Aug 17 - Good Morning, Sunshine
Title: Good Morning, Sunshine
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Anariel is ready for Aman, but is Aman ready for her?
Word Count: 1835
Note: Fourth time's the charm? I've taken multiple stabs at this scene, and still not entirely happy with it, but I'm once again out of time. (So much for my resolution to get to bed early tonight.)
Anariel decided it was only polite to wait until everyone else finished eating before bringing up to her grandfather that she hadn’t run through her usual practice routine since she arrived in Aman, and her brothers were always happy to let someone else be her sparring partner.
Grandfather finished before his cousin Eöl, and she suspected he had already guessed what was on her mind.
“A shame they made you leave your sword behind,” he said. “I’m sure Eöl would have appreciated seeing his son’s work.”
“I don’t need to see it to know it was excellent,” Eöl snorted. “And clearly it served her well. She’s here, is she not?”
“Much as I like my sword, I like to think I had a little to do with me being here,” Anariel replied, keeping her expression neutral.
Grandfather liked his cousin, so getting in a fight with him right off the bat probably wasn’t the way to go.
Her brothers looked up from the last of their breakfast with interest.
“Don’t forget, she’s one of Lúthien’s,” Grandfather laughed.
All three of his grandchildren had heard that tone often enough to recognize the gentle warning in it. Eöl either didn’t, or chose to disregard it in the belief that Grandfather was unduly partisan. (Which, to be fair, he might be just a little. But Anariel also knew her own abilities, and that between the Slayer and her stealth upgrade, she was already beyond all but the best of the elves. With more practice and focus, she could improve still more…)
Eöl sighed.
“Oh, go on, show off then.”
It was directed to Grandfather more than to her. Fortunately, he had come prepared.
The practice sword he tossed her wasn’t balanced as she preferred, but it would do.
“Wait, how come you got to keep yours?” she protested as he picked up what was definitely his own favorite blade.
“I’m not the one who ignored the plan about how I was supposed to arrive, so I was able to put my weapons in the armory.”
“There’s an armory?” she demanded, looking around.
Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that sooner?
Elladan started laughing.
“Not right now. You can make do with that for the time being,” Grandfather said, taking a stance with his back toward Eöl.
“I don’t see why I have to get stuck with practice swords when there’s a whole armory,” she grumbled.
“Think of it as a challenge,” Grandfather said, with a smirk Eöl couldn’t see.
Why - oh. Grandfather had a plan. He couldn’t tell her what it was with Eöl right there - it was a fair bet they were on a similar level when it came to silent speaking. So she’d have to go along with it until she figured it out.
Grandfather’s first few moves puzzled her. Yes, it made her look good, but this barely even qualified as a warmup!
The next time their movements put Grandfather’s back to Eöl again, he winked.
Ok…
A few more minutes passed of them sparring but not really, before finally Eöl called out.
“You’re coddling her!”
Ah. There it was.
“If you think I’m being too easy on my granddaughter, by all means,” Grandfather said with a mock bow, tossing Eöl his sword.
Eöl took his place readily.
“If you’re half as good as Celeborn’s been claiming you are, that wasn’t even good practice,” he sniffed.
She might have taken insult, except for one thing. She was still wearing her brag braids, and by now he had to know what they meant. So he knew he’d just seen a nice dance but nothing of substance.
“Right, show us what you’re made of, then,” she grinned.
---
The first round lasted as long as it did only because Anariel was gauging Eöl’s abilities. Much as she might make light of her injuries, she would actually rather not get any limbs sliced up, thank you very much. But of course she ended up disarming him about ten minutes in.
To be fair, Eöl wasn’t some sexist old Watcher intent on putting a young Slayer in her place. He simply expected his young kin to be well trained. In his mind, coddling helped no one. It certainly wouldn’t have in the First Age.
“That’s more like it,” he said, picking himself up. “Now - prove that wasn’t just luck.”
Eöl might have gotten a little overconfident based on the length of their first match. He looked startled when the second one was over in less than half the time, and outright shocked when the round intended to be his comeback for ‘best of five’ (at which Elrohir had developed a suspicious cough) was over in less than thirty seconds.
She looked up at the end of that one to find that Tinu and Maeglin had joined them, and her law-brother was suppressing a smile at finding his father picking himself up.
“Surely you listened to Uncle Celeborn’s assessment of Anariel, Ada?” he asked.
“Celeborn has been known to exaggerate a time or two,” Eöl grumbled. “You can hardly blame me for being skeptical!”
“What part of ‘the most like Lúthien’ do you feel was an exaggeration?” Grandfather laughed.
Anariel caught the silent addition - your boy married the one who takes after Nim.
Interesting. She wondered who her brothers reminded the Sindarin side of the family of.
