Chapter Text
Tauriel stood straight, hands folded, chin up and acutely aware of all the weapons strapped to her person. She kept her gaze locked firmly onto the trees beyond the semi circle of elves before her, hoping to radiate all the grace and skill that Legolas was ascribing to her in his introduction.
It was her first day on the Guard. Usually the Captain would introduce the new recruit they had chosen, but as she was the Prince’s sister in all but blood, he had chosen to do so instead.
When he finished, the crowd all bowed their heads in welcome, she doing the same. A few instructions were given by the Captain, sending everyone to their posts and before she knew it, the small party elected to patrol were off.
She walked close to Legolas. Not out of fear, never, but because she was admittedly outside her zone of comfort. Hours upon hours had been spent training with the bow and the blade, refining her agility and honing strategic skills. In theory, she was ready. Practically, she had not left the confines of the Halls much this past yén.
“Your words flattered me,” she said when she reached his side.
“I was exaggerating,” he immediately shot back, making her grin. “It is common practice when inaugurating new soldiers.”
“Mhm,” she said, arching an eyebrow, “I am sure you did so only to preserve your own image. Whatever would they think of you if your sister were a blundering fool. How you’d have failed her. I cannot imagine the gossip.”
“Father would wallow in misery for decades,” he said, and they shared a laugh.
The company was generally merry during most of their trek. She’d expected them all to fall silent and more serious the further out they went, but spirits were high. Granted, they did not venture particularly far out, possibly because it was her first patrol.
Occasionally they halted, looking for potential signs of spiders or other unsavoury creatures crossing these parts, listening and taking stock of any remarkable changes to the landscape. They spotted neither tracks nor transformations on any of their stops, and soon they were halfway round the Halls already.
Slowly she moved from her brother’s side and mingled with some of the other elves. The conversations were welcoming, and she could see herself gaining new friends soon.
Until they came to a clearing.
They had once again halted to observe, spreading out across the grassy opening between the trees. Tauriel had been listening to Nenael tell stories of patrols past, and had now joined him in inspecting their surroundings.
When taking a closer look at a deformity in the bark on a tree, and judging it to be natural, she spotted Legolas several paces away softly singing to another tree, bouncing slightly on his feet and moving his hands in tandem.
She smiled. Legolas loved the trees, having ever had a higher affinity for their voices and feelings than she had. Her heart sang whenever she could witness him being so engrossed in nature that he did not think to hide his joy.
A huff coming from her side made her freeze.
She swivelled around, taking in Nenael’s faintly judgemental look aimed at Legolas. He caught her blazing eyes and immediately schooled his features.
“Is there something you wish to share regarding my brother?” she said coldly, shifting her stance to block Nenael’s view of him.
He gaped quite ridiculously like a fish for a moment, before clamping his mouth shut and bowing his head.
“No,” he said, “Apologies, hiril nín. I meant no offence.”
Tauriel scoffed under her breath, but let it be. She left him to his devices forthwith, making her way over to Legolas, who was still singing and mercifully unaware of what had just transpired.
“Are the trees well?” she asked as she reached his side. He let the last note fade out, and regarded her with a smile.
“Today is a fine day,” he said. “I daresay we will complete our round without any disturbance. The trees do not speak of any evil nearby.”
“Quite a lucky first round it was for me.”
Legolas placed his hand upon the bark, gazing up at its crown for a moment with a soft look. Then he smirked.
“I’d rather call it a pity,” he said. “Unable to display your grand skills. The others might take me for a liar.”
The Captain recalled them to continue on, and Tauriel nudged Legolas’ side as they walked across the clearing.
“No need for such worries, little brother,” she said, already expecting the mock offended gasp.
“I am the elder, as you perfectly well know.”
“Yet it is I who is taller.”
She knew she had thus won their lighthearted tiff, and couldn’t help but grin in satisfaction at Legolas’ petty grumbles.
As the company reformed, her eyes fell onto Nenael, and her smile slipped. He had been staring at the two of them, and promptly averted his gaze at her glare. She even thought to see his cheeks redding.
Good. He should be embarrassed. Hopefully it would teach him not to look down upon others as quickly.
To be fair, he hadn’t been too bad. It was the usual discarding look many who did not know Legolas well sent him when he let his true self surface for once. Many of these Legolas never noticed, for which she was eternally grateful, because every time he did, he was self-conscious, bordering on miserable for a while after.
The truly awful ones where the comments. She’d heard enough talk about him behind his back, which she always made a point to rebuke, but on rare occasion Legolas got to hear what was said and thought about him, and it guaranteed him to shut down for a horrendously long time.
Although frankly, it mattered not how terrible the mockery was. Any attempt at it, Tauriel made her mission to shut down. If her main task these first few months on the Guard would be to squash any disdain held for her brother simply due to his differences, then so be it.
There was no duty she held in higher regard than that.