Story is below, and continues to notes and credits (sry i wasn't meaning it to be so long, i just got a bit carried away :/) Just named it Istion cuz i couldn't think of anything better at the moment, wanted to finish yesterday but got busy, sry again!) Story: me Contest:@GP2023Harper This is a Lord of The Rings fanfic, probably taking place while Frodo is the ring bearer on his way to Mordor. :) I padded softly along the damp earth, my feet barely making a sound. My heart beat quickened and my semi-pointed ears pricked up, I heard the noise of prey. Drawing my bow string tight and notching an arrow, I crouched behind a tree, swiveling my eyes. There. I drew my attention to a deer, which stood elegantly to my left, behind a clump of bushes. I pulled back my string, ready to loose an arrow. “Istion!” a voice hissed my name and my arrow wizzed past the deer, which had already bolted. “Galdir!” I cried in exasperation, stamping my foot and slinging my bow over my shoulder. “You scared the deer, again.” I turned to see the figure of my friend, Galdir, crouched behind a tall pine, stiff as a statue. Unlike me, his ears poked out of his hair and tapered to a sharp point, he was full elf. “I never scared that last one, I told you, but Istion, look!” he pointed up the mountainside to our right. I rolled my eyes slightly, before crouching next to him and looking. “What is it now?” I asked, but then my face fell as I saw what he pointed at. We were in a clump of trees, crouched near the edge, and ahead of us lay the Northern edge of the valley, which curved steeply upwards until it reached the flat top, which was high above our heads. The steep slope had tres that grew outwards and curved up, reaching towards the sky, and strange rocky ledges that made for a treacherous pathway down. At the peak of the slope, were the figures of many Orcs slowly making their way down the rocky pathway. “Orcs!” I cursed under my breath. Orcs hadn't been spotted for decades. “Galdir, go back and warn Elrond, I will keep watch.” I hissed to Galdir. He quickly disappeared into the underbrush. As I waited for them to enter my shooting range, I realized there wasn't as many as first thought; maybe a couple hundred at most. They must have been some group of Orcs that had been separated from their task. (cont. in notes and credits)
(story cont. below) “Istion, Elrond has sent soldiers close behind me.” Galdir appeared out of the brush a few moments later. I nodded. “There aren't as many as I thought.” I pointed to the thin line of trailing Orcs winding down the slope. Galdir nodded and climbed up a tree, placing himself on a high branch, before notching an arrow and waiting. Birdsong was the only noise I heard for a while. “Istion, tis it true? Orcs?” an elf silently appeared beside me. I nodded. He cursed under his breath in Elvish and signaled to six more Elves who materialized behind him. The elf that had first appeared turned to the others and made a few gestures with his hands. The other elves nodded and swiftly positioned themselves in nearby trees and behind clumps of bushes, as I was. “We are going to rain arrows upon them.” The elf said to Galdir, before turning to me. “Istion, I know you are strong and brave and swift, yet Noron wishes you to return to Rivindell.” I stood, suddenly angry. “Noron cannot tell me what to do! I am older than last time! And he is not my true father!” I exclaimed. The elf took a breath. “I know, but this you cannot take up with me. You may be older, but Noron is your guardian and decides the best for you.” He said. I took a breath in. “Can't I just stay and loose arrows?” I asked. I knew I was being pathetic, but I was just so done with Noron telling me what to do. Ever since I was younger and got injured on my first scouting mission he wouldn't let me fight, even letting me hunt with Galdir had been a stretch. “You must take this up with him.” The elf replied calmly. I cursed in elvish and slung my bow on my back. Galdir waved at me as I ran swiftly back towards Rivindell. “Noron! You have to let me help!" I burst through the door a few minutes later. Noron was sitting in his silver chair by the window with a book in hand, he took his time to answer, but when he did his voice was strained with some strong feeling. " A golden sun, A silver moon. Life is a blooming flower, Life is a wilting autumn leaf. Not all that talks can sing, Not all that swims can breathe. Any who wish to live must die, Any who wish to die must live. A twinkling star, A glinting ocean. A flower may bloom, But a flower always wilts. A Song may be sweet, but a song has to end. Life may be sweet, but life has to end. His words hung in the silence. My anger had lessened when I heard the song. It felt, familiar. “That was the song I sang to you as a baby, your mother taught it to me.” Noron said, a sad smile on his lips. “You knew my mother?” I asked, bewildered. “Yes, well. We were close friends, until she disappeared. Years later she returned, baring you. She died of illness shortly after you were born.” Noron said. He often talked plainly, unlike most of the other Elves. I sat in a chair across from him and stared out the window. Noron stroked my hair. “You grow so fast.” He said, tears welling in his eyes. “It is time.” He then moved to the window, and pulled a long dusty silver box from a secret compartment below it. I sat up strait, having no clue what was happening, yet knowing it was special. Noron blew dust off the box, and set it before me. “Open it, it is a gift, from your mother.” I glanced at him, before slowly lifting the lid of the box. Inside, lay an ellegant silver bow, engraved with Elvish letters that spelled my mothers name, Aewel. Tears pricked my eyes as I lifted the bow out of the box, handling it with great care, and strung it. It felt light as a feather, and strong as a the roots of a tree. “Thankyou.” I said, my voice choking. I bowed to Noron, who wrapped me in a hug. “You are ready, go, go help fight the Orcs.” He said in Elvish, as he always did when he got emotional. I wiped tears from my face and turned to exit. It wasn't so much the letting me fight the Orcs, they had that covered nothing that wasn't allowed was getting into Rivindell, but this gift meant more to me than anything I had ever seen. The echo of the song played in my mind as I lept down the silver flights of stairs and out into the woods, a tear stained smile playing on my lips.
