Edlothia stomped on the ground impatiently.

Half an hour ago, she was getting ready for her patrol shift. Clumsily, Edlothia almost forgot this shift belonged to her if some teammates reminded her of it kindheartedly. She was expecting for a small period of free time that she could use to pick berries and wash all her arrows. Speaking of her arrows, due to Edlothia's lasiness, they were unwashed and dirty -- as Edlothia had dropped them in some places and forgotten about them since the last time she had slain some spiders. Well, what could she do? Edlothia never wanted to go to a patrol with dirty arrows, she called it the respectfulness that one pays to his or her career. She searched her house thoroughly for arrows, and finally came up with half of her quiver full, some short, some long, but not one in normal length. Edlothia secretly cursed: Why am I always in this kind of awkward situations? Fortunately, her mother who was so thoughtful, kept a set of clean arrows at the door. And as usual, there goes Edlothia, merrily on her outing, forgetting all the distress she was in not long ago.

What do you do when you feel bored before patrol? Edlothia asked herself as her eyes swept through her weapons, taking them out one by one and checking. "Knives are here... Bow are here properly tightened... I just checked quiver before I left home... Waist dagger are here... And I'm ready." Edlothia had a habit of never being on time, she was always a little bit early or late. She stood there fully armed, dressed in a brand-new dark-red guard uniform, some of her hair tied into braids. Her cheeks were pink as her grey, large eyes spied lively around her, looking for other elves to join her. Edlothia was always excited before patrols. As a new guard, she did treat every patrol seriously in her own way and just enjoyed the pure pleasure of killing things. Although today it seemed a bit quiet, nothing could put out the fire burning hot in Edlothia's heart.

I cannot wait. When does this things start?! Edlothia stomped off the ground even more impatiently.

As she had waited a long time, Edlothia was sure that she was too early. She could not help but to start to get confused about everything. Was it a training session or a patrol duty? Edlothia was curious to find out, but she was way too lazy to actually run back to the Halls and check the schedules. She fetched an arrow from her quiver and started to play with the feathers for no particular reason.

Utterly. Bored.

---

took me a long time to get this from the old forum

Legolas laughed aloud, throwing his head back and nimbly dancing out of his friend’s reach.

A fist swung through the air where Legolas’ shoulder had been not an instant before.

“Gwindir, my friend, I do not see how you could take offence at what is merely an honest observation! You know I would not say it if it had not the slightest chance of being true! Have you not admitted, proudly I might say, that you are willing to try your charm on any living creature that crosses your path? All the elves in Mirkwood have been subject to it at some point or another or, if all the elves of Mirkwood is perhaps too bold a claim, then at least all those who belong to the guard have been on the receiving end of your honeyed tongue. It is therefore no bold claim to suggest that, had you had the chance, you would have turned your charm on the dwarves if only out of boredom!” With a dramatic sigh, Legolas drew closer to his friend once more. “But, I suppose, if it offends you, I apologise for my assumption. Of course you would not have attempted to try and charm the dwarves had you had the chance. It was rude and insensitive of me.”

Gwindir fought to hide his smirk, lashing out to hit his friend once.

“I am not sure I believe you, Legolas. You have hurt my feelings so much I doubt I will ever be able to trust you again.”

Legolas let out a loud cry, a hand over his heart as though he had been shot. He skipped round until he stood in front of his friend forcing him to come to a stop.

“Oh please, my friend! Please forgive me!” He grabbed hold of his friend’s hand and held it tightly between his own. “You know I meant it in jest only! You would never have tried your charm on the dwarves, even if you had had the chance!” He backed away a few steps, putting some distance between himself and his now grinning friend. “After all, you would never try to charm those who could easily outsmart you!”

With that he took off running, laughing gaily.

