Daughter Of Lórien || Book 1||

Ch 1 ~ The Forest

The forest of Mirkwood is hot and musty. The sun barely shines through the thick canopy of trees and my brothers and I have grown restless trying to reach the halls of the Woodland King.

"Do you have any idea where we might be Elrohir? You're supposed to be good at this navigating stuff" I grumble.

"Well it's quite hard to navigate without the sun!" He shoots back, playfully. "Maybe if Elladan hadn't sprained his ankle he could have climbed a tree and helped me out!"

I look over to Elladan. Albeit twins with similar body structures, Elrohir's fighting style is one of more brute strength and endurance, beneficial in the thick of battle, whereas Elladan prefers elegant and quick tactics, courtesy of his sharp wit and nimble feet. No doubt the reason he is so great at climbimg trees.

At the moment he has a guilty look on his face. I roll my eyes.

Boys.

Stopping my horse, I jump off.

"This tree looks tall enough." I say with a lazy flick of my hand. "I'll be back down in half an hour."

And with that I begin to climb.

It is slow progress at first. The twisting trunk of the tree begins to give me an idea of how Elladan managed to twist his ankle. This is not easy. Once I reach the branches however, my climbing becomes easier. Unlike Elladan who has some sort of natural nimbleness, I had to train myself for many years to become as good as he is. Although quite light on my feet, I have always preferred to train myself to dominate on an open field, rather than hidden in the trees; possibly the reason I favor fighting with my sword rather than a hunters bow, the weapon Elladan always keeps strung across his back.

I poke my head out of the dusty canopy of my tree and look around. Everywhere I look I see more of the same type of trees stretching on for forever. I sigh. We are hopelessly lost.

I slide back down the tree.

"The sun is setting in the west, behind us." I tell Elrohir. "We are headed east towards the Lonely Mountain. Which way is the Woodland Realm?"

"We're going in the right direction. If we continue on this path, we should reach it in a couple of days at the most." He replies.

I grumble.

Great. I can hardly stand another couple of hours in this dark and gloomy forest, let alone a few more days.

"Let's camp here for the night" says Elladan. "Tomorrow we should begin our journey before the sun rises."

"Good" I say. "The sooner we reach the Woodland Realm, the better.

I mutter.

"I hate this stinking forest."

~~~

The next day I awake before my brothers. The air in the forest seems fresher and not as thick. Tying my blonde hair back, I take in a deep breath.

Almost as fresh as the air in Rivendell.

I think longingly.

Almost.

I go to wake up my brothers.

"Wake up sleepy head." I coo and then proceed to playfully punch Elrohir in the arm.

Elladan, knowing this routine well, has already scrambled out of bed to avoid getting a punch to the arm. Elrohir is not so lucky.

"Must you do that every morning." He grumbles, sleep still slurring his voice. His dark brown hair is a mess as he gets up, rubbing his arm.

"Of course I must." I respond with mock politeness. "Otherwise you two would sleep on for all eternity."

I'm not a particularly early riser either, but at least I get up earlier than them. Arwen would always be the one to rise at the crack of dawn and then would proceed to wake me gently. My brothers get stuck with me as a wake up call.

And they are lucky they do! With Arwen and her gentleness, they'd never get up!

I laugh at the thought.

"Come on boys." I say, throwing my arms around each of their shoulders, although with some difficulty. They are both much taller than me. I smirk.

"The halls of the Woodland King await."