For the next four hours, I was there teaching Ron how to fire a bow.
To be honest; he is CRAP! It took an hour of the time (In total) with him just breaking the string over, and over again. He clearly had to fix it (With the spell 'Reparo'). We hadn't even gotten an arrow anywhere near the targets, and i honestly, Just. Gave. Up.
After about twenty minutes, after I showed him how to fire it properly, I just sat with my back to the tree, and started reading my way through the pile of books, humming any song that came to mind as I read. Black Veil Brides, Paramore, and My Chemical Romance songs came the most often. Two songs that I remember humming were Picture perfect by Escape the Fate and Underdog by You Me At Six.
Though the books were huge, and with hundreds of pages inside, it was mainly diagrams and photographs that related to the information on the neighboring pages inside.
In the time, I had easily memorized the map of Middle-Earth (Including all the small details of each country: Mordor, Rohan, Gondor and The Shire. I read about the Grey Havens, and many of the myths, legends and prophecies that certain races believe in.
Strangely though, two legends kept appearing; intertwining with each other. One was about the Return of the King, and the other was about something or someone called 'The Lionheart'. Both stories had only the title written in English, when I looked at them in detail. Neither were illustrated either, so I had no idea what they were about.
Around the 4 hour mark, Ron managed to launch an arrow at the target. It fell short, but he still managed to actually fire an arrow away from where he was standing.
I clapped respectively, and with his new-found confidence, the next arrow Ron fired, landed right in the center of the bulls-eye. He laughed in surprise, and turned to look at me, smiling.
"Impressive." I say, rising to my feet. I waltz over and take the bow from his arms, and one of my gold-coloured arrows from the quiver resting on his shoulder. "Buuuut, I think I can beat that!" I say matter-of-factly.
Ron scoffs as I head to the line of fire, placing the arrow on the string, and aiming. "Yeah, right (!) How are you going to beat THAT?" He laughs. I roll my eyes, and let the arrow fly. The result was so fairy tale.
The second arrow landed in exactly the same place as the first, and split it right down the shaft.
I lowered the bow to waist height, and turned around smirking. Ron was sitting where I had been, with his arms crossed. He was scowling; clearing hating the fact that he'd been beaten. My free hand is now resting on my hip.
"Far you have to go, young Jedi." I say, trying to impersonate Yoda. Didn't work all that well, but it did make Ron laugh, as he rose to his feet.
I'm starving, so we go to grab a bit of food, when we run into the Hobbits, Frodo with them.
He smiles wide when he sees us, and I kneel down to give him a hug. "you're alright then?" I say, as he pulls away and I stand up again. Frodo smiles and nods.
"I've got a scar on my shoulder, now. But I feel fine." He says, and I hear Merry and Pippin whisper something to each other. Something that involves pranking the food and blaming it on someone else. Sounds interesting, and then my names creeps into it.
" Merry. Pip." I say, and they look at me. I indicate for them to come closer to me, and I kneel down again, and whisper so that only the two of them can hear me. "I like the pranking idea, but if you involve me, in ANY single way,, you won't know what hit you." I say, and they run into the dining hall, at top speed.
Sam looks at me, then the door, and back to me. "What did you say?" He asks, and I just shrug.
"All I did." I begin. "Was say to the two, who were planning a prank by the way, that they better not involve me in any sort of way. so naturally, they are either changing the target of the prank, or getting rid of any evidence that would place me in the firing line."
Frodo and Ron just laugh, while I quietly giggle. Sam doesn't look too impressed, and walks inside. Within seconds, he is running back out, covered in some weird substance, chasing Merry and pippin, making the 3 of us laugh even harder.
After five or six minutes of laughing at Sam (who was still chasing them around the place.) I head into the dining hall, taking care not to step in the same places hat Sam'wise' Gamgee had. It wasn't hard, as he hadn't walked far into the room.
I quickly ate lunch, and then after dropping my bow & arrows off in my room, I quickly changed into a shirt and jeans, ideally wanting to practice sword fighting or something else.