He only stopped running when he reached the place where the guards were supposed gather before starting patrol. Pausing in order to straighten his uniform, and in order to check that Gwindir was still some way behind, Legolas proceeded to make his way in to the clearing. There were only a few elves there, Legolas having made a point of arriving early as he was taking charge of one of the patrols, and he recognised them all as was only right for a captain of one of the patrols. Not knowing who was in which patrol, not knowing their strengths and weaknesses, could have fatal consequences.

He was about to go over to one of the guards, a new recruit whose name he knew but who he had yet to talk to, when something hard hit him on the back of his head.

Gasping he turned to face his attacker, fending off another blow by grabbing Gwindir’s arms.

“Gwindir! Assaulting a senior officer!” He tried hard to keep a straight face. “What were you thinking? What would my father say?” At that he burst out laughing, both he and Gwindir knew that Thranduil would have little to say about his son’s childhood friend hitting him about the head, perhaps he would even have said that his son deserved it.

The other guards were all but forgotten.

---

Sorry it took so long to reply to   And that it's so long and rambly but Gwindir and Leggy were demanding to spend some time together

One after another the other guards came by, and Edlothia's anxiety disappeared into thin air as the other elves came fully armed. The creepiness of being alone slipped quickly as Edlothia chattered away with them, gladly offering tales and jests to each and every one of her fellow guards. Though none of them was her particular friend, Edlothia stilled felt better with company. She curiously asked why hasn't the patrol begin yet, and the other elves laughed.

"Why, the Captain for today hasn't arrived yet!" They told her.

Edlothia thought that she would skin this captain alive when the patrol was over. In these days the leaders of every patrol were always amazing people, skilled in fighting, agile and quick in motion - and above all punctual. She had made friends with all of them, and they probably wouldn't mind if Edlothia proposed the idea of skinning people. Probably, Edlothia thought, they have forgot this patrolling shift like I was about to. Leaders are people. Shrugging, she went back into the mirthful talks while beginning to braid her hair into a long plait, which was efficiently more convenient for a guard like her.

"Speaking of this, you are extremely early today Ed." Another guard whom knew her better than others laughed.

Edlothia curiously asked back for the reason - since all of them were here, it couldn't be that she was too early, right? Usually she was early for five minutes or so, but not 'extremely early as they have described it... Was it a trick that the elf who notified her was playing?

She shrieked in dismay when she was told that the patrol wasn't until half an hour later. Edlothia hated wasting times, but if she had gone running to the Halls to check the schedule, she wouldn't even be here by now - instead she would be in the woods in casual clothing, picking all the berries she liked and her arrows would be as clean as new. And strolling off to the gathering spot thirty minutes later - aw, if only she had checked the schedule.

But she hadn't, in which it usually means that Edlothia had to live with it.

She asked for the reason for why are they here so early, and nodded when given the answer that they were here to hang out. Most of the people of Mirkwood were jolly people who enjoyed their own joys, talking with colleagues being one of them while Edlothia preferred having the sweet taste of berries exploding in her mouth while the currents of the stream echo as she wash her arrows clean of the blood of foul things. But not far away she heard something, somebody joking aloud - Edlothia only hoped that the laughter belonged to her.

The laughter however, approached the clearing. As it neared Edlothia turned around, but only saw the thick layer of short bushes behind her. She heard a merry shout - something about senior officer?! Could it be their leader? She hadn't the time to think. Edlothia left the ring of the talking elves, and went over to the bushes. She reached out and pushed some of them aside - it was safe, she knew they weren't roses - and peered out.

"Er, what's happening?" Edlothia asked.

---

No the reply is so fun to read XD i literally laughed out aloud while reading it...

Legolas and Gwindir would most likely have continued their childish behaviour, trading jokes and sweetly barbed comments, had it not been for the rustling in the bushes just in front of them. Legolas, in an attempt to maintain at least a slight air of authority and dignity in front of the elleths and ellons he would soon be taking charge of, pushed Gwindir (who was at that moment attempting to wrestle his young friend to the ground) away from him and quickly set to straightening his clothes and smoothing down any hairs which may have escaped his braids in the scuffle.

