Estateillio

Training

• The next morning Estateillio donned her training attire, a simple white shirt with brown trousers and her black traveling boots, and she fastened Aicanillë at her side and after much thought took her dagger as well and after a quick breakfast headed for the place where the fellowship was staying to check up on them.
• The sun had not yet risen, so it was no surprise to her that most of them were fast asleep, only Legolas and Aragorn awake and quietly talking to each other, and she offered them to join her at the training grounds now or later if they wished to and she asked them about their well-being and Aragorn assured her that they were fine and told her that they might join her later when the others had awoken.
• Estateillio was alone on the training fields, many elves were resting from having sung all night long, which she really should have done too after all that had happened last night, but they had little time and she needed to get used to her new weapon. The few days that they would probably be allowed to stay in Lothlórien would hopefully be enough to recall the lessons from the First and Second Age, when her weapon of choice had been the longsword, before she had put that down in favor of the more efficient twin swords in the last century of the Second Age.
• Aicanillë was as long as you could comfortably make a one-handed longsword for someone as tall as Carnistir and since she was smaller than her father – not by much – it would probably be easier for her to start with a two-handed grip. But she had grown very strong over the years so perhaps she could even switch to one hand once she got used to the new length and perhaps take up her dagger in the other hand.
• And so she drew her sword and slipped into a simple guard stance, shifting around a bit until she found the ideal position that would allow her a whole range of motion while exploiting the advantages of a long blade and Aicanillë came to life in her hands and its presence hummed in the back of her mind and she took a deep breath and moved through the steps of a simple block-strike-guard combination and then repeated that until she was fairly comfortable with the unfamiliar length of her weapon and then tried to remember more steps and did those, Aicanillë slicing through the empty air with glee.
• When she stopped around noon, she was fairly certain that she could do basic attacks and blocks sufficiently and so she left the training grounds for the day, remembering the advice of her mother not to overdo anything and to stop training with a success rather than a fail.
• And so she set out to find out how long exactly the fellowship was permitted to stay here. As long as they needed to, it turned out, though "I would advise you not to linger too long, for speed is of utmost importance." And she brought this information to the fellowship, while they were having lunch and Estateillio joined them for it.
• "I agree, we shouldn't stay too long. But we need the rest as well", Aragorn spoke, "A week, I think, should suffice." This seemed reasonable, so the others agreed with the heir of Isildur. "And in the meanwhile we should teach you some more fighting. We were lucky to have encountered so few orcs during the first stretch of our journey, but I doubt this luck will hold out", Estateillio told the hobbits and Merry and Pippin seemed quite eager to learn more. Or perhaps just to get all their energy out of their systems. Who knew?
• And even though Boromir seemed somber and brooding since they talked to Galadriel – or maybe because of it – took her accidental slip to have meant him and the elleth, because they had always been the ones to primarily teach the halflings, instead of just four fëar in one hröa pretending to be just one and messing up. They didn't correct the gondorian though. Why would they?
• And so Estateillio told Galadriel and Celeborn of their decision and the next day she and Boromir woke the hobbits up at an "ungodly hour", though it was that late in the morning that it could almost be considered noon, and dragged them to a secluded space on the training grounds and proceeded the lessons from before Moria. And while Merry and Pippin, ever energetic, launched into the tasks given to them, Frodo seemed rather out of it and thus Sam, ever worrying, as well and though they did not complain it was obvious that they were less enthusiastic than their kin.
• And Boromir too lost himself in his thoughts from time to time, until Estateillio finally quietly asked him: "What is on your mind, Boromir? I can basically hear you thinking." And the son of Denethor looked at her wide-eyed, remembering how the Lady of Light had spoken to him in his mind and heard his thoughts, and the elleth laughed quietly as she sensed his distress and assured him: "Do not worry, I would not look into your mind if I had not your permission or if it wasn't an emergency. I know that that can be a very confusing and upsetting experience."
• And then she sobered up and continued: "Sadly not all share this opinion fully. Whatever the Lady Galadriel told you must have been important or urgent, though know that if she talked about the future it might not happen like she told you it would. Visions are often quite symbolic and rarely tell the whole truth. They only leave you asking more questions and fretting about what is to come."
• Boromir frowned and thought and then answered: "I do not think that what she told me can be symbolic in any way." And Estateillio smiled and said: "Everything can be symbolic. I can talk about walking alongside a river and watching the water run by and mean observing the passing of time. I can be weaving a tapestry and in truth be conducting a choir, controlling the harmony of many voices. There is always a hidden meaning, you need only find it."

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Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoyed!

I must note that I was listening to Rammstein: Zeit while writing that last part, which is were the comparison with the river and time comes from. Also from some Halanthir(?) One-Shot I read a year ago and can't remember the name of. The latter comparison is definitely a nod to Vairë and Míriel, who both weave tapestries depicting the events of Arda and thus the unfolding Song. 

Anyways.

I've had a bout of inspiration and creativity lately (as you might have noticed by the many updates and new chapters) and I hope it stays. Holidays start in two weeks and I hope to get many chapters written during that time (because best-case-Szenario is me having next to nothing to do all day two weeks long).

I'm rambling.

AT