Nocturnal Celebrations, a lord of the rings fanfic

Disclaimer: None of the characters you recognize are mine.

Author´s note: According to Tolkien, Old Winyards is a strong red wine from the Southfarthing; Bilbo Baggins possessed a stock of it.

Nocturnal Celebrations

The forest stood still in the heat of the day although it was early evening already, and not even the dense green canopy of the treetops brought any relief, for the air was so warm that it felt like a blanket. Not the slightest breeze stirred the leaves of the trees.

Two companions were moving through the undergrowth, in silence and obviously slowed down by the heat, for one of them was an elf, light-footed by nature, the other one a Ranger, wont to walk long distances in all kinds of weather. The fact that both of them rather dragged their feet along, apart from their postures, which were slightly hunched, betrayed that both of them were exhausted and weary; even the elf, though usually not as susceptible for heat or cold as humans, had fine beads of sweat upon his brow. He now lifted his head, listening intently; what he heard seemed to cheer him up immensely, and with a sigh of relief he spoke: "The river is near. We are almost there." His companion closed his eyes for a moment, grateful for the prospect that soon they would be able to rest.

Both of them were walking with fresh determination now, but when they finally reached the sheltered clearing which opened up to a shallow arm of the river, they dropped their packs on the shore at once. The elf then stood and listened for a while, before he lay down his bow and quiver and followed his friend´s example: the man had pulled off his boots and started to shed every unnecessary bit of clothing until he merely wore his breeches and a light shirt. He rolled up his sleeves; the water looked invitingly clear, and it was a relief to wade into the pleasant coolness. The water was clean enough to drink as well; nothing had ever tasted so good as it now ran down their dry throats.

The man turned to overlook the small meadow they had just crossed: "It does not seem that Halbarad has been here yet." The elf shook his head: "Nay, indeed. Maybe he has been wiser than us and is waiting until the evening ere he travels."

The man grinned and splashed some water at his friend playfully: "He cannot be traveling in the company of an elf, then", he replied.

"Or he simply is not as stubborn as you are", came the light-hearted answer, accompanied by some splashing of water as well. When Halbarad arrived some ten minutes later, the two of them were soaking wet, but neither of them willing to give up. The elf had heard the other Ranger approach, but had been too preoccupied with the ongoing battle to pay him any attention once he had been certain that it was indeed Halbarad, easily distinguishable as a friend by the way of his footfall; approaching foe would sound different, the elf knew from experience.

Halbarad was red in the face and quickly dropped his gear as well, then he crossed his arms and laughed at the sight: his cousin, a man of well over fourty years and a renowned leader of his people, together with an immortal elf who was a prince at that, both of them behaving like children, looking like two drowned cats and beaming with glee. They halted in their efforts now and waded back to the shore in order to greet the newcomer.

Halbarad gladly returned his kinsman´s embrace, not minding that the other Ranger was dripping wet: "Aragorn", he said warmly. "Well met, cousin. It´s been too long." Aragorn nodded, wiping some water off his brow: "Well met, Halbarad", he said with an equal amount of affection, looking his cousin over. "What a fine day to meet!"

Halbarad was still grinning when he turned to greet the elf: "A fine day indeed", he confirmed and bowed his head: "Well met, Legolas." Legolas smiled and returned the gesture: "Suilad, Halbarad."

While Halbarad went to cool himself off as well, Aragorn and Legolas stretched out in the shade, their heads resting on their packs; it had been days since they had allowed themselves to relax like this, thus their weariness did not only originate from the heat.

Dusk settled with a brilliant display of orange and rose colours on the darkening sky, and the air gradually cooled down to more pleasant degrees.

Aragorn built a fire before it got too dark, and they made to settle around it to share their supplies. Halbarad went to the shore of the river once more and brought back a bag which he had hung into the water in order to cool its contents; out of it he now pulled two bottles. His companions looked up at him in surprise: he must have had a good reason to burden his pack with this rather unnecessary weight, especially in such hot weather.

When Aragorn met his cousin´s gaze he found that Halbarad indeed seemed to have a good reason, for his eyes were sparkling with happiness, and he was smiling radiantly: "´Tis meant to be a night of celebration, my friends", he said. "A lot of things have changed since we have last met, and I have had reason for joy." He looked from Aragorn to Legolas and back, continuing proudly: "Three months ago my wife and I have had our first child, a little boy. I am a father!"

Speechless, Aragorn stared at him for a moment, then he could not but smile as well. His kinsman was so obviously happy that he wondered how Halbarad had managed to keep the good news to himself for so long anyway. He got to his feet and seized Halbarad´s shoulders: "Congratulations, cousin", he said whole-heartedly. "That truly is a reason to celebrate!" He pulled Halbarad into a hug, feeling the man´s bliss as his own. They laughed; Legolas had gotten to his feet as well and now imitated Aragorn´s gesture by grasping Halbarad´s shoulders: "May he be blessed", he simply said, but it was so heartfelt that Halbarad pulled him into an embrace: "Thank you", he murmured, still overcome by his emotions.