“Well, now that’s settled,” Elrohir said briskly, “what about an actual challenge? Anariel versus the rest of us? You’re welcome to sit it out if you’d rather, Uncle, but I think you’d be a valuable addition to the team.”
“Everyone else against one isn’t fair!” Anariel protested. “I should at least get one on my side.”
“Fine, you can have Maeglin,” Elladan offered. “That way he doesn’t have to worry about what our grandmother Anairë will say if he damages you a second time.”
That got him a glare from Maeglin, but Anariel sighed.
“Fine,” she agreed. “But when I win-”
“-if you win,” Elrohir corrected. “There are enough of us who know how you operate that you might not.”
“When I win,” she continued, “someone is showing me where this mythical armory is.”
She was only somewhat mollified to see her brothers were also using practice blades.
“It’s not mythical,” Maeglin said. “It’s-”
Elladan clapped a hand over his mouth.
“I understand you are not very experienced as an older brother yet, your sister is still young. But once you’ve agreed the terms of the contest, you can’t just concede right away!”
Tindomiel got a case of the giggles at that.
He removed his hand cautiously.
“I don’t see why I can’t share information with my teammate,” Maeglin said unrepentantly. “Besides, I think we will win.”
The look the twins gave him suggested to Anariel she was going to have to play even more defense than she thought.
“The seating area is out of bounds,” Grandfather told them. “You’re all going to want something to drink and possibly snacks when you’re done.”
A round of nods greeted him.
“Also, the contest does not leave this particular garden,” Eöl added. “You have grandparents who would not approve, so today is not the day for a running battle.”
“That takes a good deal of the fun out of it,” Elrohir sighed. “Though I suppose it makes it slightly easier for anyone who is out to continue watching.”
“Right, what’s the signal?” she asked.
“I’ll do a five count,” Tinu said firmly. “I’m also referee - all calls are final, no arguing!”
“Because that’s ever stopped anyone,” Elladan snorted.
You know our brothers are both going for you, right? she warned Maeglin.
I had my suspicions, he said drily. But keep in mind that Ada and Uncle Celeborn are not unfamiliar with fighting as a team, and while they may not be quite a coordinated as twins, I suspect they come quite close.
Right, well, here’s how we play it...
Sure enough, once they started, the twins both went for Maeglin. Unfortunately, she’d anticipated them well enough to head them off and take Elladan out right away.
“I see how it is,” he grumbled, as he took a seat. “Playing favorites already. And there is no popcorn here.”
Maeglin managed to take his father out a few minutes later with a neat trick she hadn’t entirely caught. She’d have to ask him about it later. It was always fun to learn something new.
That left Anariel, Elrohir, Maeglin, and Celeborn still in.
Anariel considered Elrohir the greater threat to Maeglin. She’d been trying to keep between him and their opponents so Elrohir had to get through her to get at him.
She was startled when Celeborn managed to double around and engage Maeglin. She was able to keep her brother at a distance - he knew well enough that just because she hadn’t been given practice knives to go with her practice sword didn’t mean she wouldn’t improvise, but she had to keep one eye on him while she moved to assist.
She had just picked her moment and tagged Grandfather out with a pair of well-placed “strokes” from behind - knee first, then neck - and was turning to deal with Elrohir when a voice from somewhere behind her ordered them to “stay this now.”
All the children of Imladris knew perfectly well that when someone used that tone, arguing just made it worse.
Anariel dropped to the ‘calling time’ position they’d always used, but kept one eye on Elrohir as she did, and sure enough -
“Cheater,” she grumbled, catching the practice knife easily. “You knew I was tagging out.”
Also, you heard ‘stop’ same as I did!
“I almost had you though,” he said brightly. “It would count if your hand wasn’t on the ground yet.”
And you speak as if you haven’t used the same trick before.
“Which still would only have made it at best a draw, not a win for your team.”
“You bet to win, not to draw,” Elladan pointed out as he joined them, pulling her up to her feet.
“We started with two, you started out four,” she shot back. “So I think we won - we took out more of you.”
Their referee declined to make any call.
“What is going on here?”
Grandfather Nolo looked furious, and Grandfather Ara wasn’t exactly sunshine and smiles either.
If they get this upset at a mini-melee, how on earth did they manage in Beleriand? Anariel asked Elrohir quietly.
Perhaps it is because of Beleriand that they are so upset, he chided.
She sighed and resolved to be patient with whatever nonsense was coming. Battles were ugly enough, wars were worse, and the First Age had plenty of battles and a war that lasted a couple decades.
Cheer up, there isn’t a scratch on you, Elladan said. Which means they’re really getting a very gentle introduction to what it’s like to have you around.
All the same, I do not think anyone is showing you where the armory is today, Elrohir sighed. Not even Uncle Eöl.
