The dúnedain ranger (a Lotr Fanfic)

Chapter 11

Arnwen POV

The next morning I spent some time at the archery field. I was about to head back to the castle to read when Aerlinniel arrived. "Care for a friendly competition?" She asked. "Sure, but I also need to practice sword fighting." I told her. I strung my bow back up as she set up her target. After we finished, I noticed her scores were a little lower than mine. As we packed up our bows to head to the sword fighting area, I gave her some tips on how to improve. We walked over to the arena and drew our swords. "Your sword is dull right?" I questioned her. "Yes. Is yours?" she responded. "Yes.' I said as she thrusted at me. I parried her attack and followed with a thrust. She parried my attack and pretended to attack me on the left. I tried to parry her attack but was not able to recover enough to block her actual attack on the right. "I guess you like sword fighting better than archery then." I commented as we took a break to drink some water. "I guess so. Shall we continue?" she asked. "Bring it on." I said as we continued sparring with each other.

A few hours later Aerlinniel told me she had to leave to prepare for the council meeting later and suggested I do the same. I said that I will meet her there and walked back to my room. I grabbed the book "The race of men" and headed to where the council will meet.

"Ah, there you are Arnwen, I was beginning to worry you forgot." Aragorn stated. Aerlinniel, Elfwine, Legolas, Faramir and Aragorn were in the center of the room. "I brought a book that might help." I said as I set the book down on a table and flipped it to the wild men chapter. "Nice. Now we will know more about them." Elfwine responded. It says here that they fight in one circle. If we surrounded them, we would have a better chance of defeating them." I pointed out. "I don't know. I think that we should ambush them when they are away from their camp." Aragorn replied. "I actually agree with Arnwen, Aragorn. But once we use one tactic, the rest of the wild men tribes will stay alert and think we will use the same tactic every other time. If we mix it up, they won't know what is coming." Legolas suggested and he made a pretty good point, in my opinion. "We could Ambush them first, then when they think we will do it again and will make their camp smaller. Then we can use Arnwen's advice and attack on the outside." Aerlinniel said. "That is a good idea Aerlinniel. It would incorporate both strategies." I admitted. "Then it is settled then. We will attack the closest camp to us. I think we should leave tomorrow. Faramir, stay behind and rule in my absence. You are the Steward after all." Aragorn ordered as he dismissed the meeting. "Good luck on your journey my Lady." I turned around and saw Faramir behind me. "Good luck Faramir son of Denethor. May the Valar be with you in the time of need." I replied formally as he bowed and walked away. I went to my rooms to prepare to leave.

I quickly changed into my dark blue tunic and leggings and pulled my cloak over my shoulders. I grabbed my saddlebags with my stuff already packed and put on my belt with my quiver of arrows. I grabbed my bow and walked outside to meet Aragorn and his men in the courtyard.

I arrived at the white tree with Elfwine and Legolas behind me. Aragorn was already here as well as his men. "Are we all ready to leave?" I asked. "Just wait a minute." He said as he turned toward his house. I turned to look where he was looking and saw Aerlinniel running towards us. "Is Aerlinniel coming?" I questioned Aragorn. At that point she stopped in front of Aragorn and hugged him. "I will miss you father." she stated. "I know. I will miss you to." Aragorn assured her. She turned to me and offered her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet and work with you. I hope you return so we may talk about each other's adventures." I shook her hand and said farewell. After she said farewell to everyone, she turned around and walked back to her 'house'. "Are we ready to leave now?" Legolas asked. "Yes. Let's go." Aragorn replied as we walked to the stables. I quickly mounted Shadowfax and once everyone was ready with their mounts, we left for the group of wild men near Rohan.

We paraded through the streets and cantered through the gates. The guard on the outside of the city bowed as we rode past him. I pulled my hood over my head so people we came across would think I was one of Aragorn's men. We rode without rest throughout the afternoon until the sun started to set. We slept in Osgiliath that night thanks to the innkeeper who was more than happy to let us stay in his inn for the night after learning my identity. After I dropped off Shadowfax at the stables, I went into the room I was assigned to and dropped my stuff on the ground. I re-lit the fireplace, pulled back the blanket on the bed and without saying a word I went to bed.