh Aüle help me!"
The snare tightened round his ankle as he backed against the tree. The elf was feeling light-headed and the last thing he saw before he passed out was the lynx sending the wolf running.
...
"Tekina shh...you'll wake it!"
His green eyes flicked open...he was lying in the same place but, his foot had been freed of the snare. As he begun to focus; he noticed the wide pair of blue eyes watching him. A small girl sat staring; a finch perched on her shoulder. He sat up and the girl jumped back. She spoke harshly at the bird.
"Now you done it! You woke it up!"
She turned her glare from the bird and her gaze softened and filled with curiousity when it landed on him.
"What are you?"
He blinked at her in surprise. Hadn't she seen an elf before?
"I'm an elf..."
"An elf? Wow, I've never met an elf!"
He smiled at her and she at him. She looked about nineteen, much like his niece back home. He wondered where she'd come from...
"Where did you come from if I may ask?"
"Oh! I was playing with Tekina..."
She gestured to the finch.
"And then I heard your breathing and came and stopped Old Grey from eating you!"
She smiled widely, obviously proud of what she'd done.
"Who's Old Grey? And you couldn't have because it was a lynx that attacked the wolf..."
He was silenced when she glared at him. The girl stood up and, right before his eyes, turned into a lynx, then to a horse and then back to a girl. He was wide-eyed and open mouthed when she sat down.
"Old Grey is that grumpy old wolf! He has never been very good at hunting but me and my Ada give him left over scraps sometmes! So does Radagast, after I convinced him!"
"Radagast? As in Radagast the Brown!"
She nodded.
"Yep! He teaches me about the forest! He also watches me for my mother, she is such a worrier!"
The two fell into an uncomfortable silence and time seemed to slow. The girl shuffled impatiently; waiting for something to happen.
"What is your name?"
He looked at her. Her eyes were filled with genuine curiousity.
"Arandur...what about you?"
"Larka but I prefer Lark!"
He nodded and the silence fell again...it wasn't as long as the first.
"How old are you Arandur?"
"Very old."
"Yes, but HOW old is very old?"
He chuckled.
"I'm over 500 and my wife was over 300..."
"Wow! That's old! I'm 22!...What's your wife's name?"
"Terivial..."
"That's a lovely name!"
"Yes she was..."
"Was?"
She looked to the elf. His eyes clouded with tears and filled with pain. Lark closed her mouth and sat back. Obviously something terrible ad happened...
"Don't worry Lark, I'm alright...thank you by the way."
Lark looked up at Arandur, glad that he'd changed the subject.
"You're welcome!"
There was silence once again.
...
Arandur smiled at the memory. Lark had saved his life that day and he was forever grateful. He remembered that after that third silence the girl had begun questoning him again. Lark's inquisitive nature had made him tell her his whole life story...then her adopted father had burst throught the trees, in a rampage. He chuckled, causing the girl in his arms to stir. Yes, Haum had been in a right fit when he found that his 'daughter' had been spending the day away from her lessons talking to an elf. In the end she had persuaded the dwarf to escort the elf home otherwise she'd do something drastic. Haum had explaind to him that it meant that she would attempt to set his beard alight. It had happened twice before and he'd only just managed to save it. The Lark in his arms stirred again...
"Kili..."
Kili? Who was this person? Perhaps it was the brunette dwarf...he passed the girl to a healer before making his way through the hallways of Thranduil's kingdom. He would help deal with the dwarves and then come back to Lark.
Right was it good...too weird not good enough? Please review and tell me! Thranduil is in the next chapter! And there will be a talk between Kili and Arandur (Lark being the topic) in later chapters! Till then please review! TTFN