Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

First Impressions

"Would you like to come with us?" Lord Elrond asked the next morning as elves began mounting horses and preparing to ride out. Apparently, a pack of orcs were travelling too close to Rivendell for Elrond's liking, so they planned on taking care of the problem. "We could use an extra pair of hands." He prompted.

"Why not?" Hunting orcs did sound rather fun, and this time Agarwaen would have a horse too. Having been annoyed with her dresses earlier this morning, she already donned elven trousers, paired with boots and a long dark green top. She thanked the Valar she didn't wear a dress today.

"You can take this horse here." Elrond told her after grabbing two horses. He handed her the reins of a tall bay one. She mounted in sync with Elrond, and they rode out among a good number of other elves.

It had been quite some time since she rode and fired arrows at the same time, but during her time in Rivendell, it was one of her favorite things to practice, so the skill came back easily. She still wasn't the best, but she could pull her own weight. They rode out onto a rocky plain where there in the distance, they could see quite a few orcs and wargs. One of the elves sounded a horn, and the pack slowed, turning their attention to the elves.

The wargs changed direction and bolted toward them but were taken out by a slew of arrows within seconds. The elves then charged the remaining orcs, firing arrow after arrow. The wind whipped Agarwaens braid in the air behind her, and she focused on both the strides of her horse and her target. Up and down, up and down, up and fire. The arrow lodged itself in the orcs chest, and she moved on to another. When they were too close, she slung the bow around her, and unsheathed her sword. Her heart was pumping with adrenaline and she felt overwhelmingly free as she slit a few orc's throats and finally managed to decapitate one. A few of the creatures tried to run off, so she took her bow back and slowed her horse. She fired along with Elrond and another elf, killing all of the runners. The yellow grass now had smears of black blood, as bodies and few heads lay bleeding out.

Agarwaen returned her bow to her back and looked over at Elrond who gave her a look of approval.

"Well done." He remarked as he turned his horse around. She smiled and did the same, following behind all the other elves. As the rush began to leave her body, her hands shook and she couldn't help but wish every day was filled with excitement like that.

As they neared the front gate, what caught their attention was the group of short surly dwarves gathered near the front staircase. So Gandalf was on time. Impressive.

As Agarwaen slowed down to not appear hostile, the other elves sped up and began circling the group from atop their horses. Agarwaen stopped on the bridge and watched the scene unfold. It was like corralling a bunch of angry rabbits. They all held out their axes and swords in defense to what they thought was an attack, and yelled at the elves surrounding them. Agarwaen dismounted and waited on the bridge for the elves to be finished with their little show. They all stopped when Elrond did, and she listened as he addressed Gandalf, who stood by Lindir. He explained that they had just come from an orc hunt, before dismounting and greeting the wizard.

"Someone, or something must have drawn them near." He said, handing off his sword.

"Ah, that may have been us." Gandalf admitted. Agarwaen wasn't surprised. Getting the dwarves to follow the hidden pass was a smart idea and left little room for opting out of the visit to the elven city. The elves then began to lead their horses away to the stables, and Agarwaen followed behind. There'd be time for her to be introduced to the party at dinner. She heard Elrond speaking to Thorin, and paused to look back. The dwarf that stepped forward had dark hair, and a cold look on his face. It made her shudder a bit, as if the air grew cold. Another dark haired dwarf, a young one, caught her gaze and narrowed his eyes at her. She nodded curtly and continued on her way.