A/N:  I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out.  I wish I could offer a real reason and not a flimsy excuse, but I can't.  I was away for a bit, but when I came back instead of working on it I was lazy.  I will try to be better with the next one!  :) 

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Chapter 4: Bows and Arrows

As the early morning light shone down on the encampment, the sleeping inhabitants began to stir to life.  Thranduil rolled over sleepily.  Being woken by the sun was beginning to become normal for him, but it had taken some getting used to at first.  He was used to the natural rhythm of Arda, of course, but when he slept in his old room he just woke up when it was morning, he was never woken up because of the sun shining on him.  Thranduil opened his eyes.  He thought it was kind of nice to sleep outside.  He did not know how much longer they were going to stay at this camp, but he did know that they had been here far longer than any of the other places they had stopped.  It also seemed that they had frequent visitors that Thranduil did not know coming to see his and his friends’ adas. 

Thranduil’s ada had said they were very close to where they would be living and that was very exciting, but today was a very exciting day too.  He crawled from his bedroll and went to where his parents were sleeping.  It had been one of the rare nights that his ada had not spent the entire time being a guard.  Thranduil knew that the other warriors looked up to his ada a lot and called him commander, but lately even some of the other elves who had not been warriors in Menegroth were listening to what his ada had to say.  It made Thranduil feel kind of special to think that his ada was important.  Right now though, both of his parents were still sleeping.

As he looked around, Thranduil realized that it was very early and there were not many other elves up and about.  None of his friends seemed to be awake yet and the only other elves he saw milling about were armed.  Thranduil thought that must mean that they were the guards on duty while everyone else was sleeping.  Going to the far side of the encampment, away from the sleeping elves, he looked again at the object soaking in a tub of water.  Today it would be finished!  His very own bow!  Thranduil had grilled his ada enough to know what was left to be done.  Nana had made the string already, using some of the fibre she was using to make more string for ada’s bow. 

Thranduil did not want to wait until everyone else was awake to use his new bow, but he knew that he was not to touch it yet.  Last night he had spent the entire evening sitting with ada as he shaped the wood and then carved ‘Thranduil’ onto the lower leg.  He smiled and hopped around anxiously waiting for everyone else to start waking up.  When that did not seem to be happening fast enough, he knelt down next to where his parents were sleeping and stared at them.  Maybe, he thought, if I look at them they will wake up.  And so he looked.  He looked hard.  He narrowed his eyes and stared.  He widened his eyes and stared.  He even silently mouthed ‘ada’ and then ‘nana’ but nothing seemed to be working.

It was not fair, he thought, that he should be awake when everyone else was sleeping -  especially when at least two people in particular should be up and making his bow.  Thranduil sat back on his heels and tried not to be too selfish in his thoughts, but he could not help wanting the bow now.  He had been looking forward to it for a long time now and the morning seemed to be passing far too slow for his taste.

He was just about to give up when he found himself seized by strong arms and hoisted up into the air.  Thranduil could not help but squeal as he found himself airborne.  He grinned down at his ada’s smiling face. 

“I was afraid you were never going to wake up!” he cried in his excitement.

“I was waiting for you to stop staring at your naneth and me,” his ada replied.

Thranduil grinned again.

“I was trying to make you want to wake up, ada.  Is it time to finish my bow?”

“Ahhh, so that is it.  The elfling wants his bow.”

Thranduil nodded and his ada chuckled before setting him back on his feet. 

“After breakfast I will show you how to string it and then dry it near the fire, but you will likely not be able to use it until later. You do not want to use it while it is wet or it will have too much bend in the wood.”

Thranduil was disappointed, but he was happy enough to be able to see it finished that he did not complain.  If it was finished now, then he would be able to use it later this afternoon and then he could help hunt. 

***

Thranduil’s excitement was obvious as he grinned from ear to ear and hopped about from foot to foot.

“Can I shoot now, Ada? Please? I understand how now, I can do it myself really I can.”

Thranduil looked up at his ada and tried his best polite look as he forced himself to stop hopping about.  His ada’s smile had gone away a little bit though and Thranduil knew that he was about to be told something serious.

“Thranduil, there is more to shooting a bow than just pulling a string and letting go.  You must hold it properly and you must know what is in the direction you are choosing to shoot.”

“I knoooww, Ada,” came the over-anxious reply.

“No, ion-nin, you do not know because I have not told you or shown you yet.  If you would like to learn, then you will have to listen to me and not think that you already know how when you do not.”

Thranduil did not sigh or stomp his foot even though he wanted to.  He already knew those were never good things to do when he wanted cooperation from his ada. 

