The way to Gondor (Aragorn and Legolas fanfic)

Ford of Bruinen

Legolas POV

The man, Strider he called himself, was strong and clever. He knew paths I wouldn't have found without him, and he had a good eye for dangers. My elf ears did hear approaching animals and orcs, but the hidden dangers, like uneadable mushrooms, he protected me from. And handsome he was too. 

We had travelled for another day and a half through the forest. Thrice we had met orcs, which where no greater danger for an elf and an experienced ranger. Then at about lunchtime the second day we walked down the path to Rivendell.

I hadn't been there for ages, maybe 650 years. My dad had once brought me to visit the fellow elves, but that must have been long before Strider was born. I was rather surprised when he told me that Elrond had brought him up, because it was unusual for elves to care too much for men. Somehow I felt that he, Strider, was not who he told me he was, but someone else. Someone more important. Someone an elf would host in their home and dedicate his time to.

Until now, we both hadn't talked about our reasons for coming here. He knew I was to deliver a message from my father, I knew he had lived there once. But neither was enough information to be sure upon our actual intentions.

"We've almost reached the Ford of Bruinen", Strider said with his deep voice. "From there it is not long to Rivendell."

"Let us go faster, I am excited to see Lord Elrond again", I answered. 

"Shall we run, and whoever reaches the river first wins?", he said with a grin on his face. It made him look very man-like, I thought. 

"You don't think you can win over an elf?", I replied with a smile, then set off running towards the river. Strider came after me, laughing, but he was fast. I hadn't expected that. Soon he was running beside me, both of us wanting to win badly. The last few meters I sprinted with everything I had. But he was faster. Just a few seconds before me he reached the riverside, but he couldn't stop and fell face forward into the icy water. I stopped right at the shore and watched him splashing around in the water, while I tried to laugh and breathe at once. 

"Ha, I won!", he announced. Then he started splashing water at me. 

This was my clue and I jumped into the water next to him. Laughing, we fighted and I pushed him under the surface. Soon I realised this had been a mistake and the next second I felt a hand on my head that pushed me in the water too. Spluttering, I emerged from under the water again. Luckily I couldn't feel the cold.

"Do you know how long it took to make my hair this morning?", I asked him accusingly. 

He just grinned and splashed some more water on me. Then he arose and made his way to the riverbank. I tried to get some water out of my hair, which didn't work out very well, and followed him. We needed to get going if we still wanted to reach Rivendell by the end of the day. 

Both in a very good mood, we took our weapons that we had thrown in the grass before jumping into the water, and crossed the river. The sun hung deep on the sky already, and we set off in a quick pace towards Rivendell.

I walked a bit behind him and watched him from there. Who was he really? I would have to ask Elrond about it when I saw him. Even though he was just a ranger from the north, he walked with pride and a straight back. 

"Rivendell", he suddenly said, and turned around to me. "Quite a view, isn't it?"