The Little Hunter

by Pippin's Sunshine
41   42


Chapter 41 Unexpected visitors
 
After they had been back a little over a month, a group of visitors came to the valley of Imladris. Normally, this was no ordinary thing. Numerous visitors came to The Last Homely House all the time. What made these so different was they were the first dwarves to have entered the valley in many, many years. Estel had been down by the river visiting some of his friends when the new comers showed up.
 
Estel and Fingol ran outside when they heard the commotion. All of the elves that lived around the river were throwing taunts at the company of travelers.
"Don't dip your beard in the foam father!"
"Mind Bilbo doesn't eat all the cakes, he is too fat yet to go through key-holes."
 
One traveler who stood taller than the others quickly silenced the merry tongues of the elves. Estel had seen a couple of dwarves every now and then, but they were not frequent visitors to Imladris for obvious reasons. So he knew what they were and he figured the man with grey hat was a wizard, so that left only one.
 
He quietly whispered to Fingol, "What is that?" he said pointing down at the company passing over the bridge. "A dwarf."
"I know that! What is that?"
"Oh, that is a perian, or halfling."
"A what?"
"A perian."
 
Estel gave up; he would have to find out from Elrond what the mysterious creature with furry feet was.
 
-------------
He would not find out until the next day who or what the strange creature was. That night, there was a grand fest for the guests that Elrond’s entire household had been invited to. Estel ended up sitting next to the strange creature and one of the younger dwarves, who he found out, was Kili. During the course of the meal, he enjoyed hearing of their trip so far from a place he had never heard of called The Shire.
 
Finally, towards the end of the evening, he struck up the courage to ask Mr. Baggins what he was. For indeed the strange creature was none other than Mr. Bilbo Baggins of The Shire who was recruited by the wizard Gandalf to accompany the dwarves on their trek to recover their stolen treasure from a dragon called Smaug.
 
Estel asked timidly, “Mr. Baggins, sir, what are you?”
 
Bilbo laughed. He had always been fond of children and Estel was the first human he had ever met. “Why I am a hobbit, my dear boy. I can see you have never heard of us and for good reason. We mainly keep to ourselves and very rarely travel nor openly accept ‘strangers.’ We are mainly a people of farmers and growers. We live holes in the ground sometimes called smials. We crave peace and comfort which is why all this business with the dwarves has had me in knots.”
 
Estel nodded. That would make sense as to why he had never seen a hobbit, but he would have to ask Elrond more about them. Estel was looking forward to The Hall of Fire this night. He had never heard dwarven music before.
 
In the Hall, the Dwarves pulled out their flutes and drums and were eventually joined by some of the Elven musicians. This surprised many of the household, but Estel was transported in his mind by Elven ships to the halls of them dwarves and had dreams of this all through the night.
 
Bilbo and the dwarves stayed a fortnight and were gone on their way by midsummer’s day.


Chapter 42

Shortly after their return to Imladris, Estel began his training with the guards He always came back exhausted, but the masters all agreed that he was progressing nicely. Then in the afternoons he would have lessons in the library with Glorfindel or Elrond. These usually consisted of learning either about history or the ways of the healers or refining his skills in speaking the Elven language.

They began teaching him the art of the bow and arrow for it was used just as much as the sword. The craftsmen gave Estel a finely crafted bow of his own. The ones the Elves used were too big for him, so it was ordered that this one be crafted for him. There were no special adornments, save the tips that had been carved out in the small shapes of dragonheads at each end.

The twins were almost immediately called back out on hunts when they returned from Lórien. Though, they stayed gone for shorter amounts of time than before.

After the adventure in Lórien, Gilrean flat out refused to let Estel out of the boundaries of The Last Homely House. He was able to go to his training in the fields, but no further. Elrond understood her worries, but her reluctance was beginning to give him a very big headache. The masters came to him almost daily to complain that the practice Estel was receiving would stick better if he had to use the skills in the wild. On this day, Elrond had had enough and told Glorfindel as much. Glorfindel then took it upon himself to go find Gilrean and talk to her.

Gilrean was startled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She was surprised when she opened it and saw Glorfindel standing there.

“Glorfindel, this is a surprise. Is something wrong?”

He bowed. “No, my lady. Elrond is worried about something and I took it on myself to sort it out.”

Gilrean let him in and led him to her study. “What has Elrond so worried and why does it concern me?”

“Apparently, the masters are a bit upset that Estel has not had the opportunity to gain the experience of using what is being taught to him in real situations.”

”So, what are you saying? That Lord Elrond wishes me to relent my position in regards to my own son?” Glorfindel stared at her with his mouth open. “Don’t look so shocked my dear elf. I notice more than you two give me credit for.”

He could not find words for several minutes; he had never seen Gilrean so inflamed. “Yes, my lady. Though we do hope you will relent soon. What happened in Lórien could not have been prevented. He ended up safe in the end. Please rethink your position,” he finally replied. With a respectful bow, he let himself out.

After the Elf Lord left, Gilrean sat down in the chair with a sigh. She did not enjoy how fast her son was growing up and how seemingly powerless she was to stop the changes. More than anything, she did not appreciate being told how to raise him; though she knew in her heart of hearts that if the Dunedain had stayed together, he would have begun this training far earlier than with the elves. She then decided she would find Elrond and give her permission for the masters to take him on their expeditions.

Later on, the news was broke to Estel who was overjoyed, despite the misfortune with the spiders; he had enjoyed the week on patrol in Lórien. If he had the choice, he knew what he would ask. One of the things that had intrigued him from Bilbo's story were the trolls that they had been captured by. He had every intention of seeing these beasts of stone.


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