Author: Grundy
Rating: FR13
Crossover: LotR/Silmarillion
Disclaimer: All belongs to Whedon & Tolkien. No money is being made here, it's all in good fun.
Summary: Anariel is ready for Aman, but is Aman ready for her?
Word Count: 1835
Note: Fourth time's the charm? I've taken multiple stabs at this scene, and still not entirely happy with it, but I'm once again out of time. (So much for my resolution to get to bed early tonight.)
Anariel decided it was only polite to wait until everyone else finished eating before bringing up to her grandfather that she hadn’t run through her usual practice routine since she arrived in Aman, and her brothers were always happy to let someone else be her sparring partner.
Grandfather finished before his cousin Eöl, and she suspected he had already guessed what was on her mind.
“A shame they made you leave your sword behind,” he said. “I’m sure Eöl would have appreciated seeing his son’s work.”
“I don’t need to see it to know it was excellent,” Eöl snorted. “And clearly it served her well. She’s here, is she not?”
“Much as I like my sword, I like to think I had a little to do with me being here,” Anariel replied, keeping her expression neutral.
Grandfather liked his cousin, so getting in a fight with him right off the bat probably wasn’t the way to go.
Her brothers looked up from the last of their breakfast with interest.
“Don’t forget, she’s one of Lúthien’s,” Grandfather laughed.
All three of his grandchildren had heard that tone often enough to recognize the gentle warning in it. Eöl either didn’t, or chose to disregard it in the belief that Grandfather was unduly partisan. (Which, to be fair, he might be just a little. But Anariel also knew her own abilities, and that between the Slayer and her stealth upgrade, she was already beyond all but the best of the elves. With more practice and focus, she could improve still more…)
Eöl sighed.
“Oh, go on, show off then.”
It was directed to Grandfather more than to her. Fortunately, he had come prepared.
The practice sword he tossed her wasn’t balanced as she preferred, but it would do.
“Wait, how come you got to keep yours?” she protested as he picked up what was definitely his own favorite blade.
“I’m not the one who ignored the plan about how I was supposed to arrive, so I was able to put my weapons in the armory.”
“There’s an armory?” she demanded, looking around.
Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that sooner?
Elladan started laughing.
“Not right now. You can make do with that for the time being,” Grandfather said, taking a stance with his back toward Eöl.
“I don’t see why I have to get stuck with practice swords when there’s a whole armory,” she grumbled.
“Think of it as a challenge,” Grandfather said, with a smirk Eöl couldn’t see.
Why - oh. Grandfather had a plan. He couldn’t tell her what it was with Eöl right there - it was a fair bet they were on a similar level when it came to silent speaking. So she’d have to go along with it until she figured it out.
Grandfather’s first few moves puzzled her. Yes, it made her look good, but this barely even qualified as a warmup!
The next time their movements put Grandfather’s back to Eöl again, he winked.
Ok…
A few more minutes passed of them sparring but not really, before finally Eöl called out.
“You’re coddling her!”
Ah. There it was.
“If you think I’m being too easy on my granddaughter, by all means,” Grandfather said with a mock bow, tossing Eöl his sword.
Eöl took his place readily.
“If you’re half as good as Celeborn’s been claiming you are, that wasn’t even good practice,” he sniffed.
She might have taken insult, except for one thing. She was still wearing her brag braids, and by now he had to know what they meant. So he knew he’d just seen a nice dance but nothing of substance.
“Right, show us what you’re made of, then,” she grinned.
---
The first round lasted as long as it did only because Anariel was gauging Eöl’s abilities. Much as she might make light of her injuries, she would actually rather not get any limbs sliced up, thank you very much. But of course she ended up disarming him about ten minutes in.
To be fair, Eöl wasn’t some sexist old Watcher intent on putting a young Slayer in her place. He simply expected his young kin to be well trained. In his mind, coddling helped no one. It certainly wouldn’t have in the First Age.
“That’s more like it,” he said, picking himself up. “Now - prove that wasn’t just luck.”
Eöl might have gotten a little overconfident based on the length of their first match. He looked startled when the second one was over in less than half the time, and outright shocked when the round intended to be his comeback for ‘best of five’ (at which Elrohir had developed a suspicious cough) was over in less than thirty seconds.
She looked up at the end of that one to find that Tinu and Maeglin had joined them, and her law-brother was suppressing a smile at finding his father picking himself up.
“Surely you listened to Uncle Celeborn’s assessment of Anariel, Ada?” he asked.
“Celeborn has been known to exaggerate a time or two,” Eöl grumbled. “You can hardly blame me for being skeptical!”
“What part of ‘the most like Lúthien’ do you feel was an exaggeration?” Grandfather laughed.
Anariel caught the silent addition - your boy married the one who takes after Nim.
Interesting. She wondered who her brothers reminded the Sindarin side of the family of.
