Between Friends - The Scouting Mission

“Let me tell you about the days of high adventure” – opening lines to Conan the Barbarian

~~~

They were up before sunrise the next morning, getting an early start over the high pass. With any luck and a steady pace, they would be well over the pass and heading toward the Great River before nightfall.

The crossing was quick since the snows had not yet come in force to the area. In another month or two it would be nearly covered in snow. Annowe was quite glad that they were making quick time out of the mountains. She did not like the high pass with the cold, snow and thin air. Legolas did not seem to notice a difference either in the temperature or in the air. His attention was elsewhere.

By afternoon, they had completed the pass and were heading east toward the river, much to her relief. Legolas, however, was anxious. He felt as if they were being watched but could not pinpoint the source. The feeling grew stronger the closer they came to the river but he could not be sure. The feeling made him uneasy but he did not voice his concerns to Annowe. He had not seen or heard anything and did not want to cause concern if there was no need.

They continued on until Legolas stopped and cocked his head to one side. This time, he had heard something – it was unmistakable. Something was tracking them. Something that wasn’t very subtle.

Annowe held her breath anxiously as she watched the elf's reaction.

He had been acting jittery all day, just stopping and listening or staring off into the distance and it was beginning to unnerve her. She looked around and strained her ears but her senses weren’t nearly as keen as his and she could discern nothing. She watched him carefully, not wanting to distract him by asking questions. He would warn her if there was danger and she trusted him implicitly.

They continued walking slowly in silence, Legolas’s eyes scanning the horizon and his head titled toward the mountains.

The sun was setting below the Misty Mountains, painting the sky purple and pink and casting a beautiful glow on the mountain snow. She stared at it in awe. No matter how many sunsets or sunrises she had seen, each one gave her pause at its beauty.

She was about to comment on it to Legolas when their trackers suddenly appeared. Orcs!

“What in Mordor are they about?” She grumbled as the frontrunner let out a howl of recognition at the scouts.

“Don’t know,” Legolas answered as he notched his bow and loosed two arrows in one rapid movement. Two of the Orcs went down in a heap causing the others to yowl in rage.

“We need to get out of here and fast,” she said anxiously as the Orcs closed in on them.

“Agreed,” he replied, notching another arrow to bring down the closest Orc.

“The Anduin is near, start heading that way,” she ordered and started retreating toward the safety of the Anduin.

“The river?” he grunted. “I can’t swim very well.”

“Neither can they,” she pointed out. “And you’ve got me.”

He shot a glance at her over his shoulder and realized she was correct. The longer they stayed here, the better the chance that there would be more of the foul things to join the melee and the two of them could not hold off the mob.

He nodded his ascent and they retreated toward the river at break neck speed. Legolas easily outran the slower Annowe and turned to launch several arrows at their pursuers. She wasn’t much of a runner but she could swim like a fish.

By the time they got to the river, she was panting heavily and Legolas was smiling grimly at her breathlessness. He found it rather endearing for some reason.

“Shut up!” she managed to gasp at him and dove into the water.

With a swift glance over his shoulder at the remaining Orcs, he followed her into the Anduin River.

~~~

The water was quite cold and it took his breath away as he quickly sank beneath the surface, weighed down by his clothing and equipment. For a split second, he thought he would sink like a rock and be carried away but then a grinning Annowe grabbed his hand and pulled him deeper into the river.

She was in her element now and was greatly enjoying the unexpected swim. They could hear the shouts and splashes of the Orcs in the river as they tried to locate the two submerged scouts. The Orcs couldn’t swim and wouldn’t go into the river any farther than absolutely necessary so the elf and the naiad would be safe for the time being.

Annowe began to swim downstream, towing the elf behind her and keeping them both well under the water. She wanted to get as far away from the Orcs as possible. It would be dark soon and they could leave the river well to the south and under the cover of darkness.

Legolas held his breath as long as he could but soon his lungs were burning from lack of air and he tried to pull away from her so he could surface. She would not let go of him and he suddenly felt very afraid. He jerked his wrist and was nearing the edge of panic when she turned to him. He put a hand to his throat as if he were choking and pointed up.