After they had settled down around the fire once more, Halbarad took a magnificient ham, a loaf of bread and some grapes out of his bag: "As I said, ´tis a night to celebrate!"

He opened the wine: "Old Winyards", he said appreciatively. "Purchased from good old Bilbo Baggins. I was assured that this is a good year." "Which year exactly would that be?" "How should I know?"

Laughing, they drank to the health of the little boy; Halbarad seemed to beam with pride: "He is only a wee thing, but his grip is strong already", he said, "he might very well become a Ranger one day."

Legolas and Aragorn exchanged a look, both of them smiling. "How fares Mairi?", Aragorn then asked.

"Motherhood becomes her", Halbarad said softly, his voice sounding absent for a moment and his face softening at the thought of his wife. "She is often tired, but I find her to become more beautiful every day..."

After a moment of companionable silence, Legolas raised his cup: "To Mairi", he said quietly, his eyes sparkling.

Aragorn and Halbarad followed suit, raising their cups to meet the elf´s: "To Mairi."

The wine was good indeed, and the night was beautiful and the air pleasant. It was a great relief to experience something other than heat; thus, they soon opened the second bottle.

Legolas watched with amusement as Halbarad and Aragorn obviously began to feel the effect of the drink; the elf himself was not affected by it in the least, but the two Rangers seldomly drank alcohol, wine least of all. Legolas had witnessed how cautious Aragorn was on the rare occasions when he did, often sticking to one or maybe two glasses because he was not used to it; tonight, he seemed to have thrown that caution to the wind, but they were all too merry to really care. If Legolas had not been an elf whose body did not react to alcohol as intensely as a human´s, he probably would not have noticed at all; seeing as he was though, he could not but notice that their speech became increasingly slurred.

Halbarad sighed: "Everything´s diff´rent once you´re a father, you know? You keep thinkin´ abou´ what´ll happen one day... what he´ll do, or if he´ll be good with horses..."

Aragorn grinned: "If he comes after you, he´ll be very good with horses", he said in a tone which stated that he meant quite the contrary.

Halbarad squinted at him: "An´ what´s that supposed to mean?"

Aragorn shrugged: "I jus´ remembered something is all", he replied innocently.

Legolas leaned forward: "What are you talking about?", he inquired, being curious to learn what his two friends meant.

Halbarad gave Aragorn a look so stern that it could have been called threatening, but Aragorn preferred not to notice it: "Incidentally, it also had to do with Ol´ Winyards", he continued. "`twas midsummer´s eve, if I recall correctly." "It was", Halbarad agreed, grumbling. "Though I do not know what´s so funny abou´ it."

Aragorn decidedly avoided his gaze: "It probably wasn´t. At least not for the horse." Halbarad blushed: "The horse´s fine", he murmured. "It prob´ly never dared to fall asleep afterwards, though."

His cousin could not keep himself from chuckling at this: "You nearly scared it to death!", he exclaimed. "Its eyes never went back to their normal size again!"

"Nonsense", Halbarad muttered, blushing even more nevertheless.

Still chuckling, Aragorn sought Legolas´ gaze: "He prefers not to talk about it. If he´ll happen to be in the mood for storytelling one day, ask him about how he tried to win a dare on one midsummer´s eve though."

Despite Halbarad snorting audibly, Legolas raised one eyebrow: "A dare? And it had to do with horses?"

"One horse", Halbarad grumbled. "And it didn´t work out." Legolas´ eyebrow arched even higher, prompting the Ranger to continue.

"The dare was to ride a horse sitting on it backwards", Halbarad finally ground out. "And it would´ve been a mere child´s play if I hadn´t had too much wine... and if the beast hadn´t been asleep already." He sighed.

"Why, what did it do?", Legolas sounded intrigued.

Halbarad grimaced painfully: "It panicked when it suddenly felt something on its back- and threw me off faster than I´d blink!"

Legolas laughed quietly at the thought: "It seems that you deserved as much, dear Halbarad. Was it your own horse, then?" At this, Aragorn started to laugh as well, and Halbarad himself could not but grin: "No. It´s been an old carthorse."

This had all three of them roaring with laughter, and the clearing reverberated with the sound of their mirth.

It was nearing midnight when the two Rangers began to sing. It was not one of the songs they were wont to sing, however; their songs normally spoke of old stories, of the beauty of nature, of the wilderness which often was their home and of hardship which had to be overcome. The song Halbarad and Aragorn were now singing, or at times merely humming when they seemed to have forgotten the right words, was unknown to Legolas and for a good reason, as he soon discovered:

"...the lady said I welcome thee,

for the more join in the more merry will we be,

the more merry will we be!

And a fifth fellow knocked, and got down on his knee,

and the lady said I welcome thee,

for the more join in the more merry will we be,

the more merry will we be!