I picked up my sword from beside my bed, and went to find someone to train with.
I found myself walking around aimlessly for a while, before I found Ron, Merry, Frodo and Pippin again, in the middle of one of the large fields.
They all had their backs to me, so on impulse, I ran silently at Ron, and jumped on his back. I sat piggy-back for around two seconds before I was dropped to the grassy floor, and the hobbits just piled on top of me, with Ron just lying there, staring at the clear blue sky.
"so clearly surprise isn't my thing! I say, laughing. The others soon join in, and eventually move off me, so that the five of us are lying there, looking at the sky, talking about, well, anything really. We all stay there for a bit, before I smell dinner.
"Hey guys. If we don't move now, we'll miss dinner!" I say simply, and it made Merry and pip practically disapperate, they moved that quickly! Ron, too. These idiots could be related, they're that alike.
I sit upright, and just sigh. It's not like all the food is going to run out! But, all the same, I didn't eat much at breakfast or lunch, so I'm pretty hungry.
"come on, Celeste." Frodo says, rising to his feet. "They won't save any food that's not held down!"
I smile, knowing that it's most likely true, and I stand as well.
We head to find something to eat, and discover that the 3 had actually left us something to eat. So I ate some of what was there (A nice roast dinner, or something along those lines.) and I just hopped back into my room.
I cringed as I walked in, I had no idea how messy I had left the place. I crept in, and shut the door, making sure that nobody saw the mess. Then I got to work. I hung up all the clothes in the wardrobe (putting the shirts in a drawer underneath) and placed all the weapons on the small seat in the corner of the room.
That took around an hour or two, and when I'd finished, I just kicked off my boots, climbed under the covers, lay back and just messed with my bracelet.
I was given the thing on the day I received my Hogwarts letter, nearly three years ago now. apparently, it had been a good luck charm, handed down through the Black family for generations. My dad never had it, as it was given to me by my Aunt Andromea saying that only girls have had the bracelet, and they've had good lives. Well, I think she said that anyway. The lives of the people who had it were good and happy in their opinions at least.
I turn it around and around my wrist in deep thought. Just thinking about what Ron had said earlier.
Flashback:
"What are we doing here?" He asks.
- End Flashback -
What are we doing here? It was a tiny, impossible accident that brought me here, and in the end, what can I do? I forgot the one thing that could get me home. But do I want to go home? Back to somewhere, that yes, I know like the back of my hand, but it is contaminated with the news of my dad; he ruined everything for me, and everyone close to me, all for his own personal betrayal.
I fall asleep thinking about if my friends are okay, or if those creature (that I found out were called 'Orcs') have tortured them, or worse.
Let's just say that my dreams were not pretty. The vivid images that my mind created kept me awake throughout the night.
When the sun rose the next morning, I felt shattered. I felt more awake running for three days straight that I did that morning.
I pulled myself out of bed, put my boots back on, and headed straight out to the archery range, grabbing what I needed off the chair on my way out. The place was empty when I arrived, so I decided to set myself a challenge, which made myself feel wide awake and 100% alert.
With my quiver slung over my shoulder, I walked over to the first target. I loaded my bow (Standing around 25 meters away), held it out to aim, and I released; the arrow sinking deep into the dead center of the target. Then, to perform the challenge, I began walking along to the next target, loading my bow. Then, while not stopping, I fired onto the target and continue onto the next, and the next, and the next.
I made my way down the 20 or so targets in this fashion, never missing the central golden ring. But, as I walked to the final target, I stopped and aimed quickly. Just as I was about to release my grip to send the arrow flying, someone fired their from the trees behind me, and it tore through the center of the target, his/her arrow half embedded. I turned my head to find that same Blonde-haired man (who I know actually think is an Elf; Check the ears!) who I saw arriving yesterday. He was wearing similar clothes to yesterday, and I noticed tiny details of the outfit. But I kept glancing at the golden ring embedded with emeralds in the shape of a ring of leaves on his finger.
