Amon Lanc, the castle fort on the tall hill with its long stretching grey stoned corridors which were vast and wide; even from standing in one of the corridors, the end disappeared off into the distance. The halls and rooms which were situated within the fort like castle were as large as everything else within its walls. All the elves could fit within them for important meetings, shared meals and celebrations and still have room for more.
The one thing which captured, and would always stay with a young mahogany haired elf was the acoustics, Liruliniel could stand in one room whistling away and her echo would bounce around her. A wide smile would appear on her face as she looked around trying to find which wall it had bounced off of. Of course, it was something which she couldn't place. That's just how echoes worked. Much like most of her kin, she enjoyed things of a musical nature and when festivals happened within these halls, the music was great, and beautiful and she had enjoyed the echoes bouncing around just as much as she did with her own whistle.
She had remembered the move here. The trek from the Blue Mountains, Ered Luin, to here. She had liked dwelling within those cavernous spaces. All manner of folk came and went, traded and lived. There was an old blacksmith, well, he maybe wasn't that old but to the young elf, the dwarf was ancient; but she had enjoyed many an afternoon watching him work away. So adapted and exceptional at his work, Liruliniel couldn't help but aspire. One day she wanted to find something she was good at, something she excelled in like the dwarf and his smith work.
She had been saddened to leave. It wasn't like she had any friends outside her own kin, but she had liked the space. The move over the Mountains and to this woodland space was long, arduous and hard. There hadn't been any casualties, thank Valar, but it had been tricky. Yet, as all who followed their leader, they entrusted Oropher. They entrusted that he knew where he was leading them, that they would find a home; somewhere they could fully call their own, to dwell in for many years to come and be at peace.
That place, Greenwood the Great, stood up to its name because it was great. Truly, Liruliniel had never seen such lush forestry in her whole life before. The trees were as tall as they were large, she couldn't wrap her arms around the trunks. Not that she made a habit of going around cuddling the trees, but she did make a habit of climbing them. And to do that, she needed to cling on and haul herself up. She could climb and jump from branch to branch for hours. The woodland stretched on for as far as she could see, the leaves a vibrant green, rich and gleaming in the sunlight and at night, the cool air was refreshing amongst the humidity of the foliage.
She liked this home more. She liked being able to have numerous places to hide even more. Amon Lanc was generous like that, so vast and stretching on its hilltop vantage point, that sometimes it took someone ages to pin someone else down. It wasn't that Liruliniel was avoiding anyone, but there was a long standing thing going on, that thing being how long could she hide from her older brother until he found her. She had managed to survive for two days in Ered Luin before Thalion admitted defeat.
If she remembered rightly, he got their father involved, and he hadn't been too pleased when she reappeared dirty, scruffy and her clothes torn and tattered because she had climbed into a small crevasse on the mountainside. Her argument was: if the dwarves could do it, why couldn't she? And if she remembered rightly, her father's response had been blunt: "You are not a dwarf, and you need not act like one." Hérion wasn't pleased, and Liruliniel had been punished by having to clean out stalls for a week. After that week, she had grown quite fond of horses. So it wasn't all that bad.
"You keep whistling, and he will find you."
Liruliniel turned on her heels, her hair whipping about her as she did so. She didn't struggle to make friends, and there were many other young elves around. But the perk of her father being one of Oropher's personal guards, was that she and her brother too got to know the newly appointed royal family. Even if that was just Oropher and his son, Thranduil. Thranduil was more near Thalion's age than herself, but it didn't seem to deter the two from being civil. Honestly, pestering the older boys was entertaining to her. They got so stressed and grumpy, it made her laugh.
Liruliniel wasn't a pest, she wasn't annoying, but it sometimes came off like that. Unfortunately, she seemed to refuse to go to lessons, to be taught alongside others; finding enjoyment in running about in the wild, climbing her trees, whistling in echoing halls, politics and the like didn't interest her. Although, in the long run, they would be lessons which would come in useful later on in life.