“Yes, Ada.  I will listen now.”

Thranduil’s ada nodded.

“Good.  Now, first we will be shooting down the clearing this way and aiming for the target that we made earlier.  Never,” Thranduil found himself unable to avoid looking up at his ada as his chin was tilted up, “never shoot at a living thing.  When you are older and able to use a stronger bow we will go hunting, but for now you are not to shoot at anything other than your target, is that clear?”

Thranduil nodded, “yes, Ada,” he replied.  And he meant it.

Thranduil followed along mimicking his ada as he was shown the proper way to hold his bow and how to stand.  Sometimes he had to have his ada move his feet so he could keep holding his bow properly and sometimes his ada had to move his hands so he could stand properly.  It was alright though because eventually he got it and could stand the right way all by himself.  That was when it got exciting and he finally got an arrow. 

Once again Thranduil followed along copying the movements of his ada.  He nocked the arrow the way he was shown, drew back as far as he could and, with a sideways glance at his ada, let go of the string.  Thranduil frowned.  His arrow did not hit the centre of the target.  His arrow did not even hit the target!  It began a glorious sail through the air and then… rammed right into the ground in front of the target.  Thranduil looked at his ada to make sure he was not laughing.  Luckily for him, he was not.

“It takes practice, little one.  Here, let me help you again.”

Thranduil nodded as his ada knelt beside him and helped him set up another shot.  Then he showed him how to aim down the shaft of the arrow.  His next arrow flew truer and hit the outer corner of the target. Thranduil looked at his ada and grinned.

“I am getting better already!”

His ada chuckled and ruffled his hair, causing Thranduil to make a face.

“You are, indeed.  Try a few more.”

Thranduil shot all of his arrows and then gathered them up and shot them all again.   By the end of the afternoon he was able to hit the target easily.  When it was time to get ready for supper, he thought he was getting pretty good.  Maybe tomorrow he would hit the centre of the target.  After supper it would be too dark to practice.

When it started to get dark Thranduil was not allowed away from his ada or nana, but that was alright with him even if he did not admit it all the time.  Sometimes he was glad for sleeping in a tent because that meant that he was not by himself and if someone came in the middle of the night his ada would be right there, besides, sometimes Thranduil had nightmares and he did not want to seem little by running into his parent’s bedroom in the night.  As long as he knew they were sleeping right next to him, he felt safe enough to go back to sleep.  Ada would make sure he was safe

***

Thranduil stepped into the campsite followed by several other elflings close to his age.  They had been hunting with the bigger elflings.  Well, not really hunting, but it was fun to pretend.  Sometimes the bigger elflings yelled at them to go somewhere else to play, but they were not really playing, they were stalking rabbits too and as long as they stayed close enough to the camp that they could be seen they were allowed to go.  Thranduil did not think they were going to find many rabbits that close, but sometimes they were lucky and saw some.  Not that Thranduil nor any of his friends could actually hunt with their bows, but it was still fun to stalk the rabbits - especially when the older elflings did not see them and he and his friends did.

The older elflings had made them leave while they were tracking rabbit.  Thranduil did not think that was fair.  The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to show them that they were not so much better than he and his friends were.  Eldiren and Arrust agreed with Thranduil that just because Gildin and his friends were older that did not mean that they were better hunters.  In fact, to them it only meant that they did not get told that they were too little to worry about hunting or that they would have to wait until they were older.

Eldiren, Arrust and Thranduil all ran to their respective camping areas to retrieve their bows and a few arrows before meeting back up at the edge of the trail where they had just emerged.  They were going to get a rabbit.  They may not be big enough to follow a deer or other large game, but they could get a rabbit.  Eldiren was the last to make it back.

“My ada says I am not allowed to shoot at anything that is living because I will only hurt them,” he said as he joined the other two.

“Mine said that too,” said Thranduil, “but I am going to show him that I am not too small to be a hunter and one day I will be a warrior.

Arrust nodded, “My naneth said that neither me nor my bow is strong enough to hunt with and that when I am older I will get a real bow and have lessons in how to shoot.”

Thranduil scowled.  “I already know how to shoot.  My ada has been showing me and I hit the target most of the time and I have hit the centre!”

Thranduil himself was not sure why hunting was so important to him at this particular moment, but he was driven in his desire to do it.  He looked at his bow and then at his friends. 

“We have to learn to hunt and shoot well so that the next time the bad elves come, we will not have to be scared.  Besides, Gildin is not better than we are and we will prove it.”

With that, he led the small band of young hunters into the forest, remembering to stay close enough to the encampment that they could see the fire.