WHO: Merida and Tauriel WHAT: Random meeting of archers WHEN: Before the Methos plot WHERE: The woods WARNINGS: Nah STATUS: Closed/Completed Gdoc
The nice spring weather was making Merida homesick for the Highlands. Back home, heather would be carpeting the hillsides, and the gorse would be blooming it's bright yellow flowers. The deep green grass would be rolling over the hillsides of her home and the bright green spring leaves would be turning the forest near her home into a dark canopy of life once again. She missed it there.
Sure, it was pretty enough here, but it wasn’t home. And Merida was starting to despair that she would never see her home again.
Nothing eased her anxieties better than spending some time in the woods with her bow. The concentration necessary to be as good as she was took her mind off of things she didn’t want to think about, and the fresh air always did her good.
She was just about to release her arrow when she heard the slightest sound nearby and whipped around, her arrow ready to fly at a second’s notice.
“Who’s there?” She cried. Because somebody was.
*** Tauriel spent as much time as she could in the woods, not just for practice - though there were a number of targets set up - but also just because it gave her peace. Reminded her of home enough to settle her mind, she was beginning to enjoy it here and after experiencing parenthood recently she was looking forward to her future with Kili.
Lost in thought she realised she hadn’t been as aware of her surroundings as she should have been and stepped from the trees to the small clearing, holding up her hands and smiling, “I’m sorry, it appears I was lost in my thoughts. I did not mean to startle or disturb you” she said, her own bow and quiver was on her back and her knives in their sheaths as usual but she made no move for either.
*** Merida lowered her bow, judging the woman not to be a threat. She looked a little...strange, although she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. She was certainly very pretty, in a way that made Merida feel rather plain and dumpy and made her want to tame her wild hair.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’m just not used to company while I’m shooting. I thought you might be a bear.” Did they even have bears in Madison Valley? She wasn’t entirely sure.
“I’m Merida,” she said. “Of Clan Dunbroch.”
***
Tauriel had never encountered a bear here but that did not mean they were not here so she nodded in understanding.
“Tauriel” she replied, “Of the Mirkwood elves. It is an honour to meet you. Are you a warrior where you are from?” she asked, hoping the girl would not mind the question. People here overall were less formal than she was used to and Tauriel was trying to adapt.
***
“A warrior?” She frowned a little. Despite her obvious talent in archery, she knew she’d never be allowed to actually fight. She was too important. “No, I’m a princess,” she said, saying the word like it was something distasteful.
“Elves…?” She didn’t know the word exactly, but…”Are you a fairie?” Her eyes went wide in amazement.
***
“A princess could be a warrior” Tauriel replied, “Or is that not so where you are from?” She could see this young girl as both if she was honest. She obviously had spirit.
“I am an elf, a silvan wood-elf to be precise” she smiled, “Where I am from I am Captain of the Guard” Despite everything it was still a position she was proud of, she had obtained it herself purely on merit.
***
“That’s definitely not so where I’m from,” she sighed, quite sadly, actually. “I get to do more than my mother did, but they’re not so good as to let me fight. I’m too important, apparently, and I have duties and responsibilities. But things were better than they’d been when she’d been a rebellious teenager.
“I...is that a sort of fae?”
She didn’t really understand her words, and she was making the best of them that she could.
*** “I am sorry. I have a friend in my world who is also burdened with such things, though he is also rather rebellious at times” she smiled as she thought of Legolas.
Considering the girl she nodded, “Of a kind yes” she said, since it seemed to help the other woman understand.
***
Merida nodded slowly. She’d never actually met one of the fae, but there were ancient stories throughout her land of their magic and mystical ways. She looked at her a bit cautiously, because many of the tails warned caution when interacting. She didn’t seem particularly scary, though.
“They say there were fae once in my land.”
*** “Perhaps there is a connection between our worlds that neither of us are old enough to know of” Tauriel said, it wouldn’t surprise her. Some of the stories she’d heard since arriving sounded vaguely familiar, the places and people may have different names but themes were the same. She rather liked the idea.
“What is your land like now?” she asked curiously, this girl seemed at home among the trees.
***
How to describe her home? “There are mountains,” she started, “that are purple in the summer from the heather. Deep forests with bears and deep places full of old magic. Creeks that bubble through the mountains and through the pastures…”
She trailed off, lost for a moment in her recollections.
“It’s wild, and bitter cold in the winter. But it’s home, and I miss it, even if this place isn’t as bad as i’d thought at first.”
*** “It sounds like a most wonderful land” Tauriel said, watching the younger girl get lost in her thoughts as she described her home. It truly sounded like a lovely place and was obviously as dear to this girl as Tauriel’s home was to her.
“It takes time to adjust, I have indeed found it to be so” she nodded, “But the woods have helped me to feel a little at home even in such a different place”
***
“Aye, it is.” She said, still a bit dreamily. She’d always yearn for home a little, no matter how much she adapted to being here.
“Yeah…the woods are still the woods. They’re something that doesn’t change. Trees and animals and plants...it all makes sense when the rest of the world doesn’t.”
***
Tauriel considered the words and slowly nodded, at it’s heart that was true, the woods were the woods even if they were in different worlds. “You are a wise young woman” she said with a smile, “Your world is lucky to have a strong smart princess”
***
Merida blushed a little, almost enough to match her hair.
“I don’t know how wise I am,” she said modestly. “I think I’ve learned what I have from making more than my fair share of mistakes.” Like turning her mother into a bear. That probably was the biggest mistake she’d made, although she had learned a great deal from it in the end.
“What is your world like?”
***
“Some would say that is the best way to learn” Tauriel said, “You gain experience and wisdom in equal measure”
Smiling Tauriel thought before speaking, “Middle-earth is an amazing place. There is so much even I do not know. We have great mountains, lush forests, full rivers. And there are many people there too. Elves, like myself, dwarves, men, giants, hobbits all who have made it their home and thrive on the lands they dwell in”
***
“Do you wish that you were still there now?” Merida at times wished that she was back home, certainly, so she assumed that this woman did too. Everyone wished for their home occasionally, surely.
“I mean, this place is wonderful, and amazing in so many ways. But I also miss what’s familiar to me.”
***
“Sometimes I do yes” Tauriel nodded, “All I have ever known is the woodland and my duty to protect it. But here...my beloved is here and we are together. This is something that cannot be anywhere else so I would endure anything in order to stay”
Kili held her heart and with it her happiness and while she missed the familiarity of home and sense of purpose, she would miss him more.
***
“Why can’t it be anywhere else?” The easiest answer to that was, of course, that the man was dead, but Merida wasn’t so heartless as to express that thought.
“I miss home. But I don’t mind being here. I’ve met a man i’m quite fond of- though it’s far too soon to calm him my beloved - and I’m learning many new things. But it’s just so...foreign to me.”
***
“He lost his life in battle so we are forever parted there” she replied, grateful for the kindness the young girl had shown by not assuming the worst. It was a sweet gesture.
“Foreign can be good. Perhaps being here you can become a warrior should you wish and not just a princess” Tauriel said with a smile, “And of course explore things with your young gentleman”
***
“Perhaps,” she agreed. “Perhaps. In any case, from what I’ve been told it can’t be changed, and so we have to deal with things as they come.”
She smiled, putting her quiver back over her shoulder.
“It was nice to meet you. Perhaps we’ll meet again soon.”
***
“It was nice to meet you as well Merida of Clan Dunbroch” Tauriel inclined her head, “I look forward to our next meeting” she added with a smile before letting the girl continue on with her day.,