You've undoubtedly heard the tale of Robin Hood, but what if I was to tell you they got it all wrong?
First of all, Robin is female.
{All characters other than my own belong to J. R. R. Tolkien}
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She was 7 years old when she received her first weapon.
It was the night of her birthday, and the little girl sat by the fireplace, her brother reading aloud a story about dwarves and orcs. She had recieved the book on her last birthday, but the story was so thrilling that she could never get enough.
"There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the edge of the wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go." Her brother read out, exaggerating his tone in order to excite his sister.
She loved this quote, as like most children her age, she craved adventure. The little girl wanted to experience everything in which Middle Earth had to offer. She wanted to face the risks that came with exploration, and discover places she could never have imagined. She wanted to run across plains and over mountains until her little feet would start to go numb.
If only the little girl knew just how treacherous the land really was.
But despite her interest in the elves, the little girls all time favourite character was Bilbo. He inspired her to be brave, and to go against the odds which were laid upon her.
"There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. " She would always join in when that line came around. It gave her hope.
And hope was necessary, for word had gotten around of the little girl training to fight, and many disapproved.
"She's a girl, should you not be teaching her life skills such as weaving and cooking?" Some would say to Vlidia Hood. Other comments would be on the assumption that girls should not wield weapons, or that the little girl would be too masculine to attract a male in the future. But what was most surprising was the fact that all these remarks came from other women.
Of course, the little girl was aware of the comments circulating the town, and the fact that her family was rather well known only made matters worse.
At school, she would hear her friends make statements in which they had heard from their mothers. And only being young, the children did not realise the negative impact in which their echoed words had against the little girl.
It was at this stage in which she questioned whether she should give up training and be like the other girls at school. She loved learning to fight and use weapons with a passion, as it made her feel as though she were a character from her favourite story, but recieving so much judgement at such a young age can be quite unbearable.
However, her thoughts would always lead back to Bilbo. He was judged by the other hobbits, but in the end he did what his heart desired. Now look at him, his name alone is that of a true hero.
Now back to the scene with the little girl sitting by the crackling fire, her dark hair tucked behind her ears as she stared at her narrator brother with excitment. Vlidia softly smiled from her spot in the kitchen, admiring the affection in which her son displayed towards her daughter. A pang of sadness tugged at her heart strings, as the boys personailty strongly resembled that of his lost father.
As the little girl listened intently to her brothers words, she was suddenly surprised as her mother softly placed a gift onto her lap. Vlidia smiled down at her daughters excited face, before sitting down beside her and relaxing next to the warmth of the fire.
The boy stopped reading and averted his gaze towards his sister, grinning with anticipation as the little girl looked down at her concealed gift. The object was wrapped in cloth, but she could feel that it was slightly heavy.
"Well, go on." Vlidia ushered, and the little girl placed her small hands onto the cloth, her little heart pounding with both anticipation and excitment.
Opening the fabric, the little girls eyes widened as she revealed two daggers. The blades looked to be forged from pure silver, and the handles bound by brown leather, her initials embroidered on the side. Each blade was straight and polished to the point in which she could see the reflection of her bewildered little face.
"Your brother helped me pick those out." Vlidia stated, looking with a bright smile towards her wildly grinning son. "And Mr Grundy says you can swap for another pair if these ones don't appeal."
"No, I love them!" The little girl remarked, gripping one of the handles in her small hand. Admittedly, the knives were a bit too big, but she was happy with the thought of keeping them until she had grown bigger.
"Good, because I'm sure Bilbo could use your skills to help him defend the dwarves against the orcs!" The boy exclaimed, proud to see his sister so happy.
"Smaug better watch out!" The little girl shouted, standing to her feet and lifting her new daggers. Vlidia quickly settled her daughter down, not wanting to see an injury with the new weapons.
"Now now, I want to keep hold of your daggers until you're a little older." She stated, and the little girl handed over her knives. "You can take them to your training classes, but I want them to remain in a bag."
The little girl nodded, before embracing her mother, and then running into the arms of her brother.
Vlidia once again smiled at the passion of her daughter, she couldn't wait until the news would get around of her childs new present. Women of the town could get as judgemental as they wanted, but in no way was she going to let their foolish words dull the spirit of her wild hearted daughter.
She was 7 years old when she recieved her daggers.