"Not unless you keep silent." Liruliniel said, frowning and looking up at Thranduil. The older boy just rolled his crystalline eyes, he looked bored and shook his head. He was more her brother's friend, then hers in all honesty. She found him...what was the word she was looking for? Annoying. And quite frankly, Thranduil probably saw her as a chore. Unfortunately, whenever he spent time with her brother, she would often sneak and come too.
Once, not too long after moving here, the boys had been training in a newly made area. When it came to taking a break and leaning against one of hundreds of trees, who happened to appear hanging upside down from a branch asking if she could join in? Liruliniel. She had looked excitedly between the two, wide grin in place as she expected them to say yes. Both said no.
"And what if I don't? What are you going to do about it, little bird?" Thranduil pushed away from the doorframe he was leaning against. He walked into the large room, it was just a room which was used for meetings. It was tucked away in the far end of the castle and was rarely used unless something serious was happening. His guessing was that he presumed Liruliniel believed she was safe, if she stayed away from the more populated areas. If he found her, so could Thalion. In all honesty, the slightly more brunette haired elf was in the corridor leaning against the wall. Did Thranduil mention this? No, where was the fun in that?
Liruliniel let out a huff, her mother named her after her favourite bird, the lark. Only, despite having a beautiful singing voice, they were a little drab at times. It was something which the prince liked to tease her over, and it annoyed her. He annoyed her. "I don't know, throw something at you?"
Thranduil raised a dark eyebrow. He looked amused, smugly amused at that. Not taking her threat to heart in the slightest. He was taller, stronger and faster than her. If she tried. She would fail. For as long as he could recall, he had been taught and trained by her father and others to fight, and to lead. He was going to take over from his father at sometime in his life, and he needed to be ready for it.
Liruliniel just stood there, hands on her hips, well aware that like usual her appearance was scruffier than his. He was seemingly perfect looking, not a hair out of place as he stood there with his hands by his sides. His pristine looking silver tunic and dark trousers didn't have a crease in them. Her clothes, well, the dark green tunic and dark brown trousers were askew and dotted in mud and stains, she did a lot of climbing and scampering around the woodland around their home. The two couldn't be more opposite if they even tried. That wasn't just in dispositions, of cause Thranduil would act differently, he was royalty, she was not; she was the daughter of a royal guard, a young elf hellbent on avoiding lessons, opting to explore and expand the horizons of her homeland. Thranduil didn't have this luxury, and she pitied him for he could not enjoy the things she did.
His clear icy blue eyes just stared into a green-blue ones; dispositions weren't just the only thing in which they differed in. Thranduil was tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, usually quite stern faced and serious. There was a certain aloof aura to him which kept some at bay, but really, it was a wall waiting to be chipped down; he allowed those he trusted close, those he didn't were kept at bay by silent indifference. Liruliniel, complete opposite; mahogany rich hair, much like his it trailed down her back, green-blue eyes, she barely measured to his shoulder and she was usually always smiling and getting up to something she shouldn't. She was a free spirit, and she was determined to stay as much for as long as possible. Whereas Thranduil had the sense to think before answering, Liruliniel didn't always have this tact. And sometimes that got her into trouble.
Thranduil just shook his head, looking over his shoulder he just glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before his lips turned up at the side. Liruliniel shook her head, her face going blank as he just continued to smirk at her. He backed off and even from where she was, she heard him talking as he sidestepped in the doorway. Then who came literally charging in? Thalion. The older sibling was much like Thranduil, well, in the sense that he was faster and stronger than her. She didn't stand a chance of escape.
She tried dodging and weaving, and Thalion was there to meet her. "Father wishes to see you! You can't keep avoiding him, try as you might, he will find you if you keep hiding." Thalion despaired, honestly he did. His sister was happy in her own world, but the problem was she needed to come to reality here.