And soon the house swayed hither,

and then the house swayed thither,

for the people inside were merry alright,

and it did so all night until the morning bright!"

Legolas looked at his friends, who were swaying to and fro as well, in astonishment: if anyone had asked him, he would have said that he did not think Aragorn even knew any such songs, since he simply seemed not the kind of person who would take delight in them. The elf could not imagine him to participate in any kind of jollity which required the knowledge of a drinking song, much less a song like the one they were now beginning to sing.

Legolas subdued a grin: the second bottle of wine was nearly empty, which only had the effect that the songs were becoming increasingly raucous.

As the night wore on, the elf heard words from his friends which he never even had heard before, cumulating in an elaborated curse from Halbarad when the second bottle was empty as well. The Ranger unsteadily got to feet: "`Tis jus´ no use", he announced, tipping the bottle over to prove his point, "`tis empty!"

Aragorn tugged at the sleeve of Halbarad´s shirt, causing the man to losing his balance enough to nearly topple over and landing hard on the ground again, which only made both of them laugh.

Legolas now got to his feet as well: "I am going to have a look around" he said, "I will be back quickly."

He was not actually worried, but with the noise the two men provided he deemed it better to check on their surroundings; he did not wish to be surprised by anyone or anything they might have attracted with their merriment.

The two Rangers only beamed up at him. Smiling, Legolas left.

When he returned some twenty minutes later, reassured that they seemed to be alone in the area, his companions had just decided to go swimming and were about to set off towards the river.

Legolas had his doubts as to wether this was such a good idea, since neither of them even seemed able to walk in a straight line; he did not say anything though but simply accompanied them to the shore.

Halbarad laid his arm around the elf: "Will you come in´s well?", he asked, if slightly slurred. "´Tis a night for celebratin´ and for swimmin´, you should come in´s well!" Legolas laughed: "I think I will be content to watch the two of you", he replied lightly. Sighing, Halbarad let go of him and turned to follow Aragorn, who had stripped down to his underpants and was already halfway in the water: " ´s jus´s well", he mumbled, swaying precariously. "Someone´s gotta..." Halbarad did not get to finish his sentence as he stumbled and lost his balance, flailing his arms dramatically but to no avail: with a loud splash he fell into the water.

Legolas could hear Aragorn giggle like a little boy, thoroughly enjoying the situation; he was meanwhile submerged to his shoulders and did not hide his glee as Halbarad now bobbed up again, snorting ungracefully. As soon as the older Ranger had regained his footing, he lunged at his cousin in order to duck him underwater, and it did not take long until they were engaged in a battle which in its vigour did resemble the one Aragorn and Legolas had fought earlier on. In the end they crawled back to the shore, exhausted and still laughing helplessly.

Eventually, both of them calmed down and just lay on the grass. Legolas had gone to kindle the fire; when he came back, Halbarad was just scrambling to his feet. The air was quite cool on his wet skin now, and the warm fire looked surprisingly inviting, despite the mild summer´s night.

Legolas squatted down next to Aragorn: "Are you coming, too?", he asked. Aragorn sighed: "No... ´s quite nice here", he murmured, feeling tired all of a sudden. "Jus´ leave me here."

The elf shook his head: "I do not deem that a very good idea", he replied, hiding a smile. "You will become cold, wet as you are, and it might be a rather uncomfortable awakening in the morning."

Aragorn chuckled: "Should´ve known you´d say so...", he said, softly. Then he propped himself up on his elbows with a small groan: "Damn that wine... I can already feel it in my head."

Legolas could not but laugh at the suffering expression the man now wore: "And you will certainly feel it tomorrow, dear friend." He extended one hand invitingly; when Aragorn took it, the elf rose to his feet and pulled the Ranger with him, ignoring his mumbled protests. They died down as soon as they had reached the fire anyway, since Aragorn had to admit that it was a tad more comfortable sitting next to it and slowly feeling himself drying than lying on the grass half-naked.

Halbarad had wrapped his cloak around himself, and his cousin followed his example; tired from the wine and their water fight, they contentedly if sleepily gazed into the flames.

Legolas settled down between them again, keeping the fire steady; as neither of the Rangers seemed inclined to continue their singing, the elf started to hum softly. It was an old lay about the stars´ journey over the sky and by no means resembled the drinking songs which had resounded through the clearing earlier, but it filled their hearts with happiness.

Long after Halbarad and Aragorn had fallen asleep, Legolas was still watching the fire, enjoying the beautiful night and rejoicing in the afterglow of a merry evening among friends.

The End

A happy note: The story was originally written for the Teitho Challenge of March 2009 ("Eat, Drink and Be Merry") and won third place. It is the first time I´ve ever won and I´m inwardly jumping up and down while writing this! Thanks to all who have voted for it, and congratulations to the other winners!

Last but not least: thank you, Starlight, for your much appreciated and helpful advice! You´re a great friend! ;D