“Well, now that’s settled,” Elrohir said briskly, “what about an actual challenge? Anariel versus the rest of us? You’re welcome to sit it out if you’d rather, Uncle, but I think you’d be a valuable addition to the team.”
“Everyone else against one isn’t fair!” Anariel protested. “I should at least get one on my side.”
“Fine, you can have Maeglin,” Elladan offered. “That way he doesn’t have to worry about what our grandmother Anairë will say if he damages you a second time.”
That got him a glare from Maeglin, but Anariel sighed.
“Fine,” she agreed. “But when I win-”
“-if you win,” Elrohir corrected. “There are enough of us who know how you operate that you might not.”
“When I win,” she continued, “someone is showing me where this mythical armory is.”
She was only somewhat mollified to see her brothers were also using practice blades.
“It’s not mythical,” Maeglin said. “It’s-”
Elladan clapped a hand over his mouth.
“I understand you are not very experienced as an older brother yet, your sister is still young. But once you’ve agreed the terms of the contest, you can’t just concede right away!”
Tindomiel got a case of the giggles at that.
He removed his hand cautiously.
“I don’t see why I can’t share information with my teammate,” Maeglin said unrepentantly. “Besides, I think we will win.”
The look the twins gave him suggested to Anariel she was going to have to play even more defense than she thought.
“The seating area is out of bounds,” Grandfather told them. “You’re all going to want something to drink and possibly snacks when you’re done.”
A round of nods greeted him.
“Also, the contest does not leave this particular garden,” Eöl added. “You have grandparents who would not approve, so today is not the day for a running battle.”
“That takes a good deal of the fun out of it,” Elrohir sighed. “Though I suppose it makes it slightly easier for anyone who is out to continue watching.”
“Right, what’s the signal?” she asked.
“I’ll do a five count,” Tinu said firmly. “I’m also referee - all calls are final, no arguing!”
“Because that’s ever stopped anyone,” Elladan snorted.
You know our brothers are both going for you, right? she warned Maeglin.
I had my suspicions, he said drily. But keep in mind that Ada and Uncle Celeborn are not unfamiliar with fighting as a team, and while they may not be quite a coordinated as twins, I suspect they come quite close.
Right, well, here’s how we play it...
Sure enough, once they started, the twins both went for Maeglin. Unfortunately, she’d anticipated them well enough to head them off and take Elladan out right away.
“I see how it is,” he grumbled, as he took a seat. “Playing favorites already. And there is no popcorn here.”
Maeglin managed to take his father out a few minutes later with a neat trick she hadn’t entirely caught. She’d have to ask him about it later. It was always fun to learn something new.
That left Anariel, Elrohir, Maeglin, and Celeborn still in.
Anariel considered Elrohir the greater threat to Maeglin. She’d been trying to keep between him and their opponents so Elrohir had to get through her to get at him.
She was startled when Celeborn managed to double around and engage Maeglin. She was able to keep her brother at a distance - he knew well enough that just because she hadn’t been given practice knives to go with her practice sword didn’t mean she wouldn’t improvise, but she had to keep one eye on him while she moved to assist.
She had just picked her moment and tagged Grandfather out with a pair of well-placed “strokes” from behind - knee first, then neck - and was turning to deal with Elrohir when a voice from somewhere behind her ordered them to “stay this now.”
All the children of Imladris knew perfectly well that when someone used that tone, arguing just made it worse.
Anariel dropped to the ‘calling time’ position they’d always used, but kept one eye on Elrohir as she did, and sure enough -
“Cheater,” she grumbled, catching the practice knife easily. “You knew I was tagging out.”
Also, you heard ‘stop’ same as I did!
“I almost had you though,” he said brightly. “It would count if your hand wasn’t on the ground yet.”
And you speak as if you haven’t used the same trick before.
“Which still would only have made it at best a draw, not a win for your team.”
“You bet to win, not to draw,” Elladan pointed out as he joined them, pulling her up to her feet.
“We started with two, you started out four,” she shot back. “So I think we won - we took out more of you.”
Their referee declined to make any call.
“What is going on here?”
Grandfather Nolo looked furious, and Grandfather Ara wasn’t exactly sunshine and smiles either.
If they get this upset at a mini-melee, how on earth did they manage in Beleriand? Anariel asked Elrohir quietly.
Perhaps it is because of Beleriand that they are so upset, he chided.
She sighed and resolved to be patient with whatever nonsense was coming. Battles were ugly enough, wars were worse, and the First Age had plenty of battles and a war that lasted a couple decades.
Cheer up, there isn’t a scratch on you, Elladan said. Which means they’re really getting a very gentle introduction to what it’s like to have you around.
All the same, I do not think anyone is showing you where the armory is today, Elrohir sighed. Not even Uncle Eöl.