"No! I know what he wants, he's trying to get Lady Caladhiel to personally tutor me!" Liruliniel skidded around the room, her brother hot on her heels as she jumped and squirmed suddenly when he caught her in his arms.
The older sibling easily hauled her up, Liruliniel letting out a squeal as her feet left the ground. "Not fair, not fair, can you please stop?" Thalion asked when that's all his sister kept saying. "What isn't fair? You cannot keep venturing out on your own, Liruliniel. You need to learn the same things as everyone else. What makes you the exception?" Thalion furthered on asking while Liruliniel practically dangled in her brother's arms. She pouted and crossed her arms as he easily carried her away. She hated being small. Thranduil just remained where he was, amusedly watching the siblings. He was used to this routine, and really, it was quite amusing. Especially Liruliniel's attempts of bribing her brother to let her go. That, and well, her pouting despondent face was amusing too.
"I don't like reading!" She exclaimed with a pained groan when Thalion adjusted his hold on her. Only that involved him squeezing her painfully around her waist. "Thalion, let me go!"
"Will you run?"
"No."
Thalion and Thranduil exchanged a look. The prince rolled his eyes and watched as the smaller girl was placed down. She hopped from foot to foot and even before she could dart off, Thranduil clutched onto the top of one arm while Thalion got the other. She whined and went full on dead weight, making both boy's eyes widen and adjust how they held her, more like carried her.
"Liruliniel, if mother were here-"
"If mother were here she'd be teaching me herself. Yet she isn't, Thalion. She has departed, and we are here. Why should I learn? Why should I let Lady Caladhiel teach me? She will try and make me into something I do not wish to be." Liruliniel put her feet under herself and shrugged both sets of hands off of her arms. She turned and frowned up at both of them, she really hated being small.
"And what do you want to be?" Thranduil asked, almost regretting doing so seems her eyes widened and she looked excitedly at him.
"I want to be like father!"
Thranduil sighed heavily at that while moving around her. "You can barely defend yourself, I would not trust you to defend or protect me."
"Don't make me throw my boot at you." Liruliniel said, already hopping on one foot to try and unlace the shin-high footwear.
Thranduil just looked over his shoulder as he continued to walk straight backed down the corridor. "Instead of doing what you wish, you instead are threatening to bring me harm."
Liruliniel stopped jumping. She put her foot down and ran away from her brother's side to walk beside the tall prince. "You'd be able to dodge."
"True." Thranduil looked over her when Thalion joined her side, keeping the small elf in between in case she decided to run off again. "But how would you know?"
Liruliniel scrunched her nose up, "Because you're fast. Faster than me by far!"
"Yes, that may be a hindrance to you and your goals. How to look out for someone who is better than you."
"You're making me regret not throwing my boot..."
"Can you stop it, Liruliniel? You know as well as I do, that father does not want you to walk that path." Thalion said seriously, he couldn't deal with Thranduil annoying his sister and his sister being too childish to realise he's doing it.
Liruliniel frowned and looked at the grey stone below her feet. Their footsteps made very little sounds, that was just one trait of their kind, silent. "But why can't I? What is there to stop me from being like him? Who else have I go to aspire to? You're following suit, so why can't I?" Liruliniel frowned, her voice quiet for once as she walked between the two older boys, she glanced from one to the other expecting an answer. She didn't expect one, the one on her left was going to be king one day, and the one on her right would be doing exactly as their father did, protecting him. Where did she honestly fit into any of this? Frowning and shaking her head, she jumped and turned. Walking backwards she grinned at them both. "I will prove you both wrong. Even if it means I have to start off small."
"Smaller." Thranduil smirked and tucked his arms behind his back, putting emphasis in the last letters in the word. Liruliniel frowned at him while Thalion sighed and ran a hand down his face, here they went again.
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(A/N: I've had a few messages, over the last few months or so, asking if I would contemplate writing Thranduil. Honestly, most like most things I write, I'm on the fence. But we shall see. I know I tried to write him before, and failed and deleted the story...)