Hopefully word of his antics would not reach his father.

Once he had finished repairing the damage Gwindir had inflicted upon him, Legolas raised his eyes to meet those of the intruder.

They belonged to the young guard, the elleth he had been about to approach before he had been distracted from his task by more puerile things. Edlothia, yes, he believed that that was her name, Edlothia. He had never met her before, somehow always managing to end up on different patrols or, if they were on the same patrol, always managing to be on duty whilst the other was off duty. He supposed it was only normal, after all he had spent a good part of the last two years far from the boarders of his home and, as such, had been absent from the patrols for quite some time. Of course this was not to say that he had no heard of her before nor was it to say he had never seen her before. He had, glimpsed the young elleth in passing, seen her in the training yard, seen her at his father’s feasts and celebrations, had read her name countless times on the guard’s rota sheet. He had also heard of her because of her sister. Everyone in Mirkwood knew of the fair Lothriel, said to be the most beautiful elleth in the kingdom, and knowledge of one sister meant knowledge of the other.

Legolas had been meaning to make Edlothia’s acquaintance for some time, thinking it best he meet her before he found himself as her commanding officer in a patrol so that he might gauge her strengths and learn her weaknesses, establish a bond of trust, friendship, and loyalty. Obviously his plan had gone somewhat awry and now Legolas was now left wondering what manner of first impression he had given her.

For some reason he doubted it was one that would command respect and obedience.

“Nothing at all!” He smiled, hoping to distract her from what she had just witnessed. “Nothing at all! Gwindir was just showing me a hand to hand combat move he thought might be useful for the rest of the patrol to learn.”

For a moment Edlothia thought that she saw something else - maybe two ellons younger than her playing and fooling around, but no. She closed her eyes and shook her head, and when she opened it - she saw it clear. She opened her eyes wide and even backed off a few steps - they were fully armed, and now that Edlothia looked carefully she could see that they were...somehow older. And she was a little bit curious too - what could they have been doing? It won't be correct to play games right before the patrol... Though if it had been an officer whom Edlothia knew well leading them today, she herself would have gone doing something alike this as well. Edlothia thought all kinds of thoughts as the atmosphere ceased to awkward silence. Finally she cleared her throat and asked carefully.

"Um... Am I interrupting something?" Edlothia figured that to be the most decent thing to say. She still want to make a good image of herself before those who she had never met. Or more precisely, those who she didn't recognize. Edlothia was sure that she had seen these two somewhere in her life, but she couldn't remember when. She let that thought linger, her mind still filtering memories furiously to extract the names.

Edlothia noted that the one who had pushed his friend away tidied his clothes before raising his gaze. She found that somewhat amusing, so she chuckled lightly and emerged closer. She also noted that he had a light blond colored hair, which immediately directed her thoughts to the Overseer, for that hair color was anything but common amongst the wood elves. And then Edlothia remembered that the King probably had a son. And right now it may be that Elf standing before her.

It meant that this was a superior, though this Elf did not exactly looked and acted like one, so maybe that was okay. Edlothia calmed herself with that thought before she swept a quick glance off to his friend, who was also busy tidying himself at the moment. When did ellons of Mirkwood turn so vain, as to value looks beyond anything? The thought stole into Edlothia's mind and she chuckled again. For a while she was almost tempted to help the Elf's friend up as he sat on the ground, fumbling with the edge of his clothes and laughing, but then she decided that anybody could stand up by themselves.

"Well, I'm sure that the rest of the patrol team and I will be thrilled to learn your move! I see that this will benefit us sooo much." Edlothia replied in a jocular tone, and for a while she found the situation so comical that she even forgot to introduce herself. It was after a while before she found herself again. "I forgot to mention, my name is Edlothia. I believe we have never formally met before! And you guys are..." She moved closer, intersecting her hands so that she might offer them to the two ellons at the same time to shake.