Caught (a legolas fanfiction)

Moments

Chapter 34

It was a few weeks later that Legolas was declared officially allowed to leave the bed in the healing wing in Rivendell, where they had returned to after they had discovered that Legolas would be alright.

"YEEEEEEEEEEAH!" he cried, rushing past Elrond, who had just told him he was allowed to get up, and grabbing his bow and knives on the way out.

They had never seen him move so fast.

"Whoa, Legolas, slow down!" called Elladan as he and his twin immediately began to rush after him.

Aragorn laughed and he and Gimli immediately began to run as well. Glorfindel, Thranduil, and Elrond shared an amused look and began to follow at a much more leisurely pace.

When the twins and Aragorn and Gimli arrived, Legolas was already shooting, his aim as true as ever. He was using training arrows from a bin at his side, so as not to ruin the ones he had made himself for battle.

The arrow that he had shot the second before they had arrived was sudden barraged with a series of others, all of which went right through and split the one before in two. The arrows were fired in such quick succession. Aragorn blinked, and there were suddenly another two in the target.

The arrival of his friends did not break his intense concentration, and his eyes were hardened and focused. Everyone who had been on the training field before he arrived were staring in awe. Even the best archer in Imaldris only saw archery as more of a hobby, considering the eternal peace in the valley. But this was the shooting of a battle-hardened warrior who had defended his home against any and all darkness for centuries. Others, some not even warriors, gathered around to watch

A small elfling standing by saw it and immediately ran to her mother, pointing and crying out in her excitement. In her glee, she wanted to get close to the action, and she stepped very close to the target. And closer. And closer. And as she stared at the arrows flying into it, she barely noticed herself getting within range.

But Legolas did, and so did the rest of the elves. There was a collective gasp as they all realized that Legolas had already shot the most recent arrow, and it was already a foot away from him.

Unbelievably fast and graceful, Legolas's arm that was holding the bow snapped out, and his grip loosened. Though he still held it at the very end, the bow was able to reach its full length out in front of him. The timing was so perfect and practiced that he got it exactly right, and the fletching of the arrow was caught right where the string joined the wood in a loose grip.

Giving a sigh of relief at the potential disaster he had just avoided, Legolas was completely unaware of the people gathered around him as he took his bow with his other hand and gripped it normally, removing the arrow from where it was held at the very end of it.

Then the applause started.

Once they had gotten past their complete awe and unbelieving amazement, the crowd began to clap wildly for the wonderful and life-saving performance they had just seen. People never trained that seriously in the Last Homely House. It was not needed, it was unnecessary. But if it had been one of them shooting the arrow toward that little girl, she probably would have died.

Legolas's eyes snapped up, and a sudden fear and rage filled them, but it was gone in an instant when he realized the people around him were not enemies. The girl's mother grabbed her child and ran to him, begging forgiveness and thanking him over and over.

"I...no, really, It's nothing," said Legolas, his cheeks reddening at the attention. "I'm just glad she's alright."

The woman, still gushing her praise and gratefulness to him, was washed away by the crowd. A boy, a little older than the girl had been, approached the prince.