~*~*~*~
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘
𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒌𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 she walked around Rivendell. The halls were interesting and beautiful in their own way. She had only wished she had her phone on her so she could take a picture to show her mother where'd she had been. She sighs and leans on the railing of the balcony. She watched as the ginger dwarf who had volunteered,whom she learned who's name was Gimli,pack. She chuckled a bit when she found him struggling to close his pack.
"Ah dwarfs,their stubbornness will be the death of them." She heard a voice say behind her which made her jump. She turns around to see the beautiful blond elf she had seen earlier standing behind her with his hands behind his back. She blushed and looked away.
"I'm sorry if I made you jump. Elves are known to be slick,even to humans. Our senses are much more sharper." He explains and Annika nods.
"Yeah I can see that." She says and looked back to the view of Rivendell. She felt as though she was being rude but in reality she wasn't,she was just nervous. His handsomeness made her fell butterflies in her stomach and she couldn't stop it.
"I uh believe we haven't met properly. I am Legolas,son of King Thranduil and Prince of Mirkwood." She says and bowed slightly whilst taking her hand and kissing it. Annika blushed and looked into his beautiful blue eyes. She refrained herself from falling over and shook her head slightly.
"And I am Annika,daughter of Anna." She introduced and awkwardly bowed back as he still held her hand. She felt electric shocks enter her hand and go through her body. Her lip quivered slightly as he still held her hand as he looked at her with a beautiful smile. She smiled back and soon erupted into giggles. Legolas looked at her confused at her sudden action.
"I-I'm sorry I-I just.." She then laughs and covers her mouth. She looks up at him embarrassingly.
"I-I dunno why I laughed but hi." She says shyly to which makes him smile.
"Hello. Also I know your name. You were mentioned during the meeting. Annika right?" He asked and just him saying her name made shivers go up and down her spin.
"Y-yes. That's me." She chuckled nervously and fiddled with her sleeves. He then glances down at her dress then to her.
"You look very pretty. The elves knew what they were doing." He complimented to which makes her blush even more.
"Thanks. You l-look good too." She says,trying to take the heat off of her.
"Really? Well that was very kind of you." He says and smiled at her to which she returned.
"There you are. I've been looking for you my lady." She heard her maid said and Annika turns around. Her maids eyes winded when she saw Legolas.
"Oh I'm sorry Legolas. I think Arwen is looking for me. I still need to pack but it was nice talking to you and meeting you. See you." Annika says as she bows to him and walks with her maid back to her room. Legolas watched her retreating figure with a smile and walked away,not even wiping the bright smile upon his face.
"So you and Lord Legolas." The maid teased Annika and she rolled my eyes. Annika chuckled and went inside her room and there stood Arwen. She started to pack her bag with tears in her eyes. Annika walked up to her and stopped her by gently grabbing her hand. She sniffed and looked up at me. Annika hugged her and she hugged back as she sobbed.
"It's alright. We will be back." Annika soothed and she sobbed even harder. After an hour of packing and deciding what to wear and bring,Arwen hugs Annika tightly. She whispers something in elvish Annika couldn't understand.
"What does it mean?" Annika asked Arwen to which makes her smile.
"I hope you will be safe and away from danger. I fear that everything will fall into place soon. It will be perilous to the point where people will not survive. I pray and hope you will be safe and in good hands." She explains.
"As long as I have Aragorn with me,I will be safe." Annika says to which makes Arwen chuckle. Then a knock was heard and both girls turned to find Aragorn. He walks in and smiled.
"Do you mind if I speak with Arwen? It is important." He says and Annika nodded. The couple walks out of the room and Annika sighs as she looks at her pack that Arwen packed.
"I hope so too." She whispers.
~*~*~*~
Annika smiled as she watched the little elven kids learn how to do archery. She had always wanted to learn but at the time,her father was a drunken poor man who wouldn't let her do anything useful. She snapped out of her thoughts when a bow appeared in front of her. She looked up to see Aragorn in front of her.
"Even though I have trained you well in swords...I do not think I have trained you well with arrows." He says and held out a hand to which she takes. He lead her to a target practice area and sighed.
"Right okay...I need to know which arm you are comfortable aiming with. You're right or your left?" He asked and she looked up at him confused. She had always seen archery in movies and tv shows but never in real life.
"What is your dominant hand?" He asked and she chuckled embarrassingly.
"Oh my right." She says and Aragorn soon stood behind her and placed her hands on the bow.