Immediately, she pulled close to him, placed a firm hand behind his head and kissed him.

Or so he thought.

The action startled him into pulling away from her until he realized that she was breathing air into his mouth.

She held fast to him and her laughter bubbled through the water. “Trust me,” she mouthed to him. The tips of his ears turned pink with embarrassment when he realized she was not trying to seduce him. He was almost disappointed that it wasn’t a kiss.

He relaxed and she placed her mouth over his and breathed into him. It was an odd sensation to have her lips on his but he found it rather pleasant. He wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to truly kiss her and feel her arms wrapped around him in passion.

Shaking the thought (no good would come of that), he nodded to her that he was ready to continue their underwater journey now that he understood her intentions.

They swam south, keeping well into the river. When he needed air, he would tug on her hand and give her the choking sign as he had before.

She would come to him and place her mouth on his, giving him the air he needed. She hoped he did not notice how she quivered when she breathed into him. Sometimes it could be very difficult for her to be constantly near him, especially when she placed her lips on his. It took every ounce of self-restraint she possessed not to slip her tongue into his mouth and throw her arms around him.

It was well past dark when she led him to the shore.

He stood up immediately and waded to the bank, grateful to feel the cold night air in his lungs yet disappointed that he would no longer feel her mouth on his. He turned to look at her and was surprised to see that she was not yet standing. She wanted to stay in the water as long as possible and he smiled.

She eventually did join him on the bank, shivering in the cold air.

They looked around the area and found they were on a rocky bank below a small cliff, shielding them from the woods above. Their journey had taken them well south of the Orcs and there was no sign of any more of them in the area.

“We will have to risk building a fire,” Legolas said grudgingly.

“Agreed. I’m freezing,” she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. The cold was torturous to her and her nipples were uncomfortably hard and not just from the water.
Having her mouth on his had made her painfully aware of how attractive she found him.

They gathered some dried branches and built a small fire by the riverbank. Annowe began removing her outer garments to dry.

“I don’t know what’s worse – dripping wet and freezing or half naked and freezing,” she grumbled miserably.

Legolas rolled his eyes at her as he removed his cloak. “Put your cloak next to the fire, it will dry quickly. Then dry the rest of your clothes,” he scolded her mildly. “That way you’ll at least have something to wear!”

She grinned, “Sounds like you’ve done this before.”

He didn’t answer but drew his dark brows together and stalked off into the woods. He was sliding into one of his melancholy moods and would return when he was finished brooding.

She sighed. She had never understood how he could take so many things so seriously. He was probably blaming himself for being surprised by those Orcs. In her opinion, as long as no harm came of it then it was in the past and not worth dwelling on. If it is gone, it’s gone and it doesn’t matter, was her philosophy. Then, again, she and her sisters tended to grow happier with age whereas elves tended to grow sadder and more introspective over the years.

Quietly he slipped into the shadows and watched her. He should have known better. He couldn’t be around her, especially under these circumstances. It was a cruel joke that Elrond was playing on him pairing him with her but he doubted if the venerable elf realized that.

No, he had kept his feelings for her hidden and under control and there was no way Elrond could know. Was there? And, more importantly, how would he be able to keep his feelings under control when she was so close for so long? He mulled these questions as he silently watched his old friend.

After a while, he returned to the riverbank and found her huddled by the fire, wrapped tightly in a cloak with the rest of her clothing spread out near the fire to dry.

“Better now?” She asked him.

He sighed and sat down next to the fire. “I will be fine,” he answered.

“That isn’t what I asked you, young one.” She only called him “young one” when she was about to remind him that she was older than him and therefore should be respected as his senior.

Despite his mood, he smiled slightly. “Yes. I’m better now,” he corrected himself.

She grunted. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.

“I will take the watch tonight,” she told him. “I won’t need to sleep after being in the water for so long.”

Legolas yawned delicately and tossed a blanket on the ground. “Good. I’m very tired,” he said and lay down on the blanket, using his cloak for a cover. It wasn’t long before he was fast asleep and dreaming of Annowe’s soft lips on his and her velvety skin under his hands.

~~~~