"You have quite the skill with a bow." He says, walking towards me.
"It's not that hard to hit stationary targets." I say and without taking my eyes off him, I fire the bow at the target. I hear the pleasing sound of impact and I turn around to see, that just like yesterday, I had split the arrow.
I lower the bow and turn around again. He's still standing there, but with an impressed look on his face.
"Not many of even the most skilled Elves can fire a bow without looking, m'lady." He says smiling, and he bows before departing.
Right. So, do Elves here compliment women, and just leave? Man, people here are just downright confusing.
My stomach rumbles, and I instantly regret skipping breakfast again. But, I can't leave the place looking like a hit-and-run murder, so I spend a few minutes removing the arrows from the targets, and placing them back in my quiver.
The Elf's broken arrow, I left by the base of nearby tree where it blended in with the thin, twiggy branches.
The day went by quite smoothly. Sword fighting with Ranger-boy, bit more archery, sun bathing with the hobbits and Ron, you know; the usual!
That night, after dinner I realized what was happened tomorrow; the Council. Damn! Time flew by so quickly!
I opened the door to my room, and just flopped onto the bed, facing upwards. I sigh, the meeting is bound to be all boring and dare I think- Serious!
I kick off the boots, and willingly myself, I drag myself to the bathroom to wash. A quick bath later, and I jumped into the bed, when another thought hit me; there were so many chances in the past week when I could've used my animagus powers; and I mentally slap myself. I bet, if I'd transformed into a phoenix, some stuff would've been so much easier.
My mind dawdles on those thoughts for a while, and eventually, I yawn. I sit up and look out the window to see the sun sink below the horizon.
I turn over, and crawl under the covers and I lie on my right side, wet scarlet hair just ending up lying in all directions. Like the first night, I messed with my hair as I dozed off.
I woke up early (again...) and just rolled out of bed, I was that tired at first. I landed on my hands and knees on the floor with a 'thump'.
Peeling my eyes open, I stand up, and headed to the bathroom where I washed my face in the clean water, that I found in a wash-bowl on the table side. The water was warm, and perfumed with flowers that, when I smelt it, woke me up instantly.
A few minutes were spent cleaning my face, and I walked back into the bedroom drying my face on a towel, which I then left with the rest of the laundry at the end of the bed.
somehow, I found myself searching in the wardrobe for that grey dress next. I found it, lurking in the depths and I quickly changed into it, before beginning a search for some more sensible shoes, so that I don't have to wear those boots (Which honestly just don't go with dresses!)
I searched pretty much every compartment in the room. Twice, at least.
Just as I was debating going bare foot, someone knocked on the door. I walked over and pulled it open.
Ranger-boy (I love this nickname, don't you!) stood there, looking fancy. He's going too, isn't he?
"Someone called Aristana said you'd need these." He commented, and held up a pair of ballet pumps. I smirked.
"Just in time." I say, taking them off him, dropping the shoes to the floor and stepping into them. I look back at him. "how long until that council, then?" I ask.
"Twenty minutes, but everyone really needs to be there in fifteen." He replies.
"Right, well, I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, so lead the way!" I say and he smiles, setting off, with me walking beside him.
The walk to the balcony where the council was being held took around five minutes or so. To fill the boring silence in that time, Ranger-boy decided to start a conversation. The topics included how I learnt archer and more random stuff about Hogwarts. I told him loads that day (Or rather, night) on the marshes, and since then, he's been desperate to find out more.
Anyway, despite being quite early, I think that most people were already there; with only Ron, Frodo and the one who looks like Dumbledore (Who I know is called Gandalf) after us.
And, before I knew it, an Elf had stood up and said "The council is about to begin. If you'd be so kind as to take your seats." And we did. Ranger-boy was on my right, Ron to my left, and nobody to his. The chairs were positioned in a horse-shoe style. Elrond walked in, and the meeting officially began.