Land of Loss and Love; Thranduil Love Story (On Hold)

Unexpected Plans

I didn't want to wait to confront him, and no amount of preparation would calm me down so I figured to just get it over with.

It took a while to find him and when I did it wasn't what I expected. The sun was high in the sky so I knew it was around noon, and the elf I asked had led me out of the deep mountains and into the wooded area.

"What's all out here?" If there were things to do outside of the cave-like kingdom I would be more than happy to spend time outside.

"It is miles of wood along Mirkwood. And is one of the largest woods in Middle Earth."

"I know that, Istedir showed me on the map. I meant what do elves do out here? Hunting, obviously, but are there any... sports?"

"Sports?"

"Umm... nevermind." It was bright and sunny, with a heat of summer on my skin, but a cool breeze of autumn coming. I heard the sound of running water to my right, very distant, and I couldn't remember the last time I had gone swimming. "Do you swim here?"

"It is not a nessessity. But some venture into the slower rivers to bathe."

"But is there any place to swim?"

He didn't speak for a moment, clearly realizing that I wasn't going to let this go. "Our rivers are too strong to swim in, as you must have experienced on your... journey."

I shivered, feeling the icy touch on my skin and the taste of salt in my mouth. "Yes, I remember."

"There is a smaller pool to the south of our kingdom, it's waters are always calm and pleasing to swim in, without the fear of drowning."

I dwelled on that thought, exciting myself with the imagines of paddling and free floating to cooling waters. I could feel the peacefulness of summer already, cool sunshine with birds twittering, just quiet nature. How I yearned for a good fiction and a tall tree to climb in, nestle in its branches and read for hours.

A sound ahead of us caught my attention. We were following a slim path in the dense woods, though this woods was much greener and healthier than from where I entered with the dwarves. The sound grew louder, metal on metal, and I recognized it as swords.

An open meadow came into view. A few elves spun and swung their swords, looking all too real. There were racks set up on the edge of the clearing, where more weapons were hung, showing that this was a regulatory used area. There were no manly grunts coming from them, as they were elves and their strength was mighty.

We entered the edge and I could only stand and stare at their ferocity. Elves I hadn't noticed before were off to the side, being trained. But the ones with the most experience were the ones that I couldn't keep my eyes off of.

And there was just one, and of course it was him, who was more glorious than all the others. He was wearing a simple tunic, and it spun around him as he fought, his boots dancing on the ground, his arms moving too fast for me to see, his hair a blinding streak of light.