"Your right hand should be the hand you release the arrow from which will go here on the string." He says as he guides her hand towards the string.
"And your left hand would hold the arrow and bow in place,make sure you are steadying as well. Don't want to end up shooting someone else's arse now would you?" He asked which makes her giggle.
"Now I want you to practice. Play with the string with your right hand and imagine you are aiming towards your target." Annika closed her left eye and aimed the bow towards the target.
"Her elbows should be higher." A voice was soon heard from behind. Annika turned around to see a smirking Legolas leaning against the wall,watching the two. Annika looked down embarrassingly.
"Oh right. How about you teach her? I have to pack anyway and Arwen would be wondering where I am anyway." Aragorn says and Annika looked at him with her wide eyes. Legolas blushed as he approached Annika only to have a pat on the shoulder and a wink from Aragorn before he left. Annika looked up at him only to find him already looking at her. She clears her throat and puts back up the bow in the same pose she had done before.
"Make sure your elbows are straight. Without them straight,your angle wouldn't be correct." He explains as he gently adjusted her elbow. She blushed as she felt him close behind her.
"Now I'm going to place an arrow in the bow. I'm gonna teach you how to properly hold it. Alright?" He asked and she nodded. She felt his presence gone and heard him walk away then come back with an arrow in hand. He goes in front of her and places the arrow in the bow,he then gently placed the feather part of the arrow within her fingertips and she gasped lightly as she watched him gently touch her fingertips,this alerted Legolas.
"Have I done something wrong,my lady?" He asked and Annika shook her head.
"N-No." she stuttered out and she hated herself for stuttering.
"Alright. Now gently guide yourself towards the target." He instructs her to do and she found it hard to concentrate when an attractive handsome elf is next to her and is watching her intently. She shakily brought the bow towards the target.
"Now in order for you to shoot you need to let go of the arrow. When the feather part is stretched with the string,you have allowed the arrow to fit within the bow. You do not need to worry about dropping it. This will allow you to let the feather part go. Here I will help you." He says and goes behind her. Annika gasped lightly as she held her hands be covered by very warm ones. She gal fed behind her and saw his attire and felt him behind her.
"Now this is how you release." He says and aimed it to the target. He gently takes her fingertips and releases the arrow. The arrow soon flies out of the arrow and hits the bullseye of the target. Annika let's out a scoff.
"Woah. Sick." She mumbled and he smiles down at her.
"Now you try." He says and walks in front of her,watching her movements. She walks and grabs another arrow and walks back to where she was. She puts the arrow inside the bow but groans as it fell out. She was about to grab it until Legolas beats her to it.
"Do not stress. The art of the bow does not deal in stress but concentration and calmness. Gently scrap the arrow against the wood and the string,make sure the feathers are meeting the string." He explained as he helps her straighten the arrow into the bow and stretched it back. He then placed a hand on her back and straightens her back.
"Remember straight posture whenever you are aiming. Do not want to mess up." He said to her which makes her blush. He then walks back to his spot and watched. Annika did as she was taught to do and straightened the bow and aimed towards the target.
As she was doing so,something made her froze. A smile soon made its way to her face. Legolas watched as she couldn't contain her smile as she aimed the bow towards the target which made him smile. He had never seen someone smile as pretty as her. She was different to him and he liked it.
"I cannot focus with your staring." She finally says which breaks him out of his thoughts.
"Lady Annika I have to watch you to see if you need practice. But I won't watch your face. I'll watch your posture. Go." He says which makes her chuckle softly. She then derived her focus back onto the target and aimed it in the bullseyes. She had her left eye closed and her right eye solemnly focused on the target. With a deep breath she finally lets go to the arrow.
The arrow then flies out of the bow and lands on the bullseye. Annika gasped and laughed as she got it perfectly on her first try. Legolas watched with a smile as she did a cute celebratory dance. She then noticed him and cleared her throat.
"Thank you,Lord Legolas for teaching me how to perform the fine arts of archery." She says in a fake posh voice and curtsies to him which makes him chuckle. She blushed a little and stood back up.
"Has anyway told you that you are most funny,Lady Annika?" Legolas asked and Annika shook her head.
"I don't think so. You're the first,Lord Legolas." She teased him.
"Please call me Legolas." He says as he bows to her.
"Only if you call me Annika. Formalities aren't really my thing." She said to him as she held out her hand. He looks up at her hand from his bow and hesitatingly takes it,unknown to the unfamiliar greeting.
"Alright,Annika." He says which makes her chuckle as they shook hands.